Glenn Erickson's Reviews: Month: March 2025

Night Moves — 4K 03/29/25

It’s the best detective movie of the 1970s, now on 4K. Arthur Penn and Alan Sharp give us a ‘Southern California Sordid’ tale of a sleuth doing his best to return a missing girl, not knowing that her delinquency touches on larger crimes and vices by Hollywood fringe folk. It’s a superb performance from Gene Hackman, with Jennifer Warren, Susan Clark and Janet Ward; the seductive brat on the loose is played by a very young Melanie Griffith. On 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
03/29/25

Topkapi 03/29/25

A heist caper classic just got a new lease on life — after languishing in so-so encodings for 50 years, Jules Dassin and Melina Mercouri’s colorful escapist thriller dazzles once more. Peter Ustinov, Maximillian Schell, Robert Morley and Akim Tamiroff help Melina knock off the Topkapi museum in Istanbul, in a breathtaking midnight raid involving an insane acrobatic trick. Manos Hadjidakis’ wonderful music score puts the right feeling of fun and excitement on the lavish enterprise, filmed entirely in Turkey. The new video remaster is more like a revival, a resurrection. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
03/29/25

Cannibal Girls 03/25/25

From the Canadian branch of exploitation filmmaking comes this quirky stab (and chop, and bite) appetizer, an early production by Ivan Reitman. Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin are the ‘cute’ couple that wander into the wrong snowbound hamlet, too innocent and trusting to recognize a horror setup when they see it. The future maker of Ghostbusters cooks up a modest little item that steers more toward droll comedy than gory shocks. It’s beautifully remastered; the extras include an even earlier Reitman short subject that won a theatrical release. On Blu-ray from Canadian International Pictures.
03/25/25

Murder by Decree — 4K 03/25/25

The directing chameleon Bob Clark scores with this classy thriller that pits Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson against Jack the Ripper, featuring a knockout cast: Christopher Plummer, James Mason, Donald Sutherland, Anthony Quayle, Geneviève Bujold, David Hemmings … the list goes on. Has the Ripper has gone undetected because of a coverup conspiracy?  Sleuth reviewer (or reviewing sleuth?) Charlie Largent covered the other Holmes vs. Ripper saga A Study in Terror;  how does this one shape up — in 4K Ultra HD?  On 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
03/25/25

The Wages of Fear — 4K 03/22/25

Henri-Georges Clouzot’s suspense ordeal is back, with additional minutes of footage and remastered in flawless 4K. Few films express such a poisonous attitude about humanity: for four desperate men, the only way to escape a South American backwater is to volunteer for a veritable suicide mission, driving truckloads of nitroglycerine up a punishing mountain road. Clouzot’s film so strongly indicts economic exploitation by multi-national companies, that the U.S. release was held up for two years, and even then censored by twenty minutes. Star Yves Montand’s career got a fresh start with a film acknowledged as an incomparable masterpiece of misanthropy. On 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
03/22/25

The 10th Victim 03/22/25

This is the movie with the spiky bra that doubles as a gun. Pop Art meets progressive social Sci-fi in a wicked satire about a future where wars are replaced with an organized murder game. Contestants alternate the role of hunter or victim; the goal is to score ten kills. Marcello Mastroianni and Ursula Andress are celebrity players, angling to consummate their kills on live TV, to tie in with sponsors’ commercials. The prophetic Reality Show vibe is hard to miss. Taken from a famous Robert Sheckley short story, director Elio Petri gives everything a high-fashion look. Piero Piccioni provides the quirky music score. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
03/22/25

Godzilla vs. Biollante  — 4K 03/18/25

It’s Chlorophyll in Motion, writ large: in Godzilla’s most interestingly stylized franchise entry, the mean-tempered monster faces off with a colossal surrealist vision, a gene-spliced amalgam of a rose plant, high-vitamin Godzilla cells, and the genetic-spiritual essence of a scientist’s daughter. Director Kazuki Ômori’s frenetic thriller is all over the map, with industrial assassins, more fantasy weaponry and (very colorful!) nonsense science. “What you see is no ordinary plant!”  Criterion’s Curtis Tsui cultivates some fascinating extras. On 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection.
03/18/25

Outpost in Malaya 03/18/25

The territorial imperative gets a curious workout: English planters in Malaya defend their homesteads against ‘bandits’ with undefined aims. Ken Annakin contributes deft direction to a ‘colonial conflict’ story with the postwar politics filtered out, and replaced with domestic anxiety. Will planter’s wife Claudette Colbert look for love somewhere else, or will hubby Jack Hawkins realize how much he needs her?  Couples therapy arrives in a bloody fight to the death against machine guns and machetes. With Anthony Steele and young Peter Asher, who gets to witness a nifty cobra versus mongoose brawl — in his bathroom. On Blu-ray from MGM Amazon.
03/18/25

Monster from the Ocean Floor 03/15/25

How can such a tiny production be so noteworthy?  Roger Corman’s cleverly-assembled monster romp has simplicity and sincerity going for it, not to mention Floyd Crosby’s handsome cinematography and a winning leading lady in Anne Kimbell. It’s a producer’s picture, made on a shoestring just as the studios’ domination of the industry was on the wane. Much more than a curio, and quite satisfying in its own way. Tom Weaver’s commentary features great input from producer Corman. On Blu-ray from Film Masters.
03/15/25

Two-Way Stretch 03/15/25

Charlie Largent examines a British comedy about a wild jewel robbery committed by prison inmates while incarcerated: Peter Sellers, Bernard Cribbins and David Lodge, aided and abetted by outsiders Wilfrid Hyde-White, Maurice Denham, Lionel Jeffries, Irene Handl, Liz Fraser and Beryl Reid. All they have to do is break jail, pull off the caper, and get back before Lights Out. The director is Robert Day, of fare like Tarzan the Magnificent and Hammer’s She: considering those pictures, we’re interested in Day’s approach to a comedy farce. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
03/15/25

Arch Oboler Resurrected, Part One 03/15/25

Writer, researcher and biographer Matt Rovner offers the first of three articles on the writer-producer Arch Oboler, the radio legend and notable filmmaker. The second and third installments will continue with his film career and an overview of his unusual personal life, but this first part focuses primarily on Oboler’s early career and stellar career in radio drama, with research from his personal archives. Matt Rovner can be heard on audio commentaries for Arch Oboler’s Five and Domo Arigato.
03/15/25

The Mansion of Madness — La mansión de la locura 03/11/25

Juan López Moctezuma’s bizarre Edgar Allan Poe adaptation gets new life in a new 4K transfer with a correct widescreen aspect ratio. An entire corps of Mexican artists and actors designed and staged this macabre happening, the old tale of maniacs that take over the asylum. It stars Claudio Brook and sounds good in both Spanish and English language versions. This is one of those remasters that causes us to reevaluate a show that didn’t appeal on first viewing … plus, the authoritative extras include direct input from some of the filmmakers and a full documentary on the director. On Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.
03/11/25

The Killer is Loose 03/11/25

Late-cycle noir introduces us to Leon ‘Foggy’ Poole, a new kind of polite psychotic menace who kills because, ‘sigh,’ people just don’t give him a choice. Wendell Corey is a fugitive seeking revenge against cop Joseph Cotten … and determined to take ‘a wife for a wife’ justice. Rhonda Fleming and Michael Pate co-star in this very modern chain-of-violence tale; director Budd Boetticher and ace cameraman Lucien Ballard turn a modest production into an efficient and frequently stylish crime thriller. On Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
03/11/25

The Spectacular Sci-Fi Visions of East German Director Gottfried Kolditz 03/08/25

We love the handful of fantastic Soviet-bloc space pictures from the Yuri Gagarin era; this exacting disc release gives us two East German space operas from the 1970s, heavily influenced by Kubrick’s 2001 and TV’s Star Trek. Polite cosmonauts investigate a missing spaceflight in Signals: A Space Adventure, a visual effects showcase filmed in 70mm. And intrepid space diplomats respond to a distress signal in In the Dust of the Stars and land on the very odd planet of TEM 4, in the midst of some suspicious politics. The disc set comes with authoritative essays and extras assembled by the DEFA Film Library of Amherst, Massachusetts. On Blu-ray from Deaf Crocodile.
03/08/25

The Glass Web — 3D 03/08/25

Universal’s second 3-D picture of the classic era has an edge on its competition: direction that takes full advantage of the depth effect in almost every shot. It’s not a bad whodunnit, either, with Edward G. Robinson in a tailor-made part and John Forsythe sweating out the hours as an innocent man framed by his own foolish decisions. Director Jack Arnold applies himself to the possibilities of 3-D, coming up with one of the more pleasing entries in the short-lived fad. Of special note is actress Kathleen Hughes, the center of attention in the cleverly scripted suspense picture. On Blu-ray 3-D from KL Studio Classics.
03/08/25

The Naked Maja 03/04/25

This one is for fans of Ava Gardner — an expensive Italian production we have never seen in a decent video copy, now remastered from the original Technirama negative. Anthony Franciosa is an emotional, altruistic Francisco Goya, caught up in the court intrigues of 18th century Madrid. Neither his tempestuous romance with his rumored muse (Ava) nor the story of his famous and controversial paintings are strictly historical — but the artist was indeed investigated by (whisper) The Spanish Inquisition. Also with Amedeo Nazzari and Massimo Serato. On Blu-ray from MGM.
03/04/25

Don’t Torture a Duckling — 4K 03/04/25

No, it’s not about the secret life of Scrooge McDuck — reviewer Charlie Largent takes the measure of Lucio Fulci’s delirious giallo about horrible crimes and the ugly human responses they bring about — undue suspicion, false accusations, hysteria, more violence. Some pretty twisted people are involved, played by a Class-A cast: Florinda Bolkan, Barbara Bouchet, Tomas Milian, Irene Papas; the new UHD transfer is a beauty. On 4K Ultra HD from Arrow Video.
03/04/25

The Keep — 4K 03/01/25

Michael Mann’s WW2 horror disaster is still a fascinating item, especially in 4K. We marvel at its moody ‘architectural’ atmosphere, that generates dread even when the movie just plain ain’t workin’. The interesting actors include Jürgen Prochnow, Gabriel Byrne, Scott Glenn and a very different-looking Ian McKellen. Elijah Drenner’s full stack of extras digs deep into the hows and whys of this ‘Nazis versus Golem’ opus; we’re still short on guesses as to exactly what writer-director Mann was after. On 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome.
03/01/25

Paint Your Wagon — 4K 03/01/25

This great-looking (especially now) super-musical splits opinions right down the middle. It charms many who love the songs and the rustic comedy; others find it an overlong departure from the original stage musical. Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood sing, which for some invalidates the whole show. Yet after a few viewings we can see that they’re croaking and squeaking by — Harve Presnell is on hand to belt out the big tune. The great Jean Seberg carries more than her weight throughout. She makes the ‘liberated’ rewrite work, at least for the stellar threesome in that mountain cabin. On 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray from KL Studio Classics.
03/01/25