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Messiah of Evil (1974)
Moody but not much more
Concerned that her artist-father's letters have become increasingly incoherent and bizarre, a young woman (Arletty, played by Marianna Hill) travels to a remote town in search of him, only to find that the horrors that he claimed to be experiencing were in fact real. The film has a real early-70s vibe (especially the fashions) and more than a passing resemblance some of the era's horror-focussed giallo. The plot wanders, there a lot of 'dead spots' (no pun intended) in the narrative flow, and some of the characters/acting are borderline amateur (notably Joy Bang's dopey groupie Toni), but there are some really memorable moments, notably the
"Ralphies" scene. Anyone who has gone to an all-night supermarket in the wee hours will attest that the most banal environments can become disquieting, creepy, sometimes near surreal, when empty and silent. The production's mise a scene is very effective, with the scattering of stylised portrait-paintings that perhaps mirrors the strange townsfolk and the deadly calm of the beach at night. Too bad the 'circle back' ending is so unsatisfying. Best watched alone, late at night, in the dark, and when tired and suggestible.
Onna ga kaidan wo agaru toki (1960)
Affecting tale of a woman living a life she hates
Keiko (Hideko Takamine), a Tokyo bar hostess tries to survive in a competitive business that measures success by the ability to please men and to support her needy and demanding family while attempting to raise enough money to open her own establishment without dishonouring the memory of her dead husband by offering herself to potential investors. Mikio Naruse's portrait of a sad woman working in world that she dislikes is both poignant and beautifully made. Takamine (whom I really liked in Keisuke Kinoshita's two 'Carmen' comedies) is excellent portraying the increasingly desperate, increasingly resigned hostess. The rest of the cast is equally good and I really enjoyed the look at Tokyo's famed Ginza district in the late 1950s. The film's depiction of women working on the fringe of Japan's sex-industry and the frequently exploitive, unfeeling men with whom their profession demands that they favour reflects themes frequently touched on by Naruse's contemporary Kenji Mizoguchi.
Valdez Is Coming (1971)
Solid Burt Lancaster revisionist oater
When attempting to diffuse a tense standoff, Bob Valdez (Burt Lancaster), a half-Mexican constable is deceived and forced to gun down an innocent man in self-defence. Remorseful, Valdez attempts to collect money from the local citizens to help the dead man's Apache wife but is met with first racist contempt and then with brutal violence, forcing the quiet-spoken old man dust off his Sharps buffalo gun and to fall back on the tracking and killing skills he honed while hunting Indians for the U. S. cavalry. Lancaster is pretty good in 'brown-face' affecting a Hollywood Mexican accent (casting that would likely be unacceptable these days) and Valdez is an interesting character: a aging killer with deep feelings of guilt. The transition between his two 'extremes': from a humble old man dressed in black begging for alms on behalf of a widow to a methodical killer in a cavalry uniform willing and able to gun-down men thousand yards away without warning, seems a bit abrupt (others have compared it to Clark Kent donning the tights and cape). Based on a book by Elmore Leonard, the story is quite good and there are lots of memorable 'action sequences' (notably the 'crucifixion scene that I vividly remembered from having seen the film back in the 1970s). The rest of the cast is fine (especially Barton Heyman) although Jon Cypher shovels on the egregious nastyness of lead black-hat 'Frank Turner' a bit thick. The 'twist' towards the ending very good, and if close attention was paid, somewhat foreshadowed (see other comments about this) but ultimately, I didn't feel that there was sufficient secondary-character development to really carry it off. I found the film's final shots, which I'll admit were a brave attempt at being a different and unpredictable, to be unsatisfying. One of the last of the 'A-list' westerns featuring stars from Hollywood's 'golden age'
9 (2009)
A fine post-apocalyptic sock-puppet adventure
Nine strange doll-like entities living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland fight to survive after they unintentionally awaken the machine that had destroyed the world. The surreal feature-length film was based on Shane Acker's outstanding 2005 UCLA student project (a 10-minute short, also entitled '9', available on-line). The story is simple and a bit inexplicable in places, but entertaining and fast moving. The machine-punk imagery is outstanding and the odd little ragdoll heroes manage to be quite engaging despite a competent but A-list but somewhat bland voice-cast (the characters in the original short were mute, which I preferred). Dark, unsettling but beautiful to watch.
9 (2005)
Fabulous, surreal student film
In a grim post-apocalyptic world full of broken toys, rotting buildings and decaying machinery, '9', a mute doll-like creature, tries to outwit a horrific cat-like mechanoid that has been killing and draining the life-force of the other doll-like denizens of the urban wasteland. Made as a UCLA student project by Shane Acker, the short film is excellent, with a surreal, machine-punk look (all CGI), an engaging hero, and a simple but interesting story with a surprisingly poignant ending, Expanded in 2009 into a feature-length film of the same name that expands the ragged ragdolls' universe, multiplies the enemies they face, and gives them the gift of speech (courtesy of a A-list voice-cast). Perhaps 'apples to oranges', but IMO the short is the better of the two films.
Don't Look Now (1973)
Creepy but ultimately unsatisfying
Following the drowning death of their daughter, a young couple (Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland) travel to Venice where they encounter a blind psychic who claims to have reached the dead girl's spirit and watch the bodies of murdered women being pulled out of the canals. Soon the husband begins to have strange visions. Nicholas Roeg's subtle supernatural thriller (based on a story by Daphne du Maurier) makes excellent use of the photogenic Italian city, seen as maze of endless passageways, dead-ends, pigeons, and above all, the ubiquitous water. The storyline is interesting and full of 'red herrings' but I found the cryptic ending to be a bit of a letdown, despite an effective 'boo!' moment.
Re-Animator (1985)
Gleefully gruesome
Within the storied halls of Miskatonic University, medical students Herbert West (Jeffery Combs) and Dan Cain (Bruce Abbot) experiment with a serum that brings the dead back to life, or at least to some kind of grotesque reanimated quasi-life. Their work quickly attracts the scientific avarice of Dr Hall (David Gale), the school's generally loathsome academic heavy-hitter, who ends up more involved in the experiments than he planned. Along for the ride is sexy scream-queen Barbara Crampton, who spends much of the proceedings in various states of undress while being ghoulishly abused (including the infamous 'dead-head-head' scene). Coombs nails West's creepy aura of nerdy menace and the rest of the cast is fine in the undemanding roles typical of exploitation flics. The over-the-top carnage is delivered with just sufficient severed-tongue-in-cheek to be eye-rolling fun. Excellent midnight fodder for the right audience and, for the wrong audience, the film courteously offers an early warning (in the form of exploding eyeballs) that a prompt exit might be in order Followed by a couple of purportedly lack-lustre direct-to-video sequels. I gave the film an '8' partly because it is so much better than most of its ilk.
Men in War (1957)
Good, gritty low-budget war pic
In the early days of the Korean War, an exhausted Lt. Benson (Robert Ryan) and his platoon are cut-off and surrounded by enemy soldiers when their truck is wrecked. Knowing that their survival depends on being able to fight, Benson orders the men to carry the heavy cases of ammo as they trudge towards the American lines on a distant hill. Soon they encounter a jeep that surly sergeant 'Montana' Willomet (Aldo Ray) is using to transport a shell-shocked officer to safety. The tough, experienced NCO is loath to give up his vehicle, which Benson requisitions to carry the platoon's supplies, or to take orders from a Lieutenant but all soon realise that cooperation is essential if anyone is going to live out the day. The film is a tough example of the 'men under fire' genre as the desperate, and ever-diminishing, platoon is subject to guerilla attacks, sniper fire, mines, and artillery before discovering that the way to safety is blocked by two North Korean machine gun positions. Although a bit melodramatic at times, the film is a tough portrayal of the harsh realities of war as the nominal heroes commit what would likely be considered war-crimes (shooting prisoners, using captured enemy soldiers to clear minefields) in order to survive. Ryan is very good, as is Ray, and the rest of the all-male cast are serviceable as the disparate GIs. With neither the budget nor the military support needed for large combat set-pieces, director Anthony Mann focuses on the tired and scared men as they trudge along (through Bronson Canyon) and deal with threats, often unseen, and each other's weaknesses. Released after the cessation of hostilities in Korea, the film is much less jingoistic than Hollywood's usual offerings but does contain frequent racial slurs that, although likely 'realistic', may bother some modern viewers. Based on the WW2 novel 'Day Without End' (1949) by Van Van Praaag. As far as I can tell, the florid line on the poster "...I'll fill your guts with lead!" is not uttered in the film.
Fireball XL5: Space Magnet (1963)
Real boss episode
Steve, Matt and Venus investigate a missing spaceship that may be tied in with the mysterious changes in the moon's orbit. Sixty years ago, I was furious with my parents for making me go to my aunt's just as I spotted the wreckage of Fireball XL7 on the conveyer belt at the mysterious planet's power station. I have since recovered from that trauma but finally got around to seeing how the episode ended (thanks to Tubi and the Google). It's a pretty typical outing for the old Supermarionation space-heroes: Steve does the heavy thinking, Matt provides some comic relief and Venus proves that 100 years hence, women are still doing the domestic chores. Fireball XL5 was my favorite show when I was a little kid, and while "Space Magnet' was not worth harbouring a grudge for six decades, it was worth finally finishing. I still wish I was a spaceman.
Tasogare Seibei (2002)
Excellent historical drama
As recounted by an aging daughter: at the end of the Edo era, widowed young samurai Seibei Iguchi (an excellent Hiroyuki Sanada), who is struggling to support his two young daughters and his senile mother on a small stipend, is reluctantly drawn back into the 'bushido' way when he is forced to demonstrate his expertise with a sword in a fight with the abusive husband of a friend's sister. This excellent revisionist jidaigeki as many of the elements of a classic chanbara but is much more reflective on the meaning of honour and loyalty when long-entrenched social standards breaking down and leaders no longer seem to warrant the unquestioning loyalty and obedience that they demand. The storyline is realistic yet somewhat unpredictable (at least to me, what I kept thinking was going to happen didn't) and compared to the genre's usual over-the-top swordplay, the limited 'fight scenes' are subtle and believable. The cast and the script are quite good (I was watching an English subtitled version), as is the cinematography and score. Anyone expecting a 'samurai action film' may be disappointed but anyone looking for a historical drama about Japan just before the massive social upheavals of the early Meiji period should greatly enjoy Yoji Yamada's sad, meticulous tale about a man at the end of his era.
Lawman (1971)
Harsh revisionist western with a good story and an excellent cast
Über-competent hardcase lawman Jarred Maddox (Burt Lancaster) rides into the town of Sabbath, looking for a band of cowpokes who shot up his town, killing an old man in the process, only to find that the townies are beholding to Bronson, a wealthy local rancher (Lee J. Cobb), whose men Maddox seeks, and are hostile to the lawman serving justice, especially after he shows up with the body of one the local men draped over the back of his horse. While fans of oaters may not find a lot new, the script and the cast are very good and the tough story is interesting and more ambiguous than usual for the genre (reflecting revisionist trends popular in the 60s and 70s). As always, Lancaster is very good in the role as the inflexible 'nothing matters but the law' marshal, as is Robert Ryan as Sheriff Cotton Ryan, a former 'lawman' (a frequently used term) who lost his nerve and just wants to live out his life quietly taking money from Bronson and accepting the derision and ridicule dumped on him by the 'real men' of the town. The third in the triptych is Bronson, the typical 'men like me built this land' type who has accepted the day of the gun is over and figures that he can just talk or buy his way out - needless-to-say an approach unlikely to work with the rigid Maddox. Other than some implausible shooting abilities (a characteristic of almost all entries in the genre) and some unrealistic blood-spurting, the film has a nice sense of realism. There are some directorial weaknesses: notably too many dramatic 'zooms', but the cast and script more than make up for the occasional trite flourish. Not novel but well done and a lot more thought-provoking that the usual horse-opera.
Grizzly (1976)
Bad news bear
A monstrous über-ursine with a taste for man-meat terrorises a National Park. Essentially a land-lubber's 'Jaws', Grizzly was one of the first homages to/rip-offs of Spielberg's icthythian mega-hit and was heavily criticised when it came for being a shameless knock-off (and not a particularly good one). A one-note plot is to be expected given the premise, but the script and acting are generic, the special effects poor (most noticeably at the 'climax'), and the bear is just not that menacing (a real griz was used but there are no actual 'interactions' between bear and people - the 'action scenes' are mostly shots of the bear roaring (faked), then a quick cut to a prop-bear claw followed by another quick cut to a bloody victim). There are a couple of good gruesome bits but most of the victims just look like they were splattered with hot-sauce. The story-line struggles to build tension, even resorting to some nonsense about the bear being some kind of gigantic primeval holdover, that it is 'smarter than your average bear', and that it's sole raison d'etre is gobbling down rangers and campers. The score is hit and miss with cheerful opening-credits theme would sound more at home leading into a 70's sitcom about a 'plucky young women moving to the big city' than heralding a nature-gone-bad horror about a 'colossal carnivore eating innocent campers'. Dumb and derivative.
They Were Expendable (1945)
Great WW2-era Navy pic
The high-speed, light-weight Patrol Torpedo Boats and their crews struggle to prove their worth in the early days of the war in the Pacific. This gripping war-time adventure-drama, based on the eponymous novel by William Lindsay White, was helmed by John Ford and starred Robert Montgomery (both of whom had served in the USN in the Pacific) and John Wayne (who famously did not serve in any branch of the service - the back and forth about this lacuna in the backstory of Hollywood's ultimate 'American Hero' makes for interesting reading). With the cooperation of the Navy, Ford had six PT boats at his disposal (not perfect matches to what would have sailed in 1942 but still awesome to watch) and the film's battle scenes are exemplary. Lensed during the war but released after VJ day, the film is infected with a bit of the jingoism expected in the era's semi-propaganda entertainment, but it's not excessively manipulative and the anti-Japanese rhetoric is kept to a minimum. The cast is great, as is the story and the script, but the real stars are the mahogany-hulled boats bouncing over the chop, dodging shell busts and machine gun fire to drop torpedoes at their sometimes magnitudes larger foes. Sure, the film exaggerates the success of the 'Mosquito Fleet' and some of the less inspiring parts of the story are omitted (in the early days, the crews frequently risked their lives to launch faulty torpedoes that sailed under the target or impacted with a 'clank,' not a 'bang'). I am always saddened when I read that most the PT boats ended the war being dragged out of the water, stripped of weapons and useful parts, and then burned on the beach - the cost of maintain the wooden hulls was more than the post-war navy was willing to shell out. A few still survive but 'PT-73', the co-star of 1962's 'McHale's Navy' (a 70' Vospar MTB that started life in 1945 as a PT-694) was wrecked in a storm in 1992. Excellent.
Ninja Kamui (2024)
Flashy but repetitive and eventually uninteresting
Higan (aka Joe Logan) a renegade who has given up the cold, emotionless Ninja ways for love, is targeted for extermination by the chief Ninja, and ends up embroiled in a gigantic scheme to rule the world after he embarks on a pogrom to avenge his slaughtered family. Although there is some interesting imagery, after a while the endless fights, the 'mecha-suits', the nameless drones getting shot up of chopped up etc, all started to look the same and having lost lost interest in the plot halfway through, only watched to the end half paying attention. While I like some anime, this series typifies what I dislike: too much emphasis on style, not enough on story or character.
Sky King: Sky Robbers (1958)
Underwhelming episode of the ancient 'flying-western'
Schuyler 'Sky' King (Kirby Grant) and Penny (Gloria Winters) get mixed up with thieves targeting the proceeds at the local air-races (at which Penny is entered in the "Debutante Race"). This vintage 'pilot-cowboy' program was already more than a decade old when I first complained that it was taking up valuable Saturday morning time that could have been devoted to cartoons. Having recently spotted a few episodes on Tubi, I decided to flashback for 30 minutes and check out the old show. It has not aged well (although IMDB scores suggest that this was not one of the better episodes). While there are some interesting '50s era airplanes on display, the story was simplistic and Sky King's climatic solution to the problem (needless to say from above in The Songbird) was critically implausible (I suspect I would have raised a skeptical eyebrow even as a wee lad). The show was clearly aimed at the youth market and, while Penny was cute, the script and Winters acting wasn't up to making her anything more than a youthful 'TV character'. Grant's lines weren't much better, and the show ended up being about as realistic as the cartoons that it was displacing. Still, 'Sky King' is a piece of TV history, so I will try to hunt down one of the top-rated episodes and give the Ike-era airborne-oater another chance.
Undersea Kingdom (1936)
OK for what it is - a dated low-budget '30s 'sci-fi' chapter-play
Athlete, navy-man, and overall übermensch 'Crash Corrigan' (stuntman Ray Corrigan, who subsequently went by Ray 'Crash' Corrigan in films and TV work), along with intrepid 'girl-reporter' Diana (Lois Wilde), young sidekick Billy (Lee Van Atta), avuncular boffin Professor Norton (C. Montague Shaw), and comic-relief buddies Briny and Salty (Smiley Burnette and Frankie Marvin) travel by rocket-propelled submarine to the lost continent of Atlanta, where they are immediately caught up in a war between the evil despot Unga Khan (Monte Blue, stealing cues from Flash Gordon's faux-Asian arch-enemy Ming the Merciless) and his black-robed henchmen (including Lon Chaney Jr.) and good-guy Sharad (William Farnam) and his white-robed followers (for a 'nice guy' Sharad seems ruthless enough when presiding over blood-sports in the Atlantean coliseum). Everyone's near reverence for Crash gets a bit smarmy after a while (or in Billy's case a bit creepy), especially considering the hero's outfits occasionally border on campy-outrageousness (skimpy fish-scale briefs and a head-piece sporting a prominent fin) but the stuntman and gorilla-imitator turned actor acquits himself pretty well as a cunning, quick-fisted, and resourceful hero (the rest of the cast are functional and nondescript). The Republic serial is very similar to Mascot's popular 'Phantom Empire' 12-parter (1935) starring Gene Autry: both feature a technologically advanced 'lost' kingdom in political ferment, incredible 'scientific gadgetry' including ray-guns, mechanical men, 'flying torpedoes', and viewing machines (that can see anywhere, no camara needed), and both chapterplays conclude apocalyptically which oddly don't seem to bother the heroes, who are now safe on the Earth's surface. As depression-era serials go, 'Underwater Kingdom' is typical, and 'OK'. The storyline is simplistic, there are numerous unacceptable implausibilities (Billy can pilot one of the Unga Khan's flying machines!?), characters seem to inexplicably know the names of things (such as 'vol-planes' 'volkite' robots) when first encountered, and several of the cliff-hanger resolutions are 'cheats' (the 'before' and the 'after' footage don't match). Not surprisingly, production frugality is evident, notably in frequently repeated scenes (when the submarine ascends, bubbles are sucked back into the engines) but some investment and imagination went into the fearsome 'Juggernaut' (I like the sound it made) and the lumbering volkites (goofy but much less ridiculous than the behatted tinmen menacing Gene Autry in the Phantom Empire. More interesting as history than as entertainment but fans of vintage sic-fi should enjoy it in a smug, eye-rolling way (as I did).
Unknown Island (1948)
OK 'lost world' shtick with amusing dinosaurs
Rumours of a mysterious island populated by prehistoric holdovers prompts a zealous photographer and the woman bankrolling him to charter a ship and head for antediluvian adventure. The plot is a classic and, considering the era and budget, the Cinecolor film is not too bad. Admittedly, other than some distantly seen stop-motion sauropods, the primeval creatures are laughable: the fearsome 'ceratosaurs' are unconvincing 'suitmation' costumes, the 'dimetrodons' are models with apparently nonfunctioning legs, and the 'giant ground sloth' looks more like an overweight orangutan with snaggly demonic teeth (the creature is likely Ray 'Crash' Corrigan in one of his ape suits, unsuitably modified). Still: kudos to the filmmakers for attempting to show 'real dinosaurs' rather than simply gluing fins and horns to iguanas or baby alligators (à la Irwin Allen or Bert I. Gordon). The human characters are all OK with Barton MacLane standing out as the nasty, hard-hitting and lascivious Capt. Tarnowski (his solution to the suffering of a crewman being fought over by carnivorous dinosaurs adds a bit of a hard edge to the film). Virginia Grey is a touch bland as the obligatory endangered dame but the evolving 'love' triangle between her and the increasingly annoying Ted and the increasingly brave John is interesting as these things go. All in all, not bad for what it is. Forgiving fans of the genre should enjoy it - I did (and would have loved it as a kid).
Dai-bosatsu tôge (1966)
An interesting 'work in progress', the finished product might have been outstanding.
Ryunosuke Tsukue (Tatsuya Nakadai), a skilled but sociopathic samurai drifts though Edo Japan killing people, making enemies, avoiding revenge-seekers, and searching for something - perhaps for a challenge, perhaps for an ending. Like most commentators, I was impressed by the film's visual style (the scene in which one of Ryunosuke's victim's brother (Yuzo Kayama) finesses his killing thrust using a ray of sunlight in a darkened room as a target is exquisite) but was greatly disappointed by the abrupt, unexpected ending and the lack of resolution of a number of plot-lines
(not to mention a violation of Chekov's rule about introducing a gun into the story- I expect to see it fired or at least see the hand holding it chopped off). Nakadai is
intriguing as the evilly serene ronin who rarely blinks or shows any emotions (other than the occasionally bitter laugh). Michiyo Aratama is also good as Ohama, the
widow who takes up with Ryunosuke after he kills her husband, an outcome she tried to prevent by sleeping with the talented swordsman the night before the match. The 1966 film is surprisingly bloody, bridging the often bloodless chanbara of the 1950s with the geysering excesses of the 1970s (see 'Lady Snowblood' or the baby-cart series for some fine sanguineous examples). Toshiro Mifune has an extended cameo playing a po-faced fencing school master who doesn't want to kill (but does so extremely well) and there are lots of familiar faces from Toho's stable of fine character actors. For all the talk of schools and 'fencing' techniques, all my untrained eye saw in the sword fights were flailing blades and incompetents lining up to be cut down, especially during the final battle, in which the bloodletting started to get repetitive and tedious. Too bad the story didn't wrap up satisfactorily (supposedly it was part of a trilogy that was never completed).
Doctor Who: A Land of Fear (1964)
"If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs..."*
Treachery and danger abound when the Doctor (William Hartnell) and companions Ian, Barbara, and Susan (William Russell, Jacqueline Hill, and Carole Ann Ford) materialise near Paris during the bloodiest days of the French revolution. I generally prefer the 'sci-fi'-themed serials to the 'history'-themed serials and found this 6-part adventure a bit slow-going despite being reasonably well written. The storyline is convoluted, with numerous characters and lots of Gallic intrigue and duplicity. Typical for the early days of the vintage series, the acting and the script are pretty good, although Hartnell flubs his lines occasionally and Susan doesn't contribute much to the story beyond frequently needing be helped or rescued. Barbara gets a moment on a soapbox when the killing of a 'traitor' who was likely a 'patriot' in his own eyes is shrugged off as 'necessary' and the Doctor gets to show off how cunning he can be (but, unusually for the generally pacifistic Timelord, he resorts to physical assault on occasion). Considering that a time-travelling Doctor was originally proposed as a gimmick to interest young BBC viewers in history, the serial takes more liberties with the facts that is needed to tell to story (notably in the last episode). The entire serial was wiped by the BBC in the 1960s but copies of four episodes (1-3, 6) were later located and in 2013, the existing audio recordings for 4 and 5 were mated to animated recreations. The animation is a bit crude but serves to complete the story. The Doctor's season-one closer was not great entry in the canon but the partially reconstituted serial remains a valued checkmark in fans' life-lists. *score and comments pertain to the entire serial including the animated recreations.
She (1935)
Dated and a bit slow but still magnificent in places
An expedition to the high Arctic in search of a life-prolonging secret discovers Kor, an ancient city ruled by a ruthless, beautiful, and eternal queen: 'Ayesha, She Who Must be Obeyed' (Helen Gahagan) who perceives one of the expedition members to be the reincarnated spirt of a long dead lover whom she killed in a fit of jealousy centuries earlier. This was sixth cinematic version of H. Rider Haggard's famous 1887 novel 'She' and stays reasonably true to the original tale (despite moving the venue from darkest Africa to frozen north). Gahagan is excellent as the imperious immortal and the rest of the cast is serviceable. The script is a bit clunky and the story a bit slow to start but everything picks up when the explorers are attacked by a tribe of cannibals who plan a particularly gruesome murder of their future meals. The film was produced by Merian Cooper, produced and co-director of 1931's monster hit 'King Kong' and has a very similar look at times. The art-deco tinged city of Kor, with its immense statues is beautifully rendered and the strange Orientalist imagery and dance is captivating (the film was nominated of an Oscar for Best Dance Direction). Haggard's tale launched the genre of 'lost worlds' fantasies of which 'She' is an excellent early cinematic example.
The Phantom Empire (1935)
Dated and silly but still lots of fun if watched for what it is
Gene Autry the singing cowboy (playing Gene Autry, a singing cowboy,) his young companions Betsy (Betsy King Ross) and Frankie (Frankie Darro), and comic sidekicks Oscar (Smiley Burnette) and Pete (Peter Potter) stumble across the ancient yet technologically-sophisticated underground kingdom of Murania ruled by Queen Tika (Dorothy Christy), a beautiful but cold-blooded and supercilious despot. Meanwhile, a duplicitous scientist and his cronies are after a fortune in radium (apparently at least a bushel-basket full), a wicked plot that requires the elimination Radio Ranch, a rustic musical venue dependant on Gene's cowboy-crooning. This novel-sci-fi-oater serial from Mascot is a lot of fun in a dated and quaint way. Autry makes for a bland but affable hero although he is not a particularly convincing brawler and the rest of the cast is fine playing the usual stereotypes - sidekicks, minions, villains, etc. (but the usual repeatedly-imperilled dame is noticeably absent). The serial clearly targeted the youth market: in addition to Gene and various musicians, Radio Ranch is home to 'The Thunder Riders' ("To the rescue!!!") a pack of heroic kids led by Frankie who wear capes and helmets, demonstrate impressive equestrian skills, and who have a clubhouse/lab full of secret doors and swell gizmos. The serial's special effects are surprisingly good, with lots of shots of the underground empire and Murianan technology, with reasonably good matte and rear-projection work allowing characters to 'interact' with the nicely designed miniatures and paintings (I particularly liked the aerial-torpedo launching system). The robots, on the other hand are laughable (and likely were equally eye-rolling in 1935). The 'mechanical man' costumes were designed for an unused song-and-dance number in 1933's 'Dancing Lady', which explains why the supposedly fearsome automatons look like they should be 'putting on the Ritz' or flirting with Joan Crawford rather than menacing Gene and his crew. The plot is typical 'western', with scoundrels trying to drive off honest ranchers to get at buried riches (now radium rather than gold) with the underground empire as sort of an elaborate side plot. The story doesn't make a lot of sense and there is a highly contrived 'rule' that Gene must perform at Radio Ranch every day at 2:00 or the Ranch will be shut down. This justifies a musical interlude in most chapters and adds an extra tension: 'will Gene be back in time to sing?', to the standard 'will Gene be killed?'. Given the general light-heartedness of the serial (especially when Oscar and Pete are in action), the final episode is surprisingly grim and I was actually surprised by how the story ended (ie defying my smug predictions). The serial was highly successful and likely contributed to Republic and Universal's decisions to invest in science-fiction themed adventure chapter-plays such as 'The Undersea Kingdom' and 'Flash Gordon' (both 1936). Silly fun if watched for what it is: a low-budget, depression-era horse-opera-sci-fi chapter-play featuring a singing cowboy, heroic kids, and robots wearing tin fedoras.
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend (1906)
Ancient, quaint, and comic cautionary tale about the perils of rarebit gluttony
After sloppily overindulging in 'Welsh rarebit' and wine, the titular 'fiend' (Jack Brawn) staggers home only to experience devilish headaches and horrifying dreams. This ancient silent comedy, directed and filmed by Edison men Wallace McCutcheon and Edwin S. Porter, was inspired by one of a series of eponymous 1904 comic strips drawn by Winsor McCay that featured the dire consequences of overconsumption of the 'beer, bread and cheese' concoction. The short is full of imaginative special effects that, although primitive by modern standards, were quite sophisticated at the time, including miniatures, stop-motion, double-exposures, mattes, and other assorted camera tricks. The overall effect is quite well-done and humorous, especially when the fiend experiences the dreaded 'bed-spins'.
Doctor Who: The Underwater Menace: Episode 1 (1967)
Not a gem but worth the effort to recreate and to watch*
The Doctor (Patrick Troughton), Ben (Michael Craze), Polly (Anneke Wills) and newly acquired companion Jamie (Fraser Hines) materialise on a beach somewhere on Earth sometime in the near future and are promptly captured and taken to the legendary submerged kingdom of Atlantis, which Zaroff, a megalomaniacal scientist (Joseph Fürst), has promised to return to the surface but in fact has more insidious plans. Chapters 1 and 4 of this four-episode adventure are missing but animated reconstructions using the original audio tracts were released in 2023. 'Underwater Menace' is not one of the Doctor's better outings. The Atlanteans and their internal politics are simplistic and not very interesting, and Zaroff is a routine evil, gloating stereotype. Ben and Polly are serviceable companions and Jamie developed into a fan favorite but in this, his inaugural episode (after having been first encountered in now-lost 'The Highlanders'), the 18th-century Scotsman seems somewhat laissez-faire about the TARDIS, underwater civilisations, fish-people, and the future in general. The special effects are adequate (by early Who standards) but the script, especially the doctor's interactions with Zaroff is weak and the story is not that interesting (although the threat of Polly getting ichthy-ised is fun). The scenes of the 'fish-people' swimming together (obviously depending from cables over a dry 'underwater' set) has a strange charm and reminds me of similar scenes in Méliès early silent fantasy films. All-in-all, not great Whovian outing but still necessary viewing for fans. I applaud the attempts to resurrect the lost episodes whenever possible. *rating and comments pertain to all 4 original and/or recreated episodes.
The Purple Monster Strikes (1945)
Low-budget science fiction serial from Republic, typical of the genre but well-made and entertaining
The Purple Monster (Roy Barcroft), vanguard of a Martian invasion force, takes over the body of Professor Layton (James Craven) as part of a plan to build a 'jet-plane' that will replace his destroyed vehicle (Martian rocket-science appears not to have mastered 'landing') and allow him to return to Mars with the technology needed to build an invasion fleet that can successfully land on Earth. Only hard-fisted and quick-witted G-man Craig Foster (Dennis Moore) and obligatory helpful/menaced dame Sheila Layton (Linda Stirling) can stop the malicious Martian and his treacherous human minions. As 'sci-fi' serials go, this 15-parter from Republic is pretty good. There are lots of chases, shootouts, and fist-fights and just about very episode produces a new scientific MacGuffin (rocket fuel, gas to replicate the Martian air, an atmosphere stabiliser, an meteor annihilator ray, etc.) that the Purple Monster needs to complete his nefarious plan and that Foster strives to keep him from obtaining. The 'science' in the fiction doesn't make much sense and there are a number of glaring plot holes (how does Professor Layton's corpse stay 'fresh' so long, why is getting Martian breathing air important when the Purple Monster has no problem breathing Earth's air) but the action is non-stop, well done and fun to watch Some cost-cutting typical of the studio's chapter-plays is apparent: only one 'Martian to human and back transition' scene was shot and the footage is reused ad nauseam, the same car is blown-up several times, the same footage is used for the arrival on Earth of The Purple Monster and the later arrival of his shapely but wicked Martian assistant Marcia (Mary More). There are several fights in each episode, often with Craig duking it out with the Monster himself and/or a couple of minions. The brawls are very energetic, well-choregraphed, full of smashed props, and everyone seems capable of absorbing impressive amounts of abuse without getting bloody (or even dirty) or losing their fedoras, even when sent flying backwards over tables. Although the action is bloodless the serial is a bit grim - numerous people are murdered or shot during fights and The Monster tests his annihilator ray by blowing up random cars on the local highway (not shown). Most of the cliff-hangers and their resolutions are nicely done (there is only one 'cheat' - the spikes about to impale Foster are much closer to him at the end of the episode than they are when he cleverly stops their advance at the beginning of the next episode). The cast is fine: Barcroft manages to be menacing despite wearing tights and Moore is fine as the heroic G-man whose prowess in fisticuffs and ability for making astute predictions based on minimal information are typical of the character-trope. Though a bit ridiculous at times, the serial takes itself reasonably seriously and is thankfully free of youthful sidekicks and comic relief. While not in the same league as the true space-opera-serials like 'Flash Gordon', 'The Purple Monster Strikes' is a entertaining sci-fi tinged adventure serial. No explanation is given as to why the Martian christens himself 'The Purple Monster' but it makes for a fun title.
The Sign of the Cross (1932)
Only some fabulously excessive touches save this dated and dull religious epic from oblivion.
In the aftermath of the great fire of Rome, imperial arsonist Nero (Charles Laughton) conspires to blame the Christians while his decadent empress Poppaea (Claudette Colbert) lusts after Imperial Prefect Marcus (Fredric March) who in turn pines for demure Christian beauty Mercia (Elissa Landi). Let the games begin. The central love story is contrived and vapid with an oddly coiffed March affecting a stilted silent-era acting style and Landi spending too much time trying to look as chaste and pious as possible. As usual, the sinners are far more interesting than the saints. Laughton slices ham as a childishly vicious Nero (his delivery may have been an inspiration Futurama's Hedonism-bot) and Colbert is alluringly-evil as his sensuous, selfish queen. Most of the pre-code-enforcement film is worth watching only to frame Colbert's fabulous milk bath scene (those with quick eyes or fast fingers on the pause button will discern that there wasn't quite enough milk at times for complete modesty). The other highlights are the over-the-top, bloodless but visceral, martyring of the hapless Christians in the Coliseum, which includes being stomped by elephants, torn apart by lions, ravaged (ravished?) by gorillas, and devoured by crocodiles (the film's animal wrangling is impressive). Too bad the 'message' parts of the film (4/10) drag down the 'spectacle' parts (10/10). As a director, Cecile B DeMille isn't remembered for subtility or nuance but he was undeniably a master of excess.