What classics did you see last week? (15 Oct to 21 Oct 2017)

Copied and pasted from a similar thread:

The Curse of the Werewolf (1961) - Average Hammer horror movie featuring Oliver Reed's debut. Makeup looked good though.

The Circle (2017) - Pretty silly but I did like the cast. Tom Hanks should play more roles like this or more sinister. I'd probably recommend seeing Nerve over this.

The Age of Shadows (2016) - At this point if it's a Korean movie set in Japanese ruled Korea, odds are it's a good movie. This was a well made mystery/spy thriller with excellent performances and several suspenseful action scenes. The standout is a twenty minute train sequence that is pure Hitchcock but almost never done anymore. Only real complaint is that it was a bit lengthy for its own good.

Trader Horn (1973) - Cheaply made safari adventure flick starring Rod Taylor.

The Devil Rides out (1968) - Fantastic Gothic horror movie starring Christopher Lee in one of his best roles, and as the hero for once.

Hi all,this week I finally got into the Halloween swing of things:

Spanish trio:

La muerte ronda a Mónica (1976) 8



Investigating this psychological "bloodless" Giallo with a Film Noir flavour, director Ramón Fernández & cinematographer Hans Burmann make their three leading ladies appear incredible beautiful,with the extended scenes where they are naked being presented in elegant side-shots that give a playfully casual mood to the double-dealing conversations taking place. Smashing into Mónica's mansion, Fernández burns down her life of luxury with ultra-stylised creeping camera moves slithering round the house,and lingering glimpses in the corner of rooms building on the anxiety of Mónica's crumbling mind.

Laying out all of their possessions, the screenplay by Juan José Alonso Millán superbly agitates the gaps in Federico and Mónica "perfect marriage", where Federico's dangerous liaison with Eva brings out a cold Film Noir fear in Mónica of being surrounded by vipers. Racing to a wonderfully odd mad-dash double-crossing revelation to the mystery, Millán chips into Mónica's doubts over her sight with gripping Giallo sleigh of hand that in this case actually does run like clockwork, and uses the double trouble of Elena and Eva as Femme Fatale sirens who attract Mónica anxiety to their underhanded dealing.

Wrapping tightly round each other,sexy Karin Schubert and Bárbara Rey give terrific performances as Elena and Eva,who are both given an icy vibe that gives their exchanges with Federico and Mónica a venomous snap. Bouncing off Jean Sorel delicately playing the ambiguity of Federico, "Nadiuska" sizzles as Mónica,whose ruptures in paranoia Nadiuska pushes Mónica deep into the Giallo black gloves.

Sleep Tight (2011) 7

Slithering round the building, Luis Tosar gives an excellent,creepy performance as César, who is given a skin-crawling, covered in slime seediness by Tosar,which makes everything César says be something that can't be taken at face value. Innocently laying in her bed, sexy Marta Etura gives a very good performance as Clara, whose sunny side up attitude is gradually dimmed in doubt by Etura.

Leaving the shock & awe of the Recs,director Jaume Balagueró & Rec actor/cinematographer Pablo Rosso go for a slow-burn,sinister atmosphere,as the apartment block is given a blank surface appearance. Sneaking César into Clara's life, Balagueró builds up the anxiety with stylish two-shots,where the viewer can see César,but Clara can't. Holding back from Psycho-Thriller shocks, the screenplay by Alberto Marini finds horror in the mundane,where everything appears normal, but Marini has César subtly chip away at Clara in the background. Whilst the ending unlocks a macabre apartment, it also sadly highlights the large plot holes (such as no CCTV or Clara feeling any different) jumped over for it to be delivered,as Clara sleeps tightly next to César.

Werewolf Shadow (1971) 9



Making his arrival to the Daninsky series,director León Klimovsky & cinematographer Leopoldo Villaseñor ignore any opportunity to be subtle,by marvellously delivering buckets of sleaze,from all the beautiful ladies appearing naked covered in cheap fake blood and the special effects having a real handmade quality. Backed by a terrific dreams-cape score from Antón García Abril,Klimovsky brews up a dream-logic vibe via echo sound effects being added to the score,and abrupt use of slo-mo giving the tale a hazy appearance.

Bringing Daninsky back,co-writer/(with Hans Munkel )lead actor Paul Naschy combines slivers that go more into the background of Daninsky with delicious pulp Horror,as the incredible stupidity of Genevieve and Elvira allows the writers to unleash lesbian vampires and a snarling werewolf. Possibly naming Elvira after Naschy's wife,the writers surprisingly wipe the horror away for an oddly sweet Beauty and the Beast-style Fantasy ending. Joined by the proper fit duo Gaby Fuchs and Barbara Capell as Elvira and Genevieve,Naschy gives a very good performance as Daninsky.thanks to Naschy carrying the polite,gentlemen side of Daninsky,with the snarling hiss,that reveals itself as the werewolf steps out of the shadow.

Brit Horror duo:

The Borderlands (2013) 7

Openly having the lads joke about The Wicker Man to the locals for his debut feature,the screenplay by writer/director Elliot Goldner features a refreshing playfulness,as Deacon and Gray's investigations at the church are inter-cut with them exchanging banter over the alleged miracle in the country pub. While taking some leaps with the horror, (no one bothers to check what is being recorded at the church) Goldner makes these flaws easy to overlook,thanks to building a real relationship between Gray and Deacon,who go from arguing about every minor thing the other one does,to praying that they can help each other survive.

Shot on location,director Elliot Goldner & cinematographer Eben Bolter hold back on the shaky cam of Found Footage to use the format for a claustrophobic atmosphere,where the viewer sees every murmur from the church run down Gray's spine. Shaking a Gothic Horror shadow over the lands,Goldner wonderfully records the Found Footage with expert sound effects giving the eerie impression of something crawling under the border.

Paranoiac (1963) 8

Cracking under the pressure of her family and the re-appearance of Tony, Janette Scott gives a great performance as Eleanor,whose stuck in the mansion status leads Scott to getting Eleanor to lunge out in violently fearful,and abrasively passionate ways. Bringing light into the Ashby family,Alexander Davion gives a sharp, icy performance as Tony,whose handsome looks Davion sands down to a reveal calculating bite. Joined by a simmering Sheila Burrell as Aunt Harriet,Oliver Reed gives a cracking performance as Simon,who Reed balances between wrapping cruel mind-games round Eleanor, and falling down to the madness of the Ashby family.

Beginning the themes that would re-appear in the excellent Amicus Giallo The Psychopath, director Freddie Francis & cinematographer Arthur Grant blend the Gothic smoke of Hammer Horror with dazzling Film Noir stylisation, with the isolation of the Ashby mansion being reflected in water and deranged family members spying on each other in shadows. Backed by a spidery score from Elisabeth Lutyens, Francis brings frightful doubt into the mansion with crisp side shots giving the impression of ghosts/mysterious figures,and a digging deep inside the foundation,allow Francis to unmask fiery secrets.

Loosely based on Josephine Tey's novel,the screenplay by Jimmy Sangster wonderfully uses each Ashby family member to set the other one off to psychological horror,from the fury of mourning from Harriot,to the screams of Eleanor and the cackling weirdness of Simon. Whilst the ending is too neat and tidy,Sangster brilliantly makes Tony a Noir loner trapped in a horror nightmare,with the "love" Eleanor has for Tony edging towards a risqué undertone,and the ambiguity of this Tony being real or fake making each of the Ashby's feel paranoiac.

Others:


Hotel Reserve (1944) 6

Taking not one,but three directors to make (!),the mix of the trio leads to a constantly unsettled changing of tone. Put together by editor Sidney Stone,the film darts between a murky Spiv tale and a jet-set Thriller abrasively, with it going from stylishly low shadows and seeping steam,to the light-Thriller sunny outdoors with no shading of dour darkness intact. Being the main person who almost keeps things together, Lennox Berkeley delivers an excellent score, (he sadly only did 4 scores) which pounds on the anxiety and unease of Vadassy's secret mission.

Going into the hotel from Eric Ambler's book Epitaph For A Spy, John Davenport (who was literary editor of "The Observer newspaper) casts an eye on espionage in tense exchanges between Vadassy and his fellow guests at the hotel,with the clipped exchanges between them all signalling hidden secrets. Finishing Vadassy's mission with a twist that would later be used in a large number of Gialli, Davenport cleverly makes the twist work by having Vadassy casually build the wrong impression in swift asides. Joined by a simmering Herbert Lom and elegant Patricia Medina as Andre and Odette,James Mason gives a terrific,dashing performance as Vadassy,who spies on the hotel reserves.

Jägarna (1996) 9

Going down a similar country lane as the one in Lucio Fulci's superb 1972 Giallo Don't Torture a Duckling for this very early Nordic Noir, the screenplay by co-writer/(with Björn Carlström)director Kjell Sundvall dig up the superstition and Noir distrust just below the peaceful village image. Arriving as an outsider,the writers give the dialogue thrown at Erik Bäckström a brittle crunch,where one sly hand-shake can cause secrets in the town to be lost forever. Giving an excellent twist to the genres major theme of the elite being corrupt, the writers keep the mystery of the poachers tightly linked to the dour arrival of Erik into town,which exposes the police force working with the corrupt locals,which causes any trust Erik gives to his fellow officers to leak out.

Impressively starting visual themes which would be expanded on 15 years later,director Kjell Sundvall & cinematographer Kjell Lagerroos keep track on the activates in the town with sweeping crane shots over the beautiful countryside,that close in on the sniper-fire of deceit. Peeling away at the calm appearance, Sundvall paints Erik's bitter Noir frustrations in a deep black canvas,where outbursts of violence hit the screen with a blunt force.

Hanging around each other like a pack of hyenas,all of the guys playing the local thugs give outstanding performances,with Jarmo Mäkinen making gang leader Tomme Harela a psychopathic ticking time bomb, and Lennart Jähkel seeds moments of doubt into Leif,which are unable to overcome the allure of the darkness. Currently looking like he will return for an upcoming TV mini-series in the role, Rolf Lassgård gives a magnificent performance as loner Rolf Lassgård,whose failure to catch any glimpse of happiness is drawn with a superb heaviness on his shoulders by Lassgård,as Erik Bäckström joins the hunting season.

THE YOUNG KARL MARX
SEEN AT THE VANCOUVER FILM FESTIVAL

Directed by Raoul Peck, Germany, France, Belgium, (2017), 118 minutes

Stating that history is determined by the struggle between the ruling classes and the oppressed classes, Nineteenth century German philosopher Karl Marx blamed poverty and starvation on the evils of capitalist society and declared that class conflict could only be ended by the overthrow of capitalism and the building of a socialist society. Co-written by Raoul Peck and Pascal Bonitzer, the first film produced about Karl Marx outside of Eastern Europe, Peck’s The Young Karl Marx (Le juene Karl Marx) humanizes Marx, making him a sympathetic family man as well as a charismatic leader willing to confront antagonists on the democratic left, portrayed as ineffective idealists who reject the idea that socialism can be accomplished only through class conflict and a worker’s revolution.

Peck, whose last film “I Am Not Your Negro” was a powerful exposition of the ideas of author James Baldwin, has chosen to play it safe here, however, transforming Marx’s radicalism into what is mostly a conventional biopic that, while highly watchable, offers the viewer few challenges. Relying on the letters between Marx (August Diehl, “Allied”) and his long time companion Freidrich Engels (Stefan Konarske, “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets”) to fill in the details, the film centers on the period between 1843 when the 25-year-old Marx was eking out a living in Paris writing essays for political journals, and concluding in 1847 with the writing of the Communist Manifesto.

Opening in Paris where Marx is living with his wife, Jenny von Westphalen (Vicky Krieps, “We Used to be Cool”), an aristocrat who gave up her material comforts to support her husband, Marx’s essay on poor people who were killed for gathering dead wood in a forest, then a punishable offense, is considered subversive enough for the journal “Rheinische Zeitung” to be closed by the government and move Marx close to poverty. The scene then shifts to a factory in Manchester, England where Engels, the son of the factory owner, storms out of the room when Mary Burns (Hannah Steele, “Darkest Hour”), an Irish worker, later to be Engels wife, stands up to protest against the deplorable conditions in the workplace.

Turning his back on his class upbringing, Engels begins to consort with European philosophers and radical thinkers, associations that eventually lead him to Karl Marx and, after some nasty verbal sparring, a strong and lasting connection. Marx, who has received welcome economic support from Engels, gets into friendly debates with German radical Wilhelm Weitling (Alexander Scheer, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales”) as well as with French anarchist Pierre Proudhon (Dardennes’ regular Olivier Gourmet, “The Unknown Girl”), who criticizes the new world of assembly-line labor and how he doesn’t want to be “a scribbler urging world revolution.”

When Marx and Engels are accepted as members of the “League of the Just,” they assume control and transform it into the Communist League, proudly reading their co-written Communist Manifesto, a pamphlet that lays out the core ideas Marx would later expand upon in “Das Kapital.” The Young Karl Marx is a film of good intentions which stands against those who marginalize independent thinkers rather than consider what they have to say. Peck rightly credits Marx for formulating the ideas that led to the first major working class political party and for his call to end child labor, wage slavery, inhuman working conditions, and abject poverty.

There is no counter, however, to Marx’s assumptions about class struggle being the root cause of all the world’s ills, about Marxism’s disdain for individual rights if it doesn’t involve the working class, or about religion being solely motivated by the suffering of the working class. While Jenny lovingly calls Karl, “my lovable atheist Jew,” what is never suggested is that Marx’s lumping together of Jews and capitalists as one entity devoted to individualism, selfishness, greed, and egoism is basically the classic theme of anti-Semitism.

GRADE: B

Hitokiri  AKA  Tenchu! is an Outstanding 1969 Japanese drama film directed by Hideo Gosha.

 The word hitokiri literally means "manslayer" or "man cutter," 
 Tenchu!" (divine punishment) is shouted to overwhelm a victim before the kill,

Set in the years 1862-65 at this time Japan began ending its isolationist foreign policy known as sakoku , changing from a feudal Tokugawa  shogunate to a pre-modern empire and government.

It was turbulent time between rival clan factions,  some groups want progress and welcome the need for change,  other groups are violently opposed, supporting the Sonnō Jōi ("revere the Emperor and expel the barbarians") movement, using violent assassinations to silence and halt opposing voices .

The insightful film re-counts actual events of the times including involvement of the  historical "Four Hitokiri of the Bakumatsu".  an elite samurai force, Japan’s most feared assassins

Against this backdrop of  social upheaval, Hitokiri evolves,  it  is an enthralling film, a story filled with intense drama, political intrigue, double crossing and much action and bloodshed.  In an intimate character study the film focuses on the life of one of the "Four Hitokiri".   Izo  Okada played by (Shintarô Katsu) he gives  a mesmerizing performance as the wild and gruff, bestial man from the peasant classes, Intensely honourable his naivety fails to see that he is merely being used, a pawn in scheming political plans

.The standout cast .also includes a rare performance from famous Japanese author and playwright  Yukio Mishima.   Mishima plays one of the "Four Hitokiri"  Tanaka Shinbei . 
Mishima in real life really was a right-wing advocate for the restoration of imperialism, a remarkable, chilling performance.  .
Superbly crafted and composed, the rich detail and exquisite compositions are highlighted with muted colour and earthy tones,  noted screen writer Shinobu Hashimoto adapted brilliantly from a novel by  Ryôtarô Shiba generating powerful emotional depth

Spellbinding cinematic art,  compelling drama, stunning action, fascinating historical,.... 
Highly Recommended  10/10.



Kiga kaikyô , Straights Of Hunger AKA A Fugitive from the Past (1965) Tomu Uchida .  Knockout  crime mystery/thriller , excellent   Highly Recommended 

Oshidori utagassen ,  Singing Lovebirds  (1939) Masahiro Makino  as delightful as the English title suggests, wonderful entertainment.         

Yôkirô , The Geisha (1983)  Hideo Gosha.  Gripping Emotional Drama  Highly Recommended.

Seishun no satetsu , The Bitterness of Youth (1974) Tatsumi Kumashiro  Excellent and very stylish romantic drama with dynamic performances..

Kokoro  , The Heart  (1973)  Kaneto Shindô  Profound drama, adapted by Shindô  Brilliant ,Highly Recommended


   Izo Okada ... Shintarô Katsu                 


                  

The Shining 8/10 (repeat Viewing)

Hi there MDF  all is well here in my universe, hope the same for you...I was most surprised to see your recent mention and review of Oshidori utagassen (1939)  as I had the film unseen on the shelves along with another of Chiezô Kataoka early films Akanishi Kakita , Capricious Young Man (1936)
I love the light hearted charming nature, the uplifting lively tempo of the  Singing Lovebirds. The score is a wonderful blend/fusion of jazz , traditional, and even some tango and Cuban-African sounds. The acting is marvellous, sometimes it is great to just sit down and go with the flow...