PRIMITIVE SCREWHEADS

The Many Faces Of Sherlock Holmes

I went looking for a cover shot of The Many Faces Of Sherlock Holmes and found The Many Faces Of Sherlock Holmes. The first is the Mill Creek Entertainment 3 DVD set that you see the cover to above. The second is a 47 minute documentary, narrated by Christopher Lee, about the various actors who've played the detective. I watched the first 10 minutes and it seems interesting enough. I'll finish it while I type this.

I bought the DVD set because it had two Sherlock Holmes TV productions on it that I hadn't seen. So, I thought. When I went to put it away with the rest of the Holmes stuff I found I had gotten a different DVD and watched it 3 years ago. Totally forgot about it. I even posted a blog post about it.

Sherlock Holmes & the Leading Lady 1992 Written by Bob Shane and H R F Keating, with Peter Sasdy directing. Mycroft asks Holmes to investigate the theft of stolen plans for a bomb detonator. Holmes and Watson travel to Vienna where they run into Irene Adler. Irene is played by Morgan Fairchild and Vienna is played by Luxembourg.

Sherlock Holmes: Incident at Victoria Falls 1992 Written by Bob Shane and Gerry O'Hara, directed by Bill Corcoran. This time they filmed in Victoria Falls as well as Luxembourg. The King asks Sherlock to protect the Star Of Africa on a trip to Cape Town. There's lots of outdoor travel and plenty of killing. Jenny Seagrove plays Lilly Langtry and Claude Akins plays Theodore Roosevelt.

Both are a bit stodgy but they're fine. Lee and Macnee do a fine job. I gave them both a 6 when I saw them the first time and I still stick by that now.

The second disc contains the 1965 feature A Study In Terror with John Neville. I had just gotten this on a Blu-ray that looks so much nicer. The rest of that disc has 5 episodes of the 1950s TV show The Adventures OF Sherlock Holmes with Ronald Howard. I already have them in a DVD set that I got ages ago. The series is in the public domain and there are several sets out there, often mixed with other PD Holmes material. Just like this set. You can see them all on YouTube.

The third disc has 5 older films that are all in the Public Domain.

A Study In Scarlet 1933 Reginald Owen as Sherlock Holmes in a fairly good film. Warburton Gamble is Watson and Anna May Wong co-stars.

The Sign Of Four 1932 Another fairly good film with Arthur Wontner as Holmes and Ian Hunter as Watson.

Murder At The Baskervilles 1937 Another film with Arthur Wontner as Homes. This time Watson is played by Ian Fleming. Not the James Bond guy. It's an OK film.

Dressed To Kill 1946 This Holmes film is in the Public Domain, as is the one below. Basil Rathbone plays Holmes and Nigel Bruce plays Dr Watson. Better than all the others here by far. You can find better copies of the whole lot of the Rathbone and Bruce films on DVD. I recently bought the Blu-Ray set and was mighty pleased.

Terror By Night 1946 Another good one with Nigel and Basil.

Here's another production I found while looking for other Holmes material. I hadn't seen before. Now that I've watched it, it's pretty poor in every way. Patrick Macnee plays Sherlock Holmes, making him one of 4 actors to play both Holmes and Watson. Sadly, he's part of the pretty poor formula. One of the worst Holmes films ever is based on a play by some Canadian bloke. He wrote the screenplay and it's also pretty poor. Just everything about it reeks. Have a look.

Sherlock Holmes and The Hound of London 1993

Here's a documentary called Sherlock Holmes The Great Detective.

Eyewitness 1956

I took a chance on a DVD from The Rank Collection and ordered Eyewitness. It's a 1956 British film with Donald Sindon as a murderous robber. It's written by Janet Green and directed by Muriel Box. Muriel's husband was Sidney Box and he was the produced of the movie. They worked together on a lot of films over the years.

A couple are arguing over the hubby's recent hire purchase of a TV. Only 18 months to pay. The wife storms out and goes to the cinema. Coincidentally that's the cinema that Donald Sinden and his pal Barney are robbing. The wife sees the men at work and Barney chases after her. Donald kills the manager while Barney's running. Barney chases the wife out of the building and into the path of an oncoming bus. The wife's in the hospital for the rest of the movie. Will she wake up? That's what's bothering Donald. He takes Barney over to the hospital to figure out what to do. The hubby starts looking for his wife after a few hours.

Things fall apart for Donald and Barney, the hubby gets a clue from the cops and the wife struggles with consciousness. Donald beats Barney and goes after the wife. It's a nice tight story with an OK cast. The DVD was only $3.95 at Hamilton Books. I was glad to get it and so cheap.

Invisible Man Appears 1949

One of the YouTube channels I subscribe to posted Invisible Man Appears today. It looked right up my alley and I watched it this morning. It's a 1949 Japanese SF film that was directed by Shinsei Adachi and Shigehiro Fukushima. It's the only movie they directed. The story is by Akimitsu Takagi and the screenplay is by Nobuo Adachi. Eiji Tsuburaya did the special effects. He had been blacklisted by the Americans for making propaganda films during the war. He started his own company so he could get around the ban. It was eventually lifted and he went to work for Toho. The invisible effects are mixed, some better than others, most passable.

A scientist has created a potion that turns the drinker invisible. The problem is there is no return agent to make them visible. A criminal steals the potion and kidnaps the creator and his assistant. The one on the right. The baddie tricks the assistant into taking the potion, the assistant thinks he's saving the scientist from being turned invisible forever. The baddie sends him out to steal a pricey necklace. The invisible thief has trouble getting the jewels. A good way into the film we find that another of the potion's side-affects is anger and rage. The invisible guy is indeed having trouble with rage. He mostly keeps it in check but things just don't go his way for the rest of the movie. There's a bit of romance tossed in there and some other melodrama but it's not over indulgent or anything. All in all a serviceable picture that I'd watch again.

The Midnight Horror Collection - Road Trip To Hell

 

Here's another 4 pack of films from Echo Bridge Entertainment. The Midnight Horror Collection - Road Trip To Hell was another clearance set. Nothing stands out of this lot.

The Craving 2008 A bunch of dopes head to Burning Man and find there's a monster in the desert. There's a lot of yakkin' and scenes of the desert then they get picked off one by one. Pretty standard stuff but it's barely a 3 for me.

Sheltered 2010 A bunch of 20 somethings take shelter in a bartenders house. Turns out he's a psycho. Another 3 here.

Hell's Highway 2002 Four people are on a car trip. They pick up a woman who turns out to be a killer. It's barely a three.

Feeding Grounds 2006 I saw this on another movie multi pack and it wasn't that good then. I generously gave it a 2.

Grindhouse Girls Of The 1970s Collection

I picked up Grindhouse Girls Of The 1970s Collection at DreamHaven. You never know what will turn up there. It was a ten spot but it only cost me 8 bucks plus tax. I get the employee discount from working there in the past. I went to look for a cover shot and for DVDs one of the places I go first is Amazon. They had price ranges from $12.95 to well over a 100 smackaroonies. It's got 4 films from 1971, two per disc. They wouldn't have played in many theaters and not the nice ones. The four films are Daisy Does Hollywood, Big Beaver Splits The Scene, Girls Of Paris and Trapped In The House. All of them have rudimentary story lines but mostly they're just an excuse to have nude women running about. There's plenty of simulated sex but little acting. Nothing stands out in the lot and it was probably a waste of my money. Oh well, at least I got a discount.

Murdoch Mysteries - Once Upon A Murdoch Christmas

Once Upon A Murdoch Christmas is the Murdoch Mysteries two hour Christmas Special that appeared partway through the 10th season. It's the second of the Christmas specials and, like the first one, it's sold as a stand alone DVD or Blu-ray. There was room on the Blu-ray's to add the special without adding an additional disc but that wouldn't make more money.

As the show starts there's a train robbery, a rich business man has had his expensive gifts stolen. That's followed by more Christmas related thefts. Murdoch and the police are investigating but they find few clues at first. There are other plot threads that run through the special.

Constable George Crabtree has created his first graphic novel, "a novel you can read in half an hour" says George. He's written the story and hired an engineer to illustrate it. The character is Jumping Jack, a gadget rich crime fighter, that George has sort of based on William Murdoch. As the robberies continue there are sightings of a Jumping Jack like thief. The engineer had not only provided the illustrations to the Jumping Jack story, he had designed the workings of the inventions that JJ uses to fight crime. Those plans have been stolen, the gadgets made real, then used to steal from the rich. Murdoch and his crew will eventually work out who Toronto's Robin Hood is and have some other adventures along the way.

It's a fun story, lots of things going on, some action, some sentiment, plenty of laughs. It's a good mix. The show would do another Christmas Special in 2017 but not in 2018. Once I get through Season 11 I'll watch the 3rd one.

Science Fiction Sunday 523

I have a couple of movies today that are as different as could be, yet they share a basic story element. At their core it's all about world domination. First up, Queen Of Outer Space, a 1958 SF movie about the first trip to Venus. It's based on a Ben Hecht story called Queen Of The Universe. There's a bit on the commentary track by film historian Tom Weaver where he talks about that story and not being able to find a copy anywhere. It wasn't a published story, it's the film written out like a short story. The screenplay would be based on that. Charles Beaumont wrote the screenplay and Edward Bernds is the director.

Zsa Zsa Gabor gets star billing but Laurie Mitchell as the evil Queen Yllana gets the much more interesting part. She just doesn't get to show her face. 

Three astronauts are delivering a scientist to the space station when it's blow up by a ray from space. The ship gets hit and goes out of control. The men pass out and wake on the planet Venus. Lucky for them it's got breathable atmosphere. They explore, only to get caught by some ladies in short skirts and high heels. I think this movie has the most running, or quick walking, in high heels that I've ever seen. We see endless corridors filled with short skirts.

The guys get brought up before the Queen, there they learn she's been the one attacking the Earth, it's part of her plan to take over the Earth. Now the guys have to figure out how to defeat the Queen. Lucky for them they've got help from Zsa Zsa and her group of unsatisfied women. The men of Venus have been defeated and banished by the Queen. Many of the women want the men back and they find the men of Earth appealing. They've really grown desperate. Que the kissing. 

Eventually things get sorted out and there's some more kissing. It's all pretty silly and I had a laugh. It's not a great movie but it's fun. It gets a 4.6 on the IMDb and I don't think that's too far off. I was glad to find the Warner Archive DVD used for under 7 bucks and happy to find there was a commentary track. Joining Tom Weaver to talk about the film is Laurie Mitchell, who played Queen Yllana. They have an entertaining conversation, and only occasionally forget to talk. Glad to add it to my collection, I'll want to watch it again someday.

I could say the same about Wizards. I hadn't seen Ralph Bakshi's 1977 animated film in many years. Bakshi produced, wrote and directed the film. I had a copy I recorded off of a laserdisc but it was pretty fuzzy. I saw a cheap copy of the DVD and picked it up. The movie looks good and it's still entertaining. There's a nice commentary by Ralph Bakshi. There's also an interview with Bakshi, a still gallery, trailers and TV spots.

The Girl From Rio 1969

What a difference a couple of years and a new director make. The Girl From Rio is the second movie with Shirley Eaton as Sumaru and it shares a Blue Underground Blu-ray disc with The Million Eyes Of Sumaru.

The Girl From Rio has a screenplay by producer Harry Allan Towers, writing under the name Peter Welbeck, and Jess Franco is the director. Jess has taken his queues from bold movies like Modesty Blaise, Danger: Diabolik!, In Like Flint and produced a fun to look at spy film. It's got less of a sense of humor than TMEOS but it's still plenty entertaining. It might be my favorite Jess Franco movie.

It's got some great costumes, nice props, all displayed in the exotic locations provided by Rio De Janeiro. Richard Wyler is a spy with a suitcase full of cash. George Sanders is a gangster who wants the money and he's not alone. Shirley returns as Sumaru, going under another name, and she's got her eyes on the cash too. Shirley's a great villain, sadly she'd retire after this movie, only making a short in 2001. Richard Wyler isn't my idea of a spy guy, I find him rather forgettable, and that's while I'm watching the movie. Still, I enjoyed the movie plenty and would watch it again.

The Million Eyes Of Sumaru 1967

I first saw The Million Eyes Of Sumaru on the KTMA season of Mystery Science Theater 3000. That was donkey's years ago. I don't really know what that means but it does sound like a while. I didn't actually have a DVD of the unfettered movie, so the 2 movie Blu-ray at Hamilton Book for a ten spot seemed like a good deal. I got it couple weeks ago and since then it seems to have disappeared from their site. It's not much more at Amazon. The other movie is The Girl From Rio, both of them are spy films and produced by Harry Allan Towers. 

The Million Eyes Of Sumaru is a 1967 spy comedy. It's light breezy style reminds me of the Matt Helm or the Flint films. Harry Allan Towers wrote the original story as Peter Welbeck, it's based on the Sumaru novels by Sax Rohmer. Kevin Kavanagh wrote the screenplay and Lindsay Shonteff is the director. The movie was filmed at the Shaw Brothers studio in Hong Kong.

George Nader and Frankie Avalon are a couple of American spies, they're in Hong Kong and they've been asked by the head of British Intelligence , Wilfred Hyde-White, to look into the death of a visiting Chief of Security. The killing turns out to be the work of Sumaru, played by Shirley Eaton. She's got her own secret organization and it's goal is world domination. Then women will rule the world, or one woman at least. Klaus Kinski is President Boong. Nice caftan.

There's plenty of spying and double dealings. Sumaru is a cruel master, dealing out killer reviews for poor job performance. Who would want to work for these people? There's some good bits of humor, somewhat dated to be sure, and there's plenty of nice Hong Kong location shooting. There's some action and a big battle in the last act. It's not a great film but it's better than it's 3.2 score on the IMDb. It's dated and corny and barely average but I'm liked it and gave it a 5. I'd watch it again. The film looks nice on the Blu-ray and there are some interviews, a trailer and some poster and still galleries for extras. Glad I picked it up. 

Friday Night Movies 714

Freaks Of Nature is a 2015 horror comedy that was fairly entertaining. I got a few laughs from the screenplay by Oren Uziel, his previous screenplay was 22 Jump Street and he's writing the script to the new Supergirl movie and a new Mortal Kombat movie. The script was listed in the 2010 Blacklist. Robbie Pickering is the director. 

That's the three main cast members, Nicholas Braun, Mackenzie Davis and Josh Fadem. Nick's a human, Mackenzie was a human who got turned into a vampire and Josh started as a human but gave himself to a zombie and now his flesh is rotting off his body. The town has a mix of humans, vampires and zombies living in a small town who's main claim to fame is the production of the riblet. They mostly get along, at least until the night the aliens arrive. Then it's a three way shitstorm of death and destruction. 

There's a pretty good cast, I liked seeing Bob Odenkirk, Patton Oswald, Joan Cusack, Keegan-Michael Key, Vanessa Hudgens, Denis Leary and Rachel Harris. I didn't realize that Brian Peck and Beverly Randolph, they play a zombie couple, were in The Return Of The Living Dead, playing Scuz and Tina. The IMDb often has some nice bits of Trivia. That's another entertaining zombie comedy. 

As I said, I got a few laughs out of the movie and I would recommend it to those who like a bit of dark laugh with assorted goo. The picture looks good and the special effects and make up are well done. It had a budget of $33 mill and it was well spent. It didn't get much of a release but it seems to have some fans, there are 9300 plus votes on the IMDb and it scores a 5.9. I gave it a 6. Twenty-seven percent of the votes are a 6. 

Battle In Outer Space is a 1959 Japanese film that's directed by Ishirô Honda. I just read a nice bio on Honda, it covers his career quite well. Battle In Outer Space is also an alien invasion movie. I've seen it before, several times, but not since 2012. Back then I watched the Toho Collection - Icons Of SCI-FI set, we watched the Blu-ray today. It looked pretty darn nice.

The human's have to battle an alien invader who have set up a base on the moon. There's plenty of space traveling, rock climbing and alien shooting. The science is entertaining, all madey-uppy and goofy. Sometimes it would be better to not explain it. It's got nice special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya and a score by Akira Ifukube. I doubt I'm going to upgrade my copy. I should spend my DVD and Blu-ray money on stuff I don't already have.