DVD Collectors Online

An American Haunting, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: An American Haunting: Unrated Edition Year: 2005 Director: Courtney Solomon Rating: Unrated Length: 91 Min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital EX: 5.1 (Matrixed 6.1), English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:
Donald Sutherland
Sissy Spacek
James D'Arcy
Rachel Hurd-Wood
Matthew Marsh
Thom Fell

Plot:
Based on the true story of The Bell Witch of Tennessee, An American Haunting is the story of a spirit who brutally attacked the Bell family causing the death of one of its members. Years later, we are taken back to the most horrific of nights to find out the truth of the spirit's nature and origin...the night it was born.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Bonus Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Interviews
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
This is one that I enjoyed... I enjoyed it more then I thought I would really as I don't normally like the period pieces. As usual... Donald Sutherland did an outstanding job. As did everyone else... but I have been more and more impressed as I watch more of Donald Sutherland's work. I am becoming a fan of his. There is a nice selection of extras on this disc... but I didn't check them out this time around... decided to save them for the next viewing. Unfortunately there was no Theatrical Trailer on this disc. (a pet peeve of mine) as I like to get in the mood of a movie by watching the trailer first.




Count:
Movie Count: 53
TV Ep. Count: 19
Other Count: 3

(From Month Long Horror/Halloween Marathon: 2010 on October 14th, 2010)

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, a review by Antares

Gunfight at the O.K. Corral





Year: 1957
Film Studio: Paramount Pictures
Genre: Western
Length: 122 Min.

Director
John Sturges (1910)

Writing
Leon Uris (1924)...Writer
George Scullin...Article "The Killer"

Producer
Joseph H. Hazen (1898)
Paul Nathan (1912)
Hal B. Wallis (1899)

Cinematographer
Charles Lang (1902)

Music
Dimitri Tiomkin (1894)...Composer

Stars
Burt Lancaster (1913) as Marshal Wyatt Earp
Kirk Douglas (1916) as Dr. John 'Doc' Holliday
Rhonda Fleming (1923) as Laura Denbow
Jo Van Fleet (1914) as Kate Fisher
John Ireland (1914) as Johnny Ringo
Lyle Bettger (1915) as Ike Clanton
Frank Faylen (1905) as Sheriff Cotton Wilson
Earl Holliman (1928) as Deputy Sheriff Charles 'Charlie' Bassett

Review
OK Corral... OK Corral
there the outlaw band make their final stand
OK Corral

You know you're in for a western treat when the opening song of the film is sung by Frankie Laine. For this second film about the Earp boys and Doc Holliday, the director is John Sturges, a director best known for his seminal western The Magnificent Seven and his epic WWII prison drama, The Great Escape. Sturges' films were known for having a fairly decent amount of action in them, and less of the psychological insights into his characters. This film is no exception. In terms of star power, this version goes for broke by having two of the biggest stars of the time play the pivotal roles of Earp & Holliday. Burt Lancaster plays Wyatt Earp with his usual bombastic flair and Kirk Douglas delivers his lines with the strained seriousness which he had become known for. Unfortunately, you never quite can see past the fact that it's Burt & Kirk acting, yet never becoming the characters. Another weakness in the film probably stems from the fact that a good portion of the budget went to pay their salaries, and not much is left over for the supporting cast of male actors. Lyle Bettger, known only to hardcore western junkies of the time as a bit character actor who played villains, is pretty unremarkable as Ike Clanton. You do have John Ireland playing Johnny Ringo, but just as with Lancaster & Douglas, you never can see beyond the fact it's Ireland acting his usual tough guy persona.

For the first time, we get a look at Big Nose Kate, the prostitute who was Doc Holliday's companion. But Hollywood was still being dictated to by the Breen office, and Jo Van Fleet is saddle with playing her as a desperate drunk, clinging on to Holliday as he self destructs. Rhonda Fleming is given a throw away role as a beautiful gambling lady whom Wyatt falls in love with. I guess this was suppose to be based on Josie Marcus, the dancer who would one day become Mrs. Earp, but she was never a big stakes gambler.

When time came for the famous shootout, Sturges decided that a quick shootout in a cramped opening abutting the stable wasn't exciting enough, so the altercation is spread out on the outskirts of town. Doc Holliday uses a six gun instead of a shotgun, which for some unexplained reason, is used by Wyatt Earp, instead of his famed Buntline revolver, which we see him play around with in an earlier scene. Now the historical inaccuracies comes fast and furious, as the action on screen plays out. I can understand taking a little poetic license with a story to spruce up the action, but they play so fast and loose, that this whole segment could have been supplanted into Sturges' next western Last Train from Gun Hill, and you wouldn't have never known the difference.

It's a fun ride, but when all is said and done, it never rises above a B movie western from the same era.

Boot hill Boot hill
so cold so still
There they lay side by side
the killers that died
in the gunfight at ok corral
ok corral
GUNFIGHT AT OK CORRAL

But damn if it ain't worth it just to listen to Frankie Laine croon that song.

Review Criterion

(From Gunfight at the OK Corral (1957) on September 16th, 2011)

"Due South" marathon, a review by Rick

An Eye for An Eye


The Man Who Knew Too Little


Hey - look at that. A lyonsden5 1st. I actually finished watching before the due date 
[keeps DVD loaded and secretly watches the next few episodes to stay ahead of schedule ]

(From "Due South" marathon on July 16th, 2009)