Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972)

AKA: Deathouse

AKA: Death House

AKA: Night of the Dark Full Moon

After being discovered burned alive, Wilfred Butler's estate is bequeathed to his grandson, with the express order that it is to remain untouched. Twenty years later, Butler House is suddenly up for sale, and death soon follows.

A proper spooky mystery film, this holiday slasher predates even Black Christmas. The beauty is in its simplicity, which is unique to the era it was made. This one is all but forgotten to time, but it deserves its flowers.

3 diary entries out of 5

Note: The film is in the public domain and available for free viewing.

The Ten Commandments (1956)

Luckily for Charlton 'Thou Shall Not Wear False Beards' wasn't one of God's laws, because the actor's face fur wouldn't fool a goat, much less a deity. But trappings aside, DeMille's epic is memorable for other reasons. Its scope is such that it feels like an event, a thing to behold as much as to enjoy.
It's a lavish production in which Heston dominates even when he's attempting to be humble; Brynner oozes a venomous charm as Moses' ambitiously jealous sibling; while the ladies captivate whether they be decked in finery or rags.
It rarely feels like it isn't staged every step of the way, even the on location scenes feel overly-managed, but it makes up for that with the large amount of sheer drama that it brings to the table. Only the last half hour lets the side down, wherein it rushes to deliver its concluding message.

4½ binding ties out of 5

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)

An ageing US senator has an 'old west' story to tell, one that he's been holding onto for decades, from before railroads connected the civilised parts of the country with the lawless parts. The majority of the film details it in flashback.
Stewart is an outsider lawyer who advocates non-violence. Wayne is a weathered cowboy who advocates gunfire if the situation calls for it. One is a talker, the other a doer. They nevertheless develop a strong respect for each other over time, but their differences remain.
The physical threat isn't as mean as he could've been, perhaps by way of avoiding overshadowing the emphasis placed on the relationships? I don't know. I do know that the comedy moments weakened the established tone a little too often for my liking. But the wrap up is excellent, and it's Wayne and Stewart in the same film! That makes it more than worth anyone's time.

3½ cactus roses out of 5

The Cosmic Man (1959)

It begins in the usual manner, with a blip on a radar being observed by someone in a small room, followed by the military and scientists all trying to figure out how to get into the alien ship. But it then continues to be familiar, borrowing liberally from the plot of the much better The Day the Earth Stood Still, which came out eight years before. It does an okay job with it, to be fair.
The visitor is kind of creepy, even if his motivations are somewhat vague. And the slow but short (just 72 mins) script has some interesting content, such as tantalising the audience of the day with crazy scientist talk about anti-gravity.

2½ manifold purposes out of 5

The Sentinel (1977)

Michael Winner’s technique can be as subtle as a sledgehammer meeting a grapefruit, but I find a lot of his stuff watchable, nevertheless. Sentinel is technically a horror film, but it’s the kind of sinister horror that builds slowly from a foundation of regular drama, not unlike Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and The Exorcist (1973), two films from which it borrows heavily.
It’s the story of a female model that moves into a NY apartment complex and quickly discovers that her neighbours are an oddball bunch. Shortly after that strange things begin to happen in the night.
A lot of it failed to catch hold of me, but there are two scenes that I’ll never forget: an uninhibited Beverly D'Angelo and a very chilling finale.

3½ abandoned hopes out of 5

House of the Long Shadows (1983)

An author retreats to an abandoned Manor to write a gothic novel in twenty-four hours and win a bet, but things don’t go to plan and he becomes a player in a comical horror story that had begun before he even got there.
The author's self-confidence is only slightly arrogant, so he’s still a sympathetic character. But, really, it’s the four old guys that viewers will be tuning in for. Their years of experience mean they don’t disappoint, but the feeling that so much more could've been achieved with the setting is ever-present. Plus, there was already six films based on Derr Biggers' Seven Keys to Baldpate (1913) novel in existence, did we really need a seventh?

2½ intentions out of 5