March Film Highlights

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The Woman in Black (2012) Daniel Radcliffe, Ciaran Hinds, Janet McTeer, Sophie Stuckey, Liz White. Dir: James Watkins.

A lawyer is dispatched to an isolated mansion feared haunted by the locals. Play worked because of carefully built and sustained dread; at one point this adaptation has Radcliffe race into a burning building. Added periodic shocks suggest little faith in the source material, or the audience. Some effective sequences.

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The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976) Ben Gazzara, Timothy Agoglia Carey, Seymour Cassel, Azizi Johari, Robert Phillips, Morgan Woodward. Dir: John Cassavetes.

A strip club owner becomes indebted to gangsters who will clear his debt if he murders a bookie. Backstreet cinema-verite character study, which asks how far you’d go to protect your world. Gazzara’s not desperately likeable or intimidating, but his response to losing his seedy hole is shocking and unexpected.

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Natural Born Killers (1994) Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Robert Downey Jr., Tommy Lee Jones, Tom Sizemore, Rodney Dangerfield. Dir: Oliver Stone.

A couple of violent killers on the run became media darlings. Wildly filmed, Cormenesque critique of mass media manipulation, one that pushes you to root for the killers, despite their depravity. MTV style hyper-cutting is striking, but exhausting over two hours, beating you over the head with the film’s message.

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The Dark Eyes of London (1939) Béla Lugosi, Hugh Williams, Greta Gynt, Edmon Ryan, Wilfred Walter. Dir: Walter Summers.

A series of dead bodies in the Thames are linked to a crooked insurer and a home for the blind. First UK film to get an H rating for horror. This surprisingly nasty thriller has some creaky moments, but boasts strong suspense, solid direction and Lugosi really in his element.

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The Raven (2012) John Cusack, Alice Eve, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Luke Evans, Brendan Gleeson. Dir: James McTeigue.

Edgar Allen Poe joins a murder investigation after his stories inspire a killer. Poorly scripted and plotted. Directed without suspense or atmosphere and little attention to period. Cusack plays Poe as a washed-up rockstar, with few demons, but at least he has good lines; Evans is painful to watch. Rubbish.

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Dracula AD 1972(1972) Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Stephanie Beacham, Christopher Neame, Michael Coles. Dir: Alan Gibson.

The Count awakens in 70s London to avenge himself on the Van Helsing family. The 70s seems like the 60s in this unintentionally funny attempt to relaunch the series. Still the same plot, yet it’s one of the pacier entries, with above par direction and a welcome return for Cushing.

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Carnage (2011) Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz. John C. Reilly. Dir: Roman Polanski.

Two sets of parents sit down to discuss a fight between their children. Not quite on-par with Polanski’s other interior psychodramas; characters are a tad archetypal and it doesn’t cut as deep as it promises to. But there’s sharp dialogue and wit, and a great performance from Waltz to enjoy.

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The Omen (1976) Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner, Billie Whitelaw, Harvey Stephens, Patrick Troughton. Dir: Richard Donner.

Sinister occurrences lead an ambassador to believe his son maybe evil. Is it the many parodies, or the film’s tendency to take itself very seriously, while going way OTT, that makes it a giggle? Some fabulously flamboyant executions help make it very entertaining despite weak plotting and stodgy sections.

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More Films

Scars of Dracula (1970) Christopher Lee, Dennis Waterman, Christopher Matthews, Patrick Troughton. Dir: Roy Ward Baker

A young rogue disappears and his brother and his fiancée track him down to castle Dracula. Sharp pacing can get you through shakier Hammer films, but this drags and is too derivative. The male lead dies early and is replaced with a blander one and the bat effects are awful.

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Touch of Evil (1958) Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, Orson Welles, Marlene Dietrich, Akim Tamiroff. Dir: Orson Welles.

Mexican (?) honeymooner Heston clashes against detective Welles as they investigate a murder. How great direction can turn a good film into a great one: dramatic, arresting and told with visual flair further enhanced by great performances and cracking dialogue. A near perfect thriller.

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The Raven (1934) Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Lester Matthews. Dir: Lew Landers.

A poe-obssessed surgeon plots revenge against those who deny him the woman he loves. Though shakey round the edges and dated in places, this is an absolute riot with several stylish and memorable sequences that stick in the memory. Lugosi hits the right note in his over-the-top performance.

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The Big Steal (1949) Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, William Bendix, Ramon Novarro. Dir: Don Siegal.

Soldier Mitchum pursues Novarro who framed him for theft while he is pursued by cop Bendix. I wasn’t engaged, it seemed unsure of whether it was a comedy or drama and would’ve been over quickly if anyone in it used their brains, but it’s generally highly regarded by critics.

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Timber Falls(2008) Josh Randell, Brianna Brown, Nick Searcy, Beth Broderick. Dir: Tong Giglio

Beautiful twenty-somethings take the wrong route hiking and naturally meet a house of psychos. Counting the clichés is about as much fun as you’ll have with this derivative affair. Script is wooden, hard to tell whether it’s tongue in cheek or trying to be serious, it is unintentionally funny.

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The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (1965) Richard Burton, Claire Bloom, Oskar Werner. Dir: Martin Ritt.

A disenchanted agent takes on one final mission before retiring. The first anti-Bond film. Le Carre’s excellent far-fetched thriller is given a suitably cold edge by stark photography and an excellent performance by a perfectly cast Burton as the weary spy. Excellent and unsettling.

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Really?

There Will Be Blood (2008) Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Dillon Freasier. Dir: Paul Thomas Anderson

Fascinating story of the rise of oil entrepreneur Day-Lewis at the cost of his soul. Lewis is phenomenal in his role, playing his characters disintegration with brilliantly timed subtlety, sadly upstaging the also superb Dano as the zealot who stands in his way. A bit long, but worth it.

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The Raven (1963) Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Jack Nicholson. Dir: Roger Corman.

Parody of the earlier Corman – Poe films finds Sorcerer Laurie enlisting Price to go up against the all powerful Karloff. Tad too meandering and although there’s pleasure in watching ‘The Triumvirate of Terror’ at work, it’s not as much fun as it should be. Final duel is worth the wait.

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House on Haunted Hill (1958) Vincent Price, Richard Long, Carol Ohmart. Dir: William Castle

Millionaire Price and his wife hold a party at a house notorious for its many murders. The survivors will be rewarded with money. Gimmicky and rubbish probably even when it came out, but its stupidity is what makes it an amusing diversion and Price is always good for a laugh.

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The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970) Robert Stevens, Colin Blakely, Genevieve Page, Christopher Lee. Dir: Billy Wilder.

Comic yet touching portrayal of the real man behind the stories and his relationship with women as Holmes follows a case involving midgets and the loch ness monster – with a surprisingly lucid solution. Perhaps too comic in places, but this is a very elegant and perfectly staged production.

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Fact about The Federated States of Micronesia of the Day:
The country has seven official languages: English, Ulithian, Woleaian, Yapese, Pohnpeian, Kosraean, and Chuukese.