DEXTER: RESURRECTION

Michael C. Hall as the ever-delightful Dexter

DEXTER: RESURRECTION (2025). 

Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) , the serial killer who generally only murders other serial killers, did not die at the end of his last mini-series. He survived being shot in the chest by his own son, Harrison (Jack Alcott). Dexter continues to have conversations with his dead father (James Remar) -- a device that is a bit tiresome, frankly -- as he makes his way to Manhattan (!) to see if he can be reunited with his son, whos' got himself into a bit of trouble due to his lack of impulse control. Meanwhile, a truly evil serial killer is sawing off the heads of unlucky cab drivers; detectives are looking into the brutal death of a hotel guest/rapist; and Angel Batista (David Zayas), who always suspected colleague Dexter was the Bay Harbor Butcher, is determined to bring him to justice. If that weren't enough, Dexter learns that a strange midget billionaire named Leon Prater (Peter Dinklage) has assembled a group of serial killers for his own weird purposes. Will Dexter bond with these people who have some of the same "urges" as he does -- or kill them?

Jack Alcott as Harrison Morgan

I admit when the midget and his gathering of sickos are introduced I feared that Dexter: Resurrection had gone off the rails. But once I accepted that this storyline was even more far-fetched than usual, I found myself mightily enjoying the series. Hall is a terrific actor, and sheer perfection as Dexter. He is matched by Alcott, Zayas, and Dinklage, and there are also fine performances from Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine as Dexter's friend and landlord, Kadia Saraf as the ever-grim Detective Wallace, and many others. Uma Thurman is also effective as Prater's head of security. Although top-billed with Hall, she doesn't really have that much to do. 

Peter Dinklage

You wouldn't imagine that the subject matter would lend itself to it, but Dexter: Resurrection is as much a (very) black comedy as it is a horror story. (Detective Wallace giving in to her adoration of the Bee Gees; "Staying Alive" from Saturday Night Fever is hilarious.) With a variety of twists, bizarre characters, edge-of-your-seat escapes, and major suspense, Dexter: Resurrection is a winner all the way. It has been renewed for season two, airing in October. 

Verdict: Totally absorbing and oddball series with wonderful performances. ***1/2.

BURKE'S LAW: WHO KILLED CABLE ROBERTS

Paul Lynde

BURKE'S LAW: WHO KILLED CABLE ROBERTS (1963). Director: Jeffrey Hayden. 

Cable Roberts, a big-game hunter who may have been a complete phony, is found dead in his trophy room, propped over a screen that nearly falls on top of the screaming maid (Zsa Zsa Gabor of Country Music Holiday). His personal secretary Arthur Clark (Paul Lynde) -- who is keeping his own secrets -- seems quite distraught over the death, but Roberts' wife Mona (Lizabeth Scott) not only can't be bothered to shed a tear but seems to have no real human reaction other than to blatantly flirt with Homicide Captain Amos Burke (Gene Barry) as if this lass with a pronounced overbite were the most beautiful woman on earth. Burke and his associates -- Detective Tim Tillson (Gary Conway) and Sgt. Les Hart (Regis Toomey of Three for Jamie Dawn) -- talk to numerous suspects, including Roberts' ex-wife Florence (Mary Astor), son Bud (John Saxon), business partner Harry Riggs (Chill Wills of Heartaches), and others. Who done it?

Gerry Conway and Gene Barry

"Who Killed Cable Roberts?" is one of the better episodes of this entertaining, amusing, and often very silly series that ran for two seasons in the sixties before being transformed into Amos Burke, Secret Agent. The acting of the assorted guest-stars in this story is especially notable, with Mary Astor -- no surprise there -- taking top honors along with a terrific Chill Wills. A big surprise is the excellent performance given by Paul Lynde. Although others have called him "campy" in this -- and no one would have blamed him if he had acted that way on this program -- he actually gives an essentially serious dramatic performance and is all the better because of it -- it is really good work. Barry, handsome Conway and Toomey are all at the top of their game as well. 

Verdict: Extra-special episode of this fun series with some fine performances. ***1/4.  

GOLIATH AND THE SINS OF BABYLON

Mark Forest as Goliath

GOLIATH AND THE SINS OF BABYLON (aka Maciste, l'eroe pui grande del mondo/1963). Director: Michele Lupo.  

Having lost a war to Babylon, the price of peace for the nation of Nefer is to have thirty virgins sent to the Babylonian king where they are to be sacrificed. Maciste (Mark Forest) -- known as Goliath in this dubbed American print -- joins a group of rebels who are going to take the fight back to Babylon. One of the rebels is Xandros (Giuliano Gemma), who is in love with the Neferian princess Regia (Jose Greci), the niece of King Pergasos (Piero Lulli). Another one of the rebel group is the midget Areto (Arnaldo Fabrizio) who makes a better soldier than expected. But can they win against the whole Babylonian army?

Guiliano Gemma and Mark Forest

Goliath and the Sins of Babylon is a somewhat more elaborate Italian "peplum" movie although this doesn't prevent it from being somewhat cheesy at times. Born in Brooklyn, Mark Forest makes a handsome and muscularly impressive Goliath. The best scene has him tied to a massive slab as spears drop from holes in the ceiling, nearly puncturing his mostly naked body. The battle sequences are realistically chaotic. The production values are at times impressive, but the sets still look like they were set up the day before filming. It's hard to judge the acting in this sort of thing, but everyone at least looks the part. A good score by Francesco De Masi. 

Verdict: More than passable peblum with some good action scenes. **3/4.   

BLACKOUT (1950)

Maxwell Reed and Dinah Sheridan

BLACKOUT (1950). Director: Robert S. Baker.

Chris Pelley (Maxwell Reed of Shadow of Fear) lost his sight in an accident but is scheduled to have an operation that will restore it. Before that he goes to an appointment and discovers that he has entered the wrong flat and  even stumbled over a dead body. The body disappears and nobody believes him. After a successful surgery, Chris returns to the flat and encounters Pat Dale (Dinah Sheridan of No Trace) and her grumpy father (Kynaston Reeves of Fiend without a Face), who has been out of sorts ever since his son died in a plane crash. Attracted to one another, Chris and Pat begin their own investigation into whoever the dead man was as well as whosoever killed him. Because of this both of them not only find themselves in danger but discover that sometimes dead men walk again ...

Chris is in a bit of a pickle -- Michael Evans on the far left

Blackout has superior photography and scoring, and all told is not badly done, and well-acted as well. But somehow it just never catches fire and comes off as a decent but distinctly minor crime drama. Maxwell Reed, who I have seen in many working class roles, this time plays a dapper, urbane type and is as good as ever. Dinah Sheridan is a bit bland but okay. Annette D. Simmonds offers more spice as a gal who is in with the bad guys but tries to help Chris to her regret. Patric Doonan is Chalky, an old pal of Pat's brother who may know more than he's telling, and Michael Evans (of The Young and the Restless) is effective as Guy Sinclair, who is mixed up in the thick of things. An eerie house that figures in the story looks like something out of Psycho. Robert S. Baker also (co-) directed the much more interesting Jack the Ripper. Maxwell Reed married Joan Collins two years after this film but their marriage only lasted four or so years. 

Verdict: Acceptable suspense story with some good settings and performances. **1/2. 

AVENGERS: ENDGAME

Avengers Assemble!

AVENGERS: ENDGAME  (2019). Directors: Anthony and Joe Russo. 

Following the events of Avengers: Infinity War, the nihilistic villain Thanos (Josh Brolin) has destroyed half of earth's inhabitants, including many heroes. Five years afterward Thor (Chris Hemsworth), after the destruction of Asgard, has turned into a bloated drunk, and Hawkeye (Jeremy Rennner), whose children disappeared, has turned into a bloodthirsty vigilante. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) has retired with his wife, Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow), and adorable daughter, where they only want to live in peace. Scott Lang, the Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), turns out to be alive and hits on the idea of somehow manipulating time to bring back all of the vanished millions. Since Thanos used the Infinity gems to destroy those people. perhaps the heroes could go back in time to before Thanos acquired the gems and use them to restore the lost souls? But will the scheme work? 

Josh Brolin as Thanos with a generous helping of CGI

Divided into teams, the heroes go back to various locations -- New York, Asgard, and other planets -- to get the gems, although there are complications, such as Captain America (Chris Evans) having to battle a younger version of himself, which also happens with Thanos' daughter, Nebula (Karen Gillan). Thanos' past self gets wise to the heroes' plan and rushes to the future. Just as the Avengers think they've won, Thanos reappears and wages all-out war on all of the heroes. 

Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans

Avengers: Endgame is better than Infinity War. The lengthy film is never boring, the actors give committed performances, and the battle sequences are generally well-done and exciting. At the climax there is an eye-popping sequence when all of the heroes with their colorful outfits and accoutrements (such as a winged horse) advance en masse on one side of a battlefield while Thanos and his forces, including weird creatures, soldiers, living serpentine spaceships and so on, approach from the other side. With literally thousands of elements in this sequence, it is truly an example of movie magic par excellance. The stirring music by Alan Silvestri adds to the whole stunning effect. 

Other good scenes include one with Hawkeye and the Black Widow (Scarlett Johanssen), one of whom makes the ultimate sacrifice to spare the other. There's an interesting moment when Tony Stark encounters his own father in the past. I liked that in an early scene at a support group one of the members is a gay man, a rare instance of an LGBT person appearing in a Marvel movie, however peripheral (the part is well-played by co-director Joe Russo. Thanos creator Jim Starlin is also in this scene). With the death of a couple of major characters, and the aging of another, I imagine that if there are more Avengers movies they will feature a cast of different and younger actors and completely reboot the series. 

Rocky Raccoon

Other characters in the movie include the alien "raccoon," Rocky (voiced by Bradley Cooper), whose presence shouldn't work but does; the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), whose human brain is now in control of his brutish body; the Ancient One (an effective Tilda Swinton), sorceress supreme; War Machine (Don Cheadle), an associate of Tony Stark's; with cameos by Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, Captain Marvel, the Scarlet Witch, the Black Panther, and others. One thing the movie doesn't go into is all the things that might happen when millions of people suddenly pop back into existence after five years (for instance, surely some people might have, say, gotten remarried during that time). A bigger unanswered question occurs after Captain America returns all of the gems to the different times and places where he and his colleagues acquired them. Since Thanos still exists in the past, what's to prevent him from simply getting all of the gems again as he did once before and starting the whole clambake all over again? 

Verdict: If you're not a comic book or super-hero freak don't even bother, but for everyone else this is certainly imperfect but not too shabby. ***. 

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (2004)

Gerard Butler as the Phantom

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (2004). Director: Joel Schumacher. 

In 1870 A mysterious figure known as the Phantom (Gerard Butler) haunts the Paris Opera, where the lead soprano is the unpleasant diva Carlotta (Minnie Driver). The Phantom, however, much prefers the singing of Christine (Emmy Rossum), a young soprano with whom he is falling in love, and he will do anything to insure that she replaces Carlotta on the stage. Christine has another suitor, a viscount named Raoul (Patrick Wilson), whose presence is an irritation to the Phantom. The Phantom eventually kidnaps Christine and takes her to his vast, watery, underground labyrinth beneath the opera house ... 

Emmy Rossum and Patrick Wilson

The Phantom of the Opera is the film adaptation of  Andrew Lloyd Webber's very popular musical, which blends together various styles such as pop, rock, and operatic pastiche to tell its story. Although other versions of this famous tale have made up new reasons for the Phantom's disfigurement, this version sticks to the original notion that the Phantom -- or Eric -- was deformed since birth, 

The Pairs Opera

Phantom is handsomely produced and well-acted by Rossum, Wilson, and Butler, as well as Driver and a host of excellent character actors. Influenced by everyone from Puccini to Sondheim, Webber's score includes such memorable ditties as "Music of the Night," "Prima Donna," the title tune, "Point of No Return," "Wish You Were Here Again," and others. "Masquerade" is presented as an exciting full-fledged production number. Rossum has a lovely non-operatic voice, and while Butler is hardly a great singer, his voice works very well for the Phantom. 

Phantom of the Opera could have been a campy mess -- there are only occasional touches of camp --  and it will not work for everyone. But I found it absorbing and colorful and often melodious, with outstanding scenic design. A death trap sequence in the underground wherein the Phantom tries to kill Raoul is well-handled as well. 

Verdict: Very good adaptation of a highly successful and macabre musical. ***1/4. 

CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED

Beware Their Stare!

CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED (1964). Director: Anton Leader. Colorized.  

Psychologist Dr. Tom Llewellyn (Ian Hendry) and geneticist Dr. David Neville (Alan Badel) are amazed at the incredible intelligence of a young boy named Paul (Clive Powell). They discover that Paul is only one of a half dozen special and unemotional children from around the world, all of whom have come to London for testing. In each case the mother is unstable and there is no sign of a father. Eventually the telepathic children -- what one knows they all know -- band together, holing up in an abandoned church, and use their mind-control powers to kill anyone they perceive as a threat. Although at first the children are seen as a separate species, it is later theorized that they are about a million years ahead of ordinary humans in development. Tom and David literally come to blows arguing about the children, with David convinced they are a menace that must be destroyed and Tom hoping to fully communicate with them. It is a question who will be decimated first: the children, or the forces who come to kill them. 

Ian Hendry and Alan Badel

Children of the Damned is not really a sequel to Village of the Damned, but a completely different movie that uses some of the same concepts of the original picture while creating many of its own. In Village the children were essentially the vanguard of an alien invasion, but there's absolutely no mention of extraterrestrials in Children. Instead these six urchins are mutants with special powers but apparently no special purpose. However, they are not about to lay down and die, building a weapon utilizing the vibratory power of an organ to destroy the minds of armed invaders in the church in a very unnerving  sequence. Another good sequence is a triple murder by three men who are under mind-control, and the entire climax, a breathlessly edited standoff between the military and the children that ends in utter disaster. 

The kids and Barbara Ferris

Unfortunately, Children of the Damned has perhaps too many ideas percolating in its screenplay by John Briley. There's the carry over from Village with its dichotomy of little monsters with sweet, angelic faces, the need for mankind to protect itself versus the loathsome notion of killing children. The church setting, and especially the resurrection of one of the children after being shot, summons up thoughts of religious martyrdom and the like, even the Second Coming. The children seem to be praying at one point but we don't know to whom. One critic felt that Hendry and Badel are playing a gay couple, and the latter's hostile attitude toward the children is because Hendry seems to be drawing closer to Paul's aunt, Susan (Barbara Ferris), but I think this is a mighty big stretch. 

Clive Powell as Paul

The acting in the film is generally excellent, with especially nice work from Sheila Allen as the neurotic virgin mother of Paul. Alfred Burke is Colin Webster, a government man who decides to insert himself into the situation. Bessie Love is briefly seen as the grandmother of one of the children. Hendry and Badel play with real conviction, and Ferris manages to convey some anguish and confusion as the woman who spends half her time being controlled by her nephew and the others. One has to say that this film, including its predecessor and the novel, "Midwich Cuckoos" upon which it was derived, were highly influential: Stephen King's "Carrie," John Farris' "The Furies," and Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's X-Men all come to mind.

Verdict: Slow in spots, much too obtuse and muddled, but with an undeniably effective and powerful climax. **3/4. 

THE LADY AND THE MONSTER

Donovan's Brain

THE LADY AND THE MONSTER (1944). Director: George Sherman. 

Professor Franz Mueller (Erich von Stroheim) is a weird scientist who lives and works in a big old place called the Castle. He has two assistants: Janice (Vera Hruba Ralston), who is the object of his unwanted affections; and Dr. Patrick Cory (Richard Arlen), who is also in love with Janice. Mueller is obsessed with the idea of keeping a brain alive after death, and he gets his chance when a plane accident victim, wealthy W. H. Donovan, is brought to his estate. Although Cory goes along with it, he has serious misgivings, especially after the brain takes control of his mind and tries to get him to do things Donovan never had a chance to do while alive, such as getting his innocent son (William Henry of New Orleans Uncensored) acquitted of murder, and trying to run a child witness over with a car. 

Ralston and Arlen

Although The Lady and the Monster is not without flaws and has dull stretches, it improves as it goes along and turns out to be the somewhat superior version of the novel Donovan's Brain, which was also filmed under that title almost ten years later. Vera (Hruba) Ralston is billed above the title. Her husband ran Republic studios, which released this film, and was determined to turn her into a star, even though she perhaps lacked that all-important presence. Richard Arlen makes a better impression, although von Stroheim gives a strange, not terribly good performance along the lines of the one he delivered in The Crime of Dr. Crespi almost ten years earlier.

Richard Arlen and Sidney Blackmer

An interesting touch in the film is the way Arlen looks increasingly demonic the further he falls under Donovan's control. Sidney Blackmer acts with his customary authority as a lawyer that isn't sure of Arlen's motives or that he wants to work with him. Mary Nash is also effective as the sympathetic housekeeper, Mrs. Fain. William Henry only gets one scene and is adequate. The movie has an exciting climax involving a car and then a struggle on a cliffside. In the remake the brain begins to grow bigger but that doesn't happen in this version. 

Verdict: Okay brain movie with some suspense. **1/4. 

THE UNKNOWN

Jim Bannon, Jeff Donnell, Mark Roberts

THE UNKNOWN (1946). Director: Henry Levin. 

An old Southern family is shattered when daughter Rachel (Karen Morley) tells her parents that she has married Richard (Robert Wilcox of Mysterious Dr. Satan) instead of the fiance who had been chosen for her. After accidentally shooting Rachel's father, he flees the house. Decades later, Rachel and Richard's daughter, Nina (Jeff Donnell), arrives at the creepy old Confederate mansion for the reading of her grandmother, Phoebe's (Helen Freeman) will. Accompanying her are a lawyer (Mark Roberts of Exposed) and two private detectives (Jim Bannon of Dangers of the Canadian Mounted; Barton Yarborough). Rachel has been a bit batty for years and doesn't realize Nina is her daughter, and her two uncles (James Bell; Wilton Graff) are grumpy and unwelcoming. Then someone is found stabbed in the family crypt. 

Robert Wilcox

The Unknown is a modestly entertaining and rather suspenseful variation on an "old dark house" mystery. In addition to crypts and murders, we've got babies crying in the night, a wandering cat, secret rooms and cobwebby passageways, but all in all it's a trifle far-fetched and doesn't add up to that much. The back story of the secret marriage and its repercussions is not without interest, but most of the modern-day story has very little to do with that. The acting is a bit stilted at times. The Unknown was the third of three films based on the "I Love a Mystery" radio series. Jim Bannon played Jack Packard in all three (the other two were I Love a Mystery and The Devil's Mask). 

Verdict: Pleasant but unspectacular time-passer. **1/2. 

GODZILLA VS. KONG

Godzilla tackles Kong

GODZILLA VS. KONG (2021.) Director: Adam Wingard. 

Of the two monster icons  Godzilla is behaving badly since his last appearance in Godzilla, King of the Monsters, attacking a Florida compound, and the equally gigantic Kong wants out of the artificial habitat he has been imprisoned in since Kong: Skull Island. It is decided that Kong will be taken to a hole in the earth through which he can descend to the hollow world inside the planet (think: Edgar Rice Burroughs' Pellucidar) where he may find others of his kind; others are only after a new energy source. Meanwhile Godzilla attacks the ship transporting Kong, and then turns his wrath on Hong Kong while a kind of "mecha-Godzilla" -- a Godzilla robot -- shows up to battle the big guy. Will Kong fight Godzilla or help him beat up on the big robot? More importantly, will anyone over the age of five give a damn?

Admittedly striking scenic design of inner-earth

I am a big fan of monster movies, having written Creature Features: Nature Turned Nasty in the Movies, but I am appalled by the current state of the genre. The special effects in Godzilla vs Kong can not be faulted, but the direction and editing are simply terrible, the photography is cluttered and unappealing, and there isn't a single moment in the movie that I could call thrilling or especially suspenseful. The scenic design is wonderful and a lot of gifted technicians and artists have made major contributions, but when the whole project is bankrupt to begin with because of a mediocre screenplay, all of this effort is simply wasted. 

Where's my agent? Alexander Skarsgard

Godzilla vs Kong may not be as silly as the Japanese King Kong vs. Godzilla made in the sixties, but despite the great FX, it isn't much more entertaining. As for the human characters, most of them are irritating nerds, and the little deaf girl who can communicate with Kong (who speaks one word at one point), while adorable, is also annoying. While I won't compare Godzilla vs Kong with a cheap Syfy channel movie, I'd have to say that any actor who appears in stuff like this should have a serious talk with their agent. Alexander Skarsgard, who plays a scientist, may not be a major star, but surely he can do better than this? (He's done a lot of TV lately and that seems to be his future.) As usual all the dead people of Hong Kong are completely forgotten at the end. 

Verdict: Great FX work, yes, but little else. **. 

ANGEL FACE

Robert Mitchum with Jean Simmons

ANGEL FACE (1952). Produced and directed by Otto Preminger. Colorized.  

Frank Jessup (Robert Mitchum) is an ambulance driver who encounters Diane Tremayne (Jean Simmons) when her stepmother, Catherine (Barbara O'Neil), nearly dies due to an "accident" in her home. Although he has his misgivings, as well as a steady date in Mary (Mona Freeman of Shadow of Fear), he is drawn to Diane and eventually becomes her family's chauffeur. Although Frank warned himself not to get involved with the dangerous Diane, he winds up on trial for murder -- along with Diane -- when a terrible accident results in two deaths. The defense attorney (Leon Ames) cooks up a scheme that might free them -- or might not. 

Leon Ames with Simmons

Angel Face is a film that I really enjoy every time I see it, and I find it far more compelling and entertaining than Laura, the film arguably most associated with Preminger. Simmons underplays beautifully throughout the movie, so that you're never quite certain what she's up to, and Mitchum offers his typical rough-hewn portrayal and is equally effective. O'Neil and Herbert Marshall (of Midnight Lace) as her husband and Diane's father are also excellent, and Leon Ames nearly walks off with the show in his incisive turn as the lawyer. Jim Backus as the prosecutor and Kenneth Tobey [It Came from Beneath the Sea] as another ambulance driver are also in good form, along with Freeman as the cast-off girlfriend who can't quite imagine a life with Mitchum at her side. 

Simmons with Robert Mitchum

While it is interesting to muse what Angel Face might have been like had it been directed by the great Alfred Hitchcock, Preminger does a nice job with the picture and keeps things moving (although others have found it slow). Are there improbable moments -- most likely, as is the case in most of these thrillers today and back then, but nothing out of the ordinary. Many have argued that Mitchum's actions at the very end seem rather stupid, but nobody ever said that Frank Jessup was a genius. In any case, Angel Face has a nice score by Dimitri Tiomkin and is well photographed by Harry Stradling, Sr. Apparently Ben Hecht contributed to the screenplay by Nugent and Millard. 

Verdict: Something about this picture ... and it's not just the smash of an ending! ***1/2. 

TRADER TOM OF THE CHINA SEAS

Harry Lauter and Aline Towne

TRADER TOM OF THE CHINA SEAS (12 chapter Republic serial/1954). Produced and directed by Franklin Adreon. Colorized.  

Tom Rogers (Harry Lauter of The Louisiana Hussy) is a trader in Asian territories who is willingly signed up by Major Conroy (Robert Shayne of The Neanderthal Man) to help ferret out a gang that is smuggling out weapons, including light bulbs containing a poison gas, to foreign agents who are arming rebel natives so as to turn their country into a satellite. Vivian Wells (Aline Towne of Radar Men from the Moon) is the feisty daughter of a doctor who was targeted by evil forces, and Mr. Barent (Lyle Talbot), is the representative of his country's forces and the chief architect behind Trader Tom's troubles. Victor Sen Yung is Wang, a friendly associate of Rogers. 

Lauter and Towne with Lyle Talbot

Barent's helpmates include the nasty Kurt Daley (Fred Graham of The Giant Gila Monster), the mute Gursan (an unrecognizable Tom Steele), the psychotic Gorth (Richard Alexander), the rebel leader (Richard Reeves), and others. Tom gets some help from Kahn (Jan Arvan), who is fighting off the rebel forces in his country. Tom and Vivian have to deal with landslides, being trapped on a sinking freighter, being trapped underwater with a cut air hose, a train collision, angry rebels with big knives, and so on. Tom thinks nothing of burning these would-be killers to death, and nearly falls off a cliff into the fire in chapter seven. In chapter six a killer is placed inside a mailbag so he can take care of the engineer. 

Vivian and Tom escape from one doom only to face another

A nice aspect of the serial is that Vivian is depicted as being just as brave, plucky, and competent as Tom. She is no mere decoration, but an important player in the story. Lyle Talbot gives his usual professional but utterly bland portrayal, as he usually did in these serials. Fred Graham, on the other hand, emerges as a very credible and distinctly unpleasant bad guy. Trader Tom of the China Seas is a late Republic serial, one that is much more down to earth than the studio's sci-fi and superhero cliffhangers. For many, that may be the serial's weakness, but it has to be said that Trader Tom is fast-paced and full of action, with plenty of interesting death-traps, and a charismatic lead performance by Lauter. 

Verdict: Decent, often exciting serial if perhaps not as much fun as others. **3/4. 

TRAPPED

Barbara Payton and Lloyd Bridges

TRAPPED (1949). Director: Richard Fleischer. 

Chris Stewart (Lloyd Bridges), a prison inmate due to his counterfeiting activities, allegedly agrees to cooperate with the authorities in order to help find some near-perfect phony currency plates, but instead escapes and hightails it to the side of his girlfriend, Meg (Barbara Payton of Bride of the Gorilla). Chris makes a deal with a man named Jack Sylvester (James Todd) to exchange some counterfeit currency for legitimate cash, and contacts John Downey (John Hoyt of The Glass Cage), a confidence man who hangs out at Meg's club and is always trying to date her; Downey will come up with the cash. But Chris is unaware that the authorities are already watching Meg -- and him -- and that Downey may not be quite the man he thinks he is. 

Payton with John Hoyt

Trapped is a fast-paced, entertaining, and quite well-acted crime meller that pulls you along and makes you interested in what might happen next. There are a couple of problems with the film, however, and that includes Chris' assertion that he can get rich without acquiring those all-important bank plates, which Sylvester wants to hang on to. Also the last section of the film, while an exciting enough chase on its own terms, centers on a supporting character instead of the lead, who is off-screen for the entire final section of the movie. Bridges offers an adroit performance as a bad guy who is nowhere near as smart as he thinks he is, and Payton again proves that there was more to her than blatant sexiness and big red lips. John Hoyt offers an unusual and adept portrayal for him of a man who is almost an aging lover boy. Russ Conway and Robert Karnes have supporting roles and are fine. 

Verdict: Just misses being a special film noir. **3/4. 

NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST

The scene with the hanging corpse

NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST (1958). Director: Bernard L. Kowalski. Produced by Gene and Roger Corman. Colorized.

An astronaut named John (Michael Emmet) returns to earth in his capsule and appears to be dead. However, he eventually comes to life and blood tests reveal that certain creatures are gestating inside his body. This is, of course, unnerving to his fiancee, Dr. Julie Benson (Angela Greene), as well as colleagues Steve (John Baer), Donna (Georgianna Carter), Dave (Ed Nelson, of T-Bird Gang), and Dr. Wyman (Tyler McVey of Teenage Thunder). An equally disquieting development is that an extraterrestrial creature somehow managed to make it to Earth, a huge thing with a parrot-like head that invades the lab and causes death and havoc. John is convinced the creature is nevertheless benevolent, but the others aren't so sure. 

Concerned trio: Nelson, Emmet, and Baer

Night of the Blood Beast resembles a gruesome horror comic book. Although we now know that spaceship launchings employ hundreds if not thousands of technicians and scientists, this space trip is handled by just this very small group of people. If you can simply accept that this aspect is a convenience of (very) low-budget filmmaking, you might enjoy this rather creepy movie which grows on me each time I see it. Although the reaction to a dead, mutilated corpse might not be as intense as one would have expected, the acting is generally credible. The influences on the later Alien are obvious. Emmet and McVey appeared together in Attack of the Giant Leeches, which was also directed by Kowalksi. Alexander Laszlo reuses the score for that film for Blood Beast. 

Verdict: Color, as usual, adds a new dimension to the horror. ***. 

CITY OF SHADOWS

Victor McLaglen and John Baer

CITY OF SHADOWS (1955). Director: William Witney. Colorized. 

Small-timer "Big Tim" Channing (Victor McLaglen) meets up with Dan Mason (John Baer of Guns Girls and Gangsters) when the latter is just 12-years-old and putting slugs in slot machines. The two form a bond and inspire each other until Tim becomes a big-time racketeer and Dan is about to graduate law school, using his and other's expertise to keep Tim out of jail. Dan changes his tune when he falls in love with Fern (Kathleen Crowley of The Flame Barrier), the daughter of a prominent lawyer whose brains Dan wanted to pick. He decides to help Tim go legit, but is unaware that Tim's associates are still playing it fast and loose. Before long Tim, Dan and Fern are all on the run from gangsters. 

Baer with Kathleen Crowley

City of Shadows tosses in a lot of over-familiar elements but the picture works because it's fast-paced and well-acted by all. McLaglen plays the usual Hollywood version of a gangster, all joviality and with a heart of gold, although this type is generally seen in comedies. Good-looking and adept, Baer displays leading man charisma and ability as Dan Mason, and Kathleen Crowley offers another one of her solid and effective portrayals. Others in the cast include Frank Ferguson [The Big Night] as the D.A., Anthony Caruso as another mobster, Richard Reeves as a bad-tempered gunsel, Richard Travis as an undercover agent, and June Vincent as a secretary to Mason when he starts his own insurance/security firm but who secretly reports to Caruso. The script for this could have come out of the thirties. Serial specialist William Witney keeps things moving, and there's an exciting climax and chase on a ski lift. 

Verdict: More than acceptable crime thriller with a good cast. ***. 

CHILD'S PLAY (2019)

Andy and Chucky 

CHILD'S PLAY (2019). Director: Lars Klevburg. 

Karen Barclay (Aubrey Plaza) gives her son Andy (Gabriel Bateman) a technologically sophisticated doll, Buddi, for a present, but she doesn't know that a disgruntled employee of the firm who makes these toys has removed its safety protocols. The "doll." who calls itself Chucky, does everything it can to defend Andy, and gets sinister ideas after Andy and his pals -- along with Chucky-- watch one of the sequels to Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It isn't long before the massacre is on ... 

Child's Play is a pretty bad remake of the original 1988 film, and it gets just about everything wrong. The first mistake is turning Chucky into more of a robot that can already walk and talk on its own. Unlike the 1988 film, Chucky is not possessed by a serial killer, and -- although voiced by Mark Hamill -- has absolutely no personality. (It's like stripping Freddy Krueger of everything that made him interesting.) Andy is much older than in the original film, a teen, so the contrast of innocence with utter evil is minimized if not eliminated altogether. In addition the mother in this film is edgier than Catherine Hicks in the original, but both actress and character are unlikable. 

Andy and his pals

The sequels to the original film became increasingly stupid and gory, and this new version follows in that tradition. The killings in this aren't just grisly, they are sadistic (along the lines of the Saw movies), and even if most of the victims are creeps, I'm not sure they deserve what happens to them. Horror movies are not supposed to be in good taste, but I think the absolute nadir of this film -- if not modern horror films in general -- is when a cute little girl gets splattered and undoubtedly traumatized by a victim's spouting blood. Even the moments of black comedy don't do much to help this waste. 

Verdict: Even Deadly Friend was better than this! *1/2. 

GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS (2019)

Kyle Chandler

GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS (2019). Director: Michael Dougherty. 

Dr. Mark Russell (Kyle Chandler), whose son was killed in the war between Godzilla and other creatures (called MUTOs), wants all of these gigantic monsters destroyed. His nutty ex-wife, Emma (Vera Farmiga), believes that humans have become an infestation in the planet and that these ancient creatures will restore a natural balance -- both humans and MUTOs can live in supposed harmony. Emma forms an alliance with eco-terrorist Alan Jonah (Charles Dance) that even has Emma's young daughter, Madison (Millie Bobby Brown), gagging. 

Ghidorah

Meanwhile Russell and the military do their best to deal with the re-emergence of several major MUTOs (aka "Titans"), including Mothra, a big insectoid creature; Rodan, a pterodactyl-type monster; and an extraterrestrial three-headed dragon known as Ghidorah or Monster Zero. An organization called MONARCH tries to monitor all of them. Will Godzilla prove to be the savior of the human race by defeating these creatures or is he just as terrible a menace as the others?

Godzilla and little people on submarine

Once upon a time monster movies were generally looked down upon by the critical establishment. They were also a lot more fun. Whereas the 1998 Godzilla was a little too humorous (although it had stunning FX work), this Godzilla is way too serious and ponderous, with an inappropriate musical score that tries to make you think you're watching something moving and profound. It isn't. 

Godzilla emerges from the sea

I must admit that all of these Japanese monsters have never looked better, and the CGI in this is marvelous. Unfortunately, much of the time the battles are fought against misty, cluttered and foggy backgrounds, often making the action difficult to follow. However, there is a lively battle between Mothra and Rodan, which the former wins, and Rodan's attack on a fighter squadron is effective. (One poor pilot ejects from his plane only to fly right up into Rodan's mouth!) 

Ken Watanabe

The trouble with Godzilla is that after awhile it's just plain tedious. You don't care about the characters or what happens to them, and you don't give a damn about the big lizard, either. Say what you will about the 1998 Godzilla, that had some thrilling sequences in it (baby Godzillas hatch out of eggs in Madison Square Garden; big Godzilla chases the heroes down Manhattan streets) and there's nothing as exciting as those sequences in this movie. 

Ghidorah

Godzilla: King of the Monsters drags in everything from Edgar Rice Burroughs to H. P. Lovecraft, with talk of a hollow earth (which enables Godzilla to get around the world unseen) and intimating that the Titan monsters are "old gods" who once ruled over the earth. There are also some nods to the original fifties Godzilla (Gojira) in this film. Just as an Asian scientist sacrificed his life to kill Godzilla in the original movie, in this Dr. Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) sacrifices himself to re-energize the monster. The martial music that plays over these and other scenes sounds very similar to the music at the end of Gojira. 

This is a sequel to the 2014 Godzilla and to Kong: Skull Island. Needless to say, Godzilla vs. Kong comes out next year. 

Verdict: Despite some good FX work, even monster geeks may find this a waste of time. **. 

QUATERMASS AND THE PIT (1958)

Andre Morrell as Professor Quatermass

QUATERMASS AND THE PIT (LIVE BBC Television mini-series in six parts/1958). Director: Rudolph Cartier. 

Professor Quatermass (Andre Morrell of Behemoth, the Sea Monster) is consulted on a plan to put military bases, complete with missiles, on the moon. At the same time a possible unexploded bomb is discovered at a subway excavation in Hobbs Lane, a populated area of London. Quatermass feels that the bomb theory is improbable, and eventually a space vehicle of some kind is uncovered in the rubble. Inside the ship are found several deceased insectoid and crab-like aliens with antennae that are later determined to be five million years old and from Mars! But is it possible that the aliens and their ship can still be influencing modern-day Londoners all these centuries later? 

one of the Martians

Quatermass and the Pit is the third in a series of BBC TV serials concerning the exploits of Professor Quatermass, herein played genially by the ever-professional Andre Morell. (Like the first two serials, this was also turned into a theatrical film under the same title and is also known as Five Million Years to Earth.) Pit is full of interesting concepts, including a machine that is used to get visual impressions from the brain, and it is generally well-acted. Cec Linder is cast as Dr. Roney and Christine Finn is his chief assistant, Barbara Judd. Anthony Bushell is vivid as Colonel Breen, who turns out to be not too tightly wrapped. 

Morrell and Linder

Pit holds the attention for the most part, but it also has a bit too much padding, and the ending, which depicts a martian "wild hunt" to purge mutations that is re-enacted on Earth, reminds one of the later film Lifeforce, with its rioting in London. The budget is too low to make the most of these sequences and the finale is dragged out. However, it must be remembered that this was actually shown LIVE and considering the limitations of the format it is rather well-done for its time. However, I daresay the basic story is better told in Five Million Miles to Earth. This and the other Quatermass serials -- Quatermass Xperiment and Quatermass II -- were scripted by Nigel Kneale. 

Verdict: Interesting if imperfect live sci fi. **1/2.