DANGEROUS YOUTH

Carole Lesley and Frankie Vaughan

DANGEROUS YOUTH (aka These Dangerous Years/1957.) Director: Herbert Wilcox. 

In Liverpool there is a spot known as Dingle Point, and the young male residents, prone to getting into trouble, are known as "Dingle Boys." One of these boys, Dave (Frankie Vaughan), wins a singing contest after beautiful Dinah (Carole Lesley) does a lovely rendition of "Isn't This a Lovely Evening?" and figures she is a shoo-in. Dinah is not a gracious loser -- frankly she's much better than Dave, who does a hokey Presley imitation --  and throws a shoe at him. Later on Dave and his buddies are drafted and a number of melodramatic situations ensue -- one boy is killed when a mine explodes and there is a fight involving fists, a knife, and a gun -- after which Dave goes on the run accused of murder, and winds up hiding out in Dinah's apartment. Can these two singers actually fall in love?

Frankie Vaughan

Dangerous Youth is full of incident but is still dull. Vaughan was a British pop star whose most famous moment was performing with Marilyn Monroe in Let's Make Love. He is adequate as an actor but only had a few credits, having a much bigger career as a vocalist. Carole Lesley, who has winning looks and personality, managed about twice as many credits as Vaughan. George Baker plays an army chaplain or "padre" who tries to help Dave. 

Verdict: Nothing much in this cheapie. *. 

CHILD'S PLAY 2

Chucky on the attack! 

CHILD'S PLAY 2 (1990). Director: John Lafia.

Two years after the events of Child's Play, little Andy (Alex Vincent) has been placed in foster care while his mother is undergoing psychiatric evaluation. His foster mother (Jenny Agutter) is more understanding of Andy and the trauma he underwent, but his foster father (Gerrit Graham) is not certain he even wants the boy in his home. None of them realize that the crazy Chucky doll has  been (improbably) reconstructed and that it is still infested with the spirit of a serial killer (Brad Dourif) whose goal remains the same: to transfer his consciousness into Andy's body.

Andy overhears his foster parents 

Child's Play 2 is an acceptable sequel to the original, but it does have some problems. Alex Vincent is still a cute kid but he's called upon to be a little more emotional in this and isn't quite up to the challenge. As fellow foster child Kyle, Christine Elise is too perfunctory in key moments. The musical score is so overdone that at times you get the impression you're supposed to be watching a space epic with a huge budget. There are at least as many anti-climaxes in this as in the original. On the other hand, there are some inventive killings, such as one interesting bit with a terrified old lady teacher and a copy machine. One can't quite get over the feeling -- unlike the original -- that this is essentially a moron movie.

NOTE: This was followed by Child's Play 3 in which Andy is now a teen at a military academy and Chucky comes a'callin but picks out a new victim to place his soul into. 

Verdict: Entertaining if imperfect sequel. **3/4. 

CALLING PAUL TEMPLE

John Bentley  as author-detective Paul Temple

CALLING PAUL TEMPLE (1948). Director: Maclean Rogers. 

Paul Temple (John Bentley) is now an author of popular mystery novels, but once upon a time he worked for Scotland Yard. Now he is called in when there is a baffling series of murders by an unknown person who calls himself "Rex." One poor woman, a songstress named Norma (Celia Lipton) is killed by poisoned lipstick. Temple's associates include Sir Graham Forbes (Jack Raine) and Inspector Crane (Ian McLean), but he also gets a lot of help from his wife, who is called "Steve" (Dinah Sheridan). As more bodies pile up, the Temples wind up in Canterbury where much of the action resolves around an abandoned monastery, inside which the couple nearly fall into a death trap. 

Dinah Sheridan and John Bentley

Calling Paul Temple is a fast-paced British crime film that benefits from good acting and interesting settings. The identity of the killer will probably not surprise most viewers, however. There is an attempt at comedy relief by introducing an Indian manservant named Rikki (Shaym Bahadur), whom Paul doesn't like for some reason; he's actually an appealing character. Bentley appeared in only two more Paul Temple movies, Paul Temple's Triumph and Bombay Waterfront. 

Verdict: Keeps you interested. **1/2. 

IRRESISTIBLE

Susan Sarandon and Sam Neill

IRRESISTIBLE (2006). Written and directed by Ann Turner. 

Sophie (Susan Sarandon) is an illustrator of children's books who lives in Australia with her husband, an advertising exec named Craig (Sam Neill). Craig has a special computer assistant named Mara (Emily Blunt), but Sophie finds the younger woman a little bit creepy. When things -- including one of her favorite dresses that Mara later shows up wearing -- start disappearing from the house, a paranoid Sophie is convinced that Mara is behind the strange thefts. Or is she losing her mind? Other weird things begin happening as well. 

Emily Blunt

Irresistible is a strange, suspenseful and intriguing movie that keeps you wondering what's going on and eventually provides a reasonably satisfying conclusion along with at least one extra twist. The three leads are excellent, and the couples' children are adorable. However, Irresistible nearly derails a couple of times due to some utterly illogical moments. (I can't imagine a person actually taking their boss's spouse to court, for instance, and that the work situation wouldn't become extremely awkward afterward). Some of the characters' actions may have you scratching your head as well. 

Verdict: Pretty good if flawed suspense film. ***. 

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 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. 

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. 

HORROR HOUSE

Pitiful victim of Horror House

HORROR HOUSE (aka Haunted House of Horror/1969). Written and directed by Michael Armstrong.

Although Chris (Frankie Avalon) generally gives swingin' parties in London, everyone is bored at his latest soiree, until somebody gets the idea of the group going to investigate a haunted house. One of the group, Sylvia (Gina Warwick), is followed by her married lover, a creepy guy named Bob (George Sewell), who is stalking her. At the house one of the young men is attacked and slashed to death. Chris gets the not-very-bright idea of hiding the body and covering up the crime so that none of them will be forever branded a psychopath, even though one of them is undoubtedly guilty of the murder. But things will eventually come out as more murders occur ...

Frankie Avalon and Julian Barnes

Horror House holds the attention, but for most of its length it's completely devoid of any style or real excitement. The film is nearly half over before the first murder occurs. (This consists of quick shots of a slashing knife, a screaming man, and lots of fake blood thrown about.) But the final quarter is altogether different, almost as if it were directed by another person. There's an excellent and very suspenseful climax when two men are confronting each other, and a knife -- clearly being held by one of the men -- is seen between the two of them, only you can't tell which man is holding the knife as their hands are out of frame. 

Jill Haworth and Frankie Avalon

Beach Party movie alumnus Avalon is okay in the film, but two other actors make more of an impression: Julian Barnes as a haunted young man who had a bad experience in his youth; and Mark Wynter, who was introduced in the film (although he had at least one previous starring role), and seems to have the biggest part in this as a ladies man until he's suddenly sliced and diced.  Jill Haworth [Horror on Snape Island] plays Avalon's girlfriend, Sheila, as a tough, rather unlikable wench who is easily bored. Dennis Price [The Horror of It All] has little to do as a police inspector. Reg Tilsley's score can best be described as uneven, although when it's good it's quite effective. Michael Armstrong also directed Mark of the Devil. 

Verdict: Half-baked horror flick that has some rewards it you sit through it all. **1/2. 

DARK PHOENIX

Sophie Turner as Jean Grey

DARK PHOENIX (2019). Written and directed by Simon Kinberg. 

Professor Xavier (James McAvoy) sends a team of X-Men out into space on a rescue mission, and telepathic Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) is irradiated by what everyone thinks is a solar flare but is actually a powerful energy source. While this energy affects Jean's mind, some hostile shape-shifting aliens led by one Vuk (Jessica Chastain) come to earth to take this power away from Jean and use it for their own evil purposes. Angered that Prof X has kept secrets from her -- she thinks both of her parents were killed in a car accident but her father, who blames her, is still alive --  Jean lashes out and accidentally kills one of her colleagues, leading Magneto (Michael Fassbender) to declare war on her. But the aliens may prove a bigger threat and the mutants may find themselves in an alliance ...

James McAvoy as Professor X

Dark Phoenix was apparently excoriated by fans and critics alike, even though it is by no means a terrible movie. Unlike other recent X-sagas, Dark Phoenix at least has some well-choreographed battle scenes, and there's an eye-popping sequence on a train that is vivid and exciting. McAvoy and Fassbender offer the most memorable performances, and Turner is professional enough. Nicholas Hoult also makes an impression as the hairy Hank McCoy (better known as the Beast). Jessica Chastain really only has to show up and affect an attitude but she's still a striking presence in the movie. 

Jean Grey turning into "dark phoenix" was one of the best and most beloved storylines in the X-Men comic books, and this is the second time it has been sort of adapted -- and very much changed -- as a movie. (The first was in X-Men: The Last Stand.) In the original stories, Jean is manipulated by a bunch of evil characters called the Hellfire Club. She becomes so drunk with power that she wipes out an entire solar system of living beings, and then is taken to task by extraterrestrials and dies during battle via suicide. (It later developed that the Phoenix was a separate being from Jean, and she returned intact, more or less, in the comic books.) Many X-fans wondered why Fox bothered to do another version of this story if they weren't going to use more elements from the original tales?  

Michael Fassbender as Magneto

Dark Phoenix also creates some continuity problems if you are to take the X-films as being part of the same series of stories, which they obviously can't be. The events in this movie reignite anti-mutant feelings in society, bringing us full circle to the very first X-Men movie, but Jean Grey is very much alive in that film whereas in this she sort of goes off into the ether at the end. In any case, I found Dark Phoenix to be entertaining and better than the last couple of X-Movies, if not as good as the best films in the series. 

Verdict: Colorful X-fun if not all it could have been. ***. 

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.