tonydal

Proving that pretty sets (and babes) do not a fine film make. A spaceship breaks the time barrier and crashes into a mountain at 350,000 miles an hour...leaving one of the guys with a splitting headache. Then a crew of trained astronauts seems unable to determine they're back on Earth. All dudes from the future wear shower caps--and the women are hot (yet somehow the race is dying off!). It remains for our heroes to cajole these bloodless wonders into the manly business of kicking "mutate" ass.

60 _20%

Hercules in the Haunted World (1961) - Rated 18 Jul 2025

As often is the case with Bava, had a certain loopy lurid charm. Unfortunately though had to dock this one a few points, all on account of Telemachus (it was like somebody injected Dom Deluise into an ancient Greek myth).

65 _28%

The Sniper (1952) - Rated 17 Apr 2010

A major disappointment. Melodramatic production featuring hammy script and often overwrought music (especially toward the beginning). The whole thing reeks of the Freudian 50s, as Franz spins his way through an emotional Cuisinart, frequently devastated by symbolic gestures which are lost on those of us who haven't opened up practices in Vienna. The approach here is too lush and big-studio to make for a decent noir; having said that though, Menjou is uncharacteristically gritty in his role.

75 _57%

Against All Odds: Surviving the Holocaust (2022) - Rated 03 Jul 2025

The testimony of the four witnesses was of course quite gripping (not to mention appalling/horrific as well). But this film is very nearly ruined by that terribly tacky gimmick of the Lucky Star...which shows up in the corner every time a fortuitous escape is effected (even though the circumstances oftentimes spell doom for somebody else). This reached its absolute nadir in the story of the little girl offered the bite of chocolate (good grief, what was the producer thinking?!).

65 _28%

Devil Girl from Mars (1954) - Rated 13 Jun 2009

The title character, complete with Darth Vader shower cap and interplanetary muumuu, lands her ship in the midst of a soap opera's worth of problems. Indeed, she often comes across as a guest in her own film. Also features a K-Mart version of Gort which has to be one of the lamest cinematic robots ever (even though the head torpedoes are admittedly pretty cool), and of course the virtues of "static negative condensity" (I think it was).

80 _75%

Atom Man vs. Superman (1950) - Rated 06 Jun 2025

Talbot makes for a nicely low-key (even mild) archfiend. And Lois sports a Bette Davis 'do, with a feather cutely in her cap. Jimmy looks like he should have a faceful of freckles (and answer to the name Rusty). Unlike Reeves--who played it droll throughout--Alyn goes about things like some great big kid (which is another approach to camp). Oh yeah, and Perry finally gets to light that cigar at the end! Well...almost. George Plympton penned this opus (right before moving on to the Paris Review).

85 _88%

After the Thin Man (1936) - Rated 15 Oct 2007

Whoa--Jimmy Stewart as Norman Bates (or something like that). Pretty surreal stuff. A couple of the women overact fairly mercilessly, but on the whole it's quite a big batch of fun (even if Asta does end up getting cuckolded somewhere in the mix).

50 _14%

The Astro-Zombies (1968) - Rated 01 Jul 2025

I swear, that one guy was just like Regis (with a slightly foreign accent). Best of all though was John Carradine's Igor; it was like watching Dustin Hoffman audition for the role of Torgo. Then there was the Astro Dude running along with flashlight held to his head, while JC continued to intone oodles of nonsense. We end with some remarkably lame day-for-nights...but the headlights are on, so you know it's dark out! All in all, nicely atmospheric--in a thoroughly cheesy way of course. :)

50 _14%

Chandu the Magician (1932) - Rated 10 Jul 2025

Truly one of the most preposterous things I ever sat through...a veritable One-Film Cheese Festival! Seriously, you can't come any closer to self-parody than this. Bela (the only actor here you've ever heard of) plays a monster named Rock Star (or maybe it was Rock Salt). At any rate, after various shenanigans he is thwarted in his quest for world domination. And in the end some guy with a gong (a la J Arthur Rank) brings down the curtain in all too appropriate fashion.

80 _75%

Compulsion (1959) - Rated 07 Aug 2025

Started out pretty hammy, but then settled down soon enough--with many a fine performance (especially from the two leads). The gay subtext however came off as rather stilted and hokey...yet another of those 1950s films punctuated by Awkward Freudian Moments. Then Orson came along--looking like Inherit The Wind's Fredric March after a bender (you practically expected to see him waving that fan)--and he sucked up all the air in the room with his endless (and decidedly unconvincing) final ramble.