Son of Dracula - 1943

It was movie night, and we hunted for something to catch our eye. Lon Chaney is playing the lead role in this film, so we pressed play.

Count Alucard (wonder who that could be?) comes to town and seems to have a young woman under his spell. They get married, much to the chagrin of Frank, her former fiancé. The plot thickens when Alucard and his new wife's relationship isn't quite what it seems.

Ok, so this was insane. Lon had zero accent, even though he was from Hungary...theoretically. Also, the doctor who kept reading all about vampires had absolutely no idea how to protect himself. He went to the house alone. He also acted like he had no idea how crosses affected vampires. Maybe he skipped that chapter.

Frank was a crazy person. At first, we were both on his side, then we weren't, and then we were again. The poor man goes through a lot, and I'm not sure how the tree hit his car. Anyway, he was probably the best part of the movie.

The bats were not Ray Harryhausen quality at all. Half the time, they just looked strange. Other times, they were supposed to be draining blood, but they weren't even close to people's necks. I mean, the one time the bat was sucking on Frank's shadow.

Anyway, I had some fun with this one. Was it a good movie? Not particularly, but if I have fun, I'm good with that. Would I recommend others watch it? Well...it depends. If you're in the mood for something campy that doesn't make much sense, this might be up your alley. Alucard wasn't the best vampire ever. He killed a total of one person. I mean, he tried with some others, but the shadow of a cross stopped him once, and I'm not sure why he quit draining the kid. I liked it but not everyone will.

Rommel - 2012

This was on the same list as The Pleasant Valley War, so I was a bit skeptical. I shouldn't have been.

Rommel was a major figure in WWII. He wasn't named The Desert Fox for nothing. This movie covers the last part of his life - from Normandy until the end. His recommendations end up being overruled by Berlin, but the men at the top are more than willing to blame him for the Allies gaining a foothold in France.

The movie also covers the assassination attempt on Hitler. Rommel was approached, but he never agreed to killing Hitler. After getting hit by some strafing aircraft, Rommel is recovering when the failed bomb attempt happens. When Rommel's name is connected, he is compelled to end his own life. His wife will receive full benefits, and he gets a state funeral. He was popular with the people, so outright killing him would be bad PR. The public is told he succumbed to his injuries.

The movie was in German, but I didn't mind. I liked the acting and the story. I'm already keeping an eye on some books on Rommel and Speidel, and this movie just reinforced that curiosity. This was a Good Movie!, and I really enjoyed it. On a side note, I like to practice listening to German and seeing what I can pick out. I did pretty well with this movie.  

The Pleasant Valley War - 2021

I'm just putting this on here, because I have a few things to say about it. I love lists. I look at lists of movies all the time that pop up on my news feed. I find lots of movies to watch that way. This _____ (I'm not sure what to call it) was on a list of the 20 best war movies on Tubi.

It's a Hatfield and McCoy situation, and since I was up for something a bit different, I got sucked in. It was only an hour, so that was good. But then the red flags started. It's directed by and stars the same person. That normally doesn't end well. I've seen actors help direct films they're in, but they usually aren't the only director.

Pressing play, I thought I'd gone deaf. For the first few minutes, Mr. Director was on the screen. He was moving his lips, but I couldn't hear any words. I went ahead and skipped forward. So now we're looking at some landscape, and the narrator (at normal volume) tells a brief background of the story. Then, the ____ comes on. The people are introduced by being labeled with text on the screen. And people talk to the screen with their real name/role they play. I guess it's like a documentary/drama.

I just wanted to mention this, because I feel like it was a troll entry into the list I saw. It wasn't even the last entry. I fell for it, but I didn't watch much of it, so I'm ok. The Pleasant Valley War is a real thing, and a boatload of people were involved. About 35-50 people died compared with more than a dozen during the Hatfields and the McCoys. I should've done a bit more research before putting this one on. Be careful with your movies, people!

 

Curse of the Demon (Night of the Demon) - 1957

I was going to watch a war movie from one of my lists, but the ones I was interested in watching were over two hours. Being a bit tired, I wanted something a bit lighter and shorter. I saw this and was instantly interested. It's a British film that was titled Night of the Demon. The U.S. title is Curse of the Demon.

A black magician is sending parchments with runes to people that are trying to expose his "cult." The parchments doom the recipient to being killed by a demon. A psychologist arrives in town and is skeptical of the entire thing, but circumstances start to change his mind. Slowly.

I loved this movie. It was campy and weird. The demon was cute, and the cult, as far as I could tell, consisted of the one dude. I can't explain how much the séance scene made my day. I wish everyone could watch just that scene when they were having a bad day. I think their day would turn around. Also, the cat guard was cool. The end was super silly, and I will forever associate the words "cherry ripe" with this film. Good Movie!

The Thin Man - 1934

I'd been told this was a great movie, and I finally got the chance to watch it.

An older gentleman disappears, and he becomes the suspect in a murder. Not everyone believes it, especially his daughter. She wants a retired detective, Nick Charles, to look into the case, but he resists. Unfortunately, no matter how many times he tells people he isn't on the case, the case won't leave him alone.

I won't say too much more about it, because it was pretty complex. The end was pretty neat with a wonderful meal prepared for all the suspects, and Nick bluffing his way through what happened to reveal the real killer.

This movie was pretty good. I liked the mystery. The original story was written by the same author who wrote The Maltese Falcon, Dashiell Hammett. I also want to shout out Asta, the fearless guard dog of Nick. In real life, the dog's name was Skippy, and he was also a star in one of my other favorite older movies: Bringing Up Baby (George).

I had a good time with this one. There are five more movies featuring the "thin man" (even though the thin man was supposed to refer to the original victim, people got confused so they just ran with it). I did laugh out loud at one part. I've tried to warn these characters over and over - never try to blackmail someone willing to commit murder. It was just the way he died that cracked me up. Anyway, the chemistry between Nick and Nora was sweet, and I'd like to watch more of these movies. Good Movie!

 

The Face Behind the Mask - 1941

I was randomly looking for something to watch, and this caught my eye.

Peter Lorre stars as a Hungarian immigrant, Janos, who comes to America full of hope and excitement. He wants to earn enough money to bring his girlfriend over and believes in everyone he meets. When he comes across a policeman, he feels like he's hit the jackpot. Due to the interaction, he ends up finding a place to stay and a job washing dishes. Unfortunately, later that night, a fire breaks out and Janos suffers terrible burns to his face.

After that, Janos still tries to make his way, but no one will give him a chance. His hands are fine, and those are his main way to work. But everyone just looks at his face. Eventually, he gets in with some criminals, even though he resisted at first. The lure of having enough money to get a new face is just too much for him to resist. A visit to the surgeon kills his dreams, and on his way out of the office, he runs into a blind woman, Helen. She may be blind, but she can see who Janos is underneath and who he was before he got involved with crime.

A misunderstanding unravels all the happiness Janos thinks he has. Helen and the dog die, and Janos has nothing left to live for. He sets up his friend with a comfortable life, even though he could've been upset at the betrayal, but Janos knew his friend didn't want to hurt him. Anyway, Janos doesn't have anything left to lose, so he writes a letter to the policeman from the beginning and puts his final plan into motion.

I was actually invested in this movie. I thought it was going to be another one of those mindless, strange older films that didn't make much sense. Instead, I watched this poor man descend into something he didn't want to be. It was so sad. And then, when he just wanted to leave all that behind and turn his life around, it all goes south. It was so sad. I was surprised at how invested I was. They paid attention to the mask and had it wrinkle. Nice detail. I like they didn't show the burned face that much. It wasn't something the movie needed to focus on. His choices with the situation were the important part. It was just sad all around, but I still believe it's deserves a Good Movie! review.

The Lineup - 1958

I admit, I got sucked in by the poster on this one. I wasn't really planning on paying much attention to it, but it pulled me in a bit. It wasn't the most tense and amazing movie I've ever seen, but I didn't feel like I'd completely wasted my time, either.

It's San Francisco, and the action starts right off the bat. A ship has just arrived, a porter runs up to a cab and throws it through a window, the cab screeches away, gets into a wreck, runs over a policeman trying to flee, then gets shot and crashes into a pole. Very exciting! They discover heroin in the suitcase (thanks lab man who does the incredibly scientific thing of tasting it). The mob apparently is using random passengers to mule the stuff in. They've hired the assassin Dancer, who has a keeper (?) to retrieve the latest shipment.

He is so great at being an assassin. He goes around being seen all over the place, and then waits at the drop off point to explain how a little girl used a crap ton of heroin to powder her dolly's face. Then he loses his temper and kicks the wheelchair man so that he falls through the railing down onto the ice rink. Genius! At the end, he magically gets away by appearing to be shot because an obvious dummy falls off the freeway to the street below. I'm kidding - he's dead.

Also, shout out to mother of the year. She gets a ride from complete strangers with her child and invites them into her home. After that, I don't blame her too much for complying, but then, when assassin-man is pulling the child away, the woman doesn't even try to open the car door to get to her child. She just keeps reaching through the window. I think she should've tried to escape at the museum/ice rink place because keeper-man didn't have a gun, but what do I know? Maybe she was incapable of operating a car door.

I know I'm giving this movie a hard time, but it was pretty entertaining. I was amused by it. RIP to the real victims here - Moore the policeman and ice rink man (who had a dude in a wheelchair fall on him). I didn't feel quite as bad for the others. Never try to blackmail the criminal underworld, and a culinary set is not worth your life.

Apparently, this is based on a TV show. I've never heard of it, but I don't see myself tracking it down and watching it. It ran for a pretty decent amount of time, too! I might actually put this movie on again if I need some background noise, just because it's the kind of mindless entertainment I like when I need to get stuff done. I didn't need to pay too much attention, and I had a good time. It won't be for everyone, but I'm giving it a Good Movie! review.

The Maltese Falcon - 1941

This movie is based on a book by Dashiell Hammett. It's a noir mystery where a private detective gets involved in the hunt for a gem-encrusted statue.

It all starts when a woman comes to the office. She claims her sister is being held against her will, but in reality, she just wants a man followed. Sam's partner takes the job and ends up killed. Now the woman says it isn't her sister and starts to trickle out information. Not much of it is true, but somehow Sam is falling for her.

Later, after three people are dead, it all comes out that the falcon was stolen from a Russian man. There are a couple people involved trying to get it, the most serious being a man called Gutman. They play cat and mouse, and in the end, they discover the statue is a fake and head off to find the Russian. After that, Sam confronts the woman and accuses her of murdering his partner. Then he spews some nonsense, and she's sent off to jail.

I am not a fan of Humphrey Bogart, but I did see him actually do some facial expressions in this movie. So that was good. I'm not sure how the book is, I have it on my list of things I want to read, but some of this movie irritated me. I'm not even sure there's a hero in it. Sam is having an affair with his partner's wife, and at the end, he's only turning in the woman because "when someone kills your partner, no matter what you thought of him, you do something about it." What? I'm also not sure why everyone thought the falcon was real. If the bird was supposed to be covered in jewels, I don't know where people thought they would be. Unless they put so much lacquer on it to make the settings smooth, they were extremely silly.

The movie was okay. With no one to root for, it was just a mystery to solve. I'd like to read the book and see if the character of Sam Spade was any different. Immediately taking the man's name off the windows after he died was callous, the way he was having an affair with the wife is messed up, and just "doing something" about the partner's death didn't endear him to me as a character. I think the person I felt the most pity for was the boat captain, and I only saw him for 30 seconds.

Platoon - 1986

I've had this one on the list for quite a while, but I've been watching so many war movies, sometimes I want to spread out the heavy ones. It's been on a few of the lists I've seen of the best war movies.

The movie tells the story of a new entry into the Vietnam War, played by Charlie Sheen. He dropped out of college to do his duty to the country, but he quickly learns it isn't what he expected. Not only is he dealing with the NVA, there is a power struggle going on within the platoon itself. As time passes, the internal struggle boils over, and it affects the entire outfit.

The movie was about on par with what I expected. From the little I know about the Vietnam War, the horror and booby trap strategy was something I was familiar with. I think the thing that surprised me the most was that Oliver Stone write this movie based on his own experiences in Vietnam. I had no idea he'd been there, and it made me want to know more about him as a person. 

I understand why the movie is highly regarded. War is messy, and bringing light to that mess is something that needs to happen. I commend Mr. Stone for his efforts. On a personal level, while I think it was a good movie, I don't think I'll watch it again, and I wasn't as invested in it as some of the others I've watched. It still easily earns a Good Movie! review, it just didn't fly high enough to knock some of my favorites off their perches.

The Woman in White - 1948

A while ago, I watched the 1997 version of this story. At that time, Mom thought we were watching an older version. Well, we got a hold of the DVD of this one and put it in for movie night. I also read the novel last year.

The story is a bit different. Count Fosco is at Limmeridge House at the beginning of the movie. He's also clearly evil from the start. The way he looks at people is very obvious, and I don't know why everyone is so oblivious to his intentions. When Hartright falls in love with Laura, he is told about the betrothal and leaves. On his way out, he comes across Anne and convinces her to come back to the house and tell Laura her secret. But Fosco is on the patio, and she runs off. There are other differences, but I'm just touching on a few of them.

Then we get to the end. A man in the woods is following Marion and Hartright and somehow overhears their plans to go to the asylum and rescue Laura (the switch happened when Fosco startled Anne and that killed her). Now, everyone is in the street waiting when Laura commits her grand escape from the asylum. She first encounters Glyde, and she screams. Then some guy gets crowned on the head. I thought it was Hartright, but then he popped out, so I don't know who that was. A scuffle ensues, and Glyde hits his head on the pavement and dies.

Now we get to the weird part. So, Laura was apparently pregnant in the asylum, but she was thin as a rail. She has a son, and Hartright married...Marion. Wait, I have to make sure I wrote that right. Yep, Marion. He tells Marion he fell in love with her at some point, and they kiss. At the very end, Hartright comes hom to Limmeridge, where he lives with both women. They greet him warmly, and it almost seems like they're one family. It was kind of funny.

Ok, the movie itself was okay. Again, they took a great story and destroyed it. They made Marion a cousin to Laura. Anne was also a cousin, even though they were played by the same actress. Also, Fosco's wife was Anne's mother?! Nah. Fosco also dies in a different way, thanks to his wife and a necklace. And he was icky. He was willing to give a full confession if Marion left the country with him. Eww.

I am left wondering why both the 1948 and the 1997 versions took a great story and changed it so much. They changed it in different ways, but it was so unnecessary. The plot was right there. Out of the two movies, I'm going to have to lean toward the 1997 being slightly closer, but that's not saying much. As a whole, the 1948 version was interesting, but I'm going to say I like the 1997 movie more. Maybe it's nostalgia, but the 1948 version was still entertaining.

Theatre of Blood - 1973

I saw the title card for this while scrolling through Tubi and put it on. It's a Vincent Price horror movie. Diana Rigg is in it as well!

An actor is taking revenge on the critics who humiliated him at an awards ceremony. Edward Lionheart (Price) only ever played Shakespeare characters, and the critics weren't kind to him on any occasion. After the ceremony, he's seen falling into the river from a great height, and everyone thinks he's dead.

Now, these critics are being picked off one by one as Lionheart recreates the murders from the plays he was in that last season on the stage. He has the help of some street people and his daughter, but he also recites a lot of Shakespeare. He also has to alter one of the plays, because apparently The Merchant of Venice doesn't have any murder in it. Will all the critics die?

This movie cracked me up. I don't think it was supposed to, but it did. Everyone was so stupid. That included the police! They knew who the targets were after the second murder, and even if they didn't know who the murderer was at that time, they weren't able to prevent six more murders. That's just sad...At one point, the policeman was upstairs and didn't keep the woman in sight. Then she was frying downstairs, and the whole area was smoking up before he smelled anything? Sure.

Vincent Price cracked me up as well. He was overacting, which was one of the things he was criticized for, and it was glorious and tedious at the same time. I don't know much about Shakespeare, so I had no clue what was going on with the murders, but fortunately they explained them. The doggie pie was gross, but I could kind of see that one coming.

The end was glorious. I love how he was so determined to kill all the critics, but left the "most heinous" one in the chair so he could set the theater on fire. Then, he carts around his dead daughter and Spider-Man crawls with her up to the roof. Then he recites some more nonsense and falls into the fire. Amazing. I loved it, but Mom fell asleep. The movie cracked me up, but it was for all the wrong reasons.

The Raven - 1963

Another recommendation from my children. I was a bit worried since they were giving such a glowing review. Once I started watching, I knew I'd seen it, but I didn't remember much of the details.

We start the movie with Dr. Craven (Vincent Price) drawing a raven in the air with his magic and reciting Edgar Allan Poe's poem. He pines for his deceased wife, Lenore. A raven comes to him and tells Dr. Craven he needs his help to become a man again. After that, the magician believes the soul of his dead wife is being held prisoner in the castle of the man who turned Dr. Bedlo (Peter Lorre) into a raven. The Master of the Brotherhood (Boris Karloff) also can do the best kind of magic (only with his hands), and so a showdown is inevitable. 

The movie is crazy. It's not meant to be a horror, but it has a lot of big names in horror from that time in it. I also found it amusing that Jack Nicholson was in this movie. A very young Jack Nicholson, but it was fun to see him. The actors are doing their best, but it's all very silly. The two main magicians fight using what I would call "aurora borealis" magic as they throw light beams at each other. Their "fight to the death" was so weird. I did enjoy the part where Rexford (Nicholson) claims a ledge leads to Dr. Craven's room. The room is on the same floor, yet he goes on the ledge, around a corner and down a wall to get to the man's room.

Overall, it was fairly amusing, but I can't say I was super impressed by it. I like these actors, but I like them more in their other movies. This one is just too odd for my tastes.

The Battle of the River Plate - 1956

This movie involved a battle I'd never heard of. A "pocket battleship" is attacking British merchant ships in order to disrupt supplies to the people of Britain. The Graf Spee is doing a good job.

A commodore is bringing three ships to try and take down the threat, and a battle ensues. One of the ships takes a lot of damage and is out of the fight. The other two try to finish off the Graf Spee, but it takes refuge in a neutral harbor in Uruguay.

Since the port is neutral, the Graf Spee is not allowed to repair anything on the ship that would enable it to fight better. The government gives it 72 hours to get seaworthy and get out of the harbor. The British want a bit more time, and at the end, the decision of the fate of the Graf Spee is made by the Germans.

The movie was pretty good. I don't understand why the German captain kept the British captains on his ship. The scenes with them in the little room were a bit strange, and I wasn't as invested in those. One thing I really enjoyed about this movie was the one-sided view. Normally, when I watch a movie like this, it shows the mindset of both men making the decisions. In this case, I was just given the British side and had no idea what the Germans would do. It made the movie more tense, and I appreciated that.

Overall, it was pretty entertaining, and I liked that they were able to use real battleships. They even used an American heavy cruiser, the USS Salem, as the Graf Spee. I don't see myself watching it again, but I'm still giving it a Good Movie! review.

The Pianist - 2002

I've been meaning to watch this for quite a while now, but finally got around to it yesterday.

The movie follows a professional piano player who lives in Warsaw when the Germans invade in 1939. A few times hope rises, but it takes a long time for real help to arrive in the city. In the meantime, Wladyslaw's entire family is captured. At the train station, he is pulled out of the crowd and has to find a way to survive in the city on his own.

He relies on many people and his own survival instincts to make it. The fate of some of them is unknown, which I found a bit disappointing. Toward the end, he's hiding in a bombed-out building when he's seen by a German officer. When he admits he was a pianist, the officer asks him to play. After the performance, the officer helps Wladyslaw hide until the Germans leave the city. The officer even leaves him his coat.

After the war, Wladyslaw is back to playing the piano. One of his musician friends had a run-in with the German officer, and they try to find him, but it's too late. Then the movie ends, and I found out the officer's name and that he died in a Russian POW camp in 1952. They also mentioned that Wladyslaw's entire family was killed during the war.

The movie was 100% not what I was expecting. I thought it was about something else entirely. Ignoring that, it was an excellent movie and unlike anything I've ever seen. The acting was amazing and the story heartbreaking. The music was used very well, and silence was used in a couple moments that really struck me. I was already wanting to read Wladyslaw Szpilman's book, and now I want to read it even more. The end also revealed the name of the German officer, Wilm Hosenfeld. I'd like to know more about him, but that's going to be a bit harder. I want to give a brief shoutout to Janusz Olejniczak who played the solos for the movie. They were so mesmerizing that I watched the entire credits. I really enjoyed this movie and recommend it. Great Movie!

The Blood Beast Terror - 1968

This was the other movie I was told I needed to watch. My daughter watched The Snow Creature, so I owed it to her to watch these.

Um, how do I describe this? A professor has a "daughter" that turns into a giant moth and sucks the blood out of people. Detective Peter Cushing is tracking the killer, but nothing seems to be adding up. And once he figures out the professor is the guilty party, he decides to go undercover and take his own daughter into danger.

The professor created the moth woman, and now he's creating a mate for her. He's regretting his decision since she keeps sneaking out and draining men. She also has a love/hate relationship with fire that is extremely confusing. She mentions a couple times she hates fire, but then that's the thing that kills her. What?

The movie is only 90 minutes, but it was not that interesting. Mom fell asleep. I'm going to tell you what made it tolerable for me: subtitles. I have no idea who created them, but it was like I was in charge of the subtitles for a German movie. I have a beginner's knowledge of German, so it would look real bad and barely make sense. At one time, the man said, "yes," and the subtitles said, "no." The other one was when someone asked who was in charge and the subtitles said, "Who is the manager?"

Anyway, the movie was pretty bad. Peter Cushing and awful subtitles couldn't save it. The "moth" was creepy and weird. Not in a good way. And why wasn't the detective watching out for his daughter? I mean she didn't have any self-preservation skills, so I didn't feel too bad for her. What kind of detective's daughter doesn't know what stranger danger is?! I was glad when this one was over.

The Revenge of Frankenstein - 1958

I watched this movie on recommendation from my daughter. Her only comments that stuck with me were something about a chimp and Justice for Karl.

So Baron Frankenstein is going to be sent to the guillotine for the crimes his monster committed. At the last second, the baron is saved (not legally) and disappears. He starts up his work in a new city and picks up a new assistant, Hans. He also has a minion, Karl, who has physical problems he's excited to lose when Dr. Frankenstein transplants his brain into a new body.

After the surgery, Karl is recovering well, but then he learns he's going to be paraded around and shown off with his old body. He's already been stared at for his entire life, and he's not on board with the plan. He escapes and goes on the run. He gets bopped on the head, short-circuiting his brain and turning him into a monster.

This movie was something. I understand the whole Justice for Karl thing. The man just wanted to be whole, but there were also some strange things. After he starts to descend into madness, he starts to exhibit the same physical issues he had before. Maybe he can manifest the hand and leg issues, but how did he manifest the hump on his back? 

I know I'm not supposed to root for the baron, but it was Peter Cushing, and I like him. I thought it was funny his code name was Dr. Stein. Before they revealed his assumed first name, I figured his name was Dr. Frank N. Stein. It wasn't, but when he pops back up at the end, his name is now Dr. Franck. Seriously? I definitely felt bad for Karl, but he did assist in the nefarious work of Dr. Frankenstein and helped kill a priest, so it's a double-edged sword.

Overall, I don't think it was the worst thing I've ever seen by a long shot, but it wasn't my favorite Peter Cushing movie either. It was...something.