THE GORILLA (1939)

Another Old Dark House thriller with a cliched plot and a gorilla on the loose. The plots of these films weren't even interchangeable - they were the same. If it wasn't a The Gorilla, it was The Bat or the Octopus, or The Cat. This is actually a pretty enjoyable example of the sub-genre. It stars The Ritz Brothers and features Patsy Kelly and nobody is going to sleep through the amount of noise that quartet can generate. Direction is by veteran film pioneer Allan Dwan who certainly knows how to keep things going at a fast pace - thunder, corpses, red herrings galore, secret panels, clutching hands and, perhaps best of all there is Lionel Atwill looking like he's having great fun and Bela Lugosi who looks like he's highly amused by the silly proceedings. It's hard not to like it. Rating **

NIGHT COMES TOO SOON/The Ghost of Rashmon Hall (1947)

The late Forties and early Fifties saw a proliferation of very low-budget supernatural movies, among them DEATH IS A NUMBER, CASTLE SINISTER and NIGHT COMES TO SOON. This latter title is better known as THE GHOST OF RASHMON (which, oddly, is not the name of the house in the film) and is based on the classic ghost tale The Haunted and the Haunters (which is also known as The House and the Brain). Produced by poverty row producer Harold Baim and starring sephulcre voiced Valentine Dyall, the film is crude in the extreme but charmingly effective in its own way. A young couple, desperate for a place to live, move into a deserted old manor only to discover the house is haunted. They call on a friend (Dyall) to help them investigate. Despite the poor acting and the very crudest of technical credits I happily admit to a slight tingling of the hairs (or what is left of them) on the top of my head. It remains little more than a curiousity but is not without interest. Rating **

THE MONSTER WALKS (1932)

Another tiresome example of an old dark house mystery that doesn't seem to have come to terms with the advent of sound. Even at a mere 63 minutes it is tortuously slow with the actors speaking slowly in deliberately sonorous voices and lots of pregnant pauses, even when they seem to have no dramatic purpose. Frank Strayer (who the following year would direct the far superior THE VAMPIRE BAT) directs as though he is asleep and faces with such material who can blame him. Mischa Auer tries to inject some sinister colour into his character but the chimp looks very unhappy and stressed. Rating *

BEOWULF (2007)

I believe there is another film based on this story and hopefully it is more successful than this one. Using the same process that gave us both SIN CITY and 300 and directed by Robert Zemekis, this really got off on the wrong foot for me by casting English actor Ray Winstone as the heroic dragonslayer. Now, I actually like Winstone in a modern setting but something goes disastrously wrong when Ray steps back in time. He's a fine actor given material within his range but remains a "geezer" from East London and to hear that accent, which never changes, coming from characters as diverse as Henry VIII, Sweeney Todd, an Arthurian Knight and now a Dark Ages hero just doesn't work dramatically - and here we don't even have Winstone's physical presence as his animated alter ego looks more like Sean Bean. The whole thing comes over as a rather flat comic strip with the monsters coming off better than the humans (and as John Malkovich and Anthony Hopkins are both on call this is no mean under achievement) and the climatic battle between Beowulf and the dragon is undeniably impressive. But the final result is clever rather than being a satisfying. Rating **

Angelina Jolie as Grendel's mum

SPARTACUS BLOGS!

Spartacus himself, alias Kirk Douglas, one of the greatest of movie stars has joined the blogging community over on My Space. In honour of this I present my list of my top ten Kirk Douglas films (not in order of preference) :

OUT OF THE PAST (1947)

CHAMPION (1949)

ACE IN THE HOLE (1951)

DETECTIVE STORY (1951)

THE BAD AND THE BEAUTIFUL (1952)

LUST FOR LIFE (1956)

PATHS OF GLORY (1957)

THE VIKINGS (1958)

SPARTACUS (1960)

LONELY ARE THE BRAVE (1962)

You can visit Kirk's blog at : http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=171170276

HANK WILLIAMS : THE SHOW HE NEVER GAVE (1981)

December 31st 1952 Hank Williams, Country singer/songwriter, a legend in his own time, is being driven to a planned concert in Ohio. Depressed, washing down painkillers with alcohol, he fantasises about pulling into one of the roadside bars and giving a New Year Eve Concert. We see that imagined concert as Hank first wows the patrons with his hits then begins to reflect on his troubled life, his drink problems, his failed marriages, his being dismissed from the Grand Ol'Opry. The next morning Williams is found dead in the backseat of his car. I first saw this film in the early 80's when it was shown on English television. At the time I knew little about Hank Williams but I found the film incredibly moving and I've always wanted to see it again. Even I, a big Williams fan now, tend to forget just how many Country classics, came from Williams' pen and many of the most famous are highlighted here but the most remarkable thing about the film is the performance by Sneezy Waters (repeating his stage success) as Hank which is far more than a simple impersonation. It is basically a one man show although there is memorable support when needed by Dixie Seatle, Sean DeWitt, Jackie Warrington and Sean McGann and for once praise must be heaped on the extras whose facial reactions provide a memorable chorus of emotion to the Williams songs. Direction is by David Acomba and screenplay is by Maynard Collins based on his own stage play. A gem that beats I WALK THE LINE hand down. Rating ****

SHAUN OF THE DEAD (2004)

This is not a review as such. I've only just gotten around to watching this very funny film about England being taken over by people who obviously want to be guests on the Jeremy Kyle Show. But here's the real reason for this post...see the black guy in the still above ? Does anybody know him ? Some years ago I used to hang out in an Islington Bookshop called Heroes and one of the regular visitors there was a young black guy named Chaplin. I think that might just be Chaplin in the picture. He's not listed on the Imdb but then I don't suppose all the zombies are. Does anybody know ? Rating ***