matinee serial

[5] In the second of Universal’s Mummy series, two American archaeologists partner with a wealthy magician and his daughter to find the hidden Tomb of Ananka in Egypt. Their quest is hampered by a secret organization determined to protect the tomb’s whereabouts, for fear any visitors might accidentally awaken the mummy who protects it. The Mummy’s Hand lacks distinction, but still manages to somewhat satisfy …

[5] Ernest B. Schoedsack (King Kong, The Most Dangerous Game) directs this schlocky sci-fi matinee flick about a mad scientist (Albert Dekker) who summons colleagues to his South American jungle laboratory. Once there, the guests discover he is using radium to shrink living creatures to miniature size. When they threaten to expose his unorthodox work, he shrinks them for study. It’s then a matter of …

[4] Star Daniel Craig exits the James Bond franchise in his fifth entry, No Time to Die. Craig’s Bond begins the film in peaceful, secluded retirement. But when an old friend and comrade (Jeffrey Wright) summons him back into service, he finds himself up against a new ultimate bad guy (Bohemian Rhapsody‘s Rami Malek) with a new evil plan involving DNA and genocide. Along the …

[6] After the world saw its first bona-fide blockbuster, 1975’s Jaws, daring Italian movie mogul Dino De Laurentiis decided he needed to go down in history for producing the second one. He settled on a remake of 1933’s King Kong and hired John Guillerman (The Towering Inferno) to direct. The screenplay is faithful to the original film in its broad strokes: A boat seeks passage …

[6] In 1860s New Orleans, a Creole servant girl (Micheline Presle) vows revenge after her wealthy lover (Vincent Price) uses his influence to put her in jail so he can marry a rich socialite. While on trial, however, Captain Fabian (Errol Flynn) comes to the girl’s defense out of spite for Price’s character more than anything else. Flynn sets Presle up with a tavern to …

[6] There’s a certain kind of movie that is really hard to review. This is one of those movies. It’s a studio movie, formulaic in structure and unremarkable in substance, but entertaining in laughs and thrills and a great vehicle for a charismatic cast. Marvel has hooked onto this. I think Sony/Columbia has as well with their new rebooted Jumanji franchise. So there’s a video …

[7] Errol Flynn stars in his most enduring performance in this romantic action adventure that has captured audiences of all ages for more than three-quarters of a century. You know the story: In the absence of King Richard, Prince John seizes control of the land and taxes it into despair, causing a renegade Saxon named Robin Hood to come to the people’s defense, stealing from …

[7] Producer Walt Disney brings Jules Verne’s adventure to the big screen in his first live-action feature, one that nearly bankrupted the studio and ended up being the most expensive movie ever made up to that time. James Mason stars as Captain Nemo, who uses his advanced submarine, the Nautilus, to destroy war-faring vessels. After one such attack, he picks up a sailor, a professor, …

[7] A tropical island native woman falls in love with a visiting white man, even though she’s destined for marriage to an island prince. The two lovers flee and begin a new life together, but the native mob soon catch up with them and demand they be sacrificed in a volcano to appease their angry god. Joel McCrea (The Most Dangerous Game) and Dolores del …

[7] Boris Karloff (Frankenstein) headlines this matinee adventure flick about a group of British archaeologists who fight to keep the recently discovered sword and mask of Genghis Khan out of the hands of the evil Fu Manchu, who would harness the items into deadly weapons against humanity. Karloff plays the evil Fu Manchu with indelible glee, supported by an equally creepy performance by Myrna Loy …

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