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Reviews
The Midnight Man (1974)
An Excellent Burt Lancaster vehicle with strong cast support.
I find this film a great pleasure to watch. The cast is superb, and the plot develops in a deliberate and leisurely manner; with emphasis on the characters and suspense. As always, Burt Lancaster is wonderful to watch. But then so is everyone else in this film including Burt's son, and a young Catherine Bach, in cameo roles. Midnight Man is a film to watch when you really want to settle and get involved for an evening of suspense and great acting. Its even better if someone is there to share it. Burt is an ex-homicide investigator, just paroled from prison for shooting his unfaithful wife and her lover. He is tragic in a sense, but also strong-willed. He takes a job as a night guard at a college and becomes obsessed with solving a murder that occurs there. He is pitted against resistance from local law enforcement, and some mysterious forces who throw constant dangers and obstacles in his path. But a skilled determination enables him to piece together a complex puzzle of deceit and collusion that makes for an exciting and revealing climax. I heartily recommend this classic Burt Lancaster drama!
Creature with the Atom Brain (1955)
Entertaining and Funny Too!
A high minded German scientist [in the 1950's??] is duped by a vengeful, deported gangster into creating atomic-powered zombies from the recently deceased, stolen from the local morgue, in order to wreak revenge upon his enemies.[Whew!] Now that is a dynamite combination! Never mind how they got six or seven bodies out of police custody; or where they got the radioactive isotopes they are waving around. This one is fun!
A classic, know-it-all police MD, with a pre-women's lib, blonde bombshell wife, and just-too-cute little daughter, is on their trail. He patiently tracks them down with the help of another scientist and his doomed police captain boss. The pipe smoking scene is hilarious; as is the inevitable science film: a trained dog being stimulated with electrodes. The villains give the doctor some scary moments. They even tear his little girl's favorite doll limb from limb. But since the German scientist is radioactive, he cannot escape the ubiquitous geiger counter that appears in all of these films. The climactic battle between the police, the army, and the zombies is to be savored time and again. This one is a classic, and worth your while!
The Magnetic Monster (1953)
This is really good!
Forget the low budget and limited special effects. This is an exciting film. If you can transport yourself back to the time when science was young and naive, you can get caught up in this film. The "monster" is an isotope created by a mad scientist. It will, if not destroyed, eventually engulf the world. Earnest atomic scientists are in a race against time to transport it to Canada where the only instrument powerful enough to destroy it is located. Once there, they even run afoul of a jealous Canadian scientist who attempts to foil their last ditch efforts. The climax, with electricity surging and sparks flying is actually thrilling. This one has some of the laughs one expects from a low budget monster film, but it also achieves drama and excitement. The acting is even better than usual.
Now it wouldn't be a low budget film without at least one or two cheesy special effects. Don't miss the shot of some steel slugs tossed up and supposedly sticking to the magnetized ceiling; some of them actually roll off camera. However, this is just entertainment when combined with the taut, fast-paced story line, excellent performances and exciting climax. I recommend it.
The Warrior and the Sorceress (1984)
This film is just outlandish enough to be worth watching!
David Carradine can be entertaining if he has any chance at all, and this film provides him with the opportunity. He plays the disillusioned, violent, seemingly corrupt "Dark Warrior" to the hilt.
Maria Socas plays the entire film nearly naked. This has surely limited its "exposure" to the general media, including of course television. However, her natural state enhances the visual imagery of the film and she seems almost sacred in her devotion to her office of priestess. What a state we are in, when we so readily accept tremendous, gory violence in film, yet eschew nudity as something taboo and dirty.
This is, of course, a "cheapie B movie", but it isn't so badly done. I find it compelling, entertaining escapism. Its a good "guy" film, so just lean back and imagine.
Bug Buster (1998)
Definitely a "B" movie, however...
If one is an aficionado of "groaners" [I am] then this is an entertaining event. It is truly bad enough to be funny, and some of the performances are worthy of the time spent watching them. Katherine Heigl is marvellous. She is not only wonderfully beautiful, but also an excellent actress and intriguing to watch. The film's plot is confused and the characters are shallow, in the glorious "B" movie tradition. However, if one can get a good laugh out of such a film, isn't that entertainment? This one will give your sense of humor a good workout. I liked it.