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The Secret Agent – #MovieReview

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Hello out there internet people, it’s me Slick Dungeon. I’m back to review the third film from my film challenge for this month. This is the third movie in a row I have watched from director Alfred Hitchcock. If you want to play along with the film challenge you can find it here.

There are going to be a few spoilers below so be forewarned.

Secret Agent is a film from 1936 that stars Madeleine Carrol, Peter Lorre and John Gielgud. It’s about a soldier who has returned home only find out that his obituary is all over the newspapers. The reason? England needs him to spy on and kill a German spy so that the war effort can succeed. He agrees to the task and sets off to complete his mission. He is surprised when he gets to his destination to find out the war office has assigned a female spy to pose as his wife. The soldier, his wife and a Mexican general played by Peter Lorre all have to find the spy and finish him off. The catch? The female spy falls for the soldier for real and doesn’t want him to murder anyone.

The premise sets up a complicated moral dilemma that is interesting to watch play out. Does the soldier save thousands of lives for his country or does he lose the woman he loves? As always, Peter Lorre, is fascinating on screen and makes the film much more enjoyable to watch.

This is one of Hitchock’s earlier works but it’s the kind of film he would go on to make over and over again. It’s great fun and I would recommend watching it if you have not. It’s not the best Hitchcock movie ever made but it is still very good.

If you haven’t seen this one put it on your to watch list, you’ll thank me.

Praisingly yours,

Slick Dungeon

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The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog – #MovieReview

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Hey out there all you people hidden by the fog, it’s me Slick Dungeon. I have a film challenge for the year going and this month I am trying to watch and review three films by the same director. After debating about what director I should watch, I realized there is only one absolute master director and his name was Alfred Hitchcock. I’ve seen all of his most famous films but I must admit I haven’t seen a lot of his very early work. Well, his early work that survived anyway. The man was prolific. The first one I could get my hands on was The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog. It’s also just known as The Lodger depending on what continent you live on but either way it is a Hitchcock film and you can see his fingerprints all over it.

I’m not sure if this is needed considering the film is from the 1920’s but there will be some mild spoilers ahead. If you can’t stand someone talking about the most basic plot elements of a silent film that is nearly a hundred years old turn back now. You can always read this after you catch up on pre-depression era films.

The Lodger is a silent film from 1927 directed by the master of suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock. In the streets of London in the late night fog every Tuesday a murderer has struck. The killer has gone on a streak of murders, specifically targeting young women with blonde, curly hair. The film centers on a small inn where there are rooms to let. The family has a daughter named Daisy who happens to have blonde, curly hair. They also have a good friend who is a policeman interested in Daisy in a romantic sense. Joe, the police man, is determined to catch the killer and then sweep Daisy off her feet.

Everything is fine until a mysterious stranger shows up to rent the room. He’s got more cash than most, seems a bit odd about the pictures in the room he is renting and locks a bag up in a dresser. The remainder of the film is a guessing game. Is the lodger the killer who is doing suspicious things to hide his guilt or is he an innocent man who just looks guilty? To get the answer you’ll have to watch the film.

One thing I will say is that even in a silent, black and white film, Hitchcock knows exactly how to build suspense. He’s probably one of the few early directors who can make a game of chess look utterly menacing. He knows how long to hold the camera on a subject’s face so that we think we know but aren’t quite sure what they are thinking.

In the era this was made I would think this would be considered masterful filmmaking. For modern audiences it is going to be easier to catch on to what is happening but that doesn’t make this any less important to film history.

If you are a fan of suspense, or Hitchcock himself, and don’t mind silent films this is worth watching. It does run a bit on the long side for these types of films and it still has the sort of strange shots where people are talking but we have no idea what is said that was common in silent film. There are plenty of text cards to tell us what is being said, more or less. You’ll be able to glean the plot just fine assuming you are able to sit through a silent film.

If you want to watch The Lodger it’s streaming on HBO Max at the moment.

The next one I will be watching for my challenge is Rich and Strange from 1931. It’s billed as a romance so that should be interesting.

If you want to participate in my film challenge you can get all the details in this post.

Silently yours,

Slick Dungeon

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Saw II – #MovieReview

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Hey everyone, it’s me Slick Dungeon back to review another film in the Saw franchise. The sequel is back with some surprises and plenty of gore once again.

That’s right, the world’s most deadly escape room host, Jigsaw, is back and he wants to play a game. If you find yourself waking up in one of his cleverly engineered scenarios, it’s a good bet you are in trouble and you darn well better play by the rules if you want to win. And survive.

The huge reveal and surprise at the end of the first film is nearly impossible to beat. I didn’t expect a surprise as large as that one in the sequel and I saw one of the twists coming from a mile away. But, the movie still contained enough surprises and interesting death traps to be worth a watch. And there was at least one twist I simply did not see coming although in retrospect, it probably should have been obvious. I think the original is superior in most aspects although, I thought that the performance of Donnie Wahlberg was really solid in this. I liked how the series expanded out a bit too, having a full police force trying to catch the guy before more innocent people die.

The majority of the film has Jigsaw face to face with a police officer who is trying to save his son. I don’t want to give away much more than that because these films are all about the plot twists and I would hate to ruin that for anyone. It did make me wonder for most of the film how in the world the killer might escape to continue the series and by the end the film delivers a satisfying answer to it.

Some of the film felt a bit formulaic already because we had seen it the first time around. There were layers to it though and we get a little more background on who Jigsaw is and what he is all about.

It’s also still full of gorey and bloody imagery and there is one scene that I think will stay in my head for months. I don’t want to spoil anything but if you say the words syringe pit to me, I am going to shudder with horror.

While I am giving this film the same star rating as I did Saw if I had to choose one over the other, I prefer the original. I think both films are clever and if you are a horror fan, I do think this is a series you should explore. They both surprise and horrify enough to keep the viewer’s interest if you have a strong stomach. The original just feels a touch more… original. I’m looking forward to seeing where they take it from here but I have my doubts they will be able to outdo the original. However, they sure have surprised me more than once in this series so who knows?

Horrifically yours,

Slick Dungeon

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Saw – #MovieReview

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Hey out there all you dungeon crawlers, it’s me, Slick Dungeon. I’m back to review the start of a horror franchise that I never watched before. This time I am reviewing Saw.

Saw is one of those horror movies that is legendary for being talked about as being highly disturbing. It’s got a bunch of sequels and has made a boat load of money so it clearly caught on with a particular audience. It’s also known for having a ton of gore in it and creative death traps that ensnare victims who have to make terrible choices in order to survive.

This is one of those series that I meant to get around to as a horror fan but just haven’t found the time. I watched the first installment and there is plenty to like but there are also some flaws here. I am going to give mild spoilers for the movie so be forewarned.

The movie starts with a pair of men in a grungy bathroom chained to pipes on the wall. They’re obviously in a dire situation and their lives are threatened. The film develops mostly through these two characters talking to each other about who they are and how they think they go there. They also try to work together on occasion to try to escape. The whole time this is going on, they find little clues that might give them an idea of who kidnapped them but it’s vague enough to keep them off balance. And the audience is welcome to speculate the whole time on who might really be behind the action, including the men chained in the room.

The whole movie plays out like an escape room scenario where if the characters can “win” the game, they may get to live. It’s a pretty sick and twisted idea and it works well as far as horror goes.

I think the thing that surprised me the most, however, was the casting. I had no idea that Cary Elwes, Danny Glover and Michael Emerson were in this. I thought it was so low budget that it didn’t have any star power at all.

Everyone here puts in a decent enough performance but there are some plot holes. The one that really gets me is that one of the characters starts underwater in a bathtub. It’s a cool and horrifying start to the film but on a practical level, how did the kidnapper know that character wouldn’t just drown and then there would be no movie?

There are a few other plot holes that I spotted but I don’t want to go into them because I will say that the end surprised me. I did not expect it and although it was surprising, I’m not sure that it made for a better movie. I respect what the filmmakers were going for but there are some logic problems with it.

While the premise is inventive, and there is plenty of gore in it, I feel like some of this could be executed (pun intended) better as far as filmmaking goes. I liked it enough that I will continue watching the series because I am curious what they come up with for the franchise but this series is not going to replace any of my top five horror franchises unless they really step up the game in the sequels.

One thing I will commend the filmmaker with though–that puppet is really creepy and they used it well!

If you have watched this, what did you think? Was it clever or contrived? Let me know in the comments.

Horrifically yours,

Slick Dungeon

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Vampires vs. the Bronx – Movie Review

Vampires vs. the Bronx

Hey everyone out there in internet land, it’s me, Slick Dungeon. I watched a movie on Netflix called Vampires vs. the Bronx and I’m here to tell you all about it.

Most vampire movies are pretty standard fare, you have blood sucking immortal enemies, some group of heroes and the two groups face off in a bloody battle for the world. That’s basically the plot of Vampires vs. the Bronx so I can’t say it is touching much new ground here. However, this film has something in spades that I have missed in vampire movies lately. What is it? A sense of fun.

The film follows a group of boys who live in the Bronx and are concerned with the fact that their neighborhood is being sold off bit by bit to a wealthy real estate development company. In addition to that, there are people that have gone missing lately. Some of those people seem to have sold off their property or business and it would make sense that they left but others are simply missing persons cases.

One boy, Miguel is particularly concerned that one of the businesses he basically grew up in is in danger of being sold. He goes around the neighborhood trying to raise funds to save Tony’s Bodega. He has a pair of friends who help out, although they are a bit more interested in just hanging out than saving the neighborhood.

Since this is a film about vampires, I think you can guess the real reason these people have gone missing and businesses have been closing. Miguel is the first in the neighborhood to clue into what is going on. And like any good horror film, they main character is not believed by anyone else until they see definite proof of the vampires themselves.

I don’t want to get too much more into the plot here but this is basically The Lost Boys set in the Bronx. The location is a refreshing change for a vampire movie and although there are plot holes you could drive a semi-truck through, it doesn’t really matter because it’s just an enjoyable watch. It’s not scary and it’s not particularly original but it still works.

If you have been looking for a vampire film that can be a fun and enjoyable watch, have a look at Vampires vs. the Bronx.

Vampirically yours,

Slick Dungeon

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Butter on the Latch – #MovieReview

Slick Dungeon here, back to review a movie I watched for my movie challenge. This one was for the first category: a movie made by an independent movie studio. To check out the full challenge click here.

(Note: this post contains affiliate links. If you purchase something through this post I will get a small commission at no extra cost to you)

Butter on the Latch is an experimental film classified as a psychological thriller/drama. It’s independent and it is experimental. As far as the rest of it goes, um, I’m not sure how to explain this film to you.

We start with Sarah getting out of some kind of dance performance. She receives a call from her good friend Isolde who has woken up in a house with people she has never met and in a panic. Sarah tells her to leave immediately which seems like a good call to me.

Then we are in the woods of Mendocino, California. Sarah and Isolde are both there and from that point the film dares to ask the question; what if someone filmed their musical band camp experience? There’s a lot of wandering around in the woods, some music rehearsal, some flirtation, some going off in the woods where flirtation goes a bit further, then some things that are unclear happen and the movie sort of ends with Sarah, crying and laughing while this huge musical performance is going on. One thing I can tell you is that when you are in the woods camping, even if you go off with someone to, you know, do that, tell people where you will be. It will save you from getting lost and possibly from experimental film making as well.

Don’t get me wrong, I think experimentation in film is a good thing. I think there should be more of it. The problem with experiments is that sometimes they fail. While I can mostly fashion together what seemed to have happened in the movie, it’s kind of a jumble. There is some interesting camera work and I think on a technical level it was well made. The dialogue was all improvised and feels very real because of that. Unless you are into experimental film, however, I don’t recommend giving it a watch. If you are into experimental film, you may enjoy it but I doubt you will make complete sense of it. If that’s fine with you, definitely give it a watch because we do need more independent films to be made.

One final thing to note. I might just be missing something here but as far as I can recall there was no mention of butter or latches in Butter on the Latch. I mean, come on, I was kind of looking forward to seeing someone butter up some kind of latch.

Independently yours,

Slick Dungeon

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Summer of 84 – #MovieReview

Hey everyone, Slick Dungeon here and I was feeling nostalgic for summers gone by so I watched a movie with strong ’80s vibes called Summer of ’84.

If you have watched Stranger Things so many times that you are actively looking for the upside down and just wish with all your heart that there was a bit more of that eighties friendship drama to go around, you’ve got yourself a little treat in Summer of ’84.

The film is about a fifteen year old boy named Davey who is interested in mysteries and strange happenings of all kinds. In the area of his town, Cape May a number of teenage boys have gone missing. When the local authorities receive a letter from the killer of these missing boys it is confirmed that there is a serial killer on the loose. Davey is sure that he knows not only who the killer is but where he lives. Right next door to him. Davey has to get his friends together to see if they can gather evidence to prove the case.

A lot of this movie will remind you of Stranger Things although the monsters really do only come in human form here. And while this might seem repetitive, it still works for the same reason that E.T., The Goonies and a host of other films does. We like stories about friends who work together to stop bad things from happening.

There are a few twists and turns here but nothing too surprising. There are also a few moments of genuinely frightening horror although nothing that really hits brand new territory.

If you are looking for a fairly intense horror film with friendship at its core and don’t mind a bit of gore and horror you could do worse than Summer of ’84.

Horrifically Yours,

Slick Dungeon

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Child’s Play (1988) – #MovieReview

Happy Halloween, everyone! It’s Slick Dungeon and I am your friend to the end! I’m back to review another horror film. In between watching Universal Monster movies, I have been revisiting some of my favorite horror flicks from one of the greatest decades of horror, the 1980’s.

There have been plenty of movies, television shows, and books made about killers. Same goes for stories about evil dolls of one kind or another. But for my money, the king of the killer dolls will always be Chucky from the Child’s Play film franchise. This is an older movie at this point but I will still mention that there will be spoilers below. Don’t let your doll face melt over it. If you want to watch the movie first and then come back for the review, go for it.

Chucky is pretty well known for making silly one liners and then, you know, killing someone in an inventive way. But before all of that, he was a bad guy who had learned how to transfer his soul into another body. The start of the film has a serial killer and all around bad guy end up in a toy store surrounded by “Good Guy” dolls that looked a lot like the My Buddy dolls that were popular at the time. This killer has been shot by a policeman and is about to die and he does what anyone would do, transfers his essence to a doll, because, well, I guess he can?

Anyway, the main story revolves around a six year old boy named Andy. He wants a Good Guy doll more than anything else in the world for his birthday. Guess which one he ends up with? Yep, the one with the evil serial killer’s soul trapped inside of it. Pretty soon the doll is slashing people to death left and right and only Andy realizes the horrifying truth.

For my money, I always think Chucky is at his creepiest before he starts killing people. That doll just has a weird vibe and is way to big for a normal doll. Scary dolls never have freaked me out like they do some people but I can see why people who don’t like creepy dolls get freaked out by this movie.

This is a better movie than most people who have never seen it think it is. If you ignore the magical circumstances of how Chucky comes to life, it’s a pretty decent slasher film. And Chucky has the distinct advantage that no one will suspect a child’s toy of doing murder. The movie goes along with people not believing in Chucky as a killer until they seem him do it up close. I think this first entry is probably the best in the series and if you haven’t seen it, you should check it out. Most of it still holds up and the end is ambiguous enough that sequels make sense. If you need something to watch this Halloween, Chucky’s got you covered.

Horrifically yours,

Slick Dungeon

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Sweet Taste of Souls – #MovieReview

Happy Halloween everyone! Slick Dungeon here and today I am going to review a couple of horror films (what else?) for you today. First up, an independent film that is not afraid to embrace an independent plot, Sweet Taste of Souls.

There will be spoilers for this film but I will keep them on the mild side. Still, if you don’t want to know what happens before you watch the movie, you have been warned.

Sweet Taste of Souls is about a group of friends who are on the way to perform a gig in their band when they come across a pie shop that is much stranger than it seems. On the way to the gig, one of the band members gets hungry and wants to stop in a small secluded town in the woods. Probably not the best idea but who would know that right?

Anyway, this pie shop is quaint and has a series of photographs on the walls. They depict people in blank backgrounds and don’t seem to be especially creative. In one of them, a group of people have won a surf contest but they are wearing street clothes. This is obviously odd and the group of friends is a bit confused by it.

They go on their merry way thinking that everything is more or less fine when all of a sudden… they find themselves in one of the pictures. The rest of the film is them trying to figure out a way out of their predicament while the father of a missing girl is independently suspicious about things happening around the area.

I won’t say that everything entirely holds up here. There are moments that are not well explained and the whole idea of how the power of the photographs work is flexible at best. But I will say it’s a new and inventive twist overall on a group of friends goes missing story. The mood is generally menacing and creepy whenever they are in the pie shop and that keeps it fairly interesting.

There is also enough character back story here that it seems the filmmakers actually thought about who the characters were and how they might grow. I don’t think they hit the mark with all of them and I would also say that the end leaves a bit to be desired as far as explaining things but all in all it’s an enjoyable watch.

If you are looking for an independent horror film that is different than most of what you have seen, give this one a try. It won’t be the best movie you have ever seen but there is enough there to be entertaining to a horror fan.

Sweet Taste of Souls will be available on 11/1 on Amazon, InDemand, DirecTV, AT&T, FlixFling, Vudu & Fandango.

Horrifically yours,

Slick Dungeon

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Camp Twilight – #MovieReview

Hey everyone, Slick Dungeon here on this night before Halloween and I thought I would review an independent slasher film for you all. I watched Camp Twilight from DarkCoast pictures.

There have been tons of homages to the greatest of the great slasher films. You’ll notice that most of them take place at somewhere like a summer camp, just like Friday the 13th movies do. Why? Low budget locations!

Some of these films hold up as sort of fun romps that can be an enjoyable couple of hours. Others are just terrible films not worth the time of day. While Camp Twilight is certainly not the worst slasher film I have seen, It is nowhere near a good movie. I am going to give spoilers below so if you want to watch this first, feel free to do that and come back to read the review.

The premise is fine for this one. It’s a group of high school students who are essentially forced to go to a camp for a tech free weekend if they want to graduate. A couple of teachers will be there and there are going to be all of the expected summer activities, hiking, kayaking, etc. You can probably guess what happens as soon as it gets dark. Yep, these teenagers go missing as they are picked off one by one. There is some mystery to who is doing the killing and there is, for my taste, just far too much comic relief in the form of the local park rangers.

I will say that when you are trying to make a slasher film, it’s hard to be surprising because it has been done so many times. But by the end of this one, I felt like the supposed plot twists and surprises that were in the film were just there to fill time. A lot of it didn’t make much sense and was honestly a little frustrating.

I love independent movies and I love slasher films that are creative and surprising. Unfortunately this one misses the mark by a pretty wide margin.

The kills are nothing you haven’t seen before if you are a horror fan and although I don’t really have a problem with the acting, the whole thing didn’t seem like it was thought out well enough.

I’m hoping that DarkCoast still keeps making movies because they are bound to come up with a gem in the horror genre eventually but unless you have nothing else to watch and need a new slasher to see, I would stay away from Camp Twilight.

If you do want to watch the movie it will be available for VOD on InDemand, DirecTV, FlixFling, Vudu & Fandango on 11/1

Horrifically yours,

Slick Dungeon