[3] Linda Blair’s still got demons, and Richard Burton’s trying to figure out what happened to the nice priests who got pea soup all over them in the first movie. Exorcist II: The Heretic is convoluted and esoteric, the action is minimal, and the horror non-existent. John Boorman (Excalibur, Deliverance) delivers a highly odd, surreal, and ultimately terrible sequel to The Exorcist. The cheap sets, …
[6] Robert Altman uses the circus-like atmosphere of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show for a commentary on racism and the whitewashing of American history. It’s actually a pretty light-hearted film built around Buffalo Bill’s contentious relationship with Sitting Bull. Paul Newman is reliably good as the exasperated Bill, pushed to his wits’ end by a stubborn but commercially valuable Indian who quietly challenges his authority …
[7] John Wayne worked pretty much right up until the end of his life, and even in that last decade there are gems to be found. Chisum stars Wayne as the title character, John Chisum, a New Mexico cattle baron who ends up in a battle with a greedy tycoon named Lawrence Murphy (Forrest Tucker). As Murphy buys up all the local business in town …
[7] Paul Verhoeven (RoboCop, Turkish Delight) draws upon his memories growing up in 1940s war-torn Holland for this adaptation of Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema’ autobiography. When the Nazi’s occupied the Netherlands, Roelfzema and several classmates left college to join the resistance. Soldier of Orange begins with fraternity initiation, shortly before war was declared. Rutger Hauer plays Roelfzema’s alter-ego, Erik, who spends the first half of the picture …
[4] How’s this for an ensemble? Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, Don Rickles, Carroll O’Connor, Gavin MacLeod, and Donald Sutherland. If you can’t imagine how that would work, neither can anyone else whose seen this movie. Kelly’s Heroes tries to be both a ‘guys on a mission’ adventure movie and a satirical comedy. It should have committed to the former and given up on its M.A.S.H.-like …
[8] Close-knit friends from a mining community share a harrowing experience during their tour of duty in Vietnam. Michael Cimino’s three-hour long film focuses primarily on the aftermath of the ordeal, now one of the most famous scenes in movie history, a deadly game of Russian roulette forced upon prisoners at a POW camp. Robert DeNiro plays the most level-headed friend, who tries to help …
[6] An alcoholic news reporter is determined to catch a murderer after he becomes a suspect for the assailant’s weekly attacks. For a giallo flick, Luigi Bazzoni’s The Fifth Cord lacks a compelling mystery or any memorable death scenes. But Bazzoni and three-time Oscar-winning cinematographer Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now, The Last Emperor) damn near make up for it in their exquisite framing and painterly lighting. …
[7] An unusual sequel of sorts, The Godfather Part II spends equal time in the past and the present, exploring the early life of Vito Corleone (with Robert DeNiro taking over the mantle from Marlon Brando) while also following the continuing story of Vito’s son Michael (Al Pacino reprises his role). Thematically and emotionally, the movie plays like a long and redundant epilogue to the first …
[6] You’ll find immense, beautifully dressed sets and breathtaking oceanside locations in the 1979 Dracula. You’ll also hear a richly romantic John Williams score. These elements go a long way in creating a mood and atmosphere that are more lush than any Dracula movie has ever had before — and are enough to warrant a recommendation. But I think the superlatives end there. Frank Langella …
[5] Dean Stockwell and Sandra Dee headline this so-so adaptation of an H.P. Lovecraft story. I gotta say, I’ve yet to see a Lovecraft adaptation I really like. The internalized dread and abstract horror just don’t translate to film very well. Anyway, Stockwell plays an agent of the Old Ones here, Lovecraft’s big squid Gods from another dimension. He’s trying to get his hands on …
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