Noirvember: 5 Against The House (1955)

Isn't it always the way. You come up with a jape that involves the perfect robbery, with a casino as your main target, and then someone thinks it's a serious idea, meaning they want to see it all played out for real. That's the basic premise of 5 Against The House, a lightweight and fun noir that props up a weak cast of males with a supporting turn from the lovely Kim Novak.

Al, Brick, Ronnie, and Roy are all university students, and all making their way through the education system after already doing their bit for Uncle Sam in the military. While having a fun time at a casino, our leads see an attempted robbery. This leads to Al (Guy Madison) thinking about how the attempt could have been successful. It's all fun and games, until Brick (Brian Keith) keeps chewing over the idea like a toothpick. Al just wants a nice life, and hopes to marry his swell gal, Kay (Novak), but the gang are about to be drawn into a criminal plan that Brick now thinks is foolproof.

Based on a story by Jack Finney, this is a surprisingly tame and sweet noir from director Phil Karlson, who has more than one or two superior gems tucked away in his lengthy filmography (including Kansas City Confidential and the excellent Scandal Sheet). The screenplay, credited to Stirling Silliphant, William Bowers, and John Barnwell, seems to make the mistake of assuming that all of the cast members are charismatic enough to carry viewers through some dull patches (sadly, that's not the case), but it is helped by the many moments that involve one or more interaction from Madison, Keith, or Novak. Alvy Moore and Kerwin Mathews are Roy and Ronnie, respectively, but they never feel like a vital part of the main group.

If you don't like the criminal plot at the heart of things then maybe you'll like the student shenanigans when our leads are trying to convincingly act like they're not too old to be getting up to such hijinks, or maybe you'll like the look at PTSD affecting one of the main characters (which is interesting to see as a main plot point, considering how long it took to really start acknowledging it as an issue). Sadly, however, you may just find that the film jumps between different tones without settling on anything that keeps you truly satisfied. I enjoyed the strange mix, but I can see many others being very disappointed.

Novak shines in a role that could otherwise have been easy to overlook, and she almost completely steals the movie away from everyone else. Keith is an enjoyable force to be reckoned with though, and makes the arc of his character more interesting and entertaining with the force of his presence, which allows Madison to impress opposite him by simply remaining calm and stoic. Moore adds some levity, Mathews adds not very much, and there's a selection of nondescript, but dependable, supporting players filling out the rest of the cast.

I'm unlikely to ever revisit this one (never say never though), and I'm not going to rush to recommend it to others seeking some darker film noir thrills, but I had a good enough time with it, there are a few decent set-pieces, and anyone already a fan of any of the leads should at least watch it once.

6/10

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Sci-Fi September: Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978)

There are lots of people who love Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. They will tell you that it's one of the best remakes ever. I am not one of those people, although I DO really like the film.

Taking the classic plot, adapted from the book by Jack Finney, this interpretation of the material stars Brooke Adams and Donald Sutherland as the two main humans who stumble upon a subtle alien invasion. People are being copied, with bodies born and developed while the original human being sleeps, and the only indication that anything is majorly different comes from a lack of emotion. Can these two people, accompanied by some scared friends, inform the general public and put a stop to everything before it's too late? Or will they witness the development of a very different kind of i-Pod generation?

Directed by Philip Kaufman, there's no denying that this version of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers mixes the familiar elements of the plot with a number of touches that cement it firmly in the time it was made, the late '70s. Paranoia and cynicism were both running rife at this point. It was, in many ways, similar to the atmosphere of the '50s, which is probably why both versions work so well as two movies that are the same but different (if you know what I mean).

The screenplay by W. D. Richter doesn't waste much time, and builds everything beautifully towards a tense finale. Details are sprinkled liberally throughout every major scene that shows just how the invasion is supposed to move forward, and the science of the process feels much more scarily realistic, and visceral, than it did in the original movie. It's just a shame, however, that a lot seems to happen in such a short space of time, making the third act something of a foregone conclusion once viewers see the rapid exponential growth of the problem.

Adams and Sutherland are both excellent in their lead roles, with both offering believable performances as they stumble upon one oddity after another and eventually piece everything together. They're joined, for part of the movie, by Veronica Cartwright and Jeff Goldblum, who also do some great work. And then there's Leonard Nimoy, a suitable inclusion for two main reasons. One, he's a sci-fi icon. Two, he's best known for playing a character who doesn't show any emotion, making his role both ironic and nicely ambiguous (because it's hard to watch Nimoy onscreen and not still think of him as Spock, a character he will always be so thoroughly intertwined with). Art Hindle plays Adams' husband, and does solid work with his relatively small role.

While the special effects may not be up there with the likes of The Thing, The Fly and other great sci-fi horrors that would appear in the next decade, they're quite impressive. Used sparingly, the practical work is as life-like as it needs to be, without ever being given too much time in the spotlight. This isn't an FX showcase - they serve the story, and that's all (although, for those who have already seen it, there's one detail in the final half hour that remains one of the most enjoyably bizarre ever included in any version of the material).

There's so much to like here that I feel slightly guilty for not liking it quite as much as most sci-fi horror fans. Hell, the Kevin McCarthy cameo alone gives it a bonus point. Yet I just can't help yearning for the simpler, more streamlined execution of the story that we got with the original version. This film doesn't necessarily feel bloated, but the layering added throughout detracts slightly from the beautiful simplicity of the core premise.

Already enjoyed by so many, be sure to give this one a watch if you've missed it up until now. Or people may point at you and make strange noises.

8/10

http://www.amazon.com/Invasion-Snatchers-Collectors-Donald-Sutherland/dp/B000QQJ3Q0/ref=sr_1_3?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1410500929&sr=1-3&keywords=invasion+of+the+body+snatchers

Although anyone with multi-region capabilities should really go with the Arrow Bluray release.

You know what you can do if you liked this review, or any of the other reviews here at For It Is Man's Number? Yes, you can buy my e-book, that has almost every review I've written over the past 5 years. It's packed full of gems (the movies, not the actual writing - hey, I know my limits) and very reasonably priced for the sheer amount of content.

The UK version can be bought here - http://www.amazon.co.uk/TJs-Ramshackle-Movie-Guide-Reviews-ebook/dp/B00J9PLT6Q/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1395945647&sr=1-3&keywords=movie+guide

And American folks can buy it here - http://www.amazon.com/TJs-Ramshackle-Movie-Guide-Reviews-ebook/dp/B00J9PLT6Q/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395945752&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=TJs+ramshackle+mov

As much as I love the rest of the world, I can't keep up with all of the different links in different territories, but trust me when I say that it should be there on your local Amazon.

The Invasion (2007)

It's a shame that The Invasion was either ignored or loathed by most people when it hit the cinemas because most of the reviews forgot to mention one little detail - it's actually very good. There may be some people that say we've already had enough adaptations, both official and unofficial, of the novel by Jack Finney ("The Body Snatchers") but I think that maybe it's a tale we need to keep reminding ourselves of. A sci-fi fairytale reminding us that we must keep our emotions and core humanity, no matter how far technology progresses or what the negatives are.

This time around the horror is all brought about by a virus that comes from outer space, a virus that takes hold and changes people when they fall asleep. The good news is that the virus is only spread through bodily fluids but the bad news is that those already infected do whatever it takes to spread their fluids as far and wide as possible (that sounds far worse than it actually is but at least you're now prepared for one or two gross moments). Nicole Kidman plays a psychiatrist named Carol Bennell who starts to get suspicious when she sees more and more strange behaviour and starts hearing about people not acting like their usual selves. As the epidemic becomes more obvious and more dangerous she sets out to find her young son, Oliver (Jackson Bond), who is spending some time with his father (Jeremy Northam). Thinking of a cure would be great but her son is her number one priority and Daniel Craig plays Ben Driscoll, the man who cares about Carol enough to help her even as society starts to break down around them and martial law takes effect.

Written by David Kajganic and directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, the sad fact is that a lot more names were thrown in the mix at one point or another to "save" this movie when the studio wasn't happy with the result. That's a real shame because the general updating of the premise is very well done and I think that the others involved in changing the final product make it difficult for a reviewer to allocate praise and/or criticism.

For the sake of argument, let me just judge the movie based solely on the fact that David Kajganic wrote the script and Oliver Hirschbiegel directed the thing. Let's just forget about the interference of others because I have no specific details about what the added or took away from the finished film. Well, Kajganic provides a very good script that makes the premise more believable than ever while still keeping everything rooted in the more unsettling details of the original tale. The slow but inevitable development of events as more and more people are taken over is executed perfectly. Hirschbiegel directs capably enough, with a few flashy bits of editing here and there but his focus always staying on the ideas raised by the invasion and the continual battle that rages between emotion and intellect.

The cast are also very good. This may not be Kidman at her very best but she's still a great female lead and easy to root for. Daniel Craig is as likeable as ever, Jeremy Northam is excellent (as ever), Jeffrey Wright gets to relay the scientific mumbo jumbo, Veronica Cartwright is very good in her small role as a woman convinced that her husband has changed and young Jackson Bond is a talented young man.

Admittedly, this isn't as good as the past adaptations of the story but it IS a good film and it's nice to see that there's still a way to adapt it for modern audiences without everything feeling tired and overdone. I really enjoyed watching this and I know that I'm going to stay in the minority with this opinion but I'd urge other fans of intelligent sci-fi horror to at least check it out on the small screen because it's most certainly not deserving of the bad reputation it has.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Invasion-Blu-ray-Region-Free/dp/B00102JLMU