Anguish (1987)

Anguish is an interesting, quirky horror movie that fails, but fails in a way that keeps things entertaining and interesting throughout.

First of all, there's a film within the film. A strange, nasty slasher movie starring Michael Lerner and Zelda Rubinstein, with the latter playing the mother of the former. Eventually, viewers are allowed to see that other people are viewing this film in a cinema. We start to watch the watchers, as it were. One pair of girls, Patty (Talia Paul) and Linda (Clara Pastor), seem more affected than anyone else in the audience. To be fair, Patty is more twitchy and nervous than a first-time drug mule having his crotch sniffed by a German Shepherd, while poor Linda is just doing what she can to console her irrationally terrified friend. And then a killer appears. Another killer. Not the one in the film within the film, but one simply in the film. Just watch the thing and you'll soon understand what I'm trying to say.

Written and directed by Bigas Luna, better known for the likes of Golden Balls and Jamon Jamon, this is such a curio that I heartily recommend it to all horror fans, despite the fact that the poor script and overacting combine to drag it down when considering a standard score/rating.

Lerner is the best thing onscreen, giving a wonderful performance that mixes real creepiness with occasional hints of a child-like innocence (especially in the way he is controlled by his mother). Rubinstein, on the other hand, is allowed to go over the top, and she does so with great gusto. Yet it's not too painful to watch. What is painful to watch is the hand-wringing, squirming performance from Paul, saddled with the role of "worst person to watch a horror movie in the cinema ever". Pastor fares a lot better, although that's not so hard when she's alongside Paul, and other people in the cinema who seem to have wandered in from the cinema featured in Demons (loud reactions to whatever is happening onscreen, uncharacteristic concern for fellow movie-goers, complete ignorance of major violence occurring nearby - Demons fans will know what I mean).

I know, I know, I've not done a very good job of encouraging others to see this movie. I've also yet to mention how boring it can be for many scenes. This is not a film for someone seeking out a hidden gem. Some will find it dull and horrible, I have no doubt about that, while others will find some fun, as I did, buried under the offputting surface elements. The layering of the movie alone, and the ambiguity of those layers, allows it to have more intelligence than it could otherwise be credited with.

Give it a whirl one evening when you're after something a bit different.

5/10

http://www.amazon.com/Anguish-Zelda-Rubinstein/dp/B0013K2ZD6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406548489&sr=8-1&keywords=anguish+dvd

Blank Cheque (1994)

A decidedly average Disney movie that, unsurprisingly, I enjoyed more when I was a bit younger, Blank Cheque (or Blank Check) is one of many movies selling its concept in the title.

Brian Bonsall plays young Preston Waters, a lad who never seems to get what he wants, and never has much pocket money. So when he's almost hit by a car backing into him he thinks he's hit the jackpot when the harried driver (Miguel Ferrer) hands him a blank cheque. Preston then makes the cheque out for one million dollars and heads to the bank the next day. Amazing as it seems, he receives the money, but that's not necessarily as good as it seems. Ferrer, you see, is a bit of a crooked type (did he play any other type in the '90s) and when he finds out that his money is missing he becomes determined to get it back. Meanwhile, Preston gets spending, telling people that he is now in the employ of a Mr. Macintosh.

It's funny how $1M doesn't seem like all that much nowadays, but it's worth noting that it wasn't actually all that much back in 1994, when this movie was released. It's a nice, round figure, and it's the type of figure that a kid would aim for, but the film does remind viewers that anyone trying to spend this kind of money like water isn't going to need too much time.

Director Rupert Wainwright keeps everything moving along at a zippy pace, and he makes sure that kids will enjoy watching the main character live his dream, but the script, by Blake Snyder and Colby Carr, never does as well as it should. The humour isn't as sharp as it could be, the tension fails to rise, even when Ferrer starts to get closer and closer to his target, there's a very clumsy story strand involving Preston and a woman (Karen Duffy) that he takes a shine to.

The young lead isn't the best to appear in a Disney film, but he may well be served short by the script so I'm not going to be overly critical. Thankfully, the adults fare slightly better. As well as Ferrer, who can do menacing in his sleep, there are enjoyable turns from Tone Loc and Michael Lerner, as two men helping him to retrieve his money. Duffy is an enjoyable presence, although she's dragged down by being the potential "love interest" for a minor, and Rick Ducommun is a lot of fun as the limo driver who befriends Preston while driving him around.

It still has enough to appeal to its target demographic, but this is by-the-numbers stuff that doesn't leave any major lasting impression. Montage moment? Check. Light and upbeat soundtrack? Check. Moral lesson learned? Check. Adults pratfalling as a kid outwits them? Check. Decidedly average and . . . . . blank? Check.

5/10

http://www.amazon.com/Blank-Check-Jayne-Atkinson/dp/B000089771/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1401500535&sr=8-2&keywords=BLANK+CHECK

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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

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The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981)

Another version of the tale originally written by James M. Cain, this movie caused quite a sensation when first released in 1981. Viewing it today, it's hard to tell just why people thought it was so good. It's also hard to tell why people thought stars Jack Nicholson and Jessica Lange decided to actually have sex in their passionate sex scenes. It may be spicy stuff, but there's nothing to suggest that it's more real than many other movie sex scenes.

Nicholson plays drifter Frank Chambers, and Lange is Cora Papadakis, married to the kind and trusting Nick Papadakis (John Colicos). As Frank and Cora grow closer to one another they decide to get Nick out of the picture. Things don't go quite according to plan (do they ever?) and the two characters soon find themselves being played against one another by those seeking justice. Thankfully, they have the shrewd Mr. Katz (Michael Lerner) on their side.

Directed by Bob Rafelson, and adapted for the screen this time by David Mamet, this focuses more on the fires that burn within the central characters, and the almost masochistic nature of their relationship, than the main crime and its repercussions.

Nicholson and Lange are both very good in the lead roles, as you'd expect from this pair in the 1980s, and the support cast are great (Colicos is just jovial and sweet, Lerner does well with a relatively small role, likewise with John P. Ryan, William Traylor and Anjelica Huston).

The problem I have with the film nowadays is that it feels as if it was designed to shock, with very little else to it. The fact that it still proves relatively watchable is due, mainly, to Nicholson and Lange, but the sex isn't sexy, the characters aren't people that you want to spend too much time with and even the very end of the film disappoints, especially compared to the 1946 version of the tale.

Still one to watch, and there are lots of people who rate this higher than I do, but I didn't find anything more to it than the sex and treachery. I love a bit of sex and treachery, but I also love a bit more going on, either technically or throughout the script, which this doesn't have.

6/10

http://www.amazon.com/The-Postman-Always-Rings-Twice/dp/079073219X/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1384339166&sr=8-4&keywords=the+postman+always+rings+twice