And just like that, my time with the Universal Monsters comes to an end. The final film to round out my viewing was The Creature Walks Among Us. Unlike some of the other Universal Monster movies this one actually works as a sequel to the previous films, picking up the narrative thread from Revenge of…
Tag: murder
Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy (1955) – Charles Lamont
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello make their final Universal Monster movie with Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy. I’m not sure if I think this one is better, worse or equal to Meet the Invisible Man. I do know that Meet Frankenstein is their best. This time out, the pair are a couple of would-be…
The Invisible Man’s Revenge (1944) – Ford Beebe
John Carradine plays a scientist, Drury, who has perfected an invisible serum, though it has no relation to the work that the Griffin family was working on in previous films. We are introduced to him when an escaped psychotic murderer, Robert Griffin (Jon Hall) – no relation escapes to the U.K. It seems that he’s…
The Invisible Man Returns (1940) – Joe May
It’s more time well spent with the Universal Monsters as I dive into the first sequel to 1933’s The Invisible Man. Vincent Price in one of his earliest performances is Geoffrey Radcliffe, a man imprisoned for a murder he didn’t commit. His beloved Helen Manson (Nan Grey) is stunned and refuses to believe he’s guilty….
Stargate SG-1 (1998) – Prisoners, and The Gamekeeper
O’Neill (Richard Dean Anderson) Carter (Amanda Tapping), Teal’c (Christopher Judge) and Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks) find themselves in a penal colony on an unknown planet after unknowingly violating local law and aiding someone in need, who turned out to be a murderer. Prisoners was written by Terry Curtis Fox and was first broadcast on 10…
Monkey Man (2024) – Dev Patel
Dev Patel directs and stars in Monkey Man, an action revenge film that makes sure to add in emotion, trauma, as well as some commentary on religion and politics. It’s all done without losing the driving, pulse-pounding action sequences that make this film incredibly enjoyable and watchable. As the nameless hero of the film, known…
TIFF24: The Order dir. Justin Kurzel
Jude Law plays Terry Husk, an FBI agent who is investigating a murder and a series of large bank robberies along the American Northwest. As he digs in, he begins to suspect it’s all tied to a racist terrorist organization that may be planning a big move. Based on actual events, and just as relevant…
The Venom Business (1969) – Michael Crichton
I dove into Michael Crichton’s next book, The Venom Business, as I work through his bibliography. This one took me a while to actually get into. There’s a bit of a convoluted plot for the first half of the book inundated with the parties and happenings of a swinging London where everyone, apparently, is over-sexed,…
Stir of Echoes (1999) – David Koepp
Stir of Echoes got lost in the theatres when it went up against the ghost story The Sixth Sense. Based on the novel by Richard Matheson and adapted by Koepp who settled into the director’s chair as well, the film lets Kevin Bacon just shine, and features some well-executed visuals including the hypnotism sequence featuring…
Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969) – Burt Kennedy
James Garner is at his charming best in Support Your Local Sheriff! Jason (Garner) rides into a small gold rush town, which we see spring up through the opening credits after Prudy (Joan Hackett) and her father, Olly Perkins (Harry Morgan) discover gold partway through a funeral – and that should tell you all you…
The Mind Reels 