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Twice recently I’ve seen a giant monster movie in which the characters and story steal the spotlight from the destruction and mayhem. The first, or course, was Godzilla Minus One, and now it’s The Whale God (1962) aka Killer Whale aka Kuijira gami. To be clear, though, this one features a real monster rather than
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The Secret Night Caller (1975) takes a different approach for an obscene phone caller movie. Although it opens with a few thrills and chills, it quickly morphs into a sympathetic character study of a man with compulsions he doesn’t understand. Because he takes responsibility for what he’s done and seeks help, he’s magically forgiven for
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The connective tissue among the three films on The Criterion Collection’s box set, Tod Browning’s Sideshow Shockers, is the director’s experience as a circus performer that he incorporated into a series of films such as The Unknown (1927), Freaks (1932), and today’s movie, The Mystic (1925.) This is the least “sideshow” of the trio and
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Disaster Film Checklist Thoughts If When Time Ran Out… was a whimpering last hurrah for theatrical disaster films of the 1970s, then that’s the purpose Cave In! serves for television. It’s a watered-down version of earlier “hits” like Flood, Fire, and Hanging by a Thread, and concludes the third part of a thematic trilogy with
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Disaster Film Checklist All-Star Cast (Oscar Winners): All-Star Cast (Oscar Nominees): All-Star Cast (Others): Multiple Lives in Danger: Warnings Ignored: Difference in Opinion about How to Proceed, Leading to a Dramatic Confrontation between Two Characters: Death of Someone Who Deserves It: Survival of Children: Daring Rescue: Characters & Relationships: Physical Handicaps: Themes: Thoughts Reputation and
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Disaster Film Checklist Thoughts One thing I’ve noticed during this series is that the longer the disaster movie subgenre ran, the more unlikable its characters became. I failed to mention it twice now, but it’s unavoidable with The Night the Bridge Fell Down (1980.) Instead of cheering for heroes to survive, we’re cheering for villains
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Disaster Film Checklist All-Star Cast (Oscar Winners): All-Star Cast (Oscar Nominees): All-Star Cast (Emmy Winner): All-Star Cast (Others): Multiple Lives in Danger: Characters & Relationships: Handicaps: Themes: Thoughts One of two things may be the deciding factor for why Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979) sinks. One may be that the further it comes from the
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Disaster Film Checklist Thoughts There’s no reason on God’s green Earth that Hanging by a Thread (1979) should be over three hours long. It would be hard to hang in there with it (pun intended) if not for the flashbacks the characters experience while trapped in a cable-car that’s been struck by lightning and is
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We don’t consider 2023 to be a complete disaster; however, we started the year with It’s a Disaster Pt. 2, and are ending it with another episode about 1970s disaster movies. Not horror, you say? What’s more terrifying than taking a ride on a flimsily constructed 1930’s zeppelin or enjoying the Super Bowl when a
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Disaster Film Checklist Thoughts On one hand, Fire (1977) is a retread of Flood (1976) from the year before. They were even produced and directed by the same team of Irwin Allen (the former) and Earl Bellamy (the latter.) The names of the writers, though, may have been changed to protect the innocent… Don Ingalls
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Classic Horrors Club 