Author Archives: chipkaufmann

Yet another 1930s film that I first saw on TV in the 1950s.. It was the first time that I had ever seen ballet on film and the first time that I had ever seen the great John Barrymore. My mother, who used to watch these movies with me and gave me my first backgroundContinue reading “THE MAD GENIUS: Long Unseen Follow-Up To SVENGALI Is Just As Bizarre”

While I wouldn’t call myself a Charles Bronson fan, I have enjoyed many of his movies thanks to the directors he has worked with. He worked with one of my favorite directors, Don Siegel, only once. That movie was this one, TELEFON, and it’s one that I can watch again and again because it isContinue reading “TELEFON: Charles Bronson & Don Siegel Are A Great Combination”

Of the countless number of late night low budget horror movies that I saw on TV as a kid, none scared me more than TORMENTED did. It’s basically a B movie version of 1944’s THE UNINVITED with a little of A PLACE IN THE SUN thrown in for good measure. Jazz pianist (Richard Carlson) isContinue reading “TORMENTED: Keep Away From The Lighthouse!”

While it’s great to have this WAC Lon Chaney set of 6 DVD-Rs available on the home market, it could have been a lot better. There are 2 significant problems with it from my perspective. First up is that 3 of the 6 films have had absolutely no upgrade in quality since they first appearedContinue reading “LON CHANEY: Warner Archive’s Latest Collection Could Have Been Better”

This film holds a special place in my movie pantheon because of all the horror/sci-fi movies I saw as a kid, this one scared me the most. It contains at least three scenes that were absolutely terrifying to a child back in the early 1960s. 1) A young boy comes face to face with theContinue reading “X THE UNKNOWN (1956): The Scariest Movie From My Childhood”

If ever a movie deserved the accolade “you’ve got to see it to believe it” than this version of THE LOST CONTINENT (not to be confused with the 1951 B movie) is it. It isn’t that it’s really bad (though parts of it are) or that it lacks action (hurricanes, explosions, maneating crabs), it’s justContinue reading “THE LOST CONTINENT (1968) Is Hammer’s Weirdest Movie Ever”

TWINS OF EVIL was one of the few early 1970s Hammer Films that I got to see in a theater (or in this case a drive-in). As was often the case, a Hammer title was doubled up with some film of lesser quality which I had already forgotten by the time I got home. ThisContinue reading “TWINS OF EVIL (1971): Uneven Hammer Film Has Its Moments”

I have a long association with SHATTER going back to the mid 1970s when it was one of those films that instead of going straight to DVD, went straight to cable. In the early days of HBO where it was known as CALL HIM MR SHATTER, the movie was a late night fixture airing afterContinue reading “SHATTER (1974): This Oddball Hammer Offering Is Not Without Merit”

Like so many Hammer films, I saw this at a drive-in when it first appeared in 1976. I actually enjoyed it more than ROSEMARY’S BABY although that is clearly the “better” movie. The story is pretty much a reworking of that film much to the consternation of Dennis Wheatley who wrote the source novel (andContinue reading “TO THE DEVIL A DAUGHTER (1976): Hammer’s Bittersweet Swan Song”

After much fanfare in Europe and an arthouse release in America, BEYOND THE ROCKS has finally arrived on DVD. Had it featured no-name or forgotten silent era stars it wouldn’t have made much noise and would have disappeared very quickly but with Valentino and Swanson on board you can clearly see the difference that aContinue reading “BEYOND THE ROCKS Is An OK Movie But It Has Fantastic Extras”