31 Days of Horror 2024 Day 22 The Card Player

 

TITLE-The Card Player

SOURCE-Scorpion Releasing Blu Ray

Yea I know latter era Argento. And this is one most don't like. Having seen and enjoyed some of the lesser liked Argento movies,Phantom of the Opera is one,I took a chance when this OOP release was on sale at Kino.

A killer is challenging the police to games of poker over the internet. If the killer wins a women ,who is on webcam gets multilated. 

Once a British tourist gets put into this deadly game of chance two top detectives get put on the case. And we get a modern era Giallo.

Ok yea this feels like a sleazier episode of one of the many detective shows on the air. Call this CSI Giallo or as I have seen a few do CSI Rome. 

It is the sleaze and sometimes well done kills that make this stand out. Yea we aren't getting peak Dario Argento. Even average Argento is so much better than most of the horror crap clogging up shelves when this came out in the early 2000s.

Now yea the lower budget hinders the CGI FX. With the scene near the end with the train cutting off someone's head,And then the head rolling,looks cheap andd takes what should be a nice kill to end the film and make it not have the impact it should have.While not top 5 Argento this is for me Top 10 Argento. 

The blu ray has a decent commentary. And a few other extras nothing of which stood out much. The transfer looks nice. 

The Card Player gets a C+

31 Days of Horror 2021 Day 30 Eyes of Laura Mars

 

TITLE-Eyes of Laura Mars

SOURCE-Mill Creek Blu ray

So yea I've been hearing about this late 70s film for what feels like all my life. Never saw it airing on tv,never saw it for rent in the VHS days. Then I found the Blu Ray,brand new,for 3 bucks so took a chance and bought it.And like most movies I buy it sat on the shelf for close to a year before I watched it tonight.

Faye Dunaway is a fashion photographer in NYC. She keeps having spells where she is seeing murders through the killer's eyes. And ends up recreating these kills in her various photo shoots. Tommy Lee Jones,looking so much like he does now but with more hair,is the cop assigned to protect Faye,who is the Laura Mars of the title.

Brad Dourif is pretty good as the ex con driver that Laura has. And of course he is one of the many red herrings in the film. And there is Rene Auberjonois as Laura's assistant. The hair and the clothes he is wearing makes he look like my elderly Aunt Dean. Finally we got Raul Julia as Laura's (ex)husband. He has a tiny part and still stands out.

The story feels like an Americanized Giallo film. Looked and turns out the original script,titled Eyes,was written by John Carpenter. And this of course came out the same year as Carpenter's Halloween. David Zelag Goodman took the short script Carpenter wrote and made it into the film. ANd Irvin Kershner directed it.

The film looks nice,the blu ray appears to have been given a great transfer of the film. The sound is decent,and the only extra is a commentary I haven't listened to yet.

But even with this being one of hte earliest US giallo inspired movies...it is just slow as fuck. Almost 2 hours long and there are scenes and one really bad earworm disco song that go on for WAY TO FUCKING LONG!!!

The kills are kinda bloodless. Not graphic in anyway. And seen thru the killers smeary blurry vision. Really the main reason the film got an R rating is the nudity,lots of the photoshoots are fashion shoots with topless models,and some foul language. Maybe if say 20 minutes was cut I wouldn't have checked the timer to see how much more the film had at the 1 hour 30 minute mark. 

I like the cast of just odd stars. Appears someone bought this script to have Barbara Streisand as the lead. She thought hte film was too sleazy so Faye Dunaway ,fresh off Network,got the lead. Dourif and Rene do a lot with what could be throwaway roles. Raul Julia I wish had a bigger part in the film,but of course he is another of the many red herrings in this film.

So yea the killer. I will admit I didn;t figure out who it was until 2 minutes before the reveal near the end. But honestly by that time I was just ready for this to end. 

SPOILERS KILLER REVEALED

Yea Tommy Lee Jones the cop is the killer. He slips up in front of Faye. Tries to kill her then has his multiple personalities fighting for control. Shoots a mirror,forgot to mention Faye's bedroom has mirrors over most of the walls in this oddly oval shaped room. And while Tommy Lee is distracted looking at the bullet hole in the mirror Faye kills him. And thankfully this slow slow slow burn of a film is over.

SPOILERS OVER

Yea for 3 bucks I'm glad I saw it. Looks and sounds good. Just way slower than what I was in the mood for today.

Eyes of Laura Mars gets a C.

31 Days of Horror Day 24 Amsterdamned

TITLE-Amsterdamned
SOURCE-Shudder streaming service

I read about this film in Fangoria. It sounded pretty good so I hoped that it might play a theater near me. That didn't happen. A year later I see it is getting a VHS release. So went to the 8 video rental stores I had memberships at. None of them had it or could/would get it. Since 1990 have searched for it on cable...nope never caught it. Figured I just wouldn't see this film and kinda forgot about it.

Then earlier this year I got the Shudder streaming service. Was adding stuff to my list and started with the letter A. Saw they had Amsterdamned and was pretty happy. Added it to my list thinking I would watch it in a few days.

Well a few days became 5 months later. I needed something to watch today. Was going through my various lists on the streaming services I use. Saw Amsterdamned and started it up.

In the city of Amsterdam there is a serial killer on the loose. And he is wearing a full frogman suit and has a harpoon and a sharp as fuck knife to kill with. Using the canals to get around,this killer leads the lead detective on a wild chase.

This plays out like a mystery. With the audience and the detective trying to figure out who the killer is. Plus there is a beautiful woman that our lead ends up hooking up with. Yep this is pretty much a Dutch Giallo.

THe kills and their aftermaths are so well filmed and staged. With the very first one and it's aftermath being my favorite. The killer grabs a hooker on her way home from the brothel she works at. After killing her,she is hung from a bridge over one of the canals. Then the next morning as a boat,with a glass roof,full of tourists goes by the body slides down the glass roof leaving a bloody mess.

I looked and saw that Blue Underground has released a Blu Ray/DVD combo of the film. And I enjoy it enough I am going to buy it sometime soon.

Now like most giallos you have to deal with some things that might bother some viewers. Like bad dubbing. And there is some bad dubbing in this movie. Almost as bad as the little blonde boy in House by the Cementary.  Thankfully the script is fairly coherent. And the FX work is really good.

Amsterdamned gets a B.