cult film freak: May 2017

Written by James M. Tate / 5/22/2017 / No comments / crime , elke sommer , glenn ford , jazz score , neo noir , ricardo montalban , rita hayworth , sixties , tom reese , warner archives

GLENN FORD, RITA HAYWORTH & ELKE SOMMER 'THE MONEY TRAP'

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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span face=""arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif" style="font-size: small;"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD4K96SwmU7nW8fVRQTcCilWjNhUJgLFe1jtc8XezAAd19udd8gQuDcNZfRCEPLkIumWfpnZ-CkwS-md99r7Tk86t3y8XJfrKVgAjv99gObG2_urvW30iWM-fY5BiQtuqPKIvZQT8nCzWKfB0M4L-LgOqgoKFm1p3AgRG5nwesgxQUPn4IKNgpSJVSabma/s1968/Screen%20Shot%202024-05-22%20at%2010.56.08%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1062" data-original-width="1968" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD4K96SwmU7nW8fVRQTcCilWjNhUJgLFe1jtc8XezAAd19udd8gQuDcNZfRCEPLkIumWfpnZ-CkwS-md99r7Tk86t3y8XJfrKVgAjv99gObG2_urvW30iWM-fY5BiQtuqPKIvZQT8nCzWKfB0M4L-LgOqgoKFm1p3AgRG5nwesgxQUPn4IKNgpSJVSabma/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-05-22%20at%2010.56.08%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE MONEY TRAP YEAR: 1965 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">For this Post-Noir, which didn't seem aware that Film Noirs had ended, I</span></span>t takes former THE BIG HEAT actor Glenn Ford to make what could be an average, by-the-numbers programmer an intriguing glimpse into a planned heist of a crooked doctor's mansion wall-safe... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>A man who, in Ford's opinion, murdered a thief that broke in... Part of the ingredients that makes THE MONEY TRAP a nice little page-turner with a touch of mystery, despite knowing whodunit from the get-go... </p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

crime, elke sommer, glenn ford, jazz score, neo noir, ricardo montalban, rita hayworth, sixties, tom reese, warner archives

GLENN FORD, RITA HAYWORTH & ELKE SOMMER 'THE MONEY TRAP'

Title: THE MONEY TRAP YEAR: 1965 Rating: ***1/2 For this Post-Noir, which didn't seem aware that Film Noirs had ended, I t takes former...

AN INTREPID JOHN MILIUS DUTIFULLY DIRECTS RED DAWN

c. thomas howell, charlie sheen, eighties, jennifer grey, john milius, kevin reynolds, lea thompson, patrick swayze, powers boothe, war, william smith

AN INTREPID JOHN MILIUS DUTIFULLY DIRECTS RED DAWN

On an Optimistic Note, He was Failing History YEAR: 1984 Two toughest kids on the block... I guess, sooner or later, they're gonna ...

DENNIS CHRISTOPHER'S TOUR-DE-FORCE OF 'FADE TO BLACK'

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dennis Christopher in FADE TO BLACK Year: 1980</u></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"That was a lot of fun and I got burnt by squibs, they’re called," is <i>not</i> a quote from Dennis Christopher, who does the shooting, but future BLADE RUNNER character-actor Morgan Paull in our interview six months before his untimely death...</span></span><br>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Centering on his own particular curtain call in a movie that lives up to its name: If PSYCHO Norman Bates was heavily into cinema, you'd have FADE TO BLACK; but not really since it took until the 1980's (and/or late 70's) where the immense wave of pop culture began to recede, and film buffs and even intellectuals were human movie quiz books, and Dennis Christopher's Eric Binford epitomizes what's called a Cinefile to the point that he makes sure he lives on 99 RIVER STREET...</span></span><br>

body count, dark comedy, dennis christopher, eighties, exploitation, horror, linda kerridge, marcie barkin, mickey rourke, morgan paull, neo noir, tim thomerson

DENNIS CHRISTOPHER'S TOUR-DE-FORCE OF 'FADE TO BLACK'

Dennis Christopher in FADE TO BLACK Year: 1980 "That was a lot of fun and I got burnt by squibs, they’re called," is not a qu...

PAUL SCHRADER DIRECTS WILLEM DAFOE IN LIGHT SLEEPER

biopic, greg kinnear, nineties, paul schrader, willem defoe, zeroes

PAUL SCHRADER DIRECTS WILLEM DAFOE IN <b>LIGHT SLEEPER</b>

PAUL SCHRADER DIRECTS WILLEM DAFOE IN LIGHT SLEEPER

Susan Sarrandon and William Defore YEAR: 1992 I feel my life turning... All it needed was a direction Well Paul Schrader gave Willem D...

RUMMAGING THROUGH THE LOST CULT HORROR FLICK 'PIN'

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Hereby one of our favorite horror starlets Cynthia Preston YEAR: 1988</u></td></tr>
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Adding a layer to the otherwise cliché twisted persona so he's not just another young tortured soul...</blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Canadian horror flick PIN came out a year after THE STEPFATHER; that movie starring and this one featuring Terry O'Quinn — here he's a strict father who, a doctor by trade, uses a medical dummy... wherein all veins and innards are visible... to speak to his children. Although very different, and only having Canada in common, both THE STEPFATHER and PIN share the same visual aesthetic and budget, but PIN is more of a PSYCHO clone, albeit a unique and extremely original one, borrowing from the iconic Hitchcock thriller right down to the image of a static and spooky human figure/silhouette staring out the upstairs window (or a SENTINEL, perhaps). There's one scary house in every neighborhood and this is it... Peaking the curiosity of the same neighborhood kids that double as hardcore bullies at school, targeting the doc's passive son, Leon, played by David Hewlett once he's of age, in high school, after what seems like a backstory but is really Act One of the standard Three...</span><br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>PINScore: ***1/2</u></td></tr>
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As for the plot, PIN is the only solace in the poor kid's life, and the title, on the poster, DVD, VHS and even the opening credit itself ends with a three-period ellipsis as the rest of the word is covered up — that being the medical dummy's full name, based on the legendary children's story puppet who turns into a jackass when he parties and can't tell a lie without it showing. So Pin's first master, controlled by father doing his best Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy imitation, throws his voice while teaching both shy son and curious, confident daughter about everything ranging from the the birds and the bees to your basic household chores...<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>PIN the dummy before & after: Going from Peter Weller-esque to Preppy</u></td></tr>
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What seems like a short story in itself when as the kids are young has a beginning, middle and.. Skip to high school, and Leon needs the doll to continue his education — terrified and annoyed by the opposite sex, he begs that PIN be allowed to be moved from dad's office to their home. The most important death of this body count horror allows for Leon to be free. So PIN, his sister, and for a little while, a bickering aunt live at the house...<br>

cynthia preston, david hewlett, eighties, horror, jonathan banks, suspense, terry o'quinn