An Angel for Satan

An Angel for Satan (Un Angelo Per Satana) (1966)

Runtime: 92 minutes

Directed by: Camillo Mastrocinque

Starring: Barbara Steele, Anthony Steffen, Claudio Gora, Mario Brega, Marina Berti

From: Discobolo Film

In this special late-night posting on Letterboxd, I discuss another film watched on the Eternal Family platform; that esoteric service also has a quartet of streaming channels divided by genre. While the channels don’t tell you how far along in the movie or short you are, at least every few minutes, in the bottom right corner the name of the film and year of release are shown-especially critical for a platform full of obscurities.

The film is rather reminiscent of Mario Bava’s Black Sunday, and not solely due to both starring cult favorite Barbara Steele. The scenario of Satan: a sculptor travels to a small Italian village by a lake during the last years of the 19th century. Barbara Steele hires him to restore a statue recently pulled from the lake after 200 years, despite the protests of the superstitious village. Well, they were right in their fears; someone witchy is causing havoc, tearing the town apart. To be fair, some of those people deserved it…

Yes, the movie is not as good as 1960’s Black Sunday. That doesn’t mean it’s not worthwhile, or that you wouldn’t have a good time seeing this as the back half of a double feature w/ Black Sunday during a chilly fall evening, perhaps while drinking chilled or warm apple cider. Ms. Steele was especially bewitching here; the rest of the main/supporting characters are colorful archetypes. It was a delight watching a specter ravage the town & causing so much havoc. The black and white photography was note-perfect for this Gothic tale & all the spooky happenings. Appropriate OOT acting + the atmosphere = a pretty good time.

Again, this film is rather “normal” compared to much of what’s on Eternal Family. By the end of the month, you’ll see what I’m referring to.

Behind the Door

Behind the Door (1919)

Runtime: 70 minutes

Directed by: Irvin Willat

Starring: Hobart Wadsworth, Jane Novak, James Gordon, J.P. Lockney, Wallace Beery

From: Paramount

This was a “superdrama”, indeed. I never know whether to name people I follow on Letterboxd or not; what will be revealed: one recently reviewed this film, described as the “most brutal silent” then another gave a review, also positive. As the restoration is on YouTube (more on that at the end), I couldn’t turn down this curio.

The opening is a gentleman named Oscar Krug, returning to a bucolic little Maine town… in 1925. The viewer discovers he had a taxidermy shop, long-since abandoned. He finds an old handkerchief and sighs wistfully to days of yore; except for the ending, the rest of the film is in flashback to 1917 & 1918. Krug loved a girl named Alice. Despite his status as a nice man who even assists children w/ fixing a sailboat or a doll torn apart, he experiences prejudice as it’s World War I time & he’s of German heritage--the father of Alice does not approve, especially once the United States enters the war. As least we don’t have that sort of behavior now in the States concerning someone born in the country with “a foreign-sounding” name, especially from a country that the United States has heat with…

To be serious again, a xenophobic brawl happens outside the shop, resulting in torn clothes & obvious facial bruising. Oscar gets out of town, enlisting in the Navy. Oscar and Alice secretly wed; the father throws her out. You see, he wants his early 20’s daughter to marry his chosen middle-aged guy instead of the middle-aged Oscar. Yes, unfortunate age gaps like this occurred in cinema even that long ago. Things happen, Oscar meets the evil German submarine captain Wallace Beery-recently, I discovered that this actor, often portraying villains, was likely a villain IRL; you can read his Wiki page and discover the accusations former wife Gloria Swanson made against him.

After a horrifying act, Krug is looking for revenge, and I’ll just say that Norman Bates wasn’t the first taxidermist to stun audiences in a motion picture. We are told what Krug did as an act of revenge; it’d leave audiences flabbergasted for a protagonist to do that NOW in a film. Even w/o the benefit of spoken dialogue, the pure rage from Krug was palpable. The interactions between Krug and the evil Lieutenant Brandt were the highlight. Between that and a woman’s sexual assault, people in 2026 won’t believe this was released by Paramount, but ‘tis true.

This was a compelling 70-minute journey that was restored in 2016 by the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, the Library of Congress, and Russia’s Gosfilmofond; the latter two had different prints that were combined-even then, two scenes had to be represented by stills as no known complete print exists. Be that as it may, the restoration was of high quality. Accompanied by an appropriate score from Stephen Horne, I was happy w/ the restoration and that such a wild silent wasn’t lost to the sands of time. Flicker Alley (a great niche label I’ve mentioned on several occasions in the past) have the movie on Blu if anyone’s interested.

Silent Night (The John Woo Film)

Silent Night (2023)

60% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 125 reviews)

Runtime: 104 minutes

Directed by: John Woo

Starring: Joel Kinnaman, Kid Cudi, Harold Torres, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Yoko Hamamura

From: Lionsgate

A movie finally watched because I was to see it theatrically in December 2023 after returning from my annual sojourn to Kansas… no, that wasn’t when I was violently ill on the airline flight back home, that was in December 2024! Yes, I was ill two Decembers in a row. By the time I recovered in ’23, all the bad reviews were out and there was little motivation to even bother. However, it’s on Peacock-which I’m only subscribed to for the next week-and despite the reviews, it’s still John Woo.

Unfortunately, I will agree with the many that thought “Bah, humbug!” to the film. Many likely know the plot of Joel Kinnaman (w/ the improbable name BRIAN GODLOCK) losing a son to a drive-by shooting and he is shot in the throat while attempting to chase down the perpetrators, resulting in the damage to his vocal chords. Yes, that ruins his life, his relationship w/ Catalina Sandino Moreno ends, and carnage happens as he looks for revenge.

Yes, drive-by shootings are awful, killing innocent lives and many people struggle with the aftermath of tragedy. However, Rolling Thunder this isn’t in terms of revenge-o-matic films. To echo the thoughts of others, the “minimal dialogue overall & the lack of speech from the protagonist” was a hindrance. It was fine for the dissolution of the relationship between the main couple, but bad for the movie overall as it made the movie feel flat and dare I say, boring. It worked as “well” as the silent gimmick did for the lead in Mute—meaning, the gimmick didn’t work.

After the opening that’s made silly in part due to bad CG (a shame a genre legend is forced to use such devices) & some bizarre cinematic decisions-which were present throughout, e.g. the main villain’s lair and the perplexing decision to dance w/ his gal during the final act-it’s not until the second half that the crux of the action appears. It’s fine-not John Wick and not what you’d hope from the director, but the action was fine.

So were the performances; I haven’t seen much of Kinnaman, Kid Cudi, or Moreno, but they did their best with this material. I’m more familiar w/ Cudi’s movies than his music… as unfathomable as this will be to everyone, I couldn’t tell you if I’ve heard ANY of his songs! My not listening to any modern music is no lie or gimmick. Many moons ago I saw Moreno in Maria, Full of Grace; while a downbeat film, one day that needs a second visit & review as there are positive memories of the picture.

A shame that this was his first American movie since 2003’s Paycheck—that wasn’t great either yet at least was a funny, striking sort of bad. The score was good; that nor the action beats are enough for me to ever give Silent Night a recommendation.

Winter Kills

Winter Kills (1979)

Runtime: 97 confounding minutes

Directed by: William Richert

Starring: Jeff Bridges, John Huston, and MANY others, albeit usually in small roles

From: AVCO Embassy

A movie watched because it’s leaving the Criterion Channel at the end of the month, the cast is astounding, and about time I checked out a movie I’ve known about for years. Thus, what a massive letdown this was that I didn’t find this “funny” movie really all the funny or even entertaining. “Off-putting” and “weird” are terms that I’d use, as unpopular as this opinion will be for many.

As suspected, it was “inspired” by the JFK assassination-my opinion on that case will not be discussed in public-there’s a rabbit hole I don’t want to go down nor a hornet’s nest I want to kick. Jeff Bridges is the brother of Not JFK, who was gunned down in Philadelphia on February 22, 1960 (if I’d known, the movie would have been reviewed last weekend). He learns from Joe Spinell-on his deathbed-that a second shooter killed Not JFK. Considering the cast and that the film was purported to be a comedic satire, my two main takeaways shouldn’t have been “Wow, was this weird & off-putting” and “You know, Belinda Bauer is a pretty gal.” That second point sounds like I’m a degenerate considering she had a scene of loud sex w/ Bridges then went full frontal nudity at one point. However, if you’re a degenerate who ever wanted to see an old John Huston wear a pair of bright red briefs… you’re in luck!

It's a shame I didn’t enjoy the bizarre story and didn’t laugh at most of the “humor” in a movie w/ (among others) Bridges, Bauer, Spinell, Huston, Toshiro Mifune-albeit for one scene, and what a pointless scene it was-Tomas Milian, Eli Wallach, Ralph Meeker, Sterling Hayden, and even Elizabeth Taylor for a minute. I’m glad most of you got more or even far more out of this farce than I did. To be fair, there’s an interesting score from Maurice Jarre & as the cinematography was from Vilmos Zsigmond so it looked great & featured a few stunning landscape shots.

The movie can be rented from Amazon or viewed on Tubi-as of course Tubi has the film. Hopefully any future viewer can better connect w/ Winter Kills than I did. There were some amusing moments-you probably won’t agree that a great moment was seeing Bridges drive a bright yellow Ford Pinto-so I can’t give the film a rotten rating-I was just disappointed overall. It’s the sort of movie where the troubled making-of sounds more interesting than the finished product and is worthy of a deep dive by me. Among other details, they ran out of money more than once, and the producers were drug dealers where one was murdered and the other went to prison for 40 years! Most evidently weren’t paid their full salary; Ms. Taylor was the smart one who asked for her $100,000 up-front for her cameo.

The Devonsville Terror

The Devonsville Terror (1983)

Runtime: 83 minutes

Directed by: Ulli Lommel

Starring: Suzanna Love, Robert Walker, Jr., Donald Pleasence, Paul Willson, Mary Walden

From: New West Films

Wake up chat, a new streaming service just dropped… well, rather, a great service was discovered by me via an ad on Instagram, of all places. Somehow, I had never heard of Eternal Family, a platform devoted to a cornucopia of film oddities & obscurities, meaning it is perfect for my esoteric tastes. Its name is a little curious but just a cursory glance at its catalogue & its availability as a Roku app made joining the easiest decision of the month. There are films FAR more obscure than this Ulli Lommel picture available but Devonsville will give me plenty to discuss.

The film will seem modern today; it presents men (both from 1683 and 1983) as terrible. In the 17th century, an event analogous to the Salem Witch Trials occurs. Women were killed due to hysteria-one was accused of being a witch. A curse placed on the town has existed ever since. In the 20th century, a trio of new women arrive in town, including Jenny-the director’s then-wife, Suzanna Love, sporting a short, dyed hairdo that presumably would rile up a small, conservative town, at least in 1983.

Well, the descendants of the past don’t like that the new women are “liberated.” In both time periods, the males are awful pigs so I am confident that everyone (especially those that identify as female) will be quite delighted when the dumb 1980’s males are punished. At least the characters portrayed by Robert Walker, Jr. (he looked a lot like his dad) and Donald Pleasence weren’t vile… well, perhaps Ol’ Donald as a doctor shouldn’t have asked Jenny to take her shirt off as he took her blood pressure then did a session of hypnosis… otherwise, there’s little complaint w/ his character.

As Bill Rebane was a producer and they filmed in his home territory of Northern Wisconsin, some may be shocked that this movie was intriguing & worthwhile. It may help some with the foreknowledge that deaths aren’t sprinkled throughout and viewers should be patient for the finish, which does deliver. The pacing felt appropriate for a film set in a tiny rural town out in the woods; there are quite a few establishing shots which displayed the area-no complaints as not only did the pastoral beauty of the area charm me, the remoteness of the area was established-important for when the events of the final act occurred.

Various themes were addressed: the sins of the past, not learning from the past, the isolation of the town resulting in outdated viewpoints, etc. Considering the feminist themes, no surprise that Ms. Love was one of the credited screenwriters. As I theorized during my review of The Boogeyman last fall, perhaps it was his divorcing of Love (to echo the comment of a Letterboxd mutual, Not Daisy Edgar-Jones) in 1987 was why his career devolved so badly the past few decades.

The Devonsville Terror was an intriguing early 80’s horror picture which was different from the norm, not peppered with death throughout but rather saved death (and the few gory bits) to the conclusion, while covering a topic unique for the era. This was a pleasant surprise & a reason why I’m not only happy to view films from regional genre filmmakers (as a diamond could be found among the rough), but that Eternal Family is a streaming platform available for people that have tastes as esoteric as me. Expect some reviews of bizarre cinema in March.

Welfare

This is a 1975 documentary from a famed director who recently passed away: 

A belated RIP to Frederick Wiseman; he passed away a week and a half ago at the age of 96. I’ve known of him for years-I “tracked down” 2013’s At Berkeley not so long after its release. That was a 4 hour (!) documentary covering seemingly every aspect of the University of Cal-Berkeley, a prestigious school. It was a great example of his filmmaking style: lengthy documentaries filmed passively with no narrator or text but rather the footage selected, the editing, and the order help present a facet of American life through the people shown on screen. It was a passive fly-on-the-wall style which served him well for decades.

Due to their length and the requirement of tracking them down via “less than ethical means” for streaming, despite my desire to see more from Wiseman and my having “acquired” more than one of his films in my physical collection, the only other movie I’d seen from him was 1970’s Hospital, only 83 minutes yet still a nice time capsule of life in a run-down New York City infirmary.

Before I discuss Welfare the film, I of course must mention that my opinion on the American welfare system will NOT be discussed here-while not the hottest topic of contention among those in the United States the past decade or so, it’s still a hot-button issue. Instead, I’ll note that at least during the time of filming-in a New York City welfare office, the system was a real quagmire, full of confrontation and arguments between those employees & the welfare recipients. It’s only fate that made me born into a family that never required welfare and thus I’m ignorant to the process or how difficult it is for those that necessitate assistance.

The implication-presumably understood by many seeing this-is that the system is a real bureaucracy, full of red tape and a runaround w/ people going around in circles. Perhaps the term “Kafkaesque” is used too often; however, IMO that word is incredibly apt to describe the film. As at least one mutual noted, one of the workers comes off poorly, yelling & arguing with multiple people during the conclusion of the documentary as those multiple people had reached their breaking point at the same time, same place.

It’s exercises in frustration featuring many different ethnicities, including (unfortunately) a white war veteran blatantly racist-to the faces of Black people. Those are two LONG, uncomfortable scenes. There is also discussion of religion in one scene; this is one of several conversations shown between people that (at least according to appearance) are wildly different from one another yet that isn’t a hindrance to their discussions.

I don’t remember where or when I heard this statement, but at least one person noted that you can’t fully understand America & its people until you see more than one Frederick Wiseman film. There are regrets in not seeing more from him before his passing; on the other side of the coin, more people than before on Letterboxd that are followers-currently, just over 5,400!-can read about a filmmaker that I fear will forever demand more attention than he’ll ever receive.

EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert

EpiC: Elvis Presley in Concert (2025)

Runtime: 97 minutes

Directed by: Baz Luhrmann

Starring: Elvis, tremendous backing bands, and enthusiastic audiences

From: Universal/Neon

At one point, the film plays sinister music then the song (You’re the) Devil in Disguise is heard… over footage of Colonel Tom Parker!

This review will be even lengthier than usual; that’s not for all tastes but if nothing else, you can skip to the last two paragraphs to read why this was one of the most memorable theatrical experiences I ever had. The only other Baz Luhrmann picture I’ve tackled was his Elvis, which was flawed. Even I know his worst instincts; after the opening-a precursor to the concert footage-most of those moments disappear. I was interested to see & hear outtakes, including those from two 70’s concert films I’ve seen before… Elvis: That’s the Way It Is (the Special Edition) and Elvis on Tour, both worth seeing if you dig Elvis the music and the performer.

Yeah, I know that Elvis the person had his issues and more than one unsavory detail; that can be said about many entertainers—I’ll just focus on him as an entertainer-what an incredible star he was, full of charisma and presence—even during “the fat years” that was the final years of his life when he wasn’t completely ravaged by drugs. This plus the two mentioned concert films are great examples of media either for Elvis fans or those that want to learn why he was a huge 20th century figure and still beloved today.

My music tastes will always be retro but it was tremendous to hear covers of everything from gospel songs and his biggest hits to Polk Salad Annie (where the bass was the heaviest; that’s a compliment by my standards), Bridge Over Troubled Water, more than one Beatles tune & You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling. The TCB Band that backed Elvis during this era: as the kids would say, they were fire.

This will be released in all cinemas starting on Friday but the IMAX experience was transcendent. The sound quality: excellent, picture quality: tremendous. It was a great restoration-as it’s me, I marveled at the incredible clothing throughout-not just the Elvis jumpsuits but also the clothing full of wild patterns & many different colors. It will give everyone even further appreciation of how film looked & how astounding it can present in a format like IMAX. Beforehand, a trailer played and this floored me: for two days next month, IMAX screens will play… Tommy. Yes, the movie from Ken Russell-no relation. Unless my schedule prevents it, expect a review for that experience.

Some in the crowd were excited over the Tommy news. What a crowd it drew: people of all ages and ethnicities. This includes some senior citizens and my personal favorite: as the trailer for The Odyssey played, an incredible woman walked in: a brunette a bit younger than me was dressed in a 50’s pink outfit & a five star black satin Elvis jacket that was beyond belief. That lady was at least 6 stars and afterwards I would have complimented her on her ensemble but aside from her possibly wondering why some random creep was talking to her…

Something far better occurred. As I left the men’s room after the screening, that dame was by the women’s room, chatting with a group of senior ladies. I did not mill about as that would make me a creep; however, I overheard her talking about her Elvis nails (!) and phone case, and the older women wanted to take photos with her. That was at least a 10-star experience. With how divisive everything is in the United States now, it warmed my heart to see this film draw a mixed crowd, have people besides me stick around for the entirety of the end credits, have some applaud at the end of the end credits (a rare feat) and most importantly, see different generations bond over a shared love. The enhanced format plus the audience experience does play a role in my rating but at least in this case, I’m happy to have that factor into a high rating as last night’s experience I’ll never forget.

 

Why Don't You Just Die!

Why Don’t You Just Die! (Papa, Sdokhni) (2018)

Runtime: 99 minutes

Directed by: Kirill Sokolov

Starring: Alexander Kuznetsov, Vitaly Khaev, Evgeniya Kregzhde, Michael Gor, Elena Shevchenko

From: White Mirror Film Company

This seems like a typical day in Russia to me! As there are a few mutuals on Letterboxd who write their reviews in Cyrillic because they are Russian, my comment is in jest. I’m OK with watching Soviet and Russian movies despite what’s happened in recent years-and I’ll say no more on that topic. 

In this special early Tuesday posting, the reason I saw this movie on Arrow’s streaming platform: director Kirill Sokolov went to Hollywood & directed the upcoming They Will Kill You, starring Zazie Beetz & set to release late next month. That trailer has been seen a few times, although the trailer that I can't escape is the one for Scream 7.

Presumably, Kill won’t be quite as dark and acerbic in its pitch-black comedy, as this was DARK-and honestly, the movie just turned me off so I’m not as over the moon for it like most are. I was a fan of the opening act-a young dude with a hammer goes to the apartment of his girlfriend’s parents. Dude and dad (the latter the most Russian-looking middle-aged bald dude you’ll ever see; he plays a cop) engage in an extended brawl that wrecks several different parts/items in the apartment. The arrow description invoked several comparisons… Tarantino, Wright, and Raimi. Well, this is sometimes non-linear and the movie features blood spraying/plenty of blood lost, so this plus the dark comedy explains the comparisons.

At first the movie was interesting, full of creative moments and laughs were had. Then, for my esoteric, peculiar tastes, Die became too unpleasant, not that enjoyable, and deliberately ludicrous to boot. Of course, there are my biases against modern cinema so YMMV. The dad is a cop who you can call a bastard-in fact, “evil” is a better term; that character alone might be a problem for some.

I don’t hate Die and despite my complaints, the film overall was still fine due to its creativity and amusing moments. The movie at least wasn’t mainstream nor did it feel “safe” so that does deserve some credit in this modern landscape. Heck, there’s inventive camera movements done in place of constant cutting, which is another positive. However, if I ever do see They Will Kill You, more likely than not it will be reserved for streaming viewing.

Hi, Nellie!

Hi, Nellie! (1934)

Runtime: 75 minutes

Directed by: Mervyn LeRoy

Starring: Paul Muni, Glenda Farrell, Ned Sparks, Robert Barrat, Berton Churchill

From: Warner Bros.

This is another Mervyn LeRoy film that until this month-when it was added to the Criterion Channel-was difficult to track down. Someone on Letterboxd is probably waiting to hear what I thought of this film-that’s why I didn’t want to delay & leave them hangin’, you know.

The two most famous faces are the leads: Paul Muni (thankfully not playing an ethnic character this time) as the managing editor of a newspaper-one of several in New York City-and Glenda Farrell playing-as typical-a sassy, confident dame. He received “the ballyhoo sack” (i.e. fired) after he wants to stick up for a lawyer dude named Frank and refuses to believe he embezzled from a bank-his boss sacked him as every other paper had it as a big front-page story.

However, due to legal reasons he can’t be fired; instead, the boss has him replace Farrell as the writer of an advice column for lovers under the pseudonym Nellie Nelson. Everyone writes to the column w/ the phrase Hi, Nellie! That phrase is heard often so prepare to point at the TV like Rick Dalton. Muni’s character is a “stubborn bull-headed jackass” and he threw a temper tantrum in his new office one day but that made it hilarious that he got ribbed for his new job, even by the 1930’s version of Charles Hawtrey. That doesn’t mean he didn’t have his funny moments, such as apologizing to the “rat poison” hard liquor for Farrell insulting it along with him for his drunken ways.

Of course, he starts to take the job seriously and the column suddenly packs a wallop. And of course, a case related to the columns proves to be related to the Frank/alleged embezzlement scenario. Muni was good as the lead and among the supporting players, Ned Sparks was delightful as SHAMMY, the exact sort of guy you’d expect a Shammy to be. 

However, of course it was that little dynamo Farrell who was the highlight, a bold, confident blonde who was more than just a pretty face and always adept at delivering witty banter/snappy patter. Another highlight: the Merry Go Round Club, a hip joint which has a rotating bar in the middle that goes 360 like a merry go round.

This was the typical solid WB programmer that was an easy watch, especially at only 75 minutes.

Psycho Killer

Psycho Killer (2026)

0% on Rotten Tomatoes; yes, zero percent (out of 24 reviews)

Runtime: 91 minutes

Directed by: Gavin Polone

Starring: Most of this is just Georgina Campbell and James Preston Rogers, although there’s also Malcolm McDowell for a few minutes

From: 20^th Century Studios

“Qu'est-ce que c'est?” is my review of the film! In 2026, I saw the trailer for Psycho Killer on the big screen more than once-it seemed decent and hey, the script was from the writer of Se7en. Then, I saw that it received a rare 0% on Rotten Tomatoes & even the audience score was only 35%. As there’d be no reason for review-bombing, that left me perplexed as to what went so wrong. I should have faced up to the facts… as a random aside that'll be of interest to only a few readers, I was astonished that a co-producer was Constanin Film, the German company around for ages and who made all those 60's krimi and Winnetou movies I've reviewed in the past.

The first two acts weren’t that bad. Sure, it is silly that the Satanic killer is a hulking brute who is conspicuous and wears either sunglasses or a distinctive mask yet the FBI can’t track homeboy down (but a vigilante cop from Kansas who is looking for revenge due to PK killing her cop husband) & the CG is rather putrid & those looking for creative kills will be crestfallen. But, the movie was at least watchable, had some suspense (if still predictable; I wasn’t tense nor nervous) and such decisions as never fully showing PK’s face-often, there are reflections from his sunglasses-was fine, along with the unexpected potshots at modern Satanism. It then made me realize that the final act must have soiled the bed—it did!

When I heard a line of dialogue proclaiming that it was “the 28th anniversary” of a famous event that occurred in 1979 yet the movie had modern tech & cars (although some period cars also), I was massively confused. No matter the explanation, that’s just bad. A key detail is that the script is like 20 years old-in the multiverse, FRED DURST would have directed this in 2009, no lie. If you were expecting PK’s killing spree where a few dozen were off’ed to lead to, say, an epic ceremony to bring demons to Earth or a similar cataclysmic event… nope.

What the viewer saw instead: lame, bewildering, and pathetic. I honestly wasn’t sure why the murders happened, unless it was for funsies! The final scene was especially insulting. I won’t make a joke about “run, run, run, run away” from Psycho Killer yet I couldn’t believe how badly this fumbled the bag. Malcolm McDowell was fine in his small role, as was Georgina Campbell in the lead. No one else will agree, but Barbarian also had a terrible third act; it wasn’t her fault that both movies left a sour taste in my mouth.

I can’t end the review without addressing the obvious question: no, the song isn’t heard in the film, whether the original or a modern cover I would inevitably find to be atrocious.

Crime 101

Crime 101 (2026)

88% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 163 reviews)

Runtime: 140 minutes

Directed by: Mark Layton

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Halle Berry, Barry Keoghan, Monica Barbaro

From: Amazon MGM

Did the film’s name hurt its box office performance? Even I admit that out of context, I was a little puzzled… at least to me it sounded like some sort of reference to a college class, and a basic one at that. Of course, in context it does make sense-the movie is set & filmed in Southern California and the title references the famed Highway 101 where all the heists are located by. The main reasons for me checking out the film: I felt bad it’s doing poorly at the box office, the idea of it being a heist film intrigued, and the comparisons to Michael Mann oeuvre was especially compelling.

Chris Hemsworth is an implied person on the spectrum who is a master at heists without hurting anyone (well, at least physically). Problems arise when he doesn’t want to do one for Nick Nolte-whose voice now resembles him regularly gargling razor blades but can still act-so Barry Keoghan enters the picture. Meanwhile, Halle Berry isn’t happy as an insurance adjuster and Mark Ruffalo is a schlubby cop-who can still afford a beachfront apartment-and aside from Nolte (who only has a few scenes) their paths will cross when Hemsworth decides to rob a rich A-hole on his wedding day.

Yes, I didn’t love how a certain word was used often, or especially the unfortunate detail that it’s a word Keoghan’s character yells in almost every sentence of dialogue. If Hemsworth as someone on the spectrum is easy for you to swallow, HALLE BERRY as someone who is deemed as not viable in a job predicated on attracting horny men just because she’s 53 years old will be. For her position in the credits, I was astonished that Jennifer Jason Leigh’s role amounted to only one small scene-that couldn’t have been the size of her role before filming began.

Those details noted, I still had a pretty good time w/ Crime 101. For the rest of time I’ll be biased towards new films that don’t feel like the modern gruel we get now. It was nice to experience those Michael Mann vibes and watch a mature story w/ veteran and promising younger actors not on a green-screen but rather sets and a sunny So Cal setting. Seeing Hemsworth and Ruffalo in such a movie is MUCH preferable to comic book baloney I couldn’t care less about. There’s also fine action beats, including a nice vehicle chase that wasn’t unintelligible due to crackhead editing.

It's a shame the movie hasn’t done better theatrically; perhaps at home it’ll attract an audience. There’s been criticisms of Hemsworth as an actor-everyone will be APPALLED at this revelation but I’ve NEVER seen him as Thor (!!!) so I can only say he was fine at the start of ’09 Star Trek, I enjoyed him in the Extraction movies and even managed to pull off the role of computer hacker in Blackhat, a movie I always dug before it was cool to do so, including the theatrical version. He did a good job w/ his role. Talk about aspirational as someone on the spectrum; he drove cool cars, dressed spiffy, got to hook up w/ Monica Barbaro… she did a good job too but I wouldn’t have minded at least one more scene featuring her.

 

Cold Storage

Cold Storage (2026)

76% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 68 reviews)

Runtime: 99 minutes

Directed by: Jonny Campbell

Starring: Joe Keery, Georgina Campbell, Liam Neeson, several names I wasn't expecting to see

From: Several different European companies, plus one from Morocco

This was the first of two theatrical movies I saw on Thursday; the second review will be posted Saturday afternoon. Praise I heard elsewhere + the premise of “killer fungus causing people to explode” was intriguing. Both movies I saw were R-rated original ideas, which I of course in theory prefer to all the gruel that’s clogged multiplexes for years now.

I never saw a trailer for Cold Storage and only knew the premise. The germ of the idea being that a piece of Skylab falling from space in ’79 fell in the outback of Australia but it contained the fungus, and it was captured and stored in Kansas but it was decommissioned & now resides a storage facility… that was unknown to me, as was the cast including Sosie Bacon, Lesley Manville, Richard Brake, & even Vanessa Redgrave.

Yeah, you don’t want to scrutinize the plot too hard, the CG usually
didn’t look great, and to use a word from the movie, the characters were too loquacious in general… meaning everyone was real talkative, especially Joe Keery’s lead character. My criticisms aside, the movie was still a fun time. The fast pace never lagged, the gross-out moments entertained me, and there were some laughs. While not a classic and not the sort of 80’s splatter horror-comedy I’d most likely prefer, Cold Storage provided enough entertainment to satisfy me. Much of the film is in one large setting, used decently well.

There are enough bad things happening to reprehensible characters and the team of Keery/Georgina Campbell was quaint-enough for my tastes. Plus, Liam Neeson (who portrayed a realistic old man w/ back issues instead of an old badass that was his motif for years after Taken) got to talk on the phone in a menacing fashion as if he was Bryan Mills again for a scene.

The Strange Woman

The Strange Woman (1946)

Runtime: 100 minutes

Directed by: Except for the opening, Edgar G. Ulmer

Starring: Hedy Lamarr, George Sanders, Louis Hayward, Gene Lockhart, Hillary Brooke

From: This was an independent production, but it was picked up by United Artists

It was time again to watch a movie that’s been sitting on the DVR for months, along with it being a nice change of pace. I still haven’t seen enough Hedy Lamarr so that is another good reason to make this selection.

Lamarr is a wild, bold woman (especially for 19th century New England) who is wanton, a maneater, and calculating, even as a child in a scene shot by Douglas Sirk-who was obviously damaged as a kid by her misfortune of having an alcoholic father. As a dumb man like myself, I was amused by her scheming, how she romanced both an old man-the richest dude in town, a timber baron-and his son, by her bold manner. This occurs as in the background, there’s increasing chaos in the town of Bangor, Maine; a police force is needed to quell the drunken revelry and buffoon behavior of the area’s lumberjacks.

Lamarr famously left MGM and formed her own production company, this being the first film that was made. It performed alright at the box office although went over budget. The cast was fine and featured some names I’ve seen in other movies (like Gene Lockhart and Louis Hayward) but of course Hedy was the highlight as the titular strange woman. She was a devilish delight as Jenny. Some may think “good for her” or “YYYAAASSSS Queen!” at her duping multiple stupid men, including George Sanders.

The Hays Code made the conclusion obvious; that didn’t dampen my enthusiasm. This 40’s version of a tawdry melodrama was enjoyable, well-directed by Edgar G. Ulmer… the explanation for Sirk directing the opening: evidently, the original opening involving Ulmer’s own daughter was seen as “unsatisfactory.” The Strange Woman: more than satisfactory, at least in my eyes.

Der Fan

Der Fan (i.e. The Fan) (1982)

Runtime: 92 minutes

Directed by: Eckhart Schmidt

Starring: Desiree Nosbusch, Bodo Staiger, Simone Brahmann, Jonas Vischer, Helga Tolle

From: Barbara Moorse Workshop

This was quite the West German movie, even more so than expected: 

Well, this took a turn…

How I first heard of the West German horror film I’ll always know by its original title (Der Fan) is lost to the sands of time, except that it was years ago. The lack of availability when it came to (legal) streaming was why it was just now that this viewing occurred. Oh, I’ve had a copy “in my collection” for awhile but now was finally the inclination to check it out. Beforehand, of course I’ve heard those awful stories of celebrity stalkers and how some actresses in the 80’s were murdered by “fans” who killed them because if they can’t have her… how much was that an aspect in this movie? I dare not say.

I thankfully went into the movie rather blind. I knew the premise: a teen girl named Simone had a dangerous obsession with a New Wave dude known only as R. It’s more than a teenage crush, despite the naïve and silly beliefs she has that they’ll fall in love if only they ever met. She is never without her SWEET Sony Walkman and headphones. As I thankfully never had the second half spoiled and did not know what would occur-the references I saw to a movie by another director made years later meant nothing, as I’ve never seen that movie-I went “WTF?” on a few occasions as the film consumed me.

The key component that made Der Fan compelling: the performance from teen Desiree Nosbusch as Simone. It was a brave role, due to part for appearing more than 20 minutes in a row without any clothing on.

As Wikipedia and IMDb indicate she was born in 1965… the math tells me this may be a reason why American streaming isn’t a thing for the movie. So are some overtones for certain German things of the past… Bodo Staiger was amusing as the block of wood (intentional) that was the dolt known as R. Now, realize that the pacing is rather methodical and that won’t be for all tastes; however, I was mostly fine w/ the measured pacing.

Another key component along with the performances and the dreary (again, compliment) cinematography was the krautrock score from Rheingold, a New Wave band led by—Bodo Staiger. The unique tones inherent to those genres was perfect as a sonic soundscape that matched the tone of Der Fan. I found the score rather delicious, myself.

The movie won’t be for everyone and you have to know that Nosbusch’s later anger over that long nude stretch was something she was upset about—if that is not a deal-breaker, then Der Fan is perhaps something you’ll want to track down.

The Outfit

The Outfit (1973)

Runtime: 103 minutes

Directed by: John Flynn

Starring: Robert Duvall (RIP), Joe Don Baker, Karen Black, Robert Ryan, & many other familiar faces

From: MGM

RIP Robert Duvall

In the preceding year or so, I’ve thought it a positive that Duvall was still alive in his 90’s; while I’m not surprised someone that age passed away, that doesn’t mean I am not bummed that such a great actor has died. He delivered classic scenes in several all-timers and was always a delight in a wide variety of movies-even ones I thought were mediocre like 1975’s The Killer Elite.

Yes, there are films I’ve seen w/ him in the past not reviewed on Letterboxd yet but as someone elsewhere asked about The Outfit and like typical with me, it’s one I’ve thought about watching for years… “a gritty 70’s movie” is naturally appealing. Note that I’ve never read any of Donald Westlake’s Parker novels so I can’t compare this iteration of the character to the page. As others have stated, how peculiar that the one film which didn’t change the surname from “Parker” to something else was when Jason Statham portrayed him.

Instead of Parker, Duvall was Earl Macklin; he is sent to prison for a concealed weapon charge. Once released, Earl discovers the death of his brother-yep, this is a revenge picture. The titular Outfit is in fact a reference to The Mob; Earl & his brother stole money from a Mob bank, you see. Getting retribution against them seems like an insurmountable task—but he has the advantage of having Joe Don Baker as a buddy in the raids against Mob fronts.

The cast was a highlight; what talent involved: there’s also Karen Black, Robert Ryan, Timothy Carey, Richard Jaeckel, Sheree North, Marie Windsor, Henry Jones, Joanna Cassidy, Elisha Cook, Jr., Bill McKinney… many familiar faces, all quality talent. In addition, the presence of a few veterans of film noirs of the past couldn’t have been a coincidence. Many of them only appear in a scene or two but were still nice to see.

What anchors the film is the great trio of Duvall, Baker, & Black. As typical, even as a “tough guy”, Duvall brought moments of vulnerability to Earl Macklin; right after he and Black physically fought each other, they shared a tender moment w/ each other. I have an affinity for 70’s movies anyhow but in The Outfit, the decade’s palette was on display. The film’s not full of violence but when those violent outbursts occur, they are of the staccato variety: short yet packing a punch.

Include a crackin’ Jerry Fielder score and this was a fine way for me to see something new last night that paid tribute to a great actor. Later in ’26 I’m certain to see more from the late Robert Duvall.

The Executioner

The Executioner (Chougeki! Jigoku Ken) (1974)

Runtime: 84 minutes

Directed by: Teruo Ishii

Starring: Sonny Chiba, Makoto Sato, Eiji Go, Masahiko Tsugawa, Shozo Saijo

From: Toei

I was happy to see more Sonny Chiba & help whittle down the queue I have on Arrow’s streaming site. Honestly, it’s the task of Sisyphus to whittle down all the queues I have on streaming sites, my physical media or the movies I have in “files” but I’m glad to have seen a movie I’ve seen praised elsewhere, and according to one person on a messageboard, this is notably better than its much goofier sequel.

The plot is deceptively simple: Chiba is a badass ninja (but of course; actually, his grandfather is much more powerful than him); he is recruited alongside a former police detective turned assassin and an immoral former Aikido instructor-no, not Steven Seagal!-turned criminal to take out a drug dealer. There’s plenty of karate, sleaze (director Teruo Ishii made more than a few films involving women being tied up), goofy comedy-not just from the Aikido instructor-and nudity from several different women, including from a diplomat’s daughter from a Latin American country I’ll describe as Not Mia Goth.

I do have to give a shoutout to the vibrant score from Hajime Kaburagi. The movie is a mixed bag and uneven; one consistent was a score that had everything from electric guitar, organ, & timpani to a slide whistle, a vibraphone, and a jaw harp. Not to sound like a “get off my lawn!” guy but scores these days just aren’t as imagintative and bold like the one for even a random silly movie from Toei that has a plot all over the map.

For a script that’s a little perplexing at times, the action did deliver and at times was rather creative. At one point, paint is used in a martial arts ass-beating; the colors happened to be those of the Ukrainian flag. As this movie featured a scene where the goofball character had a massive erection obvious in his blue jeans, don’t expect me to check out a sequel that presumably is full of such ribald humor. The original-on the other hand-was fun and delivered what I wanted, which was “Sonna Chiba as a badass.”

The Lazarus Effect

The Lazarus Effect (2015)

Runtime: 83 minutes

Directed by: David Gelb

Starring: Mark Duplass, Olivia Wilde, Evan Peters, Sarah Bolger, Donald Glover

From: Several different companies, including (unfortunately) Blumhouse

This sure was a Blumhouse movie. Even back then they would make… “slop” is a WAY overused word so “gruel” will be substituted instead. Why in the world would I give this a shot despite its poor reputation? I was always curious/puzzled that this gruel had an overqualified cast: Mark Duplass, Olivia Wilde, Sarah Bolger, Donald Glover, Evan Peters, and (for a minute) Ray Wise. After viewing, I’m still puzzled as to how this attracted such a cast, unless the putrid script went through a massive metamorphosis between casting and filming.

The plot: naïve goofballs working at a university create a Lazarus serum to revive animals. Of course Big Pharma becomes involved… for a minute, which was the extent of time that Ray Wise appears in the film. The film was actually OK in the beginning; however, when a human dies, someone else decides the worst and uses that serum to resurrect her, to predictable results… actually, I didn’t predict what happened afterwards.

Beforehand, I presumed this would be “inspired” by Flatliners; perhaps it was, as neither version of Flatliners has ever been tackled by me. However, I noticed a major inspiration was another film-one that came out not too long before The Lazarus Effect. That “another film” has never been seen by me either… but my late mother did one night on TV. That redacted movie I know becomes bizarre by the end-my mother was bamboozled. She might as well have seen Funky Forest, she was so baffled!

Me, I was baffled that Lazarus went in this direction; it was the wrong direction and that’s not even factoring in the illogic of the plot, how dopey all the characters became, the lack of any scares (even the plentiful jump scares didn’t make me jump nor scare me), the squandering of the premise-a true Blumhouse trademark-and how the 83-minute runtime was a hindrance as I barely knew the characters so when chaos happened, I didn’t really care.

There’s a decent idea or two but despite that, how bad the movie became after an OK start especially was an irritant. Even a fine score from Sarah Schachner (yes, of Prey and Predator Badlands fame) couldn’t elevate the What a waste of the cast; I hope THIS wasn’t what they signed up for and the story made unfortunate changes by the time filming began. But I’ve said too much about this disappointment, so best to forget the effect this gruel had on me.