Category: Z-View

“Cactus Makes Perfect” (1942) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Cactus Makes Perfect (1942)

Director:  Del Lord

Screenplay: Elwood Ullman, Monte Collins

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard, Ernie Adams and Vernon Dent

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

The boys (Moe, Larry and Curly) are brothers out to make their fortune.  They buy a bogus gold mine map and end up finding gold. Little do the Stooges know, two crooks are waiting to rob them!

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Catus Makes Perfect is a fairly generic Stooges short.  Still any outing with Curly is worth a look!

Cactus Makes Perfect earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Spooks” (1953) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Spooks (1953)

Director:  Jules White

Screenplay: Felix Adler

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Shemp Howard, Norma Randall, Philip Van Zandt and Tom Kennedy

Tagline: Hollywood’s First Comedy Featurette in 3-D

The Plot…

The boys (Moe, Larry and Shemp) are private detectives hired to find a kidnapped woman.  The trail leads to a spooky house where the woman is being held hostage by a mad scientist, his hulking assistant, and a gorilla…

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

If Spooks reminds you of Dopey Dicks it should. Both contain the same elements: a spooky old mansion full of hidden passages, a mad scientist, his hulking assistant, a woman in distress and the Three Stooges. Spooks kicks it up a notch by adding a gorilla and a release in 3D!

Spooks earns 5 of 5 stars.

“Killer Sally” (2022) / Z-View

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Killer Sally (2022)

Director:  Nanette Burstein

Stars: Sally McNeil, John McNeil

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

Sally Dempsey was a talented high school athlete. After graduation she became a marine.  While in the service Sally took up competitive bodybuilding.  That’s when she met Ray McNeil,  Ray was already a bodybuilder on his way to the top.  Sally and Ray were married after dating just a couple of months.

At first they had a great marriage.  Ray made it to the Mr. Olympia competition. Sally was becoming a well-known bodybuilder.  Somewhere along the way, the marriage turned sour.  Then on Valentine’s Day, 1995, Sally called 911 to say she had just killed her husband.

Killer Sally provides background on the case over the course of three episodes.  Was Sally a victim of spousal abuse or a cold-blooded killer?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Killer Sally is an interesting docuseries that could have been told in two episodes.  By stretching it out to three, some of the impact is lost.  The first episode provides background. Even after marriage Ray was a player and abusive.  He’s the bad guy.

In the second episode we learn that Sally was also abusive.  Even worse she had a criminal record for violence!  She had beat up her mailman,  attacked a female bodybuilder at a competition and got into a drunken confrontation with a bouncer (she wouldn’t stop dancing on a table) that led to police intervention.

Making Ray as the total villain in the first episode while holding back all the bad stuff on Sally until the second probably felt like a shocking reveal to the filmmakers.  It just felt a bit cheap to me.

There’s no question that Sally killed Ray.  She claims he was beating her up and she killed him in self-defense.  The facts show Ray was shot twice with a shotgun.  I won’t spoil the verdict, but will say I agreed with the outcome.

Killer Sally earns 3 of 5 stars.

“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.

“If a Body Meets a Body” (1945) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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If a Body Meets a Body (1945)

Director:  Jules White

Screenplay: Jack White from a story by Gilbert Pratt

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Theodore Lorch, Fred Kelsey and Al Thompson

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

When Curly is named as a benefactor, the boys show up at the late uncle’s spooky old mansion for a reading of the will.  Instead of a will reading, all of the guests are kept in isolation as Detective Clancy (Kelsey) attempts to determine who murdered Curly’s uncle!  While the boys are kept in a bedroom strange things begin to happen…

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

This same plot was used in The Laurel and Hardy Murder Case. Fred Kelsey played the investigating cop in both!  This is the first short filmed after Curly suffered a stroke.  That’s why Larry and Moe get more individual gags than usual.

If a Body Meets a Body earns 4 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.

“Micro-Phonies” (1945) starring The Three Stooges

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Micro-Phonies (1945)

Director:  Edward Bernds

Screenplay: Edward Bernds

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Christine McIntyre, Symona Boniface, Chester Conklin and Theodore Lorch

Tagline: THE DAFFIEST TRIO THAT EVER HIT THE LAUGHWAVES!

The Plot…

Larry, Curly and Moe are radio station janitors. They begin playing with the equipment and lip syncing to records.  As Curly pretends to sing an opera song, Larry and Moe dress him as a woman.  A rich lady enters and believes it is “Señorita Cucaracha” singing and hires her to sing at a dinner party that evening.  The Boys think it’s easy money and show up with Curly in drag and the hidden record.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Co-star Christine McIntyre does her actual singing!

Micro-Phonies earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Three Little Pigskins” (1934) starring The Three Stooges & Lucille Ball / Z-View

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Three Little Pigskins (1934)

Director:  Ray McCarey

Screenplay:  Felix Adler and Griffin Jay

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard and Lucille Ball 

Tagline: Watch ’em carry gloom offside – and goal you with glee!

The Plot…

Larry, Curly and Moe are mistaken for three great football players when a gangster hires them for a team he’s bet big money on.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

There’s a lot of business before the Boys get to the football field.  Although the football antics are what this short is known for, there’s laughs as Larry, Curly and Moe flirt with the gangsters’ girls.  Lucy makes her only Three Stooges appearance and she’s a blonde!

Three Little Pigskins earns 4 of 5 stars.

“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.

“God Forbid” (2022) / Z-View

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God Forbid (2022)

Director: Billy Corben

Stars: Giancarlo Granda, Jerry Falwell Jr., Becki Falwell, Michael Cohen, Tom Arnold, Ted Cruz, Mike Pence and Donald Trump.

Tagline: The Sex Scandal That Brought Down a Dynasty.

The Story…

When Giancarlo Granda was a twenty year old pool attendant at the Fontainebleau Hotel, a hot looking “older” woman hit on him.  They flirted. Later she invited him up to her room for sex… but the catch was her husband would watch.  At the time, Granda had no idea the woman was Becki Falwell.  Her husband was Jerry Falwell, Jr.! Falwell was president of university operations at Liberty University (started by his father) and one of the most powerful leaders of the Christian Right. Their hookup led to a seven year affair with Giancarlo being flown around the world, paid hundreds of thousands of dollars and invited to events with leading political figures.

Ultimately the affair would become public and lead to the downfall of Jerry Falwell Jr,

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.  A story where one of the most powerful members of the Christian Right is brought down because he liked to watch his wife have sex with a “pool boy” would be laughed at as too cliché.  Yet that is what happened.

How stupid do you have to be to do the things that Jerry Falwell and his wife did?  Very. I think the only thing that would measure higher than their stupidity was their ability to live as hypocrites.

God Forbid is interesting and well done.  At times It almost has a “Godfather” like feel with they way powerful people trade “favors” to get things done.

God Forbid earns 5 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.

“Assassin” (1986) starring Robert Conrad / Z-View

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Assassin (1986)

Director: Sandor Stern

Screenplay:  Sandor Stern

Stars: Robert Conrad, Karen Austin, Richard Young, Jonathan Banks, Robert Webber and Bob Hoy 

Tagline: Stanton Thought He Had Fought His Final Mission … Think Again!

The Plot…

Henry Stanton (Conrad) is a retired government agent, called back into service to kill a robot assassin!  The robot looks human, but is nearly indestructible.  Time is running out as the robot has a kill list and top government officials are on it!

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Assassin has the feel of an 1980s tv movie made to cash in on the popularity of The Terminator.  Probably because it was just that.  I loved Robert Conrad in The Wild, Wild West.  Unfortunately Robert Conrad’s character here has none of the charm or action hero charisma of James West.  Jonathon Banks doesn’t get much to do, but it’s cool seeing him pre-Wiseguy and decades before Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul.

See the photo below of Robert Conrad?  He’s looking for something else to watch.  I should have as well.  Your mileage may vary.

Assassin earns 2 of 5 stars.

“Dutiful but Dumb” starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Dutiful but Dumb (1941)

Director:  Del Lord

Screenplay:  Elwood Ullman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Bruce Bennett, Chester Conklin, Vernon Dent and Bud Jamison 

Tagline:  None.

The Plot…

Larry, Curly and Moe are photographers who are sent to Vulgaria.  Their boss knows that photography in Vulgaria is punishable by death!  When the Stooges arrive they begin taking photographs of soldiers in a firing squad about to execute a photographer.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Every scene in Dutiful but Dumb is full of gags with very few relying on Moe abusing Larry and Curly.  Highlights include: Moe wearing a long coat while riding on Larry’s shoulders to appear as an extremely tall man, Curly popping up to get a movie star’s photo, Moe disguised as a lamp, Curly hiding in a huge radio and “voicing” all the channels, and the classic bit of Curly attempting to eat a bowl of fresh clam soup.

We get to hear Curly’s real voice when he acts as an announcer while hiding in the radio.  Curly’s scene with the clam soup required several takes because the crew was laughing so much, Curly would begin to laugh as well. The clam soup gag was so popular that Lou Costello performed it in Here Come the Co-Eds (1945),  Moe presented it  Shivering Sherlocks (1948), and Larry took on Lobsters in 1954’s Tax Sappy.

Dutiful but Dumb earns 5 of 5 stars.

“Back to the Woods” (1937) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Back to the Woods (1937)

Director:  Preston Black (pseudonym of Jack White, Jules White’s older brother)

Screenplay:  Andrew Bennison story by Searle Kramer

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Vernon Dent, Bud Jamison and Theodore Lorch

Tagline:  None.

The Plot…

Larry, Curly and Moe are sent to the American colonies as punishment. They arrive to discover that the colonists are starving.  The Indians are demanding more than the colonists can afford to hunt on their grounds. The Boys decide to go hunting there anyway.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Back to the Woods is the first Stooges short to re-use footage from an earlier Stooges film.  The final scene was first used in Whoops, I’m an Indian! released a year earlier.

Highlights include the Stooges dancing with three lady colonists, Curly’s method of taking out hostile Indians (eye poke/donkey kick combo), the ever-popular tree catapult as well as gut punch followed by hot coals in the pants.

Back to the Woods earns 4 of 5 stars.

“The Landing” (2017) / Z-View

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The Landing (2017)

Director:  David Dodson, Mark Dodson

Screenplay: David Dodson, Mark Dodson

Stars: Don Hannah, Warren Farina, Jeff McVey, Page Hannah, Robert Pine and Craig Stepp

Tagline:  None.

The Plot…

A faux documentary that explores the events leading to the tragic loss of an astronaut’s life on Apollo 18, the last U.S. mission to the moon.  Was it murder?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

There was no Apollo 18 mission.  The Landing is total fiction, but done so well many folks believe it is an actual documentary.  One of the reasons that The Landing seems so real (besides great production values, acting, writing, directing and editing) is that the filmmakers came together in 1991 to began filming.  They then waited 25 years to film the “current” interviews!

The fact that The Landing presents as reality upset many reviewers.  They felt that an unsuspecting audience would believe that there was an Apollo 18 mission that resulted in a dead astronaut.  I say, “Judge the film on it’s merits, not what viewers may believe.”  Yes, The Landing is so well done it appears to be a legit documentary.  That is a strength, my friends.  Plus The Landing has an interesting mystery resulting in a death.  Was it an accident or murder?

I give credit to the filmmakers for having the patience and belief in the project to put it on hold for 25 years.  No wonder make-up or special effects weren’t needed to age the actors.  Don Hannah, who plays astronaut Bo Cunningham, deserves special mention.  Although Mr. Hannah usually works behind the camera as an Assistant Director, he was spot on with his acting.  I’d like to see him in other roles.

The Landing earns 4 of 5 stars.