The Movies I Watched in October

Anne of the Indies 1951  8/10 

The Apprentice 2024  7/10

Bastarden 2023  7/10

 Beetlejuice 1988  7/10

 

The Brothers Rico 1957  6/10

Crime in the Streets 1956  6/10 

Crime of Passion 1956  6/10

A Cry in the Night 1956  6/10

Cry Vengeance 1954  6/10 

Enchanted 2007  7/10

Furiosa. A Mad Max Saga 2024  8/10 

The Garment Jungle 1957  6/10

Getting Gilliam 2005  6/10 

The Harder They Fall 1856  7/10

Hell's Half Acre 1954  6/10

Highway Dragnet 1954  6/10

Holy Spider 2022  7/10

 

House of Bamboo 1955  6/10

The Houston Story 1956  6/10

I Died a Thousand Times 1955  6/10

Illegal 1955  7/10

In a Violent Nature 2024  6/10

The Killer is Loose 1956  6/10 

A Kiss Before Dying 1956  6/10

The Long Wait 1954  6/10

Mare of Easttown 2021  8/10

Master Gardener 2022  7/10

 

The Night Holds Terror 1955  6/10 

The Night Runner 1957  6/10

The Phenix City Story 1955  6/10

Private Hell 36 1954  6/10

Riot in Cell Block 11 1954  6/10 

Slightly Scarlet 1956  6/10

Smile 2022  6/10

Supernova 2020  6/10

Tideland 2005  7/10 

Tiger Bay 1959  7/10

 

Trap 2024  6/10

Violent Saturday 1955  6/10

Vuelven 2017  7/10

 

The Red House (1947)

An old man and his sister are concealing a terrible secret from their adopted teen daughter, concerning a hidden abandon farmhouse, located deep in the woods.

Fairly suspenseful mystery with some Gothic touches, but with a repetitive plot and therefore a bit overlong.

Halliwell **: "Psycho-like suspense melodrama, too extended for comfort and too restricting for the actors, but effective in spurts."

Two Seconds (1932)

A condemned murderer, in the process of being executed, relives the events that led to his being sentenced to die in the electric chair.

Gloomy melodrama in an early Noir style with an unusual plot and a great central performance.

Halliwell *: "Competent, pacy crime melodrama."

Nightmare (1956)

A musician was hypnotised in order to commit a crime.

True to the original Cornell Woolrich short story, which it's based on, this is a competent nightmarish noir movie.

Vice Squad (1953)

When a police officer is shot arresting a car thief, the police captain uses his skills and contacts to track down the culprits and uncovers a bank heist plan in the process.

I expected a bit more from this day-in-the life of a police captain story. It's not particularly exciting, and even E.G. Robinson seems to wander around a bit tired in this movie.

Bullets or Ballots (1936)

An upright police detective goes undercover to crack down on the syndicate.

Above-average gangster drama with 2 of its greatest starring doing their thing.

The Woman in the Window (1944)

A middle-aged college professor laments his stodgy life until he spends an evening with a beautiful woman who has a dangerous lover.

This is one of my favourite film noir classics. It starts beautifully simple, a mere chance encounter on the sidewalk, and gradually the story takes a downward spiral step by step into the abyss. Unfortunately, the studio forced a happy ending onto the plot, but that can hardly reverse the experience you just have made.