Dinner and a Movie with Moxie

  Children Of The Sea (2019) All things are connected, all animals human and non human are all connected, the ocean and the stars, all living things are born of star-stuff.   Or as Carl Sagan once said "The cosmos is within us.  We are made of star-stuff".   That is the message in the 2019 Japanese animated film Children Of The Sea, the message that we are all connected, and we need to listen to the ocean, and take a moment and be more conscious of the world around us.  I think that this film quite literally illustrates the "We are made of star-stuff." that Carl Sagan famously said.  This is a film that gets its message out more through beautiful art, than it does through dialogue.   Children Of The Sea isn't a film that bluntly tells you its story, it has a vaguity to it, encouraging you to think about the meaning of the images, what did it mean to you, rather than just having it spelled out for you.  So therefore this is a thinking film, one that you must acti

 J-Horror Anthology Underworld (2004) I like horror anthology films, they are to me like the joy of reading a collection of short stories, and if done right they are short bursts of terror that uses every available second without long segments of filler.   The short story has deep roots in the horror genre, with Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft making the short story their bread and butter, and even for modern authors like Stephen King, some of his best stories are the short stories, and films are no exception from that.  Look at films like Tales Of Terror, Tales From The Darkside, Creepshow, and Cats Eye, all great short story anthology films, and rank among some of my favourite films.   Some like Cat's Eye or even Heavy Metal have short stories that are somehow linked, while others are completely unrelated to each other.   In J-Horror Anthology Underworld, we see Kadokawa the creator of Ring, Darkwater, and Ju-on The Grudge creating six horror shorts, each having its own moral

Cinematic Catastrophes (2001-2010)   So many of you might know him as his character The Angry Video Game Nerd, his name is James Rolfe, and long before he put on the white shirt and played the character of the Angry Video Game Nerd, he was a filmmaker.  Rolfe first got interested in making films as a child, and when he was able to start using the family camcorder, his career as a filmmaker started its long wild road.   Many of his early films were just him and his friends, and even just himself, he developed interesting filming, editing, and production techniques, and in time attended filmmaking classes, and finally got a BA in filmmaking.   Cinematic Catastrophes collects 6 films that James Rolfe had made between 2001-2010, some of the films were no budget home movies made with just him and his friends, and some of the other films that he made in college and after, showcased some rather adept filmmaking skills.  I would love to see what he could do if given a major studio and financia

  Madhouse (1974) In my past reviews I talked about some of the Corman-Poe Cycle films that starred Vincent Price, this review is taking a look at Madhouse from 1974, which isn't directed by Roger Corman or based on an Edgar Allan Poe story, but this film uses footage of the films I talked about previously as part of the film.  Madhouse is an interesting film about an aging horror actor played by Vincent Price who is offered an opportunity to play his famous character Dr. Death again in a television show.  But when he returns to filming, people mysteriously start dying in deaths modeled after the deaths from his old films.   Is he committing these murders and not aware of it, or is there something even more sinister happening?  Vincent Price is joined with Hammer Horror Films icon Peter Cushing in this delightfully evil whodunnit-horror film.  Mad house was directed by Jim Clark, with a screenplay written by Ken Levison and Greg Morrison.  The film is based on Angus Hall's 1969

  The Masque Of The Red Death (1964) In 1964 director and producer Roger Corman would again team up with Vincent Price for another entry in the Corman-Poe Cycle with the film The Masque Of The Red Death, based on the Edgar Allan Poe short story of the same name.   Unlike the previous Corman-Poe films that I have reviewed, this one does not have a script by author Richard Matheson.  This was Roger Corman's favourite of the eight films that he made with American International based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe, and he originally intended it to be the follow up to The Fall Of The House Of Usher, but it kept getting pushed back, this would also be the second to last film in the Corman-Poe Cycle.   The Masque Of The Red Death sees Vincent Price in his most diabolically evil roles, as the evil Prince Prospero.  The Story follows the events after Prince Prospero steals a peasant girl, Francesca from her village and takes her to his palace.  Her boy friend and father are sentenced to pu

  The Raven (1963) Roger Corman with writer Richard Matheson return again in 1963 with another film in the Corman-Poe Cycle, this time with The Raven.   The Raven is a light hearted horror comedy with an all-star cast featuring Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, and a young Jack Nicholson.   The film is inspired by the Edgar Allan Poe poem of the same name, and tells the story of  Dr. Craven who can't get over the death of his wife, encounters a speaking raven who is the magician Dr. Bedlo, who was turned into a raven by Dr. Craven's father's enemy Dr. Scarabus.  Dr. Craven then finds out that his wife, Lenore, or her spirit anway is with Dr. Scarabus so he and Dr. Bedlo along with Dr. Craven's daughter Estelle, and Dr. Bedlo's son Rexford set off to confront Dr Scarabus.   This film never tries to take itself too seriously, and the fun and comedy run riot throughout.  But can Dr. Craven find out the truth about what happened to his love, Lenore? The Raven w

  Tales Of Terror (1962) In the early 1960s, Roger Corman made a series of films based on stories by Edgar Allan Poe for American International Pictures, they have been referred to as the Corman-Poe Cycle.   Many of these films were really well done films that starred Vincent Price.  One of these films, Tales Of Terror, released in 1962, might be one of the most true to Poe's style I've seen in film.  Rather than taking a short story and having to add to it, to create enough content for a full length film, Tales Of Terror instead works as a horror anthology, showcasing three shorts, rather than one full length film, which allows it to more truly capture the nature of Poe's short stories, keeping them short, and concise.   Tales Of Terror features Morella, The Black Cat (which mixes The Black Cat and the Cask Of Amontillado into one story), and The Facts In The Case of M. Valdemar.  All three stories following Poe's stories without adding too much of their own, with the

  The Pit And The Pendulum (1961) Not all low budget films, are b-rate schlock films, though it is true that those are the types of film that Roger Corman has built an amazing career upon.  Sometimes a low budget film, can be done just right, and can end up being one of the top grossing films of the year, as well as becoming a critically acclaimed classic horror film, that still lives on nearly 60 years later.   That is the case with The Pit And The Pendulum from 1961.  The film is inspired by Edgar Allan Poe's classic short story of the same name, though there needed to be a lot of story added to make it into a full length film, and ultimately Poe's short story served as the climax for the film.   The film tells the story of a young man named Frances Bernard, who comes to the castle of his brother-in-law Nicholas' castle to investigate the mysterious death of his sister Elizabeth.  The mystery evolves and gets complicated, and someone or something is pulling the strings to

  The Black Castle (1952) Aging horror film icons Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney Jr share the screen in the wonderful horror film The Black Castle in 1952.  Though in this film, both actors play supporting roles, to a younger leading actors.   This is a film about British gentleman who goes to Austria to investigate the disappearance of two of his friends.  While there he is the guest of an evil nobleman whose wife he ends up falling in love with.  Though the hunter becomes the prey as the tables turn and the nobleman discovers who his real identity is.  Can Sir Ronald Burton and the Countess Elga von Bruno escape with their lives, from this castle of horrors? The Black Castle was directed by Nathan H. Juran, with a screenplay by Jerry Sackheim.   The Black Castle was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures in 1952.   The film opened to positive to mediocre reviews.  The Black Castle stars Richard Greene as Sir Ronald Burton (aka Richard Beckett), Stephen McNally as Count Carl von

  The Strange Door (1951) This next film, was one that I wasn't familiar with when I sat down and watched it.  The Strange Door from 1951 is based on Robert Louis Stevenson's 1878 short story "The Sire de Maletroit's Door", and is a great horror film, with elements of mystery added in.  The film is about a man named Alain de Maletroit who is an evil man that loves to play games with people.  He once loved his brother's wife, and viewed her marrying him an act of deceit, so he devises a plan to get evil but making the daughter of his brother and his wife who is in his charge (after her parents die) marry a scoundrel of a man.  But he never expected that scoundrel to actually be a good man, or the mysterious Voltan who is always lurking in the shadows to help the daughter and her the man she is supposed to marry.  But can Voltan save them before it's too late? The Strange Door was directed by Joseph Pevney, with a screenplay by Jerry Sackheim.  The Strange D

  The Climax (1944)  Were you a fan of the 1943 Universal Pictures remake of The Phantom Of The Opera, and did you know that they intended in 1944 to make a sequel to the Phantom Of The Opera?  The Climax, released in 1944 was originally intended to be a sequel to the 1943 remake of Phantom Of The Opera, but only featured one actress from the previous film, the beautiful Susanna Foster.   The film tells the story of Dr. Hohner who was in love with an opera singer, and was jealous of her voice, and murdered her, and kept her body entombed in his house.  Then ten years later he hears a beautiful new singer named Angela Klatt singing a song that his love Marcellina was the last to sing.  Hohner who is also the Royal Theater's physician, hypnotizes Angela and tries to silence her from being able to sing again.  But will she be able to find her voice, and expose the evil Dr Hohner for his crimes? The Climax was directed by Produced, directed, and co-written by George Waggner.  Curt Siod

  Tower Of London (1939) With names like Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, and Vincent Price, one might expect to see an amazing and terrifying classic horror film, and undoubtedly audiences may have expected exactly that in 1939 when they went to the theater to see Tower Of London.  However that isn't exactly what they would receive.  Tower Of London is more of a historical fiction, and royal drama film rather than a horror film.  The film follows Richard the third from England, as he murdered his way to the crown, and Karloff plays his executioner Mord, who helps him to carry out his murderous plans.  Where the film had some opportunities, and the right characters, to come off as a horror film, the film instead is a slower drama. Tower Of London was directed and produced by Rowland V Lee, with a screenplay by Robert N Lee.   Lee was notorious for going over budget and over schedule with his films, and Tower of London was no exception, he was given a decent budget of $500,000 to make

  Night Key (1937) When people think of Boris Karloff, the images that immediately come to mind undoubtedly are famous monsters such as Frankenstein's monster, or The Mummy, or maybe images of a mad scientist, however Karloff's acting skill goes beyond traditional horror faire.   In 1937 Karloff was cast as a brilliant inventor who invented a security system, in Night Key.  Karloff is not a villain in this film, but instead an old man with a kind heart, whose invention was stolen from him from his "friend", and when presented with the opportunity to work with his friend, and sell him a new security system, his friend again steals the invention from him through a legal loophole in the contract, and again Karloff is left with nothing, and won't even see his greatest invention yet, be put into use.   However Karloff has a trick up his trick, as he has created an invention a "key" that overrides the original security system.  He vows that "what I create

  Shutter Island (2010) In 2010 two big names in the film industry, Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio, came together to create a great psychological thriller, that pulls inspiration from classics such as The Cabinet Of Dr Caligari and the Ninth Configuration.   Shutter Island, is a psychological thriller that brings in elements of classic film noir mystery, and psychological horror.  The film is centered around Leonardo DiCaprio's character Edward "Teddy" Daniels who is a US Marshall sent to an asylum for the criminally insane on Shutter Island off the coast of Massachusetts to investigate a missing patient.  But as the film goes on something seems incredibly wrong, and we see Daniels lose his hold on reality...what even is real!?  The film leads up to a shocking twist that at the time surprised audiences.  Shutter Island is directed by Martin Scorsese, with a screenplay by Laeta Kalogridis.  The film is based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane.   Shu