Vultural

Forgotten Silver - 1995 - 6/10

Documentary / biography of Colin McKenzie, New Zealand filmmaker of the Silent era.
A true innovator, yet is seemed everyone one of his breakthroughs collapsed.
His earliest film stock, for example, relied on albumen. He was arrested for stealing 2000 eggs.
Years before Vitaphone, he developed sound, yet his players only spoke Chinese.
Thus it goes, inspiration undermined by a complete lack of common sense.
Overlooked gem from Peter Jackson, coming between Heavenly Creatures and The Frighteners.

The She-Butterfly - 1973 - 6/10
AKA - Leptirica

Vule makes the fourth miller that year to be murdered.
Villagers curse their bad luck, wonder if a vampire is among them.
More importantly, who will mill their grain?

Wait! There’s young Strahinja, who desperately wants to marry the village beauty, Radojka.
Radojka’s father refuses, however, as Strahinja is poor. So, he accepts the perilous miller job.
Like males in general, he fails to see the depths within the girl he desires.

Superstition with scattered pratfall comedy.
An hour film that packs several themes, history, village lore.
English subtitles = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3356785

The Witches Of Salem: The Horror And The Hope - 1972 - 6/10

Following a fire and brimstone sermon, the young girls seek out … the voodoo lady.
Who describes the Sabbat, the blood, the dancing, the hollering. Men and women.
Most listen in rapt attention. While the guilty and proud reveal the devil’s presence.
Persecution – hysteria – execution. Of the young girls? Or the outcasts?
As a video “Cliff notes” of the witch trials, this is a bare bones condensation.
Acting is a bit toppish, but makes for a quick study.

Missing Noir M - 2008 - 8/10
AKA - Siljongneuwareu M // 실종느와르 M

“A history of injustice manipulating justice to kill off justice.”
Exceptional K-drama. Bleak, true-to-life, set amidst modern realities.
A small team is formed to work on unsettled cold cases.
An ex-FBI agent with too many killings for the Bureau. A hot-headed cop. A computer hacker with a past.
The opener is a two-parter, with clues for imminent murders, ala Se7en.
There are other two-parters, as well as stand-alones.
Contrary to the usual clichéd formats, the team don’t exactly bond, but begin to buckle under the stress.
The final episodes are pitch black and, unfortunately, eerily prescient of today’s normal.
For those skeptical of justice in this world, in this life, this is for you.

Riesending - 2022 - 6/10

Riesending, as in the massive cave labyrinth in Germany, somewhat explored.
Josef is injured in a rockfall, his skull cracked with internal bleeding.
After a 12 hour climb, one of his companions reaches the surface and seeks help.
Officially, the job belongs to Mountain Rescue, only they are inexperienced with caves.
Professional cavers arrive from Austria, from Italy, even further, yet they are sidelined.
The German Ministry does not want to appear incapable. Delays and excuses go into days.
The caving scenes are accurate and well done (I caved myself for 15 years).
What gets on one’s nerves and drag the film are the surface arguments and doubletalk.
Barely mentioned in one text is the cost to taxpayers of having to rescue an outdoor adventurer once again.
(The rescue ultimately was €1 M, and the “rescuers” left behind 1 ton of garbage inside the cave.)

Odd Girl - 2019 - 6/10

Social misfit Belinda somehow gloms onto the cool crowd, although most scorn her.
There is something repellent about her, yet she is so hungry to blend in.
To make a friend – any friend. Someone agreeable, and willing.
Warning short about the dangers of embracing the pariah.
English subtitles = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3356784

Devil’s Diner - 2025 - 7/10
AKA - Tiem an Cua Quy

The dark companion to Midnight Diner, as this is where visitors lose their souls.
This presupposes human nature is inherently evil, and weak.
Sins include greed, anger, delusion, pride, suspicion.
Diners enter, and with a smile, the owner coaxes them toward retribution, and eventual payment.
While cloaked in Horror, this has definite Asian sensibilities.
Revenge, while sweet, carries a cost, a terrible cost.
Acting ranges from adequate to excellent. Everything else, pretty accomplished.

They Call Her … Cleopatra Wong - 1978 - 6/10

Near-perfect counterfeit currency is flooding several Asian countries.
Police and government agencies are stymied.
Interpol contacts their best agent: hard living, hard loving, Cleopatra Wong.
Who, following the trail, zeroes in on the convent.
You got it. Nuns. And yes, a new subgenre for me, nuns with guns.

For lazy travelers, Cleo scuttles from Singapore to Hong Kong to Manila.
Accompanied by kitschy, action stock music.
Dubbing is a parody of clichéd stereotypes.

Lots of martial arts, long chases (one on Singapore’s cable car.
Of course, nuns with guns. Who’s going to resist that?

Reawakening - 2024 - 6/10

14 year old Clare ran away from home. For a decade, her parents never stopped looking.
Ten years on, she is back on their doorstep. Or, is it really her?

Mother is convinced it is really her, father equally obstinate she is not.
While Clare answers highly detailed questions, offers to do a DNA test, her eyes are evasive.
Chopped chronology serves the confusion and mystery well.
Her presence frays the reserve, the hope, the trust.
Both parents strike me as too old for their roles.
Erin Doherty is matchless, as she was in Chloe (2022), another role within a role.
How plausible is the family cuckoo? The Imposter (2012).

The Maiden’s Tune - 1973 - 6/10
AKA - Devicanska Svirka

The coachman drops Ivan off in rural oblivion.
No one is willing to carry him further, so Ivan begins to walk.
Until he is transfixed by the castle, the eerie music and haunting song.

Circumstances unfold and Countess Sibylle begs his help.
Her enters her coach, enters the castle, and is soon dazed.
Sibylle is seductive, kittenish, fragile, neurotic.

While repressed, one gathers she is also sexual and dangerous.
Ivan, the young gallant, is caught between the eyes, the heaving breasts, and desire to help.
Glacial pace, excessive closeups, yet the ending, inside the music chamber, will linger.
English subtitles = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3356533

Horrors Of The Black Museum - 1959 - 6/10

Hapless Rick is not exactly caught in the middle, but he does suffer a domineering boss and an overly inquisitive, soon to be controlling girlfriend,
What is boiling underneath? Murders, violent, gruesome killings.
No motive, no clues, no evidence.
Scotland Yard is baffled, although best-selling crime writer Bancroft has theories.
Good color for a English film of this time, Michael Gough professional as always.
Plotting is OK, although character reactions grow predictable.

Black Moon - 1934 - 6/10

Juanita, answering the summons of the drums, returns to the family plantation in Haiti.
Where, as a child, she was indoctrinated into the voodoo cult after her parents were massacred.
Steamy tropic film, thick with atmosphere and a backstory of slavery and uprisings.
Fay Wray and Dorothy Burgess solid as loyal secretary and feckless mother.
Pace languishes for modern audiences, and the white master carries a foul taste.
English subtitles = https://subsource.net/subtitle/black-moon-1934/english/10094911

Predators - 2010 - 6/10

Not exactly a remake, more a sidespin with a heavy dose of “Fun And Games” from Outer Limits.
Humans, specialized in killing (not hunting), are air-dropped into hostile territory.
Alert to their situation, they realize they ain’t in Kansas, they are not even on planet Earth.
They are in a “hunting ground” – hunters unknown.
While this echoes the original, combat action overload, the cast are mere sketches.
No do they work as a cohesive team, making outcomes pretty foregone.
A disappointment for me, more so because all the elements for a classic actioner are there.
Save for the script, sloppy and unfocused, because of which the film stumbled.

Lost In Translation - 2003 - 7/10

Film star Bob, his career someplace between a valley and on the skids, is in Tokyo.
Purpose: to make some commercials. (At the time, this was frowned upon and considered bad form. Now, actors will do anything for spare change.)
He bumps in to Charlotte several times, and they form a friendship.
Lonely souls, one questioning his career trajectory, the other wondering about her marriage.
NOT a Hollywood romance. These are similar people, talking and listening.
A muted film of disconnection, quietly foretelling the nature of life in a few years.
Bill Murray and Scarlet Johansson surprisingly good together.

House Of Frankenstein - 1944 - 6/10

After monster cycle peaked, Universal simply piled on the ghouls and stars.
Frankenstein, Wolfman, Dracula, the mad doctor, gypsies, a hunchback.
Plotting madness tries to fit everything together.
The doctor arrives at Castle Frankenstein, revives the “monster” and Larry Talbot.
Things are muffed with an odd romantic triangle, and our doctor is a chronic liar,
One element I noticed as a child, more so now, is how tired several characters are.
Both Dracula and Larry Talbot are weary of living.
A DVD or BluRay could use a remastering, and an audio commentary.

Ostermeier, R - Black Dog

The holiday was forced upon him. Ben preferred structure, not the empty break from routine.
Perhaps the choice was fate, perhaps Ben nursed a contrary streak. His choice of vacation, Oakmotherley was on the coast. It had a maligned reputation, an unhealthy place, and it was also known as Black Dog.

A triplex on the sands, recently renovated for a tourist trade that never materialized.
Quiet enough, though, for Ben Bagwell to work on his etchings and idle time with passersby.
The step toward the Black Dog sect was just a soft turn, a twinge of curiosity, until he found himself knee deep. Accepted.

This is a story that lulls one, tugs at you insistently, until you find yourself in the spell of enlightenment or madness. One way or another, you may never regard grapes the same way.

Suggestion: Prior to reading this, you might want to view “What Artists Do All Day: Norman Ackryod” to get an understanding of the etching process.

Cat People - 1942 - 7/10

Oliver, despite barely knowing Irena (aside that animals hate her, and her warning that she might be descended from evil shapeshifters) proposes marriage.
Such happiness! Until; Oliver fancies a new skirt.
Then the claws come out. Literally.
Early Val Lewton film is textbook on how to film Horror on a budget.
Outstanding use of shadows and minimal jump scares.
For gore-hounds, this relies on your imagination rather than visceral thrills.
If you don’t have one, this won’t be for you.

Teaserama - 1955 - 4/10

Obscure artifact from the era of burlesque.
Strips, skits, shamelessly inept acting.
While one might seek this out for Bettie Page, most of the time is given to Tempest Storm.
The “comedy” runs along the lines of blue humor.
Puns and innuendo that the WWII generation would find howlingly funny.
Curious about what Grandpa found sexy as can be?
Here’s an example. I warned you.

The Outrun - 2024 - 7/10

Rona returns to the Orkney Islands after storming too hard in London.
The drinking, drugs, partying, as she embraces the follies of youth.
What is masked, however, is the family history of depression and bipolar.
And alcohol is a blessed conduit to oblivion, the happiness of negation.
Saoirse Ronan quite good as the troubled Rona.
I wonder if the haphazard editing, meant to jumble chronology, lessened award chances.

Transformations - 1972 - 6/10

The females gather from farm and field.
Enter the woods, dab ceremonial makeup.
Dance, invocations, celebrations, other matters unspoken.
Silent film has a hippie, trippy feel to it.
The coven of white witches in the woodlands.

Starship Troopers: Invasion - 2012 - 6/10

The rescue on asteroid base Fort Casey turns out to be an ambush, with an onslaught of Klendathu bugs.
Suddenly, their ship powers away, stranding the combat teams.
Once sorted, aboard a smaller vessel, they are contacted by General Rico.
Something has gone terribly wrong with the ship that abandoned them.
Their new mission? You got it.
Half decent script here, and this is canon, so perhaps worth a watch to fans of this franchise.
Dated CGI, yet ought to be fine for those who tolerate retro.

The Beekeeper - 2024 - 6/10

The beekeeper’s neighbor is scammed of her pension and savings, as well as a charity.
Her solution, which is frankly mystifying, provokes our “social enforcer” on a path of balance.
The beekeeper is akin to Gort, unstoppable and non-negotiating.
Obstacles? What obstacles? Thrilling while one is immersed.
Afterward, one recognizes the shooter game as tentpole.

The Obscene Mirror - 1973 - 6/10
AKA - Al Otro Lado del Espejo // Inside A Dark Mirror

Mother died early, and Ana was raised by her father.
The pair are close, very close. After she announces her betrothal, he kills himself.
Afterward, she joins a Jazz ensemble and drifts from man to man.
Moody Jess Franco study of a damaged soul.
The surface is sheer gloss, even the rich idlers who drink, sun themselves, do nothing all day.
Underneath, the waters are choppy, although one might never guess from Ana’s placid expression.
Interesting psychological film. If curious, find the Spanish original. French and Italian edits had hardcore added.
English subtitles = https://subsource.net/subtitle/al-otro-lado-del-espejo-1973/english/10091946

Abandoned - 1949 - 6/10

Small town Paula arrives in big bad Lost Angeles looking for her lost sister.
She is soon befriended by a newspaperman, sniffing a story.
As well as a shifty private eye, who had been hired by the lost girl’s father.
The lost girl, they discover, was ensnared in the baby racket.
Selling unwanted infants to the desperate for large money.

So-so Noir one watches just for the actors.
Solid cast includes Dennis O’Keefe, Raymond Burr, Jeff Chandler, Gale Storm.
Yet it is the villains, dominated by Marjorie Rambeau, who hold your interest.
Cool, calculating, cynical, ever prepared, ever greedy.
English subtitles = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3356245

Otley - 1969 - 6/10

Gerald Otley, actually. Deadbeat, sponger, moocher, crashing in friends’ homes, casually stealing objects.
Well and good, although increasingly his requests are rebuffed with a firm “No.”
Until one of those who put him up is murdered.
Otley is wanted for questioning, and several factions hunt him as well.
A comedy, perhaps a spoof of espionage films (tenuous, as best).
Tom Courtney plays the befuddled quarry. He lacks charisma, which aids his ordinariness.
There is a questionable female ally; Romy Schneider, what is she doing in this?
For fans of Brit telly, a slew of faces, most younger that you are familiar with.
Obscure 1960’s gem is fast-paced and silly.