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The Seventh Victim, a review by Jon

THE SEVENTH VICTIM
4 out of 5

A woman is looking for her sister who disappeared some time before. As she traces her sisters movements, she becomes aware of a Satanic cult.

This one is possibly Lewton's most enigmatic film, Curse of the Cat People included. It is of the highest quality, especially in cast and photography, but the story is especially intriguing. Most of his plots so far have been relatively straightforward. Plenty to think about, but the core stories are typical horror staples.

Here it is less conventional. If not for the presence of the Satanic cult, it wouldn't even be horror, but actually Film Noir, complete with the suitably bleak ending and characters as shadowy as the streets they hide in.

But it is a horror in the best Lewton tradition (the "dark mirror" as Guillermo del Toro said in an interview) and several scenes stand out. A murder in a dark hallway, a shower scene that will remind you of Psycho (although no-one dies, the scary shadow on the curtain could easily have been an inspiration to Hitch) and a nerve-jangling ten minute walk home for one character at the end. I think it was about 10 minutes. Bear in mind like many of these films, The Seventh Victim is just 75 minutes long, so a fair portion of the screentime is rightly dedicated to this scene alone.

It sags in the middle, but I found the subtle religious tone compelling and this film will keep coming back to me over the coming days, more so than the others in this set I think. Ultimately it was a story about faith and will certainly reward repeat viewings. I'm not a religious person, yet I still found a sequence that quotes a line from The Lord's Prayer strangely moving. The whole final section is powerful and I hope some of you watch this film as I'd love to hear others thoughts on what you think it was trying to say.

Even though it was a downbeat end, I did like what seems to be a sick joke at the expense of Film Noir conventions! It's part of a naive romance sub-plot I'd otherwise found annoying, but typical of 40s Noir. Now I wonder if it was there just to set up a sly stab at what must have been a cliche even in 1943. Maybe I'm being too cynical, but after how Greyfriars Bobby was treated in The Body Snatcher, anything is possible!

As always with these films, I may have made this sound a bit weighty, but in fact, it's still a deceptively simple and powerful thriller that might have you treating the shadows in your bedroom with suspicion! And that's all we should ask of the best horrors.

(From Val Lewton Horror Marathon on October 5th, 2008)

Zombieland, a review by Critter

Zombieland



Year: 2009

Director: Ruben Fleischer

Cast: Emma Stone, Abigail Breslin, Amber Heard, Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Bill Murray

Plot: The horror comedy Zombieland focuses on two men who have found a way to survive a world overrun by zombies. Columbus is a big wuss -- but when you're afraid of being eaten by zombies, fear can keep you alive. Tallahassee is an AK-toting, zombie-slaying' bad ass whose single determination is to get the last Twinkie on earth. As they join forces with Wichita and Little Rock, who have also found unique ways to survive the zombie mayhem, they will have to determine which is worse: relying on each other or succumbing to the zombies.

My Thoughts:
I liked this film a lot more than I thought I would. In fact I loved it, often throughout the film I found myself thinking, howShaun of the Dead, yet oddly enough I liked ZombielandMy Rating:




(From Critter's Random DVD Watchings on June 6th, 2010)

"Friends" Marathon, a review by Rogmeister

The One With The Boobies--Chandler accidentally sees Rachel naked, Joey learns his father has been having an affair for 6 years and Phoebe is dating a creepy psychologist named Roger.  This is a kind of fun episode that has a fair amount of stuff going on. 

The One With The Candy Hearts--Joey convinces Chandler to join him on a double date, but it turns out Chandler's date is Janice who he has broken up with twice in the last 5 months.  The girls have a boyfriend bonfire party that gets out of control and Ross goes on a date but it turns out his ex-wife Carol is at the same restaurant.  Janice utters her first "Oh...my...God..." in this episode.  Ross and Carol share a nice moment after Ross' date has walked out on the date.  Chandler winds up sleeping with Janice...but, of course, it isn't long before he has to break up with her again.

The One With The Stoned Guy--Monica has a chance at a chef's job but on the night she is cooking for the restaurant owner (Jon Lovitz) he shows up stoned after smoking weed.  Joey instructs Ross on the fine art of talking dirty to his date while Chandler quits his job because he decides it's not what he wants to do...but he eventually goes back when his boss offers him more money and a big office.  At the end, Phoebe gets a bit of revenge on the restaurant owner when he comes in for a massage...and she gives him a fairly rough one.

(From "Friends" Marathon on July 12th, 2009)