Another roll-up of classics (pre 2000).

1927 – The Jazz Singer – the first talking picture… by which I mean a silent film with actual singing and the very occasional line of dialog. It’s not overly dull but really its only interesting for its historical importance.

1946 – The Spiral Staircase – allegedly a proto-slasher film but really more just a whodunit thriller/mystery. A mute woman in a mansion is (eventually) stalked by a killer who targets women with disabilities. It’s not a lot of fun but there’s a creep factor in the final act that kinda saves it.

1950 – Winchester ’73 – I like some older Westerns but I found this one just tolerable. It tells a number of different Western stories as it follows a Winchester repeating rifle as it passes between hands. It’s a nice structure with some decent sequences but mostly I was just tolerating it.

1952 – Monkey Business – the slightest of slight screwball comedies… from Howard Hawks of all people. Scientist Carey Grant invents a drug that de-ages your mind and soon he’s acting like a kid. Hey, it’s the progenitor of body swap movies. That’s more interesting than the flick itself.

1955 – Diabolique – A French thriller classic… it must be a classic… it’s in the Criterion Collection. But I didn’t like it… I couldn’t find the thrills or the suspense in this overly-talky story of murder. I also had seen the big twist ending before… which was probably the only scene that worked for me.

1962 – Harakiri – A pretty amazing but deeply cynical and depressing film that probably shouldn’t have worked but did. An analysis of the Samurai and their code of honor… its not a happy movie but I was deeply engrossed in every sharply barked statement (and a pretty great sword fight).

1972 – Boxcar Bertha – very early Scorsese… as produced by schlockmeister Roger Corman. The two don’t mix well with Marty trying to  be arty and Corman doing his exploitation thing. I was mostly just bored.

1973 – Lisa and the Devil – A Mario Bava head-scratcher… not sure if I understood much of anything but I kind of enjoyed the surreal weirdness of it all. Plus Telly Savalas – complete with lollipop – plays the devil… only he doesn’t do much. Which is weird too. 

1974 – The Cars That Ate Paris – a fine idea for a French new wave art house film… but was instead an excessively slow and boring Australian outback flick that felt dangerously directionless. The only interesting thing is that it likely inspired Mad Max.

1979 – Stalker – a cryptic and obtuse head trip of a film… which is exactly what I’d been warned about… that and it’s 3 hour length. But I think I got it… more-or-less. A philosophical dive that will certainly not appeal to everyone… including me if I went in totally blind. 

1980 – Demons – a surprisingly good, very splattery practical bit of ’80s cult cinema. Actually lives up to its cult rep too… unlike many other movies from the era that I missed back in the day.

1983 – Angst – a no-doubt disturbing film back in 1983 has been done multiple times since… it didn’t work for me. Probably pretty shocking to some today though… it’s about a crazy guy and his thoughts as he stalks and kills a family. I should be a better human and say it was awful, I suppose. 

1994 – Cemetery Man – A surprisingly deep absurdist, surreal, wild, gonzo zombie comedy… just when I thought it was funny and weird, it turns out philosophical. Definitely not for every palette, but something unique for sure.