SCREAM (2022)

SCREAM (2022). Directors: Matt Bettinelli- Olpin and Tyler Gillett. 

Well, a killer wearing a ghostface mask is again on the loose in Woodsboro, 25 years after the events in Scream, and again killing teens and others. Eventually the original participants -- Sidney (Neve Campbell), Dewey (David Arquette) and Gail Weathers (Courteney Cox), all of whom look great -- get involved in trying to find out who's responsible. The trouble with 2022's Scream -- which is basically Scream 5 whether it's called that or not -- is its sheer over-familiarity, In the first "kill" -- as gore geeks refer to the murder scenes -- the victim looks more like a child than a teen, and the word "overkill" occurs for some of the slasher sequences. The move is well-acted by the large cast -- very talented Jenna Ortega is a stand-out -- but not that well-helmed by two -- count 'em -- two directors. Basically this is just a retread of Scream 4, which was better and cleverer. 

Verdict: By no means terrible, but I think we've all had enough screaming. **3/4. 

GIRL ON THE RUN

Richard Coogan and Rosemary Pettit

GIRL ON THE RUN (1953), Directed by Arthur J. Beckhard and Joseph Lee. 

Bill Martin (Richard Coogan) is a investigative reporter who has been framed for the murder of his editor. With his girlfriend Janet (Rosemary Pettit) in tow, Bill hides out at a carnival where Hank (Frank Albertson) is the barker. The carnival is run by Blake (Charles Bolender), who happens to be a handsome midget. The dancing girls in the carnival are lorded over by hefty Lil (Edith King), a takes-no-nonsense type who has no love for the police. Speaking of which, a cop named Clay Reeves (Harry Bannister) is busy searching the carnival for Bill and Janet, who have taken jobs there, Bill as a boxer and Janet as one of the scantily-clad dancing gals. A sergeant named Marty (Joseph Sullivan) works with the two to finally take down the utterly corrupt Reeves. 

Charles Bolender and Harry Bannister

Girl on the Run is an interesting cheapie from Astor Studios with only one well-known actor, Albertson, in the cast. The short film seems to begin in the middle, as key elements are kept from the viewer until nearly the end. Instead of building suspense, it has the opposite effect, but the carnival background has its intriguing aspects, and the cast is game. This was probably the only time Richard Coogan was the star of a theatrical film, although he appeared in a few other movies and on television, most famously as Captain Video. Good-looking and adept, he could have made a living playing private detectives. Rosemary Pettit made only one more film after this. Renee De Milo, who plays Gigi, was introduced in this film but never appeared in another, despite a long-stops-the-movie-dead pseudo-striptease sequence. Joseph Sullivan had the longest career, although Edith King probably makes the biggest impression, no pun intended, as hardboiled if lovable Lil. Steve McQueen is supposed to have a bit part in this but I never spotted him!

Verdict: This needed at least another half hour of development to make it work. **1/4. 

PHOBIA

Paul Michael Glaser

PHOBIA (1980). Director: John Huston.

Dr. Peter Ross (Paul Michael Glaser) is giving unconventional therapy to a group of patients on parole. He uses videos to expose his patients to their various phobias, everything from snakes to high heights. When a bomb goes off in his townhouse and one of those patients is killed, the police eventually figure that he was the target. Ross not only seems unconcerned with that, but with the fact that more of his patients are getting knocked off. Inspector Barnes (John Colicos) zeroes in on one of the patients with a violent history, but the killer could be anyone.

Glaser with Patricia Collins

Phobia is not badly done on some levels, but it is sadly forgettable. Even when one considers that Glaser is playing a self-absorbed, egotistical, and unlikable psychiatrist, his performance is still pretty awful. Other cast members make a better impression: Susan Hogan as Ross' gal pal Jenny; Patricia Collins as his associate Dr. Toland; and especially Robert O'Ree as patient Bubba King. Andre Gagnon's score is also helpful. This is the type of twisty psychological plot that would have worked much better as a Dario Argento-type giallo film, with more violence and more elan to the murder sequences. Huston is simply the wrong director for this type of movie.

Verdict: Watch out for those headshrinkers! **1/2.

THE SUCCESSOR

THE SUCCESSOR. Burt Schiller. Originally published in 1966. Aardvark Press Edition; 2022. 

Back in the day when I was a teen and The Man from UNCLE was my favorite TV show, I picked up a paperback in my local stationary store called The Successor because the plot made it almost sound like an episode of that show. The hero, Benjamin Seeker, inherits almost everything from his father, not knowing that his father was the founder and head of a criminal cartel called Unicorn (which reminded me of THRUSH, Uncle's nemesis). Seeker is pretty much told that he either takes over the organization or he'll die because he knows too much. For most of the book he tries to dodge or get away from Unicorn operatives with homicidal intent while trying to make up his mind what to do. 

I knew The Man from UNCLE could be weird -- it eventually degenerated into a foolish out and out comedy before getting back on track, too late, for the fourth season -- but The Successor even out-weirded that show. I mean in one of the early chapters Ben is kidnapped by two Unicorn operatives nicknamed "Ma and Pa Kettle." Ben is put into a bathtub where the mentally-defective "Pa" -- thinking Ben is a baby -- objects when "Ma" starts man-handling Ben in a way that no one should ever touch a baby. Definitely not ready for prime time! And that's only the start!

The wildest chapter is entitled "Killer Nuns," in which a group of women, who may or may not be actual nuns, force Ben to make love to them in order for them to release him and two other captives. Typical of sixties "spy"-types, although Seeker is not really a spy, Ben is absolutely irresistible to all women and horny for all of them as well. (The back cover copy reads "women want to smother him with kisses. Men want to riddle him with bullets," carried over from the old paperback edition.) One of the Unicorn operatives is Father Dunn, who leads the "nuns." Another is called Gorgon, who weighs 300 pounds and runs around in his underpants!

Okay, The Successor is obviously not a work of serious intent, and it is by no means politically correct, although I always thought it had a very good basic premise. However, it is so bizarre and amusing at times that I can see why a small press has brought out a new edition of the novel, written by an ad man named Burt Schiller (as far as I know this was his only book).

Verdict: This is by no means everyone's cup of java -- its weirdness both works for and against it -- but you gotta love any book that has killer nuns in it! **3/4. 

MOONFALL

John Bradley and Halle Berry

MOONFALL (2022). Director: Roland Emmerich. 

When after millions of years the moon begins to fall out of its orbit, there is panic and devastation on earth. The military wants to blast the moon out of existence, but the Acting Director of NASA, Jocina Fowler (Halle Berry), thinks there may be another way of preventing the apocalypse. A genius nerd named KC (John Bradley) theorizes that there is some kind of artificial, alien construct inside the moon, as well as a malevolent and dangerous force. These two, along with disgraced former astronaut Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson), wind up blasting off for the moon on a daring and desperate mission to save the earth. 

Patrick Wilson 

Let's make it clear that Moonfall is a popcorn or comic book movie and is perfectly okay on that level only. I viewed the film with some trepidation as I feared director Emmerich would go for his usual camp approach, and while the tone is light (considering the events occurring), it never quite descends into absolute silliness. There are even some moving bits of humanism, especially concerning the loved ones of the trio and their tribulations on earth, and the unlikely heroism of KC.  

However, the movie keeps bouncing back and forth from the space mission to the earth cataclysms, causing the viewer to be distracted. It would have been better to get all the perils of Pauline stuff for the folks on earth out of the way so we could concentrate solely on the moon in the film's second half. Whatever the film's flaws, however, it has some excellent special effects, an exciting score, a few genuinely thrilling moments, and is very well-acted by the entire cast. The ever-reliable Patrick Wilson makes a strong leading man and once you get used to an oddly-cast Halle Berry she delivers. John Bradley is the most appealing of the three as the lovable science geek. This is a "feel good" movie which sort of glosses over the hundreds of thousands of deaths that must have occurred.

Verdict: Okay, this is fast and entertaining, unoriginal, nothing major, like a colorful CGI comic book. **3/4. 

THE STRANGE WORLD OF PLANET X

Gaby Andre caught in a spider's web with another bug

THE STRANGE WORLD OF PLANET X (aka The Cosmic Monsters/1958). Director: Gilbert Gunn. 

In a small British village, a crazy scientist named Dr. Laird (Alec Mango) is doing experiments in which his apparatus builds up a magnetic field that causes certain problems, the least of which is interference with TV reception. Laird hires two assistants,  the American Gil Graham (Forrest Tucker of The Trollenberg Terror) and the pretty French lady Michele Dupont (Gaby Andre). Naturally there's the usual silliness about how someone so beautiful can't be a scientist and all that. Gil and Michelle have an undeniable attraction towards one another, but they are also concerned that Laird's field may be expanding, and causing deadly complications.

Gaby Andre and Forrest Tucker

On this they are right, as Laird's device has broken through some type of barrier and inexplicably is causing gigantism in insects! In the film's most memorable sequence, Michelle goes into the woods to reach the school house and warn the new teacher to get the hell out of there. Unfortunately, Miss Forsyth (Patricia Sinclair) has already been cornered in the building by crunching, noisy bugs trying to get at her through the windows and doors, and then Michelle herself, beating a hasty and intelligent retreat, winds up stepping into a giant spider's web and waiting her turn as it advances on some kind of beetle already caught in its net. 

Martin Benson as the Visitor

The most notorious scene in the movie, one generally cut for TV in the old days, shows a big bug eating off the face of one poor soldier, and after all these years and multiple viewings I'm still not sure how this was done, as the bug is real and the doll or whatever would have to have been incredibly tiny. Anyway, it's so gross who wants to watch it over and over again? Martin Benson [The 3 Worlds of Gulliver] plays "Smith," a benevolent visitor from another world (according to him the "Planet X" of the title is actually our dear Earth) who comes here to monitor our dangerous experiments, such as that idiot Laird's, that may endanger the entire universe. Reportedly Gaby Andre was dubbed and has a British accent in the film, but her accent is clearly French and I don't believe the actress is dubbed at all. The performances in the movie are good, the sound and visual FX are generally well-done, and there's an eerie score by Robert Sharples. This was loosely based on a 1958 British TV serial of the same name. 

Verdict: Once those bugs start chompin', watch out! ***. 

EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING

EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING. (2004). Director: Renny Harlin. 

In 1949 Cairo a younger Father Merrin (Stellen Skarsgard), who has temporarily given up the cloth due to events of WW 2, investigates the archaeological dig of a church that has been built over a temple of human sacrifice – where sinister things, of course, begin to happen. This is a classy production, well-directed by Harlin, and strikingly photographed by Vittorio Storaro (witness that stunning pulled-back shot of the crosses during the prologue), but despite some exciting moments and powerful images (a dead baby pulled from its mother's womb covered in bugs), it's almost a complete misfire. For one thing, there's too much going on in the screenplay, which incorporates native uprisings, sandstorms, and even Nazis without a clear focus on anything. The actual exorcism, which isn't that well-staged (and looks as silly as ever), is dragged in for the final moments, giving the picture no real climax or pay off. The derivative flashback, showing how Merrin had to choose ten people for the Nazis to kill (a couple of little children are shot in the head to persuade Merrin to choose), overpowers the rest of the story, which seems trivial in comparison. The fixation on hyenas (which tear one poor boy apart in an effective if disturbing sequence) remind one less of The Exorcist and more of The Omen trilogy. Add to all this the fact that Skarsgard is a somewhat bland leading man in this and you have a film that is rather boring even at its busiest. Ben Cross shows up for about two minutes in bookending sequences and is completely wasted (he would have been much better as the lead). A lot of hard work and talent went into this; it's a shame it was all for nothing. 

Verdict: Unfortunate. **.

THE GRUDGE

THE GRUDGE (2004). Director: Takashi Shimizu. Written by Stephen Susco. 

In an attempt to have another smash hit like The Ring, Columbia has taken another Japanese horror film and come out with an American remake – although it still takes place in Japan with some transplanted Americans. Sarah Michelle Geller is the nominal heroine who becomes embroiled in a frightening ghost story when she fills in for a home care provider who's disappeared. She sees spooky visions of a little boy who is central to the mystery. Apparently there was a murder-suicide in the house, and the evil that lives within is reverberating outward to ensnare anyone who comes into its invisible web. A workable if unoriginal idea is given mediocre execution that all but spoils the movie; it also has a much less interesting storyline than The Ring. Although there are a number of creepy moments, they are also rather silly, and the whole movie is quite predictable and, at times, illogical. Prosaically filmed, there are absolutely no surprises to The Grudge. The ghostly little boy is generally too helpless and cute-looking to be very scary. Bill Pullman appears as a man who commits suicide sometime after seeing the child and he isn't bad. Geller, on the other hand, isn't much of an actress. She seems to have little future beyond bad movies like this. 

Verdict: Why horror films have a bad name. *

SUPERHEROIC: THE BRONZE AGE OF COMICS VOLUME TWO

SUPERHEROIC: THE BRONZE AGE OF COMICS VOLUME TWO. William Schoell. Timbre Books; 2022. 

Well, it took me long enough but I finally finished volume two of my look at super-hero comics of the bronze age (1970 - 1982 approx.) 

From the amazon page: "SUPERHEROIC: THE BRONZE AGE OF COMICS VOLUME TWO follows SUPERHUMAN: THE BRONZE AGE OF COMICS VOLUME ONE. This volume covers IRON MAN, GREEN LANTERN, CAPTAIN AMERICA, THE INCREDIBLE HULK, SUPERMAN and his supporting cast, FANTASTIC FOUR, DAREDEVIL, THE DEFENDERS, WORLD'S FINEST, SUPERMAN FAMILY, JACK KIRBY'S FOURTH WORLD series and many, many other titles and heroes, including characters published by ATLAS, RED CIRCLE/ARCHIE and others. Each chapter looks at the most memorable issues, writers, and artists, detailing how "relevance" and social issues began to affect the comics of the seventies even as most of them remained colorful fun. WILLIAM SCHOELL is the author of THE SILVER AGE OF COMICS, COMIC BOOK HEROES OF THE SCREEN, and many others books on popular culture."

The book has several black and white illustrations. Available from Amazon in kindle, trade paperback, and hardcover format.

Of course volume one SUPERHUMAN, revised and updated, is also available in kindle, trade paperback and hardcover formats. 

 

28 DAYS LATER

28 DAYS LATER ... (2002), Director: Danny Boyle. Screenplay by Alex Garland.

28 days after some animal rights activists stupidly release infected chimpanzees from a laboratory, the world has been decimated by a plague that within seconds turns infected people into raving maniacs. Influenced by everything from Day of the Triffids to On the Beach to Night of the Living Dead, this starts off well, then soon becomes typically “flippant,” and eventually turns into a rather standard, if well-executed, action film. There are striking shots of a deserted London in the beginning (but it's odd that we see no bodies) and there's a scary scene inside a tunnel when a rush of rats precedes an attack by infected maniacs. The tension is undercut, however, by such scenes as when the rag tag group of survivors go jauntily shopping in a supermarket as if they hadn't a care in the world. The biggest problem with the movie is that, despite some humanistic touches and attempts at pathos (of a minor kind) the reactions of the characters don't always ring true. For instance, the main character Jim (Cillian Murphy) is forced to murder an infected boy at one point. He has no choice if he is to save himself, and the boy is beyond hope, but when he walks out of the building where he killed him he shows none of the horrified, disgusted, guilty attitude that a person in that situation would feel. This isn't just weak acting; it's insufficient filmmaking. And there are other moments like this, too, making 28 Days Later just another piece of occasionally entertaining, but overlong schlock. This received a lot of good reviews, but it's no classic despite a certain degree of directorial and visual flair. The climax at the army camp seems to go on forever.

Verdict: Not a must-see by any means. **.