thriller

All posts tagged thriller

Psycho (1960)

Posted by Kristen on March 15, 2013
Posted in: 1960, Horror, Mystery, Thriller. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 7 comments

I’m reposting my Psycho review from last year as it was the featured film this week in my American Horror class.  I have edited it for clarity, and updated it.

There are so many posts that end with “I’m an awful film buff” that I should give them their own tag.  None worse than the declaration I’m going to make right now…up until last week I had never seen Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho all the way through!  I saw the first 45 minutes when I was 13 and just didn’t have the interest in continuing further.  I’ve seen a few more Hitchcock films and so far my favorites are Notorious, Rebecca, Suspicion, and The Birds.  I wouldn’t consider him my favorite director (gasp!), but I appreciate the contributions he’s made to the world of film.  So, that brings us to Psycho, a movie I will easily be adding to my Best of Hitchcock list!  The movie is a taut thriller with an awe-inspiring performance from Anthony Perkins.  Really, this review is going to be spouting things that far better critics than me have been saying, but at least Hitchcock has gained another convert.

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The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)

Posted by Kristen on December 8, 2012
Posted in: 1940s, 31 Days of Halloween, Animation, Family, Fantasy. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 8 comments

Cover of "The Adventures of Ichabod and M...

You might call this cheating, but this review ran already.  It originally ran as part of my Halloween films, so if you missed it the first time here it is.  I can’t be any happier that the package films are done.  None of them were particularly great, and it seemed that the animators were limping into home towards the end.  The issue with this film, more than anything else, is the confused tone of the stories.  There’s a tenuous connection between Mr. Toad and Ichabod Crane.  Both main characters are “prone to disaster” and thus were perfect to pair together according to the Disney animators.  I find that to be a weak effort because one section is light and the other is exceedingly dark.  Issues such as misplaced songs and just a lack of character connection make me wonder about the rest of the short films.

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The TCM Top Twelve for November

Posted by Kristen on November 3, 2012
Posted in: TCM Top Twelve. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 3 comments

With the mad rush of Halloween I’m behind on putting out my TCM Top Twelve for November.  Thankfully, I only had to drop one movie that’s already run.  The twelve assembled are a mix of iconic films and some that just sound interesting.  None of the documentaries playing this month struck my fancy, so we’ll keep our eyes peeled next month.  November’s star of the month is Constance Bennett so I’ve included a few of her films; one that I’m especially excited to see as it appears to be unavailable elsewhere.  I’m already bringing back the Prime-Time Must-See which I seemed to have forgotten last month.  If you don’t remember, the Prime-Time Must-See is a slate of films running starting at 5pm that I recommend you watch in a row (the caveat was I had to have seen all the movies in the block).  A busy November awaits us, so let’s dive in.

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Trick ‘r Treat (2007)

Posted by Kristen on November 2, 2012
Posted in: 2000s, 31 Days of Halloween, Comedy, Horror, Thriller. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 comments

Cover of "Trick 'r Treat"

It was beyond ambitious of me to review 31 films in 31 days but I persevered and only dropped two films from the rotation, and this review was only two days behind schedule.  Our final film is, appropriately enough, the little seen Trick ‘r Treat.  I followed this film through its convoluted “will it go to theaters or won’t it” cycle, I bought it on DVD, and I watch it every Halloween night.  Trust me, you should all go out and buy this; you’ll love it!  I don’t have a slew of notes because I don’t want to spoil things but let’s take a look at the last film in our 31 Nights of Halloween (is that what we settled on?).

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Fiend Without a Face (1958)

Posted by Kristen on October 25, 2012
Posted in: 1950s, 31 Days of Halloween, Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 4 comments

Cover of "Fiend Without a Face - Criterio...
Fiend Without a Face is cheese at its finest.  The plot is meandering and ridiculous but boy is the final minutes of it hilarious!  If anything I recommend watching the last ten minutes of this film and laugh heartily.  The acting is sitcom bad and again the plot is boring but thankfully the short runtime makes that irrelevant.  This is a recommend purely for the moments to laugh and embrace the B-movie ridiculousness.

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