Death Occurred Last Night (Tessari). Quite good and not at all a giallo
2 Likes
Last night: Wicked Little Letters (Sharrock, 2024)
The seaside town of Littlehampton, sometime in the early 1920s. Edith Swan (Olivia Colman) lives with her parents, and is the very model of piety and temperance. She knows her place. The two men in her life, Jesus Christ and her father (Tim Spall), dictate her every thought and deed.
The Swans have a new neighbour, Irish immigrant Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley). She’s everything Edith isn’t. Brash, confident, independent. She likes a pint. She has a black boyfriend and a white daughter. Oh, and her language! My word!
Edith is shocked by Rose. Appalled, even. But she likes her in spite of herself. Does she find Rose’s free-spiritedness liberating? Maybe. They strike up a tentative friendship. Edith hopes to “save” Rose, if she can.
After a public spat between Rose and Edith’s father, the relationship between the women sours. As soon as this occurs, Edith begins receiving letters in the mail. Vicious, spiteful letters full of language that would curdle milk.
“You foxey-arsed old whore, you’re a piss-country old stinker with shit hair”
“You great big f@cking onion”
“You want f@cking in the nose holes, you old beetle”
(The preceding is just a tiny, tiny example of the corkers that I could remember; this movie is as sweary as Goodfellas)
Now, Edith and her parents naturally assume that Rose is the author of these poison pen letters and, given both the sheer amount of letters sent plus the uptight morals and propriety of the time, Rose could be in a lot of trouble here. She’s looking at a stretch inside, and losing custody of her daughter.
The local constabulary consider this an open and shut case. Rose is the only suspect. Job done.
However, Woman Police Officer Moss (Anjana Vasan) - a constable widely ignored by colleagues and townsfolk alike due to her sex - doesn’t agree. She doesn’t buy that Rose, a woman who will happily tell anyone to their face to f@ck themselves, would suddenly hide behind a pen and a postage stamp. With no help from her male co-workers, it’s up to WPO Moss and the local Women’s Whist club to winkle out the real culprit before the Beak sends Rose down.
As you may have gathered, Wicked Little Letters is not a film I’d have chosen to see in a hundred thousand years. A true(ish) story of a quaint British brouhaha in a seaside town between the wars? Oh crikey, no. This was very much a mrs.caress pick. But I’m so glad she picked this one because it was really enjoyable. Funny and engaging throughout, and full of faces I knew from numerous contemporary UK comedy shows (Oh, look! There’s that guy from This Country! There’s that woman from The Thick of It! There’s Sidekick Simon from Alan Partridge! Et cetera!)
If you get an opportunity to see this one, give it a go. You foxey-arsed old whores.
2 Likes
Going to see this one tonight with my girlfriend, I’m looking forward to it!
2 Likes
Finally got around to see Sorcerer.
6 Likes
‘SATURDAY NIGHT IS HORROR NIGHT…’ 
This week we have werewolves, vampires, and witches…a trio of thrills and chills.
Beginning with…
1935, Universal Studios
1963, Hammer Studios
2015
3 Likes
The Hot Rock (1972) - Director: Peter Yates - 7/10 (very good).
The Domino Principle (1977) - Director: Stanley Kramer - 4/10 (passable/mediocre).
Mission Stardust (1967) (orig. …4 …3 …2 …1 …morte) - Director: Primo Zeglio - 3/10 (very mediocre/bad).
Goldface, the Fantastic Superman (1967) (orig. Goldface il fantastico Superman) - Director: Bitto Albertini - 5/10 (okay/decent).
Danger!! Death Ray (1967) (orig. Il raggio infernale) - Director: Gianfranco Baldanello - 3/10 (very mediocre/bad).
Death Trip (1967) (orig. Kommissar X - Drei grüne Hunde) - Directors: Rudolf Zehetgruber, Gianfranco Parolini - 4/10 (passable/mediocre).
Kill Panther Kill (1968) (orig. Kommissar X - Drei blaue Panther) - Director: Gianfranco Parolini - 3/10 (very mediocre/bad).
Island of Lost Girls (1969) (orig. Kommissar X - Drei goldene Schlangen) - Director: Roberto Mauri - 5/10 (okay/decent).
FBI Operation Pakistan (1971) (orig. Kommissar X jagt die roten Tiger) - Director: Harald Reinl - 4/10 (passable/mediocre).
Death on the Run (1967) (orig. Bersaglio mobile) - Director: Sergio Corbucci - 6/10 (good).
Tom Dollar (1967) - Director: Marcello Ciorciolini - 4/10 (passable/mediocre).
Avalon (1989) - Director: Michael J. Murphy - 3/10 (very mediocre/bad).
American Hunter (1988) - Director: Arizal - 3/10 (very mediocre/bad).
Eyes Behind the Stars (1978) (orig. Occhi dalle stelle) - Director: Mario Gariazzo - 4/10 (passable/mediocre).
Final Score (1986) - Director: Arizal - 4/10 (passable/mediocre).
Top Secret (1967) (orig. Segretissimo) - Director: Fernando Cerchio - 5/10 (okay/decent).
Eye of the Spider (1971) (orig. L’occhio del ragno) - Director: Roberto Bianchi Montero - 6/10 (good).
The Panic in Needle Park (1971) - Director: Jerry Schatzberg - 7/10 (very good).
Magnum Cop (1978) (orig. Poliziotto senza paura) - Director: Stelvio Massi - 4/10 (passable/mediocre).
Seagulls Fly Low (1978) (orig. I gabbiani volano basso) - Director: Giorgio Cristallini - 6/10 (good).
A Dragonfly for Each Corpse (1975) *(orig. Una libélula para cada muerto) - Director: León Klimovsky - 3/10 (very mediocre/bad).
Death at the Deep End of the Swimming Pool (1971) (orig. La última señora Anderson) - Director: Eugenio Martín - 6/10 (good).
El pico (1983) - Director: Eloy de la Iglesia - 5/10 (okay/decent).
Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll (1974) (orig. Los ojos azules de la muñeca rota) - Director: Carlos Aured - 4/10 (passable/mediocre).
Watch Me When I Kill (1977) (orig. Il gatto dagli occhi di giada) - Director: Antonio Bido - 6/10 (good).
My Dear Killer (1972) (orig. Mio caro assassino) - Director: Tonino Valerii - 7/10 (very good).
The Designated Victim (1971) (orig. La vittima designata) - Director: Maurizio Lucidi - 8/10 (excellent).
Street Warriors (1977) (orig. Perros callejeros) - Director: José Antonio de la Loma - 4/10 (passable/mediocre).
The Killer With A Thousand Eyes (1973) (orig. Los mil ojos del asesino) - Director: Juan Bosch - 4/10 (passable/mediocre)
Summer Soldiers (1972) (orig. Samâ sorujâ) - Director: Hiroshi Teshigahara - 5/10 (okay/decent).
Reviews shall be appearing here.
6 Likes
Boy O boy!
Mickey 13, you have been busy…some great titles there 
Regarding ‘The Poseidon Adventure’
Yeh, right…crap, yawn, bollocks, crap, obnoxious, crap…!!!
Well, it was the above endearments that encouraged my family to watch it on TV when I was young…and it resulted in some very good memories for me.
Aldo, you know I love you, but cinema audiences proved you otherwise in 1972.
They loved it, and I love it…pure unashamedly crap, bollocks, adventurism and escapism…
As watchable now as it was then…
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Really! … How long has this been going on ?
LoL
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Continuing with my chronological film journey am now almost done with 1946.
Watched a whole bunch of Noirs:
The Big Sleep (Hawks - 8/10)
The Blue Dahlia (Marshall - 7/10)
Gilda (Vidor - 7/10)
The Killers (Siodmak - 7/10)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (Garnet - 8/10)
Plus various other stuff:
Notorious (Hitchcock - 7/10)
Humoresque (Negulesco - 6/10)
The Razor’s Edge (Goulding - 5/10)
The Stranger (Welles - 8/10)
The Beast With Five Fingers (Florey - 6/10)
Green for Danger (Gilliat - 7/10)
1946 was a very good year, I have to say. Just one more to watch I think then I’ll be moving on to 1947.
5 Likes
The Will Hay collection The Goose Steps Out, Ask A Policeman, Boys will be boys, Convict 99, Good morning boys, Hey Hey USA, Oh Mr Porter, Old bones of the river, Where there’s a Will, Windbag the Sailor
2 Likes
My final film of 1946.
A Matter of Life and Death (Powell & Pressberger - 8/10)
As I said earlier, 1946 proved to be a cracking year in cinema and this fantastical piece of classic British cinema was a good way to finish.
Favourite film of the year? Actually, I’d probably pick The Stranger. It was certainly the nicest surprise as I’d never seen it before and it was really well crafted.
3 Likes
‘SATURDAY NIGHT IS HORROR NIGHT…’
Three excellent horror classics from three different decades…
1932
1966
1973
4 Likes
Over the last month or so I watched all 25 Zatoichi films with Shintaro Katsu in the title role. The films are in a way all pretty similar, often sharing the same basic plots and situations, some scenes are even recreated several times in almost identical fashion (his “slipped dice” trick in the gambling houses, for example). On the other hand, there’s a gradual change in tone, style, violence, music, and sexually charged moments (in the dialogue, anyway), as you would expect in a series of movies spanning a quite revolutionary decade for film, from 1962 to 1972/73.
Overall, I enjoyed the films very much and I developed a fondness for the blind masseur / Yakuza / swordsman. There were only two films I found a bit meh, the rest was solid to very good stuff with lots of memorable scenes, quotes, fights, tricks etc.
Also, I believe there was not a single somersault in the whole series, which was very welcome.
2 Likes
I binged the first 14 or so a few years ago in the Criterion and enjoyed most of them. My favourite was number 7, Zatoichi’s Flashing Sword I think it was called? The one with the awesome ending where he goes in a rampage illuminated by fireworks.
I picked up the region B version of the set October last year for only £70. I skipped forward to watch Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo (pretty meh) and Zatoichi Meets The One Armed Swordsman (pretty awesome).
I do agree they are quite repetitive, especially with the mentioned gambling scenes. Every single film has a 5 minute sequence of him gambling and avoiding getting cheated on by a sly gambler. Thankfully the action scenes are consistently great which more than makes up for it.
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I agree, this one was one of the best. My favourite of the later ones was “Zatoichi Goes to the Fire Festival” which was somewhat different in a very good, creative way and also had a very memorable climax at the boss of the bosses who was also blind.
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Yes I do need to get to that one. I believe it is directed by the same bloke who did the Lone Wolf and Cub films too.
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