Films: October 14 - 20

Trancers (1984) 

Trancers II (1991) 

Trancers III (1992) 

The Prophecy (1995) 

The Vanished (2020) 

Double Jeopardy (1992) 

The Leopard Man (1943) 

The Spiral Staircase (1946) ///

Trancers (1984) Grizzled future cop Tim Thomerson travels back to 80s Los Angeles and gets help from giddy Helen Hunt to prevent a villain changing history and raising a zombie army. With the accent on humor and an appealing cast, the action and narrative zips by with low-budget momentum.

Trancers II (1991) A belated sequel maintains efforts at humor while increasing the violence, as Tim Thomerson and Helen Hunt face not only crazed Richard Lynch's efforts to create a trancer army but also our hero's presumed dead wife Megan Ward from the future. Mildly diverting.

Trancers III (1992) A Helen Hunt cameo bids farewell as Tim Thomerson flips forward and back in time to combat deranged Andrew Robinson's new army of killers. A franchise running on genre fumes, lacking creativity and budget, still finds time for its leads to have a good time.

The Prophecy (1995) A good cast can't define the mess of ideas or clarify genre confusion as a war between angels threatens the earth. Vicious Christopher Walken consumes souls, playful Viggo Mortensen is the Devil, Virginia Madsen a defiant teacher. Isolated visuals and sequences excite.

The Vanished (2020) Featuring an evocative soundscape and score allied to a sure sense of visuals, the story of progressively unhinged parents Thomas Jane and Anne Heche searching for their disappeared daughter rapidly goes off the rails. Plot holes and murders pile up.

Double Jeopardy (1992) Midlife crisis leads weak Bruce Boxleitner into a shower with manipulative ex Rachel Ward while his progressive lawyer wife Cela Ward represents her for murder. Expected twists bookended by cliff climbing stunts, told with an anonymous sheen and an effective pace.

The Leopard Man (1943) Creaky plot mechanics can't diminish the eerie beauty of the visuals or effectiveness of murder set pieces when a leopard escapes in small town New Mexico. The ultimate killer not really in doubt, desolate characters trapped in the desert provide added potency.

The Spiral Staircase (1946) Gilded period design, Gothic melodrama and noirish visual style fuel the tension of a fiendishly packaged thriller. As sympathetic female characters Dorothy McGuire, Ethel Barrymore and Rhonda Fleming face a serial killer, sound and music spur pacing and scares.

Soundtracks: October

Basic Instinct (1982) Jerry Goldsmith
The Fury (1978) John Williams
Backdraft (1991) Hans Zimmer 
The Ghost And Mrs. Muir (1947) Bernard Herrmann
Love And Monsters (2020) Marco Beltrami & Marcus Trumpp ///

Basic Instinct (1982) Jerry Goldsmith / Sumptuous, mesmerizing strings weave an undulating tone poem that ebbs and flows, occasionally punctuated by savage drama. The expanded album provides added depth and variety to themes and motifs, which remain decadent and threatening.

The Fury (1978) John Williams / The original soundtrack recording provides a layered narrative, brimming with powerful themes and vivid orchestration. The LSO recording elevates to a dark intensity, performed with a wrenching sweep and ferocity that builds to a grand conclusion.

Backdraft (1991) Hans Zimmer / A winning blend of orchestra and electronics that succeeds both allied to images as well as standalone. Remixed album tracks highlight the anthemic sound, a propulsive listen that alternately growls and soars. Unapologetically blunt and emotional.

The Ghost And Mrs. Muir (1947) Bernard Herrmann / Achingly gorgeous themes and orchestration, full-on romanticism that carries us on a journey shot through with melancholy, loss and final liberation. Elmer Bernstein conducted a fine re-recording. The original soundtrack is essential.

Love And Monsters (2020) Marco Beltrami & Marcus Trumpp / Playful and exciting, an energetic, resolutely thematic score that builds tension well towards the final, hopeful release. A rounded, propulsive orchestral sound and a natural flow to the musical ideas are very appealing.

Films: October 7 - 13

Wyatt Earp (1994) 

Oxygène (2021) 

The Curse Of The Cat People (1944)

The Ghost Ship (1943)

I Walked With A Zombie (1942) 

The Missing (2003)

The Adventures Of Tartu (1943)

Sand Trap (1997) ///

Wyatt Earp (1994) Despite its length, lack of narrative and character focus results in little substance to elevate emotions. Production values are rich, the landscapes expressive, yet a fine cast including Kevin Costner and Dennis Quaid can't bring life to the clunky exposition.

Oxygène (2021) A groggy Mélanie Laurent grows increasingly desperate as oxygen fast runs out in the tomb-like cryogenic unit she finds herself trapped in. A tight thriller that plays on themes of memory and individuality with a fiercely focused solo performance, diminished by soft ending.

The Curse Of The Cat People (1944) Delicate, lyrical, eerie fantasy of childhood and loss, as the spectral presence of Simone Simon permeates a young child's imagination and unnerves adult logic. A sense of sadness suffuses the gleaming visuals, casting a melancholy spell.

The Ghost Ship (1943) Layered with ominous mystery, the corrosive mind of increasingly unhinged captain Richard Dix leads a new officer to doubt recent crew deaths are accidental. Sharp characterization adds edge, while moody visuals aid the tension and culminate with a savage finale.

I Walked With A Zombie (1942) Imbued with foreboding conjured by elegantly composed visuals and sure sense of pace and design, a play on Jane Eyre sees determined nurse Frances Dee travel to a Caribbean island where the shadows of slavery and voodoo linger. Intensity builds to horror.

The Missing (2003) Robustly produced and skillfully scored, with committed performances enhanced by fluid visuals. Yet the basic narrative and characters never elevate beyond a primary impulse to rescue the kidnapped daughter. Without the mythic, tension and interest flattens.

The Adventures Of Tartu (1943) Lively wartime adventure, packed with blunt propaganda as playful agent Robert Donat infiltrates a German  factory developing a deadly poison gas. Solid production values and action, while Valerie Hobson and Glynis Johns provide conflicted support.

Sand Trap (1997) Though story twists provide potential for a memorably amoral villain, execution never really delivers as sadistic wife Elizabeth Morehead plans husband's death, but finds the desert turns murder into revenge. Mostly predictable and without a distinctive style.