Keir Dullea top ten

 

1) 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - he's actually perfect for this part

2) 2010: The Year We Made Contact (1984) - entirely decent sequel, no not as good but it tries, a lovely to see Dullea back

3) David and Lisa (1962) - the film that really launched his career, a little bit 'Simple Jack' but a sleeper hit

4) Mail Order Bride ((1964) - cute Burt Kennedy/Buddy Ebsen Western with Dullea as the romantic lead

5) The Thin Red Line (1964) - before the 1999 version of this novel there was this one... it's interesting, not as good as Malick, but worth a watch

6) Bunny Lake is Missing (1965) - Dullea was horrendously bullied by Otto Preminger, and received an almightly sledge from Noel Coward ("Keir Dullea, gone tomorrow") but the film is interesting

7) Madame X (1966) - one of many Ross Hunter remakes, this has Lana Turner camp it up and Dullea has her son - no way near a good movie but it is prime camp

8 ) The Fox (1967) - racy adaptation of the Lawrence novel with Dullea breaking up a tryst between Anne Heywood and Sandy Duncan

9) De Sade (1969) - Dullea's big chance after 2001, it had an excellent subject, writer and director but something went wrong (I think director Cy Endifeld went ill and seemed to have a nervous breakdown or something )

10) Black Christmas (1974) - fun early slasher. Dullea is a great creep.

I made it to ten films! Honorable mention to the Aussie TV movie Because He's My Friend (1978) where Dullea stars.

Movie review - "Happy Death Day" (2017) ***1/2

 Entirely decent slasher riff on Groundhog Day with a solid script, good scares, and strong acting, particularly the lead performance.

Interestingly the original ending had her killed. Audiences didn't like it. I get that - she didn't deserve to die. 

Movie review - "Friday the 13th" (2009) ***1/2

 They tried to make a good movie. They succeeded. Thought has been put into it. They care. People can't escape Jason for proper reasons. Jason is scary. The campy moment is when he discovers his mask but that was fine. There are decent kills and sex and nudity. 

I can't believe they didn't do a sequel.

Movie review - "Early Frost" (1982) *

Notorious as a film with no director credit - it was Brian McDuffie - and with the novelty of being set and shot in Blacktown and featuring a young Jon Blake. There's also Guy Doleman, Kit Taylor, Danny Adockc and some vaguely familiar female leads who I think did a lot of TV.

Various women are turning up dead but there's no suspense, no style, no gore, no nudity.

Movie review - "The Fog" (1980) *** (re-watching)

 Just put it on for mood and atmosphere and location - it looks so splendid, with that great score, likeable cast. Runs smoothly. Fun to try and spot the reshoots which are quite well integrated. Ending is a little damp squip with randoms in a church and Adrienne Barbeau on top of light house but still worth watching.

Watched a doco on the making of it after - Janet Leigh seems to have cancer, and sad to see Debra Hill looking so smart and healthy knowing she wouldn't live very long.

Movie review - "Friday the 13th Part 8: Jason Takes Manhattan" (1988) **

 Actually Jason on a boat which isn't a bad idea because of the Crystal Lake connection and it's different suspense. That section I didn't mind. There's a hilarious subplot with the boat captain being hard on his son but the women are attractive and the kills well done and there's two major adult characters which is a novelty. This is the second one in the series where there's a nerdy film buff character. I liked the throwbacks to boy Jason.

But too much of it is silly like being reunited at the end with a dog, and the random gang who turn  up and instantly want to rape someone.

Movie review - "Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood" (1988) **1/2

 Jason takes on a girl with telekenis, which isn't the best idea but at least it's a point of difference. There's a trailer at the top to bring everyone up to speed which is cute - the flirting/horny teens go through the motions (the mindless sex and nudity seemed to suit the early 80s more somehow) and the teen's accomodation seems a little too lush but once Jason starts knocking people off the film gets in its stride. There's solid action and interesting kills.

Movie review - "Friday the 13th Part 6: Jason Lives" (1986) **1/2

A more slick entry - done with intelligence and polish. Tommy is back as a tormented adult, determined to wipe out Jason's corpse.. instead he brings him to life accidentally via lightning. Thtat's not bad. The cast includes Jennifer Cooke, who is spunky as the local cop's daughter, and a young Tony Goldwyn. There's no nudity which is weird and just the one sex scene; some little kdis are at camp but aren't harmed - one girl is praying when Jason decides not to kill her, a little Mike Myers style.

Jason's more a spernatural figure here. There's a nice line in self referential humour which doesn't go overboard and one or two memorable kills (a neck breaking). I wasn't wild about the paintballers being killed. The film lacks the craziness and dodginess of the early 80s efforts.

Movie review - "Friday the 13th Part 5: A New Beginning" (1985) *1/2 (warning: spoilers)

 Bless the idealism - they made a genuine sequel, with Corey Feldman's character returning grown up (Corey has a cameo at the beginning) and tell a story where the killer isn't Jason, but inspired by Jason. Boo. No emotional connection. They try for a different character with the traumatised guy.

There's a comic fatty (brutally killed by a random killer who then disappears), some comic rednecks, quite a large cast, too many non teens, actors taking the piss when they should've been focused on doing their jobs, a woman who had to be fully nude in broad daylight in the middle of a forrest. They use again the device of a small kid - he's black and there's a few other black characters (one killed on the toilet) so there's points for diversity.

A good movie inside struggling to get out - the idea of a camp of psychologically scarred teens is great, but not really developed. Some flashes of interest but it doesn't really work.

Movie review - "Friday the 13th Part 4 The Final Chapter" (1984) ***

 It's great to see a few more familiar faces in the series: Crispin Glover as a camper and Corey Feldman as a 12 year old boy.

Joseph Zito, director, tried to make a good movie that hits the beats and this gives you what you need - old lore, new lore, some cool deaths, some deaths that are repeated, attractive cast taking their clothes off and getting killed, lack of logic. The hockey mask. Some hot twins. A character seeking revenge against Jason (such a logical character you wonder why they didn't use that earlier... I also love it how the character he's related to was just some random girl killed having sex and no one important i.e. the final girl from the first film or something). There's a stoner watching a stag film from the 1920s.

Feldman isn't in it much - his sister has a bigger part. But he's in the bonkers vlimax where he shaves his head and hacks into Jason. Having a 12 year old in it gives it more guts as does the fact his mother is killed.

This was a lot of fun.

Movie review - "Friday the 13th Part 2" (1981) **1/2 (warning: spoilers)

The first made so much money it would've been rude to not make a sequel, and besides there was a ready-made way to do it, by focusing on a grown up Jason, who took over from his mother as the antagonist. The poor old "only girl" from the first one gets knocked off in the opening scene.

There's some full frontal female nudity (a skinny dip) which feels very "1981" (slashers would cover up as the decade went on). Some suspenseful moments and decent kills. There is a teen in a wheelchair who is depicted as being sexually active, which I guess is progressive, even though the main reason for this, one senses, is so he can be spectacularly killed going backwards down stairs. The ending has novelty with the final girl pretending to be Jason's mother to ward him off.

The studio backlot campsite is unfortunate but I guess you've got to save money where you can. The cast are anonymous as usual, which is part of the series' charm. I do always forget there's an elder character actor or two who cop it in the first act.

Movie review - "Hollywood Boulevard" (1976) *** (re-watching)

 I've seen this a lot. I have such affection for it.

Random thoughts

- the rape sequence is very unpleasant but it does show Candice Rialson to be genuinely traumatised by it. And later on when watching the film at the drive in she's traumatised again. And then is almost raped again in a scene played for comedy

- likewise in the scene where Tara Strohmeier is shot dead it has a real impact - ditto when Rita George is killed

- the love for movies is so endearing, the injokes, the names, the cut in footage, the whole vibe.

- the drive in sequence drags and isn't fun - rape played for gags isn't great

- the camraderie between the three girls is very lively and a shame there isn't more

- the romance between Jeffrey Kramer and Rialson is sweet

- the ace in the hole were the actors - everyone is good,Rialson is wonderful, Kramer amiable, but Mary Woronov and Paul Barrel are the stand outs. I really liked Rita George too she's very pretty and competent I'm surprised she didn't have more of a career

- sometimes the exploitation is awkward (the wet T shirt scene), other times offensive (the rape sequence), other times very effective (the producer in bed with two girls, the three girls lying around topless) - I know Dante and Arkush didn't have their hearts in exploitaiton but they could do it well (eg slasher scene)

- the basic mystery is fine with clever leading that we think the killer is Kramer

Movie review - "The Girl in Black Stockings" (1957) **

 A slasher film before you could see much - a killer has cut up a goodtime girl in a small town and sheriff John Dehner tries to find out who did it. 

The main perk of this is the cast - suspects include Lex Baxter, Ron Randell (in a wheelchair), Mamie Van Doren, Marie Windsor, Anne Bancroft, Hoss from Bonanza. Bancroft is very good; I also liked Randell playing a bitter man (was his voice dubbed?) and it's fun to see Van Doren randomly pop up.

The original story was set in South Africa. That would've been fun. Quite a high body count.

I didn't mind this film - nicely directed, a little sleazy. I think it needed to be sleazier, that's all.

Movie review - "Halloween III: Season of the Witch" (1983) *** (re-watching)

 Tommy Lee Wallace does good imitation direction of John Carpenter, helped by most scenes shot at night, the isolated north California setting, the wonderful music, and the Carpenter stock company (well, Tom Atkins). 

A spooky, unsettling story, with the catchy jingle, injokes for the fans (including watching Halloween), Woody Allen's ahem muse Stacey Nelkin (as a young woman unable to resist hopping in bed with an elder man). The baddies kill a little kid in front of his parents then the parents, a nice nurse is drilled in the head - so it's bleak.

The public didn't like it, which was a shame.

Movie review - "Terror Train" (1981) ** (warning: spoilers)

 Slasher film set on a train without a lot of gore - it's more a thriller - with a decent budget and cast: Jamie Leigh Curtis, Ben Johnson, Hart Bochner, the magician David Copperfield (!). It was Roger Spotiswoode's first movie.

The concept of a slasher on a train can work - it did in Horror Express - but I'm not sure it does here. Maybe because part of the joy of a train movie is the cross section of people and here it's just teens. I didn't get the sense that the train was moving or that it was dangerous outside but maybe I dozed off.

It looks slick, is well acted and Copperfield's role is well integrated - he's a magician who is the main suspect. The magic stuff is different. There's a trans twist at the end which got old fast.

Movie review - "Friday the 13th Part 3" (1983) **

 The one in 3-D. It's cheesy, but the 3D effects are fun - brooms shoved forward, an eye, poles, apples. Some of the female cast have a bit of spunk about them and I hope they went on to have a career. The men not so much.

I enjoyed that random gang who appeared to harras the kids then turned up at the house to be murdered. 

Lots of bits feel unfulfilled - like an idea they wanted to develop but didn't. Such as the kids all eating marijuana (why not have that pay off), Tracie Savage's character being pregnant (she's still murdered, in a Psycho homage), having two of the group be stoners.

Full of odd things like two male characters go to the toilet and get killed, neither having wiped; the history of the final girl returning to Crystal Lake - was she meant to have been attacked by Jason? (I think the script was meant to focus around the survivor of Part 2, which would've made more sense - but if the actress didn't want to return why not change it more. I've also heard the character was meant to have been raped. This is unclear).

Directed by Stephen Miner. I got a few jolts.

Movie review - "Hollywood Boulevard" (1976) *** (re-watching)

 Fun, breezy, energetic, especially in the first half. The second half isn't as good. There's two really unpleasant rape sequences - one where Candice Rialson is being filmed, the other where a drive in operator has a go. This is not fun. There's the murder of Tara Strohmeier which feels nasty because she's such a warm person and she's so terrified and dies bloody - it's an effective slasher sequence I admit (Dante's tribute to Mario Bava) it just felt mean spirited.

Candice Rialson is splended, Strohmeier is great too and I also liked Rita George as the third girl. Jeffrey Kramer is an affable romantic lead but the breakouts are Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov. Dick Miller is solid as always and there's fun turns from people like Jonathan Kaplan.

Its love for filmmaking is so endearing that its faults are forgiven.

Movie review - "Innocent Prey" (1984) **

Junky, silly slasher thriller which was actually quite entertaining. It's a film of starts and stops - it never seems to get momentum going and there are plot holes but it has some effective moments if you get into the spirit of the thing.

It starts in Dallas Texas where PJ Soles (a rare lead role) is married to Kit Taylor (who is a superb villain). She comes across him in a hotel room having sex with a hooker (Debi Vorhees who was in a Friday the 13th film) who he then kills. He winds up in prison (Martin Balsam is a local cop) but escapes and chases PJ to Australia where she's moved in with a friend... into an apartment house with another psycho, a guy who perves on the inhabitants with secret cameras.

If you go with that conceit you'll have fun, with PJ Soles giving an efficient performace, Taylor very good, Susan Stenmark adding some glamour as Soles' hot friend, Grigor Taylor as Soles new love interest. The death toll is very high!

Based on a script by Ron McLean and directed by Colin Eggleston - their fourth collaboration after Airhawk, Outbreak of Hostilities and The Little Feller.

Movie review - "Nightmares" (1980) ** (warning: spoilers)

 John D. Lamond tried his hand at soft sore sex and here changed gears, going for the slasher market. The script was written by Colin Eggleston.

They imported a "star" Jenny Neumann, whose main credit was in Larry Buchanan's Mistress of the Apes. This has decent photography and a Brian May score. It's also got a young Gary Sweet (lots of hair and a high pitched voice), Max Phipps doing good work as the mean director, John Michael Howson in a hilariously OTT cameo as a critic, Gary Day as a cop, the people in the theatre show also include Maureen Edwards, Briony Behets, Sue Jones and Nina Landis.

 We know Neumann's the killer all along so there's not a lot of suspense. There's some okay kills - I'm not the best judge, slashers aren't my thing. The theatre atmosphere is ideal.

I wish Nina Landus has played the lead, Neumann doesn't bring a lot to the party -would she have even been vaguely known?

A film that you want to like because it was Ozsploitation and Lamond comes across as such a cheerful rogue, and Colin Eggleston made The Long Weekend but it's really not that good.

Movie review - "Night School" (1981) ** (warning: spoilers)

 The last film from Ken Hughes is a perfectly adequate, accomplished slasher movie. It lacks the delirious grandeur of the nuttier entries in this genre. 

There's a bit of feminism in the movie - female producer and writer - with talks about how women have been persecuted. Rachel Ward is in it and has star factor.

There's a bit too much of stock cop Leonard Mann. There is a lecherous lesbian academic, a lecherous straight male academic. Also some moments of genuine flair - a murder in an aquarium plus a decent homage to the shower scene in Psycho with Ward in a see through bra and some kinky stuff involving red soap.

I don't like slashers, but this had a story and ambition and some fun moments. I'm surprised Hughes didn't direct more after this.