SHE-WOLF OF LONDON (1946). 3.5/10. I enjoyed this film a little more than WEREWOLF OF LONDON as I thought it was kind of creepier...despite figuring out the twist early on in the movie, it was fun to see it unravel. June Lockhart plays Phyllis Allenby, a rich heiress who is planning on marrying Barry Lanfield (Don Porter). She lives on her sizeable estate with her Aunt Martha (Sara Hayden) and cousin Carol (Jan Wiley), but is also spooked by the notion that she could be a werewolf (family curse) after a couple of murders take place in a park close to her home. To find out if she is or is not a werewolf will require you to watch the movie...suffice it to say that not everything is necessarily as it appears to be. The ending is a bit anti-climactic, and June Lockhart is stuck looking scared and staring off into space for most of the film...but, again, I found this story a little more engaging and creepier than other werewolf films before it, even though it is clear very early in the film who the werewolf is.

-Old (2021): 2.5/10





Shyamalan's off his meds again, in a film that recalls the barking-mad eccentric lows of Lady In The Water and The Happening. Split was such a bracing return to form for him that I wondered if it was going to kick off a "Shyamalanaissance", but that film's sequel, Glass, botched both the promise of that and the earlier Unbreakable, and Old is flat-out wretched, but in that distinctive, kooky way that only an M. Night debacle can be. Crammed with his trademark awkward exposition, autistic dialogue and elegantly sinuous camerawork only accentuating how awful the screenplay is, it's something that's truly baffling, padding a concept that would have fueled a decent half-hour Twilight Zone episode into 108 minutes of tedium broken up with shards of unintentionally funny weirdness. I can't really get into specifics without spoiling the funnier moments, but it's almost worth a trip to the theater just to hold in one's giggles of disbelief. A good cast is thoroughly wasted, and one pines for the terse/melodic James Newton Howard score that would have put a polish on this burnished turd.

^^
Shyamalan's been very hit and miss with me. I'm in the minority, being among those who greatly disliked The Sixth Sense. However I was impressed by The Village, and Signs even more so. I thought Unbreakable and the sequel (what was it called again?) were silly, and I turned off The Lady in the Water after twenty minutes.

I think it's safe to say he's mostly "miss" at this point. And you still haven't seen the funniest misfire of them all yet!

Thanks for the review MJ, it gave me several chuckles. Actually the bad reviews for this movie are hilarious to read.

But even so in some weird way we have to be thankful that someone will still bankroll his movies. They can be quite profitable since they're usually not expensive but it's not like he's turning out Marvel receipts. Yet the sheer nature he's still able to make these movies today when that type of film is becoming extinct from theaters is gratifying. And also so he can fall spectacularly on his behind as apparently he does again here!!

AndyDursin wrote: ↑Sat Jul 24, 2021 12:30 am But even so in some weird way we have to be thankful that someone will still bankroll his movies. They can be quite profitable since they're usually not expensive but it's not like he's turning out Marvel receipts. Yet the sheer nature he's still able to make these movies today when that type of film is becoming extinct from theaters is gratifying. And also so he can fall spectacularly on his behind as apparently he does again here!!

Shyamalan is like Tommy Wiseau or Ed Wood with a budget...you know it's gonna be bad, but it's such a unique, impassioned bad that you can't take your eyes off of it. When he's good, he's legit good (Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Split, portions of Glass before the poop-the-bed non-ending ), and when he whiffs (Lady In The Water, The Happening, The Visit, Old), it's HILARIOUSLY misguided. Split, in hindsight, now feels like someone in the grip of degenerative dementia who had a "good day" of unusual clarity before slipping back into his own personal insanity. On one level, that's sad (Split is a damn good thriller with genuine tension, fine acting and a "Big Twist" that honestly came out of nowhere and got me), but on the other...we need more of this kind of swing-for-the-fences weirdness in contemporary cinema. As hilariously bad as Old is, hey, it ain't no bland, corporate-driven superhero movie.

An American In Paris (1951) 5.5 of 10

-Other than the famous 16 minute ballet that I'd seen in "That's Entertainment" I had *never* seen this movie until now. And for the life of me I don't know why everyone insists the Academy got it wrong in 1952 when it's now clear to me they got it wrong the previous year. "Greatest Show On Earth" was IMO a legitimate piece of spectacle but this movie has some great dancing and nothing else going for it. It's certainly no "Singin' In The Rain" which has an interesting plot to wrap its song and dance around and Kelly is MUCH better there than he is here. His Jerry Mulligan character comes off as an obsessive stalker with his sudden fixation on Leslie Caron (who IMO doesn't look the least bit attractive here compared to how she looked seven years later in "Gigi" or in some of her other later films) and frankly I found myself feeling sorry for poor Nina Foch. Foch was never a raving beauty but she never looked better than she does here and if the intent was to make her come off like the kind of character Patricia Neal plays a decade later in "Breakfast At Tiffany's" it didn't work. Kelly shows why he was a great dancer but his character isn't particularly likable. And Oscar Levant, who was great appearing as himself on talk shows and panel shows as the perpetual hypochondriac, demonstrates why he shouldn't be playing a character with lines and it doesn't help that I have to hear an obviously dubbed voice coming out of him in his one number with Kelly (which brings up another complaint of mine which is the absence of any female singing in this film and the fact that the Gershwin songs are all given to male singers which is ridiculous for "S'Wonderful").

FEAR AND DESIRE (1953). 4.5/10. I am happy I finally got to see this film...it was the one Kubrick feature film that has eluded me. Although my fascination with Kubrick has significantly lessened over the years, I will always appreciate his techincal prowess and skill as a filmmaker. This film is interesting to me because it shows how it all started. The film is 60 minutes long and tells the story of four soldiers who are trapped behind enemy lines after their plane crashed. Led by Lt. Korby (Kenneth Harp), this small band tries to make its way through the woods and down a river, back to their side of the line, during a generic nameless war. The film co-stars Frank Silvera as Sgt. Mac, Paul Mazursky as Pvt. Sidney, and Steve Coit as Pvt. Fletcher.

There are several Kubrick-isms in the film from a visual perspective, not the least of which are those close-ups of faces, all of which convey something about the character's emotional state. There are also some creepy shots in the film, like the scene in which Mac's raft wanders downstream to find Fletcher waist deep in the water, moving his hands gently like a fish. In addition, Kubrick's anti-authority theme found in several of his films is found here - the enemy general and captain (interestingly portrayed by Harp and Coit, respectively) are mocked by Fletcher, and Mac is obsessed with a desire to kill him. The score by Gerald Fried is good and adds to the drama (love the use of a woodwind - bassoon, I think - to open the film since the soldiers are lost in the woods). Finally, the film bookends with the same shot tracking from right to left, suggesting the drama portrayed on screen is cyclical, always repeating itself. All in all I enjoyed watching it - it was effective for such a short movie, primitive in a way but interesting to me nonetheless. Kubrick would go on to better things, revisiting and improving upon the techniques and themes found in this movie (for example, PATHS OF GLORY).

Kino Lorber's Blu Ray has the feature film as well as Kubrick's 28 minute documentary THE SEAFARERS.

THE SEAFARERS, by the way, is a union recruitment film for the SIU. The first word that came to mind was 'propaganda'...lol...

THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS (1940). 6/10. Vincent Price plays Sir Geoffrey Radcliff, a man accused of murdering his brother and on Death Row. Just moments before he is taken away to be executed, he is visited by his friend Dr. Frank Griffin (John Sutton) who helps him escape from prison by turning him invisible with a drug called Duocaine (which has the unfortunate side effect of turning a person into a madman). Geoffrey escapes and reunites with his girlfriend Helen (Nan Grey) before having to elude the police. Dr. Griffin (the relative of the original Invisible Man) works feverishly on the antidote before it is too late while Scotland Yard's Inspector Sampson (Cecil Kellaway) is hot on the trail and Geoffrey's cousin Richard Cobb (Cedric Hardwick) hopes to make a move on Helen, among other things.

The filmmakers were wise to once again cast someone in the role of the Invisible Man who had a distinctive and powerful voice - Vincent Price was an inspired choice. This movie had more freedom than the original to make the Invisible Man more of a multi-dimensional character - Geoffrey is a warm hearted, innocent man who succumbs to the effects of the Duocaine, becoming more and more of a monster as he descends deeper and deeper into madness. Price acts it out really well both physically and vocally. The special effects were more advanced in this film - one gets to see a haunting image of the Invisible Man through smoke and rain. The ending is touching as well. All in all I found this to be a much more enjoyable film than the original. And, as an added bonus, Alan Napier is in this film...the best Alfred there ever was!

mkaroly wrote: ↑Wed Jul 28, 2021 5:46 pm FEAR AND DESIRE (1953). 4.5/10. I am happy I finally got to see this film...it was the one Kubrick feature film that has eluded me. Although my fascination with Kubrick has significantly lessened over the years, I will always appreciate his techincal prowess and skill as a filmmaker. This film is interesting to me because it shows how it all started.

I got to attend a screening of Fear and Desire about 12-13 years ago which was introduced by Paul Mazursky, who also did a Q&A afterward.

I think it's an interesting movie as far as being the first narrative effort by one of the most game-changing directors of all time, though a decidedly clunky effort. Kubrick even goofs-up screen direction and eyelines in a couple of places!

That must have been really cool Paul!

THE INVISIBLE WOMAN (1940). 3/10. Virginia Bruce plays Kitty Carroll, a struggling model who, having had as much as she can take from her oppressive boss (Mr. Growley, played by Charles Lane), answers an ad in the paper to take part in an experiment which will make her invisible for a period of time. The name of the scientist running the experiment is Professor Gibbs (John Barrymore) who works for an irresponsible, wealthy lawyer/playboy named Richard Russell (John Howard) who has recently gone broke. Gibbs' experiment is a success, and Kitty is able to "haunt" her boss and improve working conditions at her workplace before becoming visible again. However, things take a turn for the worse when Professor Gibbs makes Kitty invisible again, only to have his machine stolen by thugs whose boss in Mexico (Oskar Homolka) wants the secret of invisiblity for nefarious purposes. Charles Ruggles, Margaret Hamilton, and Shemp Howard all co-star in this screwball science fictiom comedy.

I did like that the movie turned away from darker themes and gave invisibility a comic edge.The problem for me is that I felt like the film tries to be too funny; there are lots of physical gags that seemed forced and silly...like second rate vaudeville. I didn't find the dialogue to be very witty, and Charles Ruggles' George was over-the-top in every way as Richard's frustrated, smarmy butler. His constant fainting in particular wore out its welcome quickly. The movie also makes sure that the viewer knows that Kitty is naked when she is invisible, giving the film a weird, perverted angle to it. Bruce and Barrymore do have a warmth and charm to them, and I enjoyed their banter and companionship on screen. Their voices fit their characters perfectly. However, in the end I laughed maybe a couple of times and I just didn't find it all that funny of a film.

INVISIBLE AGENT (1942). 1.5/10. Frank Raymond Griffin (Jon Hall), a descendant of the Dr. Griffin who discovered the secret of invisibility, is cornered by Axis agents Conrad Stauffer (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) and Baron Ikito (Peter Lorre) and their gang of Nazi thugs in order to get the recipe for invisibility. Griffin escapes and eventually volunteers to turn imvisible and be dropped behind enemy lines to find out the exact date of an Axis powers plan to launch a massive attack on the United States. Once in Berlin he connects with Stauffer's girl Maria (Ilona Massey) who is being pursued by the Nazi loyalist (and opportunist) Karl Heiser (J. Edward Bromberg). Maria, however, might be a double agent, and despite being invisible, Griffin finds that there is danger at every turn. I don't have much to say about this film - it is a goofy film that was one of many films made during World War II that emphasized patriotism, one's duty to one's country, and heroism in the face of great danger, amomg other things. There is a cool special effect in the film where Griffin puts on cold cream so that he can reveal himself to Maria. I thought it was funny that in the title card screen credits the story for this film was "suggested by" HG Wells' THE INVISIBLE MAN...a better title card would have been "based on a character created by" HG Wells. But, it is what it is...I am not a big fan of movies like this, but it was the most successful Invisible Man sequel of them all. Despite knowing its context, it is just too goofy for me.

THE INVISIBLE MAN'S REVENGE (1944). 4/10. Robert Griffin (Jon Hall) escapes from an asylum after killing two people in order to return home and confront his friends Jasper and Irene Herrick (Lester Matthews and Gale Sondergaard). He believes they attempted to kill him in Cape Town in order to prevent him from getting his share of a diamond mine he found. The Herricks deny it, and Griffin is forced out of town. He eventually comes across a doctor (John Carradine) who makes him invisible; Griffin uses his invisibility to get revenge against the Herricks, take away their fortune, and eliminate Mark Foster (Alan Curtis) who is in love with Julie Herrick (Evelyn Ankers)...who Griffin is in love with.

Of all the invisible man films, I think that this one is the darkest. Robert Griffin is a most unsympathetic character, a madman who is utterly convinced that everyone is against him. What little humor there is in the film comes from Herbert Higgins (Leon Errol), Griffin's bumbling sidekick. Special effects-wise, TIMR has a few very cool ones, including a scene with water and a partially transparent Griffin running down a hallway. An interesting twist in this movie occurs with making something visible again that was once invisible - it requires a blood transfusion which results in the donor's death, so this film crosses vampirism with invisibilty. Also, Griffin's comeuppance at the end is very satisfying, though it is a shame that his character is so unlikeable. Not a bad film, but definitely not the best in the series.

Some great reviews Michael, once again I feel compelled to group them into a separate thread!

A number of Universal monster classics are allegedly coming to 4K UHD this fall though I don't think any of them have been confirmed.