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.
Business Ideas - 2024 - 5/10
Initial comedy from a fledgling playwright. Escapades in the local coffee shop.
While the put-upon barista deals with misfit customers, a mother / daughter pair concoct business ideas.
Patrons are caricatures and knockoffs of Seinfield or Sedaris.
While the mother-daughter serve as interludes for costume changes, they are grating, their proposals moronic.
At best, this is an outsider attempt. One wonders if the author ever worked retail.
(I’ve scribbled 200+ work stories of customers and coworkers. This author has no perception of retail.)
Fist Of Death - 1981 - 3/10
AKA - El Puño de la Muerte
Twin sisters, one good, one evil, clash over the cosmic stone of power!
One heals the lame and the blind, while the other wants to annihilate the world.
Of course, the wicked one steals it.
What to do? Why, summon Santo telepathically.
Wait! There is Jungle Girl too, with her wolves (German shepherds).
Never mind, she is going to marry the Chinese prince. Until her Wickedness kidnaps her!
This winner is laughably bad, yet not so-bad it’s-good.
No, the bulk of it is padded footage. Either dancing, or folks schlepping from one place to another.
Only reason to view this is Grace Renat and her stupendous twin pair of … as twins.
Parts filmed in Florida (Alabama Jack’s boat), gators, Coral Castle (last mentioned in Nude On The Moon).
Note: Zelda and I visited Coral Castle around this time. No sighting of Grace Renat, alas.
Double Door - 1934 - 6/10
Even though it was just downstairs, Aunt Victoria disregarded the wedding.
She had hated her nephew’s gold-digging girlfriend from the onset.
Nor was she accustomed to not getting her way.
Victoria was the spiteful, hateful, abusive force in the gloomy family.
Her sister, terrified of her. The nephew, spineless.
As for the new bride, Victoria bided her time.
Old-fashioned chiller, full bore Gothic. Fabulous, stark photography.
Clark, Simon - Vampyrrhic
Responding to the invite from his aged, yet vigorous, uncle, David returns to the childhood home of Leppington.
The town’s fortune was built on the huge slaughterhouse, owned by the Leppington family (including David Leppington) for generations.
Events are stirring underneath, with dark events and whispered claims swirling madly.
The hotel proprietress resembles a Goth movie presenter. One guest is transfixed by video cassettes of the locked cellar. More? How about a thuggish employee who can read minds?
Then there is Thor. You know, the “if I had a hammer” god. And Thor has an ungodly army!
Kitchen sink horror, meaning any and everything our author could dream up is mixed in.
Long, extremely fast moving, a diverting page turner.
One of those titles I bought years ago for old age reading.
My limited edition (of 1000) is signed with what resembles a donkey doodle.
The General’s Mustache - 1968 - 6/10
AKA - Janggun-ui Suyeom // 장군의 수염
Cheol-hun is dead, police have to decide between suicide and murder.
Painter, photographer, lately novelist, although he hasn’t got beyond the title (see above).
Describing the plot to others, they decide his story is akin to a comic.
There are conflicting testimonies from neighbors and coworkers.
Police also speculate, and toss up various theories.
Gradually, however, they zero in on his live-in girlfriend, Sin-hye.
Cheol lived in a fantasy world, she said, and was a thirty-year-old child.
The plot, like the dead man, is an enigma. There is a back history of the Korean War.
Slow, talky, a puzzle that reorganizes itself throughout.