The Climax (1944)

Director: George Waggner

Writers: Curt Siodmak, Lynn Starling, Edward Locke

Composer: Edward Ward

Starring: Boris Karloff, Susanna Foster, Turhan Bey, Gale Sondergaard, THomas Gomez, June Vincent, George Lolenz

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The screen's classic of suspense!

Plot: A demented physician becomes obsessed with a young singer whose voice sounds similar to his late mistress.

My rating: 5.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

This was disappointing.  It's Karloff's first color film.  He's great as always but you won't be surprised if you think you've seen it before...or something like it.  The film has a strong PHANTOM OF THE OPERA vibe in more ways than one.  This was filmed on the same set as the 1925 and 1943 PHANTOM.  It's also got a lot of the same people involved that worked on the 1943 film.  When Karloff is on screen he's the man and when he's not, it's usually dull.  What makes it worse is that there's an extraordinary amount of time devoted to the musical numbers on stage.  It's staggering how much time is spent watching the 'show within the film'.  I suppose they had to do something to fill out the 86 minute run time.  If a movie bores me I usually don't go higher than a 5 but it is Boris Karloff and he is a bright spot in the film plus the production design is magnificent, worth of a Hammer picture.  This is one of five films in The Boris Karloff Collection box set from Universal.  The sole extra for this film is the theatrical trailer.

3 Days to Kill (2014)

Director: McG

Writers: Adi Hasak, Luc Besson

Composer: Guillaume Roussel

Starring: Kevin Costner, Amber Heard, Hailee Steinfeld, Connie Nielsen, Tomas Lemarquis, Richard Sammel, Marc Andreoni, Bruno Ricci

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The question is, kill or die?

Plot: A dying CIA agent trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter is offered an experimental drug that could save his life in exchange for one last assignment.

My rating: 5.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Nope.

You've heard the term 'style over substance'.  That's this.  Costner is good.  He's a very effective killing machine and I loved that part but there's so much more that's on the wrong side of good that drags this picture down.  Vivi (Heard) is obnoxious as fuck.  I didn't like her from the moment she showed up and I never liked her one bit, especially her dumb-ass cliche'd moment in the last scene.  That last bit isn't Heard's fault but the rest of it is.  She was bugging the shit out of me and I wondered if maybe her character was poorly written.  Nope.  It took seconds to think of other actors that could've given better line deliveries.  This isn't Shakespeare and I realize that so I look at films like this with less scrutiny than some types of other films.  So all I ask is to be entertained.  This flick has its moments but it's mostly with Costner, his actions and dialogue.  The action scenes are edited too quickly, the father/daughter relationship probably could've been handled better and smoother.  The conceit with the bicycle is sometimes too much (especially with the music).  Again, Heard is pretty bad.  Her performance hurts the picture.  The comedy only sometimes works.  I couldn't wait for it to end.  The whole thing felt like there were one too many cooks in the kitchen, they weren't talking to each other (or couldn't agree) and were in too much of a hurry to get the meal on the table.  With more time spent on the script and getting someone to helm this that wasn't as interested in 'cool' music, super fast action and slick shots, this could've been (and should've been) a better film.  The 20th Century Fox DVD presents the film in anamorphic widescreen.  The only extras you get are a 5 minute interview with Bob Behr (they never show his name spelled and there aren't any credits at the end of the short piece) about covert operation, the theatrical trailer (anamorphic wide) and trailers for 8 other films.

Mr. Sardonicus (1961)

Director: William Castle

Writer: Ray Russell

Composer: Von Dexter

Starring: Ronald Lewis, Audrey Dalton, Guy Rolfe, Oskar Homolka, Vladimir Sokoloff, Erika Peters, Lorna Hanson, William Castle

More info: IMDb

Tagline: A man of evil... with a face that could stop a heart!

Plot: Sir Robert Cargrave is an eminent surgeon who has developed a new technique for muscle relaxation. He is summoned by his one-time love, Maude, who is now married to Baron Sardonicus. When he arrives, he finds villagers who live in fear. The Baron is strange man, not the least because he covers his face with a mask. Eventually, he tells Sir Robert the story of how he acquired his current affliction - his face is is frozen and hideously disfigured. Despite Sir Robert's best efforts, he can't return his face to normal. The Baron however forces him to keep trying, threatening to harm Maude if he refuses.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again?  Nah.

There's a lot of exposition in this picture disproportionate to the horror (mild as it is).  It's a good looking picture and there are some neat images.  The face of Sardonicus is friggin' amazing!

It's got a PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925) vibe but it looks great.  Back to this picture, it's very wordy but Castle treats the material seriously despite a moment or two of silly dialogue.  The actors do a fine job.  As needed, I suppose, Rolfe (as Sardonicus) goes the closest to going over the top.  In his defense, he does spend most of the picture hiding behind a mask.  The ending is great and Castle's bit is hilarious.  It is a pretty good movie.  I would LOVE to see what Hammer would've done with this material.  THAT would likely be a film I'd watch repeatedly.  This one?  I've seen it twice now and that's enough for me., especially when there are hundreds and hundreds of horror flicks I've yet to see.

Clear and Present Danger (1994)

Director: Phillip Noyce

Writers: Tom Clancy, Donald Stewart, Steven Zaillian, John Milius

Composer: James Horner

Starring: Harrison Ford, Willem Dafoe, Anne Archer, Joaquim de Almeida, Henry Czerny, Harris Yulin, Donald Moffat, Miguel Sandoval, Benjamin Bratt, Raymond Cruz, Dean Jones, Thora Birch, Ann Magnuson, Hope Lange, James Earl Jones, Ted Raimi, Clark Gregg

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Truth needs a soldier.

Plot: CIA Analyst Jack Ryan is drawn into an illegal war fought by the US government against a Colombian drug cartel.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

I much prefer this one to PATRIOT GAMES (1992).  It's just a better story.  Plus you've got Dean Jones!!!!!  I love that guy.  Ford is in weight of the world on my shoulders mode and he plays it well.  Hell, he plays the Boy Scout well at the same time.  I'd sure like to have this guy on my side when the chips are down and some asses need to be kicked.  I like the little twists and turns, especially with what happens in the final act.  And then he stands up to the President and throws it right back in his face.  Fuckin' A!  James Horner's score is good but he's plagiarizing himself with the theme from COMMANDO (1985).  I loved that movie to pieces when it came out.  My brief thoughts on that one from the last time I saw it weren't favorable.  Maybe I was having a bad night.  Anyway, every time Horner's theme popped up it took me to a different movie and that's not cool.  The Paramount DVD for this one is in non-anamorphic widescreen as is the only extra, the theatrical trailer.

The Church (1989)

Original title: La Chiesa

Director: Michele Soavi

Writers: Dario Argento, , Lamberto Bava, Franco Ferrini, M.R. James, Dardano Sacchetti, Michele Soavi

Composers: Goblin, Keith Emerson, Philip Glass, Fabio Pignatelli

Starring: Hugh Quarshie, Tomas Arana, Feodor Chaliapin Jr., Barbara Cupisti, Anonella Vitale, Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Asia Argento, Roberto Caruso

More info: IMDb

Tagline: It will make you squirm.

Plot: An old Gothic cathedral, built over a mass grave, develops strange powers which trap a number of people inside with ghosts from a 12th Century massacre seeking to resurrect an ancient demon from the bowels of the Earth.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Italian horror doesn't usually depend on a good story.  It's generally the visuals and the overall atmosphere (moody music and so on).  This picture falls into the latter.  The opening 15 minutes is set a few hundred years ago in the time of the Teutonic Knights (or somewhere thereabouts) and it's a great setup for the rest of the picture.  I would've preferred to stay in that period but what the filmmakers do in modern day has some great moments.  If you know Goblin's music then you know what you're in for with the score and this one has moments of greatness.  It's an ideal minimalistic musical backdrop to the story.  The camera moves frequently and there's a great use of odd angles.  The imagery is neat, too.  There are plenty of deaths and the effects are good.  I was pretty surprised.  I thought this might be just like so many other mediocre (or worse) Italian horror movies post-1980 but it was pretty good.  If you haven't seen Soavi's masterpiece in horror comedy, you've GOT to check out CEMETERY MAN (1994).  I'd say it's a top 10 best of the 90s.  The Anchor Bay DVD for THE CHURCH has a great looking anamorphic widescreen print with the sole extra being the theatrical trailer (also A-wide).

The Hunting Party (1971)

Director: Don Medford

Writers: Gilbert Ralston, Lou Marheim, , William W. Norton

Composer: Riz Ortolani

Starring: Oliver Reed, Gene Hackman, Candice Bergen, Simon Oakland, Ronald Howard, L.Q. Jones, Michell Ryan, William Watson, G.D. Spradlin

More info: IMDb

Tagline: They Hunted The Biggest Game Of All - Man And Woman!

Plot: A ruthless rancher, and his gang, use extremely long range rifles to kill the men who kidnapped his infidel wife.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again?  Maybe.

THE SPOILERS PARTY!!!  YARRRRRR!!!

I've seen this twice now (probably twenty years apart) and the issues I have still remain.  It's too long and the ending, while brilliant, goes past its prime.  I mean, seriously, did it have to take that long for Frank (Reed) to die?  It's almost laughable and I was really into the movie.  Gene Hackman plays a bastard really well, and without over doing it.  He's fantastic in this and he shows us right from the start how he feels about women.  He goes downhill from there.  I dig the cast and Brandt's (Hackman) relentless pursuit of Frank and Melissa (Bergen).  It's interesting how the hunter in him allows them to live a little longer so he can continue the hunt.  He had a few chances to end it.  Maybe he should've taken one of the last ones and saved us a few more minutes.  I like Reed but I think he puts a little too much drama into the character.  That's probably what was called for to have a contrast to the cold killing machine that is Brandt but Frank turns into more of a human being than I think he should have.  It's at times a brutal and bloody film.  I reckon I would've liked it with a little less humanity.  The MGM DVD presents the film with a nice anamorphic widescreen print and the sole extra being the theatrical trailer (also anamorphic wide). 

Dead End Drive-In (1986)

Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith

Writers: Peter Carey, Peter Smalley

Composer: Frank Strangio

Starring: Ned Manning, Natalie McCurry, Peter Whitford, Wilbur Wilde, Dave Gibson, Sandie Lillingston, Ollie Hall

More info: IMDb

Tagline: There's a party every day, a movie every night, and all the junk food you can eat. What more can a kid want... except to get out.

Plot: In the near future, a teenage couple is trapped in a drive-in theater which has become a concentration camp for social outcasts. The inmates are treated to drugs, exploitation films, junk food, and new wave music.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

I've seen a few of Trenchard-Smith's pictures and I like what I've seen so far.  This one has an interesting and fun premise and it's got some neat things going for it even if it goes on for too long.  The guy knows how to make good looking, professionally made films on the B/exploitation side.  With the music and the post-apocalyptic look, it's definitely a product of the 80s.  The characters are one-note and even though there's not much plot beyond getting stuck somewhere and doing whatever it takes to survive and escape, it has a level of fun that kept me interested enough to see the end.  It helps that it's Australian.  80s horror fans beware, there's not a lick of nudity.  Excuse me while I dry my eyes.  The Anchor Bay DVD has a great looking anamorphic widescreen print with a couple of extras in a commentary with the director and the theatrical trailer (also A-wide).