Sh! The Octopus

Sh! The Octopus (1937)

Runtime: Only 54 minutes

Directed by: William C. McGann

Starring: Hugh Herbert, Allen Jenkins, Marcia Ralston, John Eldredge, George Rosener

From: Warner Bros.

A movie as strange as its title. I’ve known of this for years due to the title; that was even before a special effect during the finale went viral. More on that later in the review. This combined two different plays; that might explain how baffling the plot was.

A painter decides to live at an abandoned lighthouse; it is owned by a Captain Hook who does in fact have a hook for a right hand, The leads are a pair of goofball detectives portrayed by Hugh Herbert and Allen Jenkins; to echo the thoughts of others, they were like a low-rent version of Abbott & Costello.

At the lighthouse, there’s a criminal mastermind known as The Octopus, an actual octopus is seen, some horror tropes are older than I suspected (the arms of the villain are about to grab an unknowing victim, drops of blood from above reveal a victim), one of the characters-Marcia Ralston-I can describe as a Temu Joan Crawford-although her performance was fine-an iridium ray, and more.

A little bit of the detectives go a long way; Herbert loves going, “whoo-oooh!” often, to list an example. The humor I can sometimes describe as “humor,” in a sarcastic sense. Yet, this was all so bizarre. It’s a comedic mystery horror picture that has absurdist moments, slapstick, submarines, a tortoise… and this was only 54 minutes in length. Who knows what audiences in ’37 thought of Octopus; could they make heads or tails of it? What would they think of Herbert going “ribbit!” right back at a pair of frogs?

I couldn’t always make heads or tails of this… I’ll still say it was “fine.” Sometimes I did laugh & I was never bored by this insanity. Plus, the special effect used during the finale is a “holy crap” even in 2026. You don’t need CG or AI to have a sudden transformation. There are explanations elsewhere how they achieved it but in short… color theory, makeup, and optical effects were combined to create a transition that caused a stir in ’22 when it briefly went viral online, people GOBSMACKED this was from a late 30’s picture unknown to most youths on the social media.

Props to those that created this effect; for some, that might be the only part of Sh! The Octopus worth watching.

 

Winnetou and the Crossbreed

Winnetou and the Crossbreed (Winnetou Und Das Halbblut Apanatschi) (1966)

Runtime: The version I saw was 85 minutes

Directed by: Harald Philipp

Starring: Lex Barker, Pierre Brice, Gotz George, Uschi Glas, Walter Barnes

From: Rialto Film/Jadran Film

In this special late-night Wednesday posting… my discovery of a streaming channel new to me (and some of the movies they play are also on its YouTube channel) last night determined that I’d see a Winnetou film new to me. Thanks, Grjingo. For the newer followers, a mutual on Letterboxd wrote reviews of these movies long ago-this was how I discovered there was an industry of Westerns made in what was then West Germany. 

For the newer followers, let me explain. Based on novels from Karl May, OLD SHATTERHAND-a name you’d expect from a Jaeger in Pacific Rim-is a white dude who has an Apache friend, the titular Winnetou. They have quite the bromance as they dealt with both dumb white people and other Native Americans.

This installment is devoted to dumb white people. Yes, “crossbreed” is a slightly less offensive term than “half-breed,” although you shouldn’t use either; Uschi Glas portrayed the young Apanatschi (what a name), who has a white father and Native American mother, along w/ a younger brother. Dad informs her that he has a claim on a gold mine; various white people are greedy bastards who can’t contain themselves and kidnap the siblings. Thankfully, there are our two heroes, the white b/f of Apanatschi, the wacky sidekick Sam Hawkens that’s in all those films, and the denizens of a town that wish to rid themselves of the villains.

The bad guys aren’t the most memorable in the series; otherwise, I had a pretty good time. They filmed in what is now Croatia; this provided a different sort of scenery from the American West or the Spanish desert seen in hundreds of Spaghetti Westerns. There’s some dusty areas but the viewer also sees some rocky lands, mountain peaks, and lush green areas; earlier movies included multiple waterfalls. The lead family here lived in a green area right by a river.

There’s fire, explosions, shootouts involving a large group of people, a fair for the time portrayal of Native Americans, actual stunts performed by Gotz George-the other name I imagine some European members would know-and moments you’d expect from Westerns originating from America or other European countries. The Grjingo YouTube channel now have those movies available-sure, they’re the dubbed versions and judging by runtime they don’t appear to be original release length… but I’m glad they’re still available for adventurous Western fans willing to try a different flavor of this genre.

In Search of Darkness: 1990-1994

This is a 2024 documentary from the people that did the very good In Search of Darkness docs concerning 80's horror: 

I had nothing better to do on Labor Day than view all six hours of this documentary. I’ve checked out the three Darkness documentaries covering 80’s horror, and enjoyed them all. The format in that trio & here: a cornucopia of movies covered-whether famous or not-featuring commentary from a wide variety of well-known genre figures, along with breaks between each year concerning major topics related to horror.

After an opening establishing how different the 90's were compared to the preceding decade-and how this impacted the particular films that were released-a wide variety of horror from the first half of the decade were discussed. This ranges from Tremors and Nekromantik 2 to Bram Stoker's Dracula and The Stand. As always, which guests they were able to interview determined what was covered. Charles Band meant that some of his Full Moon features were discussed; the same goes for Jorg Buttgereit.

As 90's horror I am not as well-versed in as its 80's counterpart, it was nice to learn more about pictures I knew little to even nothing about. How many of those movies I'll check out from now until Halloween is undetermined. It's always great hearing from the likes of Clancy Brown, John Carpenter, & Heather Langenkamp, among many others. Between years, the topics discussed include microbudget horror and the rise of CG.

This installment of Darkness addressed some nitpicks that I-and apparently others-had... several TV films were brought up (including Stephen King's It & Ghostwatch) and a larger percentage of films were foreign. This made the documentary especially informative. Shout-out to CreatorVC Studios and director David A. Weiner for these horror documentaries, plus the 80's sci-fi In Search of Tomorrow. It might not be until next year that I check out In Search of Darkness: 1995-1999.

The Mummy (Unfortunately, The One w/ Tom Cruise)

The Mummy (2017)

Runtime: 110 minutes

Directed by: Alex Kurtzman

Starring: Tom Cruise, Annabelle Wallis, Sofia Boutella, Jake Johnson, Russell Crowe

From: Universal

The Dark Universe is especially funny now, almost a decade later. How badly this movie flopped at the time and it killing off a franchise after just one movie is an incredible failure. So is releasing an IMAX trailer that accidentally only included a vocal track and not any of the other audio tracks (score, sound effects, etc.), resulting in a hysterical video that everyone guffawed at. In 2026, I have long been fed up with shared universes, or the attempts to start a shared universe, needless sequels, etc. The Mummy popping up on Prime was the main reason why I even gave this a shot, almost a decade after the fact.

Not even Tom Cruise could save this; I enjoy him as a movie star… him as a person, not as much. They tried to make this an adventure in exotic Middle Eastern locations with horror elements and end-of-the-world implications… this is a mixed bag at best. Cruise and odious comic relief pal Jake Johnson are military men who are in Iraq and they sell antiquities on the black market. Well, they uncover an Egyptian tomb (actually, a prison) and release the supernatural Sofia Boutella.

The Mummy is forgettable nonsense; a modern blockbuster in the most pejorative sense… mindless, disposable crap. They attempted to add more horror to the adventure than was in the ’99 Mummy (however, they ended up with a mummy version of a Mission: Impossible picture, to mention a frequent complaint) yet this has failed attempts at “humor”, little of the charm, bad ideas, wasn't scary at all, & bombastic spectacle that is tiresome… and I’m someone who’s avoided most of those superhero films.

The fact that they blatantly ripped off an 80’s horror movie (from Universal, as a matter of fact) and probably were inspired by a cult 80’s horror movie didn’t help either, nor did the time wasted establishing a cinematic universe that never occurred. Russell Crowe and Annabelle Wallis were fine, I guess, although the former as Dr. Jekyll (!) was quite wacky. I didn’t hate everything, re: The Mummy. They tried for atmosphere at times, and that wasn’t bad. The plane crash sequence was cool, although it should have been in a Mission: Impossible or a similar Cruise action film.

Instead of what many proclaim is Cruise’s worst film-a movie so lousy that something starring him flopped worldwide-I would have vastly preferred a 70’s Hammer movie involving a mummy, knights from the Crusades, and havoc across London. That at least would have been FAR more memorable than this poppycock.

Fall 2: Deadpoint

Fall 2: Deadpoint (2026)

55% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 31 reviews)

Runtime: 98 minutes

Directed by: Michael & Peter Spierig

Starring: The majority of the film is just Harriet Slater & Arsema Thomas but there’s also the likes of Tom Brittney

From: Lionsgate

For those that thought the first Fall wasn't dumb enough...

I made the climb in '22 & saw Fall theatrically. Despite the plot and characters possessing an intelligence comparable to a pet rock, I didn't hate the movie. At least the effects were solid and you believed they were stuck on top of an extremely tall tower. If you have acrophobia, Fall would be a nightmare for you. Curiosity got the best of me & I checked out the sequel. This is actually my first film from brothers Michael & Peter Spierig; don't worry, eventually I'll see a second from them.

Fall 2 was tackled Friday night before I went & saw the Indian movie Veerana. It was only last night that a Twitter post was viewed—in short, a purported picture from the end credits of Deadpoint reveals that... the movie used AI. I'm sure it's true; one of the producers (Scott Mann) has his own AI company, after all. Indeed, one shot didn't look quite right; it was... of an airplane wheel landing on the ground, which wasn't needed anyway as the viewer saw the plane land on the ground—talk about unnecessary. That will be a deal-breaker for some so do what you wish w/ that information.

Fall 2 is extraordinarily stupid! Virginia Gardner from the first Fall has a sister; I'd say that she looked either like a Temu Sadie Sink or a Temu Emma Stone, but that'd be too harsh. Plus, the character name JAX HUNTER was great. Harriet Slater was fine in the role-she was devastated by the events of the first movie. Hysterically, a random stranger met her one day and... inspired Jax to “honor” her daredevil sister by doing something even stupider than what her sister did... walk the old planks on the side of a Thai mountain (they were built my monks centuries ago, as established in a throwaway line of dialogue) when there's no railing and the only “safety measure” is a chain hanging a few feet above said planks.

Even worse, they did no preparation for this illegal hike, and relied on a sketchy guy in a random Thai bar to guide them. If this wasn't dopey enough, there are many other moments I dare not reveal, because spoilers. At least I was able to laugh AT Deadpoint for its illogic, its attempts to have epic moments that either were heart-wrenching or inspiring... instead they made me AND at least one other person in this sparsely-attended guffaw and scoff at what the movie was trying to do.

While not as successful in presenting the constant danger in someone stuck at such a perilous location, there are still thrills in this particular scenario. Arsema Thomas and Tom Brittney were also fine as the random stranger & sketchy guy Jon, respectively. Fall 2: Deadpoint is OK in a brainless way; I imagine it'll do as well on streaming as the first one did, nevermind the first bombing and this sequel destined to do so. There will be a third one; it is uncertain as of now I'll check out Fall 3: The Droppening (or whatever they'll title it) on the big screen as well.

Veerana

Veerana (1988)

Runtime: The version I saw was 135 minutes

Directed by: Shyam Ramsey/Tulsi Ramsey

Starring: Jasmin, Hemant Birje, Sahila Chaddha, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Satish Shah

From: Sai Om Productions

I got to see an old Indian horror movie on the big screen last night. The experience (at Orlando's arthouse cinema, the Enzian) wasn't the best-more on that at the end-but I was still happy to view something else from the Ramsay family. For years they made Hindi horror films; in the past, I also had fun w/ their Purana Mandir and their Freddy Krueger ripoff Mahakaal. Getting to view one restored on the big screen was a rare treat.

Veerana concerns a cult that lives in the woods; their leader is a Rasputin type. They have a witch which is basically a Deadite; a dude finds & hangs the witch. Well, the witch's spirit is transferred to that of the dude's 10-year-old daughter, who grows up to be a sexpot that seduces then kills dumb men. Of course, this is cinema from India so there is wacky humor that is rather broad & sometimes alien to a dopey white guy like myself, tonal shifts, and at least a bit of melodrama.

A shame that the crowd for this laughed at everything; of course there's intended & unintended comedy, feel free to chuckle at that. However, laughing at serious moments or just random moments in general where I couldn't comprehend WHAT they were guffawing about... disappointing. Yes, much of the crowd was dumb white people but some South Asians were also present. Lord only know what they thought of that reaction.

The plot is uniquely Hindi yet I was still entertained, and not in an ironic fashion. Jasmin was quite alluring as the possessed girl; there's also chilling moments throughout that coincide w/ the catchy song and dance numbers, the humor (the blatant comedic character was a chubby dude who... wants to be a director. Hopefully no one here sees themselves in him!), the horror scenes that echo Hammer, the action scenes that at first were comparable to Dolemite but later were more competent, a giant of a man that resembled a 1980's version of The Great Khali, footage stolen from two famous Hollywood horror movies, more crash zooms than in any Tarantino film... there are effective horror elements mixed into this tasty stew.

Naturally I could be pedantic and nitpick certain aspects, such as the world's dumbest father & how his naivete was needed for the plot. However, this won't occur; entertainment was had by this horror picture w/ a unique, spicy flavor. I had fun, even with a bad crowd and even at a place that used to have a nice, chill outdoor bar attached to the cinema but last night was blasting horrid deafening modern music... having to eviscerate a local cinema devoted to independent film is not ideal but I am crestfallen the Enzian has fallen off so badly in not that many years.

Blondie Johnson

Blondie Johnson (1933)

Runtime: 67 minutes

Directed by: Ray Enright

Starring: Joan Blondell, Chester Morris, Allen Jenkins, Earle Foxe, Claire Dodd

From: Warner Bros.

Not only was it Pre-Code time for me, but time to clear space off the DVR. I made this recording off of TCM way back in May, you see. The premise of “Joan Blondell is a poor lady during the Great Depression who hustles her way into ruling a crime ring” greatly intrigued.

Indeed, she was a poor lady looking for assistance who was thrown out of housing (along w/ her mother) by an A-hole landlord, she quit her job due to sexual harassment… mom gets sick and dies. Little wonder then she decides to give avarice a try and does whatever to become successful. She runs various con games, all of which entertained me. This is how she meets gangsters, including Danny. In a twist from the norm, she wants their relationship to be strictly professional and despite her having feelings, she rejects his advances… and he actually respects her wishes. She rises in importance although of course she experiences the same sort of problems you get in other genre examples.

In other ways, this felt progressive-heck, Blondie even has lady friends (including Japanese-American actress Toshia Mori) who she doesn’t later feud with. The gangster theatrics aren’t revolutionary but of course the presence of Blondell’s character-strong yet not infallible-was the highlight, Joan’s portrayal a delight. The direction from Ray Enright was solid, the supporting players-studio regulars I’ve seen in other pictures-were all at least fine, including Chester Morris as Danny. As this was a Warner Bros. B-movie, the expectations were meant concerning how competent the production was.

The final scene perhaps wasn’t the best conclusion for the picture; otherwise, this was an enjoyable gangster B-movie from the Pre-Code era that is more than just one with a memorable gimmick.