potshotk's Reviews

Terror Is a Man (1959)

8/10

7 January 2008

The high impact scenes -- the cat creature breaking loose after being tortured by the Igor-like assistant and being set ablaze; the creature strapped to a gurney, tortuously attempting to learn the word "man" and the climactic action -- more than make up for the dreary domestic drama.

This movie scared the hell out of me when I was nine and it can still work some real magic. The sympathy you feel for the panther man is evoked with real skill.

It's so sad that this film's legacy became the awful Dr. Lorca and John Ashley Blood Island movies.

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Traveller (1997)

7/10

If you're interested in the Travelers...

7 December 2007

...you'll do far better enjoying Guy Ritchie's "Snatch" in which Brad Pitt's Mickey brings that entire Celtic sub-culture to near preternatural perfection. It's also a much better movie. I feel that Traveler wastes so much of its potential impact with lame ripoff schemes and a confusing sense of who and what the Travelers actually are. Also, setting it in America is like setting a movie about Eskimo life (not that I'm comparing Travelers to Alaskan natives by any means) in New Orleans.

North Carolina?

Paxton and Marky Mark are talented performers but this film, while certainly watchable, doesn't really seem to get to the point.

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The Wicked Lady (1983)

4/10

Okay, okay...

7 January 2006

...so the original was better.

Quite a lot better. Given all the slop they throw onto DVD it's hard to believe you can't even get the original on videotape!

But when the rubber meets the road, the Sirtas Vs Dunaway Pillsbury Whip-Off is the only interesting bit of directing Michael Loser will likely ever produce and you all know it.

Otherwise, I'd say it has as much to do with the original 1945 version as, say, "That Forsythe Woman" has to do with the brilliant Galsworthy 1970s miniseries, "The Forsythe Saga."

In any case, this movie is certain to be much better on DVD because you'll be able to scan directly to that scene.

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Hoodlum (1997)

8/10

Why isn't this film famous?

19 September 2005

Compare Tim Roth's Dutch to Dustin Hoffman's version in "Billy Bathgate" and if you know anything about the actual characters, you'll realize that Hoffman came closer to channeling Lenny Bruce (who he missed by several off-ramps) than he did Fleggenheimer. Roth is unbelievable in this role, capturing the essence of this psychopathic gangster with a performance so real it practically burns down the screen, especially in a death scene that blows away every other slow death scene in any other gangster movie.

Andy Garcia, meanwhile, was clearly born to portray no one more so than that dapper pimp, Charlie Lucky.

This film is worth buying for dialog that is so hot, so authentic, you'll hear the genesis of what we assume is "modern" black slang. Sure the montage shot is almost a joke, as are all the other corny film devices, but they handle exposition efficiently in a film you'll enjoy more for Roth's oh-so-casual shooting of an accountant than you will for the story of Madame Queen (indeed the weakest performance and worst scripting in the film -- this woman isn't made of iron, she's made of mush).

Btw, this might have been Latifah's first major film and she's definitely memorable.

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The Return of the Vampire (1943)

9/10

Talking Werewolves Rule!

17 February 2005

Warning: Spoilers

So many great touches in this movie, from the means by which the Dracula surrogate Tesla is "unearthed" (by means of a German bomb during WW2!) to the inventive use of an articulate werewolf (masterfully portrayed by character actor Matt Willis) as Tesla's Renfield.

I'd love to see a "director's cut" of this film because obviously a whole lot of backstory wound up littering the floor. Clearly Tesla preyed upon the same family a mere generation earlier (why doesn't Lady Jane recognize him, for heaven's sake?) and they managed to stake him and bury him. Clearly, he would have remained interred but for the intervention of Herman G and the Luftwaffe.

The werewolf, Andreas, was "cured" following Tesla's temporary demise and has not gone werewolf in all that time. Lady Jane, as played by Nina Foch, is so holier-than-thou she actually gets a halo effect in some scenes. She's also capable of saving Andreas' soul -- but only as long as Tesla's off-stage.

The reunion between Tesla and Andreas upon the former's revival looks like a newly-clean crack addict being picked up by his connection as he leaves Rehab Mountain and he's ready to puff! The soul that Lady Jane is so certain she has cleansed proves weaker than O'Doul's "beer". Instantly, he's burbling: "The master's back! The master's back!" He instantly sets off on a mission of murder and even returns with the dead man's effects (the oft-referenced "laundry package") so Tesla can do an identity theft.

Great Scene Alert: Tesla is advancing on Lady Jane, her back to him playing an organ, the nape of her neck exposed. Then, suddenly, she jerks away the sheet music to reveal that she bought the Hammond Organ model that comes with a built-in illuminated crucifix.

SPOILER ALERT: By the end, of course, goodness triumphs. The decomp scene with Tesla is great stuff and the look of innocence on Andreas' face ("He found his soul at last.") is really well done.

There are also the obligatory London bobby scenes, including the constable turning to the camera and addressing the audience in order to crap all over the end of an other wise excellent film.

See this one.

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Angels in America (2003)

Angelpoop

12 September 2004

Okay, you take "Citizen Cohn" (in which James Woods delivers a far more nuanced and less hystrionic portrayal of one of the most morally deficient men of the 20th Century than Pacino), stir in some of "The Band Played On" or just about any other movie or TV drama about someone with AIDS and follow just a pinch of "Dogma" and you've got the recipe Nichols apparently followed in his oft-embarrassing attempt to bring this Serious Stage Drama to the Silver Screen. Some slick acting, but the big names are all relying on well-worn riffs from their closet of tricks (Pacino has done his Cohn character in half a dozen other films) while the sfx are just... confusing, like something from Harryhausen's "Clash of the Titans" inserted into a Very Special Episode of "Judging Amy".

If you only see one bloated, dated mini-series on the various HBO rerun channels this year, believe me, there are better choices.

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She Creature (2001 TV Movie)

Another Mermaid Movie

1 May 2004

The Mermaid Chronicles was an interesting idea, but releasing this on its own under the "She Creature" title probably confused more people than it enticed. This film is about as far from the Corman original as one can get.

Good production values and until the faux-Aliens ending I was quite caught up in it.

But most posters seem to feel that "Splash" was the only other mermaid movie ever made. If you enjoyed this, check out the old Curtis Harrington film, "Night Tide" starring Dennis Hopper. Both films share a creepy quality on a low budget ambiance and both use a carnival sideshow and a "captive" mermaid as central plot devices.

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Dance Hall Racket (1953)

Lenny the Actor

22 September 2003

As a devoted fan of Lenny Bruce, I've wanted to see this film for years and if, like me, you're prepared to experience a level of filmmaking that makes Ed Wood look like Orson Wells, you will not be disappointed.

This jaw dropping bit of cinematic excrement features Lenny's stripper wife, Honey Bruce (whose over-the-top make up suggests that she was preparing to audition for Susan Cabot's role in "The Wasp Woman") as a B-Girl and Lenny as the tough guy enforcer for the gangster bar owner. Watch for the scene where Lenny "kills" a guy who pulls Honey's hair by delivering the lamest looking judo chop in cinema history. Watch Lenny hitch up his collar and snap his fingers like a juvenile delinquent in a Jerry Lewis movie.

Timothy Farrel recreates his role as Umberto Scalli from the infamous "Pin-Down Girls" (aka "Racket Girls") and the scene where he and Bruce (who gets the blame/credit for the screenplay, as well) "rough up" a B-girl who's stealing from them will split your sides.

Among the great psychotronic films of all time. Every bit as bad/good as "Robot Monster".

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Maniac Cop 2 (1990)

Seeing Double

20 September 2003

It's always a strange experience when you see the sequel before the original. I caught MC2 on cable one night and was transfixed. The scene where Cordell (great name!) smashes lightbulb after lightbulb as he walks through the underpass is tremendous -- in fact, virtually every scene that sets out to scare you is genuinely chilling (it helped that I lived in NYC at the time).

The relationship between Cordell and the serial killer is fascinating (reminiscent of the Frankenstein monster-Ygor odd couple in "Son of Frankenstein" and "Ghost of Frankenstien"). Finally, the station house massacre is a great low-budget homage to/ripoff of The Terminator's similar scene.

Anyway, I finally got to see the original a couple of years later and found it a great disappointment. But then, I saw "Dr Phibes Rises Again" first and then missed the high camp element when I later caught the original "Abominable Dr. Phibes".

In an interview about a decade ago, Lustig talked about casting Z'Dar. Lustig had seen the massive actor in "The Night Stalker" and was totally creeped out by him. Lustig recalled he was actually scared to death during the early stages of their first meeting.

Amazing that they chose Z'Dar, of all people, to replace Roddy Piper when they did the sequel to "Hell Comes to Frogtown"!

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Face of Fire (1959)

Haunting Image

12 July 2003

Though the film would have been even more profound had they used the African-American version of Monk (as in the Stephen Crane short story, "The Monster"), Whitmore proves himself among the most neglected character actors in film history as the hideously scarred handyman. Band's direction is poignant -- as is the heartbreaking image of Monk, in his straw boater with black veil attached, showing up for a "date" with his freaked out girlfriend. Along with "Battleground" and "Them!" this is among Whitmore's most memorable work.

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Privilege (1967)

Inspired by and Inspired...

1 July 2003

As mentioned by another user, this film was clearly inspired by the b&w short subject, "Lonely Boy," including several scenes (such as the press conference) where entire snatches of dialogue from the short were integrated into the script.

The songs were quite memorable, including, as I recall, two versions of the title theme ("It's an honor to see me, an honor to free me, an honor to have that privilege...") as well as rocked up versions of "Onward, Christian Soldiers!" and "Jerusalem." And the climatic night time concert sequence was quite compelling -- and very Nuremburg Rally.

Finally, this rather intellectual British art film was basically remade in '68 in the dumbed down American film, "Wild in the Streets".

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