The Warner Archives have brought movie buffs of all kinds together to bear witness to the immortal Red Skelton and his “Whistling” trilogy, the 1941 comedy series that brought Skelton together with co-stars like Eve Arden and Virginia Grey. Restored and featured in three separate discs, the “Whistling” collection is ultimately a mixed bag of Skelton comedies that are all fairly flawed with some dated zingers that fall flat on numerous occasions, but when they shine, they manage to draw some genuine laughs thanks to Skelton who is sometimes too goofy to enjoy, and other times seem too funny for the material he’s handed.
Tag Archives: Mystery
The She-Beast (1965)
I’m still trying to figure out if Michael Reeves’ 1966 quasi-creature feature is an unintentional satire, or just an overrated piece of cult cotton candy that gets more credit than it deserves. It was tough to make heads or tails of this movie at times, and you can sense the writer going off the rails in many instances where he just didn’t seem to be able to grasp his own premise. Why would it take bullets to bring down a witch that was around during the eighteenth century? Why bullets of all things? It’s tough to really capture what the film is going for when it purports to be an honest to goodness horror film and then shows a title card reading “Transylvania – Today.” Seriously? That’s the best that they could do?
Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010)
You really do have to give Warner Brothers credit for putting together rather fantastic all star casts for Direct to DVD feature films that will never get the same treatment as their theatrical properties. For films that are obviously just there to keep the cash flowing, the Batman titles have been consistently top notch; especially “Under the Red Hood,” a movie that’s slightly flawed, but still very entertaining. I’ve never actually read the mini-series from the comic books, but word of mouth indicates it was all one big build up leading to a massive cop out, so “Under the Red Hood” compiles all of the best moments and brings it together for a ninety minute action flick that involves a brand new quasi-crime boss in the city named the Red Hood. I had about one reason to see this: Jensen Ackles, the star of the best show on television at the moment “Supernatural.”
Puppet Master: Axis of Evil (2010)
I love “Puppet Master” I think it’s one of the best horror series to come along in years and provided many hours of wholesome puppet murdering fun that I never got with Chucky. With the series, it was obviously quite ridiculous, but it reveled in such and covered up that fact by giving us an array of puppets to root for who became menaces, villains, and then anti-heroes. “Axis of Evil” is an attempted reboot that will definitely not re-invent the entire series as I’d hoped, since it’s mainly just a lazy hack job with barely ninety minutes of its run time, and I retreat back in the old films.
Frat House Massacre (2008)
Admittedly I wasn’t the biggest fan of Alex Pucci’s “Camp Daze.” While it was an original concept for the camp slasher it was a bit too reliant on throwbacks to the slasher sub-genre to be the perfect horror film. Pucci bounces back though with “Frat House Massacre” an excellent horror slasher that sets down in the late seventies revolving around familiar themes of revenge, karma, and the inevitable twist. It’s surprising that with such a small budget Pucci is able to accomplish what Ti West did in “House of the Devil,” hearkening back to the decade of the seventies so adamantly and making this feel successfully like a capsule of the time with fashions, hairstyles, and a killer soundtrack and synth score that makes this seem utterly genuine.
Caesar and Otto’s Summer Camp Massacre (2009)
The best way to approach independent films looking to tap the comedy genre is to keep an open mind. Try a parking lot in the Grand Canyon type of open and you’ll be there. That’s the way I confronted Dave Campfield’s “Caesar and Otto” horror comedy. An apparent sequel to an earlier film of his, Dave Campfield enlists the horror genre to this installment and just goes all out wacky in every single instance he can muster up. Campfield doesn’t exactly follow a specific comedy formula here and it shows quite often with scenes that are just insanely nonsensical. From character Caesar’s inherent wackiness when indulging himself in a bit part as an extra in a television show (a scene that promised to be awful but was quite funny), to his implementing of “Where’s Waldo”-like glasses when reading a map, Campfield just seems to be using whatever he thinks will work no matter how nonsensical it may be and… It’s funny. It’s very funny.
Kitten with a Whip (1964)
I am admittedly ignorant to the praise and mocking this 1964 ditty has received over the decades. From a treatment on MST3K in America, to a cult following, “Kitten with a Whip” is that rare piece of cinema fodder that is a completely obvious chunk of sixties conservative propaganda demonizing the youth, free spirits, and sexuality altogether. Setting aside the context, “Kitten with a Whip” is a dumb movie. It’s sometimes very ridiculous to the point where this can just be deemed as a fantasy or a cartoon of a sorts. The vivacious Ann Margret coming off of “Viva Las Vegas” slums it and mugs it for the camera in this cliché youth gone wild quasi-thriller that is something of a fractured romance beneath the hilarious camp and utterly absurd dialogue.