PRIMITIVE SCREWHEADS

Friday Night Movies 909

Iron Mask 2019 Screenplay by Oleg Stepchenko, Dimitry Paltserv and Alexey A Petrukin, directed by Oleg Stepchenko. A Russian Chinese co-production that's a sequel to Forbidden Empire. Starring Jason Flemyng, Jackie Chan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rutget Hauer, Helen Yao and Charles Dance.

 

Titled Тайна печати дракона in Russian, the English translation is Viy 2: Journey To China. Titled 龙牌之谜 in Chinese which translates to The Mystery Of The Dragon Seal in English. It's called The Iron Mask or just Iron Mask in the US.

Jason is a cartographer who's mapping Europe, Russia and China. Along his route he helps a young man who turns out to be a Chinese Princess. Jackie is in prison in the Tower Of London with Tzar Peter I, Arnold is the Warden, he likes a punch up, anyone who beats him can go free. The Tzar escapes and winds up on a ship with Jason's wife. They are bound for China.

The Princess returns to her town to find an evil sorceress is posing as the Princess. There's a lot of leaping about and yelling to get that set right. There's plenty of nice scenery along the journey. It's a nice production but the dialog is kind of poor. I enjoyed the movie and hope they get to release the third film. It's supposed to come out in 2022 but nothing so far.

Amityville In Space 2022 Written and directed by Mark Polonia. Mark had directed over 70 pictures in the last 37 years. From the look of this one he hasn't learned how to make a good movie yet. He seems to be following The Asylum's business plan, make low budget horror movies, make a lot of them, don't worry that they aren't very good. I thought AIS was worse than some of The Asylum's poorer pictures. Mark's a big liar too, there's nothing in the movie that looks like that poster. There is a house in space, it's been exorcised from Earth. You can see it in the trailer in the title above. It's sad looking. Most of the effects are poor.

There's a space ship filled with spacemen and women who are traveling about the galaxy blowing up black holes with bombs. They spot the house near a black hole. A strange humanoid enters the ship and gives the human's hallucinations. A priest comes to help them and some of them live to escape.

We were joking about while watching, there was a complaint that I thought was quite valid, the film makers don't seem to take any steps, even baby ones, to make their movie better. We were coming up with all sorts of ways to improve scenes and ways that wouldn't increase the budget. Is Mark lacking imagination? Could be. I think he just didn't bother. I wouldn't bother watching the film again.

The Four Just Men 1939

The Four Just Men 1939 It was released in the US in 1941 under the name The Secret Four. Based on the 1905 Edgar Wallace novel of the same name, screenplay by Angus MacPhail, Sergei Nolbandov and Roland Pertwee, directed by Walter Forde. Roland is Jon Pertwee's father, besides writing a fair number of films he was an actor. I've seen three other films he wrote:  The Ghoul 1933, King Solomon's Mines 1937 and Pimpernel Smith 1941. Andrew wrote the screenplay for the 1931 version of The Ghost Train, later he would write some films for George Formby. Walter directed a few films I've seen, The Ghost Train 1931, The Ringer 1931, Rome Express 1932, Chu Chin Chow 1934 and the 1941 Arthur Askey film The Ghost Train.

The four just men are actor Humphrey Mansfield, played by Hugh Sinclair, playwright James Brodie, played by Griffith Jones, fashion house owner Léon Poiccard, played by Francis L Sullivan, and foreign correspondent James Terry, played by Frank Lawton. They've banded together to punish criminals.

As the film opens Terry escapes a Prussian prison just before he's executed. He's got some good intel about 5th columnists inside the British government. A big problem with WW2 looming on the horizon.The four just men do their thing, they are ruthless, the baddies are barely a match. There's plenty of murder, some fist fights and gun shooting, plenty of running about and a slew of interesting characters.

The version of the film on the Internet Archive is the one with the tacked on anti-Nazi ending, the original film didn't call the baddies German out rightly. I enjoyed it and would welcome another view down the road. I've seen quite a few of the films made from Edgar Wallace's books. Lucky for me I've still got a few more adaptions left to see. Not many though.

Shetland Series 7

Shetland Series 7 Six episode series that aired August and September 2022. Based on the novels of Ann Cleeves. Ann also writes the Vera series of novels, they also got made into a TV show. I watched a couple of episodes but didn't warm to them. Shetland was adapted by David Kane, he wrote 4 of this current batch, the other two were written by Paul Logue. Max Myers and Siri Rødnes each directed 3 episodes.

That's Steven Robertson as DC Sandy Wilson, Alison O'Donnell and DS Alison "Tosh" McIntosh and Douglas Henshall as DI Jimmy Pérez.

There's a bunch of story threads that wind their way through the 6 eps. The main one about a guy called Conner. He's made a graphic novel and gotten it published. He goes missing after the release party. A couple of people are killed in the 2nd and 3rd episodes. One has no connection to Connor and the other was Connor's girlfriend.

Connor turns up dead on the beach and more stuff about his background comes out. Tosh nearly gets blown up in a trailer. That trauma is chaffing the stress coming from Tosh's new baby and her marriage problems. She's a bag of raw nerves. Sandy seems to have gotten off fairly easy this series, he's certainly not getting the sort of harsh treatment that Tosh or Jimmy are.

Jimmy begins to doubt his job, he meets a nice lady, the thoughts get stronger. In real life Doug Henshall is leaving the show after this series. Too bad, he was the reason I checked it out. I don't know if that means the series is dead. Sadly, I thought it was the least interesting series so far. I have first 5 series in a nice set from the UK. I might add the last two but I doubt I would want to watch them again.

Ridley Series 1

Ridley Series 1 Four 90 min episodes that just aired on ITV. Created by Paul Matthew Thompson, written by Paul Matthew Thompson, Jonathan Fisher and Julia Gilbert, directed by Paul Gay. Thompson is the creator of Vera. I watched a few episodes of Vera and found I didn't care for it.

Adrian Dunbar is Alex Ridley. That's him above, he's a police detective who retired early, he'd had a nervous breakdown after his wife and daughter were killed in an arson fire at their house. A man went to jail for it. Eighteen months later he comes back to work as a consultant.

Left to right that's Terence Maynard as DCI Paul Goodwin, Adrian, Bronagh Waugh as DI Carol Farman, and George Bukhari as DC Darren Lakhan. George Glen plays Dr Wendy Newstone and Julie Graham plays Annie Marling. Ridley owns a jazz pub with Annie, he sings and plays the piano when the scum are behind bars.

Just barely on the edge of where I draw the line on crime shows. There's a lot of personal drama mixed in with the murder of the week. There's also a lot of yelling. Cops and crooks aren't too happy with Ridley's methods. He'll kick a door down or steal some evidence to get the jump on the baddie.

It's fairly well done but I noticed I was starting to flick through the episode more frequently in the second half. Not something I would need to see again.

Science Fiction Sunday 708

Doctor Who The Movie The 1996 TV movie that brought back the Doctor. Nine years later they started making more episodes of the series. Written by Matthew Jacobs and directed by Geoffrey Sax. 

I found I liked the story less than the last time I watched it in 2015.

Dr Who And The Daleks 1965 Theatrical release with Peter Cushing as Dr Who. The movie is based on the 2nd Doctor Who serial The Daleks by Terry Nation, written by Milton Subotsky and an uncredited David Whitaker, directed by Gordon Flemyng.

I watched the Kino-Lorber Blu-ray this time around. It looks very nice, even on my old TV. Though the movie is based on the TV show serial it's not the same Doctor. Peter Cushing is a human who's invented the TARDIS. He's got a couple of nieces, Susan and Barbara, one of the nieces has a boyfriend called Ian. All of them get accidentally transported a planet with Daleks. Dr Who and the gang help the humanoids that are on the edge of extinction.

I found it mostly entertaining but a bit draggy in the middle. It's nice seeing the results when there's more money than usual.

The K-L Blu-ray has the 1995documentary Dalekmania that appeared on the UK DVD I watched in 2014. There's a new commentary with Kim Newman, Robert Shearman and Mark Gatiss. There's an interview with Gareth Owen, a restoration featurette and a trailer, all were on the old DVD release.

Dalek's Invasion Earth 2150AD 1966 Theatrical release with Peter Cushing as Dr Who. Based on the Doctor Who serial The Dalek Invasion Of The Earth by Terry Nation, written by Milton Subotsky with additional material by David Whitaker, directed by Gordon Flemyng.

The sequel has Dr Who and his two nieces from the first movie. Bernard Cribbins is a policeman who get attacked during a late night robbery. He stumbles onto the TARDIS, thinking it's a regular old police box he steps into use the phone. He passes out, wakes up in the future, and joins them in the fight with the Daleks.

I enjoyed the sequel more than the first film. It looks good, the story is tighter and there's plenty of action. Still, not the Doctor from the TV.

The Kino-Lorber Blu-ray has a commentary with Kim Newman, Robert Shearman and Mark Gatiss. It's also got the 1995 Dalekmania documentary, an interview with Bernard Cribbins, an interview with Gareth Owen, a restoration featurette and a trailer.

Friday Night Movies 908

Summer Of 84 2018 Written by Matt Leslie and Stephen J Smith, directed by François Simard, Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissell. The 3 directors are the same three that wrote and directed the 2015 film Turbo Kid. I enjoyed that film more than this one, mostly because I'm not much interested in a serial killer story.

A 15 year old named Davey decides that the policeman who lives across the street from his family's house is the Cape May Slayer. The killer had written to the local newspaper confessing to the 15 previous killings. Davey sees some clues that lead him to believe the cop is the killer and he's convincing enough to get his three friends to help him investigate. Turns out Davey was right. That knowledge puts him and his gang in great jeopardy, especially once Davey's father, an incredible asshole, spills the beans to the cop. There's no happy ending for Davey once the cop is outed, he escapes the police dragnet, stopping briefly to threaten Davey with the promise of a return visit for a bit of revenge.

It's well made but the story isn't the sort of horror film I like. It's not something I'd bother with again.

Daughters Of Satan 1972 Story by John A Bushelman, screenplay by John C Higgins, directed by Hollingsworth Morse. I didn't recognize the title but I had seen it back in 2010. It didn't look familiar while we were watching it.

Tom Selleck is a museum curator in Manila. He sees a painting in a shop, it depicts three witches being burned at the stake, Tom notices the witch in the middle looks a lot like his wife Chris. He buys the painting and brings it home, Chris doesn't like it but somehow knows the name of the coven and the day they were burned at the stake. 

The painting is a cursed magical thing that allows the long dead witches a chance to take over the bodies of living women. When the witch possesses Chris her image in the painting disappears. Two other women are possessed and the reformed coven team up to get some revenge on the magistrate who ordered them burnt at the stake. That guy's long dead. No matter, the witches don't mind killing the relatives of their oppressors. Tom's that relative and it doesn't go well for him during the movie.

It's not much of a movie, it's struggling to get to average, I gave it a generous five. I doubt I'd need to see it a third time.

Les Creatures 1966

Les Creatures 1966 Written and directed by Agnes Varda.

Catherine Deneuve lives in a big old house with her husband Michel Piccoli. She doesn't speak, the result of Michel's bad driving and generally being an asshole. He's some sort of writer, he wanders the town imagining the locals as part of his novel. I find him very uninteresting. He has trouble with some crooked bed sheet salesmen and visits some regular folks. There's a bit of blur between the novel and reality though some novel scenes are tinted reddish.

It's gotten mixed reviews over the years and I can see why. It's pretty abstract. I didn't find it as interesting as some people did but I got to the end of the film. I didn't think I would need to see it again. So many other things I like better to see.

Shark 1969

Shark 1969 Based on the novel His Bones Are Coral by Victor Canning, screenplay by Samuel Fuller and John Kingsbridge, directed by Samuel Fuller. A Mexican American production that's was filmed under the title Caine, it's also known as Man-Eater.

Burt Reynold's a smuggler who's stuck in a small port town on the Red Sea. Manzanillo Mexico is filling in for the Red Sea. There's a story going around that one of the stunt men was killed by a great white shark that got past the shark netting. Life magazine did a story on it and the producers changed the title to Shark! to cash in on the publicity. Fuller quit the picture in disgust. He also said the film was butchered in the editing, he wanted his name taken off the picture, the producers refused.

Burt gets hired by Silvia Pinal to recover some gold off a sunken ship. The area has a lot of sharks floating about, some of them are human. There's a little bit of action and a lot of scuba diving. It's barely average and I can't credit that just to bad editing. You can see it on YouTube. Link above.

The League Of Frightened Men 1937

The League Of Frightened Men 1937 Based on The League Of Frightened Men by Rex Stout, screenplay by Guy Endore, Eugene Solow and Edward Chodorov, directed by Alfred E Green.

This time Nero Wolfe is being played by Walter Connolly. Edward Arnold decided he didn't want to continue in the role. Lionel Stander returns as Archie Goodwin. He's about the same character, minus the fiancée, but the scriptwriters have their own ideas about Nero Wolfe. He's a comical goof who spends more time out of the house than Nero spent out of the house in the 33 novels and 39 stories Rex Stout wrote. Edward Arnold was more entertaining.

Someone is sending frightening letters to some guys. A couple of them are killed off and Nero offers to help catch the killer, provided the men pay him if he does well. He sends Archie out and there's the usual running about with some fun bits of humor. Sadly, the movie isn't as good as the previous film. 

Rex Stout wasn't too happy with the adaptations of his novels and I can't blame him. They aren't the characters he created and he wouldn't let anyone use them for a very long time. After his death the estate sold the rights to do a TV show, that was the one that William Conrad was in.

Meet Nero Wolfe 1936

Meet Nero Wolfe 1936 Based on the Rex Stout novel Fer-de-lance, screenplay by Howard J Green, Bruce Manning and Joseph Anthony, directed by Herbert Biberman.

Edward Arnold plays Nero Wolfe and Lionel Stander plays Archie Goodwin. They aren't the characters from the books but they're entertaining. Nero Wolfe writer Rex Stout thought they were miscast. Can't argue with that. The lady in the picture is Dennie Moore, she's Archie's fiancée Mazie Gray. She follows him around complaining about not getting married for pretty much the whole movie.

A rich guy drops dead on the golf course. Rita Hayworth asks Wolfe to find her brother. Nero decides to take the case and the investigation leads to that dead golfer. There's a lot of running around and most of a good mystery. It's pretty darn goofy and there are a few good jokes. You can try it out on YouTube. Link above.