“Everybody’s some kind of freak!”
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Review: Note: Fans of Night of the Living Dead (1968) will likely be thrilled to see its star, Duane Jones, on-screen again in one of his very few movie roles. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“I don’t know what they were; I couldn’t see them — I felt them.”
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Response to Peary’s Review:
He notes that Silver is presented as someone “who simultaneously tries to get [Hershey] to believe there is something wrong with her and to take him as her lover,” and points out that while “it seems that Silver will be the film’s hero despite playing mind games with Hershey,” “fortunately, in a very good scene, Hershey permanently rejects him.” He concludes by noting that “director Sidney J. Furie wisely shot the beautiful Hershey in close-up to build intensity:
… [and] gave her free reign,” resulting in “a truly great performance that, because it’s in a very flawed horror film, won Hershey little attention instead of a deserved Oscar nomination.” I’m essentially in agreement with Peary’s assessment of this intriguing but over-long, overly brutal horror flick which pulls no punches in depicting a truly demonic entity ravaging poor Hershey. Hershey’s performance is consistently compelling, and it’s satisfying to watch her holding her own in the midst of the numerous men who fail to support her — but with that said, I won’t be returning to this deeply disturbing flick any time soon (if again). Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“I think we’re being supplied with the victims of murder.”
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Review:
… while Sands’ attraction to Twiggy is clearly doomed from the get-go:
… and we don’t feel much sympathy for Dalton’s “science above all else” lecturer who is willing to overlook some pretty obvious ethical challenges in his quest for “fresh” bodies to study.
You can skip this one. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“A good doctor knows when to stop.”
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Response to Peary’s Review: Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“If I do something bad, will you still love me?”
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Response to Peary’s Review:
He notes that the “picture’s main selling point is the special effects, most of which involve people and objects bursting into flames”, in addition to a climax “filled with flying fireballs.”
He writes that “George C. Scott, wearing a pony tail, has a field day as a maniacal government assassin who literally wants to bash Charlie’s brains in”:
… but “all the other actors are poorly used.” I’m essentially in agreement with Peary’s assessment of this film, which was purportedly a major disappointment to King. The special effects are super-cool, and Barrymore inhabits her role with conviction — but there’s far too much we never learn about her family’s situation (what, exactly, happened after Keith and Locklear underwent experimental treatment, apparently married, and had a child?), and various supporting characters — including Art Carney and Louise Fletcher as kindly farmers who offer shelter to the runaway duo:
… and Sheen as a corrupt politician:
— are underdeveloped. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“I’m a scientist — I know what I saw. I just want somebody to believe me!”
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Response to Peary’s Review:
… [the] direction is bizarre, [and] characters act uniquely.”
However, he posits that “the later scenes are sloppy and more conventional,” and “unfortunately, the final bit in the story virtually erases everything bad that happened earlier” (which is true, though I found this comforting rather than disappointing). Peary asserts that this movie has “a good premise, worth making into a film, but sadly, it doesn’t work.” I’ll agree that Strange Invaders doesn’t quite deliver on what it hopes to do (paying homage to 1950s alien invasion flicks), but I disagree that there are “too many disgusting shots of aliens ripping off their human skins”: they’re not too frequent, and actually really cool-looking.
I also appreciate the clever casting of Kenneth Tobey — star of The Thing (From Another World) (1951), The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms (1953), and It Came From Beneath the Sea (1955) — as the lead alien in Centerville, who is either deadly serious or creepily smirking throughout many of his scenes.
Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“Don’t you sense a strangeness — an unwanted curiosity?”
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Review: Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“When there’s no more room in hell, the dead will walk the Earth.”
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Response to Peary’s Review: I disagree completely with Peary on this film, which has become a cult classic in its own right. His description of Romero’s choice to set the film in a shopping mall — given that it represents “a gathering place, home-away-from-home, and self-contained community that, significantly, is minus only a church” — is, to be honest, over-thinking things. (Romero has said that his friend gave him a behind-the-scenes tour of the mall used in the movie and he simply thought it would be a good place to “hole up during an emergency.”) Meanwhile, the blood and violence throughout are so obviously fake (intentionally so) that it’s hard to get too upset about them. Instead, one simply roots for this motley group of protagonists as they face the truly freaky prospect of battling hundreds of undead creatures who move slowly but bite aggressively, causing near-certain transformation. All the leads do a fine job in their roles, and Tom Savini’s special effects are impressive given the budget and era. This one remains well worth a look. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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(Listed in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die) Links: |
“I’d do anything to help Regan — anything!”
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Review:
The performances by esteemed actors Richard Burton, Louise Fletcher, and James Earl Jones are passable at best:
… while Blair’s portrayal of adolescent Regan is laughably inadequate.
The actors aren’t helped by a screenplay that shifts away from the original film’s solid emphasis on Catholic guilt and demon possession towards a much more amorphous conceptualization of spirituality across various spheres and continents.
Meanwhile, the dialogue is uniformly awful; it’s challenging to pick out the most egregious stinkers, but here are just a few:
With that said, this big-budget flick looks beautiful, and features some memorable imagery; it’s too bad the storyline fails it so badly. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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“You ever seen a bloke with a foot up his nose?”
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Response to Peary’s Review:
He describes this most unusual flick as a “send-up of youth/drive-in films, westerns (a stand-off is filmed like a Sergio Leone shootout):
… and horror films” — but “it can also be seen as an attack on Australia’s car culture, the acquisitive materialism of the bourgeoisie, and the oppressive autocracies present in small towns.”
It’s hard to know what else to say about this movie except… it’s weird. Really weird. Be forewarned. Redeeming Qualities and Moments:
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