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Reviews
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: Misadventure (1964)
Okay, this was kinda of stupid...
Okay, this was kinda of stupid, but it's not 'gosh awful'. I agree with the other reviewer, the blame of this ridiculous premise has to be laid directly at the writer's doorstep. Even in 1964 when times were somewhat simpler there is no way a woman, alone and still in her nightgown, would let a maintenance man/stranger take a shower in her house! I can understand (for that time period) not checking the credentials of a gas man coming to check the meter in your home, but the fact that he went from rude to bizarre in less than 5 minutes of his arrival would have had me out the door running to the nearest neighbor (and I don't scare easily). Yet, based on some supposed 'malaria' episode he was having (also within that 5 minutes) she allowed him to take a shower in her home, because 'he would recover quicker', is absolutely stupid. Add on to this that she just got her husband out of the house, and is awaiting her boyfriend's arrival makes it more absurd. From there it gets more unbelievable with each passing minute. And there are so many holes in the story you just keep slapping your forehead. How this keeps from being 'gosh awful' are the actors. They are all well known (at least to a certain generation), and gifted in their craft. The stupidity is in their characters, not their portrayals. I enjoyed this episode, but I enjoyed it with my mouth opened and my brow wrinkled.
Penny Dreadful (2006)
It's okay
Penny Dreadful has some suspenseful moments in it. I don't hate the film, but I'm not crazy about it either. The acting by the 2 female leads, Rachel Miner and Mimi Rogers, are well done. The direction is also decent. My main problem is the pacing. The movie feels longer than it is. At some points it's stressfully uninteresting. I found myself on the edge of my seat wanting them to come on and get going. I do admire the film for not being your cookie-cutter teenage horror flick. It does have some by-the-book horror foundations, such as: darkness, isolation, shadowed lighting, etc. However, those can be forgiven. I was delighted by the fact that the killer was a woman. That was unexpected, and surprisingly different. All in all, it's not a bad movie, but it could have been better.
Tales from the Darkside: I Can't Help Saying Goodbye (1986)
The ending is one of the best and saddest of the series.
This is a correction on the previous comment. The little girl doesn't have the power to kill people, she says this at least twice during the episode. She let her love struck sister and her potentially abusive future brother-in-law believe she had that power, out of anger. What she has is the ability to see the deaths of people, with apparently no power or desire to stop it, but she's compelled to say good-bye. Whether she's always had this ability or not, isn't addressed. I'm led to believe it is newly acquired. The child is very detached, which in itself is rather compelling and disturbing. The ending is one of the best and saddest of the series.