Category Archives: Uncategorized

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”

It has taken a long time for THE DRAGON PAINTER to reach home DVD. Announced well over a year ago, it had to wait for Milestone Films to find a new distributor. Now we can finally see this long unavailable title and see how beautiful it is. The slight story is a variation on theContinue reading “THE DRAGON PAINTER + 1: Remarkable Sessue Hayakawa Double Bill”

The first time I watched THE DUMB (MUTE) GIRL OF PORTICI, I was somewhat taken aback. I have been a big fan of Lois Weber for many years but I had never seen anything like this. I was used to her movies being either 1) issue driven like HYPOCRITES or WHERE ARE MY CHILDREN? or 2)Continue reading “DUMB GIRL OF PORTICI (1915): Lois Weber’s Historical Epic & A Rare Chance to See Anna Pavlova”

I have a been a fan of silent films for over 40 years after seeing HAROLD LLOYD”S WORLD OF COMEDY in 1962 and after reading Kevin Brownlow’s THE PARADE’S GONE BY shortly thereafter. However it was more than 25 years after that before I had the means to get a really good look at mostContinue reading “ELECTRIC EDWARDIANS Shows How Film Is The One True Time Machine”

Back in 1913 the French movie studio Gaumont and director Louis Feuillade created a craze for crime thriller serials with FANTOMAS about a master-of-disguise super criminal and a dogged detective determined to capture him. This was, no doubt, inspired by Sherlock Holmes and his pursuit of Professor James Moriarty but this time around the focusContinue reading “FILIBUS (1915): The Female FANTOMAS”