Manhattan Murder Mystery

Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993)

Runtime: 107 minutes

Directed by: Woody Allen

Starring: Allen, Diane Keaton (RIP), Alan Alda, Anjelica Huston, Jerry Adler

From: TriStar

RIP Diane Keaton

The announcement of her death yesterday and the subsequent outpouring of love online made me realize that it’d be a mistake to not tip my hat to her as soon as possible. Others have seen her in more films than I—that said, there is regret that in my reviews of the first two Godfather films, I didn’t spotlight her and how she made the Kay character important to the story told in those two all-timers, especially when I always thought she did a swell job. Even with what relatively little I’ve peeped, she was adept at both drama and comedy.

Manhattan Murder Mystery was selected as it was new to me & is popular. I always feel obliged to do w/ the director when reviewing his films the past several years… the allegations against Woody Allen are quite serious & nauseating. However, there have been plenty of bad people in this particular field of entertainment and I can separate the art from the artist. It’s a shame he’s an alleged predator who allegedly has harmed people but I’ll say no more about it in this review.

In terms of making movies, Allen is great at it. Get this, he and Keaton are a married couple living in an NYC apartment. One night they meet neighbors Paul and Lillian, an older pair like them; the next day Lillian is dead via heart attack. Keaton and their pal Alan Alda think that Paul murdered his wife. They become obsessed over Paul & his behavior, while Woody is maddened over her behavior.

I viewed this film as prescient concerning the topic of true crime. I listen to a podcast or two about it but am not obsessed about it like some are. Unfortunately, there’s a percentage that have a dangerous obsession where they attempt to connect clues together and accuse innocent people (including spouses) of murder and other heinous crimes. Of course Larry the book editor at HarperCollins would be upset that his wife Carol would break into Paul’s apartment, among other questionable behavior, nevermind that he’s the typical nebbish Woody character.

Manhattan Murder Mystery was quite delightful. There are clues along the way that suggest Paul did kill his wife Lillian; whether Larry or Carol is right in this scenario is in doubt for awhile. There are hysterical moments and lines of dialogue from beginning to end, buttressed by solid filmmaking and (naturally for Allen) a soundtrack full of 30’s music. This was the last time Allen and Keaton worked together; her part was originally written for Mia Farrow but they broke up and well, that turned ugly and it was the start of various allegations coming out against Woody.

The cast all did a nice job; I have to note Anjelica Huston in her small but critical role and for one scene, a teenage Zach Braff appears as the college-age son of our leads. Yes, I’ve heard rumors about his behavior on the set of Garden State… I wasn’t familiar w/ Jerry Adler (who just passed away in late August) but he was swell as Paul.

Manhattan Murder Mystery was a nice way to pay tribute to the late Diane Keaton-she was quite amusing in her role. The film also is a nice tribute to the film noir genre; among other things, a clip from Double Indemnity is shown and another famous noir is gently spoofed during the climax.

Hour of the Wolf

Hour of the Wolf (Vargtimmen) (1968)

Runtime: 88 minutes

Directed by: Ingmar Bergman

Starring: Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Gertrud Fridh, Georg Rydeberg, Ingrid Thulin

From: A few different Swedish companies

This should be the most artsy-fartsy movie on my Spooky Season list this year. In this context, I don’t use that term in a derogatory fashion. The average rating for the Ingmar Bergman movies I’ve seen is quite high; there was fascination w/ the idea of him doing one horror film. Naturally, it was of the psychological variety. Note that the film’s title is explained as the hour before dawn.

Max von Sydow is famed painter Johan, Liv Ullmann his younger wife Alma. They are on a Swedish island so he can work. Unfortunately for the both of him, he is plagued by both frightening visions and insomnia. There have been times where my mind has raced and it’s taken time for me to doze off; however, I’ve never been an insomniac. My best to those afflicted with that sleep disorder. He can’t work and it’s damaged their relationship.

The film is not solely a two-hander; weird people live in a castle on the other side of the island and well, I wouldn’t want to be invited to one of their dinner parties. It’d be a crime for me to provide specific details of what happens in the second half—except that it does pay off the story presented in the first half…. & there’s what I’ll call “a Tarantino moment.” Genre scares eventually do arrive for those that enjoy the arthouse horror movies of the past. WTF imagery appears.

Of course, w/ the talent involved (the director, the leads, the cinematography from Sven Nykvist) the expectations were high; those were met. Max von Sydow and Liv Ullmann were both excellent. There are several tremendous sequences made by lighting and editing… Ulla Ryghe deserves credit herself as the editor. What a descent into madness… but am I referring to just Johan but also Alma? How self-reflective was this to Bergman’s own self-doubts as an artist? I was reminded of The Shining; like Jack Torrance, Johan Borg was troubled before he went to an isolated location w/ loved ones and a mental decline occurred.

My saying that this isn’t an all-timer like a Seventh Seal or Autumn Sonata is my acknowledgement that Bergman is one of the best to ever do it rather than insulting a very good film like Hour of the Wolf. Don’t think this is an incomprehensible, obtuse film that is inaccessible to horror fans.

One Battle After Another

One Battle After Another (2025)

95% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 376 reviews)

Runtime: This was way too darn long

Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring: Many famous faces that I wish were in something better

From: Warner Bros.

An unwelcome return of Contrarian Blair. It doesn’t happen that often but on occasion, I do have the unwelcome task of explaining why I did not like a motion picture that everyone else loves. As many eyes will be on this review, might as well mention the non sequitor that currently, there are more than 5,000 (!) accounts that follow me on Letterboxd. I’ll forever be amazed and flattered. Hopefully none are lost after this hot take…

Previous examples of outlier opinions include Mad Max: Fury Road, Mickey 17, that atrocious Suspiria remake from Luca Guadalcanal and Everything Everywhere All at Once. Battle isn’t as abominable as the new Suspiria or All at Once yet I was still floored it wasn’t even something I liked. For transparency’s sake and only mentioning some of his films I’ve checked out, Boogie Nights and There Will be Blood are masterpieces while Licorice Pizza is very good, questionable last 30 seconds aside.

Battle, though, totally missed the mark for me. I knew there was trouble right away; already, longtime readers should know what a major complaint was: vulgarity, especially the constant F-bombs. Not surprisingly, almost immediately I loathed the character w/ the preposterous name PERFIDIA BEVERLY HILLS; let me call her Perfidia Hills, because c’mon now. It’s horrible optics for a white man like me to say that I hated a Black woman character… then again, Ms. Hills was SUCH a garish stereotype that white nationalists (yes, some characters in the film fit that label) have of Black women, you might as well have had a white woman portraying the part as a blackface character!

I apologize for that comment sounding grossly offensive; I can explain why the comment is unfortunately accurate. In an early scene, she holds Sean Penn’s evil character at gunpoint and… wants him to HAVE A BONER for reasons unknown. I’m not exaggerating by saying that she was constantly uncouth and hyper-sexualized. The biggest bugaboo for me and this film: hating EVERY character. I only had slightly less disdain for Leo DiCaprio’s druggie alcoholic loser father. Benicio del Toro’s character was cool… until he I saw him slam down cans of Modelo beer while driving! Was that supposed to be an example of “humor?” I rarely laughed through the film.

By the way, I knew beforehand a character was bestowed the moniker Perfidia Beverly Hills; as goofy as that is, it doesn’t compare to Penn’s military Colonel character. He has the name STEVEN J. LOCKJAW; no lie. It’s as if he’s a Colonel in an MCU movie, that surname so preposterous & on the nose.

Was the message of the film “both the far-left and far-right are buffoons that deserved to be mocked?” I dunno, but I did not want to root for far-left terrorists, no matter the targets of their bombs or their ideology. As the focus is on Leo and his teen daughter, I don’t know what the point of it was; I do know that for the most part, I wasn’t entertained in the slightest. Penn’s character had a funny haircut and even funnier walk; otherwise… what a heavy-handed, dunderheaded look at serious topics such as immigration, “illegal aliens” and the response to protests, a movie about people of color where the lead is a dumb white guy.

All that said, a few compliments can still be given. The movie was shot in VistaVision-it does look nice & they filmed in some scenic locations. Even if may not always fit what’s on screen, I liked Jonny Greenwood’s score. It was nice seeing an actor from Road House for one scene. The reference to Gil Scott-Heron was a pleasant surprise; who knows how many of “the youth” understood it… allegedly that song played during the end credits after American Girl. I left as soon as I could after that overlong movie finally concluded!

Unlike those “popular pictures” that I loathe, at least I can comprehend why people like Battle… its politics and the director. I’m glad most people love the film (and even the crowd at the screening yesterday seemed far more into it than myself)—if only I could share in the love for One Battle After Another.

Ninja III: The Domination

Ninja III: The Domination (1984)

Runtime: 92 delirious minutes

Directed by: Sam Firstenberg

Starring: Lucinda Dickey, Sho Kosugi, Jordan Bennett, David Chung, James Hong

From: Cannon

Note that this is a **** movie the same way that I rated Miami Connection ****: how entertaining this lunacy was, utterly devoid of logic & divorced from reality. It’s no wonder this has acquired a cult following in the 21st century.

The opening 17 minutes say it all: a ninja warrior kills SOB’s then the cops (the kill count was at least two dozen in the long opening scene alone!), possessing supernatural ability, and as impervious to death as undead Jason Voorhees… or perhaps a better comparison for this motion picture, the Lady Terminator. He finally is on his deathbed, when he meets Lucinda Dickey, a win for women in STEM as she’s a telephone line repairwoman (you know, a line woman instead of a lineman)… although she’s also an aerobics instructor, as it is 1984 and she starred in the Breakin’ films! That isn’t a win for women in STEM… 

Ninja dude possesses the body of Christie Ryder to exact revenge on the cops that took his life. I laughed—I mean, frequently during The Domination. There’s an unfortunate A-hole cop (some will say ACAB) who is an A-hole and his boorish behavior towards Christie regrettably works. He also has an absurd amount of body hair! Even their relationship was hysterical… who knew that using V8 JUICE DURING SEX was a thing?! How can’t I laugh when she lives in a warehouse apartment complete w/ neon light, an arcade game, and a painting of what looks like the lady on Duran Duran’s Rio album cover? Ms. Ryder is appealing aside from her appearance!

Also appealing was the amazing synth music and awesomely bad random 80’s pop heard throughout. While not a perfect comparison-and this may make some irritated anyhow-I was reminded of the bonkers cinema of the 80’s from a Hong Kong or Indonesia. I dare not spoil any other wacky moment or wild plot points. It was nice seeing James Hong for a few minutes in the segment that was most overt horror; there isn’t much Sho Kosugi in the opening half, although his presence does help in the second half. Ms. Dickey was the highlight having to perform such a gonzo role.

There’s entertaining action, a nonstop onslaught of (apparent) coke-fueled mayhem, horror beats, and nary a dull moment due to the relentless pace. Its cult reputation is well-deserved.

 

The Incredible Melting Man

The Incredible Melting Man (1977)

Runtime: 86 minutes

Directed by: William Sachs

Starring: Alex Rebar, Burr DeBenning, Myron Healey, Michael Alldredge, Ann Sweeny

From: Quartet Productions/Rosenberg-Gelfman Productions

The Incredible Melting Man certainly was an oopy-goopy motion picture. Not my first choice for the night (long story) it’s a film I have a copy of-again, long story of how I “found” said copy. I’ve known of this picture for a little while; I’m happy to have body horror as part of Spooky Season this year. The most noteworthy aspects are the 70’s-riffic (that’s a compliment) score from Arlon Ober that includes electronic elements, and the effects from a legendary duo: Rick Baker and the late Greg Cannom, winners of a dozen Oscars between the two. This was early in the careers of both yet their prodigious talents were already on display.

Melting is not scientifically accurate; after all, it’s set in the late 70’s yet according to them, in a world that’s not an alternate universe, NASA in spacecraft akin to Apollo 13 can send men to SATURN… I’d rather ignore that plot point and instead pretend that the trio of men are simply in space by Earth when a solar flare occurs, killing two of the men and turning Steve into the title character. On Earth, he looks in the mirror, understandably flips out, and once escaping, going on a killer rampage. Frankly, the movie’s kind of dumb in general. A grand total of two characters start searching for the disintegrating Steve; this includes Ted, a doctor at NASA.

In addition, there were production issues; this was due to producer interference and them having someone else shoot new scenes. I feel bad for director William Sachs; the film was to be a horror-comedy but much of the latter was removed; it explains a few funny moments that might seem out of place. Thankfully, a wacky old couple (Ted’s in-laws) were left in, including their antics in a lemon orchard. This is flawed—there’s a reason why the movie was on an episode of MST3K.

All those complaints aside, I still liked the film. How 70’s it was-décor, clothing, the downbeat moments, etc. amused me. There still are some nice ideas that weren’t ruined by the interference; this includes some gruesome kills, such as a decapitation. The finished product does have some campy charm, an asset in this case. There are some familiar faces: Janice Blythe of The Hills Have Eyes fame, Burr DeBenning, a character actor I recognize from appearances in the likes of House of the Dead (no, not that one… an Amicus-style horror anthology made in Oklahoma) and no kidding, JONATHAN DEMME for like 30 seconds.

Don’t let the MST3K status of this movie dissuade you from giving Melting Man a shot. Note that another legend was a double for the title character: a teenage Rob Bottin.

The Day of the Beast

The Day of the Beast (El Dia De La Bestia) (1995)

Runtime: 99 minutes

Directed by: Alex de la Iglesia

Starring: Alex Angulo, Armando De Razza, Santiago Segura, Terele Pavez, Nathalie Sesena

From: A few different Spanish and Italian companies

After literally years, I finally pulled the trigger on viewing this Spanish horror-comedy. The premise sounded intriguing yet for reasons that can’t be quantified, I always put off giving the film a shot until last night. In hindsight, this should have seen around Christmas; the plot revolves around a Spanish priest discovering that the Antichrist will be born Christmas morn—in hindsight, it makes sense for the Antichrist to be born on that date also.

The opening act is our priest protagonist Angel committing constant blasphemy in an attempt to pledge himself to Satan for the purposes of preventing the Antichrist from ending the world. He teams up with a death metal fan working at a record store and a charlatan occult TV show host (no, not Zak Baggins!) to stop this plot during Christmas Eve in Madrid. Now, Angel also believes that the birth will happen in Madrid. It relates to the chaos in the city and how far-right A-holes are spray-painting messages to “Clean Up Madrid” while committing horrific crimes.

There are comments that could be made, but it’s best I take a vow of silence and move on instead!

The movie itself is not blasphemous so those of you religious should not automatically reject the film. That’s unless you are staunchly against comedic deaths, cursing, a rabbit being chopped up by the vile mother of the death metal fan, or an old man constantly nude from the waist down. Day of the Beast is an increasingly absurd, riotous comedy where our ersatz Three Wise Men experience plenty of chaos in less than 24 hours; I dare not spoil anything further-except that this is more comedy than horror, although the latter is usually an undercurrent.

Mix in an interesting-and fitting-& this was a gem that I was a fool for not viewing/reviewing years ago. The film still feels fresh 3 decades after the fact; in the future I’ll check out more from Alex de la Iglesia.

Hell's Bells

In my only review of the day, I discuss how The Skeleton Dance and Skeleton Frolic weren’t the only horror cartoons that Ub Iwerks animated. Like Dance, Hell’s Bells is now in public domain… no braindead hack better touch either of those for their new horror films!

This 6-minute effort is entirely set in Hell. Music is heard throughout as we see a variety of spooky creatures… bats, a giant spider, a huge snake, Cerberus. The song is Funeral March of a Marionette, by Charles Gounod. It’s a song you likely know if not by name—that’s the theme to the TV show Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

The demons perform the song and to their credit, are pretty darn good. They also dance and… ahem, milk a demon cow after Satan literally rings a bell in Hell! Ultimately, they are doomed to be food for Cerberus, but one demon refuses that fate. As some might say, Satan won’t take no prisoners, won’t spare no lives.

This contained demonic delights between the black-and-white animation bringing Hell to life (fire, pools of lava, etc.), the music, the demons themselves. While not as gleefully macabre as The Skeleton Dance-and it may not give you black sensations up and down your spine-that does not mean it isn’t wild for a Disney cartoon, or that it shouldn’t be watched during this time of year.