Month: February 2019

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)

THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BANZAI ACROSS THE 8TH DIMENSION (1984)
Article 3293 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-3-2010
Posting Date: 8-20-2010
Directed by W.D. Richter
Featuring Peter Weller, John Lithgow, Ellen Barkin
Country: USA
What it is: Self-conscious cult movie

When modern renaissance man Buckaroo Banzai develops an oscillation overthruster that can take him to a dimension in between the atoms of a mountain, he sets into motion a chain of events that could release upon the world and invasion of red Lectroids. A race of black Lectroids, intent on preventing the invasion, threaten to start WWIII if Buckaroo Banzai doesn’t destroy the evil Dr. Lizardo.

This was a deliberate attempt to start a movie franchise, and on that level, it must be considered a failure, as it never did result in the series of sequels that it intended; I hope no one is still waiting for BUCKAROO BANZAI VERSUS THE WORLD CRIME LEAGUE. Why did it fail? It’s not the convoluted and somewhat confusing plot; if the other elements had worked, this would have just given viewers the impetus to rewatch the movie to sort it out. I’m guessing part of the problem was the casting of Peter Weller in the title role; he simply doesn’t project the right level of charisma and likability to make a go of the series. Furthermore, his sidekicks are a dreary bunch; practically all of them are playing in the same low-key laconic mode as Weller plays Banzai, with the result that none of them really becomes an interesting character; a greater amount of variety would have done wonders here, but ultimately the most interesting thing about them is their names and costumes. I suspect Ellen Barkin’s character is supposed to give the movie a bit of depth, but she ends up feeling more like a plot device than a real character, and when the movie turns her attempted suicide into a joke by having it mistaken as an attack on Banzai, the movie only underlines its shallowness. In the end, the movie is stolen by John Lithgow, who opts for a bizarre, manic performance that provides the most consistently enjoyable part of the movie. Other than that, the movie only works in fits and starts, and it is a little disappointing to see Christopher Lloyd stuck with a role that is little more than running joke about his character’s name (John Bigboote). Some recasting and better direction might have saved this one.

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Tarzan and the Trappers (1958)

TARZAN AND THE TRAPPERS (1958)
Article 3292 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-30-2010
Posting Date: 8-19-2010
Directed by Charles F. Haas, Sandy Howard and H. Bruce Humberstone
Featuring Gordon Scott, Eve Brent, Rickie Sorensen
Country: USA
What it is: Tarzan movie

Tarzan must deal with illegal trappers, a safari for a lost city, and a hunter intent on capturing him.

I was tempted to dismiss this one as a Tarzan movie at its most uninspired, but the episodic nature of the movie began to make me suspect that it wasn’t really intended as a movie at all. And, sure enough, it was cobbled together from three episodes of an unsold TV series, though it does look as if the three episodes are at least somewhat related. It’s a pretty humdrum affair all around; the story does little new or interesting with the Tarzan idea, and it all feels rather uncompelling. What I like best is that it keeps the Cheta antics to a minimum (it even allows Cheta to heroically save Jane’s life in one of the opening scenes), and I do rather like the plot idea in which a hunter decides to track down the most dangerous animal in the world (see THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME) in the person of Tarzan, even if the movie makes little use of the idea in the final analysis. The fantastic content is little more than the marginal fantasy content of the Tarzan series. This is not essential Tarzan viewing.

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Spooks! (1953)

SPOOKS! (1953)
Article 3291 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-29-2010
Posting Date: 8-18-2010
Directed by Jules White
Featuring Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard
Country: USA
What it is: Three Stooges short

Three detectives are hired to find a missing girl, and they pose as bakers giving away pies to do it. They encounter the girl in a spooky old house where a mad scientist is planning to put her brain inside the body of a gorilla.

I don’t think this is one of the best of the Stooges’ shorts, but I am taken with the fact that they decided to shoot this one in 3-D and decided to make some fun use of the gimmick. My only wish is that I had seen it in 3-D, but even flat, I can appreciate the comic possibilities of seeing Moe’s two fingers come right out of the screen at my eyes. Choosing the horror theme is a natural as well; we get to see knives, fountain pens, cleavers, and hypodermic needles all come right out at ya, as well as a bat with the face of Shemp. There’s a mad scientist, his ugly assistant, and, of course, the gorilla. And if the idea of detectives going from house to house to give away free pies seems contrived, you’ll quickly figure out why they do this; I mean, what else would you choose as your weapon of choice for the climax of a slapstick comedy?

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Seven Days in May (1964)

SEVEN DAYS IN MAY (1964)
Article 3290 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-27-2010
Posting Date: 8-17-2010
Directed by John Frankenheimer
Featuring Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Fredric March
Country: USA
What it is: Political thriller

The United States is in turmoil after the president signs an unpopular peace treaty with the Soviet Union. An aide to an extremely popular general (who opposes the treaty and has political ambitions) begins stumbling across clues that make him suspect that there may be an attempted military coup to take over the country. What will he do… and will he be believed?

Compared to the other genre movies by John Frankenheimer during this period (to wit, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE and SECONDS), this one is less audacious and certainly less flamboyant. On the other hand, it doesn’t need to be; the subject matter is gripping enough that it doesn’t need extra cinematic prodding, and the straightforward technique combined with the excellent performances from a stellar cast are what make this one fly. I couldn’t help but notice how well the story works as an ensemble; along with those mentioned above, the cast also featues Ava Gardner, Edmond O’Brien, Martin Balsam, Whit Bissell and George Macready, and all of these actors are used just to the extent the story needs them. Just for example, Kirk Douglas dominates the first half of the movie as the driving force behind the plot, but once events move out of his hands, he is used sparingly, meaning that the story is the focus here, not the star power. I couldn’t also help but notice the scarcity of overt violence on the screen, which is very striking for a movie that can be described as a thriller; once again, it is the story that thrills rather than the action sequences. Several of the actors won awards for their performances here, as did Rod Serling for his script based on the novel by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II. The concept of a military polical coup in the U.S. is what makes it political science fiction, though I could understand why some might contest that classification; nevertheless, it’s an excellent and highly recommended movie.

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The Secret of the Whistler (1946)

THE SECRET OF THE WHISTLER (1946)
Article 3289 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-26-2010
Posting Date: 8-16-2010
Directed by George Sherman
Featuring Richard Dix, Leslie Brooks, Michael Duane
Country: USA
What it is: Mystery, Whistler style

An artist, married to an ailing rich woman, becomes enamored with one of his models, and hopes to marry her when his wife passes away. However, when the wife recovers, he finds himself tempted to make sure she has a relapse…

As is often the case with this series, the only fantastic content is the Whistler himself, who is more of a narrator than an actual element of the story. This is one of the weaker entries in the series; it’s very well acted and opts for subtlety over histrionics, but the story itself is a little too ordinary to be really satisfying. There are some striking moments, though; I in particular like the opening scene in which a woman purchases a tombstone… for herself. There’s also a certain irony in the fact that a certain page in a diary would have the effect of both incriminating the husband as well as clearing him. And I do admire the way that the characters are defined by their actions rather than by what they say; we have a good idea of the model’s intentions without her ever having to say them because we see what she’s doing with the knowledge she has. All in all, the Whistler series was very well done, and even at its weakest, it has its points of interest.

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Village of Eight Gravestones (1977)

VILLAGE OF EIGHT GRAVESTONES (1977)
aka Yatsuhaka-mura
Article 3288 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-26-2010
Posting Date: 8-15-2010
Directed by Yoshitaro Nomura
Featuring Kenichi Hagiwara, Mayumi Ogawa, Tsutomu Yamazakie
Country: Japan
What it is: Supernatural revenge mystery

When an orphan discovers he is the heir to a rich family in a small village, he goes to the village to meet the family. But family members start dying one by one, and he discovers that the village lives under a curse; years ago, eight fugitive warriors were betrayed and slaughtered by the villagers for money, and one of the warriors cursed the village previous to his death. The curse has manifested itself several times over the years… and may be returning again.

Due to events I won’t go into here, I was unable to watch this movie in one sitting, and there was a gap of about a month between my watching the first half of the movie and the second half. Perhaps this was a plus for me; had I watched it all at once, its two-and-a-half-hour running time might well have worn me out, and I notice on IMDB that some of the negative reaction to it is tied to its length. As it is, I found that when I watched the second part, I was still able to recall enough of the first part to keep me from getting lost, and it was still strong enough in my memory that I was able to appreciate the way one of the final scenes in the movie matched one of the first scenes in the movie. I found it a successful merging of mystery and supernatural horror, which doesn’t happen very often; usually, the addition of a mystery element has the effect of negating the fantastic elements of a movie, but that’s not the case here. The fantastic elements revolve around the curse, while the mystery surrounds the manifestation of the curse; there must be a human element in the cause of the deaths, and though the villagers blame the newcomer, we soon learn that there is a real question about his true parentage. It’s a complex, fascinating movie that manages to satisfy as both genres; I was quite impressed by it all. Still, that length may well prove daunting for a single sitting, so I’d recommend taking a break after the first hour or so.

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Passport to Pimlico (1949)

PASSPORT TO PIMLICO (1949)
Article 3287 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-24-2010
Posting Date: 8-14-2010
Directed by Henry Cornelius
Featuring Stanley Holloway, Betty Warren, Barbara Murray
Country: UK
What it is: Political science fiction comedy

When a bomb is actually set off in the small community of Pimlico in London, it uncovers treasure as well as documentation attesting to the fact that the area in question actually belongs to the country of Burgundy. When the residents realize that this status as a foreign territory relieves them of adherence to some of the more annoying British laws, they decide to stand by their rights to be Burgundians rather than Britons, a move that starts an escalating chain of events as Britain and Pimlico must come to terms with each other.

When I saw this movie many years ago, it never occurred to me that it could be interpreted as science fiction, and I could understand why some might argue that it doesn’t belong. However, it is speculative political fiction, and it’s very intelligently done as well; it explores the whole world of foreign relations with the twist that the foreigners are practically next door. The movie has a great ensemble cast, and watching the various events unfold (the installation of customs stations, the arrival of an heir to the Burgundian crown, the “closing of the frontiers” in an attempt to force the residents to evacuate, etc.) is fascinating. This comedy becomes even more charming as it goes along, with the scene where three children pioneer a method of saving the Burgundians from starvation a particular high point. This is one movie that is worth rewatching.

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Operation Counterspy (1966)

OPERATION COUNTERSPY (1966)
aka Asso di picche operazione controspionaggio
Article 3286 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-23-2010
Posting Date: 8-13-2010
Directed by Nick Nostro
Featuring George Ardisson, Helene Chanel, Lena von Martens
Country: Italy / Spain / France
What it is: Spyghetti

A secret agent impersonates a safecracker to get secrets of importance to national security. The secrets turn out to be photographs from various cities, but enemy agents will kill to get them. What is their significance?

Though the enigma of the photographs is of mild interest, once the enigma is solved at about the halfway point, the movie settles down into what it primarily is – a not-particularly-inspired imitation of the Bond movies. Most of the fantastic content comes towards the end of the movie when we reach a secret underground laboratory in which a madman plots to… but that would be giving too much away, even if it isn’t all that impressive to begin with. The most interesting characters are the spies’ boss and assistant. There’s the usual assortment of beautiful women. If this is right up your alley, go for it; if not, there’s nothing special here.

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The One-Eyed Soldiers (1966)

THE ONE-EYED SOLDIERS (1966)
Article 3285 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-22-2010
Posting Date: 8-12-2010
Directed by John Ainsworth
Featuring Dale Robertson, Luciana Paluzzi, Guy Deghy
Country: Yugoslavia / Italy / UK / USA
What it is: Offbeat crime thriller

When a UN medical representative falls to his death eluding pursuers, his dying words refer cryptically to “one eyed soldiers”. Several people are interested in the meaning of this comment – a newspaper reporter, the dead man’s beautiful daughter, a fat man who poses as an undertaker, a police inspector… and a crime syndicate headed by a vicious dwarf.

Mill Creek used to put out movie megapacks, which were basically very affordable DVD packages of 50 movies each, and, having a weakness for such things, I bought all of them they produced, irrespective of whether they belonged to the genres I was covering. This occasionally proved very helpful, as a movie I would otherwise have to hunt down was sitting on one of these sets. I found this one in the “Gunslingers” collection.

Now, I don’t know about you, but to me, the word “gunslingers” implies westerns, and the blurb on the set pretty much backs this up. However, this movie is anything but a western; it’s set in a border town in an unnamed Central European country in modern times, a decidedly unwestern milieu. There’s gunplay, all right, but that’s about the only reason I can see for the movie’s anomalous inclusion on this set. Furthermore, it’s pretty marginal in terms of any fantastic content; there’s some touches of horror in that part of the setting involves tombs and catacombs, we have a dwarf and an ugly mute, and there’s a scene where a woman faints when she sees a body rise from its casket (though we audience members know all along that the man in the coffin is very much alive). These are very slight touches, to be sure, so it no more belongs to the fantastic genres than the western one.

On its own terms, I found it muddled but enjoyable. My main enjoyment came from Guy Deghy, who plays the fat man; he appears to be channeling Sydney Greenstreet, and he’s given priceless dialogue to match. I suspect he’s also in a dual role, as I see no credit on IMDB for an actress playing the fat woman who the police mistake for the fat man in drag, since she bears an uncanny resemblance to him. The story is a bizarre crime thriller, hardly believable but entertaining enough in its own way.

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The Monster of Highgate Ponds (1961)

THE MONSTER OF HIGHGATE PONDS (1961)
Article 3284 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-21-2010
Posting Date: 8-11-2010
Directed by Alberto Cavalcanti
Featuring Roy Vicente, Ronald Howard, Rachel Clay
Country: UK
What it is: Children’s monster movie

Three children raise a monster hatched from an egg.

This needs to be said, so let’s just get it out of the way; this movie is lame. It’s also sincere, harmless, unpretentious, short, and uses some stop motion animation during several short sequences. And, as a kid who grew up loving monsters, I find it hard to dislike any movie about children having a chance to raise a monster, no matter how lame it is. So, rather than condemning it for not being better than it is, I’ll let it go on behalf of its simple low-budget charm. I just wish the comic bits were funnier.

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