Socially Distant, self isolated and sheltered in place.
Of the seven Wolf Man films in Universal Studio’s monster blu-ray collection, She-Wolf of London is the final and worst of all. The film features no werewolves, she-wolves, full moons, … Continue Reading She-Wolf of London (1946) May 26th, 2020
Crisis is a film about learning harsh lessons firsthand. A young woman raised in a provincial town by a surrogate mother moves to the city to work in a shop … Continue Reading Crisis (1946) May 22nd, 2020
Pillow of Death closes out the Inner Sanctum Mystery series with maybe the best movie title ever. Don’t get me wrong, Frozen Ghost and Weird Woman are phenomenal titles that … Continue Reading Pillow of Death (1945) May 10th, 2020
Strange Confession is an odd addition to the Inner Sanctum Mystery series. It’s missing the melodramatic intrigue and whodunit plot typical of the previous films. No, Strange Confession‘s story is … Continue Reading Strange Confession (1945) May 9th, 2020
House of Dracula follows House of Frankenstein in the Universal Monsters franchise and like most serials I expected a modicum of continuity. Unfortunately that’s the exact amount of continuity in … Continue Reading House of Dracula (1945) May 8th, 2020
My nascent appreciation for Charles Laughton burgeoned earlier this year when I first experienced his acting in The Old Dark House. It is a fantastic movie reuniting James Whale and … Continue Reading Captain Kidd (1945) May 4th, 2020
The Frozen Ghost sucked, and much to our chagrin, the next movie on the list is another Inner Sanctum Mystery. That’s too masochistic, even for me. So I told my … Continue Reading Phantasm (1979) May 2nd, 2020
The Frozen Ghost is another in the Inner Sanctum Mysteries series starring Lon Chaney Jr. This was not an easy film for me to follow. It’s a shame that The … Continue Reading The Frozen Ghost (1944) May 2nd, 2020
70 years before The Avengers regularly broke box-office records for The Marvel Cinematic Universe, Universal Studios had its own cultural juggernaut with the Universal Monsters. Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff … Continue Reading House of Frankenstein (1944) April 26th, 2020
In my last review I brazenly compared The Uninvited to Scooby-Doo, which in retrospect now feels like a challenge too tempting for the cinema gods to ignore. As luck would … Continue Reading One Body Too Many (1944) April 25th, 2020
Coming off the heels of Shadow of a Doubt, Alfred Hitchcock outdoes himself with Lifeboat, the quintessential bottle episode. That’s a TV term and I don’t know of a film … Continue Reading Lifeboat (1944) April 19th, 2020
Originally a radio show, the Inner Sanctum Mysteries jumped to the film medium like a Tales from the Crypt precursor with 6 films starring Lon Chaney Jr. We chose to … Continue Reading Calling Dr. Death (1943) April 19th, 2020
In Shadow of a Doubt Hitchcock takes a more subtle approach to his oft used ‘man on the run’ theme, telling the story of a fugitive hiding in plain sight. … Continue Reading Shadow of a Doubt (1943) April 18th, 2020
As I write this we’re in the midst of the COVID19 pandemic. Despite calling this blog ‘The Quarantined Critic’ it’s a subject I’ve neglected because it doesn’t often come up … Continue Reading Things to Come (1936) April 15th, 2020
The film I’m discussing today contains content you’ll probably find distasteful. If you’re familiar with Saló, or the 120 Days of Sodom (Henceforth refereed to simply as Saló) then consider … Continue Reading Saló, or The 120 Days of Sodom (1976) April 11th, 2020
Hitchcock is so weird. His body of work is impressive. His influence undeniable but boy is it difficult to discuss his early work without becoming repetitive. Sabotage feels familiar and … Continue Reading Sabotage (1936) April 5th, 2020
