Category: Z-View

Bowery to Bagdad (1955) / Z-View

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Bowery to Bagdad (1955)

Director: Edward Bernds

Screenplay: Elwood Ullman and Edward Bernds

Stars: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall and Bernard Gorcey.

The Pitch: “Hey, what if the Bowery Boys found a magic lamp?”

Tagline: YOU’LL LOVE THEM IN BAGDAD!…As those Ding-Dong Daddies Go Haren-Scarem via The Magic Carpet!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The Bowery Boys find a magic lamp but before they can decide on their wishes, a group of mobsters discovers the genie and the battle for the lamp is on!

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Born to Kill (1947) / Z-View

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Born to Kill (1947)

Director: Robert Wise

Screenplay: Eve Greene and Richard Macaulay based on the novel by James Gunn

Stars: Claire Trevor, Lawrence Tierney, Walter Slezak, Elisha Cook Jr., Isabel Jewell and Esther Howard

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s turn the novel Born to Kill into a movie!”

Tagline: THE COLDEST KILLER A WOMAN EVER LOVED!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

On the run from the coldblooded murder of a woman and her boyfriend, Sam [Tierney] meets two half-sisters.  Although attracted to Helen [Trevor], Sam puts the moves on Georgia since she has money.  She’s attracted to him and after a whirlwind romance they are married.

Sam still has eyes for Helen and she likes the idea of Georgia’s money.  A match made in hell, right?  Things become even more complicated when sleazy private eye, Arnett [Slezak] shows up.  Arnett knows Sam’s a murderer but is willing to take cash to go away.  More people are going to die when you’re dealing with a man who was born to kill.

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Detour (1945) / Z-View

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Detour (1945)

Director: Edgar G. Ulmer

Screenplay: Martin Goldsmith

Stars: Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake and Edmund MacDonald.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a low budget noir!”

Tagline: He went searching for love… but Fate forced a DETOUR to Revelry… Violence… Mystery!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Al Roberts [Neal] decides to hitchhike to Hollywood to join his girl.  When Roberts gets a ride from Charles Haskell [MacDonald] it appears Roberts is in luck.  Haskell is going all the way to Hollywood.  They take turns driving and it’s easy going until late at night on a deserted stretch of road that Roberts starts feeling tired.  He decides to wake up Haskell and have him drive.

Only Haskell won’t wake up!  He apparently died in his sleep.  When Roberts opens the car door Haskell falls out and hits his head.  Roberts panics.  Afraid that the cops won’t believe his story and will pin a murder on him, Roberts hides the body.  With no money, Roberts decides to take Haskell’s cash (he’s carrying quite a bit!) and driver’s license.  They look enough alike that Roberts believes he’ll fool anyone who questions him.  Once in Hollywood, Roberts will ditch the car, throw away the driver’s license and put this mess behind him.

And Roberts plan might have worked had he not picked up a woman hitchhiker named Vera [Savage].  She knew Haskell and threatens to go to the police unless Roberts does exactly what she wants.  Roberts is trapped with no way out unless…

 

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Horror Express (1972) / Z-View

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Horror Express (1972)

Director: Eugenio Martín (as Gene Martin)

Screenplay:  Arnaud d’Usseau and Julian Zimet 

Stars: Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Alberto de Mendoza and Telly Savalas.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s remake The Thing from Another World and set it on a train in 1906!”

Tagline: A nightmare of terror travelling aboard the Horror Express!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The year is 1906.  An English scientist [Lee] is transporting a frozen prehistoric monster to England by train across the Siberian wasteland.  What could possibly go wrong?

You guessed it.  The monster thaws and turns out to be an alien that can kill and assume the shape of whoever it murders.  Will Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Telly Savalas be able to destroy the creature before it reaches civilization?  Stick around for the eye-popping finale and you’ll know!

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Night of the Living Dead (1990) / Z-View

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Night of the Living Dead (1990)

Director: Tom Savini

Screenplay: George Romero based on The Night of the Living Dead original screenplay by John A. Russo and George Romero 

Stars: Tony Todd, Patricia Tallman, Tom Towles and Bill Cardille.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s update (and copyright) a remake of ‘Night of the Living Dead’!”

Tagline: There IS a fate worse than death.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Tom Savini takes the helm of an updated version of Night of the Living Dead.  All the key players and set pieces are in place but it’s like watching a historic event from a slightly different timeline.  There are little changes in character but none of them are for the better.

Barbara starts off the same — overcome with shock from the realization that the dead are rising to eat the living, but partway through the movie she is ready to pick up a gun and go Rambo on zombies or humans that tick her off.  Ben is now as much of a hot head as Harry Cooper.

And the zombies aren’t like the zombies we’ve grown used to.  They’re not as scary.  Of course part of THAT problem is that when the ONOTLD was made, the zombie genre was being invented.  We’re almost 50 years from that and zombie expectations are much different. (Only a true horror aficionado would understand that!)  Also being filmed in color doesn’t help either.

The movie was still fun and I think most fans would enjoy the ride.

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The Innocents (1961) / Z-View

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The Innocents (1961)

Director: Jack Clayton

Screenplay: Truman Capote and William Archibald based on the Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw

Stars: Deborah Kerr, Peter Wyngarde and Megs Jenkins.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a movie where two children in a remote mansion may be possessed by evil spirits!”

Tagline: A strange new experience in shock.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

In the late 1890’s a rich man hires a nanny, Miss Giddens [Kerr] to move to his remote, deserted mansion run by a few servants to oversee the raising of his nephew and niece.  Shortly after her arrival Miss Giddens begins to believe that the evil spirits of the former nanny and a man are trying to possess the children.

The Innocents is considered a classic by many and is an excellent film.  The black and white photography works wonderfully with the soundtrack to create a suspenseful movie full tension and a couple of legitimate scares.  They don’t make movies like this any more and it is a shame.

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Spook Chasers (1957) / Z-View

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Spook Chasers (1957)

Director: George Blair

Screenplay: Elwood Ullman

Stars: Huntz Hall, Stanley Clements and Darlene Fields.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s put the East Side Kids in a haunted house with some crooks!”

Tagline: IT’S A SCREAM!..as they g-g-go ghost-haunting…and they haven’t a g-g-ghost of a chance!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The Bowery Boys find themselves in another creepy, old house haunted house with a mad scientist crooks!  Wha- what?

When Mike buys a rural house sight-unseen, the boys go up with him to get it cleaned up.  In the process they discover hidden cash and learn it was a gang of crook’s hideout.  Instead of laying low, they go into town and pay off the mortgage.  Word gets out and that night things start getting spooky with ghosts, monsters, crooks and mobsters all running wild!

If you feel you’ve seen this one before, it’s the same basic plot with minor tweaks that made The Bowery Boys famous.

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The Big Sleep (1946) / Z-View

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The Big Sleep (1946)

Director: Howard Hawks

Screenplay: William Faulkner & Leigh Brackett & Jules Furthman  based on the novel by Raymond Chandler

Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely, Martha Vickers, Dorothy Malone, Bob Steele and Elisha Cook, Jr.

The Pitch: “Let’s get Bogart and Bacall in The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler!!”

Tagline: The Violence-Screen’s All-Time Rocker-Shocker!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Private Eye, Phillip Marlowe [Bogart] is hired by a rich old man to stop his daughter Carmen from being blackmailed for gambling debts.  The deeper Marlowe digs into the case the more seedy it becomes.  Soon enough Marlowe is trying to sort out how Carmen is involved not only in gambling, but also pornography, murder and more.

The Big Sleep is a classic.

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Zombie Diaries 2 (2011) / Z-View

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Zombie Diaries 2 (2011)

Director: Michael G. Bartlett, Kevin Gates

Screenplay: Kevin Gates

Stars: Philip Brodie, Alix Wilton Regan and Rob Oldfield

The Pitch: “Zombie movies are profitable and we’ve already made one…let’s do another!”

Tagline: Humanity’s Last Stand!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

A zombie outbreak is underway.  The movie is another in the “found film” genre.  A soldier documents the outbreak with a video camera.  People make stupid decisions and are killed.  Zombies are everywhere and you can follow along with the shaky camera, jump cuts and all.  Its like watching a bad home movie with zombies.  Not my cup of joe.

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To Have and Have Not (1944) / Z-View

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To Have and Have Not (1944)

Director: Howard Hawks

Screenplay: Jules Furthman and William Faulkner based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway

Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Walter Brennan and Hoagy Carmichael.

The Pitch: “Let’s get Bogart and make some more Casablanca magic!”

Tagline: Humphrey Bogart…with his kind of woman in a powerful adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s most daring man-woman story!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Harry Morgan [Bogart] is a US citizen living on the  island of Martinique in 1940.  World War II rages on but is just starting to reach Martinique.  Morgan makes his living taking tourists out on his fishing boat.  When a group of freedom fighters approach Morgan about sneaking one of their own to safety using his boat, Morgan turns them down.  It’s not his war and he won’t risk his boat or his neck.

Things change when Morgan meets Marie [Bacall], a young, tough and self-sufficient woman.  One thing leads to another and soon enough Morgan finds himself falling for Marie and pulled into alliance with the freedom fighters.

Another hit for Bogart — one of his best.  Bacall’s first film and what a debut! Bogart and Bacall fell in love during the filming.   Walter Brennan is perfect as Bogart’s alcoholic friend.

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Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016) / Z-View

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Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)

Director: Edward Zwick

Screenplay: Richard Wenk and Edward Zwick & Marshall Herskovitz based on the novel by Lee Child

Stars: Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders, Aldis Hodge, Danika Yarosh, Patrick Heusinger, Holt McCallany and Robert Knepper.

The Pitch: “Let’s get Tom Cruise and make ‘Jack Reacher 2’!”

Tagline: Never give in, never give up, never go back.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Jack Reacher finds himself framed for the murder of a military officer and on the run with Major Turner, a tough women officer also framed for murder because she was investigating the murder of two soldiers in her command.  To complicate matters, they also have a teenage girl in tow who may or may not be Reacher’s child.

If you liked the first Jack Reacher movie, you should love this one.  It starts with a bang, has a great cast and well-written script.  There’s no real mystery to viewers who the bad guys are or how things will turn out, but the joy is the journey.

Cobie Smulders as Major Turner holds her own with Cruise in the action scenes and doesn’t come off as a damsel in distress.  It was also cool to see Holt McCallany and Robert Knepper in smaller but important roles.

I liked Jack Reacher a lot and enjoyed Jack Reacher: Never Go Back even more.

 

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The Zombie Diaries (2006) / Z-View

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The Zombie Diaries (2006) 

Director:  Michael G. Bartlett and Kevin Gates

Screenplay: Michael G. Bartlett and Kevin Gates

Stars:  Scott Ainslie, Toby Bowman and Victoria Summer.

The Pitch: “Zombie movies are cheap, let’s make one!”

Tagline: Brace yourself… This time it’s for real.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The Zombie Diaries is one of those “found movie” films.  The idea this time out is that we’re watching video that was recorded during the start of a zombie apocalypse.  It begins and ends with a documentary crew but there are three interconnected “stories” along the way.

I’m not a fan of “found films” because it usually means jumpy, headache inducing photography and poor editing (or no editing – just jump cuts from one “scene” to the next). The Zombie Diaries is no exception and in fact is an excellent example of why lost films don’t work (at least for me).

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The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters (1954) / Z-View

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The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters (1954)

Director: Edward Bernds

Screenplay: Elwood Ullman and Edward Bernds

Stars: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Ellen Corby and John Dehner.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s put the Bowery Boys in with a mad scientist and an ape and a monster!”

Tagline: SCARIEST, SCREWIEST LAUGH RIOT IN MONSTER HISTORY!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The Bowery Boys find themselves in another creepy, old house with a mad scientist looking to transplant human brains into a monster! Wha- what? Again?  You better believe it!

The boys end up in a creepy old house with, get this, a mad scientist, a gorilla, a robot, a vampiress, a monster and a flesh-eating plant.  The usual hi-jinks ensue but at a funnier level than to be expected.

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The Girl on the Train (2016) / Z-View

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The Girl on the Train (2016)

Director: Tate Taylor

Screenplay:  Erin Cressida Wilson based on the novel by Paula Hawkins

Stars: Emily Blunt, Haley Bennett, Rebecca Ferguson, Justin Theroux, Luke Evans, Allison Janney and Lisa Kudrowan.

The Pitch: “Let’s make a movie based on The Girl on the Train!”

Tagline: What you can see can hurt you.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

It’s rare for a movie to have as many unlikable characters as The Girl on the Train.  Get this, we have…

  • An alcoholic, out of work, ex-wife who rides a train daydreaming when she’s not showing up at her ex-husband’s house and scaring his wife.
  • An ex-husband who is cheating with every woman he can get his, uh, hands on.
  • A wife who gained her husband by cheating with him while he was still married.
  • A woman who is living with a man but is cheating on him with a married man.
  • An abusive man with a hair-trigger temper who is living with a woman.
  • A psychologist who is crossing the line with the sexual behavior of one of his clients.
  • Two detectives investigating a murder who seem to have no interest in solving it.

 There’s a murder.  Some red herrings are given.  What you see is not what you think you’re seeing.  The murder is solved.  One of those unlikable characters did it and gets his/her just reward.  The end.

Based on the best-selling book.

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Spook Busters (1946) / Z-View

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Spook Busters (1946)

Director: William Beaudine

Screenplay: Edmond Seward and Tim Ryan

Stars: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Douglass Dumbrille and Bobby Jordan.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s put the East Side Kids in with a mad scientist and an ape!”

Tagline: The Fun’s Getting FEAROCIOUS! MAD DOCTORS! HAUNTED HOUSES! GORILLAS!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The Bowery Boys find themselves in another creepy, old house with a mad scientist who kidnaps Satch [Hall] to place his brain in a monster ape!  Wha- what?

The boys start a pest exterminating business and find themselves in a haunted house with a mad scientist looking to put Satch‘s brain in a gorilla.  Guess he wants to dumb-down the monkey.  The usual hi-jinks ensue when the Boys set out to rescue Satch.

It is almost as if the writers put the screenplays for Spooks Run Wild and Ghosts Run Wild in a blender.

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