Well, here we are, it’s almost 2025, and I still have to post my November reviews! (Not the October reviews, which were wrongly labeled November, until I just fixed them!) And this time, I at least have some idea where the month went…
First, I was working on the story (and art) for my annual Cushing Horrors Christmas Story, “Holiday Shopping with Spring-Heeled Jack.” Then, my daughter got married on fairly short notice, outside, on the coldest day since last January. (Congratulations Julie & Geneva!) Then, the next day, my play “Corona Encounters” had its first public stage reading/performance down in Chicago, followed by a new play/screen/story writer’s meeting two days later. And THEN I had to do all the usual Christmas/Holidays prep, etc. Phew! I’m tired just writing about it. And somewhere in there, I also watched a whole bunch of movies, shows, and series that I’ll review for you in January.
But in November 2024 I finish TCM’s Bela Lugosi month with some rarities. I finish up some other October/Halloween hangover features (not that monsters are ever off my list. And I even catch up on some old features I’d meant to watch, and some new ones as well. As they used to say on MXC, the Most Extreme Elimination Challenge let’s.. “Get it on!”
Here’s the usual ratings system:
* – This film is not good. Avoid it unless you tolerate dreck well.
** – A flawed film. You may enjoy it if you like this genre or the folks in it.
*** – A good solid film. If you like this genre, you’ll probably like this film.
**** – A superior film within its genre. Thoroughly enjoyable.
***** – An outstanding film on many levels. A great example of its genre.
Note that some shows I’ve given a parenthetical star rating, usually adding (occasionally subtracting) stars, depending on how your amusement may differ from mine. I’ve explained the meaning in the reviews themselves. Mostly.
Devil’s Own, The (The Witches) (1966) **** A woman (Joan Fontaine) is traumatized in Africa by voodoo-style ceremonies, only to end up in a town in England that seems to have a secret band of practitioners of its own. The stars are good, as usual, & though the middle seems to drag a little, the climax is good. By the way, for those who can’t figure it out, the people in ragged clothes are supposed to be having an orgy, but no way they could be naked in 1966. Some seem to have missed that notion.
Broadminded (1931) ***(*) Joe E. Brown & his school friends have girls on the brain (broad-minded) & this gets them in a good deal of trouble, including with Bela Lugosi, who doesn’t much like the boys seemingly try to mash on his girl. Slight, but Lugosi’s pretty wonderful, so an extra start if you like him.
Genius at Work (1946) *** A duo of (comedians) radio hosts broadcast every week about crime, like Only Murders in the Building, but with fictional scripts. But the current crime comes dangerously close to the actual crimes perpetrated by mastermind kidnapper-murderer The Cobra. Naturally, this brings the boys into conflict with the Cobra and his evil butler henchman, played by Bela Lugosi. (Sad that Lugosi had to play so many butlers, but at least he’s evil here.)
Fifty Million Frenchmen (1931) **(*) A rich man bets his buddy that he can win a woman without using any of his money. The buddy then hires two “detectives” to make sure that the rich man doesn’t win the bet. Early musical comedy ensues (intended for 1929 release, but delayed for market reasons). Lugosi has an uncredited cameo as a magician, which gets an extra star from me.
Thirteen Women *** Myrna Loy is a half-Asian beauty out for revenge against the women who mistreated her during college, while claiming to be her friends. A bit heavy on the Yellow Peril, but still interesting for Loy and the performances.
Invaders from Mars (1956) ***** A young boy sees a spaceship land in the local sand pit & soon his family & friends begin behaving in strange & dangerous ways. With gorgeous production values & some classic monsters, this is definitely one to catch on the Big Screen, if you can. Go for the US ending, not the British recut!
Eye of the Devil (1967) *** David Niven is the lordly patriarch or a rural British area with failing crops. He has to return home to fulfill ancient traditions that may bring fertility & prosperity once more. Similar in its notions to the later (& much better) The Wicker Man, this film seems bloodless despite its fine cast & production values. I recommend it for its look & the gorgeous Sharon Tate.
Agatha All Along (S1) **** The evil witch who caused Wanda Maximoff (The Scarlet Witch) such trouble finally breaks out of her artificial reality to walk the Witch’s Road with a group of other witches. Filled with tributes, twists, & turns, I enjoyed this spooky/funny series, though I wasn’t a huge fan of the main characters. I’d tune in for more, if they make more.
Ridley (S2) **** Ridley’s cases get more personal, as the child of the policewoman he works in becomes involved with criminals & his partner in the bar runs into difficulties. The murder mystery stories persist, too, for an interesting 2nd season — with singing, of course.
Dark Crystal, The (1982) **** Jim Henson & crew worked with Brian Froud to create this amazing & mysterious world filled with peaceful Mystics & evil, birdlike Skeksis, along with the childlike Gelflings. Occasionally slow but filled with wonder, this has become a family classic.
Devil Rides Out, The (1968) ***** Strong Hammer adaptation of Wheatley’s novel, keeps most of the story & straightens out & condenses the plot a bit. Most importantly, Christopher Lee is great is the Duc De Richelieu, who attempts to save his friend & a young woman who have fallen in with a devil cult headed by Charles Gray at his most sinister.
Fearless Vampire Killers, The (1967) **** Roman Polanski is both the director & the assistant vampire hunter in this horror-comedy set in Europe’s frozen wastelands. Vampires are plaguing the area, they’ve kidnapped Sharon Tate (gorgeous, as usual), & our heroes must stop them & rescue her. Beautiful production, more than a little haunting because of the fates of Take & future husband Polanski.
Dangerous When Wet **** Esther Williams is the headstrong daughter of a swimming family who intend to cross the English Channel together. Through a variety of incidents, including an underwater ballet with Tom & Jerry (classic!), not all of them make the trip. But the film is beautiful & charming & good family fun, as pretty much all Williams’ pictures.
Raid, The: Redemption **** Near-nonstop action rules as a group of Indonesian SWAT-team-type police enter a high rise to root out a drug lord. The fighting & gunplay are great, & there are some interesting twists & turns. A fun, very intense watch.
Peeping Tom (1960) **** Director Michael Powell to a huge career hit for this film about a serial killer who’s into filmmaking, but looking back, it’s now clearly a minor masterpiece that manages to keep the suspense going while still building sympathy for all the characters. Beautifully shot, as usual for a Powell picture. Well acted, too, which is also no surprise.
Willard (1971) **** A lonely young office worker with a difficult home life befriends a pack of rats, who then carry out his dark desires. I biked to the next town to see this when it first came out. It was good then & will probably surprise you how good it is now. The cast is great & you’ll be surprised at what they manage to do with a minimal budget & real, live, rats. Great animal training.
Invasion of the Blood Farmers (1972) **(*) Before they made Shriek of the Mutilated, the same folks made this oddball picture about people being kidnapped & killed for their blood by a weird cult. Super low budget, but somehow manages to be charming because of the real-life settings & the “let’s make a show” production. If you like low-budget, interesting efforts, give it that extra star. If that stuff turns you off, maybe avoid it altogether. The blu-ray release looks glorious.
Abominable Doctor Phibes, The (Sven) ****(*) For me, this film is perfect & if you like camp horror-comedies with a very black sense of humor, then you may love it, too,& give it that extra star. Otherwise, this is “just” a fun, gory, outing for Vincent Price in one of his classic roles. Dr. Phibes, believed dead, takes revenge on the people he blames for his wife’s death — in ways inspired by Old Testament plagues, with very modern (for the setting) devices & tricks.
Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy, A (1982) **** A gentle Woody Allen comedy about a group of couples, some married, some not, who gather to celebrate the upcoming wedding of a friend (Jose Ferrer). With a title like that, naturally, sexual shenanigans abound as well as some early 20th century prop comedy & the usual Allen folderol. Oh, with some Shakespearian overtones, naturally. I enjoyed it when it came out, & again on this recent rewatch.
Shetland (S8) ***** Tosh is (temporarily) in charge when a young woman who stole money & witnessed a murder escapes to Shetland, where she grew up. Soon, a new DI comes to the island following up the crime & she & Tosh must overcome their differences & team up to solve the girl’s disappearance, murder, & other crimes. A strong re-tooling of Shetland, making me look forward to S9, which just started. (December 2024)
Uncle Was a Vampire *** Italian comedy film with Christopher Lee as a Dracula-like character that may or may not be a vampire, and his “nephew” who falls under his sway. Amusing in a 1960s Italian, goofy-sexy comedy kind of way.
Witches, The (1966 with Commentary) ***(*) The film is good (see The Devil’s Own/The Witches review at top), but the commentator doesn’t really seem to like the film very much, which is NEVER a good thing on a film commentary. Teacher returns from Africa to England only to be haunted by voodoo & witches.
Necromania (1971) **(*) Ed Wood porno film about a young couple who visit a strange resort in hopes of solving their sexual problems. The mansion (cheap sets) are run by a supernatural cult devoted to an undead “goddess.” At least, that’s what I remember of this paper-thin plot. Avoid the non-hardcore version of this, because even though the sex isn’t good, it at least provides some variation from the wooden acting. Even given that, the extra star is only for Ed Wood fans. Amazingly, this just came out on blu-ray, so I may have to watch it again. Ha ha.
McDonald & Dodds 4-2 Rule of Three ***** This episodes starts with the solution to an unseen case before diving into the new, unrelated one, which involves the murder of a woman it turns out went missing more than 30 years ago. (As a sidelight, Dodds’ office chair has been stolen, a recurring thing in the episode. The number 3 keeps turning up in the story, too.) Tangling the situation is that M&D’s superior has a past with the victim’s brother, who is suspected of having ties to trafficking & other illegal businesses. A complex case.
Vera 2-4 Sandancers ***** Vera & company must investigate suspects at an army base when they believe that an Afghanistan vet has not committed suicide, but in fact been murdered. The suspects keep dying & the motive is somehow involved with a wartime incident (recapped at the start of the show). Another excellent mystery-suspense adventure for Vera.
Session 9 **** An asbestos remediation company in the Boston area under-bids the contract & has to complete it in an absurdly close time, to avoid going out of business. The job: to rehab an old asylum. The problem: the asylum is, perhaps, inhabited by evil spirits/ghosts. A fine, low-budget tale of pressure, madness & haunting. Well worth seeing.
McDonald & Dodds 4-3 Wedding Fever **** At a posh wedding, the father of the bride suddenly appears with blood all over him because the vicar doing the wedding has been stabbed in a side room. We then get a bit of a locked room mystery, until other mysterious wedding deaths start happening within hours. What the connections may be & what’s really going on are for our heroes to solve in the finale of the most recent season.
Psych (S1) **** A very observant slacker (raised by a gruff cop), Shawn, & his best friend since childhood, Gus, form a private detective agency based on Shawn’s (fake) psychic powers. They then become consultants to a slightly-off-kilter LA police department. This comedy/mystery show went strong for many years & the first season is a great start. Strong supporting cast, with an ongoing love interest, adds to the fun. Also has a cool theme song which you only get to hear all of over the end credits.
Pleasure Between Heaven & Hell *(**) Strange, surrealist framing story making comparison to heaven & hell give “context” to 1960s-70s-style porno clips. Added as an extra on the DVD of Ed Wood’s Necromania. This at least has some fun, especially if you like the era. If you like that and Wood, it gets the extra stars.
Oakie Maid *(*) Only Ed Wood fans will give an extra star to this oddball porn film that seems to have had most of the “good parts” missing from it — though some maybe showed up in Pleasure Between Heaven & Hell. About a low-rent whore house in the sticks. (Styx would have been much more interesting.) Added as an extra on the DVD of Ed Wood’s Necromania.
Quatermass Experiment, The (2005) *** BBC live-action remake of the 1950s SF TV & film classic has a great cast & retains most of Nigel Kneale’s original story & ideas. But in avoiding showing the monster much (possibly because of live TV considerations) makes the ending land with more of a thud than previous versions. Still, worth seeing, especially if you like the previous works.
Mummy, The (1959) ***** Though the shadow of Karloff looms large in my imagination, I’ve come to really love this Cushing/Lee version of The Mummy, which combines elements of the Karloff original with the Mummy’s Hand. High priest reanimates a mummy (Lee) to take revenge on the archaeologists who desecrated the tomb of an Egyptian priestess. The mummy follows Cushing & company back to England & wreaks havoc in glorious color. Some very memorable scenes & a great poster with light shining through a hole blasted in the mummy’s chest.
Dr. Phibes Rises Again **** Sequel to the Abominable Dr. Phibes has Phibes & Vulnavia returning to life to travel to Egypt in order that Phibes’ dead wife Victoria can be resurrected. Trouble & the usual Phibes murders & mayhem ensue when a rival (Robert Quarry) tries to obtain the secret of immortality first. Price is delightful, as usual, & while the film lacks the originality of the first, it’s still plenty of fun with a great ending.
Children of the Damned *** Children with strange powers are born all over this world in this sequel to Village of the Damned. The kids are brought to London for a conference or something that goes completely wrong & never happens when the kids team up & strike out on their own — so to speak. Not nearly as good as the original, but still has some moments.
Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The **** In the second of the Rathbone-Bruce Holmes series, Sherlock & Dr. Watson square off against Moriarty who’s crimewave includes an attempt to steal the Crown Jewels. George Zucco as Moriarty is perfectly cast as foil to our heroes. This helped make sure we’d have more in the Sherlock series — if from another company.
Movie Man, The (2024) **** Fascinating documentary about the struggles of a man in Canada who, over the years, turned his house into a multiplex movie theater & then filled it with memorabilia & old film making equipment & projectors, etc. Things seem to be going well for the place, despite the bears in the woods and the many cats in the house, until aging starts to take its toll. Then, there’s the pandemic, which really throws things off. Well worth seeing & cheering for.
Film is Dead. Long Live Film! **** Great documentary about film collectors & their attempts to find & preserve old films, despite the fact that sometimes they are considered pirates by the film studios. Includes a great segment on finding & restoring The King of the Kongo (serial), which made me buy the blu-ray restoration. I understand from one of the participants that this film should be out on blu-ray in 2025. For buffs like me, this is a must see. Long live collecting & restoration!
Marlow Murder Club, The (S1) **** Three women — a former archaeologist, a dog walker, & a parson’s wife — join forces to help solve the murder of the archaeologist’s neighbor, despite the disapproval of the police. Fun & interesting adaptation of a popular book rests on its characters & makes me look forward to more.
Ark of the Sun God *** A safecracker is hired to “recover” a sacred object in what’s a bit of a gangster film & a bit of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Not memorable save for staging the car chases with miniatures (!) rather than full scale cars. Surprisingly, that works pretty well. Clever, Antonio Margheriti!
Sherlock Holmes & the Voice of Terror **** Rathbone & Bruce move Sherlock & Watson to Universal as well as updating the heroes to the modern times of WWII. Our heroes are hired by British Intelligence to track down the “Voice of Terror” spreading dire Nazi propaganda over the airwaves. Evelyn Ankers is the standout supporting player as a heroic “bar maid” assisting in cracking the enemy spy ring. Good wartime effort.
Joe Pickett (S2) **** The second — and sadly final — season of Joe Pickets finds our game warden hero trapped between illegal survivalist hunters, anti-hunter forces, & someone who is killing the county’s most famous hunters. Strong returning characters help make this series truly worth seeing. The ending seems to set up a third season that will never happen. It was cancelled before I even knew series 1 existed. So sad!
Body Snatcher, The (1945) ***** Boris Karloff had one of his best roles as the titular body snatcher who supplies corpses for a doctor & his medical student in this adaptation of the Stevenson story. Robert Wise brings his usual strong, thoughtful direction to this eerie story filled with shadows & dread. Bela Lugosi has a supporting role & a great scene with Karloff. One of the duo’s best films, though most of that rests on Karloff, because Bela is in it much less.
Targets (1968) **** Peter Bogdonovich inherited a couple of days work that Boris Karloff owed Roger Corman & used that plus footage from a previous Karloff/Corman film to make this tale about an aging film star (Karloff) who feels out of place in modern society where real horrors rule. One such horror is a lone-gunman type who goes on a murder spree, including a climactic scene at a drive-in theater where Karloff will be making a personal appearance. Karloff’s last great film remains relevant today.
Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (Sven) ***** Abbott & Costello are package shippers who get mixed up with the Wolfman (Lon Chaney, Jr.), Frankenstein’s Monster (Glen Strange), a woman mad scientist, & Dracula (Bela Lugosi), who plan to gain power by making the monster more powerful & compliant. The first & best of the A&C monster movies, this Universal classic plays the monsters straight (great Lugosi & Chaney performances) while the boys cut up. Created its own sub-genre. Svengoolie plays it often & says it’s his most-requested film.
Borderlands (2024) *** Over-the-top CGI Sci-Fi action film that crosses a Road-Warrior-like future with elements from a popular video game (that I’ve never played). Bad guys search for the secret “treasure” of a remote planet — possibly a crazy young child — while a rag-tag bunch of SF heroes, led by Cait Blanchett & Kevin Hart. It’s a predictable rollercoaster ride, but still some fun. I wish it had a less derivative storyline with a climax I hadn’t seen coming from very early on. More story & less money would have served it better.
Midsomer Murders 23-1 The Blacktree Prophecy ***** The locked room mystery takes a twist when a survivalist turns up dead in his bomb-proof shelter after a fake “end of the world” alert on his radio. John Barnaby & DS Winter must sort through all the other survivalists involved with the man’s group — friends & family, some sane some pretty crazy — to solve the murder. And being Midsomer Murders, there are of course other murders along the way.
Midsomer Murders 23-2 The Debt of Lies **** The next day after the Barnabys attend a posh event for a retiring police chief, the honoree ends up dead in a car crash. ME Fleur tells Barnaby & Winter the brake cable was cut, so it’s murder. Our heroes quickly determine that the killer probably lives in a retirement community for police, where the victim recently took up residence. So the murderer is likely a cop & the murder must be linked to past cases, including one of with a cop (wrongly) accused of corruption for missing money from a heist. Another good MM episode.
Phantom Speaks, The **(*) A researcher theorizes that a strong enough personality may be able to come back from the dead & chooses a murderer as his test subject. Unfortunately, the test goes too well, with the murderer processing the researcher in a tale that echoes Donovan’s Brain & Black Friday. Sadly, the execution is pretty lifeless, despite an interesting ending. Only give it the extra star if you can overlook slow scenes.
Mask, The (MST3K) ***(*) The rediscovery of an ancient tribal mask by a psychiatrist leads him to have strange, psychedelic dreamlike visions that induce him to conduct evil acts. The dream sequences in this Canadian film were originally presented in 3D, with the audience urged to put on their 3D glasses — “Put on the mask!” — during those segments. The dreams are better than the rest of the fairly standard Hyde-like horror film. (With mask in place of potion.)
Power, The (1968) ****(*) A research scientist is swept up in a case of mistaken identity manhunt when a killer with psychic powers killing off all lab colleagues. Can George Hamilton & Suzanne Pleshette find out who has The Power before it’s too late? For me, this film goes in the George Pal pantheon of SF/F films, along with War of the Worlds & Time Machine. It’s filled with memorable scenes, good SF ideas, practical SPFX, & an ear worm musical score by Miklos Rozsa. Might be the best classic era SF film you haven’t seen. Check it out!
Sherlock Holmes & the Secret Weapon (1942) **** Another Rathbone/Bruce Holmes story based on WWII. Holmes tries to protect the inventor of England’s new weapon, a more accurate bomb sighting mechanism. This classic includes the “dancing men” code, one of the few elements remaining from Doyle’s “The Adventure of the Dancing Men.” Lionel Atwill is excellent as Moriarty.
Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982) ***(*) The Pythons recreate some of their most famous TV sketches & add in a new twist in this concert film. If you love the Pythons, you can give it that extra star, or dock it that star because the video production values are not up to current standards.
Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943) **** When a British Secret Agent is murdered on his way to Washington, DC, Holmes & Watson (Rathbone & Bruce) are hired to find the message he was carrying (on microfilm) before Nazi spies/saboteurs can recover it. As always, it’s the cast — especially Rathbone & Bruce — that make this worth seeing & enjoying time and again. Another of the wartime modern Holmes films. After this the mysteries kept the modern setting but veered more toward classic mysteries.
Monty Python: The Meaning of Live (2014) **** The surviving 5 Python members (all but Graham Chapman) sit together & virtually & talk about their film on the 30th anniversary of Monty Python & the Meaning of Life. If you like the Pythons, like I do, the guys sitting around, reminiscing about the film, each other, & the actual meaning of life, this will tickle you. Great document of the time as well as the original film’s time.
Twisters (2024) **** Though it starts with a sequence of teen storm chasers that made me think, “Only one of these will survive this opening,” the film straightens out after that (so to speak) & develops some interesting characters & situations to go along with the special effects. Though a decent sequel, lacks the energy & chemistry that have made Twister (also a slight film) a nostalgia classic.
Alien Romulus (2024) *** A ragtag band of misfits from an oppressive company-run planet discover a derelict spacecraft in orbit & decide to obtain from it what they need to escape their awful destines. Unfortunately, the ship is already infested with — you guessed it — aliens. This is a fun film with good FX but suffers from duplicating story points & ideas from earlier in the series, especially near the end.
So, that’s it for November, 2024! Recapping, the total for the month is: 56, a pretty respectable showing. That brings my yearly total to 539. I’m still not sure whether I’ll hit 600 movies/shows/series for 2024, but I’ll come damn close!
NEXT MONTH: January 2025 is less than 48 hours away as I write this, and I still have a lot of December reviews to catch up on. However, you will be getting reviews on the 2024 Christmas Episode of Sister Boniface, a whole bunch of monster movies, and me finally catching up with the latest episodes (Season 24!) of Midsomer Murders. See you next time!
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