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Reviews
Fail Safe (1964)
Chilling 40 some years later
This movie came out in 1964. Unfortunately, it came out AFTER Dr. Strangelone, and as they say in the commentary, having a spoof come out after a serious movie usually plays better for the serious movie.
"Fail Safe" is very well casted, and played deadly serious. Broad atmospheric use is made of closeups, perspective and shadows. The tension builds, and at the time, the ending was quite a shocker.
Henry Fonda does a fantastic job as the President. Other cast members are just as riveting, such as Walter Matthau, in a serious role. The action mainly takes place in 4 areas- the Pentagon, the SAC Control Room, the President's Bunker, and the Vindicator's cockpit, giving the movie an unnerving and claustrophobic feel.
It's a question we still debate today- do machines provide us with a false sense of security? Are the machines moving so fast that we humans cannot keep up with them? And if they make a mistake, will we be able to correct it in time? Truly a masterpiece of the Cold War Film genre.
House of Dark Shadows (1970)
A bizarre tale of unnatural love
I saw this movie when it first came out on the big screen. Being a fan of the soap opera TV series, Dark Shadows, I didn't know what to expect. What I got was beyond all expectations.
Dan Curtis wisely placed his story in an "alternate" universe with many of the same characters from the show. By this time Barnabas on the series had become an "anti-hero"- the good guy with a shady past determined to save his current family from the forces of darkness. Curtis wanted to return Barnabas to his evil roots in this movie, and did so with a vengeance. Once again, Barnabas is the lovelorn vampire. But he is also dominating, and a bit conscience-challenged. He has no problem attacking villagers, or a member of his own family, even though they've accepted him warmly. Anyone who gets in the way of his obsession with the Collins' governess Maggie Evans (she bears a resemblance to his long lost love Josette DuPres) will be dealt with. Dr. Julia Hoffman discovers he's a vampire, and decides to cure him. But she also falls in love with him. In a fit of jealousy she sabotages the treatments she's giving Barnabas, which make him meaner than ever when they backfire.
The body count is unbelievably high. In the series Barnabas becomes friends with many of the characters. In the movie he snuffs them. I remember wondering if there were enough Collinses alive for a sequel.
Unfortunately this movie, like it's companion "Night of Dark Shadows", were required to be heavily trimmed down for running time by MGM . Because of it, a lot of scenes that helped explain events were left on the cutting room floor. With these, even non-DS aficionados would have been able to follow the plot better. The complete shooting script was published in "The Dark Shadows Movies Book", and one can see where a lot of essential material got scissored from the film.
Barnabas Collins was the perfect vampire for the groovy 1960s and 1970s. I got to see both Jonathan Frid and David Selby when they came to Baltimore on promotions tours.
Oddly enough, some DS fans credit "House" for the slump in the ratings the show started to encounter after the movie was released. Fans weren't used to seeing their hero as the villain again (although he started out that way in the series). Within a year Dark Shadows was canceled. But its mark on pop culture was made, and 30 some years later, Dark Shadows is still an icon to us baby boomers who used to rush home from school to catch this show on television.
The Woman in Black (1989)
Creepy movie!
This is a plain old spooky ghost story. I showed it to some friends of mine in my movie club, and they were kept spellbound until the ending! No blood or gore- just good old fashioned suspense. It starts out right from the beginning, and builds and builds. The ending is a real twist that caught me unawares.
Well directed and well acted. It is also a "period piece"- set in the 1920s- which added to the atmosphere.
I was so impressed I got the book by Susan Hill from Amazon. The movie follows the book rather closely.
It's a shame it's not readily available on DVD. My copy is VHS. This along with "Haunted" are probably two of the best Ghost Stories I've ever scene. Which just goes to show that a little creativity outdoes "in your face" gore any day!
Studio One: The Defender: Part 1 (1957)
A clip from this was used in "Boston Legal".
A short B&W from this show appeared in a brief flashback in the show "Boston Legal". It was very very clever, since the clip of Shatner with Ralph Bellamy is one where Bellamy admonishes Shatner on the type of lawyer he was becoming. It fit in perfectly with Shatner's "Denny Crane" character. Plus it provided an interesting comparison of the young Shatner with how he looks today. Say what you will about William Shatner, he's a survivor. And he's gone from some very lean days after his stint on Star Trek to being in a number of TV shows and movies. He's made a new career spoofing himself. He could have done a lot lot worse!