Exorcist II: yep, it’s time for a visit from the baaaaad movie demon … September 29, 2006
Posted by jackal in : Films , add a commentFour years on from her terrifying ordeal in Georgetown, Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) is now living in New York, but still suffers dreams and flashbacks to her possession by the demon Pazuzu.
In Rome, Father Lamont (Richard Burton) is tasked by the Cardinal (Paul Henreid) to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of Father Merrin (Max von Sydow) during the MacNeil exorcism. Travelling to New York, Lamont enlists the help of Dr. Tuskin (Louise Fletcher) and her experimental hypnosis techniques in order to revisit Regan’s memories of the original event, and by doing so unwittingly allows the demon to return. Seeking a way to finally defeat Pazuzu, Lamont sets out to track down Kokumo (James Earl Jones) who, as a young boy in Africa, was also possessed by Pazuzu but saved by the young Father Merrin, in his first encounter with the demon. Cue dear Max (sans his ageing make-up from the original) doing his thing in flashbacks, lots of techno-hypnosis silliness with Linda Blair and poor Louise Fletcher, and an utterly loopy final act in which logic and sense fly out the window.
Despite being a big fan of The Exorcist, I’d avoided the sequel like the plague until now. After finally biting the bullet, I have to admit to liking Exorcist II an awful lot. Strictly speaking, it’s bad, it’s very bad, but how I loved it. It’s hard to say why, but it’s well shot, atmospheric in places, and the story picks up nicely from the original; rather than being a by-the-numbers sequel that recycles the original almost verbatim (see: most horror sequels), it actually attempts to investigate and expand upon the themes of the first film - to continue the story, not merely repeat it. Having previously seen young Merrin’s first encounter with the demon Pazazu detailed in the underwhelming Dominion and Exorcist: the Beginning prequels, I was also delighted to see Exorcist II’s Africa flashbacks, with Max von Sydow reprising the role he originated. I knew he appeared in Exorcist II, but not in this manner, and it was a welcome surprise.
Those points aside, I can’t really explain why I enjoyed this film so much. The performances are certainly nothing to write home about: Burton is on autopilot throughout, Louise Fletcher is saddled with the scientist character who gets all the hokey dialogue, and Linda Blair, now a distractingly cute 17 year-old, proves to be completely out of her depth in the acting department. There’s one truly cringeworthy scene in which Regan helps a mute boy to recover his speech; Linda Blair plays it with all the emotion of a girl who just found a dollar on the sidewalk. Add to that the show-stoppingly dire scenes of Regan tap-dancing, as well as the afore-mentioned risible finale, and you could be forgiven for laughing your way through several sections of the film.
I just don’t care, though. I can see that it’s a bad film in many respects - I really can - but for the life of me I can’t help but love it. And since in my web travels I managed to find exactly 0.0 positive comments on Exorcist II: The Heretic, I thought I might as well be the lone voice of insanity. Now how about a Halloween: H20-esque sequel, picking up Regan’s story 30 years later? No? Well I’d go see it, anyway …
“He ordered a martini, kissed a girl, and was plunged into a nightmare of danger!” September 18, 2006
Posted by jackal in : Films , add a commentOK, you’ve got a tagline. Let’s whisk up something light and fluffy to go with it. Take one of Hollywood’s biggest stars (Paul Newman) and pair him with a radiant leading lady (Elke Sommer). Throw in a screen legend (Edward G. Robinson) and a top-notch supporting cast (Kevin McCarthy, Diane Baker, Leo G. Carroll), mix it to a playful, Hitchcockian script from North by Northwest screenwriter Ernest Lehman, and place the whole thing in the hands of journeyman director Mark Robson. Whaddya get? 130 mins of tongue-in-cheek spy thrills in 1963’s The Prize.
The setting is the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony in Stockholm. Among the winners: novelist Andrew Craig (Newman) and physicist Dr. Max Stratman (Robinson). Against the background of the various tensions and squabbles of the other winners, Craig gradually becomes suspicous of the mysterious Dr. Stratman and his niece Emily (Diane Baker). With the help of his embassy liaison (Elke Sommer), he starts to investigate, only to become embroiled in murder, a cold war spy ring, and a potential international incident …
Newman has a blast in the cracking role of Andrew Craig: womaniser, alcoholic, and perpetual mischief-maker. His light, playful scenes with the smokin’ hot Elke Sommer are fabulous; they have real chemistry together. Ernest Lehman’s script never takes itself too seriously, and romance and humour are never far away from the action.
The only real weak link for me is Mark Robson’s direction. He’s not bad, but he’s no Hitchcock, and doesn’t give the film any kind of distinct visual look. I suppose if you were nitpicking, the film is also a little overlong; some of the subplots could stand a little trimming to bring the movie in under 2 hours. As it is, The Prize remains a fun ride, and my favourite Paul Newman film (yes, really). It’s highly underrated IMO, and often overlooked - not least by Warner Bros., who chose not to include it in their upcoming Paul Newman Collection.
Impact (1949)
Posted by jackal in : Films, Film Noir , add a commentBelow is a copy of a piece I’ve written for the Noir of the Week slot over at The Blackboard
Brian Donlevy is happily married San Francisco automobile mogul Walter Williams, Helen Walker his apparently devoted wife Irene. They live happily ever after. Oh, if only things were that simple …
There’s one slight problem: dear Irene is sick of her hubby. She schemes with her secret lover to have him bumped off during a long car journey, but the plan goes awry. Walter takes a tyre-iron to the head and tumbles into a ditch, but secret lover fella is panicked by a passing truck and gets himself killed in a car wreck while fleeing the scene. Walter, evidently possessed of a steel-plated skull, wakes up later with a headache and a little case of amnesia.
Stumbling upon a small Idaho town, Walter’s luck soon changes. He bumps into garage owner Marsha Peters (Ella Raines) who, impressed by Mr Amnesiac’s skills as an auto mechanic, offers him a job. Back in San Francisco, meanwhile, Charles Coburn’s crusty old detective Quincy is investigating that flaming wreck on the highway – and assumes that the body is that of Walter Williams.
With Walter and Marsha beginning to fall for each other, newspaper reports of his “death” jog Walter’s memory, as Det. Quincy’s continuing investigations lead him to suspect Irene of her husband’s murder. Will Walter extract revenge by letting her be convicted? Or will Marsha persuade him to do the right thing and return to San Francisco? For any first time viewers reading, I’ll leave you to find out – IMPACT has a few more twists left before the end …
OK, Impact is nobody’s idea of a classic, but it’s a highly enjoyable sort of diet-noir, with more than enough points of interest to warrant a look. The plot is an irresistibly outrageous series of coincidences, a melting pot of almost every noir staple you could want: a femme fatale, attempted murder, amnesia victim, police investigations, false accusations, reluctant witnesses. Then there’s the cast: Brian Donlevy is no Bogart, but he does a solid job in the lead; Helen Walker is in her element as the callous, duplicitous wife; a mischievous Charles Coburn is reliable support as the police detective; and of course there’s Ella Raines as the world’s cutest grease monkey - they sure don’t look like her at my local Kwik-Fit.
The film isn’t 100% noir: it doesn’t possess enough of the look, with too much of the action set away from the big city, in broad daylight. The ending is also atypically upbeat (not that I mind a happy ending once in a while). That said, the film has some nice location work in the City by the Bay, and boasts a few great noir sequences, notably the atmospheric murder attempt on Walter Williams while changing a flat tyre on a dark, deserted highway.
Impact is out there on a decent quality DVD from Image. I wouldn’t try and claim it as a knockout noir, but for an engaging diversion you could do far worse.
But hold on a moment - where’s the obligatory Ella Raines photo? Fear not. As if I’d forget …
Watch out for the Fox … September 11, 2006
Posted by jackal in : Films , add a comment
This past weekend I enjoyed Romancing the Stone and The Jewel of the Nile for the first time in years, courtesy of Fox’s new special edition DVDs. Two things occurred to me: just how much fun these films remain, and that they’re yet another example of Fox’s great DVD treatment of catalogue titles in 2006.
Thus far, at prices ranging from reasonable to dirt cheap, we’ve had the top-notch special editions of The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure, The Omen and the afore-mentioned Michael Douglas blockbusters; a gang of western and war film releases back in May; a new wave of Studio Classics titles including swashbuckler The Black Swan (beautifully restored at great cost); the ongoing Fox Film Noir series (which remain the dictionary definition of a no-brainer purchase), and I’m sure a bunch of others that have slipped my mind.
In terms of boxsets, Fox’s relatively high prices have done them no favours, but that aside (and hey, there’s always DDD’s 20% off sale) I see little to complain about: there have been long-awaited releases for two 1930s movie series - Charlie Chan Collection volume 1, once-again painstakingly restored, and Charlie Chan volume 2 announced for December; also Mr Moto Collection volume 1, with further volumes no doubt in the pipeline. A real gem for me was last month’s Clark Gable Collection, containing two 50s features, The Tall Men and Soldier of Fortune, alongside 1935’s The Call of the Wild. Three highly entertaining titles, all handsomely presented, with The Tall Men in particular looking and sounding simply marvellous.
Last year Warner Bros were far and away my top choice for DVD studio of the year. They’ll still get my vote for 2006, but it’s encouraging to think that somebody - anybody - is now on their heels.
Tight Spot (1955) September 5, 2006
Posted by jackal in : Films, Film Noir , add a commentI read a review on IMDB which argued that Tight Spot is a potentially gripping noir thriller, scuppered only by the casting of then 44-year old Ginger Rogers in the lead. Having just watched it for the first time, I can see the point, but I don’t think it’s entirely true.
Casting a younger actress in the central role of Sherry Conley, gangster’s moll-turned-state’s-evidence, could have made for an equally interesting movie. I can easily picture it with Ava Gardner or Jean Peters, off the top of my head. To say that Rogers’ casting sinks the movie simply isn’t true, though. Yes, she’s a little too old for the role as written, but it’s not crucial: Sherry is a tough and cynical character, someone who has suffered one bad break after another; whether she’s 30 or 40 years old isn’t that important.
After a shaky few opening scenes with an ill-advised light - almost comic - tone, Ginger delivers a strong performance, her role played out largely in tense scenes in a small hotel room. Brian Keith, as the jaded cop assigned to protect her, is equally solid. The quiet scenes in which the pair discover an unlikely affinity are among the film’s best. Edward G. Robinson, as the DA trying to convince Sherry to testify, is as effortlessly good as you’d expect.
Tight Spot’s plot seems worn with overuse nowadays; the scenario of a key witness being kept under guard until they can testify at trial is one we’ve seen countless times, on TV as well as in film. It’s not difficult to guess the ending, and although there’s a nice twist midway through, most of the tension is generated by the solid performances, from tightly drawn characters, and Phil Karlson’s direction. A veteran of noirs like Scandal Street, Kansas City Confidential and 99 River Street, Karlson is well-suited to draw out the claustrophobia and tension from his script.
The new R2 DVD release from Sony looks very nice indeed: comfortably framed at 1.85:1 (much better than the full-frame TV copy I had), and with only occasional damage spots on view. Definitely worth a look.
