While the family movie A Billion For Boris has a great premise, the overall execution does not really work despite a few nice touches here and there.
Archive for August, 2018
A Resurrected Review so old, I’m calling it as new!
(There is something genuinely new on the way, but personal issues have me running behind schedule…)
A spectacular cast and some gorgeous visuals can’t quite paper over the cracks in this half-hearted triptych examining destiny and self-determination.
However, the central story of the three, which finds palmist Thomas Mitchell telling sceptic Edward G. Robinson that he is doomed to commit murder, almost rescues the rest.
Liz Kingsley is the insane genius behind And You Call Yourself a Scientist!
Amicus Briefs
Aug 26
Asylum (1972)
When it comes to anthology horror films, there is one set of films that is likely to spring to mind immediately… a series of independent but closely related films, from a certain island nation that had become well-known for its horror films ever since the 1950’s.
That cycle, needless to say, is the 15-movie Philippine series called Shake Rattle and Roll. But there’s no way I have time to dive down that particular rabbit hole, so for now it’s time to talk Amicus.
Amicus Productions put out seven classic anthology films between 1965 and 1974, starting with Doctor Terror’s House of Horrors and ending with From Beyond the Grave. Asylum falls in the middle of the cycle, and as usual for Amicus it’s a film with an impeccable pedigree. Written by Robert Bloch and directed by Roy Ward Baker, it stars such impressive talents as Patrick Magee, Herbert Lom, Charlotte Rampling and Peter Cushing. It may not be the very best of the cycle, but in many ways it is unique, and it contains some memorably grisly images that are still potent today.
Will Laughlin is the Braineater.Won’t have you seeing red
Aug 21
The thriller Russian Roulette is good enough that you could almost swear that it’s not Canadian.
The horror anthology movie Night Train To Terror is ludicrous, incoherent, cheap, and full of contempt for its audience. But there’s no other movie quite like it, and it may appeal to fans of really weird cinema.
The martial arts exercise Kill And Kill Again has enough good action to help it stand up well to the action output from Asia.