THE DANMAN CAN

Let's get this out of the way up front: the CGI in Peter Jackson 's The Frighteners (1996) is bad. It was bad in 1996 and it's really bad in 2022. And there is a lot  of CGI in The Frighteners . It's a shame because if the film went the practical f/x route I would like it a lot more. I'd like the film a whole lot more if it was shorter as well—at just over 2 hours the director's cut superfluously adds 13 minutes to the theatrical cut (which was already longer than necessary).  On top of the terrible CGI, there is a bit too much goofiness in The Frighteners  for my tastes (with occasional weirdly serious shifts in tone which sloppily attempt to address trauma). Jackson seemed to be going for a  Ghostbusters   (1984) ( review ),  Evil Dead II  (1987) ( review ), and  Beetlejuice   (1988) ( review ) vibe but what he ended up with is a big swing and a miss for this viewer. It blows my mind that Jackson made Heavenly Creatures (1994) and then made  The Frightener

Alan J. Pakula 's  Klute  (1971), the first film in what came to be known as his "Paranoia Trilogy" (which also includes 1974's  The Parallax View  ( review ) and  1976's  All The President's Men  ( blogpost )), is an excellent neo-noir with some very giallo -like elements and a refreshingly frank, Oscar-winning central performance by Jane Fonda . There's a really interesting dynamic between her character, call girl Bree Daniels, and  Donald Sutherland 's titular John (that name seems intentional) Klute.  Pakula was such a master with this type of material and this film hits the spot if you're in the mood for a slow burn thriller of this vintage. Highlights include  Michael Small 's Lalo Schifrin -esque psych-jazz score (with the unmistakable breathy vocal stylings of singer  Sally Stevens , who memorably contributed to that same year's Dirty Harry ) and  Gordon Willis ' (who shot both of Pakula's other paranoia pictures, along with

In the beginning of 1962’s Carnival Of Souls the loosely dubbed dialogue immediately establishes a disembodied, otherworldly atmosphere which lends itself nicely to the story—that of a women who has strange visions after a traumatic car accident. After said accident, Mary just wants to shred on the pipe organ (that instrument, played by Gene Moore , provides the sparse, eerie score). She’s a church organist "capable of stirring the soul” but she wants nothing to do with religion, to her it's just a job. The beautiful  Candace Hilligoss , who only starred in two other films (one uncredited), is perfectly cast—she is perpetually alarmed or concerned-looking and mostly just wants to be left alone. Her striking wide-eyed looks emote these qualities terrifically, as she is continuously pestered by a lecherous and pushy neighbor ( Sidney Berger ), haunted by a pasty ghoul (played by director Herk Harvey ), and drawn to an abandoned pavilion (filmed at  Saltair ) where lost souls pe

A grittily realistic working class drama with an unrelentingly dark streak of humor and an absolute bastard of a protagonist, Get Carter (1971) is one bleak and grimy gangster picture. Director  Mike Hodges —in his theatrical feature debut—takes his time setting up an explosive finale in this fantastic, fatalistic revenge flick. The 70s truly were a special time for crime cinema.  Recommended for fans of Dirty Harry (1971), The French Connection (1971),  Point Blank  (1967) ( review ), and The Long Good Friday (1980).

The Girl Can't Help It   (1956) the burgeoning rock 'n' roll genre, Tex Avery -level humor, and Douglas Sirk -style melodrama blend with Jayne Mansfield 's blonde bombshell pin-up parody of Marilyn Monroe  ("glamour gone berserk" to quote John Waters ), gorgeous cinematography, lighting, and wonderful costume and production design to form a cartoonishly colorful, immensely influential, and occasionally silly musical comedy. Director  Frank Tashlin  brought his background in animation to the fore to craft this zany CinemaScope De Luxe Color joy. Top it off with unforgettable performances by Little Richard , Julie London , Gene Vincent And His Blue Caps, Eddie Cochran , The Treniers , Fats Domino , and The Platters and you have one energetic and ridiculously fun picture.

It plays a bit like Soderbergh -lite, but Confess, Fletch  (2022) is breezy, fun, and amusing.  Jon Hamm makes a great Fletch. This new film dispenses with the many disguises of 1985's  Fletch   ( review ), but I'm okay with that—for the most part it's just a well-constructed and highly entertaining murder mystery comedy.

Salome's Last Dance (1988) was a blast. Madman  Ken Russell doing camp Oscar Wilde set in a brothel—what's not to love? Ken Russell Feature Films Ranked

Barbarian (2022) has a lot of hype circling it, and while I thought it was pretty fun overall, it ultimately served as a decent second film of the Saturday night Horror Double Feature in which I partook (the first one being Pearl   (2022) ( review )). Barbarian has   some good suspense and a couple of interesting about-faces, but I found the mostly murky, desaturated cinematography unremarkable. The performances are solid, there are a few laughs, and some pretty goofy shit (which honestly I'm on board for), but I'm not sure this is one I would revisit.

Just as   X   (2022) ( review ) didn’t attempt to hide its allegiance to  The Texas Chain Saw Massacre   (1974) ( review ), Pearl , Ti West ’s prequel to X , which was released only six months prior, doesn’t attempt to hide the influence of the Golden Age of Hollywood and Douglas Sirk . But while X ’s homages felt a tad forced, Pearl feels authentic enough that I never drifted out of its world to notice particular callbacks to classic films. It provides more of a mood, which I tend to prefer over outright replication. While I liked X a lot, I loved Pearl —the first Ti West film I can say that about. It’s a really well-made backstory that feels natural and never forced. It’s also West’s best filmmaking in every regard—I was impressed by the production design, costumes, and atmosphere. Mia Goth is simply fantastic in this role—dishing up the crazy like her life depended upon it but also delivering a superb and impassioned long-take speech that serves as a highlight. Pearl is a horro

An overwhelming audiovisual assault. A gift of sound and vision . I never wanted it to end. Simply spectacular and worth every penny in IMAX. I freaked out for  Moonage Daydream , oh yeah .

I can’t help but admire a film where the main character is this scuzzy, the kind where the filmmakers aren’t afraid to "go there"  every time, the kind where the protagonist has literally no redeeming qualities whatsoever, the kind where you feel like you need a cold shower afterward. Almost Human (1974) is that film. Tomas Milian plays the scummiest of scumbags and he’s uncomfortably good at it—he kills literally anyone who’s unfortunate enough to cross his path. If director  Umberto Lenzi  and writer  Ernesto Gastaldi  intended for the audience to feel anything besides utter contempt for Milian’s Giulio it would come as a shock. I can’t understand why his accomplices ( Ray Lovelock and Gino Santercole ) stick around for as long as they do and continue to go along with every heinous act that Giulio commits. Stone-faced Henry Silva is the inspector investigating the trail of bodies that Giulio leaves behind and the daughter of a rich man that he and his thugs kidnapped

Antonio Margheriti 's Seven Deaths In The Cat's Eye (1973) is a serviceable, occasionally bizarre, gothic giallo. The castle setting adds lots of mood, there is a decidedly Hammer / Bava -esque flavor to the proceedings, and  Riz Ortolani 's score heightens the melodrama. I've seen the film three times now and it's never blown me away (it drags a bit at times) but there is enough here to satisfy if you crave an Italian-produced, Scottish-set murder mystery. Love that cat too. Giallo Feature Films Ranked

While I appreciate that Nia DaCosta 's  Candyman (2021) is not simply a rehash, reboot, requel, whatever of the 1992 original  ( review ), it is unfortunately a convoluted, heavy-handed mess of ideas (with a particularly sloppy, out-of-left-field ending). The score is great, much of the imagery is well done, and most of the performances are fine, but writer/co-producer  Jordan Peele 's script lacks cohesion (which is unfortunately the same issue I had with his last two films as director,  Us  (2019) ( review ) and  Nope   (2022) ( review )). I didn't find this confection particularly sweet.

Like almost every  Larry Cohen  film, Full Moon High (1981) is sloppy and struggles to find an identity, but has a certain charm in its chaos. I don't know what it was about 1981, but everyone  was making werewolf movies that year—first  Joe Dante   with  The Howling  ( review ) in March, then  Wolfen  ( review ) in July, followed by John Landis '  An American Werewolf In London   ( review ) in August, and finally FMH trailing last (in quality as well) in October.  Cohen appears to aim for updating 1957's I Was A Teenage Werewolf with  Airplane!  (1980) and Animal House (1978) style humor (and FMH did beat Teen Wolf to the punch by four years). But the lack of cohesion (he really did just seem to film random shots, apparently worry about editing later, and I have to wonder how much of a script there was for this one) makes many of the jokes fall flat. Still, there are some laughs and goofy fun to be had in this, the only film of his that I've seen (so far) that was

The quintessential film noir ,  Billy Wilder 's  Double Indemnity (1944)—based on James M. Cain 's 1943 novel  (first published in serial form in 1936) with a screenplay co-written by Raymond Chandler —crackles with pitch-perfect dialogue, sexual innuendo, and black-hearted cynicism (or perhaps more accurately, honesty). Barbara Stanwyck is a definite femme fatale and Fred MacMurray is an equally conniving wolf in sheep's clothing. The two protagonists—scheming murdering sociopaths—make a truly compelling couple— not so much Hollywood antiheroes as straight up villains. Edward G. Robinson expertly portrays the conscience of the film and John F. Seitz 's moody chiaroscuro cinematography provides incredible, indelible imagery. Double  Indemnity   has no expiration date—it always feels fresh, yet familiar in the best ways; a perfect film. Billy Wilder Films Ranked The Danman Top 100 Films (2019 Edition) Film Noir Feature Films Ranked Top 20 Directors My Criterion Top 1