October movies, part 2 of 3.

183. (490.) Nosferatu (1922)
This is bram Stoker's Dracula in all but name. Modern movies have told the same story better than this German silent film, but the visuals are great, especially Max Shreck's portrayal of Count Dracula Orlok himself. (If you don't remember, I posted a jack o'lantern of Orlok last month here.)

184. (491.) The Evil That Men Do (1984)
Charles Bronson playing a badass. Again. The highlight of the film is the scene in which Charles picks up a man in a bar to have a threesome with the woman who is pretending to be his wife. (The wife is just there to make a third. It is pretty clear that Bronson is hunting for some guy-on-guy action.) This happens just after he squeezes a man's penis off. Funny, funny stuff.

185. (492.) Malone (1987)
Burt Reynolds playing a badass (with a really, really bad wig). Again. Reynolds helps a small town deal with a psychopathic political reactionary who is determined to... you know, I still have no idea what the bad guy's plan was. Die at Burt Reynold's hand, I guess. As a reward for Reynold's selfless action, he is given the local mechanic's teen-aged daughter. Awkward, awkward stuff.

186. (493.) The Gorgon (1964)
Hammer Horror at it's finest. Christopher Lee is teh highlight, but the only truly bad thing in this movie is the Gorgon itself. The snakes look like they've been pulled out a pop-up book. You could make a better effect with a rake and some tube socks.

187. (494.) Torn Curtain (1966)
Another Hitchcock spy thriller. This film has a lot going for it, including a brutal hand-to-hand sequence and a very entertaining climax. Something is not quite right here, though, and it's hard to put a finger on what that is. The middle of the movie is too empty, with too many moving parts that aren't doing anything. I know Paul Newman and Julie Andrews could do better. I've since read that Hitchcock had a problem with the script and the studio while working on this film. It certainly shows in the finished product.

188. (495.) Billy the Kid vs. Dracula (1966)
Back when there were drive-ins, you had to put something on the screen so kids could have an excuse to go make out in their cars. Therefore this.

189. (496.) The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932)
I cannot tell a lie: I watched this just for Myrna Loy, who plays a sadistic femme fatal with a dangerous sexual fetish. The movie is very entertaining while Boris Karloff is on screen, not so much otherwise. I should point out that this film is really super racist with it's Imperial British attitude against the Chinese. Truly cringeworthy in moments, especially the denouement.

190. (497.) Starman (1984)
One of the few John Carpenter-directed films I hadn't seen. (Now I think I'm down to Assault on Precinct 13 and The Fog.) It's very good. Jeff Bridges is fantastic as the unnamed title character. (Surprisingly, Mom decided that she loved this movie and has mentioned it several times since.)

191. (498.) Mark of the Vampire (1935)
While the run up to Halloween was filled with vampire horror movies, this was actually an intentionally misleading crime drama. If this movie had been made 70 years later, you wouldn't have been surprised to see M. Night Shyamalan's name on it. I'm still not sure if I feel cheated by it, but I think that I do.

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