A Taste Of Evil (1971)

3 / 5 Jan '10
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: John Llewellyn Moxey
Written by: Jimmy Sangster
Actors include: Barbara Stanwyck, Roddy McDowall, Barbara Parkins
Genre: Thriller, Horror
Length: 73 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Considering this was a '70s made-for-tv movie that was written by Jimmy Sangster and produced by Aaron Spelling productions I thought this would be a winner! It's not, in fact it's a rehash of so many films seen previously and this particular retelling is very dry. It's about a young girl who is raped, then put in an asylum because she's in a catatonic state and has sever trauma from the accident. We catch up with her as she's coming home to stay, though she doesn't seem particularly well. See she keeps seeing her Stepfather dead in various places which is tormenting her to say the least. She also has an over-the-top nutty Mother (Barbara Stanwyck) does provide some campy laughter but not a heck of a lot else. I don't want to give more away in case you do want to watch this but let's just say I was underwhelmed. It did have a tidy conclusion and it made clear sense at least!

Availability:  Currently unavailable anywhere

The French Connection (1971)

5 / 5 Jan '10
Tagline: The time is just right for an out and out thriller like this.
Directed by: William Friedkin
Written by: Ernest Tidyman, Robin Moore
Actors include: Gene Hackman, Fernando Ray, Roy Scheider
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Length: 104 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
I was surprised just how much I really liked this film even though it's a classic. At first it's a bit confusing but once I figured that I wasn't going to get any sort of detailed explanations or background information and just went with it I thought it was amazing. First of all the beautiful cinematography deserves a mention, from the glorious views in France to the brilliant lights of New York city it's all stunning to look at. The acting is some of the best, Gene Hackman is superb as unrelenting Officer Popeye Doyle. He goes on hunches and doesn't seem to want to follow the rules, and be darned if I've ever seen another Officer go as far as Doyle will, it's absolutely riveting to watch. Doyle gets a bad vibe from a couple of fellows at a bar, so he starts following them around with his partner Buddy Russo. Soon it becomes apparent that a huge heroin shipment is about to take place so it's pretty much excitement city! This does have the best chase scene I've ever seen in a movie, it's extremely thrilling! This is quite a masterpiece in every way, highly recommended to just about anyone, just remember go with the flow and you should love it!

Availability:  On DVD & Blu-Ray

Fright (1971) aka I'm Alone And I'm Scared

2 / 5 Apr '10
Tagline: The scream you can hear is your own
Directed by: Peter Collinson
Written by: Tudor Gates
Actors include: Susan George, Honor Blackman, Ian Bannen
Genre: Thriller, Horror
Length: 87 minutes
Banned: Finland

Review:
I haven't really liked anything I've seen from director Peter Collinson but I thought the plot on this sounded like I should give him another try. I hated this movie, sure it's going to "sound" interesting but it's dreadfully dull and pointless. See it's one of the first babysitter alone with a maniac sort of films, it predates Halloween and When a Stranger Calls by several years which is what makes it of interest. Susan George plays an attractive young babysitter, however I've liked Susan in other roles but here it's painfully obvious that her acting skills are limited. Her performance was actually obnoxious and I was begging for the maniac to kill her through the entire film. The "maniac" isn't really very cool either, be prepared for an unbloody film, and the "psycho" punches someone a bunch of times and barely does anything else. Even when the story gives opportunity to be intense, frightening or even violently it takes the worst way out possible in each instance. I really can't state how disappointed I was with this enough, sitting through it was a struggle and by the end I truly felt like it was a waste of time.

Availability:  On DVD

The Omega Man (1971)

3.5 / 5   Apr '10
Tagline: Pray for the last man alive. Because he's not alone.
Directed by: Boris Sagal
Written by: John William Corrington, Joyce Hooper Corrington
Actors include: Charlton Heston, Anthony Zerbe, Rosalind Cash
Genre: Science Fiction, Horror, Thriller
Length: 89 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Oh gee well this was sillier than I expected and I knew this was a Charlton Heston flick going in and I generally appreciate his hilarious ways. The story I'm sure is very interesting, it's one of several film takes on the book "I Am Legend" of course and I haven't seen any of the other adaptations yet so I can't compare. I can say that the vampire/zombie things in this one were kind of lame looking...they had whiteish contacts, wore capes with hoods and looked like they'd bathed in baby powder...not at all threatening. The story goes that we are following Heston around who appears to be the last fellow alive because he was a scientist who had a vaccination to the disease that turned the rest of the population into zombiepyres. These monsters can't go out in the light so most of the time it's entirely safe! When he sees a mannequin that moves he learns he's not entirely alone hand has some silly love scenes and lots of fighting monsters too. I appreciated the violence but the tension and fear were never created, but at least the story kept some momentum. Not bad, but I look forward to seeing the adaptation called The Last Man on Earth, I've heard it's spookier and this story could use some of that!

Availability:  On DVD & Blu-Ray

Klute (1971)

3 / 5 May '10
Tagline: One man is missing. Two girls lie dead. ...and someone breathing on the other end of the phone
Directed by: Alan J. Pakula
Written by: Andy Lewis, David P. Lewis
Actors include: Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Cioffi
Genre: Mystery, Drama, Thriller
Length: 114 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
I expected a heck of a lot more from this, especially since I loved The Parallax View (which is part of a trilogy with this film I believe). The acting in this was excellent, kudos to Jane Fonda on her role of Bree Daniels, a prostitute who is frank and yet still classy in some way. She goes about her daily life quite honestly despite the fact that she puts out for money. Soon she meets John Klute (Donald Sutherland) who becomes her protector and love interest. See Bree has been getting some strange phone calls and we can see there is someone lurking in her attic. The thing is, they don't do much of anything with the thriller plot...honestly it's all a character study and lots of talking and sex. In that regard if you want to see lots of Fonda then you'll think this is awesome. I didn't care, and I kept waiting for something...anything to happen and really not a heck of a lot did. If I went into this thinking it was a drama than I probably wouldn't have been disappointed because that's all it really was. I like the actors, didn't care about the characters and the plot is nearly nonexistent, not at all what I had hoped for.

Availability:  On DVD

Whoever Slew Auntie Roo? (1971) aka Who Slew Auntie Roo?

4 / 5 July '10
Tagline: She's Taking A STAB At Motherhood!
Directed by: Curtis Harrington
Written by: Robert Blees, David D. Osborn
Actors include: Mark Lester, Shelley Winters, Chloe Franks
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Length: 91 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Now this is rather like a Hammer telling of Hansel & Gretel, only of course it isn't really from the Hammer company. It's got a rather lavish production set in England in the '20s. Shelley Winters hams it up as Mrs. Forrest, a rather rich Woman who lives in a gingerbread house (not literally but it looks that way). She torments herself with visions of her daughter's freak accident that killed her because she loves children so. She loves them so much that every year she invites a group of orphans to her house to celebrate and extravagant Christmas. This year two orphans Christopher (Mark Lester...yes Oliver!) and Katy (Chloe Franks) sneak into the party, and when Mrs. Forrest sees how much Katy reminds her of her deceased daughter well trouble brews. It's kind of a slow start, but stick with it will more than pay off, it really does pick up steam. The actors are awesome and fun to watch, the story has a bit of humor in it plus it's a camp lovers dream!

Availability:  On DVD as part of a 2fer with What's The Matter With Helen?

The Bloodstained Butterfly (1971) aka Una Farfalla Con Le Ali Insanguinate

2 / 5 Oct '10
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Duccio Tessari
Written by: Gianfranco Clerici, Duccio Tessari
Actors include: Helmut Berger, Giancarlo Sbragia, Ida Galli
Genre: Horror, Giallo, Mystery, Thriller
Length: 105 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
I was surprised how little I liked this, it literally put my Husband and I to sleep three times (so maybe our judgement is effected by the fact that we watched it in 3 pieces over 2 days). Still it was the dullest giallo I've ever seen, all technical chatter about the solving of crimes and then a trial that was excruciating to sit through. The subs on this were extremely small so I felt like I'd read a novel by the end and usually I don't even notice subs. The film also seemed to skip out on the gratuity of other gialli and the colors and humor and violence...all not there. The actors were fine, it was nicely filmed and the scenery was lovely...that is the only good I can think of here. The story is about a girl who turns up murdered, then they go through the nonsense to find who they think is the killer. Then we watch the court trial. Then the story picks up slightly afterwards but it's too little too late by that point. I know this is a well regarded film amongst fans of giallo so you probably don't want to take my opinion on this one.

Availability:  On DVD

Dirty Harry (1971)

4.5 / 5
Tagline: You don't assign him to murder cases, You just turn him loose.
Directed by: Don Siegel
Written by: Harry Julian Fink, Rita M. Fink
Actors include: Clint Eastwood, Harry Guardino, Reni Santoni
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Length: 102 minutes
Banned: Finland

Review:
I wasn't sure that I'd ever get into cop thrillers, I hate to say that I'd always considered them "boy" movies and so I've avoided. Once again I was wrong to do so for this was one action packed stylish thrilling flick! Firstly it's impossible not to love Clint Eastwood, especially as this Dirty Harry character who plays by his own rules. He says what he likes (iconic sayings of course), shoots first and asks questions later plus he's a bonafied hero that is afraid of nothing! In this story his major foe is a serial killer (very similar to the real live Zodiac killings) who happens to be an all around bad guy in every sense of the word (he's even freaky looking). He has to deal with a new partner, the force which is trying to make him play by the rules while stopping at nothing to try to nab the crook. It's purely awesome in nearly every way, and I can't wait to see the sequels if they are half as great as this film!

Availability:  On DVD & Blu-Ray

Gli Occhi Freddi Della Paura (1971) aka Cold Eyes Of Fear

3 / 5 Jan '11
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Enzo G. Castellari
Written by: Leo Anchóriz
Actors include: Giovanna Ralli, Frank Wolff, Fernando Rey
Genre: Giallo, Thriller, Horror
Length: 91 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Although this starts out amusingly enough, and it does qualify as a giallo in some aspects, it kinda doesn't in others. It's a story that takes place in the '60s where an Italian girl out to dinner with a date is taken away by anonther man (who looks just like Doc Baker from the LOHTP series) for sexy time. Doc Baker (let's just call him that for the sake of ease) takes her to his rich solicitor Father's house, but unfortunately some criminals show up to rob the place. It's really just a thriller with the two being held hostage for most of the film. It is missing the excess that I love from this style of film and it's not satisfying on a death or sex level and the plot isn't very interesting either...even as it unfolds. Credit to them for making a nice looking film and getting the mood right, it's just rather forgettable and it drags a bit. Still a big fan of the genre will want to stumble upon this at some point, I just wouldn't recommend looking for this with any sort of urgency.

Availability:  On DVD

Vanishing Point (1971)

3.5 / 5
Tagline:  Watch carefully because everything happens fast. The chase. The desert. The shack. The girl. The roadblock. The end.
Directed by:  Richard C. Sarafian
Written by:  Malcolm Hart
Actors include:  Cleavon Little, Barry Newman, Dean Jagger
Genre:  Thriller, Action, Drama
Length:  99 minutes
Banned:  Nope

Review:
Gee I really hate when classic films are disappointing, I mean this was far from terrible but I have no idea why it's so well regarded. Our story is about a man who has to make a delivery, he makes a bet that he can get there in a ridiculously short period of time, and he likes to keep his bets. Of course he disregards basic law so the cops are chasing him throughout. For some reason a DJ who happens to be blind and irritating tries to help him out on the radio alerting him where to go and stuff. Some strange things happen on his journey and he meets some unusual people (including a nudie motorcycle rider) on the way. The cinematography is stunning, that much I'll give it, and it wasn't like I was bored or anything. It just seemed as though the story was quite pointless...I mean why even bother trying to rush the delivery in the first place? You'll likely adore it so ignore my complaints, I just didn't think it was all that unfortunately.


Availability:  On Blu-Ray & DVD