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.

Joe Besser's First Three Shorts

Hoofs and Goofs: 

(Short # 175 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges) 

A TALKING HORSE is how the Joe Besser era began. Besser was a veteran of vaudeville himself before appearing in various shorts, radio programs, and feature films for years; as he was already under contract with Columbia at the time, that was a large reason why he was selected. Now, his persona was best described as “whiny” and “cowardly” so that is in contrast w/ Curly & Shemp. It can be argued whether he was the best fit for this trio, especially over his concerns w/ being on the brunt end of slapstick violence. I’ve only seen a few of the final 16 shorts. Their general reputation is rather poor but I saw one I thought was “good” at the time—my opinions will be fair.

I am fair here in noting that this was not good. Joe is upset that their sister Birdie (Moe dressed as a woman) has been dead “for over a year” as he reads a book on reincarnation. Well, Moe pranks Joe and proclaims that Birdie will appear later in the day on the street. I’m not quite sure how that’ll cure Joe but wouldn’t you know it, Birdie is found on the street that afternoon, reincarnated as a talking horse! She doesn’t want to return to their apartment as she’s in love with another horse (this is actually SEQUEL BAIT. I’ll explain at the end and no this is not a joke)-she’s dragged away anyway.

There’s a few moments that made me chuckle but it’s all just so absurd. The main “joke” is a full-sized horse in an apartment set, her stomping about drawing the attention of a massive Jewish stereotype landlord. It feels tired, like a horse about ready for the glue factory. Bath salts appear in one scene as Birdie is washed in a bathtub. This at times made me feel like I was on the illegal drugs known as bath salts! This includes when Birdie apropos out of nowhere reveals that she’s pregnant, about ready to birth a foal. The horse also lays on a bed at one point. I can’t really blame Mr. Besser for the flaws in Hoofs and Goofs. Note that if you view this on Prime, the description for Goofs spoils a big reveal! Not that this is something to get too upset over. More worthy of condemnation: Moe’s stand-in during the final scene—they hope you won’t notice that it looks nothing like Moe Howard.

It wasn’t a gag when I proclaimed that Hoofs and Goofs received a sequel-that was odd given how Goofs ended but Horsing Around (a few shorts away from now) is worse-most say it’s one of the worst they ever did. That HAS been viewed before and yes, it won’t be long before it’s explained why that smells like horse droppings.

Muscle Up a Little Closer: 

(Short # 176 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges) 

Moe and Larry have “normal” hair here; that just doesn’t seem right. As lore says, this was a “suggestion” made by Joe Besser… the idea is that they should be mature. Yes, THE THREE STOOGES, mature. I’ve also heard that Besser enjoyed his time in this universe, but maybe he didn’t understand the appeal of the Stooges. The new hair only occasionally appears during these last shorts.

This was better than Joe’s first effort, Hoofs and Goofs. The trio are all wishing to propose to their ladies. However, the inherited engagement ring Joe was to give to his gal Tiny (Maxine Gates; of course, a large lady who is stronger than any of the Stooges) was stolen. They only briefly look for the ring; a dude named Elmo is suspected of the theft at their gym… of course he was the culprit. Instead, plenty of time is spent at their place of employment, “Seabiscuit Food Corp.” The usual antics occurred there. 

The apparent main plot of “looking for the ring” felt minor as most of the focus wasn’t on that aspect. There were new and old gags, which I guess were OK overall—there were some chuckles. However, “average” is as good a rating as I can give to Muscle. These end days at Columbia were not great for Moe & Larry… the official poster for this short misidentified Moe as Shemp.

A Merry Mix-Up: 

(Short # 177 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges) 

I had to post a Stooge review today; this is because October 5 is the birthday of Louis Feinberg, i.e. Larry Fine. The subtle middleman to Moe and whomever was in the role of the third Stooge, his contributions to the trio should not be underplayed nor ignored. This isn’t the best short they ever did by any means, but at least there’s Larry in triplicate, along w/ Moe & Joe. 

That’s right, the gimmick of A Merry Mix-Up is that Moe, Larry, & Joe are all one of a trio of identical triplets, and the 9 in total unexpectedly meet each other at a restaurant. A narrator throughout explains the scenario; one set are womanizers, the second are married, and the third are engaged. In fact, mix-ups occur in the final 2/3 of the short when both the three married women and the three fiancées show up at the same restaurant where Moe, Larry, & Joe are at.

The sextet of women (Suzanne Ridgeway, Harriette Tarler, Nanette Bordeaux, Ruth Godfrey, Jeanne Carmen, & Diana Darrin) are all amusing in their roles, as was Frank Sully as both the narrator and the exasperated waiter at the restaurant who is endlessly confused. While not top-tier among the 190 shorts they did at Columbia, this probably will be seen by me as one of the best in the brief Joe Besser era. He was fine whether he was Joe, Jack, or Jeff. There were laughs that included updated versions of old bits from the past, such as them being chased by a foe.

The 50’s effects that made this scenario possible (photography tricks and doubles) were fine as long as you don’t pause at certain points. The last shot was all 9 together, done via a matte effect. Director Jules White thought Larry in the wrong spot; after strenuous arguing, Larry remained in his spot… turned out, Mr. Fine was correct and thousands didn’t have to be spend to do it again.

Earlier in the day I did revisit some classic Stooge shorts via a livestream. As a new review, it’s a blessing that A Merry Mix-Up wasn’t putrid. Happy Birthday to Larry Fine.

 

The Last Shemp Short (Released), + The Fake Shemp Shorts

For Crimin' Out Loud: 

(Short # 170 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges) 

This is it: the last new footage I’ll see of Shemp as a Stooge. What a career he had: he and his brother Moe worked w/ and w/o Ted Healy in vaudeville in the 20’s-Larry joined in ’28. He left the allegedly abusive Healy in ’32 and had a decent career solo in film until he and Moe’s brother Curly passed. Originally a temporary move, he stayed with them until he died via heart attack on November, 22, 1955 at the age of 60. What a trio those Horwitz brothers were in show business; all three are still beloved today. Shemp is entertaining in a different way than his brother Curly.

Crimin’ is a remake of 1949’s Who Done It? That is one of the best of the Shemp era. The first five minutes are all-new. “The Stooges do the 50’s version of forensics” is a phrase I never thought would be written but it’s true. The usual hijinks occur but it’s still nice to see the trio one last time; then, we get the rest of Who Done It?; it’s framed this time as Emil Sitka’s Mr. Goodrich is a councilman who was kidnapped by The Phantom Gang, including Christine McIntyre as the femme fatale and Duke York as Nikko, a scary-looking giant goon.

To copy and paste from the review of Who Done It?: 

“The Stooges beat each other up even more than usual, there is an onslaught of puns, they spoof the trope of scary houses having false panels in walls and hiding behind paintings... there was what TV Tropes refers to as the “Poisoned Chalice Switcheroo.” McIntyre poisons a drink and offers it to Shemp; they distract each other and switch the drinks several times, w/ Christine faking a switch on one occasion. It’s a more common trope than I realized; it’s not just The Princess Bride that has played with the trope.

There is no shortage of great moments; not even Moe injuring his ankle stopped the shoot. It’s obvious in the final few minutes but I guess the short must go on.” 

By remake standards, this was swell; Shemp will be missed. Next time, the start of the four Fake Shemp shorts-why it happened and why they all have a poor reputation.

Rumpus in the Harem: 

(Short # 171 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges) 

This is the first of the four Fake Shemp shorts the Stooges did before the brief Joe Besser era ended the long run they had at Columbia. They were required to fulfill a contract and provide four more efforts, nevermind Shemp having the temerity to unexpectedly drop dead via heart attack… that's the cold-hearted take Columbia must have had. I’ll explain the Fake Shemp term for those unaware at the end but for now, the short that remade Malice in the Palace, one of the four public domain Stooges out there & related to them in the Middle East.

They had a stand-in for Shemp—longtime supporting player Joe Palma. In the new scenes, it’s all Shemp not there, or it’s Fake Shemp’s back. Honestly, how insulting; it’s all so obvious. In Rumpus, there’s the new storyline that they need the Rootin-Tootin Diamond, else their girls will be sold into slavery to pay off a McGuffin debt not worth explaining here. This does have Malice’s most memorable (and morbidly funny) scene: everyone else thinking Larry slaughtered a cat & dog then served it as food. 

Not that there aren’t some chuckles in the new scenes, but the old footage isn’t always used well to tell a cohesive tale (more than once, things suddenly happen & it'll be odd if you don’t remember or have seen Malice before) and there’s no need to see this instead of the original… unless you want to laugh at Palma as Fake Shemp attempting imitate Shemp yelling a line; it was far from convincing, to say the least. The fact that they obviously used lines from earlier shorts said by Shemp in an attempt to make it appear not so phony—I shouldn’t complain due to the example just listed by me.

As for the term Fake Shemp, of course some will know it’s from Stooge fan Sam Raimi. He first used the term for the stand-ins used during the long, arduous shoot of The Evil Dead. Since then, the term has been used in a loving sense for either stand-ins or bit players.

Fuelin' Around: 

(Short # 172 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges) 

To start off… I just realized now that I made an embarrassing mistake in my review for Fuelin’ Around, the short that Hot Stuff remade. While re-reading that, I realized that additional unneeded text was accidentally present. That’s now been taken out of that review; boy, do I feel like a Stooge now! 2025 has just been an odd, off-kilter year for me as I might elaborate upon sometime in the future.

I would have rated Hot Stuff higher—if not for the ghoulish nature of this being a Fake Shemp short. The new footage either shows Joe Palma as Shemp from the back or in the opening, wearing a fake beard as a disguise to match his cohorts. They found ways to separate him from Moe & Larry doing routines with each other. At least there’s only two more of these to go until the Joe Besser era begins.

This new scenario has the trio as spies working for the country of Urania (no kidding, they have a newspaper known as THE DAILY BLADDER; that did make me laugh) who are undercover as carpet layers-instead of them being solely carpet layers as they were in the original-in the house of a Dr. Sneed, as portrayed by Emil Sitka. Spies from Anemia confuse Larry for Sitka, the trio are kidnapped, and the usual hijinks occur.

The new footage is fine (Moe and Larry engage in sexual harassment by forcing themselves onto secretaries-before you cancel them, at least the women punish them for being such cads) but as I’ve said ad nauseum by this point, the original is preferable.

Scheming Schemers: 

(Short # 173 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges) 

A lot happens with this short. It is a remake of 1949’s Vagabond Loafers, the Shemp plumbing entry which itself used stock footage of the all-time classic A Plumbing We Will Go, one of the best that Curly ever did. In addition, there’s a random pie fight (which IMO doesn’t really fit with the rest of the short) which has some new material but also uses some bits from 1947’s Half-Wits Holiday, i.e. the last short Curly starred in. Mix in some dubbed lines to try and tie in all this footage, and a lot happens.

A shame that I didn’t like it better and not everything ties together in a logical fashion. As before, “plumbing” is the blue-collar job they have now. This time, they are called to retrieve a ring dropped down the drain. The new footage involving that did make me laugh, although it was obvious that Shemp wasn’t around. Incidentally, Fake Shemp wasn’t even seen except for a few moments. There’s still the subplot of an expensive painting being stolen during a soiree being held at the same time.

This is kind of a mess, which is a shame as there are chuckles throughout. Stooge fans believe this is the best of the four Fake Shemp shorts, which to be frank is like being the nicest person in prison! One moment late is one that some Stooge fans object to. Moe and Larry are together and they ask where Shemp is. He’s upstairs in a bathroom; the other two realize this so… they look up to the heavens. Yep, I can understand why some may feel that is insensitive at best. Who knows how they felt about that moment.

Commotion on the Ocean: 

(Short # 174 in Nyuk Nyuk Nyuk: The Columbia Shorts of The Three Stooges) 

The last Fake Shemp short, the last time Shemp was in any Columbia short, and there’s only 16 more of these until the long run the Stooges had at Columbia came to an end. The short Joe Besser era is not beloved by most Stooge fans but I’ll discuss that in a few days when I do another one of these.

This entry uses plenty of footage from 1949’s Dunked in the Deep; that has the trio as neighbors for a spy known as Borscht; to copy and paste from that review: 

“He hides microfilm of “government documents” in… watermelons. The Stooges are his neighbor; as they were victims of circumstances, they ended up stowaways on the same aquatic vessel, a shipping frigate, to be exact. Believe it or not, the watermelons conceit was a relevant reference. Those familiar w/ Alger Hiss (who worked for the American government but was accused of being a Soviet spy… the validity of those charges have never been proven or disproven), it’d take way too long to explain here but rolls of 35mm film were found in a hollowed-out pumpkin on his farm, purportedly to send to the Soviet Union.”

In Commotion, the trio are janitors who work at a newspaper office. They receive a call about the microfilm; that footage is taken from 1948’s Crime on Their Hands… the way Joe Palma as Fake Shemp OBVIOUSLY hid his face was so goofy that at least made me laugh. The other new moments, Shemp’s absence was obvious. The big new moment involved Moe, Larry and Borscht eating a taxidermized fish via contrivances & it was a lesser version of gags they used before.

The editing to tie all those moments together wasn’t bad; thus, I can’t get too mad at Commotion. At the same time, for all the faults that the Besser era has, at least except for a few moments, those shorts will be all-new. More than one will be bad but at least the stock footage is a thing of the past and I will have more to discuss.

Deranged

Deranged (1974)

Runtime: 84 minutes

Directed by: Jeff Gillen/Alan Ormsby

Starring: Roberts Blossom, Cosette Lee, Leslie Carlson, Robert Warner, Micki Moore

From: AIP

Yes, the release of Monster: The Ed Gein Story made it obvious that Deranged should finally be viewed then reviewed. I’m happy to avoid everything involving Ryan Murphy but a picture loosely based on Gein’s life is always in the cards. That includes one w/ involvement from Alan Ormsby and Bob Clark, and one with quite the performance from Roberts Blossom; as others have noted, perhaps this role was why he was cast as Old Man Marley in Home Alone.

The film is an oddity: a newspaper columnist character provides occasional diegetic narration as Ezra Cobb is followed. The story is similar to Gein: his mother was a religious fanatic who taught him to abhor every other woman. She dies, Ezra/Ed loses his mind, digs her up, brings her home, dug up other graves, killed women, etc.

The corpse in the room is that Deranged is also a rather dark comedy; I was concerned beforehand if it was in good taste to tell the Ed Gein story that way. I’m still conflicted—that said, laughter was still had. Gein can be seen as a pitiful figure-dominated by his mother even after her death, so plum crazy that he sliced off human skin to use as lampshades, slicing off faces to create masks, bowls out of human skulls, etc. The question of if you should be amused by a plot based on a real-life lunatic can be debated. I was amused by Ezra Cobb and how he (for example) called someone else crazy… as he was talking to his mother’s corpse. However, I shouldn’t worry too hard if I can laugh at other horror-comedies, even ones rather morbid.

My misgivings aside, this was well-made despite its low-budget. To be frank, the grubby, grimy feeling emblematic of 70’s low-budget movies was an asset w/ Deranged. That and the rural, snowy setting made the film just feel, well… deranged. However, its Blossom as Ezra who was the key in my giving the movie a high rating. He looked out of his gourd the entire time, the performance viciously effective. The direction and musical score are further assets. Deranged does have some scary moments along with the general feeling of dread and morbid humor. There’s even effects from Tom Savini, at the start of his career.

A movie like this won’t be for all tastes. However, for some it’ll be a gem. What a legacy Gein left behind: the inspiration for Psycho and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, one of the inspirations for The Silence of the Lambs. To make blind judgments, Monster: The Ed Gein Story will be far less imaginative and bold than Deranged.

 

Friday the 13th Part III... in 3D!

This was a cinematic Holy Grail for me! No, not viewing the movie-that’s happened more than a few times, both in 2D and 3D at home via using those anaglyph glasses for the latter experience. Rather, it was getting to see this movie theatrically in actual 3D—I’ve heard for years that is a much superior to the red/blue lens experience. Never did I think that Regal Cinemas would bring the film for one day and present it in Real 3D as part of a month where they play 31 horror films from the past, but more on that at the end.

I was VERY happy when I read the news on Twitter; ever since, I was counting down the days until the screening. It was worth the wait; not just for how gratuitous the film is at shoving crap at the screen, although that will forever be hysterical. The crowd in attendance did giggle at the most egregious moments involving the third dimension, especially the yo-yo bit. When the movie became more serious, the audience reacted in kind-they weren’t mocking it due to its age or it seeming “dated” by modern horror standards.

This third installment I’ve always had a soft spot for, starting way back during the VHS days of the 90’s. It’s a standard slasher story set in the woods and the characters are stereotypical young adults (except for the stoner couple who look to be in their 30’s) but it will always amuse me. The music and those effects were grand on such a stage. The DISCO theme and the credits popping out of the screen alone made me excited. I now better appreciate the violin-driven score from Harry Manfredini-traditional aside from the collaboration w/ disco musician Michael Zager during the opening/end credits.

There’s also memorable kills-even the ones where the effects are obvious. Who doesn’t love an eyeball out of the skull via a head squeeze, or a harpoon from a spear gun shot at you? Shelly is the most distinctive-if not always likable-character. He’s a chubby awkward nerd who sadly has some incel moments but is the source of Jason’s hockey mask. To copy and paste from the first review of this movie, done almost a decade ago:

“There are some other moments that make me laugh, such as a “biker gang” that only has three members, a girl randomly stating that she's pregnant and it's never brought up again or means anything for the plot, and the final girl driving a stereotypical 70's van. It makes up for some things not making sense. Whether in 2D or 3D, it's a movie I'll always like.”

My opinion still holds after the theatrical experience I hoped for years finally occurred.

As for Regal Cinemas and their 31 Screams on Screen, what a wide variety for the potential customer. Several Universal Horror classics (including the 3D version of Creature from the Black Lagoon), Event Horizon, Prince of Darkness, The Witch (or The VVitch, if you prefer), Demon Knight, Silver Bullet-of all King adaptations… a thankfully diverse and eclectic mix, it is. The idea is to experience their 31 Screams on Screen one more time this month-if not more than once.

The Monster of Blackwood Castle

The Monster of Blackwood Castle (Der Hund Von Blackwood Castle) (1968)

Runtime: 92 minutes

Directed by: Alfred Vohrer

Starring: Heinz Drache, Karin Baal, Horst Tappert, Siegfried Schurenberg, Agnes Windeck

From: Rialto Film

I’ve reviewed the West German krimi movies before, whether or not they were during past Spooky Seasons; however, one wasn’t seen last fall so now seemed like a swell time for the first one I’ve ever seen from the late 60’s… and one where it was based on an Edgar Wallace short story (as most of them were) along with The Hound of the Baskervilles.

What an opening: in a forest enveloped w/ a choking fog, a random man is walking when he hears a howling dog then is chased by a Doberman, whom then attacks. Then, a hilarious opening credits song (in English) sung by someone apparently doing a Screamin’ Jay Hawkins impression. Hopefully he didn’t sire a few dozen children like Hawkins did! The score was thankfully groovy throughout. The estranged daughter of a rich dude inherits the nominal castle. It’s the appropriate creepy affair; during her first night, Jane carries around a candelabra and witnessed macabre events during a dark & stormy night. This includes snakes, an unexpected theme this Spooky Season.

The Hound of Blackwood Castle (replace “Hound” w/ “Monster,” “Strangler,” “Horror,” and probably a few other words… and that’s just the film’s English titles) presents a huge panoply of characters-they’re all juggled successfully and the viewer should pay attention-not that the movie is overly complex or impenetrable. There is a simple explanation for why many people arrive at Blackwood Castle; even with no shortage of plot twists, the movie is not difficult to comprehend. A little improbable, perhaps… but not difficult, and a lot of fun. To be frank, that describes most krimi movies.

There’s humor, which usually lands; that blends well with the mystery aspect-that’s stronger than the horror vibes, despite the spooky elements. The forests, the Gothic sets, the macabre moments, wacky characters (especially the proprietors of the inn and the regulars at the attached pub)… nice for this time of year. Whatever you call this motion picture, it was pretty good.

Matango

Matango (1963)

Runtime: 89 minutes

Directed by: Ishiro Honda

Starring: Many people who were in various Godzilla films

From: Toho

By now I’ve witnessed plenty of movies from Ishiro Honda-either Godzilla and other kaiju pictures or science fiction adventures involving aliens. Matango was something I’ve known of for years as being a different sort of picture from him, one in the horror genre yet the specific details I thankfully had little foreknowledge of beforehand.

A group of people (both rich & poor, not always getting along w/ each other from the jump) are on a yacht, when they foolishly stayed out too long, a massive storm hits, they’re left adrift, they wash up on a tropical island, they find a shipwreck-which looked stunning, inside & out-covered in mold, they don’t have much food, the dissention intensifies, then deep in the third act, the body horror begins…

Matango is a darker, moodier, and more psychological film than you’d expect from the director if you only know him for the Gojira pictures. I won’t reveal much more for those wishing to go in relatively blind; the film says plenty about humanity and their attempts to survive a crisis. Even I thought the pacing was methodical; be that as it may, I was still interested as the plot slowly unfurled in an atmosphere thick w/ growing tension and desperation.

IMO, the final act and the creepy scenes (effective both aurally & visually) made the journey worthwhile. Me, it was a gas seeing many familiar faces-each made multiple appearances in Godzilla movies-in a serious film w/ a haunting ending. It will be one of the more interesting films I watch during Spooky Season 2025. If my endorsement isn’t enough and you discount the similarities w/ a certain game franchise turned TV show, none other than Nic Cage, Carpenter and Soderbergh are fans.

28 Weeks Later

28 Weeks Later (2007)

Runtime: 100 minutes

Directed by: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

Starring: Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, Imogen Poots, Mackintosh Middleton

From: Fox Atomic

A movie I still liked, despite its flaws. Late August I finally viewed 28 Days Later, 22 years later than I should have. Late in October will be a review of 28 Years Later, which at least is better reviewed on Letterboxd than Weeks. Of course, this is filmed conventionally rather than the Canon XL-1 cameras that gave a fuzzy aesthetic to Days.

As most have likely tackled the film before I did, a breakdown of the plot and how NATO attempts to rebuild the UK after the rage virus is believed to be eradicated is not necessary. As there’s the sequel released a few months ago & the trailers were viewed often at the cinema, I knew the virus wasn’t gone so things turned sour. Turns out, the United States military were painted as the villains—insert your own comments if you wish.

There are some major plot contrivances, stupid character motivations and a plot simpler than the original, filmed w/ too much shaky-cam. Despite those demerits, I can’t be too upset w/ 28 Weeks Later merely being “fine”; it’s not “catastrophe” or “calamity.” It was nice seeing future famous faces Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, Imogen Poots, and Idris Elba; it was also nice seeing Danny Boyle collaborator Robert Carlyle. There’s also some decent scares after the opening along w/ memorable moments… iffy CG aside. As I carp about often, to its credit, Weeks wasn’t simply a Xerox copy of Days.

As everyone has noted, the opening scene is the highlight of the film-the rest of the picture couldn’t match the introduction. It introduced arguably the two most important characters & presented action which doesn’t return for a long while due to the introduction then presentation of the plot. The opening + the John Murphy score were the highlights of the picture. Those elements plus lowered expectations from 18 years of middling or worse reviews made me not dislike 28 Weeks Later.

My hopes were that they fixed the flaws of Weeks for Years—I’ll soon find out for myself.

Cyber City Oedo 808

This is a 1990 OVA (Original Video Animation) I viewed on Arrow's streaming site: 

Viewing an OVA during Spooky Season is new to me; heck, I’d never seen an OVA period until last night. Adult anime is still a blind spot for me, despite viewing such work as Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Perfect Blue, Vampire Hunter D, and Wicked City. Recently, Arrow’s streaming site added some anime, including OVA’s. Note that they’re the original Japanese versions and NOT any dubs. Other reviews inform me that the English dub for Oedo was incredibly vulgar-the original language thankfully isn’t.

A Google search told me this was likely up my alley—and it was. Of course, I laugh that the setting of its universe is 2808 Tokyo… excuse me, “Oedo” yet the vehicles and tech are futuristic versions of 1980’s products. But that’s part of the tech noir charm it has. Yes, tech noir is a generally accepted term for films like Blade Runner. That and the cyberpunk vibes are strong w/ Cyber City.

Through three episodes, we see a trio of criminals become anti-heroes as they are freed from prison to work for law enforcement… w/ explosive collars around their necks. No, I don’t know if Suicide Squad stole that idea from here or it’s the other way around. They catch criminals & solve crimes to reduce their sentences. As each are jailed for hundreds of years—they might as well be Sisyphus. However, it’s more fun than prison in space. Songoku is a standard cool 80’s dude in a red leather jacket, Gogul looks from the neck-up like Vernon Wells in The Road Warrior, and Benten resembles an 80’s rocker chick… albeit androgynous.

There are three episodes, each a little more than 40 minutes in length-one character is spotlighted per episode. While the first and more so the third have horror plot points rather than have a strong focus on the genre, I was happy to have viewed an OVA w/ awesome animation (the various hues of blues representing Oedo at night alone was stunning), a quality 80’s score, the vibes, the AI and other tech that assist our antiheroes, the aesthetic, the City Pop songs… viewing anime more often might not ever become a thing for me, but those I do seek out, I prefer to be like this. It is a disappointment that there weren’t further adventures of this wild trio, at least not on screen.

Concerning director Yoshiaki Kawajiri, I enjoyed both this and Wicked City. In October the plan is to see at least one horror anime-more specifically, one from Kawajiri.

The People Under the Stairs

The People Under the Stairs (1991)

Runtime: 103 minutes

Directed by: Wes Craven

Starring: Brandon Adams, Everett McGill, Wendy Robie, A.J. Langer, Ving Rhames

From: Universal 

I had an unintended Ving Rhames doubleheader. Shortly after viewing Piranha 3D on Prime Friday night, this played on the Universal Monsters streaming channel-I hadn’t tackled People before so it featuring Rhames in a prominent role was a surprise. Besides the opportunity to see a Wes Craven joint new to me, I’m always down for seeing a Black-centered horror film. After viewing, I really missed out on not giving this bizarre picture a chance much sooner. My apologies to Wes Craven—not everything I’ve seen has been loved but most ranged from OK to very good.

This horror-comedy is also a satire; gentrification and capitalism is skewered as a couple (Everett McGill & Wendy Robie, cast as a REALLY weird couple as they were a couple-presumably weird-in Twin Peaks) are A-hole white landlords who attempt to price out poor Black-dominated apartments so they can be bulldozed for white businesses. Our lead is a 13-year-old Black male nicknamed Fool. As his mom has cancer, Leroy (Rhames) brings pal Spenser and Fool along to burglarize the house of a large stash of coins. It goes awry…

Production design deserves credit; what dingy, macabre digs our villains have—dirty, retro furniture, yet containing then-modern tech to keep the titular people under the stairs. Of course I won’t spoil who those people are except that I was with this film despite its most outlandish moments or plot twists. McGill and Robie were unforgettable as the villains-what an unusual dynamic they had w/ each other. Brandon Adams as Fool did a swell job as a teen who was believable in such a scenario and was easy to root for. So was A.J. Langer as Alice, the most normal person in that house of horrors—a key theme is not knowing what lies behind closed doors.

Stairs was a wild ride which delivered a not-so-subtle message but did so in a fun manner while delivering satirical barbs against its targets-a message that sadly hasn’t diminished in importance. Apparently, Jordan Peele noted it as an influence; others reminded me it had to influence Don’t Breathe. Even I noticed the parallels to Barbarian. If it has not been made clear already, many genre fans should give this a shot if they love the director, appreciate social commentary in their horror, like horror-comedies, and/or want to see teenage leads that aren’t unbearable. As I say often, this sort of genre exercise is preferable to much of what we get in modern times.