OUTSIDE THE LAW

Grant Williams, Ray Danton, Leigh Snowden

OUTSIDE THE LAW (1956). Director: Jack Arnold. 

Johnny Salvo (Ray Danton) was paroled from prison into the Army, and is now offered a chance for a complete pardon if he cooperates with the United States Treasury. A murdered soldier he knew overseas was involved with a gang of counterfeiters, and Johnny is told to go see the man's widow, Maria (Leigh Snowden), and find out what, if anything, she might know.  Complications include the fact that Johnny must report to his own father, Alec (Onslow Stevens of Sunset Serenade), whom he hates; and a sinister man named Don (Grant Williams), who has too tight a hold on Maria.

Ray Danton and Onslow Stevens

Outside the Law sets up an interesting situation but doesn't do that much with it. The stock music from a variety of composers does its best to work up what amounts to minimal excitement  even though there are fistfights, beatings and gunplay throughout. Danton, Williams, and especially Stevens give effective performances, but Leigh Snowden [Hod Rod Rumble] makes less of an impression even in her tight sweaters. Johnny went to jail because he "smashed an old woman to pieces" while driving drunk, but -- the victim being old and female -- this is completely glossed over and only mentioned once. You keep thinking this will come up again and Johnny might express some remorse, but apparently he's only angry at his father for not doing more for him. A major confrontation between the two never develops, and the situations that do develop -- such as a fairly well-handled fight between Johnny and Don -- are predictable. Danton was 25 when he made the film but looks older, while Stevens, who was 54, doesn't look that much older than Danton. Jack Arnold also directed the much zestier Tarantula. 

Verdict: Forgettable minor film noir with some decent performances. **. 

THE CRIMSON GHOST -- IN COLOR!

The Crimson Ghost in costume

THE CRIMSON GHOST (12 chapter Republic serial/1946). Directors: William Witney; Fred C. Brannon. Colorized. 

The Crimson Ghost, as he calls himself, is one of the members of a scientific committee and is employed by a foreign government. The Ghost is after a "cyclotrode," a device which can "instantly stop any electrically-controlled mechanism," which he uses more than once. His nasty helpmates include Ashe (Clayton Moore of G-Men Never Forget) and Bain (Rex Lease), and the Ghost also employs special collars that sap the will of victims, force them to commit criminal acts, and can even kill them from afar. Aiming to stop him are Duncan Richards (Charles Quigley of The Iron Claw) and his efficient assistant, Diana (Linda Stirling of The Purple Monster Strikes).  

Quigley and Stirling

The Crimson Ghost is a whirlwind Republic serial with a generally good musical score and reasonably adept performances. The true identity of the Ghost is kept secret until practically the final minute of the serial. There are some decent cliffhangers -- a room fills with poisoned gas; a rope is cut, causing Duncan to fall towards the street below; a car smashes into the wall of a boathouse etc. -- although virtually all of them are "cheats," with the characters always jumping out of the way in the last second. However, this doesn't matter as the furious fisticuffs, the extreme nastiness of the villain, and the sheer fun of the serial makes it a winner. As usual, the color adds a new, welcome dimension. 

Verdict: Can't keep that Ghost down! ***. 

NIGHT WATCH

Elizabeth Taylor and Laurence Harvey

NIGHT WATCH (1973). Director: Brian G. Hutton. 

Ellen Wheeler (Elizabeth Taylor) is a neurotic wife who has already had one nervous breakdown and is haunted by the death of her first husband in a car crash. She lives with her husband, John (Laurence Harvey of Welcome to Arrow Beach), and has a house guest in best friend, Sarah (Billie Whitelaw). During one dark and stormy night, Ellen is convinced that she has seen a bleeding corpse in the abandoned manor house across the way, but the police find nothing. John and Sarah try to convince Ellen to go off for a rest cure, but Ellen has something else in mind ...

Taylor with Billie Whitelaw

Based on a play by Lucille Fletcher of Sorry, Wrong Number fame, Night Watch is one of those thrillers that initially seems to have a good and unexpected twist until you really start to think about it. Even Agatha Christie might have had trouble completely pulling it off, although it leads to an interesting and rather violent climax. (With only three major characters, there aren't too many directions in which this marital melodrama can go.) The ending is amusing, fun in its way, but far-fetched, and leaves quite a few plot holes when all is said and done. As for the acting, Harvey and Whitelaw come off best, and Taylor is typically uneven, the whining woman-child who would set most people's teeth on edge. The picture is second-rate in most departments, but reasonably absorbing.  

Verdict: More rain, thunder and lightning than you can shake a stick at! **1/4.    

AND NEVER LET HER GO

Mark Harmon and Kathryn Morris

AND NEVER LET HER GO (2-part 3 hour mini-series/2001). Director: Peter Levin. 

Anne Marie Fahey (Kathryn Morris) believes the stories that lover Thomas Capano (Mark Harmon) tells her about his failing marriage, but while she tries to break it off with him more than once, she keeps getting pulled back in -- this despite the fact that she eventually gets a nice boyfriend named Dan (Rick Roberts) and that Thomas already has a long-time mistress named Christine (Rachel Ward). One day Anne completely disappears, alarming her siblings. Detective Gugliatta (Paul Michael Glaser of Phobia) and FBI agent Connolly (Steven Eckholdt) combine forces to try to find out if the self-assured Capano is behind his latest girlfriend's disappearance. Meanwhile Capano's mother (Olympia Dukakis) excoriates Thomas' brothers for not being more like Thomas even as the authorities move in ... 

Harmon with Rachel Ward

And Never Let Her Go is a true story based on the book by Ann "Ghoul" Rule. The telefilm is interesting, but it would have been much tighter if it had been cut by an hour -- the second half is especially talky and tedious at times. It is greatly bolstered by excellent performances across the board, however. Kathryn Morris is outstanding as Anne, and Harmon, usually a lightweight, really delivers in his portrait of the determined and sinister Capano. The members of the supporting cast, especially Dukakis and Ward, are also on the money. 

Verdict: Some top-notch performances put over this true crime drama. ***

 

THE INN ON THE RIVER

Joachim Fuchsberger and Brigette Grothum

THE INN ON THE RIVER (aka Das Gasthaus an der Themse/1962). Director: Alfred Vohrer. 

A criminal mastermind known as the Shark is operating in and around a waterfront dive known as the Mekka Inn. The place is run by the shady Nellie Ochs (Elizabeth Flickenschildt of The Terrible People), whose niece, Leila (Brigette Grothum), works as a waitress there. Wearing a scuba outfit  and using a harpoon gun, the Shark dispatches his enemies and sends confederates out to pick up the bodies. Inspector Wade (Joachim Fuchsberger), who is strongly attracted to Leila, matches wits with her aunt while he tracks down the Shark and deals with his generally nasty associates. 

Elisabeth Flickenschildt

The Inn on the River has a typically convoluted Edgar Wallace storyline and one has to pay careful attention to keep track of who's who. The atmospheric locations of docks, sewers, and other underground chambers are the chief assets of the picture, along with the sharp performance of Flickenschildt, although most of the cast is pretty decent. Campy Eddi Arent is again drafted as comic relief and is as irritating as usual. Klaus Kinski plays the usual suspicion person who may or may not be a bad guy. The flick has terrible theme music.

Verdict: Some intriguing aspects but not entirely successful. **1/2. 

TRAP

Ariel Donoghue and Josh Hartnett

TRAP (2024). Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. 

Family man Cooper (Josh Hartnett) takes his excited teenage daughter, Riley (Ariel Donoghue), to a concert given by her favorite singer, Lady Raven (Saleka Shyamalan, the director's daughter). Noting the presence of an unusual number of law enforcement officials, Cooper learns that a trap has been set for a serial killer known as the Butcher, because the cops discovered that he will be attending the concert. Now the killer -- Cooper himself, as we learn early on -- has to figure out a way to get out of the concert venue without being captured. To that end he will use his own daughter -- and Lady Raven. But will the brave singer be able to save her own life, as well as that of the latest victim, which Cooper is holding captive? 

Harnett with Shaleka Shyamalan

Trap could have been a suspense masterpiece, but Shyamalan blows it. Others have noted that at times it comes off more as a showcase for Shaleka Shyamalan's singing ability than a serious thriller. The biggest problem is that while Shaleka has personality, she isn't much of an actress, and expecting someone so inexperienced to deliver in a difficult role like this is ridiculous. Hartnett, Donoghue, Alison Pill as Cooper's wife, Rachel, and even Hayley Mills, of all people, as an aged FBI profiler, are more on the money. 

Hayley Mills and Alison Pill

The shame of it is that Trap has an excellent premise and a strong story but it's done in by a flaccid  and rather frivolous directorial approach that strips the film of most of its suspense and virtually all of its tension. The lowliest slasher film has more energy. The film could also have been very moving in regards to the shocked members of Cooper's family finding out and having to deal with the unthinkable. (The ending sets up a sequel that will probably never materialize.) The illogical moments include scenes in which law enforcement seem impossibly incompetent. Shaleka's singing -- she sounds like hundreds of other singers -- is better than her acting, which isn't saying much. Her songs are acceptable, instantly forgettable pop ditties. 

Verdict: What the great Hitchcock could have done with this material! **1/4.  

DEVIL FISH

Michael Sopkiw, Dino Conti, Valentine Monnier

DEVIL FISH (aka Rosso nell'oceano/1984). Director: Lamberto Bava.  

In Florida a very strange creature -- a forty-foot combination of shark and octopus with the intelligence of a dolphin, a six-foot fanged maw, and which reproduces asexually -- is attacking ships and people. Dr. Hogan (Dino Conti) and his associate Stella (Valentine Monnier) team up with shop owner and diver Peter (Michael Sopkiw) and biologist Dr. Janet Bates (Darla M. Warner) to track and capture the beast. Sheriff Gordon (Gianna Garko) quite sensibly wants to destroy the sucker. An added complication is that there's skulduggery at the West Ocean Institute where Dr. West (William Berger of The Murder Clinic), his faithless wife, Sonja (Dagmar Lassander), and her psychotic lover, Davis (Lawrence Morgant), are keeping secrets about the monster, secrets that get several people murdered. 

Gianni Garko

A low-budget dubbed Italian production with an international cast all speaking their own languages with no CGI or great FX shouldn't work at all, but somehow Devil Fish has enough plot and suspense to keep you watching. Some of the mechanical FX, such as those large wriggling tentacles, are well-done, and at least one attack on a boat and its occupants is somewhat exciting. It isn't quite clear if the creature is a "living fossil" as suggested, or something created to, as one character puts it, "protect an exploitable area," although there's no further explanation -- or motivation -- for this. The actors all seem competent, playing some interesting characters. Possibly due to the editing of the film, important characters who are killed go unmourned by their colleagues and bedmates. You never get a really clear view of the monster, although it is along the lines of a whale with a big, grotesque head and trailing tentacles. 

Verdict: Sadly, there have been much worse Jaws-inspired movies. **1/2. 

THE BAT WHISPERS

Who is ... the Bat?

THE BAT WHISPERS (1930). Director: Roland West. 

A master criminal named the Bat uses acrobatic skills and cleverness to rob a safe in a high rise, then heads out of the city for a small town in the country. Feisty old Cornelia van Gorder (Grayce Hampton), accompanied by her hysterical, imbecilic maid Lizzie (Maude Eburne), has rented an estate from the owner, a banker named Fleming. Bailey (William Bakewell of Radar Men from the Moon), the fiance of Cornelia's niece, Dale (Una Merkel of The Kettles in the Ozarks), was accused of robbing the bank, and is hiding out at the estate pretending to be a gardener. Dale is convinced the missing money is hidden in the house (it is never quite made clear why) and searches for it even as the masked, skulking figure of the Bat does the same. 

Gustav von Seyffertitz and Chester Morris

It isn't long before the creepy old house is full of people -- suspects, cops, and potential victims. These include Fleming's nephew, Richard (Hugh Huntley); the sinister Dr. Venrees (Gustav von Seyffertitz); private eye Jones (Charles Dow Clark); the caretaker (Spencer Charters); Detective Anderson (Chester Morris of The She Creature); and others. The Bat Whispers, based on a stage play co-authored by Mary Roberts Rinehart, was filmed as the silent The Bat in 1926 and remade, also as The Bat, in 1959. The early sequences with the villain robbing the high rise may have influenced Bob Kane in his creation of Batman. 

Una Merkel, Grayce Hampton, Chester Morris

There are two versions of The Bat Whispers, one filmed in 35 mm and another in an early, discarded widescreen format. The picture has some inventive camera work and is rather stylish and even suspenseful at times, but it's also slow and has too much humor. Although Maude Eburne has her amusing moments, there is way too much of her and she nearly stinks up the picture with her not-so-hilarious antics. The other actors all do a good job with their roles. 

Verdict: "Modern" in some ways for its time but nowadays rather creaky. **1/4. 

THE BAT (1959)

The Bat pretends to surrender

THE BAT (1959). Director: Crane Wilbur. Colorized.  

Mystery novelist Cornelia van Gorder (Agnes Moorehead of Dear Dead Delilah) and her companion, Lizzie (Lenita Lane), are currently residing at the Oaks, an estate which is rumored to be haunted. A bigger problem is that a criminal known as the Bat -- who tears out victims' throats with metal claws on his gloves -- is also operating in the area, and wandering around the Oaks. The owner of the estate, John Fleming (Harvey Stephens), has stolen valuable assets from his own bank and pinned the crime on head teller, Bailey (Mike Steele). Dr. Wells (Vincent Price of House of a Thousand Dolls) takes advantage of this situation in his own inimitable style. Bailey's wife, Dale (Elaine Edwards of You Have to Run Fast), hopes to find the missing loot at the Oaks with the help of Fleming's nephew, Mark (John Bryant). Meanwhile the Bat is also hunting for the loot and kills anyone who gets in his way. Lt. Anderson (Gavin Gordon) does what he can to track down the Bat while new butler Warner (John Sutton) skulks about ... 

Moorehead with Price etc. -- WHAT'S with Agnes' dress?   

A remake of The Bat Whispers, this version is fast-paced and much more entertaining, with a highly interesting cast, which includes Darla Hood (from the Our Gang comedies) as the ill-fated Judy. Although not nearly as irritating as Maude Eburne in the earlier film, Lenita Lane, who talks through her nose, is still a bit annoying. Price is smooth and oily and altogether competent, and the other cast members acquit themselves nicely. When the identity of the Bat is revealed, one has to wonder why this character even bothered with the silly disguise, as it would have suited their plans much better to just walk around as themselves! Speaking of silly outfits, at one point Moorehead wears a dress with a balloon bottom that would have to be qualified as a "would you be caught dead in this outfit?" affair. The claws tearing out throats business was not used in the earlier version. The play this was based on was in turn based on the novel "The Circular Staircase" by Mary Roberts Rinehart. The play was filmed four times. 

Verdict: Not at all logical, but a lot of fun anyway. ***.  

THE HORROR OF BLACKWOOD CASTLE

Siegfried Schurenberg and Karin Baal

THE HORROR OF BLACKWOOD CASTLE (aka Der Hund von Blackwood Castle/1968). Director: Alfred Vohrer. 

"Everyone's dying here -- so inconsiderate!" -- Lady Agatha. 

Captain Wilson (Otto Stern) has died and his daughter, Jane (Karin Baal), has inherited his creepy old castle. As an insurance investigator, Connery (Heinz Drache of The Brides of Fu Manchu), tries to recover the stolen Amsterdam jewels, members of the late captain's crew are being killed by a hound outfitted with fake poisoned fangs -- are they also searching for the jewels which the captain might have stolen? In addition to the castle, much of the action centers on a rundown Inn managed by the feisty Lady Agatha (Agnes Windeck), whose guests are dropping like flies. Meanwhile Jane's avaricious long-lost mother, Catherine (Mady Rahl) shows up to see what she can get from her daughter's inheritance. Can Sir John of Scotland Yard (Siegfried Schurenberg) stop the murders and solve the case? 

von Berlepsch, Engel, Drache,

Usually in these movies Siegfried Schurenberg as Sir John pops up now and then to act the buffoon and gives orders to the detectives who are actually doing the investigating, but in Blackwood Castle he seems to be the chief investigator, which gives the whole film a comic or even campy -- or at the very least tongue-in-cheek -- tone to it which works against the suspense. (It's almost as if Schurenberg got so much screen time to make up for the absence of Eddi Arent, who generally plays the comic relied in these krimi films.) 

In any case, even though it comes together at the end, Blackwood Castle is a bit too convoluted for its own good. The movie is introduced by a voice claiming to be Edgar Wallace, and there is a terrible rock-like theme song. The actors, including Tilo von Berlepsch as Lady Agatha's brother, Henry, and Alexander Engel as Dr. Adams all give flavorful and adept performances. The hound (or hund) itself is not given that much to do, and the storyline is quite different from "The Hound of the Baskervilles." Pretty good ending to this. 

Verdict: Rather weird Wallace krimi that seems to go all over the lot. **1/2.