Glenn Erickson's Reviews: Month: February 2023

Thrillers from the Vault: 8 Films (part 1) 02/28/23

Charlie Largent tackles the first half of Mill Creek’s 8 title ‘Thriller’ set, which deals out 6 Karloffs, one Lugosi and a wild card Sci-Fi classic from the well-tended Columbia Pictures vault. For this ‘part 1’ review, we get the lowdown on four Karloff madman pix — a study in character diversification if there ever was one. Boris plays twins in The Black Room, and mad doctors that those unenlightened authorities keep trying to execute in The Man They Could Not Hang, The Man with Nine Lives, and Before I Hang. I hear the set has some good extras, too. Creeping your way on Blu-ray from Mill Creek.
02/28/23

The Mountain 02/28/23

The French Alps in VistaVision and Technicolor really sell this inspirational thriller. Spencer Tracy stars is the utterly ethical mountaineer, and young Robert Wagner his venal, verminous, just plain no damn good younger brother. Make that MUCH younger. Edward Dmytryk directs for big dimensions and strong emotions, and Paramount’s remaster makes the special effects of the mountain climb look good again. It’s a morality tale pitched at grade school level, and one of Tracy’s better late-career pictures. With Anna Kashfi as a plane crash victim deserving of rescue, and William Demarest as a French priest with a Preston Sturges accent. On Region Free Blu-ray from Viavision [Imprint].
02/28/23

The Green Room 02/25/23

Part of a 4-title François Truffaut Collection.  Writer-director Truffaut goes deep and morbid adapting a Henry James story about a man who chooses to ‘devote himself to his beloved dead.’ He builds an altar-shrine to a departed bride and comrades that didn’t survive the Great War. A sympathetic woman considers aiding him, but his obsession keeps choosing life-negating directions. It’s a weird, morbid but highly understandable tale from the edge of the fantastic. The cinematographer is Néstor Almendros. The other titles in the collection are The Wild Child, Small Change and The Man Who Loved Women. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
02/25/23

Sci-fi from the Vault: 4 Films 02/25/23

Mill Creek’s latest disc collection gathers three Columbia Sci-fi faves and throws in a Blu-ray debut for a fourth. It’s a good selection: two giant Ray Harryhausen monsters, one marginal bad-taste Sam Katzman zombie epic, and a quirky Lou Costello comedy with Dorothy Provine doing a wholesome take on Allison Hayes’ biggest role. Do these encodings measure up to fancier editions?  We give them a spin: Creature with the Atom Brain, It Came from Beneath the Sea, 20 Million Miles to Earth and The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock. On Blu-ray from Mill Creek.
02/25/23

The House that Screamed 02/21/23

La residencia.  What makes Franco-era Spanish horror so horrible?  The unnecessary cruelty and emphatic nastiness, a combination that’s led to more than a few essays about political repression. Narciso Ibáñez Serrador’s shocker puts psycho headmistress Lilli Palmer in charge of a twisted girl’s boarding school. Get ready for ice-cold Women-In-Prison intrigues, with macabre carnage for a chaser. Arrow Video’s pristine new encoding is already being applauded — it far surpasses edited, color-challenged older releases, revealing a beautifully-produced thriller with fine lighting cinematography. On Blu-ray from Arrow Video.
02/21/23

Romeo and Juliet ’68 02/21/23

Franco Zeffirelli apprenticed to Luchino Visconti, stage directed operas and directed several movie hits, the biggest of which was this exuberant, attractive Shakespeare adaptation, filmed like an opera with sumptuous sets and sunswept Italian locations. The novelty for 1968 was casting the Bard’s star-crossed young lovers with actual teenagers. Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting are attractive kids directed to give spirited performances; the critics may have had mixed reactions but the public received the film well. If memory serves, Criterion’s new remaster looks better than Paramount’s original release prints. On Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
02/21/23

Carrie (1952) 02/18/23

This expensive production was dismissed as a flop, and literary critics scorned it for diluting the famed novel by Theodore Dreiser. But it plays well now: William Wyler gives star Laurence Olivier what may be his best film acting role ever. Jennifer Jones’ title part suffers from script changes that censor and sentimentalize Dreiser’s intentions, but the film remains a shattering tragedy. Eddie Albert co-stars in one of his first dramatic roles; this encoding includes a scene dropped from the original release. On Blu-ray from Viavision [Imprint].
02/18/23

If I Were King 02/18/23

It’s a nearly perfect tale of identity swaps and royal intrigues: Ronald Colman’s voice is velvet smooth as poet-rogue François Villon, who uses his wits when dealing with Basil Rathbone’s (very strangely played) Louis XI. The real charm comes with lady-in-waiting Frances Dee (swoon) and the peasant firebrand Ellen Drew (double swoon). And don’t forget the sophisticated, semi-satirical screenplay by Preston Sturges. This refreshing discovery comes with a commentary by Julie Kirgo. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
02/18/22

Marathon Man 4K 02/14/23

William Goldman’s difficult-to-follow international conspiracy thriller provides Dustin Hoffman with an outright ‘action man’ star vehicle. The public applauded supporting star Laurence Olivier, who with just a few gestures creates a terrifying villain: “Is it safe?” William Devane and Marthe Keller co-star. We wish Roy Scheider’s character could have continued in a series of crime thrillers — he brings genuine movie star charisma. The story is by William Goldman, from his own book. On 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
02/14/23

Dazed and Confused 4K 02/14/23

Enter Santo: The First Adventures of the Silver-Masked Man 02/11/23

Charlie Largent reviews a fascinating two-feature Lucha-rama sensation: the first two original Santo thrillers. The appeal of the fearless masked wrestler becomes clear through PI’s extras, which include a longform featurette exploring the Mexican cinema empire of the Calderon family. The first films were actually shot in Cuba: Santo vs. “Evil Brain” and Santo vs. “Infernal Men.” Give a big cheer for Santo, el Enmascarado de Plata!  On Region Free Blu-ray from Powerhouse Indicator.
02/11/23

Goodbye, Mr. Chips 02/11/23

Robert Donat snagged an Oscar for this sentimental crowdpleaser, a Best Picture nominee in Hollywood’s ‘Golden Year’ of 1939. The genteel chemistry between Donat’s shy schoolteacher and the charming personality Greer Garson broke hearts, and made Ms. Garson one of MGM’s top names for the next decade. It’s one of the studio’s English productions, filmed in the shadow of the coming war. A glowing new digital restoration redeems 70 years of not-so-good TV prints. On Blu-ray from The Warner Archive Collection.
02/11/23

The Big Gundown 02/07/23

Quentin Tarantino crowned Sergio Corbucci as the second-best director of Italian westerns, but our vote goes to Sergio Sollima — this is the most satisfying Spaghetti oater outside the Leone corral. In his first starring role, Lee Van Cleef is lawman Jonathan Corbett, who pursues Tomas Milian’s killer into Mexico for an American millionaire. Political screenwriter Franco Solinas helped cook up the story, which pitches frontier ethics against ‘establishment’ corruption. The two-disc special edition presents the show in 4 versions, if we count a clever English-Italian language hybrid. On Region B Blu-ray from Powerhouse Indicator.
02/7/23

A Rage to Live 02/07/23

It’s a hot soap from ’65, when movies promised raging passion but delivered cheap teases and hypocritical judgments. It’s Suzanne Pleshette’s only starring role, but it doesn’t exploit her bright personality, her sense of humor. John O’Hara’s tale hasn’t much pity for a promiscuous young wife who breaks the rules. Does nymphomania make her a social menace, or is she victimized by a script determined to put the blame on Mame?  Costarring Ben Gazzara, Bradford Dillman and Peter Graves. On Blu-ray from Viavision [Imprint].
02/07/23

The Lady from Shanghai 02/04/23

Charlie Largent is back, checking out a new release of Orson Welles’ screwy noir murder mystery, which was shredded by studio interference yet still came out a winner. Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth star and the director provides superb parts for Everett Sloane, Glenn Anders, Ted de Corsia and Erskine Sanford. Who else but Welles could get away with the finale’s crazy-house kaleidoscope mirror montage?  It leaves us speechless — and obliterates the full explanation of the twisted storyline. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
02/04/23

The Bride Wore Black 02/04/23

François Truffaut’s ode to Hitchcock and Cornell Woolrich is an ice-cold femme revenge tale. Jeanne Moreau exacts retribution from five men who made her a widow on her wedding day. Truffaut winds it as tightly as a mousetrap, leaving Ms. Moreau’s psychology a mystery — feminists can debate whether the film is misogynistic. Raoul Coutard’s color cinematography is deceptively warm and inviting; the film’s biggest boost comes from Bernard Herrmann’s powerful music score. Potential special guest victims include Michel Bouquet, Jean-Claude Brialy, Charles Denner, Claude Rich and Michael Lonsdale. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
02/04/23