INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS — SHOCKTOBER!

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ColeSmithey.comBy far the best version in the franchise, Philip Kaufman’s venerable revamping of Don Siegel’s 1956 black-and-white sci-fi horror classic delved deeper into nitty-gritty details of a pod-induced mass transformation of humans into emotionless doppelgangers.

In so doing, Kaufman gave his movie the visual lift it needed to instill palpable dread and fear in an audience that didn’t know what hit them.   

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The filmmakers use a recurring image system of spider-web similes, which act as a unifying filter of discord. San Francisco has been turned upside-down over night. Everything is different. Garbage collectors are busy on every street collecting the grey fuzzy waste from swapped-out bodies.

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Donald Sutherland plays San Francisco health inspector Matthew Bennell with a cozy sense of paternal confidence that makes him seem immune to anything that could possibly usurp his empathetic soul. Civilization’s sudden loss of compassion to a population of cold conspiratorial aliens, incapable of something as simple as laughter, proves a terrifying idea when played out to its logical extreme.

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Casting Donald Sutherland in the lead role proved to be a coup for Kaufman. Strains of Sutherland’s iconic performance in Nicholas Roeg’s deeply disturbing psychological thriller “Don’t Look Now” (1973) carried over into "Body Snatchers."

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Thematically, the film’s allegory regarding viral-groupthink has plenty of wiggle-room for interpretation because it is so profoundly vague yet universal. It’s easy to imagine authority figures such as police and politicians inhabited by aliens, because they so frequently express an utter disregard for the value of human life in favor of corporate profits for the one-percent.

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A significant genre-imposed rule of the movie is that its characters can’t fall sleep lest they succumb to possession. Doing so enables one of the recently arrived pods-from-space to produce an exact physical replica that will come to life after sucking the subject’s body dry of its meat, bones, and brains.

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Matthew Bennell’s health department co-worker Elizabeth Driscoll (Brooke Adams) notices a change in her husband. She alerts Matthew to her concerns just as it seems society has begun to flip. A man in a business suit inexplicably sprints through traffic.

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Kaufman sets his audience’s teeth on edge with an inventive soundscape, involving things like heartbeats. Sounds move between the film’s Dolby Stereo format, making the audience feel as if the action is taking place around them.

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Kaufman’s remake gets cameo endorsements from Don Siegel, and from Kevin McCarthy, the lead actor from the original "Body Snatchers" movie. Siegel plays a pod-changed cab driver taking Matthew and Elizabeth for a little ride. Kevin McCarthy’s character is the same as in Segel’s movie except that he seems even more desperate now.

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Philip Kaufman's “Body Snatchers” is famous for a couple of offbeat scenes that you hardly believe when you’re seeing them.

Not Rated. 80 mins. 5 Stars ColeSmithey.comCozy Cole

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October 05, 2024

MALEVOLENT — SHOCKTOBER!

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ColeSmithey.comIcelandic director Olaf de Fleur Johannesson takes too long in getting around to the point in a slasher film single-handedly carried by Florence Pugh's sturdy performance.

Angela (Florence Pugh) and her brother Jackson (Ben lloyd-Hughes) are an American brother/sister ghost-expelling team who take their game to Scotland where they plan to run one last scam.

Angela, Jackson, and their teammates Elliot (Scott Chambers) and Beth (Georgina Bevan), bite off more than they can chew when they take on Mrs. Green (Clia Imrie) as a client.

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Angela ignores a ton of red flags to interact with the ghosts of children found murdered with their mouths sewn shut 15 years ago.

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Olaf de Fleur Johannesson ramps up the tension but plotholes let out most of the steam.

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"Malevolent" is based on the novel "Hush" by Konstantopoulos, although you'd never guess that this lightweight ghost story/slasher pic was based on novelistic source material.

TV-MA. 89 mins.

2 Stars

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October 03, 2024

APARTMENT 7A — SHOCKTOBER!

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Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does. This ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.

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ColeSmithey.comCo-writer/director Natalie Erika James ("Relic") delivers a fierce pro-abortion horror prequel to "Rosemary's Baby" that twists a cinematic knife into the MAGA conspirators that overturned Roe v. Wade.

Julia Garner is exquisite as Terry Gionoffrio, a Broadway dancer whose career is put on a long hold after an accident while performing.

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An offer to live in the Gothic Bramford building (actually the Dakota), promises a new lease on life for Terry if a date with the Devil doesn't derail everything.

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Digs at the patriarchal practices of cruel Broadway directors who take advantage of their position to demean and humiliate auditioning actors, provides a potent rebuke.

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Beautiful set and costume designs add texture to "Apartment 7A" as a sharp horror movie that will have you squirming in your seat.

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Here is a great excuse to go back and watch Polanski's original film, after seeing "Apartment 7A."

Nightmares may follow. Abortion isn't the worst thing in the world.

Rated R. 104 mins.

5 Stars

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October 02, 2024

HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL

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Welcome!

Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does. This ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.

Punk heart still beating.

ColeSmithey.comGet cool rewards when you click on the button to pledge your support through Patreon.

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ColeSmithey.comWilliam Castle's 1959 B-Movie horror classic retains its goofy charm with a litany of gimmicky sight gags that, however tame by today's standards, keep their childish appeal.

The popular set-up trope for this tale of murder involves five specifically chosen people to attempt winning $10,000 for each one that can withstand an entire night in Vincent Price's "haunted" house.

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Wealthy Frederick Loren (Vincent Price) in unhappily married to Carol Ohmart's Annabelle. The couple hate each other so much that either one could kill the other.

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So it goes that Frederick supplies each "party" guest with a loaded gun, presented in cute little coffin cases.

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Vincent Price does his all-knowing wink to the audience as he glides through the action with marvelous aplomb.

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"House On Haunted Hill" is a kid-friendly horror movie that tickles as much as it surprises.

Of special importance to the film is it's use of the historic Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Ennis House in Los Feliz California.

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William Castle ("King of the Gimmicks") revels in the story's silliness. It's all an excuse to get the audience to scream along with the actors.

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If you want silly fun for your Halloween popcorn-eating enjoyment, "House on Haunted Hill" is a safe bet.

Not Rated. 75 mins.

4 Stars

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