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I think it's worth a watch. Very different from Cat People but literally both short and sweet. I liked it. And I like watching Eddie Muller. He's so knowledgeable about noir and Hollywood history and films in general. I've got Cat People DVR'd and also have The Seventh Victim and I Walked with a Zombie programmed in a week or so. Even though I've watched them both a number of times. I'll also be watching out for The Leopard Man. Good stuff all of it.
I wonder if The Seventh Victim (1943) was an inspiration for Rosemary's Baby (1968)? I'll have to research that one...



Victim of The Night




The Curse of the Cat People - Anyone expecting more of the same or for this to emulate it's predecessor, Cat People, might end up disappointed. It's an odd film in that three of the main actors return playing the same roles but in a completely different milieu. Jacques Tourneur isn't back as director and the atmosphere isn't as steeped in dread. It is instead a gentle sort of children's fable about a lonely little girl. Oliver Reed (Kent Smith) and Alice Moore's (Jane Randolph) child Amy (Ann Carter) to be exact. But Oliver is having trouble letting go of the past and his first wife Irena (Simone Simon) is an enduring presence in his life. His daughter Amy, in her loneliness, has somehow evoked the dead woman and Oliver is terrified that Irena's emotional instability will somehow be passed on to his child.

It's a relatively short (70 minute) film so not much screentime is used up on extemporaneous detail or a gradual buildup of tension. Amy meets an eccentric older neighbor and her extravagantly sinister daughter. And before you know it the picture is over. But it is an effectively sentimental film and you'll be glad you watched it. I was. Got me right in the feels.

Such an enjoyable film.



Victim of The Night
Funny that you should mention these films, Whit. I had just decided to re-watch both Cat People (1942) and The Leopard Man (1943) for Halloween. I got the idea from listening to an Eddie Muller podcast, where he said that he's going to feature these films on the closest to Halloween airing of Noir Alley on TCM, which I believe is on Sat. nights at 10 PM and again Sunday mornings.

Can't recall if I've seen "Curse", but I'll be looking for it.
Be sure to remind me when you watch The Leopard Man, it's a personal favorite. The less you know going in the better.



Killerman (20l9)

Pretty standard crime thriller with some good actors in but very predictable.




Out of Blue (2018)

Will anyone ever make a decent film from an Amis book or is it just impossible?




I've been seeing this all over the web for years and I just figured it was from Boondock Saints or Wild At Heart or any one of a dozen other Willem Dafoe films where he plays a psycho. But it turns out it's from a 2013 short titled The Smile Man. It's on dailymotion if anyone hasn't seen it yet.



I've been seeing this all over the web for years and I just figured it was from Boondock Saints or Wild At Heart or any one of a dozen other Willem Dafoe films where he plays a psycho. But it turns out it's from a 2013 short titled The Smile Man. It's on dailymotion if anyone hasn't seen it yet.
I always thought it was some commercial or some special appearance on a comedy show. Thanks, I'll watch it.



There's six Wrong Turns? You'd think that one of those turns would be the right one.
After the fourth, they should have turned the other way.



There's six Wrong Turns? You'd think that one of those turns would be the right one.
This last one the mutant hillbillies got them backing out of their driveway.



No kidding. Someone buy these sexy teens a GPS.
If this were a +18 forum, I would have rated the nude girls that appear in the movie. Probably the only good thing in the whole film...



If this were a +18 forum, I would have rated the nude girls that appear in the movie. Probably the only good thing in the whole film...
They'd be a lot sexier if they could read a map.




The Face of Another (1966, Hiroshi Teshigahara)

This fell just short of being the masterpiece 'Woman in the Dunes' is (for me). Loved the cinematography, the experimental aspects of the narrative structure, the themes explored - but I also felt it was too in-your-face intellectual and verbose at times, "explaining" things rather than letting the viewer do the work unlocking the hidden meanings. I would've preferred a "less is more" approach with more focus on atmosphere and mystery, instead of that endless philosophizing. The parallel story about the girl with a scarred face and her brother was beautifully sad and moving - in fact I kinda liked it more because of its melancholic understatedness.





Idaho Transfer, 1973

Dealing with some mental health issues, Karen (Kelly Bohanon) is brought to a research station by her sister, Isa (Caroline Hildrebrand), where their father is conducting experiments that have resulted in a method of time travel. Discovering that anyone over the age of 20 experiences debilitating effects from the process, a group of young people are sent into a devastated future to try and figure out just what went wrong. But social tensions begin to rise within the time-travelers.

This film had a similar appeal to me as Oz, in that the oddness of some of the acting and pacing ultimately worked for and not against the viewing experience.

The acting is very naturalistic, and at times bumbling. But this only heightens the sense of these out-of-their-depth, barely-adults who have been burdened with the responsibility of saving or restoring humanity. "I'm a woman now!" Karen tells one of the men in the group, announcing that she may be pregnant. But as the stress build on them, it becomes apparent just how unprepared they are for this responsibility.

The science fiction element is done in a simple but effective manner. The "transfer" process involves sitting on a device and activating switches in sequence. There are rules of course---among which are no metal and no pants--but the specific mechanics are unimportant. there are some thrills introduced when the government takes over the facility and the young people must resort to sneaking around to access the machinery and the resources. There's one scene with a transfer gone wrong that makes its point with efficient gruesomeness.

The theme through the film---which is really hammered home in a very on-the-nose and yet very memorable final moment--has to do with scarcity and the behavior of people when resources begin to run thin. There are examples all through the film--everything from the literal things like food and water to the more abstract things like romantic relationship and communication from family. When push comes to shove, the film seems to say, things tend to end up with the same result.

I didn't have many complaints here. The pacing and acting can be a bit rough, but I think that on the acting front that is partly intentional and it does add to the overall tone. I did find it kind of hokey and eye-rolling that the film sometimes seemed to linger on the women as they transferred---really making the most of that whole "no pants" rule. Given the much more effective use of nudity-as-vulnerability later in the film, the early ogling of the two female leads feels out of place. There were also a few moments of conversation between the sisters that very much had a "man writing a female character who clearly didn't run this past any women" vibe.

If you don't mind a slow burn or are interested in a novel premise, I'd recommend this one. I hadn't heard of it before, so hat-tip to the Horrorcrammer who put this one on my radar.




Be sure to remind me when you watch The Leopard Man, it's a personal favorite. The less you know going in the better.
Will do, Wooley. It'll be a re-watch for me, but it's been years.

Cornell Woolrich is one of my favorite writers whose books have been turned into noirs. "Leopard" is a horror movie, but classic horror doesn't bother me. It's the stuff from the last 30-40 years that I don't cotton to, although I did like The Exorcist, Jaws, and The Shining.