What was the last movie you saw?

The Pleasure Girls (1965)

Time capsule of London when it was just starting to be Swinging. Lots of subplots, but mostly about some young women and their relationships with men.

1. New arrival, set on becoming a model, resists the efforts of her (nice) boyfriend to get her into bed.
2. Woman made pregnant by her (worthless) boyfriend, who takes her only valuable item (a family heirloom brooch) in order to gamble, eventually leaves him and decides to keep the baby.
3. Woman has an affair with her married landlord (Klaus Kinski!) who is also a slumlord who uses thugs to enforce rent payments (and who gets badly beaten up near the end of the film.)

There's also the brother of one of the women, a sympathetically portrayed gay man.

Although not anywhere as salacious as the title might suggest, it's a lot more frank about discussing things like abortion and premarital/extramarital sex than an American film of the time would be. Not a bad drama.
 
The Place beyond the Pines (2012). I hadn't heard of this one before but it s a very good drama/thriller. Nicely ties together in the end. Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper both put in great performances, and their stars were rising.

Ringu (Ring) 1998. Watched this again. A decent film but not a huge number of scares. A scene near the end is one of the classics.
 
House of Usher / The Fall of the House of Usher (1960) So Corman was working for AIP, making two (2) B-grade films under one budget. then, RC suggested making 1 A-grade film. This was the result. So said Ben M., anyway. What!? only 4 (four / IV) cast members?

Thoroughly creepy, A guy on a horse rides through a barren land, dead trees and such on an otherwise bare landscape. Comes to a large house, and knocks. He is seeking his betrothed, Madeline Usher (Myrna Fahey), who, unfortunately, lives with her elder brother Roderick Usher (Vincent Price), who dominates her. Both have heightened senses, though neither goes about at night as the hero DAREDEVIL. Their heightened senses cause pain. R says that he must avoid bright lights, any noise above a whisper, etc. R refuses to allow his sister to leave the house, claiming that she must never marry, never reproduce, so that the Usher line ends here. Believing that the Ushers are tainted, he tries to explain to the uninvited guest that his sister cannot leave the place. Yet, the guest, Philip Winthrop (Mark Damon) will not be convinced; he believes that R is mad, and persists in insisting that Madeline leave with him, to become his wife.

VP's 1st film with RC. good show!
 
The Devil Plays (1931)

Pre-code whodunit. Mystery writer solves the case. The plot deals with blackmail, a secret marriage, ten thousand dollars, sleeping powder placed in drinking water, etc. Not a great film, but fits the pattern of Golden Age murder mysteries to the letter.

Mr. Moto in Danger Island (1939)

Somehow I missed this one when I went through Peter Lorre's Mr. Moto films. Based on a novel that was adapted once before and would be adapted again, it deals with diamond smugglers in Puerto Rico. Spends lots of time with the comedy relief, a wrestler hanging around Moto. Not the best in the series.
 
Two from the dvd collection.
TORTURE GARDEN 1967 - Often overlooked Amicus story compilation but I like the cat story and the Man Who Collected Poe.

FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE 1973 - Another one that I forget about. It's ok but kind of generic compared to earlier ones.
 
Hold That Ghost (1941) dir. Arthur Lubin; starring Abbott & Costello, Richard Carlson, Evelyn Ankers, Joan Davis

An early film for A&C, it's the usual silliness in a haunted house where a gangster is supposed to have stashed his ill-gotten loot. Nice turns by Marc Lawrence in his usual role as a tough guy crook (pretty much the same role he'd play 34 years later in The Man With the Golden Gun), and, fairly early in the careers of both, Ankers and Davis. As for Carlson, I seem to always forget he didn't just turn up whole and complete in the 1950s, that he'd been around awhile and by the '50s he'd already brushed up against the horror genre (The Ghost Breakers).

IMDB shows Lubin had an interesting career. Besides this and A&C's first movie, Buck Privates, he also directed Black Friday, a Lugosi/Karloff team up, the Claude Rains version of The Phantom of the Opera, and several of the Francis the talking mule movies. Also several TV westerns and one episode of The Addams Family.

If you enjoy A&C or if you feel mindless, this is a good one to watch.
 
Maybe next year I will watch Halloween 4 and 5 which I have not seen.
I did see Halloween H20.


LIFEFORCE 1985 "Despite appearances this woman is a masochist. She wants me to beat it out of her," says Steve Railsback. Later he kisses Patrick Stewart.
It really is a crazy movie. It doesn't work as a good movie despite having so much in budget etc. The opening 20 minutes is the best part.
 
HOSTILE WITNESS - 1968 -Ray Milland directs and stars in a courtroom drama about a defense attorney who is accused of murdering a judge he believes was responsible for hitting his daughter with a car, which caused him to have a nervous breakdown. He has his legal protege` (Sylvia Syms) lead his defense. But then as the evidence turns against him--he faces a choice between declaring himself mentally unfit or defending himself. Which do you think he does? Obviously the latter, especially since he is directing the show, thus he can have the dramatic spotlight of defending himself from the dock. It does keep you riveted, but the last 10 minutes are so contrived--it is so implausible that I can only shake my head and say what a pity it didn't have a better ending.
 
Prom Night II: Hello, Mary Lou (1987) dir. Bruce Pittman; starring Lisa Schrage, Michael Ironside, Wendy Lyon, Louis Ferreira

I watched the first Prom Night several years ago. It starred Jamie Lee Curtis and stands as an example of why she distanced herself from horror movies not long after – underwritten characters, poor effects and cinematography, tepid direction, and her the only good thing about it.

This one is, surprisingly, better. I’m not sure I’d say it’s good, but it’s entertaining. The direction and editing are sharper, and there’s good use of 1950s music throughout.

In 1957, hurt, jilted boyfriend, Bill, carelessly sets fire to the dress worn by Homecoming Queen, Mary Lou, at the prom and watches in horror as she’s consumed (a somewhat Carrie-like scene). Still, maybe the scariest thing about the movie is the thought of Michael Ironside as a high school principal, which is compounded by him being the older Bill. (What school board in their right mind would hire someone with “accidental arsonist” on their resume? It’s the same high school where Mary Lou was consumed.) In the course of looking for a dress in the theater classes’ prop room, Vicki (Lyon), disturbs the old trunk that apparently housed the vengeful spirit of Mary Lou (Schrage). Hilarity ensues as Vicki gets possessed.

There’s a nice progression of scenes as Vicki becomes more Mary Lou over time, and Mary Lou takes vengeance on the later generation of high school students while trying to enjoy her new prom. Pay special attention to Vicki’s boyfriend, Craig (Ferreira). It’s an early role for a guy who has had a long career as a character actor, appearing in everything from 21 Jump Street to ER to Arrow to The X-Files (reboot) and The Man in the High Castle and Westworld.
 
LIFEFORCE 1985 "Despite appearances this woman is a masochist. She wants me to beat it out of her," says Steve Railsback. Later he kisses Patrick Stewart.
It really is a crazy movie. It doesn't work as a good movie despite having so much in budget etc. The opening 20 minutes is the best part.

But those boobies!
 

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