Movieline Online

Before a zombie apocalypse became de rigueur, eco-horror was king of the box office with animals being the most frequent culprit when it came to destroying the world. Nightwing (bats), Wolfen (wolves), and Phase IV (ants) predicted that super-intelligent or genetically mutated critters were all but a foregone conclusion and mankind’s clock was ticking. Add to that list Deadly Eyes (1982), a Canadian production based loosely on James Herbert’s novel The Rats , but more closely modeled after Joe Dante’s Piranha , with a nest of oversized rodents scurrying through the Toronto subways. Directed by Robert Clouse ( Enter the Dragon ) and scripted by Charles Eglee (now a seasoned TV vet with Dexter and Walking Dead his most recent credits), Deadly Eyes is pre-wrapped b-movie junk food from beginning to end. Of course, the most famous story surrounding the production is the creation of the rats themselves: a mix of puppets, animatronics and dachshunds in rat suits. You might want to b...

As the final collaboration between director Anthony Mann and star Jimmy Stewart, The Man from Laramie (1955) takes a decidedly more conservative approach than their previous groundbreaking films like Bend of the River or The Naked Spur , Westerns that eschewed a conventional hero and cast Stewart in roles defined by rage, paranoia and downright insanity. Here he’s simply a wandering ex-army officer on a quest for justice on the edge of the frontier…with his own theme song , no less! But the fact that The Man from Laramie plays it safe, so to speak, should in no way diminish one’s enjoyment of it. Mann’s Shakespearean horse opera gathers a great deal of momentum as the story moves along, and Stewart peppers his performance with glimpses of some slightly unhinged character traits still lurking in the stables. Making his way through Indian country to deliver supplies to a small New Mexico town, Will Lockhart (Stewart) has a secret agenda: to find the gunrunner responsible for his b...

Dying is easy. Comedy is hard. And a horror comedy is darn near impossible to pull off. Mixing genres can be a rejuvenating cinematic experience ( Shaun of the Dead) or an obvious attempt to make the scares “safe” for a mass audience ( Arachnophobia ). With a pedigree including writer David E. Kelly ( L.A. Law, Ally McNeal ) and director Steve Miner ( Friday the 13 th Part Two ), 1999’s Lake Placid at least laid the creative groundwork for success. And, as giant monster movies go, it’s a pleasant 82 minutes of blood, banter and oddball characters culled straight from the ‘90s TV playbook. In fact, the film feels a lot like Kelly’s other series, Picket Fences , only with an oversized Asian crocodile thrown into the mix. Bridget Fonda plays the spunky city-girl sent to investigate a prehistoric tooth found at the scene of a scuba diver’s death at an isolated Maine lake. Brendan Gleeson is the cantankerous but lovable Sheriff. Oliver Platt is a quirky, billionaire croc hunter....

Fate is the Hunter (1964), adapted from the novel by Ernest K. Gann, proves that “almost” is good for something besides horseshoes and hand grenades. Director Ralph Nelson comes awfully close to crafting a unique and truly meaningful film but misses the mark by loading the overhead bins with a bit too much melodrama. Dated moments aside, what remains is a jack-of-all-trades production that is pretty good at a lot of things, but just can’t stick the landing. Glenn Ford plays airline executive Sam McBane, bucking for a big promotion that is all but cast aside when one of his planes goes down soon after take-off, killing everyone aboard except one flight attendant (Suzanne Pleshette). Blame for the tragedy is immediately laid at the feet of Captain Jack Savage (Rod Taylor), McBane’s wartime rival who had a reputation as a hard-living playboy type. Despite all evidence (or lack thereof) to the contrary, McBane begins investigating Savage’s actions right before take-off…then the day ...

Considering the massive amount of directorial credits on his resume, John Ford has been very well represented on home video. Those of us lucky enough to own the Ford at Fox box set probably have the best vantage point, but Warner has put out a few impressive collections of their own, including several versions of The Searchers , Ford’s most respected film in the modern era. How ironic then that one of his least respected films, Two Rode Together , a sequel to The Searchers in most respects, now moseys onto blu-ray in a 3000-copy limited release courtesy of Twilight Time, a company whose creative principals were the driving force behind many of those aforementioned special editions. Released in 1961 at a low point in Ford’s professional career, the film is just as loose and sloppy as many critics make it out to be. But with that much filmmaking experience behind him, even on cruise control Ford navigates the choppy story towards a few interesting vistas and memorable moments bet...

It’s hard to appreciate what’s truly great about Red River (1948) without some familiarity with the work of John Wayne. The Duke always had charisma and an imposing screen presence, but it seemed part and parcel of the same package. There was no deviating from the studio-imposed norm of who the character of John Wayne was “supposed” to be. Until Red River . As the hard-nosed and rather ruthless Texas cattle baron Thomas Dunson, Wayne doesn’t just stick a toe outside of his comfort zone, he becomes the villain for a large part of the film, until a “safe” Hollywood ending brings him back in the fold. Montgomery Clift, in an offbeat pre-James Dean type performance, plays his adopted son Matt Garth, a ranch hand who’s quick with a gun, but slow to take a stand against his single-minded father figure. Directed by Howard Hawks in a style that meets halfway between his usual studio-bound screwball comedies and the more open, naturalistic techniques used by John Ford, Red River is a p...

There’s quite a lot to like about Ravenous (1999), the Guy Pearce / Robert Carlyle cannibalism opus set in the high mountains above California during the Gold Rush of the 1840s. And considering the troubled production history (three different directors, difficult shooting conditions and constant creative sparring) that’s a surprise in and of itself. That it could have been a much better film also goes without saying. But what’s here is an authentic-looking horror story with an incredibly engaging first act marred by supernatural meanderings that leave a bad taste in one’s mouth. His first role of any prominence after co-starring in L.A. Confidential (and just before popping up in Christopher Nolan’s Memento ), Guy Pearce barely makes an impression as a cowardly soldier assigned to an isolated Army outpost; partly due to the script which provides him with almost no dialogue. And partly due to the overwhelming nature of the performance by Robert Carlyle, whose cannibalistic conve...

Despite being the decade that launched Star Wars , science fiction films in the 1970s were a much more literate bunch than they are today. It was as if producers were still trying to grasp all that Stanley Kubrick showed was possible (both technically and thematically) in 2001: A Space Odyssey while maintaining the escapist façade handed down from magazine covers like Amazing Stories . They aspired to social commentary, critique and prognostication. And even if those ambitions sometimes exceeded the material at hand, it made for some interesting cinematic experiments. Rollerball , for example, adapted from a short story by William Harrison, struggles to carry the weight of all social and political demands placed upon it by director Norman Jewison ( In the Heat of the Night ). There’s really not enough plot there to support an entire movie. But the cream that rises to the top is a powerfully understated performance by James Caan and an eerily prescient vision of a future wherein ...