A few reviews

[Zaharoff]

Promises & Betrayals - 2002 - UK

Promises & Betrayals - 2002 - 7/10
Britain And The Struggle For The Holy Land

The seeds for ongoing conflicts over Palestine, sown during the Great War.
Britain, double-dealing to gain and appease allies, made promises to Arabs and Jews and the French.
The focus of the one hour doc is on Britain, leading to the misery which persists today.
Overall, this stays on point. World War events touched on, as are the Ottomans.
Mostly, this details politics: promises and lies.
Essential in understanding beginnings and miscalculations.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/download/3365671

 

[Zaharoff]

The Woman In Black - 1989 - UK

The Woman In Black - 1989 - 7/10

Very good adaptation of Susan Hill’s shocker.
Young attorney Arthur is dispatched to a remote village to settle an estate.
The manor is even more isolated, rising on an island in the flooded fens.
Locals shun the place, and tragedy touches all who stare too deeply.
This is Horror that M. R. James fans will appreciate, subtle and escalating.
More modern 2012 remake might appeal to viewers wanting a more visceral outing.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3366202

 

[Zaharoff]

Komisario Palmun Erehdys - 1960 - Finland

Komisario Palmun Erehdys - 1960 - 6/10
AKA - Inspector Palmu's Error

Bruno sets the rules for a who-can-do-the-best-unreported-crime contest
Then Bruno is found murdered – in a locked bathroom!
The inspector arrives with two flunkies and begins interrogating one liar after another.
Everyone has motives and secrets. Bruno was hardly a quality soul.
Finnish mystery bears similarity to Krimi. Comic touches are droll, rather than farce.
Some nudity, too, which surprised me for this 1960 date.
The mystery itself is fun and sustains interest.

 

[Zaharoff]

Beauty And The Boss - 1932 - USA

Beauty And The Boss - 1932 - 6/10

The Baron runs his own investment bank, and seems to specialize in mergers and acquisitions.
He keeps a string of lovely ladies on the side, yet work is all business.
Except for those secretaries who wear short skirts and low cut blouses.
Ones who cannot take dictation, but would prefer to take –
Then he hires a mousy thing, who is as efficient as a machine and just as sexless.
Pre-Code comedy brims with innuendo.
One knows the mouse will transform.

 

[Zaharoff]

The Last Socialist Artifact - 2021 - Croatia

The Last Socialist Artifact - 2021 - 7/10
AKA - Podrucje Bez Signala

The factory used to make turbines. Before the problems. When the nations were Yugoslavia.
Two hustlers arrive from the city, and try to convince the locals.
The won’t divulge who the customer is. Nor how many orders there are.
Still, work is good, correct? Not in the Balkans, where grudges endure generations.
Six-part series, each focusing on a specific character, advancing the story from their p.o.v.
Bitter throughout, with Fate vying with Hope.
Compelling and satisfying.

 

[Zaharoff]

Within Our Gates - 1920 - USA

Within Our Gates - 1920 - 6/10

Sylvia waits for her fiancé to return, unaware her cousin wants him, too.
Also unaware her cheap thug male cousin desires her.
Tawdry melodrama soon shifts to the Jim Crow South, where an earnest pastor tries to educate black children.
Fully aware that there are elements who don’t want no uppity minions.
Film wobbles for quite a while, but bores full throttle after a killing.
Lynching, rape, pursuits, rough justice, blind to mercy or truth.

 

[Zaharoff]

The Devil Came From Akasava - 1971 - Germany

The Devil Came From Akasava - 1971 - 5/10
AKA - Der Teufel kam aus Akasava

After discovering a powerful, magical rock, the professor goes missing in Mambasa.
The Brits send agent Jane Morgan to find out what-where-how-why.

She soon encounters slew of counteragents, assassins, deceivers and charmers.
This rolls like a late Krimi spoof of Eurospy flicks.
Soledad Miranda compels viewing, but the story is silly and incoherent.

English subs = https://sub-scene.com/download/3365674

 

[Zaharoff]

Under The Greenwood Tree - 2005 - UK

Under The Greenwood Tree - 2005 - 6/10

Young Fancy arrives in the village to tend her ailing father and teach the children.
She soon attracts menfolk: the vicar, the rich man, the industrious poor man.
Thomas Hardy adaptation charts the seasons, and the rural landscape is beautiful.
Music, dance parties, clash of class, aspirations.
Very much an idealistic portrait of a world that, I suspect, was on the edge of disintegration.
Although considerably later, this might appeal to Austen fans.

 

[Zaharoff]

Marked Eyes - 1964 - France

Marked Eyes - 1964 - 6/10
AKA - Les Yeux Cernes

The widow is the lone mourner at her murdered husband’s funeral.
Likewise, his sole heir, although she had sought a divorce.
Now, she remains in the tiny Alpine village.
Partly because she wants to know who killed him and why.
Partly because she is being threatened. Everyone observes her.
Moody French Noir boasts plenty of suspects, motives and secrets.
Lethargic pace. At 75”, this seems to run longer.

 

[Zaharoff]

Beforeigners - 2019 - Norway

Beforeigners - 2019 - 6/10

Time travel hopefuls, this is an imaginative entry.
Beforeigners are those who have time-slipped into modern Oslo.
From the Stone Age, the Viking era, and the late 19th Century.
One of the transplants, a Viking shield maid, now a detective, works with an inspector on cases.
Crimes are committed by and against the newcomers, and more arrivals increase social unease and resentment.
Concepts and threads are off-the-scale throughout.
At times, too much so, as narratives and characters ofttimes simply disappear.
Second season introduces King Olaf I, Jack The Ripper, and – wait for it – from Asgard, Odin!
Creators are bursting with ideas, but an overall lack of focus hurts.
S03, which would supposedly conclude the series, seems abandoned.

 

[Zaharoff]

The Devil To Pay! - 1930 - USA

The Devil To Pay! - 1930 - 6/10

Willie sells off all his possessions and departs India. Another failure, his tenth.
Back home, his father is fed up! Fed up, I say!
Nonetheless, Willie is contrite and, even as a wastrel, utterly charming.
Especially so when he catches the eye of an heiress, soon to be engaged to a duke.
Cheery Rom-Com has risqué (for 1930) situations and saucy one-liners for the alert.
Ronald Colman’s grace carries the film, with Loretta feisty as the spunky ingenue.

 

[Zaharoff]

Fackham Hall - 2025 - UK

Fackham Hall - 2025 - 6/10

Young Eric, pickpocket and casual thief, is dispatched to the lord of the manor above.
Before he can deliver the message, he is mistakenly hired as the new hall boy.
From lowly beginnings, he does soon climb.
This spoof of class dramas will be a hoot to fans of Downton Abbey, Gosford Park and Poirot.
Visual jokes, double entendre, situations, livestock and vicars.
One does not have to be steeped in these shows, but it will help.
Clever throughout, with few lulls. Even then, look about for in-jokes.

 

[Zaharoff]

El Inquisidor - 1975 - Peru

El Inquisidor - 1975 - 5/10

The females are shameless. Exposing their bodies, casually chasing after men.
And buying, flying all over, dancing, skimpy swimsuits.
They are wicked. No, they must be witches!
And a modern inquisition panel kidnaps them, and puts them to the question.
Then again, they are wealthy heiresses. And there is money involved.
Scattered narrative, a bit of sleaze, good locations of an older Peru.
Sequences set in the underground Catacombs a highlight.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3366207

 

[Zaharoff]

Woman Of Stone - 2024 - UK

Woman Of Stone - 2024 - 6/10

“Modernized” adaptation of Edith Nesbit’s “Man-Sized In Marble”.
Newlyweds, creative types, take a cottage in the village.
The artist husband constantly refers to his bride as wifey, sure to irk female viewers.
The doctor, another transplant, shows them the unfrequented church.
A curse with a sinister legend, also connected to the home of the couple.
Excellent cast, particularly Celia Imrie as Nesbit.
Plot tweaks are unnecessary, as are visible reveals.
Pandering to distracted L.C.D. viewers.

 

[Zaharoff]

Gambling Ship - 1933 - USA

Gambling Ship - 1933 - 6/10

After dodging a murder rap, Ace Corbin leaves Chicago, California bound.
On the train, he chances upon a pretty innocent, Eleanor, and they contemplate a future together.
Once in California, however, the old ways call, and Ace is soon managing an offshore casino.
And Eleanor proves not to be quite the virtuous virgin.
Pre-Code cannot make up its mind between romance and crime.
Watch for Cary and other pros. Otherwise, this is tired goods.

 

[Zaharoff]

Million Yen Women - 2017 - Japan

Million Yen Women - 2017 - 7/10
AKA - 1,000,000 Yen no Onnatachi // 100万円の女たち

Five females appear at Shin’s doorstep, each paying 1M monthly to live there.
There are rules: No questions, no familiarity, no physical contact.
Shin is a writer. Not a bestseller, but admired by a few.
Females prove a mixed bunch. From innocent to hardened, creative to repressed.
Overall narrative is one of who invited them, and why?
And why does it become so deadly dangerous?
Quirky, imaginative, unexpected, only the Japanese do shows like these.
Koreans would go over-the-top, Americans wallow in clichés.
Oh, and there is a kitten, romping freely!

 

[Zaharoff]

A Vitagraph Romance - 1909 - USA

A Vitagraph Romance - 1909 - 6/10

Love blossoms between a young writer and daughter of a senator.
Defying her father, they elope, only to discover Love does not pay the bills.
Glamor enters, and they begin working for Vitagraph Studios, making films.
Charming short showcases the three main owners of Vitagraph, as well as their leading lady, Florence Turner.
Also, for buffs, a stroll though the Brooklyn studio backlots.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3366203

 

[Zaharoff]

Noroi - 2005 - Japan

Noroi - 2005 - 6/10
AKA - The Curse // ノロイ

Hearing rumors of odd deaths involving a strange women and her mute son, a researcher begins to investigate.
Which leads him into a maze of modern Tokyo, secluded villages, and events 200 years ago,.
Clues include demon Kagutaba, the gathering of sorcerers, the rising waters of the dam.
A strong plot aids this one. One must pay attention as incidents tend to reecho in proceedings.
The camera work is atrocious. Yes, this is a “found footage” doc, but this is excessive.
In many ways, better than Occult (2009), save for the over-the-top shaky cam and damage.
One Cut Of The Dead (2017) is also worth seeking out and much more fun.
Noroi memorable, depending on your tolerance for cinéma vérité and aluminum foil.

 

[Zaharoff]

Be Natural: Untold Story Of Alice Guy-Blaché - 2018 - USA

Be Natural: Untold Story Of Alice Guy-Blaché - 2018 - 7/10

Outstanding documentary / detective work of Alice Guy, pioneer filmmaker for Gaumont.
Producers belabor the notion that Guy has been unfairly forgotten.
Hardly. Silent era fans know of her and of her few surviving works.
That is the part of the problem for modern audiences. So much has dissolved, burned, or vanished.
Plus, the earliest films were shorts, and modern viewers favor features.
However, and this is a fair point, after the Silent era women were flat out booted from director chairs.
This delves deep into her productive years, and will be essential for Silent fans.
Looks like the last Hugh Hefner documentary of the Silent era.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3366204

 

[Zaharoff]

Yellow Face - 2025 - USA

Yellow Face - 2025 - 7/10

Meaning, the practice of having Caucasian actors portray Asians in film and theatre.
Similar to blackface, now considered racist and taboo.
Playwright Daniel Dae Kim protests the casting of Jonathan Pryce in “Miss Saigon”.
Unfortunately, he later casts a “white” actor in his next work “Face Value”.
Didn’t know, thought he was part Asian, oh, the explanations
Theatre comedy skewing race, casting, critics, audiences, government agents.
As funny as this is, I suspect righteous posturing will grow ever more imperious over time.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3366205