32 - Dead of Night

    A horror anthology movie.
    This is a noteworthy anthology, since it may be the oldest one I've seen.  It's from 1945, it's a British production, and it's simultaneously clever, and surprisingly dull.
    The problem is that the stories are either far too predictable, or in one case, it doesn't match the tone of the rest of the movie.
    First, there's a "room for one more" story.  Not much to it, and it has some problems - like nowhere near enough tension built.
    Second, there's a Christmas Party story, which involves someone meeting a ghost, then finding out.
    Third is a Haunted Mirror, which is interesting.  It's not quite what I expected, but it's a pretty normal "possessed item turns owner into a reflection of the original owner."
    Fourth, the Golfing Story.  This is really, really weird.  It builds well enough, two golfers interested in the same girl, have their game to settle who gets her… but the tone shifts into a comedy, which seems very out of place.
    Fifth, a Ventriloquist's Dummy story.  Almost exactly what you'd expect.

    These stories are tired and predictable now (for the most part).  Some of these seem almost like stories for children.  But I wonder if this set the mold for these stories.  There's a good chance that these were much more effective when they were first shown.  Many of these stories have been retold as Twilight Zone episodes.
    The one spot where this movie shines is with a circular framing device.  Variations of this have been used in other anthology movies, but this one actually comes full circle.  It's a pleasing surprise.
     The writing hasn't aged well.  Almost all of the conversation seems too witty.

31 - School Spirit

    A college student dies in an accident, and somehow winds up able to exist as a ghost for a day.  As a ghost, he can switch up between being tangible and intangible.
    An 80s teen-sex comedy, this seems like something I would have rented during high school.  But I haven't seen it before!  I found out about it because The Gleaming Spires were credited on the movie.  I'm really glad to have seen it - the Spires play for about 20 minutes of the movie at the end.  And they're doing some of their good, rocking material.
    The movie itself is a disappointment.  The premise is something that should have worked on the same level as Zapped!  Instead, it just seems like they forgot the premise, and ignored it most of the time.
    I was reminded of the way that The Simpsons handles references to 80s teen sex comedies.  Things like School of Hard Knockers or the titles Boner Academy or Teen Sex Wager.  The villain in this is the college president, who is absurdly grumpy.
    It's nice to see this.  It's not very good, but with some better direction and performances, it had much more potential than it achieved.

30 - Right at Your Door

    A series of dirty bombs are detonated in LA.  A man and his wife are separated when this happens, and they deal with the ensuing chaos from their house.
    A fairly cheap movie.  about 90% of the movie takes place in one location.  The story is interesting, mostly because of how bleak it went.  It reminds me of a Twilight Zone episode - The Midnight Sun.
    This is an awkward movie, because it has some considerable weaknesses.  It doesn't feel structured.  It seems like a strong setup, followed by a lengthy middle section where developments seem trivial in light of the setup.  Then there's a decent ending.  While this sounds like a complaint, it's more of an observation.  There's a natural quality to the movie.  There's so much time spent doing little things, and talking in a way that doesn't move the plot forward.  The characters switch up from acting reasonable to unreasonable, and they rationalize bad decisions.
    My understanding is that a dirty bomb actually wouldn't be nearly as disastrous as this movie makes it out to be, but I suppose that probably depends on what went into it.
    So I found the movie to be alternately dull and much more anxiety-inducing.
    It's kind of a shame that we never see the lead play the guitar, even though that's established.

29 - The Tall Man

    A poverty-stricken former mining town slides into decline, and children seem to be kidnapped by a mysterious Tall Man.
    Wow, this movie seemed to change shapes twice.  As it opened, it seemed to be a little more of a supernatural thriller - an strange entity stealing children in a quiet town.  Then it turned into seeming like a slasher-like struggle between a protagonist and a very human Tall Man.  Then it turned into a peculiar investigation drama.
    All the while, the movie seemed to be vague and strangely unfocused.  By the time I reached the end of it, I understood roughly what happened, but I never felt like I understood the motivation.  I had suspicions, but it just seemed like something was missing from the picture.
    The good stuff - the direction is nice, particularly some of the long shots of roads.  There's a nice coloring to the photography, giving an appropriate bleak look.  The interior of the lead's house is great.
    The weirdness of the plot is kind of strange problem.  It actually would be better if it didn't use The Tall Man.  (Or The Slender Man)  This kind of urban legend is easy to build a movie around, and it felt a bit misleading.

     Maybe another problem is that we don't spend any time becoming afraid of the Tall Man.

28 - The Monkey's Paw

    A modestly down-on-his-luck warehouse worker acquires a monkey's paw that grants wishes.  His wishes result in a dead friend being returned to life, and turning into a killer.
    This was a made-for-cable movie.  I don't think I can expect much of it.  It's passable, as far as non-theatrical horror goes.  It's competently made.  It's not much of a script though.
    It's a strange story, because it seems to treat the paw as something else - almost irrelevant.  Most of the movie is taken up with a guy killing a bunch of other characters.  It's hard to feel like that's the paw's doing, even if they try to tie the ideas together.  The result is that this feels like a script of one type, adapted to force in the other element.  My intuition says that this probably started as a slasher about an estranged father losing his mind and wanting to reclaim his family, but then the monkey's paw was inserted.
    I can't point to anything particularly likable in the movie.  The performances are acceptable, given the material.

27 - Thor: The Dark World

    Thor deals with the threat an ancient race of Dark Elves poses to the universe, and specifically, to Jane Foster.
    I didn't have particular feelings about the first Thor movie.  I remember liking Asgard, but the rest of it seemed weirdly dull.  I can't even remember much of the story for the first movie.  But I was pleased with how well they handled his character in the Avengers movie.  That change made me more interested in seeing The Dark World.
    There are a few problems, but they boil down to two things in particular.  First, the villain, the lead Dark Elf, is odd, but somehow doesn't seem as menacing as I expected.  He was more distant than I like my villains to be.  The second problem is more difficult to fix.  I have a hard time caring about Jane Foster.  She should be likable.  She's supposed to be smart, the hero likes her, she's surrounded with a fun supporting cast that she leads… but I find her completely disinteresting.  It might be that she doesn't sell being smart.  She doesn't solve any problems in a clever way, and just mostly looks at equipment and says "this is amazing."
    Despite those weaknesses, I liked this one much more.  Thor is more interesting, Loki slips back into just being a straight trickster.  There's a brief battle sequence early in the movie.  It's daytime, and it's just crowded enough.  I'm really happy to see a battle like this.  It reminds me a little of Willow.  It isn't as packed as the Lord of the Rings movies, and you can see exactly what is happening.
    It's great to see the Collector at the end.  I don't care about the character too much, but I love setting up the Infinity Gems.

26 - Pontypool

    Set almost entirely in a radio station, Grant Mazzy and his producer struggle to deal with a bizarre outbreak of a verbal virus.
    I watched this a few years ago, and I've been looking forward to watching it again.  I'm really glad that Netflix carries this movie, since it's so strange.  It's unlike any other horror movie I've seen, and the strangeness of the concept is fascinating.  It's remarkable to see this movie, because it utilizes certain horror tropes, but it plays out with a completely different approach.  I'd say that about 85% of the movie takes place in the same room., With most of the remainder taking place in adjacent rooms.  It takes time getting started, and the approach to writing is part of what sells the story.  It's luxurious, and it encourages the audience to pay attention to words.
    There's just about no on-screen violence in this movie, but there's a fair amount of violence being described.  The effectiveness of this is remarkable.  It probably doesn't work if the audience hasn't been conditioned to pay attention.
    The premise of this story - the virus transmitted by language, existing in our ability to understand language - is something that is so unusual and non-intuitive that it should never have been able to make a movie.  It's a testament to screenwriting - and filmmaking - that this plot becomes entirely understandable in the context of this movie.
    I wish I could say something more coherent about this movie.
    When you first see Night of the Living Dead or Dawn of the Dead, most of the fun comes from thinking about how you would handle yourself in these situations.  This is a similar movie.  The problem is that there doesn't seem to be a safe way out.  It would be very difficult to avoid hearing anything or saying anything in order to stay safe.