OLD

OLD (2021). Director: M. Night Shyamalan. Based on the graphic novel Sandcastle.

A group of tourists, most of whom have personal issues of one sort or another, are directed by the resort manager to a strange, if beautiful, private beach and nature preserve. The tourists include Prisca (Vicky Krieps), her husband Guy (Gael Garcia Bernal), and their very young children, Trent and Maddox (played by varying actors). Other people on this beach include a rapper named "Mid-Sized Sedan," whose real name is Brendon (Aaron Pierre); a mentally-disturbed doctor named Charles (Rufus Sewell) and his wife, Chrystal (Abbey Lee); and others. The group eventually discover that not only are they unable to get off of the beach without blacking out, but that they are all aging approximately one year for each half hour they spend in the area. Before long, Prisca and Guy's children are confused teenagers. And things get worse ... 

Rufus Sewell as the doctor

Movies by M. Night Shyamalan fall into two categories. Either they really stink, a complete waste of time, or they work. Old works -- at least it did for me. Thanks to some very good acting, direction, camera work and music, Old builds in horror and intensity until it etches a mesmerizing and chilling  portrait of absolute despair. These poor people are psychologically and physically tortured, and nothing whatsoever makes sense as far as they're concerned. Although the premise could have been left without a real solution, the Twilight Zone-approach, and that still would have made for an effective movie, Old does offer an explanation for the terrible events, albeit a far-fetched (if satisfying) explanation. (I think Old's viewers would have liked to see the perpetrators receive a more just and dreadful punishment, but at least things don't go well for these self-justifying monsters.) There's a large cast in this -- including the director himself as the hotel van driver --  and all acquit themselves nicely. 

Verdict: Worthwhile horror film with a very creepy and disturbing premise. ***

STEP RIGHT UP! I'M GONNA SCARE THE PANTS OFF AMERICA

STEP RIGHT UP! I'M GONNA SCARE THE PANTS OFF AMERICA. The Memoirs of Hollywood's Master Showman. William Castle. 

In this vaguely entertaining but rather unsatisfying autobio of the late filmmaker, Castle writes of his association with studio boss, Harry Cohn, who gave him his earliest breaks. Castle actually began in the theater, as both actor and stage manager, and he frequently inserts flashbacks to those days in the present-day narrative. After toiling for Columbia doing programmers, he became an associate producer for Orson Welles when the latter directed Lady of Shanghai (according to Castle this was originally a film for The Whistler series!) -- years later he produced Rosemary's Baby, among others -- but didn't really come into his own as a director until he tried to outdo Alfred Hitchcock and the success of Psycho. Because of this Castle got a reputation as a horror specialist, when actually many of his films were not really in that genre. Castle's horror flicks weren't always great -- on occasion they were downright awful -- but he did do some nifty items such as House on Haunted Hill, The Tingler, Mr. Sardonicus, Homicidal, and Strait-Jacket. Castle became King of the Gimmicks, floating skeletons over audiences' heads, and wiring seats to give some patrons a shock (a really dumb idea). As much as I get a kick out of some of his movies, I didn't find myself especially liking or admiring Castle, who comes off as a self-absorbed and insensitive hustler more than anything else. I also found myself not believing much of what he's written (did Welles and James Agee really admire Castle's terrible When Strangers Marry?) The weirdest sections of the book deal with Castle's assertions that witches were responsible for his gall stones after Rosemary's Baby was released!

Verdict: Castle gets credit for making some fun movies that have stood the test of time, but this bio is hardly the last or most objective word on his career. **1/4.  

THE MYSTERIOUS MR. M

Dennis Moore

THE MYSTERIOUS MR. M (13 chapter Universal serial/1946). Directed by Lewis D. Collins and Vernon Keays. 

Criminal Anthony Waldron (Edmund MacDonald) is presumed dead by the authorities but is actually living in a hide-out in the basement of his grandmother, Cornelia (Virginia Brissac), who is also unaware of his presence. Cornelia has two supposed relatives -- Marina (Jane Randolph of Railroaded) and her brother Derek (Danny Morton) -- who are associates of Waldron's and who hope to get her money. Waldron is hoping to get his hands on a new invention, an engine that "could move submarines as big as ocean liners." To that end he uses a serum called Hypnodrene that turns people into his mind slaves. 

Jane Randolph and Edmund MacDonald

Waldron has used the fake identity of "Mr. M' to carry out assorted murders and the like, but to his surprise discovers that someone else, some unknown person, has appropriated the pseudonym of "the Mysterious Mr. M" and is blackmailing him and his confederates to do what he wants. One of the earliest victims of both Hypnodrene and Waldron is Jim Farrell (William Ching), whose brother, agent Grant Farrell (Dennis Moore of The Purple Monster Strikes), is determined to bring his killer to justice. Grant is aided by insurance investigator Shirley Clinton (Pamela Blake) as well as Lt. Kirby Walsh (Richard Martin). Other characters caught up in this intrigue include lawyer Wetherby (Byron Foulger), gunsel Schrag (Jack Ingram), Professor Parker (Cyril Delevanti), Waldron's assistant Barron (Douglas Carter), and others. 

Richard Martin, Dennis Moore, Byron Foulger

The Mysterious Mr. M was Universal Studio's last serial, and also one of its best. The serial is not only a flavorful crime action-drama with good performances from the large cast, but has several exciting cliffhangers: Grant's car falls into a shaft in a parking garage (the logistics of this are rather confusing, however); a fiery explosion at an oil field -- and later a laboratory -- traps Grant and Shirley; Grant and Kirby are menaced by falling electric towers; and Shirley is forced to land a plane by herself after Kirby is knocked out and his assailant leaves by parachute. The best cliffhanger has Grant and Waldron clinging to one parachute (in a different sequence) whereupon Grant falls onto the tracks just ahead of a speeding train! Dennis Moore had one of the best and butchest voices in Hollywood!

Verdict: No mystery that this is a very exciting and suspenseful serial. ***. 

ROBERT BLOCH'S PSYCHO SANITARIUM

Robert Bloch's PSYCHO SANITARIUM. Chet Williamson. St. Martin/s/Thomas Dunne; 2016.

After Norman Bates has been arrested for the murder of Mary Crane and private eye Arbogast -- as related in the novel "Psycho" -- he is placed in a sanitarium for the criminally insane. There he hardly says a word, but one of the kinder doctors, Reed, and a lovely nurse, Marie, are able to do a lot to draw him out of his shell. On the other hand, the head nurse and chief attendant, busy having an affair, are less sympathetic toward all of their charges, Norman included. The head of the institute, the opera-loving Dr. Goldberg, is an old-fashioned headshrinker who thinks electro-shock therapy, now in disfavor, is a preferable method of treatment. Norman gets a surprise when Dr. Reed tells him that his heretofore unknown half-brother Robert is here to see him. Initially overjoyed to discover that he has family, Norman is afraid that Robert is responsible when some of the staff and patients in the institute start disappearing. 

This suspenseful, well-written chiller takes Robert Bloch's characters and concepts and runs with them in a very satisfying mystery with a well-developed Norman Bates. Williamson also comes up with a number of clever twists. The "literary" Norman Bates is chubby and middle-aged, but Alfred Hitchcock turned him into a younger and more attractive fellow in his classic film version. This book keeps Norman as Bloch intended him to be, a variation on the real-life serial killer Ed Gein. This is certainly one of the best of the sequels to Bloch's highly-influential storyline. 

Verdict: Creepy, well-constructed, and absorbing. ***1/2. 

DANGEROUS PARTNERS

James Craig and Signe Hasso

DANGEROUS PARTNERS (1945). Director: Edward L. Cahn. Colorized.

After a plane crash Carola Ballister (Signe Hasso) discovers that one of the passengers, Kingby (Edmund Gwenn), has in his possession four wills naming him the beneficiary of one million dollars each. Carola teams up with shady lawyer Jeff Caighn (James Craig of Flying G-Men) and the two form a shaky partnership, even after learning that one of the people leaving money to Kingby has been murdered. The couple set out to contact the other three people and hope they will hand over to them the bonds that are in their possession, but Kingby has no intention of sitting still for this ...  

Signe Hasso and Edmund Gwenn

Dangerous Partners is, frankly, a confusing and unsatisfying bit of film noir, although it has some good moments and good acting. Leading man Craig is notable as the lawyer, but Signe Hasso doesn't really make the most compelling of femme fatales. Part of the problem is her odd looks; the rest is a performance that never really comes alive, although she is competent. The picture is stolen by Edmund Gwenn, playing against type as a nasty and murderous Nazi. Audrey Totter and Mabel Paige also have small roles. Throughout the movie we come to know Jeff and Carola as rather unpleasant people, so their abrupt switch to relative decency at the end -- especially where Jeff is concerned -- isn't very convincing. Director Edward L. Cahn never manages to build up much suspense. Cahn also directed the zesty Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake. Photographed by Karl Freund. 

Verdict: Half-baked film noir. **1/4. 

Verdict: 

MANHUNT OF MYSTERY ISLAND

Roy Barcroft as Captain Mephisto

MANHUNT OF MYSTERY ISLAND (15 chapter Republic serial/1945.)  Directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet, Wallace Grissell, and Yakima Canutt. 

Professor Forrest (Forrest Taylor), who is working on a special device, is kidnapped by a man calling himself Captain Mephisto (Roy Barcroft of The Kettles on Old MacDonald's Farm). Mephisto wants the professor to weaponize his device so that he can use it to rule the world. Forrest's daughter, Claire (Linda Stirling of The Crimson Ghost), and detective Lance Reardon (Richard Bailey) manage to trace the professor to Mystery Island, a former penal colony and stronghold of a pirate (also named Mephisto) that is now owned by four businessmen. Mephisto, a descendant of the original, is actually one of those four men, but he uses a special transformation chair to turn himself into an exact duplicate of the long-dead pirate. Thus, Mephisto always knows the couple's plans ahead of time ... 

Richard Bailey and Linda Stirling

Manhunt of Mystery Island is a terrific, fast-paced and exciting Republic serial, with one excellent cliffhanger after another. There is a splendid bit in chapter seven in which Reardon, engaging in fisticuffs in a skyscraper, saves himself after being punched out of a window by grabbing onto a firehose! Chapter eleven features a thrilling fight between Mephisto and Reardon on shaky wooden platforms built high above the water's edge. There's a rope bridge that is deliberately snapped, plunging the couple to near doom in chapter thirteen. Not to mention our hero being trapped under a wine press, cornered by a destructive ray that threatens to parboil him, caught in a small chamber filling with gas, and so on. The acting in the movie may be merely serviceable, but no one watches these things for great acting. 

Verdict: Suspenseful, intriguing and often thrilling Republic cliffhanger. ***1/4.  

DIE SLOWLY, YOU'LL ENJOY IT MORE

Brad Harris and Lex Barker

DIE SLOWLY, YOU'LL ENJOY IT MORE (aka Spy Today, Die Tomorrow aka Mister Dynamit -- morgan kust euch der tod/1967). Director: Franz Josef Gottlieb.

A wealthy criminal named Baretti (Amedeo Nazzari) -- an arms smuggler who loves playing with toy trains --  has managed to steal a nuclear missile away from a stockpile in New Mexico, and now demands a billion dollars from the U.S. government or he will drop the bomb on Washington, D.C. Agent Bob Urban (Lex Barker), also known as "Mr. Dynamite," is assigned to the case. He is briefly assisted by a man named Cliff (Brad Harris) and dallies with a lovely lady, Lu (Maria Perschy), who may or may not be on the side of the angels. A certain General Burch (Jose Suarez) is secretly working with Baretti. 

Amedeo Nazzari

Die Slowly is yet another poor imitation of Thunderball. Former Tarzan Lex Barker is fine as the super-spy but his vehicle is padded with too many scenes of generals sitting around talking and talking, trying to decide what to do about Baretti and his bomb while there are only occasional spurts of action from Urban. (One late sequence involving a lot of metal barrels is at least well-staged). Other cast members you may have heard of include Gustavo Rojo and Wolfgang Preiss. Virtually everyone in this international production is dubbed. 

Verdict: Thunderball it ain't. **.

THE CHUCKLING FINGERS

THE CHUCKLING FINGERS. Mabel Seeley. Berkley Prime Crime; 1941. (Cover image from vintage Popular Library edition.)

Ann Gay goes to visit her cousin, Jacqueline Heaton, at the estate she lives at with her husband, Bill. Fiddler's Fingers, on the shore of Lake Michigan, is distinguished by finger-like rocky outcroppings not far from the house. Something is bothering Jacqueline, but she resists Ann's entreaties until the latter learns that there have been a series of unpleasant, even dangerous pranks, played on members of the household -- including on Jacqui and Bill's honeymoon -- and Jacqueline is afraid everyone will think she is the only one who could possibly be responsible. Jacqueline is even afraid that she might be going mad, but Ann is determined to prove her wrong and find out who the trickster is. Then there is a murder, and then another ... 

Mabel Seeley was apparently a popular American mystery writer back in the forties, although she is unknown today to most readers. However, she has recently been rediscovered. The Chuckling Fingers suffers from an over-abundance of characters, and the suspense only kicks in during the final 25 pages or so. Seeley's characterizations are pretty sharp, aside, alas, from her heroine, Ann, who narrates but who is colorless, and the equally colorless detective who comes to Fiddler's Fingers to investigate. I must say that the denouement is very satisfying, makes sense (in its far-fetched way), and Seeley does an admirable job of constructing this puzzle and explaining it. Unfortunately, in this book at least, Seeley fails to do what Agatha Christie could do effortlessly -- and that is entertain. The book is not necessarily dull, but despite its intriguing aspects, it never quite gets a solid grip on the reader. Nevertheless I might sample another Seeley tome in the future. 

Verdict: A lot of hard work if nothing else. **1/2. 

THE BLACK BOX AFFAIR

Craig Hill

THE BLACK BOX AFFAIR (aka Il mondo trema/1966). Director: James Harris (Marcello Ciorciolini). 

Johnny Grant (Craig Hill of You Have to Run Fast) is a spy who retired when his wife was murdered, but former boss Mr. X (Herbert Montureano) and his old partner, Pablo (Luis Marin), need him back in the game. Various agents have gathered to try to recover a "black box" from an aircraft that crashed. This does not refer to the black boxes you generally find in airplanes, but to a mysterious device with unusual properties that Russian and Chinese agents want to get their hands on. Johnny decides to join in when he learns that his arch-enemy Fabian (Rolf Tasna), who was responsible for his wife's death, is also up to his old tricks. 

Hill with Rossella Bergamonti

Johnny and Pablo bounce around and eventually wind up in Vienna, where there is some action at the amusement park (which later figured in the James Bond movie The Living Daylights). Johnny dallies with several ladies: the drug-addicted Ambra (Moa Tahi); the duplicitous Myriam (Rossella Bergamonti); and the lovely Madame Florian (Teresa Gimpera), who may also have her own secrets. The movie has plenty of lively fistfights, especially at the opening, and Hill makes a splendid spy. The villains try to kill Johnny by blowing up an entire airliner, but he hardly seems concerned about this, and is making jokes with Pablo not much later. Twenty-four years after appearing together in this film Hill and Gimpera were married. 

Verdict: Slugfests are not enough to make a great movie, but Hill is effective and this at least holds the attention. **1/2. 

 

CASTLE OF EVIL

Bad things always happen after there's talk of a will

CASTLE OF EVIL (1966). Director: Francis D. Lyon. 

On an isolated island near Nassau, a woman named Lupe (Shelley Morrison) gathers together a group of people who knew her late employer, Kovic (William Thorlby). Lupe, who was the housekeeper, tells the assemblage that Kovic blamed one of them -- all of whom he hated and vice versa -- for an accident that disfigured and eventually killed him, and that the others must uncover who the culprit is before they can inherit his vast fortune. 

Virginia Mayo

Here is where you might imagine that someone starts killing off the heirs one by one, but, alas, that is not the case, although at least one person does kick off. Kovic has built a mechanical man in his own image and it begins to stalk the heirs in the film's final minutes. The most interesting thing about Castle of Evil is its cast, which is comprised of a few former movie stars who perform with perhaps more professional polish than the picture deserves: Virginia Mayo, as a former lover of Kovic; David Brian as a lawyer; Hugh Marlowe [Earth vs. the Flying Saucers] as a doctor; Scott Brady [They Were So Young] as a former associate of Kovic's; and Lisa Gaye as his girlfriend. Gaye gives the most vivid performance, but the others are all good as well, with attractive Mayo being the most appealing. They all deserved a better script and more vital director. Francis D. Lyon also directed Cult of the Cobra. 

Verdict: Minimal excitement. **.