BONE LAKE

Maddie Hassan and Marco Pigossi

BONE LAKE (2024). Director: Mercedes Bryce Morgan.  

Sage (Maddie Hassen) and Diego (Marco Pigossi) are a young couple who are excited about a weekend retreat in a fabulous house in the country. Unfortunately, they discover the house has been double booked, and Cin (Andra Nechita) and her boyfriend Will (Alex Roe) show up on the doorstep. It is agreed that both couples will share the house, and slowly become friendly. But then things begin to turn a little sinister, with one couple trying to turn the other two against each other. Before long things turn desperate and deadly ... 

Andra Nechita and Alex Roe  

Bone Lake is not the most original of movies -- its earliest antecedent might be The Most Dangerous Game -- but it is quite well-acted and is suspenseful for most of its length. It eventually turns into a gory survival story, but is effective enough on that level. One sequence is almost ruined by a pretty bad (and painfully obvious) song, "Sex and Violence," playing over the action. There is a pretty mediocre cat fight. Overall the film is watchable, but a bit slow and predictable. 

Verdict: A lot of overfamiliar elements to this. **1/2. 

THE HOUSEMAID

Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney

THE HOUSEMAID (2025). Director: Paul Feig. 

Millie (Sydney Sweeney), who is keeping a few secrets, gets a job as housekeeper to a young couple with a small daughter. Nina Winchester (Amanda Seyfried) seems warm and welcoming at first, but has a habit of throwing fits and becoming jealous. Her husband, Andrew (Brandon Sklenar of Drop), is handsome and charming and seems to do his best to keep Nina under control. But the Winchesters are keeping secrets, too, as Millie learns when Nina and her daughter go out of town and Andrew asks Millie to accompany him on an innocent excursion to the theater ...

Brandon Sklenar

During much of its length The Housemaid resembles another one of those Lifetime movies with couples and nannies and housekeepers and the like where you know nothing good is going to come out of this particular hire. The Housemaid is a little trickier than that, although nothing that is that out of the ordinary. It's no big surprise who the big bad person will turn out to be, as it's almost obligatory in this day and age. Despite that, the film is absorbing enough and very well acted by all. All told, it's entertaining but not that memorable, although it has several compelling -- and even sexy -- sequences. Paul Feig also directed A Simple Favor and Another Simple Favor. 

Verdict: Very good performances in a credible if minor suspense flick. **1/2. 

THE CAR

THE CAR (1977). Director: Elliot Silverstein.  

A small California town has its complacency shattered by a series of murderous attacks on its citizens by an automobile that seems to have no driver. Sheriff Wade Parent (James Brolin) is at his wit's end after one of the victims is his boss, Everett Peck (John Marley). It quickly becomes apparent that there is something almost supernatural about this car and its abilities, and the incidents become more vicious and outlandish. Parent may have to accept that this may be something that it will be awfully hard to fight ... 

James Brolin and Ronny Cox

While I would have preferred that there be a human antagonist behind the actions of the car -- James Bond films have already shown that some autos can do amazing things and remote control cars have been featured in such shows as Science Fiction Theater -- but The Car has a more demonic slant, which, fortunately, doesn't decrease its suspenseful and entertaining quotient in the least, although some might find it way too farfetched. The screenplay presents fully realized characters, mostly decent people up against a formidable and inexplicable enemy. The acting is generally good, with Kathleen Lloyd as Wade's ill-fated girlfriend, Elizabeth Thompson as her co-worker, Doris Dowling (of The Crimson Key) as a victim of spousal abuse, and John Rubinstein as an early victim of the car. Leonard Rosenman has contributed a chilling score, and there is top-notch widescreen photography from Gerald Hirschfield. Director Silverstein was mostly a television director, but his other theatrical films include Cat Ballou. He knocked one out of the ballpark with The Car. 

Verdict: Quite memorable and unusual horror film. ***1/4. 

PRETTY POISON

PRETTY POISON (1968). Director: Noel Black.

A twisted romance develops between a disturbed young man named Dennis Pitt (Anthony Perkins of Chillers) and an even more disturbed young woman named Sue Ann Stepanek (Tuesday Weld). Pitt, who was institutionalized for a time, draws Sue Ann into games in which he pretends he's a CIA agent involving her in his dangerous assignments. This leads to more than one murder and a plot by Pitt to get even with the man who fired him. Reasonably entertaining film holds the attention and features some good performances -- especially from Beverly Garland as Sue Ann's unpleasant mother -- and is very well photographed by David Quaid. Good supporting performances from John Randolph and Dick O'Neill (of Gammera, the Invincible). Screenplay by Lorenzo Semple Jr. Noel Black also directed Prime Suspect. 

Verdict: Some good moments but nothing really special. **1/2.

AN UNLOCKED WINDOW: ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR

T. C. Jones, Louise Latham, Dana Wynter

AN UNLOCKED WINDOW: The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. (Season 3, episode 17/1965).  Directed by Joseph M. Newman. 

In the middle of a thunder storm, two nurses, Stella (Dana Wynter of The View from Pompey's Head) and Betty (T. C. Jones), and a cook/housekeeper (Louise Latham of Marnie), are alone in the house with their patient, Glendon (John Kerr), who is in bed in an oxygen tent. The caretaker has been sent off to get another tank of oxygen, and the ladies are nervous because several nurses in the area have been murdered by an unknown maniac. Stella is determined to make certain that every door and window in the house is locked, but down in the basement she is startled by a mouse, and forgets to lock a window swinging in the wind ... Something nags at Stella, who does seem forgetful at times, as Betty reminds her.

Nurses in the bedroom with John Kerr

Based on a story by Ethel Lina White, and with a script by James Bridges, An Unlocked Window is one of the most memorable episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. The big reveal at the end is not as shocking as it was back in the sixties, and if you know anything about the actors you will be clued in early on, but the program is still quite suspenseful and well-acted (even if in some scenes Wynter doesn't act quite as terrified as she should). The show is well-directed by Joseph M. Newman for maximum tension. Admittedly there is one scene that is a bit of a cheat, rather impossible in fact -- people simply can't be in two places at once -- but this doesn't completely ruin things (blame it on the editing).  Busy director Newman's most famous film is probably This Island Earth. Writer James Bridges later directed such films as The China Syndrome and Urban Cowboy. 

Verdict: Very creepy, with a chilling finale -- you just can't trust anyone, can you? ***. 

GIRL ON THE RUN

Efrem Zimbalist Jr.

GIRL ON THE RUN (1958). Director: Richard L. Bare. 

Private investigator Stu Bailey (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) is hired by a man to find a young lady named Kathy Allen (Erin O'Brien), a singer who has changed her name and is working in a nightclub. Bailey doesn't know that Kathy ran off after she witnessed a murder -- a labor leader was shot in a parking lot -- and felt that the police couldn't protect her (a sniper fired into the hotel room where the cops were guarding her). We know the identity of the perpetrator from the first: a district attorney named McCullough (Shepperd Strudwick), who is obviously as dirty as they come. Once Bailey finds out the truth his job is two-fold: protect Kathy (and himself) and ferret out the identity of the murderer and her tormentor. Meanwhile a hit man named Smiley (Edd Byrnes of Reform School Girl) is also on the trail. 

Edd Byrnes as the smiling psychopath

Stuart Bailey was introduced in novels written by Roy Huggins, then appeared on two episodes of Conflict, an anthology series, where he was also played by Zimbalist. Girl on the Run was a telefilm that also served as the pilot for 77 Sunset Strip, the long-running LA-based private eye show. Girl on the Run was released as a theatrical feature in non-USA markets. Although playing a sleazy bad guy in this, there were things about Byrnes' portrayal that appealed to producer William Orr, and when the series started, Byrnes was retained in a good guy role ("Kookie") who shared some of the more benign qualities of the hit man Smiley.  A hilarious aspect to this is that every time Byrnes appears, we hear the kind of sexy music that is usually associated with beautiful babes -- it's weird. Even weirder that the Byrnes "theme" was retained for 77 Sunset Strip! A funny sequence has the hitman laughing at a Daffy Duck cartoon in a movie house.

Erin O'Brian

Despite knowing who the villain is from the first, Girl on the Run has some suspense as Bailey, well-played by Zimbalist, tries to outwit both Smiley and McCullough (well-played by Strudwick). Erin O'Brian also delivers in her role of the somewhat feisty but frightened witness. Harry Lauter (of The Louisiana Hussy) plays a man that Bailey hires to play drunk and annoy Kathy so that he can come to her rescue. Marion Hargove did the screenplay and Howard Jackson composed the score.

Verdict: An interesting intro to 77 Sunset Strip. **1/2. 

DROP

Meghann Fahy and Brandon Sklenar

DROP (2025). Director: Christopher Landon. 

Violet (Meghann Fahy) has not been on a date since the death of her abusive husband, but she seems to have met a likable guy in photographer Henry (Brandon Sklenar). They have chosen a truly fabulous, swanky high-rise restaurant for their first date, but there's a decided complication when she gets threatening messages on her smart phone. Then the security system shows a masked intruder with a gun in the home where her little boy, Toby, is being babysat by his aunt. Violet is told if she tells the police or anyone what's going on, Toby will die, and then is given instructions for poisoning her date ... 

Meghann Fahy

Drop certainly sets up an intriguing situation and is very suspenseful as a desperate Meghann, unable to tell Henry what is really going on, wonders who else sitting in the same restaurant is behind this horrible scheme. There isn't a dull moment in the picture, which turns violent and melodramatic towards the very end. Fahy, Sklenar and the rest of the cast give solid performances, and the film is well directed by Christopher Landon, the son of Michael Landon. (Landon also directed Happy Death Day.) There is one moment that is a bit of a cheat, but otherwise the plot, while far-fetched, doesn't seem too illogical. 

Verdict: Quite good but somehow not a classic. ***. 

COMPANION

Sophie Thatcher as Iris

COMPANION (2025). Written and directed by Drew Hancock.

Josh (Jack Quaid) brings his girlfriend Iris (Sophie Thatcher of The Boogeyman) to the impressive home of Sergey (Rupert Friend) for a weekend in the country. Other guests include Sergey's girlfriend Kat (Megan Suri) and the gay couple Eli (Harvey Guillan) and Patrick (Lukas Gage). It isn't long, however, before one of those aforementioned winds up dead, and a highly bizarre secret is revealed. Then it's a question of who will be left alive before it's all over and the chase is on.

Jack Quaid

I have deliberately not revealed too much of the plot of Companion because I knew little about it when I watched it and I think that made it all the more surprising and entertaining, as it has several twists. Initially I felt that this bizarre story would work better in a shorter length, but the film managed to keep me absorbed in any case, and is well-acted by all. I will say that Companion is a far-fetched but compelling black comedy that does borrow from a few other films for its basic premise, but manages to strike an original tone as well. Jack Quaid is the son of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan.

Verdict: Into the Twilight Zone. ***. 

MIDNIGHT LACE

Doris Day in jeopardy

MIDNIGHT LACE (1960). Director: David Miller.

Heiress Kit Preston (Doris Day) has never had a difficult day in her life, so the perky but somewhat neurotic lady is unprepared when she starts to get death threats from a sinister, cartoon-like voice in the London fog and over the telephone. Kit recently wed businessman Anthony Preston (Rex Harrison), and while he is concerned, neither he nor Inspector Byrnes (John Williams) are absolutely certain that Kit has been hearing anything. She is suspicious of everyone she encounters, including her maid's nephew (Roddy McDowall of Dead Man's Island); a hunky contractor working on a house next door (John Gavin); and an odd fellow who keeps following her (Anthony Dawson). Then someone pushes her in front of a bus ...

Day, Harrison, Williams, Gavin, Loy

Midnight Lace is a smooth and entertaining suspense film with a host of good actors, including those mentioned and Myrna Loy as Kit's aunt and Herbert Marshall (of Gog) as Anthony's business associate. Natasha Parry [The Dark Man] and Hermione Baddeley are also notable. As for Day, she gives a convincing if borderline comical performance of a incredibly overwrought woman who is admittedly in a tense situation but has no clue as to how to handle it without getting hysterical -- and I do mean hysterical. One has to witness her incredible meltdown on the staircase to believe it! The picture is fun however. It has some structural similarities to another film directed by David Miller, Sudden Fear. (In that film Joan Crawford handles things with much more vigor than Day does). 

Verdict: Unless you really hate Day you should enjoy this. ***. 

PARANOIA

Carroll Baker and Lou Castel

PARANOIA (aka Orgasmo/1969). Director: Umberto Lenzi. 

Kathryn (Carroll Baker), recently widowed, moves into her wealthy late husband's fabulous estate in Italy. Her only companion is the dyspeptic housekeeper, Teresa (Lilla Brignone), with occasional visits from family lawyer Brian (Tino Carraro), who wants to marry her. Into her life pops hunky Peter (Lou Castel), a comparatively penniless young man who moves in on Kathryn and eventually into her home. Then who should show up but his free-spirited sister, Eva (Colette Descombes), who seems to have a hankering for Kathryn. But is Eva really Peter's sister, or something more? It isn't long before Kathryn begins to regret ever meeting the couple. 

Baker, Castel, Descombes

Paranoia is an entertaining and well-acted suspense-thriller that presents some truly despicable villains even if their victim isn't entirely sympathetic. There's another twist at the end and a satisfying denouement. This is one of several films that Baker did for director Umberto Lenzi. (This is not to be confused with another Baker/Lenzi collaboration entitled Paranoia or A Quiet Place to Kill.) Lou Castel was a Columbian actor who appeared in a number of Italian/International productions. Like most of the other films Baker did with Lenzi, lesbianism or bisexuality figures in the plot. Most of the others remind one of Diabolique, but not Paranoia.

Verdict: Absorbing story with intriguing plot and some very good players. ***. 

AMUCK!

Barbara Bouchet and Farley Granger

AMUCK! (aka Alla ricerca del piacere/1972). Director: Silvio Amadio. 

Greta Franklin (Barbara Bouchet of Danger Route) is sent from a New York publishing house to Venice to be the new secretary for author Richard Stuart (Farley Granger of The Slasher ... is the Sex Maniac). His last secretary, Sally (Patrizia Viotti) disappeared, and Greta hides the fact that she not only knew Sally, but was her lover, and wants to find out what happened to her. The other people in the household include Richard's wife, Eleonora (Rosalba Neri), who drugs and makes love to Greta, and fisherman Rocco (Petar Martinovitch), who lives in a nearby cottage. Greta eventually begins a relationship with Richard, but his story of what actually happened to Sally may not be the complete truth. 

Rosalba Neri and Petar Martinovitch

Amuck! is an interesting, well-acted giallo film with an absorbing storyline and some memorable sequences, such as a suspenseful bit when Greta has to be rescued from quicksand by Commissioner Antonelli (Nino Segurini), and the sexy flashback sequence to the death of Sally. As in many giallo films, the women all seem to be predatory bisexuals, sleeping with and romancing men but coming on to other women with abandon -- all of this not for any edification of sexual lifestyles or orientations but to turn on some of the male viewers. Silvio Amadio also worked with Neri in Smile Before Death. 

Verdict: Intriguing Italian mystery with lots of naked breasts for those who like that sort of thing. ***. 

SMILE BEFORE DEATH

Silvano Tranquilli and Rosalba Neri

SMILE BEFORE DEATH (aka Il sorriso della iena/1972). Director: Silvio Amadio. 

After her mother Dorothy's supposed suicide, teenager Nancy Thompson (Jenny Tamburi) leaves school and comes home, where she meets her late mother's photographer friend, Gianna (Rosalba Neri of The French Sex Murders), and her stepfather, Marco (Silvano Tranquilli of The Slasher ... is the Sex Maniac). The housekeeper Madga (Dana Ghia) knows that Dorothy (Zora Gheorgieva) wanted to divorce the greedy, philandering Marco and had taken a lover of her own (Hiram Keller of Fellini Satyricon). Nancy develops an attraction for her stepfather which he does nothing to discourage, and then seems to make a play for Gianna. Nancy tells Gianni that she thinks Marco murdered her mother and may be trying to kill her as well ... 

Dana Ghia and Jenny Tamburi

Smile Before Death has a twisty and interesting script and some good performances but is nearly done in by very listless direction and a score that could best be described as hideous. The first half of the film is relatively uneventful and tedious, but there are clever developments in the second half. The main twist at the end of the film is kind of silly, but there's a highly satisfying coda afterwards. As usual, there's a brief lesbian love sequence. At least the script is fairly unpredictable.   

Verdict: Half of a good movie. **1/4. 

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.    

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.  

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 FELLOWSHIP OF THE FROG

The Frog: would you buy a used care from this man?

THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE FROG (aka Face of the Frog aka Der Frosch mit der Maske/1959). Director: Harald Reinl. 

London is the locale of a sinister criminal leader known only as the Frog, who has hundreds of cutthroat agents in his employ, and who runs about decked out in a kind of ski cap with bulging bubble eyes. Richard Gordon (Joachim Fuchsberger), the nephew of Scotland Yard's Sir Archibald (Ernst Fritz Furbringer of The Curse of the Hidden Vault), is certain that the Frog is actually the supposedly dead master criminal Harry Lime, but whom is he impersonating when he isn't posing as the Frog? The Frog seems to have an unhealthy interest in the family of John Bennet (Carl Lange of Death in a Red Jaguar), especially his daughter, Ella (Elfie von Kalckreuth), but it's his son, Ray (Walter Wilz), who winds up framed for murder. Then there's the singer, Lolita (Eva Pflug), who seems to be working for the Frog but elicits his wrath in an especially brutal sequence involving a machinegun. Can Ray be saved before he's hanged, and will the Frog ever be unmasked? Inspector Elk (Siegfried Lowitz of The Sinister Monk) has a plan ... 

Matinee Idol: Joachim Fuchsberger

This is the very first of a West German film series based on the novels of Edgar Wallace that would eventually add up to nearly sixty movies (if you also include adaptations of novels written by Wallace's son as well as films clearly influenced by Wallace)! This one, directed by Harald Reinl -- who helmed many of the Jerry Cotton films starring George Nader, as well as Dr. Mabuse movies and The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism -- keeps things moving briskly in this initial entry. Handsome Fuchsberger would appear in many of the subsequent films, generally in a heroic role. Frog is fast-paced, entertaining, and amusing, although the whole business with Ray being arrested and convicted so rapidly seems more than contrived and downright weird. The biggest problem with Frog is that the identity of the master criminal seems obvious, at least to me, almost from the first -- he just sticks out like a sore thumb! Other characters include the cadaverous Maitland, Ray's boss (Fritz Rasp), and his kindly associate Johnson (Jochen Brockmann), as well as Eddi Arent as Gordon's comical butler, James. 

Verdict: Successful enough to engender a whole slew of krimi movies. **3/4.   

NIGHT AFTER NIGHT AFTER NIGHT

Gilbert Wynne and Donald Sumpter

NIGHT AFTER NIGHT AFTER NIGHT (1969). Director: Lindsay Shonteff. 

A Jack the Ripper-type killer is preying on prostitutes in London. Inspector Rowan (Gilbert Wynne) immediately focuses on the thuggish Pete Laver (Donald Sumpter), and is convinced he is the killer. When Rowan's wife, Jenny (Linda Marlowe of Spaceflight IC-1) becomes the latest victim, slashed in her bathtub, a furious Rowan follows Pete everywhere and threatens him. But as the murders continue new suspects come into view. Also involved in the case are Judge Lomax (Jack May), his wife, Helena (Justine Lord), and his seriously weird assistant, Carter (Terry Scully). 

Gilbert Wynne and Jack May

The excellent performance of Donald Sumpter is the main reason to watch the mediocre Night After Night After Night. To be fair, it's possible the film was less interested in creating suspense over the identity of the killer -- which is no surprise -- than it was in looking at his home life, but his psychopathology seems to come out of nowhere. The performances are generally good but Jack May is way, way over the top as hanging Judge Lomax. The ending to the film is dragged out to a ridiculous length, with everyone in the audience probably wanting someone to just shoot the guy and be done with it. As usual, Lindsay Shonteff betrays little directorial skill. 

Verdict: One of the lesser "ripper" movies despite some very good performances. **. 

THE SINISTER MONK

Who is the maniacal monk?

THE SINISTER MONK (aka Der unheimliche monch/1965). Director: Harald Reinl.  

Based on a novel by the prolific Edgar Wallace, this movie has enough plot for several films. First we have a group of siblings arguing over a will. William (Dieter Eppler) and Richard (Siegfried Lowitz) want to figure out a way to stymie or dispose of niece Gwendolin (Karin Dor), who gets the lion's share of the cash, while Aunt Patricia (Ilse Steppat) is hoping to protect her, especially from her predatory son, Ronnie (Hartmut Reck). At Patricia's girls school, some of the students turn up missing. If that weren't enough, a man dressed as a monk and wielding a whip is using the lash to strangle and break the necks of assorted individuals. Who is the Mad Monk and why is he killing people?

Harald Leipnitz and Karin Dor

Although it's burdened with an oddball, overly jazzy score by Peter Thomas, The Sinister Monk is a suspenseful and entertaining flick that crosses several genres, from psycho-on-the-loose to police procedural to gang activity to siblings fussing over wills and damsels-in-distress. In addition to those mentioned, other characters include Inspector Bratt (Harald Leipnitz); Mr. Short (Rudolf Schundler), who makes masks of the students and keeps pigeons; and Smitty (Eddi Arent), who helps out at the school and falls for Gwendolin. Although the identity of the monk, withheld until nearly the last second, may not come as the greatest surprise, The Sinister Monk has enough twists and turns and action to keep you happily watching. Karin Dor, who was married to much-older director Harald Reinl at the time, later appeared in You Only Live Twice and Alfred Hitchcock's Topaz. 

Verdict: Intriguing dubbed mystery-thriller from West Germany. ***. 

NO ONE HEARD THE SCREAM

Vincente Parra and Carmen Sevilla

NO ONE HEARD THE SCREAM ( aka Nadie oyo gritar/1973). Director: Eloy de la Iglesia. 

Kept woman Elisa (Carmen Sevilla) maintains her own residence in a sparsely populated apartment building. One afternoon she catches her neighbor, failed writer Miguel (Vincente Parra), throwing his dead wife's body (Maria Asquerino) down the elevator shaft. Although apologetic, Miguel forcibly insists that Elisa help him dispose of his wife's corpse, which she does, driving off with him beside her and the wife's body in the trunk. Strangely, Elisa does not try very hard to get away from Miquel, and soon their relationship starts to head in unsettling directions. They have more in common than either had imagined but Miguel may be keeping secrets ... 

Sevilla with Tony Isbert

One thing you have to say for No One Heard the Scream -- it's certainly unpredictable. There is also a nifty sequence when our odd duo come across a highway accident and are told by cops that they must put a couple of victims in the back seat and their large suitcase in the trunk! A third person, an attractive young man named Tony (Tony Isbert), shows up and has a couple of appearances, but this doesn't really lead into anything that interesting. The final twist is interesting, although it raises unanswered questions. The whole thing might have been more absorbing if the two leads were a lot hotter or dragged Tony more into the story. 

Verdict: Intriguing Spanish suspense film comes close but doesn't quite cut it. **1/2.  

WHO SAW HER DIE?

George Lazenby

WHO SAW HER DIE? (aka Chi l'ha vista morire/1972). Director: Aldo Lado. 

Sculptor Franco Serpieri (George Lazenby) and his estranged wife, Elizabeth (Anita Strindberg of The Case of the Scorpion's Tail), are horrified when their young daughter, Roberta (Nicoletta Elmi) is the latest victim of a deranged child murderer. Meanwhile the unknown killer, who may or may not be female, begins obliterating anyone who knows the truth about his or her identity. As the body count rises, Franco begins to eye a number of suspects, including wealthy Serafian (Adolfo Celi of Ten Little Indians), his secretary and mistress Ginevra (Dominique Boschero of Secret Agent Fireball), her lover Philip (Peter Chatel), and others. It is no surprise when the maniac then targets Franco and his wife ... 

Anita Strindberg

George Lazenby had starred as James Bond in On Her Majesty's Secret Service three years earlier, but it was his decision not to do any more 007 adventures, a decision he apparently regretted later on. Initially he is unrecognizable with his mustache and long hair, but he is also quite skinny, having lost a lot of weight since playing Bond. As most of the cast are dubbed in this it's impossible to truly judge the acting, but everyone seems credible and effective. Celi, of course, was the villain in Thunderball with Sean Connery. 

Adolfo Celi

Who Saw Her Die? has a very interesting and absorbing screenplay, although perhaps it's more convoluted and confusing than it needs to be. Filmed almost entirely in Venice, it benefits from great location shooting. Ennio Morricone's musical score consists of children's choruses, two of which are quite pretty, but the chorus he uses for murder sequences and the like quickly becomes intensely irritating. Despite its disjointed quality, Who Saw Her Die?  is suspenseful, and the identity of the killer may come as a surprise (although there's hardly anyone left at the end). 

Verdict: Intriguing giallo film with a very interesting cast. **3/4.