Monthly Archives: July 2012

Batman (1989)

Posted on July 30, 2012 | Leave a comment

By Richard Winters

My Rating: 6 out of 10

4-Word Review: Where is Adam West?

The attempt at moving the Batman theme from the campiness of the TV series to a darker edge proves successful. Director Tim Burton’s vision of Gotham is terrific. It has a sort of weird mixture of the 1940’s and the modern day and the look is original. It is so gray and dark it seems almost like purgatory and having the citizens celebrate its 200th anniversary may be the best joke of the film.

The story nicely starts out showing how Bruce Wayne (Michael Keaton) became acclimated with this Batman character and how initially he wasn’t perceived as being a good guy. It also explains how as a little boy he witnessed his parent’s murder. Yet it doesn’t go far enough and questions still abound. Like who built the Batmobile and that very immense bat cave? Are we to believe that Bruce Wayne and his kindly butler Alfred (Michael Gough) did it all by themselves?! It would have also have been nice if they had shown what specifically inspired him to take the identity of the bat. Still it’s good that some actual bats are shown and in a brief frame even come flying right at you!

The story is slick, but nothing spectacular. Such a big budgeted and much hyped movie almost cries for a more expansive storyline. Something along the lines of a James Bond plot with some megalomaniac aspiring for world domination or destruction. Having the Joker (Jack Nicholson) simply kill people with his toxic make up seems both silly and tacky. The climatic finale in the bell tower borrows too many elements from other showdowns and is too rehearsed.

Keaton looks uncomfortable in the lead. He shows no energy or charisma and is absolutely stiff in his Batman costume. Nicholson has a little more spunk and in a way seems to be a perfect fit. Yet Cesar Romero from the TV series had a much better laugh and Nicholson’s laugh seems forced. Kim Basinger makes a nice addition as the love/sex interest. She creates a nice balance between the two adversaries. It is interesting to note though that while everyone else refuses to wear make-up (including the newscasters) because of the Jokers toxins she is still seen with plenty of it on.

Overall this is a nice attempt at keeping the theme more true to its comic book origins. It doesn’t come together completely though and is in desperate need of a more singular voice. The second feature in this series Batman Returns is far better.

Watch for Lee Wallace as the mayor of Gotham as he looks like an absolute shoe-in for former New York Mayor Ed Koch especially from a distance. Also William Hootkins has absolutely the best voice for any big city policeman character.

My Rating: 6 out of 10

Released: June 23, 1989

Runtime: 2Hours 6Minutes

Director: Tim Burton

Studio: Warner Brothers

Available: VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, Amazon Instant Video

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Posted in 80's Movies, Action/Adventure, Cult, Dry Humor, Moody/Stylish, Surreal/Fantasy

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Harper (1966)

Posted on July 28, 2012 | 4 comments

By Richard Winters

My Rating: 9 out of 10

4-Word Review: New-age private eye.

            Detective Lew Harper (Paul Newman) is hired by Mrs. Sampson (Lauren Bacall) a rich woman whose husband has gone missing. She wants a private eye to find him instead of the police due to the fact that her husband was involved in certain illegal business activities, which she doesn’t want to come to light. Harper finds himself immersed in a complex web of intrigue dealing with an array of shady characters, twists, and danger.

Newman is terrific and the Harper character is the perfect private eye for modern audiences. Watching him get out of bed in his dingy, cluttered apartment at the beginning and get ready for the day is excellent and builds characterization in a visual, subtle, and believable way. His cool, laid-back, and detached demeanor is a great contrast to the hyper, jaded, high-strung L.A. types that make up the assortment of suspects. His cynical style attaches the viewer to him right from the start and the banter that he has with everyone is marvelous.

The supporting characters are superb as well and very well-defined. Bacall gets one of her better later career roles as the bitchy eccentric wife. She gets quite a few quotable zingers particularly between her and her step daughter Miranda (Pamela Tiffin) that are close to classic. I also got a kick out of Shelley Winters playing a parody of herself as a way past her prime Hollywood star who is now overweight and an alcoholic. Harper’s attempts to get information out of her by pretending to be a hick who is totally mesmerized by her is quite amusing.

Director Jack Smight is at his directorial peak here. The on-location shooting is splendid. I particularly enjoyed the modernistic building that fronts as a church, but is really used as a cover for criminal activity. It sits out on a sandy hilltop and leaves a strong visual impression as does Harper and Miranda’s car ride along a very winding desert highway to get there. I also liked his ability to capture an abandoned airplane hangar making it almost as evocative to the eye as the foot chase that happens in it. The whole production is consistently slick with color schemes, set design and editing that are all top notch.

William Goldman’s script, which is based on the novel by Ross Macdonald is sensational and one of his best in his already legendary career. The dialogue is sharp one can view it for the lines alone and might need to re-watch it again simply to pick-up on all of them as there are so many your liable to miss some. The mystery is also intriguing and nicely layered to the point that it will keep you guessing and impossible to figure out and fortunately there is a minimum of loopholes. I saw this before and knew the outcome, but still found it an enjoyable and involving ride.

My complaints are few and fortunately do not taint the quality of the picture, which is otherwise high. I didn’t like that Harper had an ex-wife Susan (Janet Leigh) who he is constantly trying to win back. The woman seemed a bit cold and snippy and not the type I would think Harper would fall for, or want to put up with. Having him act so needy to win back her affections hurt the ruggedness of the character who is appealing because of his independent and self-assured nature. There is another scene where a man is shot dead and Harper goes through his coat pockets in order to get some clues to his identity. He finds a matchbook listing a nightclub, which Harper goes to in order to ask questions from the patrons, but I kept thinking it would have been much easier had he just went through the victim’s pants pocket and taking out his wallet and looked at his driver’s license.

If you are looking for a nifty mystery done in the best crime noir tradition then they don’t come much better than this.

My Rating: 9 out of 10

Released: February 23, 1966

Runtime: 2Hours 1Minute

Rated NR (Not Rated)

Director: Jack Smight

Studio: Warner Brothers

Available:  DVD, Amazon Instant Video

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Posted in 60's Movies, Classic, Dry Humor, Kidnapping Movies, Movies Based on Novels, Mystery

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The Drowning Pool (1975)

Posted on July 27, 2012 | Leave a comment

By Richard Winters

My Rating: 7 out of 10

4-Word Review: Way too much water.

            Detective Lew Harper (Paul Newman) travels to New Orleans in order to help Iris (Joanne Woodward) an old love of his who has now married and living in a large southern mansion that is controlled by her husband’s domineering mother Olivia (Coral Browne). Iris asks Harper to track down a former servant who she has fired and is now sending notes to her husband threatening to describe one of her elicit affairs. Initially Harper thinks it will be a simple straightforward case, but finds many twists and turns including the presence of an oil company looking to buy the land the mansion sits on for drilling. There is also Iris’s over-sexed teen daughter Schuyler (Melanie Griffith) who is always present when there is any trouble as well as the town’s sheriff Broussard (Tony Franciosa) who takes an unusual interest in the well fare of Iris and her daughter.

By itself this is an okay mystery although it takes a while getting there and there are too many characters popping in out of nowhere threatening harm to Harper to point that almost becomes formulaic. Compared to the first Harper this film pales in comparison. It lacks the snappy dialogue that made the first one so fun. The supporting characters are not as well defined, or as interesting and the overall production values are not as slick. I was amazed that with a script written by Tracy Keenan Wynn, Walter Hill, and Lorenzo Semple Jr. that it could be so overall ordinary, but it is. That doesn’t mean it is not passable, or entertaining, but it lacks the zing from the first.

I also didn’t like the change of location. Harper with his very detached approach worked better with the jaded Hollywood types. Here he just seems out-of-place. The mansion setting is boring and predictable. However, the scene where Harper is taken by boat along a swamp and to a pit bull farm where the animals are trained for dog fighting is special.

As for the supporting characters Richard Jaeckel, who has appeared with Newman before in several good scenes including the drowning one in Sometimes a Great Notion, is good as ‘bullet head’ a corrupt policeman who is constantly harassing Harper. Harper later turns the tables playing a game of Russian roulette with him that is great. Murray Hamilton is also quite good as the evil oil baron Kilbourne and the all red jumpsuit that he appears in is something else.

On the female end you have to love Melanie Griffith as the devious, nympho teen. She plays that type of part so well that I don’t think there is any other actress that could ever do it better. I did not like Gail Strickland as Mavis who is Kilbourne’s wife.  When we first see her she is a conniving, cocky, flirtatious woman, but then in a later scene turns into a whimpering, whiny mess begging Harper for help when she barely knows him. This extreme contrast didn’t work with me and I thought that a woman who marries a rich, but shady businessman and has been involved in some underhanded maneuverings herself should have a little better ‘plan B’ in place and not sink to such a pathetic helpless level the minute things unravel. Woodward is wasted in a boring role that allows for very little range. I wished she had played Strickland’s part as I think she would’ve made it more interesting.

The one scene that really stands out and makes this movie special is the part where Harper and Mavis are trapped in a hypo-therapy room in an old, abandoned asylum. Newman does most of his stunts here including being sprayed by a fire hose while locked in a strait jacket. The sequence where they plug up all the drains and then turn on all the showers in an attempt to float up the pool of water and escape out the skylight is amazing as is the moment where the gallons of water comes rushing through the door toppling furniture and people. This scene is incredible on many levels and should make it into the top twenty of best movie moments ever.

My Rating: 7 out of 10

Released: June 25, 1975

Runtime: 1Hour 48Minutes

Rated PG

Director: Stuart Rosenberg

Studio: Warner Brothers

Available: VHS, DVD, Amazon Instant Video

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Posted in 70's Movies, Action/Adventure, Movies Based on Novels, Movies that take place in the South, Mystery, Sequels

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Goodbye Pork Pie (1981)

Posted on July 23, 2012 | 1 comment

By Richard Winters

My Rating: 8 out of 10

4-Word Review: Minis are very durable.

A middle aged man named John (Tony Barry) whose wife has just left him and an unemployed nineteen year old named Gerry (Kelly Johnson) come together through circumstance and trek across New Zealand in a yellow mini while desperately trying to elude the police.

The film has a wonderfully carefree approach and anyone who has ever wanted to ‘drop out’ or stick it to authority will most assuredly enjoy this. There are some clever chase sequences involving the mini with the best coming at a Wellington shopping center. There are also a couple of good running bits including a stressed out vacationing couple dealing with their noisy kids and police officer doing a sexual role playing game with his wife while on duty. The vast age difference between the two main characters is refreshingly different from most ‘buddy’ movies and Johnson, as the younger one of the pair, is excellent. He shows a lot of star making appeal and it is amazing that his film career never flourished. Claire Olberman is gorgeous as a hitch-hiker that they pick up along the way and she closely resembles 80’s adult film star Stacey Donovan and it is a real shame that she doesn’t stay with them throughout the entire film. I also must mention the music score, which has a nice distinct quality to it.

On the negative side I felt Barry in the role of the middle aged man was a little too laid back in his performance. He needed to show more stress and tension, especially when he is put into such crazy and hectic scenarios. I felt his mellowness hurt the film’s believability and even to some extent the excitement. The ending is not very satisfying and seems like the screenwriter wrote himself into a hole that he didn’t know how to get out of. The police are made to look too hopeless and helpless and the film goes overboard in its attempts to mock them.

Despite some flaws this is a road movie the way all road movies should be. It is fun and engaging and will bring out the free spirit in anyone. Although small the minis are a durable and fast car and this film makes prime use of their abilities almost as well as the original The Italian Job did. It also features some great stunt work that most viewers should find impressive.

My Rating: 8 out of 10

Released: February 6, 1981

Runtime: 1Hour 45Minutes

Rated R

Director: Geoff Murphy

Studio: Greg Lynch Film Distributors

Available: VHS, DVD

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Posted in 80's Movies, Action/Adventure, Buddy Movies, Comedy, Cult, Fast Cars/Car Chase, Foreign Films, Offbeat, Road Movies

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Luv (1967)

Posted on July 21, 2012 | 1 comment

By Richard Winters

My Rating: 4 out of 10

4-Word Review: Jump off the bridge.

            Based on the play by Murray Schisgal the film follows the exploits of Harry Berlin (Jack Lemmon) a hopeless neurotic who tries to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge only to be saved by his long lost friend Milt (Peter Falk). Milt wants to use Harry to have him fall in love with his wife Ellen, so that way she will agree to a divorce and free him up to get with a hot young blonde named Linda (Nina Wayne).  Things initially work as planned. Harry and Ellen fall in love and marry and Milt does the same with Linda, but then Milt and Ellen find that they are not compatible with their new mates and long to get back together. The problem is that Harry refuses to grant a divorce forcing them to try and coax him back out on the bridge, so he will finally jump off it and get out of their way.

Lemmon’s performance is the best thing about this otherwise strange experiment. He is like his Felix Unger character put on speed. His weird quirks and idiosyncrasies help propel the story to newer and more absurd heights. In his more straight comedies Lemmon has always seemed a bit benign and showing a nervous energy that is more annoying than funny. Here though he falls into his comic niche bringing out the bizarreness of his character with an almost creepy clarity. I thought it was interesting that although he was a leading man he chose to do an ensemble comedy. Although this film can be deemed a failure I still found it commendable that he was willing to test his acting range and image by taking on an unusual role.

Falk doesn’t fare as well. I thought it was great that he reteamed with Lemmon after performing with him in The Great Race, but his character really isn’t all that funny. May is usually great with sardonic material and has made a career out of performing and writing this kind of stuff, but she really isn’t given all that much to say that is amusing. I liked her charts that she creates for both Milt and Harry measuring all the hours they have been married with all the hours that they have had sex, which has a nice goofy element. Wayne is attractive, but her high, squeaky voice can quickly become annoying. Her acting abilities are limited and she clearly seems outclassed by her supporting counterparts. Had a stronger more established actress been cast in the role it certainly would have helped.

Director Clive Donner doesn’t show a good feel for the material. There are certain parts that are funny like when Ellen and Harry spend their honeymoon at Niagara Falls attacking and physically hurting each other just to see if the other will still love them afterwards. I also liked some of the potshots at modern day suburbia, but other than that this thing falls flat. There are too many scenes that go on forever with jokes and comic bits that are more stupid than clever. The opening sequence has a nice distinctive jazz score along with a montage of kitschy artwork and there is interesting camera work and editing during a sequence at an amusement park, but the rest of it becomes a filmed stage play. The pacing is slow and devoid of the unique directorial flair that could make an offbeat thing like this work. The climactic scene at the bridge is particularly strained and helps cement this as a hopeless misfire.

This movie is probably best known for being the film debut of Harrison Ford who has one word of dialogue and appears as an irate motorist who punches Harry in the face. I wished there had been more of him as although it is very brief he is one of the best things in it.

My Rating: 4 out of 10

Released: July 26, 1967

Runtime: 1Hour 33Minutes

Rated NR (Not Rated)

Director: Clive Donner

Studio: Columbia

Available: VHS, DVD

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Posted in 60's Movies, Black Comedy, Movies Based on Stageplays, Obscure Movies, Quirky

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The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974)

Posted on July 20, 2012 | 1 comment

By Richard Winters

My Rating: 8 out of 10

4-Word Review: Anything to get ahead.

            Duddy Kravitz (Richard Dreyfuss) is a young Jewish man looking to make a name for himself and escape the working class existence of his father. He comes up with several schemes many of which aren’t legal and don’t work, but his aggressive nature drives him even as it alienates those around him.

I loved the Duddy character and I liked him because of his unlikableness. Yes, he is obnoxious, deceitful, conniving, brash, arrogant, crude, and aggressive to the point of running down anyone who might get in his way, but you are shown why he is that way. How the desperate world around him has brought out the ugliness and the allure of money and social prestige only makes it worse. Duddy is more of a victim of a capitalistic culture that promises with money comes happiness, but fails to mention all the sacrifices and compromises that must come with it.  The script by Mordecai Richler, which is based on his novel, does a terrific job on analyzing the idea of success on how the end doesn’t always justify the means and how a man who is poor but true to his values can be far richer than one who may have a fortune, but is hollow.

Dreyfuss does a terrific job and I consider this one of his best performances even though apparently he was dissatisfied with it personally. I liked the nervous energy and ticks that he gives the character that easily reveals the desperation and drive that he has inside. He manages to bring out the human side of his character making him relatable despite his many flaws. What is interesting is the way Duddy will display a certain sensitive side in brief and surprising moments.

Jack Warden is wonderful as the father a man who is well aware of his son’s faults, but remains loyal to his strive for success. The film’s final image, which features Warden is a gem especially when taken into effect everything that came before it. Joe Silver, a deep, gravelly voiced character actor has his best performance of his career as Farber. This is a man who shows deep devotion and respect to religion and spirituality, but then openly boasts to Duddy at how he cheated and back-stabbed a business partner.

Denhom Elliot is great in comic relief playing an alcoholic has-been filmmaker who makes a movie involving the bar mitzvah of Farber’s son that ends up showing everything from Adolf Hitler, to a naked woman’s breast, and even a man eating glass. He exhibits this to everyone in the synagogue and the facial reactions of Farber while he is watching it is hilarious.

The on-locations shooting in Montreal is well done. I felt like I was right there back in the 1950’s. The inside of Duddy’s home had a nice lived-in look and feel. There are images that stay with you long after it is over including the gorgeous forest and lake that Duddy hopes to one day own.

This is a perfect example of a compelling drama. Each scene works seamlessly with the others and the film continues to reveal more insight as it goes on. It also an excellent character detailing someone who is all too real and facing many difficult life decisions that we all face.

My Rating: 8 out of 10

Released: April 11, 1974

Runtime: 2 Hours

Rated PG

Director: Ted Kotcheff

Studio: Paramount

Available: VHS, DVD, Amazon Instant Video

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Posted in 70's Movies, Comedy/Drama, Foreign Films, Movies Based on Novels

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The Year of Living Dangerously (1982)

Posted on July 16, 2012 | Leave a comment

By Richard Winters

My Rating: 5 out of 10

4-Word Review: Experiencing life in Indonesia.

      Guy Hamilton (Mel Gibson) is a reporter who travels to Indonesia in 1965 just as the government is ready to be toppled. He experiences all the chaos as well as the poverty of the people and apathy from his fellow newsmen. He falls in love with a beautiful diplomat Jill Bryant (Sigourney Weaver) who works with a dwarf photographer named Billy Squires (Linda Hunt in her Academy Award winning performance), and eventually finds himself reluctantly thrust into the middle of the turmoil.

     The film is great at recreating the environment and atmosphere of that period. One gets a very good understanding and feeling at just how poverty stricken and desperate the Indonesian people where. Linda Hunt is unique and memorable as the male dwarf. She also has a great line when a fellow photographer asks her opinion of a picture that he took of a naked woman. He wants to know if she thinks it is art or pornography. Her reply, “If it is out of focus it’s art, if it is in focus it is pornography.” It is also fun to see journeymen supporting actor Michael Murphy playing against type. Usually he is saddled with rather transparent types of roles, but here his character is quite obnoxious.

      It would have been better had the film given the viewers a little bit more of a historical background before it just plopped the characters into a very chaotic and confusing situation. Most people probably have no clue as to the history of Indonesia let alone finding it on a map. It would have also been more interesting had the film been based on real people who really lived through the situation instead of predictable prototypes. A very young Gibson seems a bit overwhelmed with his role. His character seesaws from being boring to exasperating. He gets a huge crush on the Weaver character and chases after her like she is the only thing on his mind and then when she gives him an important piece of information he pounces on it even if it means losing her and their relationship. The pace is hurt by having the film spend too much of its middle section focusing on the romance, which really isn’t all that interesting or diverting. The ending is much too pat for a story that takes place in such a dangerous and complex environment.

      This is a grand idea that becomes too muddled and doesn’t place enough emphasis on the historical background and context. The lead character is boring and the pace is not compelling enough.

My Rating: 5 out of 10

Released: December 17, 1982

Runtime: 1Hour 55Minutes

Rated PG

Director: Peter Weir

Studio: MGM/UA

Available: VHS, DVD, Amazon Instant Video

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Posted in 80's Movies, Action/Adventure, Drama, Foreign Films, Movies Based on Actual Events, Movies Based on Novels, Movies from Australia, Romance

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Man’s Favorite Sport (1964)

Posted on July 15, 2012 | 1 comment

By Richard Winters

My Rating: 2 out of 10

4-Word Review: Winning a fishing contest.

            Roger Willoughby (Rock Hudson) works at a sporting goods department store and uses the information he overhears from his customers to become an ‘expert’ at fishing and best-selling author on the subject despite never having done it himself. Things unravel when his boss (John McGiver) enters him into a fishing contest and he must use the help of beautiful brunette Abigail Page (Paula Prentiss) to show him the techniques and save his reputation.

Billed as another screwball comedy much in the same vein as Howard Hawk’s classic Bringing Up Baby. However, this film doesn’t even come close to that one. It is extremely slow and the comedy bits are thrown in with a haphazard style. The pacing is none existent and the plot is far-fetched and contrived. I was willing to forgive it a little figuring that by the second half things would kick-in, but it never does. The jokes are simplistic and unimaginative.  I found none of it to be funny and mainly strained and labored. With the slight exception of the scene involving Roger’s inflatable wading pants I didn’t find any of it to be even engaging. Roger’s attempts at fishing are particularly disappointing as this scenario could have been played up a lot more.

Hudson is weak as the lead. His voice always has a hollow tone and his delivery is wooden. Cary Grant would have been a much better choice and the film could have been a lot funnier with his presence. When Grant became irritated it was always amusing, but with Hudson it comes off as forced and boring.

Paula Prentiss is the best thing about the movie. Many fans agree that this is her best performance of her career. She has a nice free-form style to her delivery and avoids having that stiff drama school touch. I liked the gaze of her brown eyes and at times it reminded me a lot of Karen Black’s. Her younger, more relaxed presence helps compensate against Hudson’s stiff older one. I’m surprised her career fizzled in the 70’s as she has an interesting and unique style that I would have liked to have seen more of. Her sparing with Hudson is the only thing that gives this film any energy. However, having them end up falling in love was formulaic and forced. The two really didn’t have the right chemistry and showing them not getting along, or getting on each other’s nerves was more entertaining.

My Rating: 2 out of 10

Released: January 29, 1964

Runtime: 2Hours 1Minute

Rated NR (Not Rated)

Director: Howard Hawks

Studio:  Universal

Available: VHS, DVD

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Posted in 60's Movies, Comedy, Outdoors, Romance

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Law and Disorder (1974)

Posted on July 13, 2012 | 2 comments

By Richard Winters

My Rating: 6 out of 10

4-Word Review: Regular citizens become cops.

Due to the recent death of Ernest Borgnine I felt a review of this film, which features Borgnine in a very strong and effective performance, would be appropriate. The story deals with two middle-aged men named Willie and Cy (Carroll O’Connor, Ernest Borgnine) who after being robbed decide to join the police force as auxiliary cops. Their escapades start out as lighthearted and comical, but eventually they become faced with some serious consequences.

This is a rare film appearance for O’Connor who performed in a lot of movies during the 60’s, but did very little once he became a household name with ‘All in the Family’. It is fun to see him though the role doesn’t exercise his acting talents enough. He is a toned down version of Archie and comes off as boring and benign with a smiling face button on his coat that is annoying. His two best scenes come when he tries to pretend he is a young urban street punk and as a cab driver with a nice way of handling two obnoxious passengers.

It is actually Borgnine that steals the picture. Usually he is more of an unassuming supporting player, but here he comes into his realm. He is funny in a cantankerous way, but with some good dramatic moments in-between. Watching him angrily smash up a stolen bicycle with a lead pipe is intense and memorable. He proves that he might have made a good Archie Bunker had O’Connor not been available.

The female cast runs hot and cold in terms of performances.  It was fun to see Ann Wedgeworth, a native Texan, transplanted into the role of a Bronx housewife. Karen Black though is outrageously wasted in two very brief and meaningless scenes as an over-sexed hair stylist.

The story on the whole is alright. The beginning features a lot of amusing, fast paced comical adventures. The problem really begins towards the middle when the film shifts to a more serious tone, which bogs down the pace and fractures the narrative. You get roped into thinking this is a good comedy and then find it is anything but. The drama isn’t bad, but it doesn’t mesh well with the silliness. It also veers too much from the main premise making the message and point of view confusing. It tries to tackle too many topics, but fails to make any type of meaningful or lasting statement in the process.

Overall the film is good enough to keep you captivated and on the most part it is entertaining. Yet the story is disjointed and frustrating. The music played over the opening credits sounds like something for a senior citizens dance party and was a horrible choice. However, the on-location shooting of New York City is great and gives the viewer an authentic feel of an average urban neighborhood.

My Rating: 6 out of 10

Released: October 9, 1974

Runtime: 1Hour 44Minutes

Director: Ivan Passer

Studio: Columbia Pictures

Available: VHS, DVD

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Posted in 70's Movies, Comedy/Drama, Movies that take place in the Big Apple

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American Gothic (1988)

Posted on July 9, 2012 | 1 comment

By Richard Winters

My Rating: 2 out of 10

4-Word Review: Rod needs to chill.

A group of young people must make an emergency landing on an off shore island when their single engine plane begins to malfunction. There they meet up with a strange family that seems locked in a bygone era and displays psychotic tendencies.

You would think a film with some big name stars of Rod Steiger, Yvonne De Carlo and Michael J. Pollard and an established director of John Hough would at least be passable, but this one is as bad as it gets. The goofy premise is taken too seriously and is too formulated. The characters are bland and stereotyped and the victims allow themselves to be killed off too easily with hardly any gore or special effects. There is also no suspense or scares. There isn’t even any good dark humor. It just plods on and on until you don’t care what happens.

It has a lot of similarities to Just Before Dawn and Mother’s Day. It even has the twist of having one of the survivors turn the tables and become the aggressor. Yet Mother’s Day had a lot more style and pizzazz.

Steiger is of course a very accomplished actor who has done a lot of good work, but seems miscast here. He should have injected more campiness into his part, but instead approaches it with his usual intensity. At the end he even gives out a loud primal scream of inner anguish much like the one he did in The Pawnbroker except here it is hollow and meaningless. Out of everyone De Carlo does the best.

The setting also becomes an issue. It has the word American in its title and yet was filmed entirely in British Columbia. Ma and Pa talk with southern type accents, but are surrounded by a northern landscape. The house is also a problem as it looks too neat and trim and like it was newly built. It would have been better had the building been taller and more foreboding and even displayed some decay or gothic style. The inside of the house doesn’t look like it’s been lived in and the furniture is nothing more than theatrical props.

Overall this is a pitiful attempt at horror movie making. It fails to be either offbeat or scary and only succeeds at becoming mind numbingly sterile.

My Rating: 2 out of 10

Released: May 13, 1988

Runtime: 1Hour 30Minutes

Rated R

Director: John Hough

Studio: Vidmark Entertainment

Available: VHS, DVD

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Posted in 80's Movies, Horror, Low Budget, Movies with a rural setting

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