THE MAD EXECUTIONERS

The sinister court convenes

THE MAD EXECUTIONERS (aka Der Henker von London/1963). Director: Edwin Zbonek. Colorized.

In London a secret court convenes periodically, kidnaps people who have gotten away with assorted crimes, and pronounces a sentence of death -- with hanging corpses discovered in the morning. The same rope is used each time and continues to disappear from police HQ no matter what precautions are taken! Inspector John Hillier (Hansjorg Felmy) is determined to uncover the identity of the leader of this court. He is equally desperate to find out who murdered his sister, one of the victims of a sex maniac targeting young women who rapes and beheads them. One of the suspects in the former case is a retired judge, Sir Francis Elliott (Rudolf Forster), which is awkward as he is the father of Hillier's girlfriend, Ann (Maria Perschy of The Castle of Fu Manchu). Ann sets out to find the killer of Hillier's sister, and runs into a man named Dr. Ferguson (Dieter Borsche) ...

Felmy and Wolfgang Preiss

The Mad Executioners is based on the story "White Carpet" by Bryan Edgar Wallace, the son of Edgar Wallace, who clearly followed in his father's footsteps. The movie has a lot of rich atmosphere, although at times it becomes confusing, especially as it pertains to Ann's father. When the head of the tribunal is unmasked, we remember this same character watching the court from a distance (there may well be an explanation for his anomaly, but the audience never learns it). Wolfgang Preiss [Die Slowly, You'll Enjoy It More] plays another inspector and Felmy's boss. Chris Howland plays reporter Tom Jenkins, who is a master of disguise and lends a hand to the inspector. (It is a mercy that Eddi Arent wasn't given this role!)

Verdict: Two puzzles for the price of one. ***. 

13 GHOSTS

Rosemary DeCamp, Donald Woods, Martin Milner

13 GHOSTS (1960). Produced and directed by William Castle. Colorized. 

Cyrus Zorba (Donald Woods of The Black Doll), who works in a museum, inherits a house from his late uncle, a researcher in spirits. Cyrus movies his wife and two children into the spooky manor, then learns that his uncle actually collected ghosts and they are haunting the place! A special viewer that resembles weird binoculars enables Cyrus to see the ghosts, which include a headless lion tamer, the lion, an axe murderer, and others. But Cyrus may have more problems besides ghosts -- the uncle left a fortune in the house and a certain individual will stop at nothing to get his hands on it, including murder!

Martin Milner and Jo Morrow

13 Ghosts is a fun movie that may, at times, be sillier than it needs to be even if it occasionally has a darker tone to it as well. Woods is fine as the hapless Cyrus, and he gets good support from Rosemary DeCamp as his wife, Jo Morrow as his daughter, and Charles Herbert as his little boy, Buck, not to mention Martin Milner as an amiable lawyer who dates Morrow and befriends her brother. John Van Dreelen (of The Leech Woman) is Wood's boss -- smooth as ever -- and Margaret Hamilton is adequate as the crusty housekeeper.  Jo Morrow, a very appealing actress, also co-starred in The Three Worlds of Gulliver. 

Verdict: One of Castle's better movies. ***. 

KNIFE OF ICE

Carroll Baker

KNIFE OF ICE (aka Il coltello di ghiaccio/1972). Director: Umberto Lenzi. 

Martha (Carroll Baker) has been mute since her parents were killed in a train disaster and they threw her out a window to safety. Now she lives with her Uncle Ralph (Jorge Riguad) and her cousin, Jenny (Ida Galli of The Case of the Scorpion's Tail), as well as the sinister driver Marcos (Eduardo Fajardo of The Murder Mansion), housekeeper Mrs. Britton (Silvia Monelli), and the British maid Rosalie (Olga Gherardi). When Jenny is found dead in the garage, it develops that there was already another blond victim of an unknown killer. Now the police fear that Martha will be the next to be targeted. The main suspect is a devil worshipper named Randy Mason (Mario Pardo), but there are others: the mayor, Father Martin (Jose Marco), and the smooth and attractive Dr. Laurent (Alan Scott), who has been treating both Martha and her uncle. 

Baker with Alan Scott

This is the final collaboration between star Baker and director Lenzi, and it's arguably the least interesting. Although it does work up a bit of suspense towards the very end, the pacing is generally too slow and the characters are not that interesting. Jean Sorel is sorely missed as well, as Martha is given no real love interest. The twist ending to this doesn't quite convince, but the film is well-acted by all. Alan Scott was an American actor who did most of his films in Europe. 

Verdict: Disappointing Baker-Lenzi mystery flick. **1/2. 

TORMENTED

Richard Carlson and Lugene Sanders

TORMENTED (1960). Director: Bert I. Gordon. Colorized.  

Artist Tom Stewart (Richard Carlson) wants to marry into a wealthy family and has gotten engaged to Meg Hubbard (Lugene Sanders). But what to do about his girlfriend, Vi (Juli Reding of Why Must I Die?), who objects to his plans and tries to blackmail him? Fortunately for him the railing gives way on the balcony outside of an abandoned lighthouse where they have secret rendezvous, and Vi finds herself falling to the rocks below. Tom could have reached out and saved her, but chooses not to. Soon Tom is seeing images of the dead woman and hearing her voice everywhere he goes. Her ghost is determined to keep him from going through with the wedding plans ... 

Carlson at the lighthouse

Bert Gordon didn't just direct movies about big people and creatures, but also helmed a few thrillers of varying types. While the premise may not be terribly original, Tormented has a good plot, more than decent performances -- Carlson is especially good -- and is quite entertaining. One especially good sequence has Carlson's blind landlady (Lillian Adams) trying to communicate with the ghost -- which she definitely believes in -- in the aforementioned spooky lighthouse. A bit with the ghost's disembodied head showing up isn't quite as effective. This was the last credit (of four) for Hubbard, who is not classically beautiful but is nevertheless appealing and talented. Susan Gordon, who plays her younger sister, was the director's daughter, and is fine. Another notable cast member is Joe Turkel, who plays a sleazy blackmailer. As usual, the contributions of composer Albert Glasser and cinematographer Ernest Laszlo are not to be discounted. 

Verdict: No giant monsters but the flick is still fun. ***. 

BLACK ZOO

BLACK ZOO (1963). Director: Robert Gordon. 

This long-unseen horror thriller is one of three films producer Herman Cohen did with star Michael Gough (the other two are Konga and Horrors of the Black Museum). Like the others, Black Zoo is lurid, somewhat campy fun. Gough is owner of a zoo as well as member of a weird cult of animal worshipers. Threatened with losing the zoo and his beloved tigers and lions -- who lie around his living room like treasured and pampered guests -- Gough sics his pets on anyone who dares to get in his way. His wife Edna (Jeanne Cooper) has a trained chimp act and wishes that hubby were kinder to the handsome mute boy Carl (Rod Lauren) who helps him with the murders. Gough is florid and easily enraged, but as an actor he puts on a lively, energetic show, and Cooper is excellent and equally energetic. The interesting cast also includes Virginia Grey as a booking agent, Jerome Cowan as an entrepreneur, Elisha Cook, Jr. as a zoo worker, and even Ed Platt ("the chief" on Get Smart) as a detective. One of the most interesting scenes is an funeral for the dead tiger Baron that takes place in a misty forest by night. Cooper and Gough have a great, lively dinner scene that ends in an hysterical (in more ways than one) fight. Cooper played Katherine Chancellor on The Young and the Restless; one of her co-stars on that show was Jerry Douglas, who plays a police lab man in Black Zoo. (He's not very good at his job, however, as he thinks a gorilla is "a member of the chimp family!") What's most surprising about this entertaining picture isn't the final revelation as much as how moving it is. Rod Lauren (of The Young Swingers) hasn't a word of dialogue but his expressive face says volumes. (Ironically, the actor-singer was accused years later of hiring someone to murder his wife.) Script by Herman Cohen and Aben Kandel. Robert Gordon also directed It Came from Beneath the Sea. 

Verdict: Lions and tigers and apes, oh my! ***.

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. 

SUDDEN FEAR

Joan Crawford

SUDDEN FEAR (1952). Director: David Miller. Colorized. 

Wealthy playwright Myra Hudson (Joan Crawford) turns down the actor Lester Blaine (Jack Palance) for a role in her new stage work because he lacks "romantic" looks. Nevertheless, Blaine seems more than romantic enough when she encounters him on a train to California and he wins her over. It isn't long before the two are dating, and then married, living in her fabulous San Francisco mansion. But one day Myra hears something that was inadvertently recorded on her dictaphone, and realizes with a sickening shock that Lester may not be as enamored of her as she thought. Her money, however, is a different matter. The feisty Myra makes up her mind to fight back ... 

Jack Palance and Gloria Grahame

Sudden Fear not only features an exemplary Crawford performance -- she received an Oscar nomination -- but is an excellent, suspenseful thriller that has tense moments that remind one of Hitchcock. The film's climax, set all over the rolling streets of the city (but actually filmed in Los Angeles unlike the rest of the movie), is outstanding. Crawford isn't the only cast member operating at top level: Jack Palance  -- nominated for a supporting Oscar -- and Gloria Grahame as his lover are also on target all the way through, and there's fine work from Mike Connors [Voodoo Woman] in his first role, billed as "Touch" Connors; Virginia Huston [Flight to Mars]; and Bruce Bennett. It's fun seeing Crawford exchanging small talk with Arthur Space of Panther Girl of the Kongo in a party scene. Fine David Miller direction, a good score from Elmer Bernstein, crisp Charles Lang cinematography, and very sharp editing by Leon Barsha. This version is also beautifully colorized, which only adds to its appeal. NOTE: To read further analysis of the film and go behind the scenes read Joan Crawford: The Essential Biography by Quirk and Schoell. 

Verdict: One could quibble about certain illogical plot points, but basically this is all systems go! ***1/2.

X THE UNKNOWN

Dean Jagger and Leo McKern

X THE UNKNOWN (1956). Director: Leslie Norman. Colorized. 

In Scotland an unknown and dangerous lifeform emerges from a fissure and hones in on various sources of radioactivity. Unfortunately, any people who cross paths with this creature wind up dying horribly. Dr. Adam Royston (Dean Jagger of So Sad About Gloria) teams up with Inspector McGill (Leo Mckern of Murder with Mirrors) of the Atomic Energy Commission to try to find a way to destroy the creature before it can absorb energy from an atomic plant and grow even larger! Assisting their efforts are Royston's boss John Elliott (Edward Chapman) and Elliott's son, Peter (William Lucas). As the death toll mounts, the blob-like monstrosity makes its way towards a populated town ... 

Peter (William Lucas) and Royston (Dean Jagger) confer

X the Unknown was supposed to be Hammer Studio's follow up to Quatermass Xperiment (aka The Creeping Unknown, which would have been just as good a title for this picture), but Nigel Kneale, who created the character of Bernard Quatermass*, objected to his use in a film written not by him but by Jimmy Sangster. Therefore Quatermass became "Adam Royston." In any event, X remains a creepy and occasionally horrifying thriller with solid performances and some gross sequences, especially when a horny doctor is exposed to the creature in a hospital and sort of melts ... The climax at the fissure where Royston and company hope to completely obliterate the creature is very suspenseful. Anthony Newley, who later became famous as a singing actor, plays the ill-fated soldier, "Spider" Webb. James Bernard's evocative score and Gerald Gibb's photography are both major pluses. The colorizing adds even more intensity to the movie. Highly influential in its way, especially on The Blob and Caltiki, the Immortal Monster. 

*NOTE: I explore the real Quatermass movies in the latest issue of bare bones. 

Verdict: Effective and memorable horror-thriller with sci fi overtones. ***. 

DEATH AND DIAMONDS

George Nader as Jerry Cotton

DEATH AND DIAMONDS (aka Dynamit in grune Seide/1968). Director: Harald Reinl. 

The FBI has been after a hoodlum named Stone for a long time, and learns that he has come up with a master plan that will employ a career criminal and safecracker named Trevor (Claus Tinney). It is decided to have top agent Jerry Cotton (George Nader) replace Trevor and infiltrate the gang. Cotton, who deals primarily with Charles Bloom (Carl Mohner), Stone's good right hand, discovers that Stone's plan is to use paralyzing gas in a plot to steal millions of dollars worth of diamonds. Cotton's problem is to maintain his false identity while doing everything he can to foil this plot -- and keep himself from being murdered. 

Carl Mohner (right) as Bloom

Death and Diamonds is another fast-paced and entertaining Jerry Cotton thriller from Germany, with Nader and the rest of the cast in good form. In one suspenseful bit Jerry is nearly incinerated when he's locked in a kind of furnace, and there's an incredible scene when he simply launches himself at an approaching car and smashes through the windshield with his feet! Silvia Solar plays a blonde associate of Bloom's who winds up kidnapped by him, and there's a wild scene when a nasty brunette named Mabel (Marlies Drager) takes a slashing whip to the woman. Heinz Weiss is back as Jerry's associate Phil Decker and Claus Holm plays his boss "Butt" Lancaster. The finale of the film has Jerry trying to capture Stone while Bloom and the others try to outwit Cotton, Stone and each other over 12 million dollars in diamonds. Followed by Death in a Red Jaguar. 

Verdict: Fun and often exciting German thriller. ***.   

PAPER MAN

Powers, Street, Stacy

PAPER MAN (1971 telefilm). Director: Walter Grauman. NOTE: This is a review of the 90 minute theatrical version.

Four graduate students -- Karen (Stephanie Powers), Jerry (James Stacy), Lisa (Tina Chen) and Joel (Elliott Street) -- take advantage of a computer glitch to create a fake identity and credit card, which they intend to use but promise to pay off. When things get a little more complicated and the bank tells them it requires more information, they enlist the aid of computer whiz Avery Jensen (Dean Stockwell), who uses his skills to create a nearly complete background for "Henry Norman." But things take a dark turn when the computer begins to make mistakes, giving one character insulin that kills him and causing an elevator car to crush another of the participants. Is the computer developing its own mind, and is the paper effigy of Henry Norman coming to life? Karen and Avery come to the conclusion that there's a human agent behind their troubles and the others' deaths, but Karen learns that Avery has a deeply problematic psychiatric history. Is she allying herself with the wrong person?

Paper Man was briefly released in theaters with fifteen minutes added to the running time. The computers referred to are not the PCs that we are familiar with today, but those huge computer banks that added data on long white cards with holes punched out. It's interesting to see what computers were like way, way back in the day. As for the movie, it is a minor but suspenseful affair with some intriguing notions and good performances from the entire cast, which also includes James Olson as a concerned computer technician and Ross Elliott as the sheriff.  A clever and creepy sequence has a character pursued down a basement corridor while the lights keep switching off behind her section by section, making it look as if the very dark is chasing her. 

Verdict: Absorbing mystery telefilm with very intriguing elements. ***. 

GOD TOLD ME TO

Tony Lo Bianco

GOD TOLD ME TO (1976). Written, produced and directed by Larry Cohen.

In New York City a sniper crawls atop a water tower and starts picking off innocent pedestrians. Another man goes berserk with a knife. A uniformed cop (Andy Kaufman in a very early role) starts shooting people at the Irish parade. In each case the perpetrator says "God told me to" and then commits suicide. Detective Peter Nicholas (Tony Lo Bianco) investigates the multitude of murders and discovers that one particular individual may link them all: Bernard Phillips (Richard Lynch), a man whose mother (Sylvia Sidney of Death at Love House) was possibly taken aboard an extraterrestrial spaceship! Phillips is a hermaphrodite with strange mind control powers. Confronting the man, Nicholas realizes that he, too, may have an extraterrestrial origin. 

Richard Lynch as Phillips

God Told Me to has some interesting notions and a decidedly interesting cast: in addition to those named, we also have the ever-quirky Sandy Dennis as Nicholas' estranged wife; Deborah Raffin as his live-in girlfriend; Mike Kellin as the dyspeptic Deputy Commissioner; Sam Levene as businessman Everett Lukas; and John Heffernan as a man named Bramwell. Larry Cohen has assembled a great cast, but if only he had spent more time on his half-baked screenplay, which drops in some intriguing ideas but never develops them in any compelling fashion. This is especially a shame because the characterizations are well-delineated, Frankly the movie only works at all because of the score by Frank Cordell, which consistently imbues scenes with suspense and tension that would not have existed without it. (Ironically, the film is dedicated to the memory of Bernard Herrmann, who actually worked on one of Cohen's films, It's Alive.) Richard Lynch (of Miner's Massacre) probably has the most unusual role of his career. Tony Lo Bianco's performance is solid, but the script lets him down.

Verdict: A little too odd for its own good. **1/4. 

DON'T WORRY DARLING

Florence Pugh and Harry Styles

DON'T WORRY DARLING (2022). Director: Oliva Wilde. 

Alice (Florence Pugh) and Jack (Harry Styles) live in a 1950's desert community where Harry works for the Victory Project, which deals with "the development of progressive materials" -- whatever that means. Although the other housewives in the cul-de-sac don't seem to care, it bothers Alice that her husband's work is so secretive and that she's told never, never, to go out into the desert. One neighbor, a black lady named Margaret (Kiki Layne) did so and hasn't been the same since. Although Harry's boss, the slick Frank (Chris Pine), has big plans for Harry, Alice threatens to topple them all with her paranoid attitude, especially after there appears to be a cover-up as to whatever it was that happened to Margaret. 

Chris Pine

The intriguing aspects of Don't Worry Darling are severely compromised by the off-putting style of the movie, which seems to be trying to transcend the thriller genre but only serves to weaken the suspense. It simply gets too artsy-fartsy for its own good at times. Too long at nearly two hours, the movie at least boasts some very well-staged action sequences at the climax. The acting also helps put this over, with exemplary work from Florence Pugh and a sinister and charismatic performance from Chris Pine. The other cast members, including Harry Styles and director Olivia Wilde in a supporting role as Bunny, are also effective, among others.  

Pugh with Pine in background

But the fact remains that I can't recommend this movie because it ultimately comes off like a much lesser effort from M. Night Shyamalan, with a "big reveal" that will probably make you groan out loud (although a few people who haven't seen as many movies might be impressed). The various anachronisms sprinkled throughout the movie could give you a clue -- the idea just isn't that original. It may also remind you in some ways of The Stepford Wives. Don't Worry Darling might have its heart in the right place in the political sense, but it just doesn't add up to a memorable movie. The explanation for what's going on only gives the audience more questions instead of real answers. 

Verdict: A few good scenes don't make a great movie. **1/4. 

THE INVISIBLE MAN (2020)

Elizabeth Moss

THE INVISIBLE MAN (2020). Written and directed by Leigh Whanell.

Cecelia Kass (Elizabeth Moss) finally manages to get away from her abusive and controlling boyfriend, Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), an optics genius, with the help of her sister, Emily (Harriet Dyer) and a cop-friend named James (Aldis Hodge). She relaxes for awhile when she learns that Adrian apparently committed suicide, but then weird things begin to happen which make her think that Adrian is not only alive, but stalking her -- invisibly. Is there any truth to her feelings, or is she losing her mind? Is Adrian still alive, or is someone else sneaking up on her in the night? 

Harriet Dyer with Moss

The Invisible Man has no relation to H. G. Wells' novel or film versions thereof, although the last name of "Griffin" is a nod to the protagonist of that novel. The Invisible Man is a slick, very well-made variation on Wells' classic tale that keeps you in suspense over what is really happening and who, if anyone, is doing what to whom. Director Leigh Whannell -- with the aid of a tense score by Benjamin Wallfisch --  keeps the creepiness factor at high level virtually throughout the movie. Elizabeth Moss offers an outstanding performance as Cecelia, with fine performances from the others named as well as Michael Dorman as Adrian's lawyer-brother and Storm Reid as James' teenage daughter. I might wish that some of the characters were better developed, but the movie is, understandably, mostly interested in tension and chills.

Fantasy or reality?

I believe The Invisible Man was simply meant to be an engaging thriller, but some critics and viewers have subscribed all manner of political motives to the movie. Some wish it was more "me/too," focusing more on the abuse suffered by Cecelia (interestingly her life with Adrian is never really shown) and others invoked that awful WOKE application simply because the hero in the film -- if he even is the hero -- is portrayed by a black actor and a couple of the white male characters are stinkers (in no way do I see this film as being guilty of "white-bashing.") Judge for yourself. I found The Invisible Man to be highly entertaining.

Verdict: The strengths of this film are hardly invisible. ***1/4. 

INCONCEIVABLE

Gina Gershon and Nicolas Cage

INCONCEIVABLE (2017). Director: Jonathan Baker. 

Brian (Nicolas Cage) and his wife Angela (Gina Gershon) encounter a troubled young woman named Katie (Nicky Whelan) who also has a young daughter. The two woman decide they can help each other out by letting Katie and her child move in, where she can act as nanny to Angela's little girl. Angela is okay with Katie having a girlfriend, who is eventually murdered. Later it is decided that Katie will be a surrogate for the couple's next child, but problems quickly begin to develop and things begin spiraling out of control. Katie not only lays claim to the child she's carrying, but to Angela and Brian's daughter as well, and the couple are shocked to find out why. Eventually things escalate into violence ... 

Faye Dunaway

Why anyone conceived that Inconceivable was a good idea is beyond me. It's all been done before -- and done better -- in movies such as The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. Is the picture trying to be hip -- or regressive -- in employing a psychotic lesbian/bisexual as a character?  By now it should be apparent that Nicolas Cage will attach himself  to virtually any crappy project and can no longer be taken seriously as an "A" list actor. It's a question of who looks worse, Cage, or Faye Dunaway, with her collagen lips. In any case, the performances in this are good with Dunaway and a sympathetic Gershon coming off best. 

Verdict: A mediocre Lifetime  movie with bigger names. **. 

FEMALE JUNGLE

Burt Kaiser and Lawrence Tierney

FEMALE JUNGLE (1955). Director: Bruno VeSota.

An actress is strangled to death and a heavy-drinking cop, Jack Stevens (Lawrence Tierney), fears he may have had something to do with the murder in a black out. Suspects also include columnist Claude Almstead (John Carradine of Death at Love House), who was in love with the actress, and caricaturist Alex Voe (Burt Kaiser), who is married to waitress Peggy (Kathleen Crowley of The Flame Barrier) but is carrying on with Candy (Jayne Mansfield). As the night proceeds Almstead takes Peggy out for a ride and Stevens and Sgt. Duane (Duane Grey) interrogate Almstead; Duane is convinced that the columnist is guilty. But on this he may be fatally mistaken.

John Carradine

Female Jungle has only been remembered, if at all, because future brief star Jayne Mansfield has a small role. She has a credible death scene but otherwise her performance is undistinguished; leading lady Crowley is much, much better. Tierny and Carradine are solid, but the most impressive performance is given by Burt Kaiser, who also co-wrote the screenplay and produced. Despite his good looks and acting ability, Kaiser only made one film and had a very few TV credits. Connie Cezon, who plays another club employee, was receptionist Gertie on Perry Mason. Director Bruno VeSota gives himself a small role -- Cezon's husband -- but his direction is nothing to rave about and even in a clear print the film is criminally under-lit. Dull in spots, the picture goes on too long after the climax.

Verdict: Some good acting and a decent plot, but the execution is mediocre. **.   

TORSO

 

TORSO (1973/Italy). Director: Sergio Martino. 

While this Italian giallo film lacks the style, finesse and classy art direction of the best of Mario Bava and Dario Argento, it does manage to work up some suspense and chills in the final quarter. Young women are being stalked, murdered and dismembered in Rome. The suspects include a professor, a love-sick student, a handsome doctor, a co-ed's uncle, the "village idiot" and others. The heroine, Jane, (Suzy Kendall) retreats with three friends to a house in the country high atop a cliff, but finds she can not escape the killer. The movie begins inauspiciously and promises to be a pretty dull item, but it sustains interest until an excellent sequence when Jane hides from the maniac as he begins to dismember her friends. Later there is a very taut, chilling sequence when he goes through her room in search of her and nearly finds her. If the whole movie had been on the level of these tense scenes it really might have amounted to something. As it is, horror fans may find it worthwhile. The professor, Franz, is played by John Richardson, who co-starred with Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C. (1967) and did little else of note. The script throws in a lesbian love-making scene for no apparent reason other than to presumably add some extra titillation. None of the killer's many victims, either male or female, ever seem to fight back. At one point he manages to dispatch three women (off-screen) at the same time! 

Verdict: Not great, but of interest to fans of psycho-shockers. **1/2.

SISTERS OF DEATH

Cheri Howell

SISTERS OF DEATH (1976). Director: Joe Mazzuca. 

During an initiation ceremony in a sorority secret society, a young woman is killed during a game of Russian roulette. 7 years later the surviving members are invited to a reunion at an isolated estate. Partying with them are two men -- Mark (Paul Carr) and Joe (Joe E. Tata) -- who were hired to bring the girls to the estate. Their client is Edmond Clybourn (Arthur Franz), whose daughter is the dead girl. Clybourn is determined to find out which of the other women switched bullets in the gun and killed his daughter, but when people start dying off is it Clybourn doing the killing or the unknown suspected sorority sister? 

Arthur Franz

 Sisters of Death was released in theaters, but it plays like a Movie-of-the-Week with bloodless killings and less real suspense than your average telefilm. Franz is the best-known actor -- and Paul Carr appeared on the TV version of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea -- but he is given little to do but sit around making bullets. Playmate of the Year Claudia Jennings is the best-known woman in the cast, but the best femme performance is by Cheri Howell as Sylvie. In general the acting is more than acceptable, as is the premise of the film, but it is let down by a fairly dull and routine execution. There is, however, an interesting climax involving a gatling gun. 

Verdict: A real time-waster. *1/2.  

I SEE YOU

Helen Hunt

I SEE YOU (2019). Director: Adam Randall. 

Jackie Harper (Helen Hunt) has caused problems in her marriage to cop-husband Greg (Jon Tenney) by having an affair, also alienating her teenage son, Connor (Judah Lewis). Greg is assigned to the case of a missing ten-year-old who was snatched out of the woods. But he also has to reckon with two other teens, "phroggers," who sneak into other people's homes and stay out of sight for days (Libe Barer, Owen Teague). But these kids get more than they bargain for when Jackie's former paramour (Sam Trammell) is murdered in the basement ... 

Jon Tenney

I See You is a stylish thriller, too stylish, with an off-putting, overdone and pretentious scare-score by William Arcane, but it does boast some striking and gorgeous cinematography by Philipp Blaubach. The movie is haphazardly constructed, as halfway through it jumps back in time to the beginning to show the same events through different characters' eyes. The plot throws in all sorts of twists, some of which seem illogical, and with all its loose ends one can't say it has a satisfactory conclusion. Still, the movie is never boring, is quite unpredictable by overturning expectations, and manages to be entertaining in spite of itself. But it doesn't hold up to close inspection. All of the characters are essentially one-dimensional as well. The performances are good, although virtually every critic commented on how awful poor Helen Hunt looks. 

Verdict: Some arresting stuff in this but not highly recommended. **1/2. 

BETRAYAL

Amanda Blake

BETRAYAL (1974 telefilm.) Director: Gordon Hessler. 

Gretchen (Tihsa Sterling of The Name of the Game is Kill) makes a living as a companion to older ladies with money, and then robs them with the help of her abusive boyfriend, Jay (Sam Groom), who winds up murdering their latest victim. Gretchen next sets her sights on Helen Mercer (Amanda Blake), who is not quite as helpless as Gretchen might like, and certainly doesn't need her help with her finances. Pretending to be Gretchen's formerly estranged husband, Jay moves in as the two women bond. Gretchen just wants to live a normal life and leave Helen in peace, but Jay has no intention of walking away from a big score.

Tisha Sterling

Betrayal is a fairly standard telefilm that has a couple of twists and holds the attention. The performances are okay. Tisha Sterling is the daughter of Ann Sothern and Robert Sterling -- she's not a bad actress, she's just not very distinctive in this. A major cast surprise is that Helen's male friend who wants to marry her is played by an unrecognizable Dick Haymes, actor, singer and former husband of Rita Hayworth; he's fine. Sam Groom is also capable as the rather slimy Jay. The movie actually has an interesting plot but the execution is mediocre. At times this almost plays like a love story between Helen and Gretchen, and the ending is very satisfying. 

Verdict: Okay TV time-passer with some interesting elements. **1/4. 

HIDDEN HOMICIDE

Griffith Jones, Maya Koumani, Patricia Laffan

HIDDEN HOMICIDE (1959). Director: Anthony Young. 

Michael Cornforth (Griffith Jones) is spirited away from his flat by an unknown person and wakes up in his cousin's cottage with his dead body inside. Two women -- Jean (Patricia Laffan) and Marian (Maya Koumani) -- happen along and Michael bares his soul to them. Attracted to Micheal, Jean decides to cover up the business with the corpse although Marian is a bit more skeptical. Now Michael has to find out not only who kidnapped him but who murdered his cousin, a man from whom he might have inherited money. Seems he not only had the means but the motive. 

James Kenney

Hidden Homicide is a twisty British thriller that sets up an intriguing situation, although one has to suspend disbelief at times. The acting is sufficient, with James Kenney [The Gelignite Gang] having fun as Oswald, a presumed friend of Michael's who comes to Jean's assistance at one point. The plot is the kind of convoluted thing you would see years later in Italian giallo films, and frankly this could have used a couple of gruesome murders. It does have some lively moments, and a couple of good twists, but it's also a little too weird and disjointed. Kenny is quite good in this. 

Verdict: Moderately entertaining. **1/2.