Cash On Demand (1962)
I wasn't thinking about this in terms of it being a sort of reworking of Dickens' A Christmas Carol until I heard the commentary afterward on TCM's "Noir Alley."
But an enjoyable little British film (from Hammer films) with a comfortable run time of 1 hour and 29 minutes! The bulk of the film had me on the edge of my seat with Peter Cushing as a suspicious & quibbling bank manager, with Andre Morell as a not-exactly-what-he-appears to be visitor.
I draw similarities also with the movie Die Hard (1988)...
First, a lot of people argue if Die Hard is a "Christmas Movie." The same could be argued with Cash On Demand - both movies take place around Christmas and both involve a robbery.
The other similarity to Die Hard is the villain - both villains are cunning and charismatic with a flare for the theatrical.
As far as villains go, I also draw a similarity with the Saw horror / thriller series - but only in the respect that the villain in this movie and "Jigsaw" from the Saw series both seem to take an interest in getting their victims to engage in a healthy dose of introspection to help make themselves better people (and thus, that brings us full circle back to the similarities with A Christmas Carol).
All around; a bloody entertaining, suspenseful & fun little film (but with no blood)!
I wasn't thinking about this in terms of it being a sort of reworking of Dickens' A Christmas Carol until I heard the commentary afterward on TCM's "Noir Alley."
But an enjoyable little British film (from Hammer films) with a comfortable run time of 1 hour and 29 minutes! The bulk of the film had me on the edge of my seat with Peter Cushing as a suspicious & quibbling bank manager, with Andre Morell as a not-exactly-what-he-appears to be visitor.
I draw similarities also with the movie Die Hard (1988)...
First, a lot of people argue if Die Hard is a "Christmas Movie." The same could be argued with Cash On Demand - both movies take place around Christmas and both involve a robbery.
The other similarity to Die Hard is the villain - both villains are cunning and charismatic with a flare for the theatrical.
As far as villains go, I also draw a similarity with the Saw horror / thriller series - but only in the respect that the villain in this movie and "Jigsaw" from the Saw series both seem to take an interest in getting their victims to engage in a healthy dose of introspection to help make themselves better people (and thus, that brings us full circle back to the similarities with A Christmas Carol).
All around; a bloody entertaining, suspenseful & fun little film (but with no blood)!
Last edited by Captain Steel; 12-23-19 at 09:59 PM.