Category: Horror

“Dopey Dicks” (1950) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Dopey Dicks (1950)

Director:  Edward Bernds

Screenplay: Elwood Ullman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard, Christine McIntyre, Philip Van Zandt and Stanley Price

Tagline: Don’t lose YOUR head howling at the Stooges!

The Plot…

A woman rushes into a detective’s office where janitors (Moe, Larry and Shemp) are cleaning.  She mistakes the boys for detectives. She says she’s being followed.  Moe, Larry and Shemp head into the hall checking in all directions.  When they return to the office, the woman is gone but  a note has been left behind.

The trail leads to a spooky house where the woman is being held hostage by a mad scientist, his hulking assistant, and a headless robot…

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Dopey Dicks contains all of the elements needed for a classic Stooges short.  We get a spooky old mansion full of hidden passages, a mad scientist, his hulking assistant, a woman in distress and the Three Stooges.  Dopey Dicks is one of the best!

Dopey Dicks earns 5 of 5 stars.

“Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” (1948) / Z-View

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Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

Director: Charles Barton  (Walter Lantz directed the animation sequences)

Screenplay: Robert Lees, Frederic I. Rinaldo, John Grant

Stars: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi, Glenn Strange, Jane Randolph, Frank Ferguson and Bobby Barber

Tagline: Jeepers! The creepers are after Bud and Lou!

The Plot…

Chick Young (Abbott) and Wilbur Gray (Costello) work at a shipping company.  They receive a call from Larry Talbot (Chaney). Crates scheduled for delivery to McDougal’s House of Horrors contain the real Dracula and Frankenstein monsters!  Unfortunately before Talbot gets them the message, he transforms into a werewolf.  Chick and Wilbur deliver the crates.

When Talbot shows up, he convinces Chick and Wilbur that Dracula and the Frankenstein monster are real! Meanwhile, Dracula plans to place Wilbur’s brain in the monster.  Soon we have Abbott & Costello, Frankenstein, Dracula and the Wolfman in a battle royal with the winners being the audience.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is a perfect example of how horror and comedy can work together seamlessly.  We get Abbott and Costello’s verbal comedy and sight gags.  Costello dealing with a lady who wants her bag from a cart full of luggage is classic.  The Boys’ interactions with the monsters at the castle is priceless.  Having Lugosi recreate his signature role is a plus (and only the second time that Bela Lugosi played Dracula in movies).  Watch, I mean listen for a Vincent Price cameo at the end!  Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is my all-time favorite Abbott and Costello movie and one that I can re-watch anytime.

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein earns 5 of 5 stars.

“The Pale Blue Eye” starring Christian Bale – The Full Trailer is Here!

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The teaser for The Pale Blue Eye had me in.  Today we get the trailer.  I’m still in.

West Point, 1830. A world-weary detective is hired to discreetly investigate the gruesome murder of a cadet. Stymied by the cadets’ code of silence, he enlists one of their own to help unravel the case — a young man the world would come to know as Edgar Allan Poe.

The Pale Blue Eye on Netflix, January 6.

“Smile” (2022) / Z-View

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Smile (2022)

Director:  Parker Finn

Screenplay: Parker Finn

Stars: Sosie Bacon, Jessie T. Usher, Kyle Gallner, Caitlin Stasey, Kal Penn and Nick Arapoglou

Tagline: Once you see it, it’s too late.

The Plot…

Dr. Rose Cotter (Bacon) is a dedicated. overworked hospital psychiatrist.  When Cotter gets an emergency call, she finds Laura Weaver (Stasey) hysterical.  Weaver believes she is being followed by an entity that will murder her.  Earlier in the week Laura saw her college professor kill himself. Laura says she is next to die.  Dr. Cotter listens as Laura says that the entity takes the form of smiling people.  Suddenly Laura begins to have a seizure.  As Dr. Cotter calls for medical assistance, Laura breaks a planter, grabs a shard of glass and with a smile on her face, slits her own throat!

After witnessing Laura’s suicide, Dr. Cotter begins to have hallucinations. She sees smiling people.  When Cotter confides to her boss, he says she is suffering from overwork and trauma of seeing a patient kill herself.

Dr. Cotter follows up on the professor Laura saw kill himself.  She learns the professor witnessed a suicide, and the person who committed suicide witnessed a suicide!  Dr. Cotter follows the chain and realizes she’s been cursed.  All of the people in the chain committed suicide within a week… except one.  Dr. Cotter has just days to learn why one person survived the curse…

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Smile was written and directed by Parker Finn who expanded his award-winning short film, Laura Hasn’t Slept to feature length.  Paramount budgeted $17 million for Smile and planned on a streaming release.  When test screenings returned extremely favorable results, it was decided that Smile would get a theatrical release before streaming.  Smile went on to gross over $200 million and counting.

I love Smile‘s tagline: Once you see it, it’s too late.  It perfectly summarizes the dread that builds as Rose Cotter realizes she’s been cursed.  No one believes her.  Instead of support, her friends and family think she’s losing her mind.  Smile is well cast, well written and well directed.  Parker Finn combines psychological horror with a supernatural aspect and comes out a winner.

Smile earns 4 of 5 stars.

“X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes” (1963) starring Ray Milland / Z-View

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X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963)

Director: Roger Corman

Screenplay:  Robert Dillon, Ray Russell from a story by Ray Russell

Stars: Ray Milland, Diana Van der Vlis, Harold J. Stone, John Hoyt, Don Rickles and Dick Miller

Tagline: Suddenly he could see through clothes, flesh… and walls!

The Plot…

Dr. James Xavier (Milland) has invented drops that he believes will allow users to see different spectrums of light.  Despite the risk, Xavier tests them on himself… and they work.  Maybe too well.  At first he can see what an x-ray would show, but over time his vision increases to more than he can comprehend.  After accidentally killing a friend, Xavier goes on the run.  As Xavier’s grip on sanity fades the police close in.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes is one of Roger Corman’s most popular movies.  Ray Milland is fine as a scientist so driven he’ll risk his life to test his invention.  Don Rickles plays it straight as a shady carny who sees money in exploiting Milland’s abilities.  Dick Miller, a Corman regular, shows up as a sideshow heckler.

I’d have liked X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes better if…

*,,,there had been a stronger focus on him losing his mind because he can’t comprehend what he sees

…and if there had been more consistency in his powers.  Some of the abilities he displayed had nothing to do with vision and ventured more into mind-reading.

Most folks like X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes more than I did; your mileage may vary.

X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes earns 2 of 5 stars.

“Creeps” (1956) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Creeps (1956)

Director:  Jules White

Screenplay:  Jack White, Felix Adler (story)

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard 

Tagline:  Even the spirits get into the spirit of high hilarity!

The Plot…

Larry, Shemp and Moe’s babies refuse to go to sleep until they are told a scary story.  So the boys tell the tale of three furniture movers hired to empty out a spooky old castle.  A suit of armor contains a spirit that doesn’t want to leave.  Hijinks follow…

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

If you’ve seen The Ghost Talks (1949) starring The Three Stooges, then you’ve basically seen Creeps.  For the new version they added scenes to the front and back end with the Stooges are interacting with themselves as babies.  The Peeping Tom/Lady Godiva subplot has been dropped.  There’s still a haunted suit of armor, but no Lady Gadiva to be seen.  Red Skeleton still makes an appearance.

Creeps earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Peeping Tom” (1960) / Z-View

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Peeping Tom (1960)

Director: Michael Powell

Screenplay: Leo Marks

Stars: Karlheinz Böhm, Anna Massey, Moira Shearer

Tagline: WARNING! Don’t see Peeping Tom unless you are prepared to see the screaming shock and raw terror in the faces of those marked for death!

The Plot…

Mark Lewis (Böhm) hopes some day to be a filmmaker.  He currently works on a film crew and after hours he’s a photographer of soft core porn.  People see Lewis as a shy, quiet recluse.  If they only knew he’s a psychopathic killer who gets off by filming women’s faces as he murders them.

When Helen, a kind woman takes an interest in Mark, they begin to date.  Helen’s blind mother feels something is off with Mark and starts to dig deeper…

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

When Peeping Tom was released in 1960, it was marketed as horror and exploitation.  Peeping Tom failed to find an audience.  Over the years Peeping Tom became a popular cult film and its popularity increased.  Martin Scorsese has long championed this film.

While daring for 1960, it seems much less so now.  Kudos for the final scene when Mark realizes he has no means of escape and has planned for this eventuality.

Peeping Tom earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Dustwalker” (2019) / Z-View

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Dustwalker (2019)

Director:  Sandra Sciberras

Screenplay: Sandra Sciberras

Stars: Jolene Anderson and Stef Dawson

Tagline:  It walks among us.

The Plot…

An object crashes just outside a remote Australian town.  Shortly after, citizens become infected and turn into fast-moving, zombie-like killing machines.  As the menace grows, a police officer and school teacher attempt to save as many people as possible.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Dustwalker is a mess.  The poster looks pretty cool and that’s about the best I can say for the movie.

What I’m sure the director thought would be tension-building scenes, came off as boring.  How many times and how long can one look at people just staring ahead?  Then there’s a huge dust storm that sits around the town not allowing anyone to leave.  I guess we can figure out that it was put there to stop the “zombies” from going to another city.  Who put it there?  Well, it appears that the scorpion/dog alien that rounds up the turned humans and incinerates them did.  Truthfully, I didn’t care who/what resolved the situation.  I was ready for Dustwalker to end.  It just didn’t resonate with me.  Your mileage may vary.

Dustwalker earns 1 of 5 stars.

“Hideout” (2021) Starring Katie Lyons / Z-View

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Hideout (2021)

Director:  Kris Roselli

Screenplay: Kris Roselli

Stars: Katie Lyons, Audrey Kovár, Chris Wolfe, Bryan Enright and Eric Francis Melaragni

Tagline: No One Can Hide Forever

The Plot…

After a botched robbery where Reed (Wolfe) was shot, Sarah, Rick and Kyle need a place to hold up until the heat dies down.  They find a remote farmhouse where an old woman lives with her granddaughter… at least that’s how it appears…

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Hideout begins well enough with an interesting premise.  Four violent robbers on the run take shelter at a remote farm unaware that one of their hostages isn’t what she seems.   Unfortunately once it gets going Hideout doesn’t live up to its potential.  It’s slow with quite a bit of overacting by Wolfe and Enright,  Yelling and raising your eyebrows only takes you so far.  Katie Lyons is definitely the star of the show.

If you like low-budget horror, you can do worse, but I was expecting better.

Hideout earns 2 of 5 stars.

“Run Sweetheart Run” (2020) starring Ella Balinska & Pilou Asbæk / Z-View

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Run Sweetheart Run (2020)

Director: Shana Feste

Screenplay: Shana Feste, Keith Josef Adkins, Kellee Terrell

Stars: Ella Balinska, Pilou Asbæk, Clark Gregg, Shohreh Aghdashloo and Marco Khan

Tagline:  None.

The Plot…

Cherie (Balinska) is a single mom, and pre-law student working her way through college working as a secretary for a high-priced lawyer.  When her boss calls saying that he needs her to take his place at a dinner that evening with an important client, she reluctantly agrees.

Cherie meets Ethan (Asbæk) who turns out to be rich, handsome, charming and interested in Cherie.  As the evening progresses, Cherie begins to feel attracted to Ethan.  When they arrive back at Ethan’s house, he invites Cherie in for a drink.  Although hesitant, Cherie says she’ll come in for just one.

Cherie will soon find herself on the run for her life.  Ethan was not at all what he seemed to be.  Who will believe that Ethan is a savage murderer who intends to kill Cherie before sunrise?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Run Sweetheart Run takes surprising turns that some may not like.  I absolutely enjoyed them.  There are times when the fourth wall is broken.  When Ethan and Cherie go for a nightcap, as Cherie enters the house, Ethan turns and looks directly into the camera.  He then makes a go away motion to the audience and the camera backs up.  Ethan then enters the house and from a distance we hear screams, smashing furniture and suddenly Cherie bursts out of the house running for her life.

The movie takes on a supernatural aspect about three quarters of the way through, although there have been hints along the way.  Ella Balinska is excellent as the “girl on the run” who will have to survive by her wits and toughness.  Pilou Asbæk is believable as the charming date at one moment and terrifying killer in the next.  If you’re a fan of movies that break the mold and take chances, then Run Sweetheart Run may be for you.

Run Sweetheart Run earns 4 of 5 stars.

“Three Pests in a Mess” (1945) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Three Pests in a Mess (1945)

Director:  Del Lord

Screenplay: Del Lord

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Christine McIntyre, Vernon Dent and ‘Snub’ Pollard

Tagline:  Three screwballs on the loose!

The Plot…

Larry, Curly and Moe are inventors who become enamoured with a gold digger who thinks the boys are loaded. When she finds out they’re not, she calls in her partners to rough up the boys.  While making their escape Curly accidently shoots a mannequin.  Thinking that Curly has killed a man, the boys put the “body” in a bag and take it to a cemetery to bury it.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Three Pests in a Mess is another Stooges classic.  Curly’s interactions with the gold digger and his shirt “preparedness” are priceless.  The cemetery scenes at night with Larry, Curly, Moe and the folks from the masquerade party (A devil, skeleton, and mad magician) are classic.  Curly shines when carrying the bag containing the mannequin and with each step he takes gets slapped in the head by the mannequin’s hand.  Three Pests in a Mess is another great example of how comedy and “horror” work so well together.

Three Pests in a Mess earns 5 of 5 stars.

“Alligator” (1980) starring Robert Forster / Z-View

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Alligator (1980)

Director:  Lewis Teague

Screenplay:  John Sayles from a story by John Sayles, Frank Ray Perilli

Stars: Robert Forster, Robin Riker, Michael V. Gazzo, Dean Jagger, Sydney Lassick, Jack Carter, Henry Silva, Buckley Norris and Sue Lyon 

Tagline:  It lives 50 feet beneath the city. It’s 36 feet long. It weighs 2,000 pounds…And it’s about to break out!

The Plot…

An alligator that was flushed into the Chicago sewers twelve years ago begins feeding on discarded animal remains used in experiments.  This causes the gator to grow to a gigantic size with an insatiable appetite.  When body parts of missing city workers show up, police officer David Madison (Forster) and a rookie cop are sent into the sewer to investigate.

They discover the alligator, or perhaps it’s better to say the alligator discovers them.  Madison barely escapes but his partner isn’t as lucky.  Madison reports that there’s a giant alligator living in the sewers system, but no one believes him until the gator comes to the surface… and it’s hungry!

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Alligator is a better movie than you might think a low-budget Jaws knockoff would be. That’s  thanks to the folks involved.  Lewis Teague (Death Race 2000; Cujo) knows how to get the most bang for the buck directing low budget horror.  John (The Howling; Piranha; Lone Star) Sayles provides a story with more depth than expected from a giant alligator movie.  Robert Forster is joined by Michael (Godfather II) Gazzo, Sydney (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) Lassick and Henry (Sharky’s Machine) Silva.  Dean Jagger and Sue Lyons also appear in what would be their last film roles.

There are two cool Easter Eggs in Alligator: 1) The first sewer worker to go missing is named Edward Norton which is a tip of the hat to The Honeymooners.  2) There’s graffiti on a sewer wall near the end of the movie that says, “Harry Lime Lives”.  This is a reference to Orson Welles character in The Third Man who escapes through a sewer.

Bryan (Breaking Bad) Cranston worked on the film as a production assistant for the Special Effects department and became friends with Robert Forster.

Alligator isn’t a great film, but it’s better than you might expect.

Alligator earns 3 of 5 stars.