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The Intruder (1977)

THE INTRUDER (1977)
aka LES PASSAGERS
Article 2112 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 12-27-2006
Posting Date: 5-25-2007
Directed by Serge Leroy
Featuring Jean-Louis Trintignant, Mireille Darc, Bernard Fresson

A man driving to Paris with his stepson finds himself being tailed by a psychopathic killer in a black van.

Before my commentary on this movie, let me begin by quoting verbatim the quotes on the back of the VHS copy of this movie that I obtained.

“…a very good suspense thriller…creditable acting, and tight direction all help to make this film a cut above most…” – Geoffrey Marks, Austin Citizen

“…a film of considerable – if not really maximum – suspense.” – Ellen Pfeifer, Boston Herald American

Now, these comments are by no means uncomplimentary. The problem is that the quotes on the back of the box for a copy of a movie are usually the ones that offer the highest praise and promise the most fun and excitement for the viewer. Both of these are rather blase – “creditable” acting isn’t “great” acting, and why would you choose a movie that offers “considerable” suspense over one that offers “maximum” suspense? These quotes almost encourage you to check out some of the other product for something better, and that’s not really the best way to sell a movie. Even cutting out the “if not really maximum” part of the quote would improve things.

As for the movie itself, I think it lives up to those quotes. It’s a decent enough movie, but it could have been a lot better. I think its main problem is that it fumbles its mystery elements. I get the impression that we’re supposed to be as puzzled by the motivations of the stranger in the van as the man and his stepson are, but I found the identity of the van driver and his reasons for pursuing the car were obvious. It would have been far better to keep the van driver out of the story until the very end, so we would puzzle over how he managed to keep on his prey’s trail the whole time. This is one of the reasons the movie never attains “maximum” suspense. Outside of that, I like the appearance of Adolfo Celi as a police inspector, and I don’t care much for the kid (who is one of those precocious sorts that get rather annoying on occasion). Still, it does strike me as a not-as-effective clone of DUEL.

 

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The Gypsy Moon (1956)

THE GYPSY MOON (1956)
aka Rocky’s Odyssey
Article 1890 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-18-2006
Posting Date: 10-15-2006
Directed by Hollingsworth Morse
Featuring Richard Crane, Scotty Beckett, Sally Mansfield

Rocky Jones encounter a pair of wandering moons which share the same atmosphere, Posita and Negata. He is taken prisoner on Posita, where an attempt is made by the ruler to force him to destroy the moon of Negata, which is inhabited by siren-like creatures.

For the second day in a row we are being mooned by Rocky Jones. Actually, it’s possible to watch five of these Rocky Jones movies with moon in the title; besides this one and THE FORBIDDEN MOON , we also have THE MAGNETIC MOON, BEYOND THE MOON and CRASH OF MOONS . Fans of the latter story may find this one interesting, as it introduces the moon of Posita and the character of Bovaro, played by John Banner of “Hogan’s Heroes” fame. This is one of the strangest of the Rocky Jones series; it is consciously modeled off of Homer’s “The Odyssey” (though, in truth, the Trojan horse story which comes into play at one point does not appear in that work). The sequence on Negata is particularly surreal, and once again I admire the special effects work that went into this series; it wasn’t necessarily convincing, but it was interesting to look at. It’s also one of the more exciting episodes, though it is also quite confusing at times. Oddly enough, this is the first movie I’ve covered that does not have a listing on IMDB, and I thought it would turn out to be that this was one of those Rocky Jones episodes that wasn’t converted to movie form. Having seen it, though, I can say otherwise; the original Rocky Jones episodes for this one were titled “Rocky’s Odyssey”.

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The Vengeance of She (1968)

THE VENGEANCE OF SHE (1968)
Article 1851 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-9-2006
Posting Date: 9-6-2006
Directed by Cliff Owen
Featuring John Richardson, Olga Schoberova, Edward Judd

A woman finds himself being called to the lost city of Kuma. She is under the power of a high-priest who is using her resemblance to Ayesha to trick the leader Killikrates into giving him immortal life.

Olga Schoberova is stunningly beautiful and the sets and scenery are quite lovely. Still, these aspects of the movie add up to little more than eye candy, and given that Schoberova wasn’t much of an actress, that the movie is noticeably short of the star power that helped the original (no Ursula Andress, no Peter Cushing, no Christopher Lee), that the script is largely just a retread of the original with a few details changed and moved around, and that the script is a bore, you really have to be an eye candy fan to make this one fly. Most of the soundtrack is built around a saxophone riff that is actually quite nice until the movie repeats it for the umpty-ninth time. Oddly enough, the movie got a ‘G” rating despite the amount of skin that Schoberova puts on display throughout the movie.

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Psychic Killer (1975)

PSYCHIC KILLER (1975)
Article 1821 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-10-2006
Posting Date: 8-7-2006
Directed by Ray Danton
Featuring Paul Burke, Jim Hutton, Julie Adams

A man who has been unjustly sent to a mental institution for murder discovers the secret of astral projection. When he is released, he uses the power to cause the deaths of those who wronged him.

This movie has an promising premise (murder by astral projection), an interesting cast (which features Jim Hutton, Julie Adams, Neville Brand, Rod Cameron and Whit Bissell), and poses an intriguing question; even if the police know who is guilty of the bizarre and seemingly accidental deaths that have occurred, how can they prove it? The first part of the movie at the mental institution is the best part; unfortunately, once the inmate is released and the deaths begin, the movie takes a nosedive. Its main problem is the way it handles the murders. Though I understand the reasoning behind making each of the victims an unpleasant character so that the viewer is glad to see them offed, this movie makes them so over-the-top in their unpleasantness that the movie turns inadvertently comic during the scary scenes, and since the rest of the movie is taking itself rather seriously, it undermines the movie’s impact. Some of the dialogue is quite bad as well, and the police figure out the culprit far too easily. Ultimately, it’s a failure, but not an uninteresting one.

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The Red Shoes (1948)

THE RED SHOES (1948)
Article #1596 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-28-2005
Posting Date: 12-25-2005
Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Featuring Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring, Moira Shearer

A young ballet dancer and an aspiring music composer fall in love against the wishes of a dictatorial ballet impressario.

The fantastic element in this movie isn’t contained in the above plot description, and in some ways, it’s not part of the main plot. It is present within the central ballet of the film, which is based on a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale about some red dancing shoes which take possession of the wearers and causes them to dance until they drop dead. This ballet sequence is in the middle of the film, and it is brilliant; despite the fact that the movie introduces it as a work being performed on stage, it is a purely cinematic piece, with special effects and transitions which are only possible through the movie medium. It is also a richly fantastic piece, and even touches upon horror at one point as the dancer encounters some grotesque night creatures. This sequence is definitely the high point of the film.

In truth, though, it can’t be said that the ballet has nothing to do with the main picture; rather, it serves as a metaphor for the three characters who make up the romantic/artistic triangle plot that drives the movie. The plot itself is usually the stuff of soap opera and women’s movies, and would hold little interest for me if it weren’t in the hands of the brilliant directing team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. They transform this story into a transcendent and incredibly moving story of a woman who is forced to make an impossible choice between love and art, both of which are demanding (in the form of the two men in her life) total commitment to one at the expense of the other. The climax of the movie is unforgettable and includes a short reprise of the ballet, only with one significant change. The performances are uniformly excellent, with special kudos going to Moira Shearer as the ballerina and Anton Walbrook as the impresario.

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Return of the Frog (1938)

RETURN OF THE FROG (1938)
(a.k.a. NOBODY’S HOME)
Article #1395 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 1-8-2005
Posting Date: 6-7-2005
Directed by Maurice Elvey
Featuring Gordon Harker, Hartley Power, Rene Ray

Inspector Elk from Scotland Yard is called back from a fishing trip to investigate reports of further crimes being perpetrated by criminal known as the Frog.

When a title has the word “return” in it, you’re most likely watching a sequel of some other movie. That’s the case with this one; it’s a sequel to a 1936 movie called THE FROG, which wasn’t listed in the reference work where I came up with this title. I suspect that the earlier movie has no fantastic content, which wouldn’t surprise me, as the fantastic content in this one (science fiction content involving an early form of television, and very meager horror content with the concept of a criminal cult of sorts) is slight. On the plus side, this movie is well-acted, is full of amusing one-liners, and features Una O’Connor. On the minus side, the plot is confusing and it feels alternately rushed and dull. I get the feeling they were trying to shoehorn too much story into its 73 minute running time, and as a result, it feels cramped and doesn’t flow well. It’s based on a story by Edgar Wallace, and would be remade in the early sixties as THE INN ON THE RIVER.

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The Frozen Dead (1966)

THE FROZEN DEAD (1966)
Article #1162 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-20-2001
Posting Date: 10-17-2004
Directed by Herbert J. Leder
Featuring Dana Andrews, Anna Palk, Philip Gilbert

A Nazi scientist needs a brain in order to test his experiments with which he hopes to revive 1500 frozen elite Nazi officials.

It seems positively perverse to me that this glum, turgid movie doesn’t have the word “brain” in the title; after all, its plot plays like a cross between DONOVAN’S BRAIN, THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN’T DIE , and THEY SAVED HITLER’S BRAIN. Unfortunately, the movie is a little closer in quality to the latter two than to the former, and even at that, it lacks somewhat the chutzpah that make those two fairly memorable. Dana Andrews does all he can to keep his dignity throughout; but he’s a long way here from NIGHT OF THE DEMON. The real villain here is his assistant, Karl who (like his namesake in BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, another movie that deals at least partially in brains) is not only homicidally proactive but dumb as a keg of neck bolts as well; he claims he’s doing it out of loyalty to the party, which just goes to show the dangers of blind adherence to party platform. It’s all in the cause of reviving frozen elite Nazi party members, most of whom are in Germany but the rest are scattered around the globe (so check your refrigerator). So far, his attempts at revival have resulted in a basement full of subhuman idiots (like the basement in Dr. Cadman’s castle in THE BLACK SLEEP, who got that way from operations on their – you guessed it – brains). And this isn’t even mentioning the wall of arms, which reminds me of a similar wall in Cocteau’s BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (a movie that has nothing to do with brains, but whose title is remarkably similar to that of THE LADY AND THE MONSTER, an early version of DONOVAN’S BRAIN).

Suggested retitling: I’VE GOT BRAINS ON MY BRAIN AND IT’S HURTING MY BRAIN.

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Sherlock Holmes (1932)

SHERLOCK HOLMES (1932)
Article #1057 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 2-5-2004
Posting Date: 7-4-2004
Directed by William K. Howard
Featuring Clive Brook, Miriam Jordan, Ernest Torrence

Sherlock Holmes must track down his old enemy Moriarty to prevent him from taking revenge on those who sent him to prison and beginning a new crime wave.

This Sherlock Holmes movie takes several risks with the character; it takes place in modern times, Holmes is given a girlfriend, and at one point he dresses up as a little old lady in one of his disguises. Fortunately, the movie itself is so witty that the only problem I have is with the girlfriend. I even forgive a longish sequence which gets away from the main story and concentrates on a tavern owner who finds himself the target of a protection racket, largely because the stoic stiff-upper-lip attitude of the character results in one of the funniest scenes in the movie. Ernest Torrence is a great Moriarty; he is definitely one of the best I’ve seen in the role. Clive Brook plays Holmes, and Reginal Owens plays Dr. Watson; Owens would go on to play Holmes himself in the next year’s A STUDY IN SCARLET. Overall, this is a fun if occasionally bizarre take on the story, what with the subplot of Moriarty trying to adopt the methods of the American gangsters in his plots. However, the fantastic elements are fairly nonexistent, so it really only belongs marginally to the covered genres here.

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Dick Tracy vs Crime Inc. (1941)

DICK TRACY VS. CRIME INC. (1941)
Article #1056 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 2-4-2004
Posting Date: 7-3-2004
Directed by John English and William Witney
Featuring Ralph Byrd, Michael Owen, Jan Wiley

Dick Tracy tries to discover the identity of a criminal called The Ghost who is doing away with members of a city crime council.

There are four Dick Tracy serials in this series; I’ve covered the first two (DICK TRACY, DICK TRACY RETURNS) but have yet to see the third. This, the fourth, dispenses with Mike McGurk and Junior, and you know, I don’t miss them a bit. For one thing, the villain in this one has the power to turn invisible, giving the movie a much stronger science fiction element, and also giving Tracy his most interesting foe. The opening cliffhanger is a doozy, but I would expect that of any cliffhanger that borrowed footage from DELUGE. In fact, there seems to be quite a bit of borrowed footage; several of the action sequences seem awfully familiar, and there are some recognizable moments from the other Tracy serials. Still, I’d rather have it do that than borrow footage from itself for one of those “remember-when-we-started-on-this-case” reminiscences that pop up in these serials occasionally. Incidentally, I thought episode six did an exemplary job of pacing its non-stop action, and the final fight scene is done in negative photography, which makes it a lot of fun. I definitely prefer this to the two others that I’ve seen of the series.

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Shadow of Terror (1945)

SHADOW OF TERROR (1945)
Article #1055 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 2-3-2004
Posting Date: 7-2-2004
Directed by Lew Landers
Featuring Richard Fraser, Grace Gillern Albertson, Cy Kendall

A scientist develops amnesia after being thrown from a train, and tries to recover in a small western town. Unfortunately, crooks aren’t finished with him yet…

Could this be the first atomic bomb movie? It’s your basic poverty row thriller with the prize at stake being the possession of the secret to the atomic bomb. Historically, it’s pretty silly in concept, but if you take it on its own terms, it’s not too bad. It’s got some tense moments, a truly nasty villain, and something you don’t often find in movies in this series; an honest-to-goodness colorful toothless western sidekick played by Emmett Lynn. Now I know that the desert is a place where many A-bombs were tested, and it’s also a place where you’re apt to find colorful western sidekicks, but this is the first time I’ve ever seen them together in the same movie. At any rate, I will have to admit that I have an inordinate fondness for western sidekicks, and I would love to have been one. However, I do think I would have opted to keep my teeth.

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