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Reviews
Smilla's Sense of Snow (1997)
A game try, but this film comes up short.
I caught up with this movie on cable recently: the film boasts a good director, Bille August, & a fine lead performance by Julia Ormond. But the premise of the movie proves to be so far-flung & far-fetched as to resemble "The Perils of Pauline". And who cast Robert Loggia in this? A bizarre choice, to be sure. I don't think I could sit through this one again.
Touch of Evil (1958)
a touch of boredom
Although it was interesting to see this "classic" in restored, re-edited form on the big screen, I've got to admit this movie was an endurance test. As in "Citizen Kane", Welles plays with camera angles so much that, after a point, the effect is wasted. Welles' makeup is as laughable as Brando's was in "The Godfather". The penny-plain plot scarcely holds one's interest, & the fulfillment of the director's vision in this new version doesn't seem all that different to me than the studio version I've seen dozens of times on TV. It's no wonder this film ended Welles' career as a director in Hollywood. The film is purely an exercise for high-brows.
Spider Baby or, the Maddest Story Ever Told (1967)
Much ado about nothing.
A slow-moving, nearly-plotless endurance test. Looks as if it was made up as filming progressed. Intended to be funny, it merely bores. Undeserving of its "cult classic" status.
L'avventura (1960)
A fascinating look into the lives of the soulless rich.
A mystery with no answers: a disappearance that's never solved & is ultimately pushed to the background as we view the lives of quiet desperation led by the protagonists. Everyone is beautiful; the vistas are gorgeous. Still, the central characters are clueless as to how to enrich their lives. Even after several viewings, I've not tired of this film. Rewarding if you give it a chance to grow on you.
El ataque de los muertos sin ojos (1973)
Not worth seeing...get it? Not worth seeing....
My first exposure to the Templarios & not a good one. I was excited to find this title among the offerings from Anchor Bay Video, which has brought us other cult classics such as "Spider Baby". The print quality is excellent, but this alone can't hide the fact that the film is deadly dull. There's a thrilling opening sequence in which the villagers exact a terrible revenge on the Templars (& set the whole thing in motion), but everything else in the movie is slow, ponderous &, ultimately, unfulfilling. Adding insult to injury: the movie was dubbed, not subtitled, as promised on the video jacket.
Hexen bis aufs Blut gequält (1970)
A triumph of shrewd advertising, not filmmaking.
The reputation of the film's publicity campaign precedes the film itself: audience members were given barf bags due to the film's "sickening" & "horrifying" violence. I wouldn't go so far as to say that: there is violence, but, it's actually pretty tame: a burning at the stake, some water torture, etc. The "Collector's Edition" recently released by Video Treasures certainly features a fine print, but the film itself is a bore & won't hold up with repeated viewings.