Not really a horror film, though the title suggests that it might be, Die Augen der Mumie Ma (aka The Eyes of the Mummy) is really more of a melodrama, in which an artist (Harry Liedtke) rescues a young woman (Pola Negri) from servitude to a strange man (Emil Jannings) inside an Egyptian tomb, brings …
Read the full post →“<em>Die Augen der Mumie Ma</em> (1918)”
A cowboy comes to the big city to turn his cash into more wealth, and he becomes the target of unscrupulous Broadway producers. Fortunately, he has their secretary looking out for him, but will the two be able to make for a successful show … particularly when the other partners want out and a gang …
Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe came to the screen for the first time in this RKO picture, which stars former boyish musical star crooner Dick Powell as the detective (indeed, the picture, based on Chandler’s Farewell, My Lovely, apparently was retitled so audiences would not expect a frothy musical). Powell is convincing as Marlowe, with a …
Reasonably amusing horror-comedy leans perhaps too much on slapstick and is weakened a bit by the fact that the leads aren’t all that sympathetic, but it does manage to blend humor and the spooky situations arising in a police station that had formerly been used by Japanese occupiers during World War Two. Also known as …
A mystery-comedy with slight touches of horror, The Phantom in the Red House (original title: El fantasma de la casa roja) has a young woman who works at the Devil’s Inn, a nightclub with themed costumes, named as an heir to a dead millionaire’s fortune — but she and the others concerned must survive a …
Read the full post →“<em>The Phantom in the Red House</em> (1956)”
The Durango Kid (Charles Starrett) takes a hand when a suspicious will of a murdered man apparently leaves the bulk of his property to a wastrel son rather than his hard-working sibling. As with many of the series entries, flashback narration provides a portion of the running time, and there’s musical and comedy relief from …
Read the full post →“<em>The Blazing Trail</em> (Columbia, 1949)”
Ralph Bakshi and Frank Frazetta cooperated in creating this epic animated feature, in which a young man who is a village’s lone survivor, the daughter of a southern king, and a mysterious stranger battle the sorcerous powers of an evil ice queen and her son. The story is rather simple, but the design of the …
Ranger Tom Milton (Tom Tyler) seeks to infiltrate a criminal gang with the help of a reformed outlaw (Rex Lease). Complications ensue. Unusual features include a tap-dancing number by female lead Margaret Nearing and a clever ruse by the rangers using dummies to foil an ambush. Not exactly good, but reasonably entertaining. Mildly recommended. Otto …
The Lone Wolf (Warren William) is in London, where he steals important plans from an official’s home safe, putting Scotland Yard, and the visiting New York police, on his tail. Unbeknownst to them, he is working with the official to try to trap a ring of German spies, but his efforts are endangered after the …
Read the full post →“<em>Counter-Espionage</em> (Columbia, 1942)”
Plenty of good fights and a challenging arena competition among noted fighters make for an entertaining tale filled with vengeance, love, and humor, in this movie also known as Invincible Swordswoman. Fans of the genre will want to take a look. Mildly recommended. Otto judiciously thinks this movie is OK, but not great. Movie 481 …
Read the full post →“<em>Leng yue gu xing jian wu qing</em> (1977)”
