APPOINTMENT WITH CRIME -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 6/18/16

 

If you like those lean, tough gangster pics that guys like James Cagney and George Raft used to churn out in the 30s and 40s, then APPOINTMENT WITH CRIME (1946) should be right up your dark alley.

The scrappy, bantamweight main character Leo Martin (William Hartnell, THE MOUSE THAT ROARED) even reminds me of a cross between the two actors only with a rough veneer of British street smarts. 

The plot is a foretaste of such later films as POINT BLANK and its remake PAYBACK, with its story of a wronged criminal returning to exact merciless revenge against the underworld organization that betrayed him and using a "fast" woman as his accomplice.

Here, Leo gets double-crossed by low-level crime boss Loman (Raymond Lovell) and ends up with crushed wrists and a stiff prison sentence.  Upon his release, he goes after not only Loman but the real brains behind the outfit, a smugly sophisticated art dealer played by the young Herbert Lom (later to gain fame as Chief Inspector Dreyfus in the "Pink Panther" series among other distingished roles). 

Leo's sort of an anti-protagonist here, being that he's still a mean, ruthless little bastard even though we're pulling for him to get the best of the even badder bad guys.  The film's real hero is a Canadian detective on loan to the British police, played by Robert Beatty (who would go on to roles in such high profile films as WHERE EAGLES DARE and 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY).

Beatty's Detective Inspector Rogers is stalwart without being full of himself, and in fact has a wry sense of humor which makes his scenes with Leo punchy and rife with stinging dialogue.  Where some stories such as this make the main cop unlikable, here we're conflicted about who to root for since we're so invested in both his and Leo's concerns. 

 

Also making the most of her scenes with Hartnell is Joyce Howard as melancholy dancehall girl Carol Dane (nicknamed "Chastity Anne"), whose performance as the girl Leo uses as his alibi in murder by stringing her along with romantic promises and playing on her sympathies just gets better as the story goes along.

Two interesting things I noted while watching are (1) British films could pretty much say "damn" and "hell" to their hearts' content back in 1946, and (2) the fact that characters Gregory Lang (Herbert Lom) and his criminal associate Noel Penn (Alan Wheatley) are unabashedly gay is wonderfully obvious.

Writer-director John Harlow keeps his script zinging along with cracking dialogue and lots of hardboiled conflict between rival thugs and the short-fused Leo--who's equally tough whether slapping someone around or getting tortured for information.

 

Harlow's directing style brings all this to life with creative camera angles, editing, and montages which keep the film visually interesting.  The production itself has a lovely vintage appeal enhanced by a singularly British flavor and the no-nonsense economy of film noir.

The DVD from Olive Films is in the original 1.37:1 aspect ratio (full screen) with mono sound.  Subtitles are in English.  No extras.

Those who appreciate the beauty of old black-and-white cinema should find themselves easily drawn into this visually compelling film.  For modern audiences in general,  APPOINTMENT WITH CRIME offers good performances in a sharply-written crime story that never lets up until the end. 

Release date: June 21, 2016

APPOINTMENT WITH CRIME -- DVD Review by Porfle

NEVER OPEN THE DOOR -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 12/7/16

 

"Six people going crazy in a house" is how writer-director Vito Trabucco (SLICES, BLOODY BLOODY BIBLE CAMP) describes his horror film NEVER OPEN THE DOOR (2014), and that's a pretty apt summation of what you're in for when you watch it. 

What you're also in for, if you appreciate good old-fashioned black-and-white photography, is one of the best-looking monochrome films I've seen in recent years.  From the first noirish frame this looks like a throwback to the 60s, especially those creepy black-and-white chillers like Roger Corman's DEMENTIA 13 and William Castle's HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, or TV shows like "The Twilight Zone" and "The Outer Limits."

Trabucco cites the work of producer and co-writer Christopher Maltauro's grandfather John Brahm, who directed episodes of the aforementioned series as well as "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", as a major inspiration.  The film, in fact, is dedicated to him.

What this means is that NEVER OPEN THE DOOR is a visual treat, with cinematographer Joe Provenzano's finely-wrought imagery within the film's limited confines--it almost all takes place within a single two-storey vacation home in Big Bear--often no less than gorgeous.  The fact that Trabucco is a director of noteworthy talent only adds to the pleasure of watching the film unfold.

Working against it, unfortunately, is a script that encourages a great deal of improvisation from a cast not too adept at it.  (Trabucco himself admits to the overly lean nature of the script in his interview segment.)  The six main actors, playing old friends gathered together in the secluded house for a festive holiday weekend, give adequate individual performances (for the most part, anyway) but their ensemble acting is downright awful.

It all begins when their festive meal (replete with such bad dialogue that I suspected my leg was being pulled) is interrupted by a violent knock at the door.  Disregarding the film's title, Tess (Jessica Sonneborn, THE HOUSE ACROSS THE STREET) admits a wounded man who spews her with blood and then dies right there on the floor.

While she's taking a quick scrub upstairs, the rest of the group debate over what to do, with the added inconvenience that their cell phones not only don't work properly but are beginning to send them cryptic, inflammatory text messages (such as "Isaac is having an affair with your wife").

Things start to get ever weirder when Tess disappears and a series of animalistic growls begin to emanate from upstairs.  When yet another Tess shows up and claims to have just arrived, everyone's pretty convinced that there's definitely something odd going on.  In no time they're all going out of their minds, attacking one another, and generally behaving in a dangerously irrational manner as more unexplainable things continue to occur. 

With the increasingly frantic atmosphere amongst the main characters, we're in for more and more of that cringeworthy ensemble acting and bad improv, so much so that it eventually elicits its own sort of fascination.

Luckily, the violent and often shocking behavior these erstwhile friends and lovers display toward one another once the true madness starts to set in keeps us pretty much on edge the whole time, while Trabucco, with the help of some very creative editing and an enjoyably overheated musical score, manages to maintain a genuine sense of urgency until the fairly neat surprise at the end.   

Even with its flaws, or perhaps partly because of them, the story takes on a sort of oppressively nightmarish quality that eschews any kind of logic.  We get no explanation for what's going on, such as why Tess (the original version, that is) reappears as some kind of hideous monster lurking about in the darkness or a line of mysterious men in suits appear outside, watching the house. 

This is where the film differs from its inspirations, since shows like "The Twilight Zone" generally offered some kind of rationale for their irrational events. Here, we're plunged into a free-for-all of weirdness that's unfettered by any adherence to inner logic save that of the darkest nightmare.

The Blu-ray from Maltauro Entertainment in association with Baumant Entertainment is widescreen with subtitles in English.  In addition to a trailer and photo gallery,  there are interviews with Jessica Sonneborn (Tess), director Vito Trabucco, and producer Christopher Maltauro, and a tribute to special makeup artist Maggie Dillon, who passed away shortly after the film was completed.

With a brisk running time of barely over an hour, NEVER OPEN THE DOOR starts off running and sweeps us along with it from start to finish.  And while the acting and dialogue often veer perilously into trainwreck territory, the look of this low-budget indy horror flick is exquisite--a bonafide black-and-white joy to behold. 

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NEVER OPEN THE DOOR -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

RONDO -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 5/27/19

 

"Sex. Murder. Revenge." is the tagline for the colorfully noirish RONDO (Artsploitation Films, 2018), and it's as good a summary of the action as you could ask for.  Even better if you preface it with the words "Really, Really Twisted" and then add a few expletives such as "Yikes!" and "Holy squibs, Batman!"

Indy filmmaker Drew Barnhardt has written a doozy of a weird-but-fun script and directed the heck out of it by spinning his low budget into cinematic gold that looks as sharp and visually interesting as most movies you'll see on the big or small screen. And he has the kind of cast to work with in which there is no weak link.

Paul (Luke Sorge) is a PTSD-plagued war vet living with his sister Jill (Brenna Otts), who sends him to a therapist for help. Her diagnosis is odd--she not only suggests Paul keep drinking, but recommends he get a "good lay" and turns him on to a local fetish group that meets in a high-rise apartment where the password is (you guessed it) "Rondo."

The narrative up till then seems pretty straightforward, albeit with some distinct tongue-in-cheek touches like an overly arch narrator dispensing exposition and a bone dry, deadpan sense of humor that really comes into play after the "therapist prescribes drunken fetish orgy to disturbed war vet" moment.

What to reveal without spoiling it...?  Suffice it to say that once Paul says the magic word "Rondo" he enters into a world of illicit sex of the extremely weird kind.  And since RONDO is a horror-thriller with the tagline "Sex. Murder. Revenge.", things don't go well. In fact, Paul finds himself hunted by very bad people and his sister Jill gets sucked into the whole very sordid and very, very bloody affair.

It's sexy but in a "I feel so dirty" kind of way, and then comes the violence and extreme gore and nail-biting suspense which Barnhardt stages like a seasoned pro, pulling off several whiplash-inducing plot twists that yank the rug right out from under us. 

This is especially true during the scene where a couple of ruthlessly efficient killers invade Jill's home late at night while she and Paul are asleep, and in another sequence later on which finds Jill foolishly offering herself up as a sexual submissive in hopes of infiltrating the "Rondo" collective. 

Hitchcock fans may recognize a couple of plot elements that are very similar to PSYCHO and darn near as effective, including the introduction of a strong, take-charge character halfway through the story who we feel is going to really get to the bottom of this whole demented business and kick a few bad guy butts.

I also kept thinking that the oddball dialogue, quirky characters (especially the irredeemably vile villains), and off-kilter situations which quickly escalate into nerve-wracking peril for the protagonists were a lot like what might happen if Quentin Tarantino and Dean Koontz got peanut butter on each other's chocolate and vice versa.

Anyway, you got your prolifically-homicidal bad guys, your good guys drawn into a (seemingly) inescapable death trap of horror, graphic violence and gore, that irresistible Tarantino/Koontz sort of zing, and a director who makes it all look good. What's left? Ah, yes...revenge. 

That's where we find out that the tagline isn't just three separate words, but the ingredients which blend together into one of the most satisfying "revenge porn" endings you'll ever see.  As good as RONDO has been up till then--and it's been very, very good--it's during the last five or ten minutes when several dozen well-placed squibs give us that warm, fuzzy feeling that all's right with the world.


Official webpage

Watch the trailer



    Format: DVD
    Catalog: ART65
    UPC: 851597006759
    Number of discs: 1
    Country: USA
    Language: English (captions available)
    Rating: NR
    Year: 2018
    Length: 88
    Audio: Dolby 5.1
    Aspect ratio: 1.77:1    
    Bonus features: Director's commentary,
                    music commentary,
                    deleted scenes (with and without commentary),
                    art featurette,
                    two trailers

RONDO -- DVD Review by Porfle

ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 5/30/18

 

It's a familiar story: aging crook gets idea for the perfect score that'll set him up for life, then puts together a crew composed of the wrong guys and it all threatens to blow up in their faces. 

In the 1959 noir thriller ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW (Olive Films), Ed Begley, Sr. is the old, broken-down ex-cop with dollar signs in his eyes.  The guys he never should've invited onto the same team are a struggling young black man (Harry Belafonte) who owes a loan shark big-time, and an ex-convict (Robert Ryan) with a serious anger management problem and an even more serious hatred of blacks.

But Begley won't be put off--his simple plan for knocking over a smalltown bank after closing time on payday is just too "foolproof"--and he eventually coaxes the unwilling odd couple into joining up. 

Harry, a divorced father who loves his little girl (he gains our sympathy when we see them having a fun Daddy-Daughter Day together) must act when that powerful loan shark threatens both her and his ex-wife. 

Ryan, on the other hand, wrecks what sympathy we might have for him with his race hatred and general hostility, yet we feel sorry for his needy girlfriend Lorry (an excellent Shelley Winters) whose desperate love and financial support keep him afloat even as he cheats on her with the hotsy-totsy married woman upstairs (Gloria Grahame in fine form).

Director Robert Wise (WEST SIDE STORY, THE SAND PEBBLES, STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE) works wonders with his low budget in establishing a somber, reflective, sometimes ominous mood (he often pulls back the pace to let us drink in the atmospheric visuals and noirish ambience), with stark black-and-white photography that's crisply, achingly evocative. Both gritty urban and folksy small town milieus are equally well-rendered. 

We want to linger on such things early on because the intimate scenes are so well acted and written, and because the story deftly and gradually builds its suspense without rushing things toward what we know will be a devastating climax. 

There's even a long, pregnant lull before the bank job during which the ill-fated trio wait for sundown while quietly pondering what's in store for them, each in his own deeply contemplative way, as Wise indulges his keen eye for moody visual storytelling.

Performances are uniformly flawless--I was reminded just how solid an actor Ed Begley was, with equal honors going to top-billed Harry Belafonte and, in a real tough-guy role, the venerable Robert Ryan.  All play complex and conflicted characters, as do Winters and Grahame. 

Look for bit parts by young up-and-coming actors such as Wayne Rogers ("M*A*S*H"), Cicely Tyson, Zohra Lampert, Mel Stewart ("All in the Family"), and Richard Bright ("Al Neri" in all three GODFATHER films) as an effeminate muscle man for loan shark Bacco (Will Kuluva). 
 
The film's finale lives up to its meticulous build-up in ways that are both expected and surprising.  Director and writers handle it in consistently interesting ways, right up until a final irony that's startlingly apropos. 

Without undue sensationalism, ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW tells its tragic tale with a kind of sordid elegance and leaves us sad but satiated. 


Rated: NR (not rated)
subtitles: English (optional)
Video: 1.85:1 aspect ratio; b&w
Runtime: 96 minutes
Extras: none

ODDS AGAINST TOMORROW -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

THE MALTESE FALCON (1941) -- Movie Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 1/30/16

 

The first great "film noir", 1941's THE MALTESE FALCON, set the standard both storywise and in its impeccably exquisite visuals.  First-time director John Huston does a masterful job orchestrating his actors and crew to create a visual experience which is consistently involving and often dazzling. 

The film, shot mostly on interior sets, was brought in on budget and ahead of schedule despite Huston requesting an extra day of rehearsal for the film's climactic sequence, which takes place entirely within a single hotel room with almost all members of the main cast.  The complex character interactions and the way the tangled plot is meticulously resolved during this scene makes for some of the most breathlessly riveting cinema ever filmed.

Huston uses clever direction and camera movements to keep things from getting claustrophobic, and never once lets the pace drag.  His screenplay follows Dashiell Hammett's novel almost to the letter (the two earlier, inferior adaptations, 1931's "Dangerous Female" and the comedic "Satan Met a Lady" in 1936, didn't), and crackles with scintillating dialogue, intriguing plot twists, and relentlessly building suspense. 

Hammett's celebrated anti-hero Sam Spade is the perfect noir detective--brash, resourceful, self-assured, keenly intelligent, streetwise, tough but not infallible, and opportunistic.  He does have a moral code, one not easily compromised, and a motto that is rigidly enforced: "Never play the sap for anyone." 

The first person to try and use him is quintessential femme fatale Brigid O'Shaughnessy (exquisitely  played by Mary Astor), who hires San Francisco private detective Spade and his partner Miles Archer (Jerome Cowan) to locate her missing sister along with a mystery man named Floyd Thursby.  When both Archer and Thursby turn up dead, it appears there's more to Brigid's story than she's letting on. 

Before long Spade discovers that she's after a priceless treasure known as the Maltese Falcon, for which she's in fierce competition against  "the Fat Man" Kaspar Gutman (Sydney Greenstreet) and the wily, effeminate Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre).  Spade must spar with these conniving characters while fending off police detectives Dundy and Polhaus (Barton MacLane, Ward Bond), who suspect him in the murders although the more genial Polhaus tends to side with Sam.  All in all, these actors comprise one of the finest casts ever assembled for a film.  (Look for John Huston's father Walter in a quick cameo as a fatally wounded ship's captain.)

Huston delights in working with these masterful performers as any artist deftly employs his chosen medium.  The dialogue scenes between Bogart and Greenstreet are a verbal delight (Gutman constantly admits his glowing admiration for the crafty Spade), while the utter dishonesty underlying Spade's love affair with Brigid gives it an air of perversion. 

Lorre's Joel Cairo, both dangerously scheming and amusingly fussy, is always fun to watch.  I love the scene in which Spade disarms and manhandles Cairo, whose main concern is expressed with the heated accusation: "Look what you did to my shirt!"

Even young character actor Elisha Cook, Jr. gets to shine in the plum role of Gutman's "gunsel" Wilmer Cook, a callow trench-coated hood hiding his cowardice behind guns and tough talk.  (Dwight Frye played the part in the 1931 version.)  The ever-sharper Spade delights in yanking Wilmer's chain, and in one incredible closeup we see fat, glistening tears suspended in each of the young killer's eyes as he's overcome with burning frustration and impotent rage (another bravura touch by Huston).

But it's Bogart's show, and his performance is a pure delight.  We know Spade's a stand-up guy, yet the moment his partner's murdered he has the signs around the office changed from "Spade and Archer" to "Samuel Spade."  He's even having an affair with Archer's wife, Iva (Gladys George), but loses interest once he meets Miss O'Shaughnessy.  Yet we know he's an okay guy as long as his faithful gal Friday, Effie (Lee Patrick), still secretly loves him. 

In one delightful moment, after storming out of a tense encounter with Gutman and Wilmer in the Fat Man's swanky hotel room, Spade smiles when he realizes that his hand is shaking and his palms sweating.  Spade may be brave, but he still gets scared, a fact which both amuses and excites him.

This vintage detective yarn sizzles with suspense and excitement for viewers who are able to plug themselves into its high-voltage current.  For me, it took several viewings before I finally began to appreciate just what a finely-rendered thing of beauty it truly is.  Others (as some IMDb comments would indicate) seem to take a strange kind of pride in remaining immune to its charms, believing that such classics are revered by many simply because they're "old." 

But if it doesn't hit you right away, just keep watching and remain open to it.  Chances are that sooner or later, THE MALTESE FALCON will weave its magic spell over you.  Like the rare and unique artifact of the title, it's "the stuff dreams are made of.

Read our review of the BEST OF BOGART COLLECTION

THE MALTESE FALCON (1941) -- Movie Review by Porfle

LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE -- DVD review by porfle

 

 Originally posted in 2009

 

 

A tasty romance-slash-murder mystery with an outstanding cast, King Vidor's lightly noirish LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE (1951) recalls the days when a "woman's picture" didn't necessarily have to put male audience members into a stupor. 

 

With its opposing camps facing off across miles of wasteland, a man who may have been falsely accused of murder, and a woman whose love is clouded by fear and suspicion, it's almost like something Emily Brontë and Alfred Hitchcock might've knocked off together during a tipsy weekend on a West Texas dude ranch.

 

When New York stage actress Shelly Carnes (Ruth Roman) is ordered by her doctor to go West, she falls for a young man named Trevelyan (Richard Todd) whom she meets when they both take shelter during a storm. 

 

 At the Tumble Moon Ranch she meets Liza McStringer (Mercedes McCambridge) and her crippled younger brother String (Darryl Hickman) and finds out that the reclusive Trevelyan has just been acquitted of murdering his wife after his second trial resulted in a hung jury. Liza, who clearly has a thing for him, was the jury member who kept him from being convicted. 

 

Shelly and Trevelyan's next meeting leads to a whirlwind romance and a quickie marriage. But on their wedding night, Shelly's growing doubts about her new husband's innocence are confirmed when Liza admits to having witnessed the murder--and hints that the killer was indeed Trevelyan. 

 

This is a good old-fashioned atmospheric thriller that's lean and well-paced. Simply yet stylishly directed by King Vidor, with good use of southwestern locations, the story is taut and suspenseful and never lapses into melodrama. The editing, except for a couple of curiously jarring moments, is noticeably good and the crisp black and white photography is a pleasure to look at. Master film composer Max Steiner contributes a robust musical score. 

 

Mercedes McCambridge, with her natural and self-confident (and somehow peculiar) Method acting style, is fascinating to watch from her first moment on the screen. What an interesting young actress she was. She's subtle yet spellbinding during her long expository speech to Shelly, going about little bits of business around the kitchen in an offhand way and then deftly rolling a cigarette with one hand and lighting it as she delivers her dramatic exit line. After that I looked forward to watching the rest of her performance during the movie, and does it ever pay off before it's over.

Ruth Roman, on the other hand, gives a first-rate "movie star" performance as the affable and attractive heroine. Until recently I'd only seen some of her later roles (both she and McCambridge appear in the 1979 TV-Western "The Sacketts" as older and much more timeworn women) and never realized how cute and appealing she was in her younger days--she reminds me a little of Debra Winger. Her character is cocky and adventurous, yet vulnerable enough to make us want to take care of her during the dicey situations she keeps getting herself into. As the mysterious Trevelyan, Richard Todd is an intriguingly enigmatic romantic figure, managing to make us like him even as we're wondering whether or not he's really a murderer. 

 

Appearing only briefly is Zachary Scott as Trevelyan's friend Harvey Fortescue Turner, an idle playboy who knows more about the murder than he's telling. Kathryn Givney and Frank Conroy are Myra and J.D. Nolan, wealthy ranchers who raised Trevelyan as their own after the death of his parents. Familiar character actor Rhys Williams plays the local priest, Father Paul, a reluctant witness whose testimony was damaging during Trevelyan's trial. Former child actor Darryl Hickman is effective as Liza's troubled brother, String. 

 

Ruth Roman's femme fatale gaze from the cover of this Warner Archive Collection DVD is hardly indicative of her character, but it looks cool anyway. The full-screen image and English Dolby 2.0 sound are good considering that this burn-on-demand title, like the rest of the Archive series, isn't restored or remastered but simply transferred from the best video master in the Warner Brothers' vaults. This means that picky videophiles will probably cringe at some of the scratches and pops. 

 

I barely notice them, having gotten used to seeing much worse prints on TV and in theaters over the years. In fact, the less-than-perfect picture quality only increases the film's nostalgic appeal for me. 

 

LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE is the kind of movie that I took for granted back when you could see this kind of stuff on TV all the time. Now that old black and white films are, sadly, a real rarity amidst a sea of infomercials and other cheap filler, getting to watch this classy thriller on DVD is a real treat.

 

 

LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE -- DVD review by porfle

Magic Elevator Trick in "KISS ME DEADLY" (1955) (video)

In Robert Aldrich's classic adaptation of the hardboiled Mickey Spillane novel...

...P.I. Mike Hammer (Ralph Meeker) and his friend Lt. Pat Murphy (Wesley Addy) walk down a hallway toward the elevator.

Mike pushes the button. They wait for it to arrive, looking up to check the floor indicator.

The door slides open, two passengers step off, and Mike and Pat get in.

Except...there's no elevator. That's the "Magic Elevator" trick.


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

Magic Elevator Trick in "KISS ME DEADLY" (1955) (video)

Porfle's Trivia Quiz: "KISS ME DEADLY" (1955) (video)

Robert Aldrich's classic adaptation of Mickey Spillane's "Mike Hammer" novel...

...is one of the finest film noirs ever made.

How much do you remember about it?


Question: What final message does Christina leave with Mike Hammer?

A. "Don't forget me"
B. "Think about me"
C. "Remember me"
D. "Trust me"
E. "Call me"

Question: When Mike Hammer's mechanic admires a car, he says...?

A. "Mamma mia!"
B. "Va va voom!"
C. "That's the one!"
D. "I'm in love!"
E. "Hubba hubba!"

Question: What then-modern device does Mike have in his apartment?

A. Answering machine
B. Motion detector
C. Video recorder
D. Calculating machine
E. Digital clock

Question: How does Mike intimidate the greedy coroner?

A. Slaps him
B. Twists his nose
C. Crushes his fingers
D. Pulls a gun on him
E. Chokes him

Question: Lily says, "Kiss me, Mike..." What kind of kiss?

A. Liar's
B. Lover's
C. Pretender's
D. Killer's
E. Deadly

Question: Where do Mike and Velda run to escape the explosion?

A. Mike's car
B. Basement
C. Drainage ditch
D. Beach
E. They don't escape


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

Porfle's Trivia Quiz: "KISS ME DEADLY" (1955) (video)

YESTERDAY WAS A LIE -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

Any modern movie that's shot in moody, darkly expressive black and white is already after my own heart, and if it's a smoky noir liberally interwoven with elements of sci-fi, weird fantasy, mind-bending metaphysics, and melancholy romance, then it really stokes my desire to come up with lots of colorful adjectives to describe it.

Writer-director James Kerwin ("Star Trek Continues") has created just such a cinematic novelty piece in the languidly compelling YESTERDAY WAS A LIE (2009), now celebrating its ten-year anniversary with a digitally remastered Blu-ray release from Indiepix.

The film is beautiful from the moment we first see Hoyle (Kipleigh Brown), a young blonde woman dressed like a 40s private detective and making her way through a black and white cityscape of steamy alleyways, mystery men in trenchcoats, and bodies with hot lead slugs in their brains (one of them played by none other than Peter "Chewbacca" Mayhew himself).

She seems anachronistic, as though snatched up from the modern era and sent back in time to replace someone else. We soon realize, though, that her entire life is a series of anachronisms that she can't fathom, as though she were unstuck in time (like Vonnegut's Billy Pilgrim), unable to find where she currently belongs within the storyline of her own life.

This is also reflected by the clashing elements of different eras which surround her, with characters right out of classic film noir looking up information on their laptops (with an antique typewriter two feet away) or using old-style rotary phones one minute and cell phones the next.

Changing from her trenchcoat and fedora into an evening dress, Hoyle hits the bar circuit and encounters a gorgeous torch singer (Chase Masterson, looking way sexier now than she did back on "Deep Space 9") who is known, fittingly enough, as "The Singer."

When not crooning slow jazz ballads for the customers--Masterson does her own vocals, and very well--she reveals herself to Hoyle to be a medium, a seer, a prognosticator. In other words, just the ideal person to help sort out the scattered jigsaw pieces of Hoyle's life from a spiritual perspective.  But is the solution to her existential angst mystical or scientific?

It all hinges on an elusive guy named Dudas (John Newton) who seems to hold the key to everything if she could just find him, along with a mystery notebook that also promises to illuminate. What, we wonder, was/is her relationship to this guy? Meanwhile, the Singer does what she can to guide Hoyle through it all while remaining maddeningly enigmatic.

Definitely not one of those time-wasters one watches passively while mentally composing a grocery list, YESTERDAY WAS A LIE keeps the viewer on his or her figurative toes trying to sort out what's real and what's not during Hoyle's encounters with scientists espousing incredible theories on time and space as each plunge into the surreal has her struggling through what seems like a print of "Groundhog Day" cut up and spliced back together wrong.

I won't try to explain any more of the plot (which, admittedly, I still haven't completely deciphered) because much of the fun comes from wading through it all yourself.  What matters most to me, in fact, is that Kerwin has created such a superbly atmospheric, richly artistic work of indy cinema that one can revel in like a sumptuous indulgence.

The Blu-ray from Indiepix is in HD 1080p 1.78:1 with English Dolby 5.1 sound (English SDH subtitles available). In addition to an audio commentary featuring Kipleigh Brown, Chase Masterson, and James Kerwin, there are several making-of featurettes and interviews, camera tests and outtakes, trailers, and a Wondercon panel with cast and crew.  (Look for an Easter egg, too.)

YESTERDAY WAS A LIE is painstakingly crafted, seemingly with the same loving care that David Lynch lavished on "Eraserhead" and with much the same stunning visual impact and cerebral engagement.  And although the knotty plot never quite untangles itself before the fadeout, we're left pleasantly pondering the mysteries of the universe while still buzzing on that beautiful black and white fever dream in which we've just been immersed.



Order it from Indiepix Films

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Release date: November 12, 2019

YESTERDAY WAS A LIE -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

"Cemetery Tales: A Tale of Two Sisters" Starring Traci Lords Wins at Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival

Tea Time Productions Short Film

CEMETERY TALES: A TALE OF TWO SISTERS

Wins Best Short Thriller At the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival

Traci Lords Stars In This Beautifully Shot Film Noir

LOS ANGELES --  Tea Time Productions is thrilled to announce its short film, Cemetery Tales: A Tale of Two Sisters, has been named Best Short Thriller at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival. The festival is set to open on February 12th at the Regal Stadium Cinemas/LA Live and run through February 22nd.  It is slated to screen on Friday February 15th.  Cemetery Tales: A Tale of Two Sisters stars Traci Lords and is the directorial debut of Chris Roe.  The film premiered this past fall at the Sitges Film Festival in Spain garnering notice from the international genre community. 

A Tale of Two Sisters is set in the year 1949. Lords plays an aging Hollywood star mourning the loss of her beloved sister on the one year anniversary of her death. When the truth of her murder is revealed, a surprise visitor returns. Presented in stunning black and white with timeless orchestration, the short also stars Bruce Davison, Ros Gentle, Michael Broderick and Monte Markham.  A Tale of Two Sisters was produced and directed by Chris Roe and is a Tea Time Production.  The film is dedicated to Roe’s good friend and client, the late George Romero.  Of trivia note, much of the production was shot in the former home of director James Whale (Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man and The Old Dark House). 

“Chris Roe has given audiences a dark, eloquent tale which for all its brevity, plunges us into a world that remains a potent memory long after the credits roll. Shot with elegance by Alex Wysocki and enriched by a score by Jonathan Hartman which has a classic feel, Mr. Roe’s ‘A Tale of Two Sisters’ is made with a welcome love of style and subtlety," commented Clive Barker (director and writer of Hellraiser).

“If Val Lewton were still making films, he’d surely seek Chris Roe out,” stated John Harrison (director of Tales From the Darkside: The Movie & Book of Blood).

Darren Bousman (director of Saw II-IV) added, "Stylish and confident, original and utterly unique.  Chris Roe is someone to keep your eye on. Noir never looked so good."

Brainwaves’ own Steve Barton declared, “this is a must-see for any genre fan looking to recapture that classic chilling magic of days gone by.”

"Cemetery Tales: A Tale of Two Sisters" Starring Traci Lords Wins at Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival

CUT TO THE CHASE -- Movie Review by Porfle

Triple-threat filmmaker Blayne Weaver wrote, directed, and starred in the steamy Louisiana-based crime thriller CUT TO THE CHASE (2016), and it's a corker.  This is straight-up pulp fiction, with a sleek visual style and a winking sense of humor.

Max Chase (Weaver) is a two-bit career criminal with only one saving grace--his love for younger sister Isobel (Erin Cahill in an endearing performance), an assistant D.A. who's always putting herself on the line for him. 

But after Max runs up against crime kingpin The Man (Lance Henriksen) one time too many, Isobel disappears, and Max frantically turns both the city and his own life upside-down looking for her.

 

Max is a wiry little wiseacre with a quick wit, and he's likable enough even though we, like his sister, know that he's a hopeless case.  We like him even more when her disappearance brings out a selfless determination that drives him to go up against the baddest hired killers in town, suffering more beatings and various other abuse than Bruce Willis in the process.

But what starts out as a simple hunt for his sister takes Max down the rabbit hole into something deeper and much darker than he expected, and before long neither he nor we are sure of anything. 

The good part is that this isn't just an excuse to string together ninety-odd minutes of action and violence, because each encounter Chase has with the people in his life -- Travis, The Man's burly head enforcer (Patrick Day), Chase and Isobel's surly old man Cotton (Richard Folmer), etc. -- is a scintillating vignette cracking with snappy acting and dialogue.

 

Character development is good even among the lesser bad guys, who instead of being just faceless heavies are mostly people Travis has known and dealt with for years, for various reasons.  One is even an old schoolmate who asks if he's going to the next class reunion if he happens to survive the next few minutes. 

Henriksen is his cranky, acerbic self as The Man, while beautiful Lyndie Greenwood shines as Nola (good name for a Louisiana girl), a witness in his upcoming trial who ends up on the run with Max as he starts getting blamed for various violent deaths that start happening all over Shreveport.
 
As for Weaver, he's so in tune with his character that it carries over into how he directs the film itself.  The jittery editing and quirky visual style seem to spring straight from Chase's own fidgety disposition, so it's like we're really inside Chase's head.  Which is kind of a scary place to be.

CUT TO THE CHASE starts out kind of like a film noir without the noir, until Max's search for Isobel becomes more and more desperate.  It never quite loses its wry sense of humor or its desire to entertain us with lots of hard-hitting action and suspense, with a final scene that makes us glad we stuck with Max till the bitter end.


 
Opens theatrically in limited markets on February 28th and is available nationwide on VOD/Digital March 7th with a DVD release in August.

Website cuttothechasefilm.com
Facebook facebook.com/cuttothechasefilm

CUT TO THE CHASE -- Movie Review by Porfle

BLOOD IN THE WATER -- Movie Review by Porfle

I love high-octane, breakneck-paced flicks as much as the next guy, but there's also a place in my heart for a good slow burn  suspense yarn with the smoky sheen of a modern noir.  Like BLOOD IN THE WATER (2015), for example. 

The Cummings brothers, writer-directors Orson and Ben, have given their film a smart but not too complicated script and a keenly modern yet almost art deco visual sensibility that I think will age well. 

Not only that, but the performances are as fun to watch as they are capable.  Willa Holland (LEGION, STRAW DOGS) and Alex Russell (CHRONICLE, CARRIE) star as Veronica and Percy, a young unmarried couple who have been house-sitting in the most amazing contemporary mansion in the Hollywood Hills with a swimming pool and a to-die-for view of Los Angeles.

But shortly before they're scheduled to leave and return to New York, a mutual friend named Freegood (Miguel Gómez, THE DOMINO EFFECT) shows up to catch up on old times. 

Two important historical tidbits: Freegood is not only Veronica's ex-boyfriend, but he holds an old debt over Percy on which he has come to collect.  And as you might guess, it involves drugs, guns, bad guys, lots of ill-gained cash, and the fact that Percy was a chemistry major. 

That the film begins with Freegood having been murdered and a naggingly inquisitive detective named Cortez (David S. Lee) interrogating a battered Veronica and Percy about it lets us know that things didn't go so well the night before.

Blood does indeed flow in that womblike pool (the cradle of life and death?) before this yarn is done, but just whose it is and how it happens is what keeps the viewer on edge while watching BLOOD IN THE WATER. 

Romantic tensions reach a fever pitch--suffice it to say that Freegood definitely has designs on Veronica, who begins to doubt her commitment to Percy--while suspense builds throughout Percy's harrowing brush with the dark illicit drug culture of L.A. 

Dialogue is sharply-written and never overly cute or quirky, and the Cummings brothers know how to direct pleasing visuals that have a nice flow to them.  While most of the story takes place in that one location, it never drags or gets boring. 

Best of all, BLOOD IN THE WATER has a nifty little surprise ending that resolves the story in satisfying fashion without the need for a mind-blowing twist or final burst of action.  Like a stiff drink, it feels good going down and then gives you a warm glow in the pit of your stomach.




Limited Theatrical & Digital Release 8/26/16
Will be available on iTunes, Amazon, DirecTV, Time Warner Cable, Comcast Xfinity, Vudu, Hoopla, Google Play, etc.
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/BloodintheWaterMovie/ 

BLOOD IN THE WATER -- Movie Review by Porfle

L.A. CONFIDENTIAL SE Hits the Street 9/23

Modern film noir fans have something to look forward to on September 23. That's when Warner Home Video will release their new 2-disc special edition of director Curtis Hanson's masterful 1997 crime drama L.A. CONFIDENTIAL. Hardboiled, action-packed, and thoroughly riveting, the film ranks in the estimation of many as the equal of Roman Polanski's classic CHINATOWN in giving the dark fascination of the old Hollywood noir thrillers a modern touch while still retaining the aura of the originals.

The list price for this special edition is $20.97, but Amazon is offering it at $14.99, which has a much nicer ring to it. Also available in Blu-ray (SRP $28.99) L.A. CONFIDENTIAL SE promises the following bonus features:

Disc 1
Commentary by Andrew Sarris
Music Only TrackTrailers and TV Spots
Showest
Nite Owl Action
Hollywood
Theatrical Trailer
Soundtrack Promo

Disc 2
Whatever You Desire: Making L.A. Confidential
Sunlight and Shadow: The Visual Style of L.A. Confidential
A True Ensemble: The Cast of L.A. Confidential
L.A. Confidential: From Book to Screen
Off the Record
Photo Pitch
The L.A. of L.A. Confidential
Hollywood Center Motel
Formosa Café
Sid Hudgen's Office
Victory Motel
Bidwell's Office
Nick's Liquor
Lynn Bracken's House
Frolic's Room
Pierce Patchett's House
Movie Premiere Pot Bust
Mrs. Leffert's House
Nite Owl Café
Navarette's Hole-up
Fitch House
City Hall
L.A. Confidential [2000 TV Pilot]

L.A. CONFIDENTIAL SE Hits the Street 9/23