The Movies I Watched in October

11.22.63 2016  7/10

 

12 + 1 1969  5/10 

45 Minutes From Hollywood 1926  5/10 

Amrum 2025  7/10

 

The Battle Royal 1916  5/10 

Below Zero 1930  7/10

 

Big Business 1929  8/10

 

Dark Winds. Season 1 2022  7/10

Dark Winds. Season 2 2023  7/10 

 

Detained 1924  5/10

The Egyptian 1954  6/10 

Ercole al centro della Terra 1961  6/10 

Escape From New York 1981  8/10

 

The Flying Deuces 1939  6/10 

Frankenstein 2025  7/10

 

Golf 1922  5/10 

Hard Eight 1996  7/10

 

His Day Out 1918  5/10

His Wooden Wedding 1925  6/10 

Hop to It! 1925  5/10 

House of Guinness 2025  7/10

 

Is Marriage the Bunk? 1925  5/10 

Isn't Life Terrible? 1925  5/10 

The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case 1930  6/10 

Love and Duty 1916  5/10 

Mud and Sand 1922  5/10

The Music Box 1932  10/10

 

My Father, the BTK Killer 2025  6/10 

One Battle After Another 2025  7/10

 

Oranges and Lemons 1923  5/10 

Our Wife 1931  6/10 

La petite Lise 1930  7/10

 

The Rent Collector 1921  5/10 

Scram! 1932  7/10

 

The Servant 1963  7/10

 

Shanghai Express 1932  7/10

 

The Show 1922  5/10 

Something in Her Eye 1915  5/10 

Starvation Blues 1925  5/10 

Strange Days 1995  7/10

 

Twins 1925  5/10

The Wizard of Oz 1925  5/10 

The Woman in Cabin 10 2025  5/10 

Terrore nello spazio (1965)

A spaceship strands at a faraway planet where aliens await them to take over their bodies in order to secure their existence.

This movie is one my fondest childhood memories, it impressed me incredibly. The style is very unusual, and there's a completely unexpected downbeat ending. A classic! By the way, you can easily see that Ridley Scott's Alien was inspired by this movie.

On renewed viewing: Still mesmerizing, a stylish sci-fi classic, every shot a fully realized piece of art.

Halliwell**1/2: "Eerily photographed, atmospheric science-fantasy..."

Michael Weldon/Psychotronic: "Most Italian science-fiction movies are as exciting to watch as a blank screen. Here's an exception."

A day in the life, Nov 16

A day in the life, Nov 16, watching Planet of the Vampires

Operazione paura (1966)

An 19th century European village is haunted by the ghost of a murderous little girl.

From the first second on, a relentlessly nightmarish and stylish Goth tale, some sequences even quite surreal.

Maltin***: "One of horror maestro Bava's best films, spoiled only by his overuse of zoom lens...Stylish, witty and colorful, with many astonishing sequences."

Michael Weldon/Psychotronic: "...sometimes slow but rewarding thriller."

Gli orrori del castello di Norimberga (1972)

A young man, visiting the castle of a murderous ancestor in Austria, accidentally brings his dead relative back to life - searching for new victims.

Old-fashioned Goth tale works a homage to the genre with many recognizable stand scenes with some added gruesome details and has lots of atmospheric settings typical of its director, but the plot seems stilted as do the performances as well.

Halliwell (no star): "Dull, unimaginative and lurid horror, in which the director's penchant for pointless zooms detracts from his attempts at atmosphere; an occasional chase sequence reveals what might have been, if those involved had been more committed or if its star had bothered to act."

Maltin**1/2: "Standard plot livened by unusual settings and lighting."

Lisa e il diavolo (1973)

A hallucinating woman flees to a mansion full of corpses and sees the devil and other evil beings.

Wildly surreal (and sometimes just odd and confusing) horror movie that does manage to recreate the complex logic and atmosphere of  a nightmare.

Halliwell (no star): "Baroque thriller that constantly teeters on the edge of absurdity before finally falling."

Maltin**1/2: "Truly strange, surreal psychological horror tale filled with hallucinatory imagery."

Michael Weldon/Psychotronic: "A confusing horror movie...It's Savalas' best Italian film."

From my vaults: Mario Bava

Bio:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Bava

Terrore nello spazio (1965)

aka
Planet der Vampire West Germany
Planet of the Vampires USA
Schrecken im Weltall West Germany





A spaceship strands at a faraway planet where aliens await them to take over their bodies in order to secure their existence.

This movie is one my fondest childhood memories, it impressed me incredibly. The style is very unusual, and there's a completely unexpected downbeat ending. A classic! By the way, you can easily see that Ridley Scott's Alien was inspired by this movie.