Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders

This is why medicine in the United States is such a hassle to open.

Last night was another Netflix documentary, this one being an infamous story where cyanide was placed in several containers of Tylenol in the Chicago suburbs back in late ’82. Back then the capsules were much different and no safety seals were used, making the process unfortunately easy for any miscreant. I knew the incident & how the case is still unsolved but little else. This was illuminating.

It’s a standard documentary from the platform, competently constructed & featuring many of the parties involved, including family members of the deceased. The basics were presented then the one serious suspect-James W. Lewis-is presented, and actually interviewed on camera. He’s an A-hole who wrote an extortion letter to frame an enemy and was accused of some horrible crimes but there’s no evidence that he’s behind the product tampering.

Then, there’s discussion how Johnson & Johnson shouldn’t have been so easily cleared of wrongdoing & seen as victims themselves. It’s easy to hate the conglomeration now-their Wiki page has a huge section under “Recalls & Litigation”… it’s not just the claims that their baby powder causes ovarian cancer!-but there are reasons to believe that there could have been accidental or purposeful contamination at the factory. Their crisis management team were wizards in making Johnson & Johnson look good in the scandal and Tylenol did not go defunct.

The documentary doesn’t break any new ground in terms of investigation but still did a fine job in explaining the story to viewers unaware & giving credit to those involved with the case. As much a frustration as it typically is to open a bottle of Tylenol or any other medicine, I can’t complain that those products are now much less resistant to the effects of tampering once they leave the factory.

Central Park

Central Park (1932)

Runtime: 57 minutes

Directed by: John G. Adolfi

Starring: Joan Blondell, Wallace Ford, Guy Kibbee, Henry B. Walthall, John Wray

From: Warner Bros. 

The 57-minute length plus my schedule necessitated viewing this for a special late Thursday Letterboxd review posting. I DVR’ed this from a TCM showing yesterday due to someone on the site I follow posting this review several years ago. They weren’t over the moon for it (and accurately stated that the similar Union Depot from the same year was better) yet this was a breezy good time.

This covers one day in the famed New York City locale; this includes Joan Blondell & Wallace Ford as poor people falling in love, cop Guy Kibbee retiring in a week due to failing eyesight (does this portend doom for him?), gangsters attempting to rob a charity event, a lion escaping the park’s zoo, AND a dude named Smiley who’s not only a former zookeeper, but escaped from what we now call a mental health facility.

Plenty happens in less than an hour; there’s at least 90 minutes’ worth of story. At times the story is more than a little preposterous and Smiley-in an OOT performance-is such a lunatic, a beer bottle broken over his head had no effect. There’s also playing cards tossed into a hat, a homemade lasso, the Central Park Casino (an actual location; it’s Italian for “little house” so it did not host any gambling), a wild herd of sheep-was that ever a thing-people jumping head-first through an open window, and more.

Blondell & her eyes were a highlight, as typical. So much happens there’s not even a minute where boredom sets in. Of course there are many other details, that factor into my thinking a movie’s great. Central Park isn’t a masterpiece by any regards but was still fun, with many familiar Warner Brothers stock players and B-movie actors in bit parts, including Edward LeSaint, best known by me for his role as a judge in Disorder in the Court AND Reefer Madness.

I’m glad TCM played this flick; otherwise it’s hard to track down unless you take a journey to the Bowels of the Internet.

Frankenhooker

Frankenhooker (1990)

Runtime: 85 minutes

Directed by: Frank Henenlotter

Starring: James Lorinz, Patty Mullen, many other random people but there's also Shirley Stoler and Louise Lasser (RIP)

From: Shapiro/Glickenhaus Entertainment

RIP Louise Lasser

I realize this is far from the most dignified movie she was in and one day in the future I really need to revisit the one Woody Allen film I saw her in (like 20 years ago by now) but she’s unfortunately someone whose work has mainly not been seen by me. Todd Solondz is really not for me so Happiness is out of the question and her most famous role (the soap opera spoof TV show Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman) was way before my time. 

I should check out most of her work but I picked this as it’s a popular film somehow never watched by me before despite having viewed Basket Case before, my knowing some plot elements-like SUPERCRACK-and some scenes being filmed in The Bad New York City of Old. She’s only in one scene but was good in her role as lead Jeffrey’s Franken’s mom. Jeffrey is maladjusted anyhow but is much more so after his girlfriend Elizabeth Shelley is killed in a freak lawnmower accident, her body horribly mutilated.

The film is incredibly silly; Jeffrey is a mad scientist obviously mentally unwell who creates SUPERCRACK to explode a body so he can have a new body as Elizabeth’s head is the main part that wasn’t maimed so he decides to visit the prostitutes of New York City! No surprise, things go awry once he creates then animates the titular Frankenhooker.

The budget is low, the acting usually isn’t great and this could be nitpicked if you were the intolerable type. Thankfully I am not so I enjoyed the verisimilitude of director Frank Henenlotter, the OOT characters-Zorro, the buff Hispanic pimp was especially memorable-general absurdity-those prostitutes lose their minds once they discover Jeffrey’s crack supply-and how entertaining this trash was. The print I saw on Prime was from Troma-those that enjoy what the studio makes/releases should enjoy Frankenhooker.

One last important detail: the portrayal of the prostitutes is one thing—Elizabeth is presented rather well & sympathetic. Many reviewers have praised her character, especially after she’s reconstructed & deals with stupid men in a satisfying matter. Props to James Lorinz as Jeffrey, Joseph Gonzalez as Zorro, & especially Patty Mullen as Elizabeth. Also, I was amused that Shirley Stoller had a small role; she’s a “That Gal” actor who was in everything from Malcolm X to The Deer Hunter.

Girl in the Picture

I'm subscribed to Netflix, at least one documentary will be viewed.

This should be considered standard operating procedure by now. This was put by me in the site's queue awhile back; the specific reasons why are hazy by now. Certainly, there was no foreknowledge of this story; thus, what a surprise it was to witness a dark, dark tale involving:

Murders
Abductions
Abuse, including sexual
Aliases
Bad events happening to children

I'll be vague for those that want to check this out fresh like I did, somehow avoiding the hype when this released four years ago. The opening is a young woman named Tonya Hughes passing away in Oklahoma in 1990. There is much more to the story after that; all I'll reveal is that this blonde lady was smart and generous, making many friends along the way, and they were interviewed to express this opinion. She had an impact on a number of lives, making her ultimate fate all the more tragic. One man you'll despise-for good reason-as he committed vile acts for decades. Thankfully this monster is now deceased, passing away after the release of Girl in the Picture.

As harrowing as this journey is for the viewer and as many times as you'll say “WTF?” through the duration, nice people are interviewed throughout... from friends and family to law enforcement determined to solve the mysteries (yes, more than one) surrounding this sordid case. That helped make this a worthwhile trip to take, one which isn't punishing or seems like an endurance test.

Skye Borgman has made several popular documentaries for Netflix; I was delighted to have finally viewed one. Her niche is “WTF documentaries,” at least judged by the plot synopsis of the others.

The First Deadly Sin

The First Deadly Sin (1980)

Runtime: 112 minutes

Directed by: Brian G. Hutton

Starring: Frank Sinatra, Faye Dunaway, David Dukes, George Coe, Brenda Vaccaro

From: Artanis Productions, Inc./Filmways Productions

The First Deadly Sin is a Christmas movie.

I’ve known of this motion picture for years; when it recently played on Turner Classic Movies, a DVR recording was made. Frank Sinatra (in his final starring role) in a crime thriller where he is nearing retirement and investigates what he believes is a serial killer… “color me intrigued” was my opinion all those years.

Now, I can say the film is fine; it’s not the best police procedural of its era-and heck, Sinatra’s 1968 movie where he portrays a similar character (The Detective) is better yet was still interesting. He’s a Sergeant a few weeks from retirement, which usually portends doom in entertainment. The viewer knows who the killer is immediately-we get to see the lead do the standard groundwork to crack the case, despite the protests of his new A-hole boss. I know how some feel about cops in general-I’m sure you’ll question how Ol’ Blue Eyes doesn’t follow the rules, bribes Joe Spinell to enter a suspect’s apartment, & uses civilians instead of his colleagues to do the groundwork in determining the murder weapon (which is on the poster but I won’t reveal here as the ID of the weapon is a subplot) and whittling down the list of suspects.

Yet, it’s not a character you hate; no one believes there is a serial killer due to his moving around different boroughs in New York City-necessitating this lone wolf quest-he has a loving wife in Faye Dunaway, has a tuxedo cat named Rocky, and who doesn’t want to see a crazed serial killer be stopped? We don’t know much about David Dukes as the villain except that I was reminded of Patrick Bateman, only on a surface level as the bad guy has a nice job & nicer apartment but is mentally ill but can hide it or no one notices he is troubled.

Seeing Sinatra in a film like this-where the opening is straight out of a horror film-was wild. He was swell as the weary, weathered cop who wants to solve this case before he retires. Faye Dunaway as the wife… I won’t say the role is thankless as they do have a nice, caring relationship but she is bedridden w/ illness the entire picture. The cast is fine; Anthony Zerbe has a one scene cameo & other faces I knew (sometimes “That Guy” actors) included Brenda Vaccaro, Jeffrey DeMunn, George Coe, Martin Gabel and James Whitmore, he playing the typical coroner w/ a pitch-black sense of humor. 

Yes, I also knew for ages that Bruce Willis appeared for a second; it’s in the third act, as Frankie leaves a restaurant-Bruce is walking in but much of his face is obscured by a hat so you’ll miss him unless you know this detail.

This is another film featuring a methodical pace which naturally won’t appeal to everyone. However, I enjoyed this downbeat flick directed by Brian G. Hutton, his first film in 7 years. This project was in development for a long while. In fact, the original director was… Polanski. However, his legal problems and subsequent fleeing of the United States happened so that had to change. Only speaking of him as a director and not a person, who knows how different this movie would have been. As is, Hutton did a good job here.

Saw

Saw (2004)

Runtime: 103 minutes

Directed by: James Wan

Starring: Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover, Ken Leung, Tobin Bell

From: Twisted Pictures 

I don’t have to ask-everyone will be APPALLED I had never seen any Saw film until this last night on Netflix. Oh yeah, I’m subscribed again, just for the upcoming month—a few movies will be watched on that platform. This is leaving the platform two weekends from now and considering the recent news, it was nice to see Danny Glover in something. After finally checking out the OG, I don’t want to see any of the sequels (which from cultural osmosis I know double down on things I do NOT like in horror) but at least the original was a pretty good time, occasional goofy moments and gross details aside.

Even more so than elevated horror, what was pejoratively called “torture porn” at the time was way too off-putting for my tastes. No hate on people who love that gruesome form of entertainment-I know how popular this franchise has been since 2004. Props then to James Wan and Leigh Whannell, who were Australians that had a unique, bold idea, went to Hollywood, and worked hard to create an unexpected hit, launching both their careers.

By now, I’m sure I don’t need to explain how Whannell and Cary Elwes wake up trapped in a gross room, or how Glover investigates The Jigsaw Killer, or why Jigsaw plays his games. Some moments were hilariously dated to the early 2000’s; aside from that and some story quibbles, otherwise I had a pretty good time with Saw. The nonlinear story plus seeing two strangers attempt to escape that gross room despite all odds by working together despite their frequent squabbles, along with never having the surprise ending spoiled during the preceding 22 years… those were the highlights. There are nice suspense scenes, along with horror moments and a few gross-out bits.

It was also nice seeing a quality performance from Danny Glover as a police officer whose obsession burns ever-brighter due to events that occurred. Those that missed the news, several days ago he made it public that for awhile now, he’s suffered w/ Alzheimer’s. Many people have been touched by someone afflicted w/ that awful disease—unfortunately, my late grandfather was one of them. What a miserable last few years for him before passing away in ’09. 

On a lighter note, while I’m not interested in the subgenre it spawned-where the focus was on vile things happening to innocent people in traps apparently funded by Elon Musk, they were so elaborate & presumably expensive to build… this and Paranormal Activity were the most influential horror films in the first decade of the 2000’s, at least in the West. It was a relief then that Saw was a movie I did enjoy; as mentioned by me too often, a popular movie should have been tackled by me long ago. This picture is more than just a memorable villain and several clips that I knew from cultural osmosis for many years.

 

Independence

A short (from JOHN HUSTON!) made for the National Park Service to celebrate the Bicentennial featuring Eli Wallach as Benjamin Franklin is one way to celebrate America’s semiquincentennial. I did not know of Independence’s existence until a mutual reviewed it a few days ago. 

There was no film I wanted to visit or revisit; to be frank, July 4th does not seem like a big deal for me as such a momentous anniversary should. Is it me? Is it because of how the United States has been in recent years, or is it other factors? Heck if I know, but at least I can mention this curio, made for visitors of Philadelphia’s Independence National Historic Park, an area which hosts various landmarks from the beginning of the United States as a country, including Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. 

This is as dry and clinical as you’d expect given the platform it was meant for. Those that don’t care for history and/or know little if anything about the early days of the United States as a country, this likely won’t be of interest for you. However, as I am that sort of nerd, I was interested even if none of the information presented was new to me.

What a cast this has:

*William Atherton as Benjamin Rush
* The late James Tolkan-wearing a wig-as Thomas Paine
* Ken Howard as Thomas Jefferson. While I’ve never seen 1776, it is known by me he played him in that as well
* Pat Hingle as John Adams
* Eli Wallach as Benjamin Franklin
* Wallach’s wife Anne Jackson is here too, as Abigail Adams
* And E.G. Marshall was the narrator

This was produced w/ the aid of 20th Century Fox! If that isn’t a surprise, knowing why the cinematography looked so good will. This was shot by none other than Owen Roizman-yes, the cinematographer for The Exorcist, Network, and The French Connection, among other famous films still known today. 

Today, nothing special will be done. Staying at home viewing the fireworks on TV is fine by me; nothing will compare to the memories of viewing them as a kid w/ my family anyhow.

One thing I could do is decide which John Huston movies I should check out in the future. Many of his most famous efforts have been tackled already but there should be some more worthy of checking out.