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A.D.D.
Interstellar, brilliant
What was the last movie you saw?
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Victoria Silverwolf
Vegetarian Werewolf
Sword of Lancelot AKA Lancelot and Guinevere (1963)
Directed by Cornel Wilde; written by Richard Schayer and Cornel Wilde (as "Jefferson Pascal")
Quadruple-threat Cornel Wilde also co-produced and stars in this version of the adulterous love affair between King Arthur's most valiant knight and his queen. Wilde's real-life wife, Jean Wallace, co-stars as Guinevere.
Wallace's troubled personal life (more stable during the thirty years she was married to Wilde) may have added to her ability to portray the emotionally disturbed mistress of crime boss Richard Conte in the excellent film noir The Big Combo (1955, also with Wilde.) In a similar way, Wallace seems a good fit for the role of Queen Guinevere, whose fairy tale beauty cannot disguise her essential sadness.
(Some critics have suggested that forty-ish Wallace and fifty-ish Wilde are too long in the tooth to portray the lovers, but I had no problem with this aspect of the film. If Lancelot and Guinevere [to use the more appropriate, original British title] doesn't quite have the same autumnal mood of Robin and Marion (1976), they are both medieval romances for adults.)
The various film adaptations of Arthurian legends vary enormously in the degree to which they include fantastic elements. ]Excalibur (1981) and even the spoof Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) are full of magic. Sword of Lancelot goes to the other extreme. There is no mention of Morgan le Fay or the Lady of the Lake. Merlin is present, but only as Arthur's most trusted adviser. Like any story of King Arthur, the plot bears no more resemblance to real history than your local Renaissance Faire, but it does not admit any hint of the supernatural.
Our tale begins with an unexpected touch of comedy. One of the knights of Camelot reports that Lancelot must be seriously ill with some plague, as he was seen with a strange white substance on his body. This turns out to be Merlin’s latest invention, which he calls “soap.” (This is historically nonsensical, as soap-making is an ancient process, very well-known in medieval times.) After some good-natured joking about Lancelot’s clean skin and fine scent, we get down to business.
It seems that Arthur intends to marry Guinevere, the daughter of another king, in order to unite the two realms. A representative from Guinevere’s father, hardly more than a boy, shows up to announce that the rival king refuses this alliance. In order to avoid war, however, he is willing to have his champion fight Arthur’s chosen representative to the death, with the winning monarch to have his way. Naturally, this is a job for Lancelot.
Our film takes a less romantic view of combat than some tales of valor. The battle is two heavily armed men trying their best to kill each other with a variety of deadly weapons. Later, in scenes of full-scale warfare, we’ll see an unexpected level of gruesome violence, with one character taking an arrow in the side of the head and another having an arm nearly completely cut off.
Of course, Lancelot wins. He escorts Guinevere back to Camelot. During the long ride, Guinevere reveals that she’s a bit of a tomboy (despite her golden hair, fair skin, and Disney princess gowns.) She claims to ride as well as a boy. Lancelot asks if she swims as well as a boy. This leads to a scene where the two aren’t quite skinny dipping together, but pretty darn close to it for a knight and his king’s intended bride. (During this scene, Lancelot demonstrates the use of soap to the lady.)
It’s pretty clear by this time that the two are hot for each other. (A later scene set in Guinevere’s bedchamber makes it clear that their passion is at least as physical as it is emotional.) The two only become closer when they are attacked by a gang of thugs, hired by Mordred to kill Guinevere to prevent another heir to the throne from being born. (Some reviews of this film claim that Mordred is depicted as Arthur’s brother, but the way I heard his dialogue, I think he is correctly said to be Arthur’s illegitimate son, although there is no hint that this is the result of an incestuous relationship between Arthur and his half-sister, as explicitly shown in Excalibur.)
By the time the two reach Camelot, they are madly in love, but are determined not to allow their emotions to interfere with honor and duty. Guinevere marries Arthur, and Lancelot goes back to doing knight stuff. Only after a casual conversation in a garden, in which Lancelot teaches Guinevere how to say “I love you” in Latin, do the two fall into each other’s arms, and the doom of Camelot begins. (In an effective scene, where we see people talk without hearing what they are saying, we watch the ladies of the court gossiping, then Mordred’s girlfriend [Hammer favorite Adrienne Corri in a small role] talking to her lover, then Mordred speaking to Arthur.)
Sword of Lancelot is an enjoyable combination of action and soap (!) opera. The modest budget shows through at times, particularly during scenes making use of back projection. It may also explain why certain major events take place off stage and are only talked about. On the other hand, the battle sequences are quite well done. Even someone like me, who is completely ignorant about military matters, can see that the tactics used by the combatants seem to make sense. (The film also points out quite clearly that the armies consist mostly of bowmen and foot soldiers, and only a much smaller number of knights.)
The acting is generally good, although some viewers may be put off by Wilde’s decision to play Lancelot as an accented Frenchman. The characters are interesting. I liked Arthur, portrayed as a man betrayed by his close friend, and tormented by his wife’s infidelity (as well as the fact that the law requires him to sentence her to a particularly horrible form of death.) I enjoyed Mordred’s Iago-like villain. Even a fairly minor character like Gawain has to evolve, as the story goes on, from Lancelot’s close friend to his bitter enemy (after Lancelot unintentionally kills Gawain’s brother during his escape from Camelot) to his ally against Mordred.
Sword of Lancelot has a bittersweet conclusion which avoids either a happy ending for the two lovers or total tragedy.
Directed by Cornel Wilde; written by Richard Schayer and Cornel Wilde (as "Jefferson Pascal")
Quadruple-threat Cornel Wilde also co-produced and stars in this version of the adulterous love affair between King Arthur's most valiant knight and his queen. Wilde's real-life wife, Jean Wallace, co-stars as Guinevere.
Wallace's troubled personal life (more stable during the thirty years she was married to Wilde) may have added to her ability to portray the emotionally disturbed mistress of crime boss Richard Conte in the excellent film noir The Big Combo (1955, also with Wilde.) In a similar way, Wallace seems a good fit for the role of Queen Guinevere, whose fairy tale beauty cannot disguise her essential sadness.
(Some critics have suggested that forty-ish Wallace and fifty-ish Wilde are too long in the tooth to portray the lovers, but I had no problem with this aspect of the film. If Lancelot and Guinevere [to use the more appropriate, original British title] doesn't quite have the same autumnal mood of Robin and Marion (1976), they are both medieval romances for adults.)
The various film adaptations of Arthurian legends vary enormously in the degree to which they include fantastic elements. ]Excalibur (1981) and even the spoof Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) are full of magic. Sword of Lancelot goes to the other extreme. There is no mention of Morgan le Fay or the Lady of the Lake. Merlin is present, but only as Arthur's most trusted adviser. Like any story of King Arthur, the plot bears no more resemblance to real history than your local Renaissance Faire, but it does not admit any hint of the supernatural.
Our tale begins with an unexpected touch of comedy. One of the knights of Camelot reports that Lancelot must be seriously ill with some plague, as he was seen with a strange white substance on his body. This turns out to be Merlin’s latest invention, which he calls “soap.” (This is historically nonsensical, as soap-making is an ancient process, very well-known in medieval times.) After some good-natured joking about Lancelot’s clean skin and fine scent, we get down to business.
It seems that Arthur intends to marry Guinevere, the daughter of another king, in order to unite the two realms. A representative from Guinevere’s father, hardly more than a boy, shows up to announce that the rival king refuses this alliance. In order to avoid war, however, he is willing to have his champion fight Arthur’s chosen representative to the death, with the winning monarch to have his way. Naturally, this is a job for Lancelot.
Our film takes a less romantic view of combat than some tales of valor. The battle is two heavily armed men trying their best to kill each other with a variety of deadly weapons. Later, in scenes of full-scale warfare, we’ll see an unexpected level of gruesome violence, with one character taking an arrow in the side of the head and another having an arm nearly completely cut off.
Of course, Lancelot wins. He escorts Guinevere back to Camelot. During the long ride, Guinevere reveals that she’s a bit of a tomboy (despite her golden hair, fair skin, and Disney princess gowns.) She claims to ride as well as a boy. Lancelot asks if she swims as well as a boy. This leads to a scene where the two aren’t quite skinny dipping together, but pretty darn close to it for a knight and his king’s intended bride. (During this scene, Lancelot demonstrates the use of soap to the lady.)
It’s pretty clear by this time that the two are hot for each other. (A later scene set in Guinevere’s bedchamber makes it clear that their passion is at least as physical as it is emotional.) The two only become closer when they are attacked by a gang of thugs, hired by Mordred to kill Guinevere to prevent another heir to the throne from being born. (Some reviews of this film claim that Mordred is depicted as Arthur’s brother, but the way I heard his dialogue, I think he is correctly said to be Arthur’s illegitimate son, although there is no hint that this is the result of an incestuous relationship between Arthur and his half-sister, as explicitly shown in Excalibur.)
By the time the two reach Camelot, they are madly in love, but are determined not to allow their emotions to interfere with honor and duty. Guinevere marries Arthur, and Lancelot goes back to doing knight stuff. Only after a casual conversation in a garden, in which Lancelot teaches Guinevere how to say “I love you” in Latin, do the two fall into each other’s arms, and the doom of Camelot begins. (In an effective scene, where we see people talk without hearing what they are saying, we watch the ladies of the court gossiping, then Mordred’s girlfriend [Hammer favorite Adrienne Corri in a small role] talking to her lover, then Mordred speaking to Arthur.)
Sword of Lancelot is an enjoyable combination of action and soap (!) opera. The modest budget shows through at times, particularly during scenes making use of back projection. It may also explain why certain major events take place off stage and are only talked about. On the other hand, the battle sequences are quite well done. Even someone like me, who is completely ignorant about military matters, can see that the tactics used by the combatants seem to make sense. (The film also points out quite clearly that the armies consist mostly of bowmen and foot soldiers, and only a much smaller number of knights.)
The acting is generally good, although some viewers may be put off by Wilde’s decision to play Lancelot as an accented Frenchman. The characters are interesting. I liked Arthur, portrayed as a man betrayed by his close friend, and tormented by his wife’s infidelity (as well as the fact that the law requires him to sentence her to a particularly horrible form of death.) I enjoyed Mordred’s Iago-like villain. Even a fairly minor character like Gawain has to evolve, as the story goes on, from Lancelot’s close friend to his bitter enemy (after Lancelot unintentionally kills Gawain’s brother during his escape from Camelot) to his ally against Mordred.
Sword of Lancelot has a bittersweet conclusion which avoids either a happy ending for the two lovers or total tragedy.
Victoria Silverwolf
Vegetarian Werewolf
The Nasty Rabbit AKA Spies-a-Go-Go (1964)
Having survived The Fat Spy, I subjected myself to another terrible 1960's comedy.
The story has something to do with a Soviet plot involving a white rabbit (and it's a cute little thing, too) carrying some horrible disease that will wipe out all life in the USA. A Soviet spy disguises himself as a cowboy and winds up somewhere in the West where the bunny will be activated (or something.) A bunch of other spies -- good guy Americans, and a oddball group consisting of a sexpot (the infamous jailbird/stripper/John Waters star Liz Renay), a midget, and a bunch of grotesquely insulting national stereotypes (Nazi-like German, WWII-style Japanese, sombrero-wearing Mexican) -- chase around after it. Our lead actor, Arch Hall, Jr., is (as usual) a singing star but he's also a good guy spy. Arch Hall, Sr., shows up in a double role as a Soviet bigwig and an American bigwig. Junior doesn't too much and seems pretty bored here. He's got a squeaky-voiced love interest. The father of the love interest completely steals the film. Not that his role is interesting or anything; he just happens to be a professional, competent actor, and he stands out like a sore thumb in this thing. (He had a long, if minor, TV and movie career, unlike anybody else in this movie who wasn't a novelty like Renay or Richard Kiel, who briefly appears.) There's a cute white dog who shows up once in a while. The rabbit is given a high-pitched voice and delivers wisecracks directly to the audience. It has the last line of the movie. "So long."
Of all the films starring Arch Hall, Jr., that I have seen, this is by far the worst. I haven't seen The Choppers or Deadwood '76. Eegah is bad but delightful, Wild Guitar is bad but charming, and The Sadist is pretty darn good. This one is just bad.
Having survived The Fat Spy, I subjected myself to another terrible 1960's comedy.
The story has something to do with a Soviet plot involving a white rabbit (and it's a cute little thing, too) carrying some horrible disease that will wipe out all life in the USA. A Soviet spy disguises himself as a cowboy and winds up somewhere in the West where the bunny will be activated (or something.) A bunch of other spies -- good guy Americans, and a oddball group consisting of a sexpot (the infamous jailbird/stripper/John Waters star Liz Renay), a midget, and a bunch of grotesquely insulting national stereotypes (Nazi-like German, WWII-style Japanese, sombrero-wearing Mexican) -- chase around after it. Our lead actor, Arch Hall, Jr., is (as usual) a singing star but he's also a good guy spy. Arch Hall, Sr., shows up in a double role as a Soviet bigwig and an American bigwig. Junior doesn't too much and seems pretty bored here. He's got a squeaky-voiced love interest. The father of the love interest completely steals the film. Not that his role is interesting or anything; he just happens to be a professional, competent actor, and he stands out like a sore thumb in this thing. (He had a long, if minor, TV and movie career, unlike anybody else in this movie who wasn't a novelty like Renay or Richard Kiel, who briefly appears.) There's a cute white dog who shows up once in a while. The rabbit is given a high-pitched voice and delivers wisecracks directly to the audience. It has the last line of the movie. "So long."
Of all the films starring Arch Hall, Jr., that I have seen, this is by far the worst. I haven't seen The Choppers or Deadwood '76. Eegah is bad but delightful, Wild Guitar is bad but charming, and The Sadist is pretty darn good. This one is just bad.
Victoria Silverwolf
Vegetarian Werewolf
The Brain Eaters (1958)
Some trivia that many of you may already know:
1. Robert A. Heinlein sued the producers of this film due to similarities to his 1951 novel The Puppet Masters. (The basic plot is about the same: A strange craft is found on Earth and investigated by government types. It contains creatures that attach themselves to the backs of humans, taking over their will.)
2. The music, credited to a "Tom Jonson," is actually just stolen from Russian classical composers.
3. Leonard Nimoy shows up at the very end of the film, completely hidden by hood, robe, and big white beard, although you can recognize his voice. The credits list him as "Leonard Nemoy."
So how is it as a movie? Well, it's obviously dirt cheap. Many scenes are narrated, a clear sign of a low budget. There's a lot of talk and almost nothing in the way of special effects. However, the film does create a certain amount of tension in scenes where the victims of the invading parasites struggle to regain their willpower. The scene with Nimoy at the end has a certain amount of weirdness, as the Moses-like character (a scientist who was taken by the creatures some time before the film starts) defends the strife-free lifestyle of those controlled by the parasites, all filmed inside the foggy interior of the craft. In an interesting twist, the brain eaters are not from outer space, but instead came up from inside the Earth, having waited two hundred million years to reappear. All in all, it's a minor variation on Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Some trivia that many of you may already know:
1. Robert A. Heinlein sued the producers of this film due to similarities to his 1951 novel The Puppet Masters. (The basic plot is about the same: A strange craft is found on Earth and investigated by government types. It contains creatures that attach themselves to the backs of humans, taking over their will.)
2. The music, credited to a "Tom Jonson," is actually just stolen from Russian classical composers.
3. Leonard Nimoy shows up at the very end of the film, completely hidden by hood, robe, and big white beard, although you can recognize his voice. The credits list him as "Leonard Nemoy."
So how is it as a movie? Well, it's obviously dirt cheap. Many scenes are narrated, a clear sign of a low budget. There's a lot of talk and almost nothing in the way of special effects. However, the film does create a certain amount of tension in scenes where the victims of the invading parasites struggle to regain their willpower. The scene with Nimoy at the end has a certain amount of weirdness, as the Moses-like character (a scientist who was taken by the creatures some time before the film starts) defends the strife-free lifestyle of those controlled by the parasites, all filmed inside the foggy interior of the craft. In an interesting twist, the brain eaters are not from outer space, but instead came up from inside the Earth, having waited two hundred million years to reappear. All in all, it's a minor variation on Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Finally saw X-Men: Days of Future Past. Will probably need another viewing, because have read the comics (and owning some of them) my brain has to reconcile the story in the books with the story in the movie some more...
HanaBi
Nexus 9.1 For Sale. One Careful Owner
Rififi (1955)
Another wonderful Criterion, film-noir release, of a group of disperate/desperate men planning & executing one final bank robbery, but with a rather nasty sting in the tail!
Shot under a very small budget (although you would never guess), but what the film lacks in sets it makes up for in a rich script, great acting (from a largely unknown cast), meticulous direction, tight editing, and a truly amazing 30 minute scene of the actual heist - all without background music or talking.
2 hours of marvellous entertainment & suspense!
Another wonderful Criterion, film-noir release, of a group of disperate/desperate men planning & executing one final bank robbery, but with a rather nasty sting in the tail!
Shot under a very small budget (although you would never guess), but what the film lacks in sets it makes up for in a rich script, great acting (from a largely unknown cast), meticulous direction, tight editing, and a truly amazing 30 minute scene of the actual heist - all without background music or talking.
2 hours of marvellous entertainment & suspense!
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Watched a 2006's German film Four Minutes. Powerful! Superb character actings of the two protagonists, a very touching dark story. The ending is brilliant. It is the 2nd best German films I've watched in recent years, the 1st one is The Lives Of Others (2006) - a masterpiece.
Starbeast
Benevolent Galaxy Being
Grave of the Vampire (1972) - One of my all time favorite "modern day vampire" films. I finally saw this personal cult classic, uncut and restored to it's original widescreen print, including the missing, last few seconds of the movie. I loved it.
Michael Pataki portrays the vampire in this film, magnificantly. And as an added treat, one of my favorite B-movie actors, William Smith also stars in this horror/drama.
I'm so glad that I discovered this chiller flick, long ago, as a young teen searching for something to watch late at night on tv.
The Terror Experiment (2010) - Dreadfully dull zombie outbreak movie, set in a virus research center. Actors, Judd Nelson and Robert Carradine could not save this typical, lame horror snooze fest. Avoid it.
Michael Pataki portrays the vampire in this film, magnificantly. And as an added treat, one of my favorite B-movie actors, William Smith also stars in this horror/drama.
I'm so glad that I discovered this chiller flick, long ago, as a young teen searching for something to watch late at night on tv.
The Terror Experiment (2010) - Dreadfully dull zombie outbreak movie, set in a virus research center. Actors, Judd Nelson and Robert Carradine could not save this typical, lame horror snooze fest. Avoid it.
One of the very best heist movies
JunkMonkey
Lord High Vizier of Nowt
Fellini's Roma (1972) - This wasn't his best but I do like his films. I don't understand them - there was little or no narrative structure in Roma just a series of seemingly unconnected impressionistic scenes which jump about in time from the early 1930s the present day. Fellini throws everything at the screen: breaks the fourth wall, has inbuilt critical insults - there's a moment where a young hippy type attacks the director for making the same old film over and over again and he does keep the camera moving moving moving: there's not a still moment. I liked the verve of it and the dreamlike qualities. I have a friend who is visiting Rome at the moment. I think I may have seen more of it than he will. I know if ever I go I will be vastly disappointed in the real thing.
Victoria Silverwolf
Vegetarian Werewolf
Agreed. This is an underrated little film, proof that a little style and imagination can do a lot with a modest budget.
The scene where they open up some underground ancient Roman murals and they start fading due to their exposure to light was amazing.
Anne Spackman
Well-Known Member
I just saw "The Peacemaker" which was all right. I also saw "Seven Years in Tibet" recently. It was better than I thought it would be.
Victoria Silverwolf
Vegetarian Werewolf
The Undertaker and His Pals (1966)
Ultra-cheap horror comedy with some gruesome but extremely fake gore (plus a few seconds of real surgery footage, which is genuinely disgusting after all the phony bright red blood), and a whole lot of unsophisticated silliness. What little plot there is (this thing only runs a few minutes over an hour) involves a couple of guys who run a cheap diner. Along with their buddy the local undertaker, they dress up like motorcycle hoodlums and kill people (usually pretty young women.) The two guys take part of their bodies to serve as meat at their diner, the undertaker takes the rest so he can get paid by the bereaved relatives for his cut-rate funerals ($144.95 for a plain wooden crate, but he tries to get folks to pay a lot more for extras. But at least he gives trading stamps!) There's also a private detective whose secretary gets killed and served up. He quickly gets a new one, named Friday, who suffers the same fate. But then her identical twin sister shows up (same actress.) Her name is Thursday. Yep, that's the kind of humor you'll get here. There's also a bit where an African-American fellow gets too nosy, so they kill him. Yes, they use the "dark meat" joke. And one guy gets hit in the face with a cream pie. This ain't sophisticated wit, folks. Most surrealistic joke: During the first murder, a photograph of a guy in a sailor suit (apparently the victim's boyfriend) changes expression from smiling to open-mouthed shock.
Ultra-cheap horror comedy with some gruesome but extremely fake gore (plus a few seconds of real surgery footage, which is genuinely disgusting after all the phony bright red blood), and a whole lot of unsophisticated silliness. What little plot there is (this thing only runs a few minutes over an hour) involves a couple of guys who run a cheap diner. Along with their buddy the local undertaker, they dress up like motorcycle hoodlums and kill people (usually pretty young women.) The two guys take part of their bodies to serve as meat at their diner, the undertaker takes the rest so he can get paid by the bereaved relatives for his cut-rate funerals ($144.95 for a plain wooden crate, but he tries to get folks to pay a lot more for extras. But at least he gives trading stamps!) There's also a private detective whose secretary gets killed and served up. He quickly gets a new one, named Friday, who suffers the same fate. But then her identical twin sister shows up (same actress.) Her name is Thursday. Yep, that's the kind of humor you'll get here. There's also a bit where an African-American fellow gets too nosy, so they kill him. Yes, they use the "dark meat" joke. And one guy gets hit in the face with a cream pie. This ain't sophisticated wit, folks. Most surrealistic joke: During the first murder, a photograph of a guy in a sailor suit (apparently the victim's boyfriend) changes expression from smiling to open-mouthed shock.
JunkMonkey
Lord High Vizier of Nowt
It's surprising how shocking and disturbing that is isn't it? I've not seen The Undertaker and His Pals but they do something similar in The Night of the Bloody Apes. Real Ewwwww Yeck!
JunkMonkey
Lord High Vizier of Nowt
- Speed of Thought (aka Scopers 2011) - talky little low budget SF about telepaths and nasty government abuse of them that nearly works. No explosions or stupid car chases just semi-credible what iffery. There are a couple of moments where you have to suspend your disbelief but they are character and plot moments not 'How the hell did he walk out of THAT without a scratch?' moments. I almost liked it.
Victoria Silverwolf
Vegetarian Werewolf
All the Kind Strangers(1974)
Odd little made-for-TV psychological suspense drama which might be described as the dark side of The Waltons.
Stacy Keach plays a guy driving in a rural part of the American South who picks up a little kid walking with a sack of groceries. He gives him a lift to his extremely remote (but rather fancy, almost mansion-like) farmhouse. There he meets six other youngsters, ranging from a toddler (called only "Baby," because nobody bothered to give him a name) to late teens (played by folks in their mid-twenties, of course.) He also meets a woman they call "Mama" (Samantha Eggar) who is not their mother. Alone in the kitchen with Keach, she writes "HELP" in flour. Well, pretty soon it becomes clear that he, like Eggar, is a prisoner of the kids, who want them to act as their parents, who are both dead. Sinking Keach's car in the local river, as well as the help of some mean dogs, makes sure they don't go anywhere. They also find out that there are other sunken cars left behind by folks who failed as parents. Only the oldest kid (busy actor John Savage) knows that these people didn't just go away. Failed escape attempts by the prisoners lead up to a scene where the kids have to vote whether or not to keep them around.
Even for a made-for-TV thriller, this is pretty mild stuff. The plot is not only implausible, but fails to justify the hour and a quarter running time, and there's a fair amount of padding. There are two lousy songs on the soundtrack, one of them sung by Robbie Benson, who plays the second oldest boy. The ending is rather anticlimactic.
Yet this movie held my attention, mostly for the really weird attitude the kids have towards the adults. They seem to genuinely want them to provide discipline and guidance. (There's also the fact that the oldest girl, who happens to be mute, seems to have an interest in Keach which is other than daughterly. She's played by Arlene Farber, a minor actress known for sexploitation films, who wears midriff-bearing shirts or a soaking wet slip. Since this is a tepid television movie, this is a very subtle suggestion which isn't really explored.)
Odd little made-for-TV psychological suspense drama which might be described as the dark side of The Waltons.
Stacy Keach plays a guy driving in a rural part of the American South who picks up a little kid walking with a sack of groceries. He gives him a lift to his extremely remote (but rather fancy, almost mansion-like) farmhouse. There he meets six other youngsters, ranging from a toddler (called only "Baby," because nobody bothered to give him a name) to late teens (played by folks in their mid-twenties, of course.) He also meets a woman they call "Mama" (Samantha Eggar) who is not their mother. Alone in the kitchen with Keach, she writes "HELP" in flour. Well, pretty soon it becomes clear that he, like Eggar, is a prisoner of the kids, who want them to act as their parents, who are both dead. Sinking Keach's car in the local river, as well as the help of some mean dogs, makes sure they don't go anywhere. They also find out that there are other sunken cars left behind by folks who failed as parents. Only the oldest kid (busy actor John Savage) knows that these people didn't just go away. Failed escape attempts by the prisoners lead up to a scene where the kids have to vote whether or not to keep them around.
Even for a made-for-TV thriller, this is pretty mild stuff. The plot is not only implausible, but fails to justify the hour and a quarter running time, and there's a fair amount of padding. There are two lousy songs on the soundtrack, one of them sung by Robbie Benson, who plays the second oldest boy. The ending is rather anticlimactic.
Yet this movie held my attention, mostly for the really weird attitude the kids have towards the adults. They seem to genuinely want them to provide discipline and guidance. (There's also the fact that the oldest girl, who happens to be mute, seems to have an interest in Keach which is other than daughterly. She's played by Arlene Farber, a minor actress known for sexploitation films, who wears midriff-bearing shirts or a soaking wet slip. Since this is a tepid television movie, this is a very subtle suggestion which isn't really explored.)
willwallace
Interested Observer
The Man Who Never Was. 1956.
True story of the intelligence effort to convince the Nazis that the Allies would invade Greece instead of the real target, Sicily. The plan involved getting a dead body, creating a new identity for it, and planting false documents that would point towards Greece as the invasion point. Then the body was dropped off by submarine off the coast of Spain. The setup, execution and follow through are all well done. Good acting adds up to make this a good movie.
True story of the intelligence effort to convince the Nazis that the Allies would invade Greece instead of the real target, Sicily. The plan involved getting a dead body, creating a new identity for it, and planting false documents that would point towards Greece as the invasion point. Then the body was dropped off by submarine off the coast of Spain. The setup, execution and follow through are all well done. Good acting adds up to make this a good movie.
HanaBi
Nexus 9.1 For Sale. One Careful Owner
The Bounty (1984)
Yet another remake of the (in)famous 1789 mutiny on-board the HMS Bounty. A rather lavish dramatisation, let down somewhat by Mel Gibson's wooden acting, and wayward direction by Roger Donaldson.
However, the film was saved by some excellent acting by ever-dependable, Anthony Hopkins as Captain Bligh; and a sweeping, majestic score by Vangelis.
Probably 20 minutes too long at 130 minutes, but worth it just for Hopkins' sympathetic portrayal of a supposedly overbearing & belligerent captain
Yet another remake of the (in)famous 1789 mutiny on-board the HMS Bounty. A rather lavish dramatisation, let down somewhat by Mel Gibson's wooden acting, and wayward direction by Roger Donaldson.
However, the film was saved by some excellent acting by ever-dependable, Anthony Hopkins as Captain Bligh; and a sweeping, majestic score by Vangelis.
Probably 20 minutes too long at 130 minutes, but worth it just for Hopkins' sympathetic portrayal of a supposedly overbearing & belligerent captain
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- Started by HareBrain
- Replies: 18
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Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn (1968 novel -- not movie)
- Started by Extollager
- Replies: 11
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