However, that doesn’t mean one can’t make a satisfying picture that continues to tell the tale. While they’re sacrilege to some, the Psycho sequels get a bad rap, yet they’re actually pretty good, considering the awfully intimidating shadow in which they exist. The first two, 1983’s Psycho II and 1986’s Psycho III, have made their […]
Psycho
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Stark words
Credit: Brad Gregg In that article, a 2000 interview was quoted in which leading lady Beverly Garland bagged the picture as “the most awful film” she’d ever made — and mind you, she starred in a good number of stinkers that went on to be skewered on TV’s Mystery Science Theater 3000. But, wait — […]
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Hitchcock
Hitchcock, which opens Friday, isn’t a bad movie; it’s just a baffling one. Purportedly about the making of 1960’s Psycho, it winds up a hodgepodge of old-fashioned biopic, bogus psychological thriller and simplistic domestic melodrama. The film, however, is hardly the work of incompetents. Director Sacha Gervasi has an absorbing rockumentary (Anvil: The Story of […]
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What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?: Anniversary Edition
Both sibs are former stars. Baby Jane (Davis) was a child star, “the diminutive dancing Duse from Duluth” who entertained vaudeville audiences until she could no longer get away with a spoiled brat. Blanche (Crawford) became a leading lady of the silver screen later in life, but her glory waned long ago. Now, Blanche is […]
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Period of Adjustment / Tall Story
She plays Isabel, a nurse from Sweetwater, Texas, who impulsively quits her job because she’s just as impulsively married one of her patients, George (Jim Hutton), a Korean War vet with a serious case of the shakes. Their union is off to a less-than-stellar start; Isabel erupts in tears leaving the church because he’s driving […]
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Alfred Hitchcock: A Legacy of Suspense
Mill Creek Entertainment’s “Alfred Hitchcock: A Legacy of Suspense” collects 18 movies on four discs, for less than $10. The cover reads 20 movies, but two episodes of NBC’s “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” while welcome, do not count. While “early” means “public domain” — in other words, expect no “Psycho” — don’t think these aren’t worth […]
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Smile Jenny, You’re Dead
How ironic for this made-for-TV movie to sport “Smile” in its (incorrectly punctuated) title, because for network television — especially in 1974 — it’s remarkably morose. But it’s a crime drama, so that’s a good thing.“The Fugitive” fugitive David Janssen headlines as Harry Orwell, a former California cop who left the force after taking a […]
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The Terror / Dementia 13
Well, for one thing, the movies may reside at the B level, but they’re not trash. For another, Cultra has given ’em a good scrub-over that they’ve always deserved but have never had. If you’ve bought these before on budget DVD sets, dig them out and ditch. These new versions are spiffy, inexpensive and contain […]