In the entire history of American movies, The Night of the Hunter stands out as the rarest and most exotic of specimens. It is, to say the least, a masterpiece--and not just because it was the only movie directed by flamboyant actor Charles Laughton or the only produced solo screenplay by the legendary critic James Agee (who also co-wrote The African Queen). The truth is, nobody has ever made anything approaching its phantasmagoric, overheated style in which German expressionism, religious hysteria, fairy-tale fantasy (of the Grimm-est variety), and stalker movie are brought together in a furious boil. Like a nightmarish premonition of stalker movies to come, Night of the Hunter tells the suspenseful tale of a demented preacher (Robert Mitchum, in a performance that prefigures his memorable villain in Cape Fear), who torments a boy and his little sister--even marries their mixed-up mother (Shelley Winters)--because he's certain the kids know where their late bank-robber father hid a stash of stolen money. So dramatic, primal, and unforgettable are its images--the preacher's shadow looming over the children in their bedroom, the magical boat ride down a river whose banks teem with fantastic wildlife, those tattoos of LOVE and HATE on the unholy man's knuckles, the golden locks of a drowned woman waving in the current along with the indigenous plant life in her watery grave--that they're still haunting audiences (and filmmakers) today. --Jim Emerson, Amazon.com
Sean (Kerr Smith) is driving cross-country to deliver a vintage Mercedes and attend his sister's wedding when he picks up a hitchhiker, Nick (Brendan Fehr), who just happens to be a vampire hunter with a secret.
After a chimpanzee gets loose in a pharmaceutical lab and randomly concocts a youth-restoring drug staid scientist Dr. Barnaby Fulton (Cary Grant) unknowingly samples the potion and acquires the energy and tempement of a college student!
Creature From The Haunted Sea: A mobster hits on a plan while smuggling a deposed general and a fortune in gold out of Cuba on his yacht. He and his crew will scare the general and kill his guards by faking the attacks of a sea monster and thus keep the gold for themselves. Unfortunately a sea monster actually is attacking them leading to all sorts of complications. The Devil Bat: Driven by the thrill of vengeance a crazy scientist devises a particularly diabolical m
This is one of the first American martial arts movies and features some gripping action with James Cagney doing his own stunts for which he trained intensively with Ken Kuniyuki a fifth degree judo master before shooting. This is Cagney at his best.
Produced in a time when films were both literally and figuratively black and white, Made for Each Other was unique in its effective blending of the comedic, the dramatic and, as perhaps some would insensitively say, the melodramatic. Beautiful Carole Lombard and likeable James Stewart are Jane and John Mason, a couple who meet, fall madly in love, marry and quickly have a baby. But while they--and the audience--are confident that they are meant for each other, life intercedes and the couple must meet with disapproving in-laws, job stress, financial challenges and, finally, a devastating illness.Lombard and Stewart--and the genuinely good people they portray--are utterly compelling and charming. Say yawningly what you will about tradition but the Masons' path is one that many, if not most, go down. And unlike the wonderful but wholly fantasy world of peer Preston Sturges, director John Cromwell's universe is, like real life, full of ups and downs. It's an accessible, sensitive portrayal. He gives the audience characters they want to see succeed, and to see stay together in the process. It may be a tale of triumph of the human spirit but its ultimate sentiment--one that celebrates the kindness of strangers--is thoroughly sweet, though in no way saccharine. Look for a great supporting cast, including a blustery Charles Coburn as John Mason's boss and Lucile Watson as Mason's interfering mother. --N F Mendoza
Murder... The only clue a nightmare! Fear In The Night finally makes its way to DVD. This was the film that marked the celluloid debut of the late DeForest Kelley - the fantastic genre actor best known for his role as Dr. Leonard ""Bones"" McCoy in the Star Trek series. Cliff Herlihy (Paul Kelly) has a terrible nightmare in which he sees himself killing a complete stranger. When Cliff awakens he discovers evidence that his nightmare was no dream at all. Whilst
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