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INTRUDERS

 

INTRUDERS (1992 two-part mini-series). Produced and directed by Dan Curtis. 

"Half the time you think you're going crazy. Half the time everyone thinks you are." 

Psychologist Dr. Neil Chase (Richard Crenna) encounters people who have had weird and frightening experiences that they can't explain or clearly remember, but it seems to point to alien abductions. The story focuses on Mary Wilkes (Mare Winningham), who is afraid the aliens might also have an interest in her young son, Timmy (Joseph and Christian Cousins); and Lesley Hahn (Daphne Ashbrook), who is at first thrilled at her pregnancy but then horrified after the aliens apparently take her baby. Chase learns that the government knows about the aliens but is denying everything until they know exactly what and who they're dealing with while the abductees suffer horribly. Chase risks his professional reputation by going public with what he knows. 

Marie Winningham

Many of the stories of alien abductions have been successfully debunked by now, with scientific explanations for much of what happens to the "victims," but this telefilm proceeds with the premise that the aliens and their experiments on humans are real. One man in a survivor's group hates the aliens and is sick of being treated like a guinea pig, while Mary, incredibly, comes to see the aliens -- who kidnap and experiment on people without their consent and steal their babies -- as having benign intent! Intruders examines all the usual conspiracy theories and folklore about alien abductions, and does a fairly good job of dramatizing them. The acting is more than adequate. Other cast members include everyone from Jason Beghe to Ben Vereen. The aliens themselves are strictly by way of Close Encounters. A sappy "happy" ending doesn't help. 

Verdict: All you need to know about alleged alien abductions. **1/2. 

TRICK

Omar Epps and Ellen Adair

TRICK (2019). Directed and co-written by Patrick Lussier. 

At a high school Halloween party one of the guests, Patrick Weaver (Thom Niemann), suddenly goes berserk, hacking and slashing at everyone and killing several people. Cheryl (Kristina Reyes) manages to subdue him and he is brought to the hospital, where he escapes after falling out of a window. Detective Mike Denver (Omar Epps) is convinced that Patrick -- known as "Trick" -- managed to survive a hail of bullets and a three-story fall, but Sheriff Lisa Jayne (Ellen Adair) isn't so certain. The police determine that "Patrick Weaver" never existed but have no clue as to who he really is. Each year on Halloween more murders occur, with Denver assuming "Trick" is behind them and Jayne thinking it has to be a copycat. After the grisly death of two FBI agents at the hands of Trick, Epps loses his job. but on the next Halloween night he is importuned to get involved again with the maniac he has now been pursuing for several years. Will he survive long enough to get the answers he seeks?

Trick at first seems to be an attempt to duplicate the success of Halloween and Michael Myers, with suggestions of the supernatural, but instead comes up with a reasonably clever -- if rather far-fetched -- explanation for the gruesome goings-on. The trouble with Trick isn't necessarily the screenplay but the mediocre direction, with the film at times seeming disjointed, a slow pace, and moments that are genuinely boring when you should actually be at the edge of your seat. The acting is okay, but my favorite performance is by little Melody Hurd as a cute black girl who quite sensibly wants to get out of a scary Halloween maze that her big sister keeps dragging her into. The only name actors in the film are Jamie Kennedy as a doctor and Tom Atkins as the owner of the local diner. The film goes on too long with a silly coda that adds nothing to the picture but tries to set up an unlikely sequel. The movie could have been an excellent thriller but its sensibilities turn it into just another mediocre slasher film. 

Verdict: Another hoary Halloween horror with some tricks if not treats. **1/4. 

THE CORPSE VANISHES

 

THE CORPSE VANISHES (1942). Director: Wallace Fox.

A series of young brides collapse and apparently die in front of the altar on their wedding days, and then their bodies -- taken away by a hearse -- completely disappear. Could Dr. Lorenz (Bela Lugosi) be the culprit? A reporter named Patricia Hunter (Luana Walters) discovers that each woman was wearing a special kind of orchid at her wedding. Patricia's editor is so stupid that he doesn't seem to think this is any kind of a clue! Tristram Coffin (billed as Tris Coffin), the King of the Rocket Men himself, plays the Lorenz' family doctor, while Elizabeth Russell from The Seventh Victim, Weird Woman, and others, plays Lorenz' aged wife who needs, shall we say, frequent beauty treatments. This holds the attention but it isn't one of Bela's better latter-day features. An interesting idea isn't well developed. Lugosi is good, as usual.

Verdict: Hold the orchids if you dare. **.

FEDERAL AGENTS VS. UNDERWORLD, INC.

Dale, La Planche and Alyn

FEDERAL AGENTS VS. UNDERWORLD, INC. (12 chapter Republic serial/1949). Director: Fred C. Brannon.

Professor Clayton (James Craven), the curator of the National Museum of Arts and Sciences, is kidnapped. Inspector David Worth (Kirk Alyn) and Laura Keith (Rosemary La Planche) investigate, unaware that another professor, Williams (Bruce Edwards), is in league with a foreign villainess named Nila (Carol Forman). Nila comes from the country of Abisthan, and covets a pair of solid gold hands with which she hopes to influence her followers; Williams already has one of those hands. She also intends to unite the American underworld into one group, Underworld Inc., that will rival the FBI for efficiency. To that end Nila has joined forces with gangster Spade Gordon (Roy Barcroft). The missing Professor Clayton may have his own agenda as well.

Carol Forman as the nasty Nila

Although some sequences could have used a little more oomph, Federal Agents is another fast-paced and entertaining Republic serial. Kirk Alyn plays the hero with a little more humor instead of square-jawed intensity. Craven, Barcroft and Forman are their usual evil selves, playing this kind of material with aplomb. Outfitted with a scar at one point, a burnoose at another, top stunt man Tom Steele plays multiple roles. Tristram Coffin [King of the Rocket Men] shows up as a shady lawyer, and Marshall Reed is also in the cast. Agent Steve Evans is played by James Dale; he had only a few credits, mostly in serials. This was the last theatrical work for former "Miss America" [1941] Rosemary La Planche, who was Devil Bat's Daughter, and had two TV credits, 12 years later.

James Dale and Kirk Alyn

Highlights of the serial include cliffhangers involving fires and collapsing ceilings; the hero nearly running over the heroine in chapter seven; and an exciting sequence in chapter ten involving two planes, a fire on board, and a mid-air collision. An odd moment occurs in chapter nine when the couple realize there's a bomb on the road ahead, but instead of simply applying the brakes to avoid disaster, they both jump out of the car! Oh, well! 

Verdict: Another fun and fast-paced Republic serial. ***

PRIME SUSPECT

Cartwright and Farrell

PRIME SUSPECT (1982 telefilm). Director: Noel Black.

Frank Staplin buys a couple of boxes of cookies from a cute little girl scout, Sharon (Elizabeth Hoy), who later goes missing. A series of little girls have been kidnapped and murdered by an unknown suspect, but Frank becomes high on the list as far as detectives are concerned and simply can't prove his alibi. Frank is eventually let go due to lack of evidence -- although he is still the prime suspect --  but feels he was tried and convicted by the media, especially reporter Amy McCleary (Teri Garr), of one "happy news" broadcast. His boss (Charles Aidman) suggests that he transfer to another office and change his name! Eventually a repentant Amy tries to help Frank with his alibi and comes into conflict with her boss (James Sloyan) because of it. 

Farrell and Cartwright

Prime Suspect focuses solely on Frank and his family, including wife Janice (Veronica Cartwright) and eventually Amy, but there is no attempt to create any suspense over the identity of the true murderer. Farrell and Garr give acceptable performances, although Cartwright, who always seems angry whether the script calls for it or not, is just plain odd. There is virtually no attempt to generate any pathos over the missing and murdered children and for all you know Frank and Amy could be discussing his being accused of, say, embezzlement. Prime Suspect enters a twilight zone territory of unreality when Frank simply decides that he's not going to let this get to him and everyone warmly and happily welcomes him back into the office despite the fact that at that point he is still the prime suspect. The ending is a mere anti-climax as by this time you don't really care about Frank -- who never really expresses much feeling over the children -- or anyone else. Noel Black also directed Pretty Poison. 

Verdict: Minor and insubstantial telefilm with some insufficient acting. **. 

THE FOUR SKULLS OF JONATHAN DRAKE

Our villain prepares a shrunken head

THE FOUR SKULLS OF JONATHAN DRAKE (1959). Director: Edward L. Cahn. 

Jonathan Drake (Eduard Franz), an anthropologist, has been frightened of a family curse that strikes male members when they hit sixty years of age. When the Jivaro Indians in South America kidnapped and beheaded a Swiss agent who worked with Drake's great-grandfather, the retaliation -- the murder of all the male Jivaros, including children -- was decided overkill. Now Drake's ancestors are paying the price. The latest victim is Kenneth Drake (Paul Cavanagh of Bride of the Gorilla), whose head is found missing when his coffin is opened at his funeral! When Jonathan himself is attacked, Lt. Jeff Rowan (Grant Richards of You Have to Run Fast) looks into the matter as Drake's daughter, Alison (Valerie French) wrings her hands and worries. 

Henry Daniell pontificates

The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake is not one of prolific director Edward L. Cahn's better efforts, as a film with this plot should certainly be rich with atmosphere, which this isn't. However Orville H. Hampton's gleefully ghoulish screenplay makes this nifty horror film a contender. We not only have beheadings, shrunken heads, a mute Jivaro Indian with his lips sewn shut who runs about with a cleaver and a basket and wears sandals made of human skin, but there's his master, who has a white man's head sewn onto an ancient Indian's body. And we mustn't forget Henry Daniell, light years from Camille, who makes the most of his sinister role as Dr. Emil Zurich. Four Skulls is a lot of grotesque fun. 

Verdict: Delightfully gruesome horror flick. ***. 

THE FLAME BARRIER

Arthur Franz and Kathleen Crowley

THE FLAME BARRIER (1958). Director: Paul Landres.

Carol Dahlmann (Kathleen Crowley of The Rebel Set) is on a hunt for her husband, who disappeared while on an expedition in the jungle. A rocket that crashed to earth and may have important scientific information is considered irretrievably lost, but Dahlmann (Dan Gachman), a chemical magnate, used his own funds to try to find it -- he never came back. Now his wife importunes two brothers, Matt (Robert Brown) and Dave Hollister (Arthur Franz of New Orleans Uncensored), to guide her into the same territory where he disappeared before the rains come. Matt is handsome, charming and solicitous, while Dave -- whose ex-wife ran out on him -- is rude, obnoxious and hostile -- guess which brother Carol falls for? Dave wonders if Carol really loved her husband or if she just needs proof of his death so she can proceed with probate. 

Crowley with Robert Brown

The Flame Barrier is an interesting low-budget science fiction movie with an unusual monster, a lifeform that the rocket brought back to earth and which radiates a deadly destructive field that causes victims to burst into flame. If it isn't destroyed in time the entire world could be in trouble. The trek through the jungle is suspenseful and at times deliberately humorous and there is good interplay between the three main characters. With her sexy whiskey voice Kathleen Crowley, always a solid actress, makes the most of her confused but likable character, while Franz and Brown also score as two siblings with very different personalities. Although the production values generally remind one of a TV show, the film still manages to work up atmosphere, and there are effective moments concerning the somewhat shapeless, expanding lifeform and the fate of Dahlmann. There are illogical moments, but the screenplay offers some interesting concepts as well. Gerald Fried's music is a decided plus, offering a more flavorful background than the typical generic score. Brown and Crowley both did a lot of TV work in the fifties and sixties. 

Verdict: Entertaining and well-acted enough so that you don't miss the usual giant bugs or lizards. ***.

FEDERAL OPERATOR 99

Marten  Lamont and Helen Talbot

FEDERAL OPERATOR 99 (12 chapter Republic serial/1945). Directors: Spencer Gordon Bennet; Wallace Grissell; Yakima Canutt.

Master criminal Jim Belmont (George J. Lewis) who loves classical music but only seems to play "Moonlight Sonata," has a number of decidedly anti-social money-making schemes in which people are kidnapped, threatened, and even tortured for information. (The owner of a Stradivarius is told he'll have his fingers crushed if he doesn't hand it over!)  Fortunately special federal operative 99, Jerry Blake (Marten Lamont), is out to stop Belmont any way he can. In this he is assisted by the gun-carrying Joyce Kingston (Helen Talbot,) who is far more than a mere "secretary." Belmont also has a female helpmate, a sadistic creature named Rita (Lorna Gray of Exposed), not to mention a chief assistant named Matt Farrell (Hal Taliaferro). Jay Novello [Atlantis the Lost Continent], "Mr. Versatile," plays a crooked jeweler.

Joyce and Rita have at each other! 

In addition to some great fight scenes, the serial boasts some splendid cliffhangers: Joyce is nearly incinerated when she is locked in a cabinet; a car crashes through a high floor with Jerry out on a ledge; Joyce goes over a cliff in a runaway laundry basket etc. The best and most horrifying cliffhanger has Joyce tied up in an aircraft factory while a huge propeller moves inexorably down a track directly towards her. Rita is broken out of jail in a clever fashion, and has a cat-fight with Joyce, who simply throws her out of a truck! At one point nasty Rita even threatens a countess by holding a cigarette lighter near her face. What a witch! Of the players, British Lamont is appealing and plays well with the feisty Talbot. George J. Lewis plays with restraint but there are times you wish he was a little over-the-top; Lorna Gray is more on the mark. 

Verdict: Federal Operator 99 is a remarkably entertaining serial with lots of action and interesting incidents throughout. ***1/2. 

WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS

WHEN THE BOUGH BREAKS (1994). Written and directed by Michael Cohn.

Captain Swaggert (Martin Sheen) investigates when the severed hands of several children are found by police. Swaggert brings in Special Investigator Audrey Macleah (Ally Walker) to help with profiling the perpetrator, but the trail leads instead to a mute young man, Jordan (Tara Subkoff), who is in an institution and seems to have some connection to the hands. As the police follow different leads, Audrey discovers that Jordan has a twin, Jennifer (also played by Subkoff), and that things in the past -- and an old, seemingly abandoned house -- may unravel the answers that Audrey seeks, if she survives that long ... 

Ally Walker

When the Bough Breaks plays a bit like a TV show, but that may be because former Clairol girl Ally Walker also played a profiler, and the lead, in the series Profiler (1996 - 1999) -- she probably got the part because of her performance in this movie. While she is by no means terrible, and has some good moments, I'm not completely sold on her, either. Another problem is that some of the sequences between Audrey and Jordan border on the inappropriate and seem a mite ridiculous. Martin Sheen isn't given an especially interesting part in this although Ron Perlman makes more of an impression as the twins' father. There is a creepy and violent climactic confrontation in a basement, but otherwise this is just too ordinary to recommend. As I watched I kept thinking Dario Argento could have turned this plot into a very satisfying giallo film, but no such luck.   

Verdict: Just not good enough on any level. **1/2. 

ACCOUNT RENDERED

John Van Eyssen and Ursula Howells

ACCOUNT RENDERED (1957). Director: Peter Graham Scott. 

Robert Ainsworth (Griffith Jones of Hidden Homicide) is unhappily married to the faithless Lucille (Ursula Howells), who is carrying on with a man, Clive Franklyn (John Van Eyssen), who is painting her portrait. Said portrait reflects the ugliness of her soul beneath the alleged beauty. Robert follows his wife after her assignation with Clive, and sees her arguing with a fellow in a park. He trips, hits his head, falls unconscious, and later finds out that during this time Ursula was strangled. Robert is, of course, the main suspect, but there is also Clive, as well as Sarah (Honor Blackman), who is secretly in love with Robert. Ursula was also dallying with John (Philip Gilbert), who is married to the neurotic Nella (Mary Jones) -- could one of them have done the deed? Robert's friend Gilbert Morgan, (Carl Bernard), provides an alibi for Robert but does he have secrets of his own?

Griffith Jones

Account Rendered is another very short, very minor British murder mystery which makes no attempt at cleverness a la Agatha Christie. The killer should come as no great surprise to anyone. In an attempt to avoid suspicion, Robert keeps silent about what he saw in the park, even though the fellow with his wife could have been the murderer! There is absolutely nothing to distinguish this film from dozens of others, although the acting is more than adequate and Van Eyssen is quite effective as the artist. This later turned up as an episode of the American anthology series Kraft Mystery Theater!

Verdict: Minor British melodrama. **.