Short Movie Reviews

Tenebre– 2nd time watching this, and still not sure if I like it or not. It lacks the visuals of a Suspiria or Deep Red (a movie Im trying to get off Blockbuster Online but apparently I have to wait 100 years), or Inferno. There is a fine twist in the end, even though I partly suspected it all along. There are some great murder scenes as well: Peter Neal’s fiance getting her hand chopped off, then spraying blood all over the wall, or the escapade with the vicious dog chasing the girl all the way into the killer’s lair. Plenty of throats getting slit, and even a fake throat slashing in the end. Another perhaps weak link is the score, which may be just a matter of opinion anyway. I absolutely love Goblin’s work in Suspiria and Deep Red, adding even more frenzied layers to those movies, but in Tenebre, the music just didn’t seem as inspired to me. Grade: B-

The Orphanage– This movie is insanely good, utterly captivating, almost a ghost story about absent ghosts. It’s more about paranoia and guilt than about the supernatural. But you dont know that until the end. Ghosts haunt for sure, but maybe all they are are memories, echoes from the past. Awaiting dissolution. The motif of the treasure hunt is subtly used throughout this film to highlight the idea that ghosts speak in riddles. And that clues in the game lead to answers, and that answers lead to revelations. In this case, the revelation is as poignantly sad as anything I can remember in a film, although my memory isn’t world-class. From our human perspective, only melancholy is the truly honest bend to the lense. Grade: A

The Spiral Staircase– saw this on TCM the other night, without much hope for a spectacular viewing experience for a horror movie made in 1945. But I was somewhat suprised here, although I can’t say I was utterly impressed with the film. It definitely had its moments. And might as well be the missing link from film noir/B&W horror classics to the giallo and slasher genres to come much later. Although no outright slashings occur (the method of murder is audience-friendly strangulation), there is a considerable number of brutal murders here, and all of them, women. Had to of been a milestone for American film. {will check to see if not a British made movie} I know that M, by Fritz Lang came ealier, and dealt with a serial killer. And i havent seen the hitchcock movie about jack the ripper. As one of the hosts for The Essentials mentioned, “Inky Black” helps to make this movie effective. But also the generalized creepiness of the cottage, the neverending thunderstorm, the almost goofily psychic old woman, who senses that one of her own sons is the killer. The characters are nicely drawn and devoid– mostly– of melodrama. The quirky Mrs. Oates is a nice minor character, who has some delightful drunken moments. The red herrings are laid out like clockwork, but the killer’s identity was way too easily discovered. And thank god for small miracles: Helen got her voice back! Grade: B

Blow Out-- Recently watched this again after many, many years, and I have to say, it may be De Palma's best. Stylistically, it definitely owes something to Dario Argento, plus the story hinges on an incredible coincidence, that being Travolta's character being on that bridge making sound recordings at the exact time of the botched frame up of the Governor of Pennsylvannia, who is running for the Presidency. What was meant to be just a way to ruin his reputation, turns out to be an assassination.The gunman (Lithgow) only shoots out the tire of the car as a means for the crooked reporter (Franz) to get some film showing the politician with a phony prostitute (Allen). What starts as a small crime, distasteful certainly, but not utterly diabolical, grows into something much more, thanks to the inate pyschopathic tendencies of Lithgow's character. It all reminds me of the hijinks of Fargo, where one man's greed and foolishness escalates by uncontrollable forces into multiple murder. And the ending is perfect noir or giallo fair, with the B-slasher film Jack Terry is sound man for finally getting its perfect scream, caught on wiretap during Sally's murder near the end of the film.

Blue Velvet-- How many get that this movie is a parody of happy ever after endings? It plies you with the stench of sexual and criminal darkness for nearly 2 hours then hits you with the love triumphs over all ending, the cute return to the same images the film started with. The suburban platitudes of blue skies, robins in the air, hope for all. Whether the anger is intentional or not, I dont know, but maybe Lynch is a sentimental cornball after all. Two quotes are the heart of this movie. One is from Frank Booth addressed to Jeffrey Beaumont:"You're the same as me." And one from the aunt at the end ofthe movie: "I could never eat a bug." There's truth to the first and falsity in the second.