The third feature on Criterions Tod Browning sideshow triptic, I feel a bit unfortunate towards the mystic, im assuming its a fault on my part. But I just couldnt quite get my head around some of the plot of this film.

The basic premise is that a family group of ‘Travellers’ in Hungary, regularly perform a stage show, the central act of which involves the families only Daughter taking on the stage persona of ‘The Mystic Zara’. pulling off seemingly inexplainable acts of fortune telling and seances. The troup notice however that a man in a suit has been on the fringes of recent performances watching very closely. And after one appearence too many. The troup plan to jump the guy to find out why he’s stalking them.

It turns out that he’s Michael Nash, a VERY wealthy businessman whos taken strong interest in Zaras abilities and wants to showcase them to the aristocricy of New York…The troup readily agree, but the problem is…Zaras a fake, in fact the entire act is an elaborate staging of fake panels, peppers ghosts and wire work. But the gang make it work in a New York ballroom and quickly become the talk of the town.

Little do the gang realise, the Michael is in fact the carer to a young orphaned heiress Doris Merrik, and he plans to use the seances as a means of terrifying Doris into handing her fortune over to Michael…aannd thats kind of where I got a bit lost here honestly, a chap named Jimmie turns up at some point and I think he tries to convince Zara that the pair of them should try and convince Doris to hand her wealth over to them…But I think I must have missed some key plot points because the final act moves SO fast that i pretty much ended up confused right up till the final 10 minutes when it all slotted back into place and a resolution came about which was blunt, and kind of limp.

Its a shame really, because I really liked the opening act of this film, but something goes amiss partway into the second act and I just couldnt find my thread on it right up until the end.

What I can say is that while the pacing and plotting goes a bit arwy in the middle, the opening and closing acts are fairly solid, even if the ending is a bit underwhelming. The cast, given their obscurity are fantatic physical performers.

I really appreciated that this film was partially audioscaped, giving us almost no dialogue (barring a singing sequence) but giving us all the atmospheric tracks and any diagetic noises within the scene. Which I think was a very nice touch. and visually, I think I preferred this over the other Browning feature on this set ‘The Unknown’. its crisp, the visual effects and lighting are genuinely eerie in places and etherial. the thing feels wonderfully spooky in places and the direction is more than up to Brownings usual efforts.

I think the fact this film lay forgotten for so many years is quite bizarre given how technically interesting it is at times. While the plot is a bit of a muddle, the performances are largely very good and the whole film gets a BIG boost with its newly written score composed in 2023 by Dean Hurley.

One i’ll probably have to rewatch to firm up my feelings on it, Now I know the tone its going for, I think i’ll be able to give it the best chance on a rewatch. But as far as ‘Silent Era’ cinema goes? I thought this was pretty decent.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/the-mystic/

A late night silent feature before bed, and a latter day offering from Tod Browning, ‘The Unknown’ is the film he made just before ‘London After Midnight’ and while the plot itself is maybe a bit simplistic, its a pretty engaging watch all things considered.

The plot is set in Madrid as we open following a travelling circus and we’re introduced to Alonzo and Nanon. Alonzo has no arms, and his performance in the circus involves shooting at Nanon on a rotating platform using only his feet to hold and fire the pistol.

Nanon herself is traumatised by men caressing and touching her, to the point that ANY man laying hands on her instantly makes her recoil in fear and horror. As such, she befriends Alonzo telling him that he is the kind of man she’d ultimately like to marry. However, Nanon is also attracting the attention of the circus strong man Malabar, who is friends with Alonzo, but doesnt really know how to approach Nanon, as he is also aware of her fears. Alonzo spends lots of time with Nanon and begins developing strong feelings for her too.

The plot twist? Alonzo is actually a criminal on the run, who is using a corset to hide the fact that he actually DOES have arms, but to reveal that would not only scare off Nanon, but permanently label him a liar, not to mention outing him as a murderous thug.

At first he considers all the workarounds he could do to ensure Nanon never finds out about him being fully armed. Before settling on the logical solution, he pulls Nanon out of the circus with himself after a particulary violent altercation with the ringmaster. before dissapearing to threaten a doctor into surgically removing his arms, so that he can be with her. The OTHER big plot twist? while he’s off doing that Malabar realises the pair have left the circus and finds Nanon and decides to keep her company while Alonzo is missing, and over time the pair grow close, and eventually agree to marry each other when Alonzo returns (womp womp).

I have to be mindful when reviewing silent era cinema that it really was a different time and that a lot of the techniques that make the cinematic experience so enjoyable today, were very much still in their infancy at this time. Because the core plot and concept of this film is very much enjoyable, especially for the silent era. But its a journey and a half to get to the good stuff here.

For a starters, this is the era where, due to the lack of sound, everything has to be spelled out to the audience…LITERALLY, via caption cards. which makes simple conversations take an age. And because, at this point, the audience wernt trusted to put the dots together within a visual medium (this film came out the same year as ‘Metropolis’) everything has to be explained in painful detail, overexplained to the point that, as someone with chronic concentration problems, I could happily sit on my phone while this played out and dip in in 5 minute chunks and literally not miss a beat of the plot.

The plot as it stands is a wonderfully dark romance with horror elements at play which tonally, I found very satisfying. I like how it shows the slow breakdown of Alonzo and thought the other characters were all really solidly written and developed for this era of cinema. However, the pacing is glacial at times, and while the plot is fairly straightforward, you WILL be dragged into recaps of the plot pretty regularly across the runtime. which is a real shame. I could see this being an amazing modernized adaptation, maybe as an hour long TV special or something similar, it has a very ‘high level’ tone to it that I liked, and I think would still have an appeal to a modern audience if it were to be modernised and adapted.

The direction and cine is very pretty, for the time it must have been kind of spectacular…well, until ‘Metropolis’ redefined cinema as a medium…BUT! for a brief window it must have been quite spectacular! with some really solid sequence building and some decent set pieces and location work.

Its really the performances here that shine the brightest with Lon Chaney really stealing the show as Alonzo, doing frankly masterful work with purely physical movements alone. I defy anyone to watch his performance in the 3rd act of this production and not be absolutely captivated by just how raw and powerful his emotions are on screen. Its superb honestly. Thats not to snub an early appearence from Joan Crawford as Nanon who equally works a great range here, delivering powerful responses as she is subjected to increasingly traumatic experiences.

All in all? I dont think this one will have the power to pull in audiences in the same way that more widely regarded silent era pictures would. But theres a lot to like in this 68 minute feature. Its a decent B-picture for Brownings masterwork ‘Freaks’ and I think the pair would double feature well if your audience is open enough to silent era cinema.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/the-unknown/

Im going to be honest here, I have NO idea what this film was actually about, and didnt much care for it. I had more fun riffing it with friends than experiencing a film ‘too horrifying’ to feature footage from it in its trailer.

It was all over the place, messy, and ended unsatisfactorally.

Traumatika? More like ‘Narkoleptika’ Hard pass.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/traumatika/

Watched on Tuesday August 19, 2025.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-we-wish-you-a-turtle-christmas/4/

Well, after clinging on to a bootleg of this movie for the better part of a decade, then upgrading to Vinegar Syndromes official DVD release a couple of years ago. They finally released this film as part of a triple bill boxset on Bluray this year, allowing me an affordable way to upgrade to HD without trying to grab their ‘Five Years, Five Films’ set which is LONG out of print.

I dont really have much more to say other than it is a BIG improvement over the DVD release, colours pop way more, it looks and sounds significantly better. and im glad I picked this up. Still a firm favourite just for how bizarre and silly it is, I’d say its more than worth checking out.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/hot-saucy-pizza-girls/1/

At the time it premiered on ABC, The Night Strangler was officially the most watched TV movie ever broadcast in the United States. Indeed, just before its premeire on television, the producer had serious regrets that he didnt push for this to recieve a theatrical screening… and having sat down to watch it tonight as part of an upcoming collaboration. I can totally appreciate why.

So this was essentially a TV movie that was acting almost as a potential pilot for a TV series. the Premise is that our hero Carl Kolchak is an investigative reporter who drifts around the states investigating and reporting on supernatural or science fiction related crimes often with unusual motives or twist endings…A series WOULD eventually get comissioned in 1974 titled ‘Kolchak: The Night Stalker’ But this film really is a proof of concept, and its a doozy and a half.

So the film opens with a series of bizarre murders happening in Las Vegas. Women are turning up essentially dumped in allys and on drainage routes physically fine, but completely drained of blood. Noones really keen to pick up the case, so Kolchak gets pulled in off his first vacation in years to investigate. and after doing some digging. Hes a bit lost for an answer. The killer appears to have superhuman strength, looks deathly pale and, whatever he’s using to drain his victims blood, the signs are that its done in less than a minute, that its being done via suction, and that human saliva has been found in the blood of the victims when found.

Kolchak can only really assume one thing…that the killer is either a vampire, or THINKS he’s a vampire…Of course when he attends a police briefing and says this, the police almost laugh him out of the room, before very seriously telling him to NOT publish ANY details about the blood sucking, or to mention ANYTHING about the vampirism…as they dont want to upset the public and err…cost businesses any earnings.

But you cant keep a good dog down, and Kolchaks convinced he’s onto something. and it eventually pays off, when he comes face to face with the killer who, right in front of him, gets shot over a dozen times at point blank range, and can outrun a flank of police cars…Kolchak becomes convinced he’s investigating a living breathing vampire. and when even the law cant seem to figure out how to stop the guy. Kolchak may wind up being their only hope in stopping the brutal murders…

And Ive got to be honest, this one surprised me. its got a kind of dragnet, ‘New Noir’ vibe to it, and it seems to be ahead of its times in many regards, the script contrasts some dark and tongue in cheek humour from Kolchak with actually quite dark subjects which I felt balanced each other quite well. theres a seedy political undercurrent that had heavy notes of the political elements of ‘Jaws’ to me. but predating Jaws by almost 4 years. theres some nice slow burn twists and turns, some surprising downer moments which helped keep a certain sense of pathos. The pacing is pretty much non stop (barring an extended scene walking around a house in the 3rd act which was a bit hard going).

But on the whole? for 1972/73, to see something like this meld together the noir and supernatural horror genres was refreshing to say the least. Yes. the characters are all utterly stereotypical to any Noir film from the 30s to the 50s you’ve ever seen. But that, if anything works in the films favour, cultivating a a nice contrast to the 70s funkadelic vibes, which are very much in full swing here. In short; it balances its tone, pacing and act structuring near perfectly, and clocking in at just over 70 minutes. Its all lean and no fat. which is EXACTLY how I like it.

The direction is incredibly strong, especially given this was only intended as a television feature. its incredibly cinematic and theatrical in its aspirations, and i’d say for the most part it succeeds in its goals. John Llewellyn Moxey by this point was a veteran of this kind of noir/ cop show production, and still had many MANY more good years left in him. and here? He’s in his element and firing on all cylinders, delivering a creative and vibrant piece carefully utilising all aspects of lighting, sound, vision and a superb cast.

The cine too is lush, vibrant and detailed, while its maybe a little *too* grounded in the world of TV for its own good, when it does stretch out and try to go a bit more ‘bigger screen’ it succeeds in spades, and while it may not have been as breathtaking viewed on a 10 inch screen back in 1972, watching a HD scan of it on a 50 inch 4k screen in 2025 is breathtaking in places to say the least. With my only grumbles really being that some scenes really needed just a bit more B-roll, and that some sequences do beging to get a bit plodding (im assuming for the sake of curating runtimes to allow for commercial breaks)

But on the whole? this is a solid edit, with some brilliant visuals that really help sell the dark and strange worlds Kolchak is and will continue to find himself falling into.

Performance wise, its a clean run with Darren McGavin as Kolchak playing the role with levity, but cunning. Its kind of like a diet Columbo turn, with Kolchak being able to gently rib the police and anyone in authority pushing back on him, without having the luxury of a detectives badge to get him in and out of confidential locations. McGavin plays this role carefully and very nicely, bringing a charm and warmth to the character that could have been blunted in other hands. I think he does a superb job here, with a good level of physicality and a clear eagarness to use the set space and frame as effectively as possible.

Credit also has to go to Barry Atwater who plays our mysterious bloodsucking villain. hes intimidating, unsettling, and the revelations about him through the runtime only help to build his character up as someone not to be messed with. Something Atwater really runs with, playing arguably one of the better vampire performances i’ve ever seen.

All of this is cushioned in with a supporting cast who fit the bill perfectly, and…like I said, while they dont exactly break the mould of the noir cop drama style. the fact this is infused with that otherworldly supernaturalism, really helps give this film a boost in ways that I dont think had really been covered up to this point.

The Night Stranglers inspiration was from TV productions like ‘The Twiglight Zone’ and it went on to heavily inspire 90s TV gold ‘The X Files’ and ‘Twin Peaks’ to an extent. and I can absolutely see why, this is a very engaging, very intreaguing and ultimately quite satisfying TV movie. And im really going to have to try and find this one on bluray at the next possible convenience. MUST see, maybe save this one for Early October, and thank me later!

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/the-night-stalker/

A short but sweet one here, we have an adaptation of an adaptation on our hands. A picture book from early 1986 got adapted into direct to VHS ‘animated’ narrated picture book, just in time for Christmas of the same year.

What do I mean when I say ‘Animated picture book’ I mean that the picture books dialogue was expanded or reworded slightly to better fit a video medium, they got the illustrator of the picture book (H.W Lewis) to redraw some scenes and draw some new illustrations to help fill in the gaps. and the whole thing is presented as a series of still images utilising digital moves, zooms and video effects to give the illusion of minimalist animation. While Kelly Mcgillis narrates the story.

the plot involves a snowy white bear who gets seperated from his family during a fishing hunt, and winds up lost in the woods, where he meets a small girl named Maria who lives in a cabin not far from where the Bear landed. She takes him in, teaches him about the human world and most importantly about Christmas. But when a crisis strikes! our little bear will have to go out into the woods alone to find firewood to save his new friends from certain peril!

Its a gentle story with a lot of very heartwarming and emotional moments. I enjoyed this story, and could easily see it being a firm favourite in a kids library. Its a big christmassy hug of a story that I enjoyed.

The narration is fine enough, though I dont quite feel like it really went the extra mile. It does the job, it wasnt bad…its just kind of fine.

I think the thing that holds this short back more than anything else is just the fact that, while the illustrations are some of the most adorable stuff i’ve ever seen in my life (HOW these illustrations didnt become a merch mine, I’ll NEVER know…) its hard to really, truely get into the story when all the screen is showing is static images that occaisonally move left to right, or zoom in and out…or at MOST have a, not particularly great ‘snowfall effect’ overlayed over the top of it.

This short kind of reminded me of Raymond Briggs ‘The Snowman’ but without the horrifying gutpunch finale. Just all charm, all the way…and i’d love to see this get re-adapted in a way that uses this art style, but maybe fully reworks the story into a linear short film with actual animation done in this style. I think it could be a very powerful thing. But as it stands, it feels a bit like a proof of concept that didnt get approved for full animation.

I’ve seen what they do with the sequel animation wise…and good lord. talk about a downgrade…but yeah! Will this hold kids attentions in the year of our lord 2025…probably not, maybe if they have the actual picture book in their hands, and they’re reading along with a parent or something like that. But this is just aching to be a nicely animated 30 minute tv special…rather than a semi-animated digital book.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/santabears-first-christmas/

Watched on Wednesday August 13, 2025.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/city-of-the-living-dead/2/

I first heard of a new ‘Naked Gun’ movie being in the works a few years ago when Seth McFarlane was announced as the writer for it…and then a few months later he had to step away. things went a bit dark on that front for a few months and then suddenly *Boom* its opening in theaters.

I’ve been trying to catch this for the last week or so, but today a couple of my friends who’d pre-booked tickets couldnt go, so me and the missus got them as freebies and an inpromptue date night! Huzzah!

The films a sort of soft reboot of the franchise in the sense that here, Liam Neeson is picking up the mantle as ‘Frank Drebin Jr.’ the new chief Lt. of ‘Police Squad’. and with a new cast predominantly Playing the sons of the original cast we drag the police parody out of the ‘dragnet’ and noir era and slap bang into modern police drama terratory, with a few affectionate nods to the past along the way.

This time, Franks got his work cut out for him, as a bank robbery botch job leaves Police squads funding on the line and Frank on thin ice to stay on the straight and narrow, or run the risk of not only being suspended, but forcing the closure of Police Squad in the process! Things turn around however when a mysterious author by the name of Beth Davenport (Pamela Anderson) turns up at the HQ with news regarding her brothers death due to mysterious circumstances, that may land the pair at odds with a tech billionair with a border apocalyptic scheme on his hands!

Quick caption Summary:

Was this a good Naked Gun movie – Yes.
Was this one of the ‘great’ Naked Gun movies – No.

Comedy is always going to be subjective, and I really quite enjoyed this film honestly, I stifled a few laughs along the way. But something kind of felt off about this one to me up until the final act, and it was then when it clicked. The original Naked Gun movies were absolutely brimming with gags, obviously you have the overt foreground gags and wordplay, but then there’d be secondary physical gags happening in the foreground, and in almost every scene there’d be at least 1…usually 2 bizarre or grand visual gags happening in the background of almost every scene.

The latest entry is big on the foreground gags and wordplay, but background visual gags are surprisingly rare, they do happen from time to time, but they’re usually ‘transitionary gags’ that start as a foreground gag and then continue to unfold in the background while the rest of the scene is playing out, in a lot of the scenes people are just kind of standing around, maybe just…doing something relevent to the plot line, but we kind of lose a dimension of comedy here.

I equally was not a fan of the moments McFarlane clearly got bored working on this and tagged in half a dozen early 2000’s ‘Family Guy’ jokes…Which kind of bought the tone down for me.

Outside of those issues though, this is pretty much just a somewhat gentle screwball comedy, and its a rare site these days. Being a studio picture the technical abilities arnt really an issue, the direction mirrors modern cop dramas and action films, and I feel it does that well, the cine is nice, crisp and sharp, though maybe with just a tad too much overreliance on green screen and CG work. It looks nice…its not blowing me away…but it does what it needs to do.

The humour is for the most part solid, I was more of a fan of the surrealist humour and wordplay than the fart and poop jokes if im being honest…For me? the biggest crime was not getting Tim Robinson involved in this franchise, as I feel he really might have brought a good blend to the mix meshing McFarlane’s and the lonely islands comedic style…as it stands, it quickly becomes quite clear which bits were written by who and it makes the whole thing feel a bit less sturdy as a result.

Still! the pacings solid, the act structuring works, theres some really nice meta moments. they do nod back to old Naked Gun films, but not in a way that feels like it oversteps a mark or becomes nostalgia bait.

Liam Neeson is a damn PERFECT fit of Leslie Neilsens shoes. and EASILY is the best part of this whole feature, not to downplay Pamela Anderson, who also adds a great noir-esq contrast to Drebins character and both work to enhance the positives of each other.

While there were a few sad omissions (I dont feel like its spoilers to say that they do NOT recreate the iconic ‘police siren/car driving into weird places’ for the title sequence…nor do they use Frank Drebins hero theme at any point…which really felt like a miss on the bank raid sequence…I felt the score was pretty solid for the most part, if not a little TOO close to the cop dramas its trying to lampoon.

If I was going to rank this one? I’d probably put it on par with ’33 and a third’. Its a solid enough movie, im glad its been successful, and I really feel with this solid base, that they could probably do something really special in a sequel…or at the very least a paramount+ tv series. Worth checking out if you find it on streaming or are struggling for something to do on a rainy afternoon, great date night fodder, I dont think i’d go out of my way to see it.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/the-naked-gun/

‘Vegas In Space’ has been on my ‘To Watch’ list now for the better part of a decade, ever since I first heard of it through Diamanda Hagans review back in 2014. A campy, schlocky and trippy Tom Rubnitz affair of a movie. Its suurrealist and lo-fi imagery stayed with me for many years until eventually I was able to track down and import a DVD copy to the UK. And tonight I finally cracked it open, and I was VERY much not dissapointed.

The film follows the crew of the ‘USS Intercourse’ as they’re tasked with investigating strange and deeply unsettling happenings on the glitzy exotic resort planet ‘Vegas in Space’ found in the Clitoral Star system. Theres only one problem, the crew of the Intercourse are all buch manly man men. and the Clitoris system is strictly ‘babes only’!

So! they take Gender reversal pills and turn in foxy ladies, before heading into Vegas under the guise of a gift from Earth Empress Vel, as a mid 20th century all girl lounge group set to perform for Empress Neuvo (the ruler of Vegas in Space).

Once landed, and acquainted with the locals, a meeting with the Empress takes place in which she reveals the reason the ladies are here, its to recover several missing jewels made of Girlium. The rarest mineral on the planet, with mystic magic properties that control the planets gravetational fields. With them missing, Vegas’s orbit is slowly disintigrating and freak natural disasters are running rampent across the planet, mainly earthquakes and explosions, and the peaceful babes of Vegas are having nightmares for the first time in decades.

Captain Tracy Daniels and the crew take the case on and Neuvo pairs Daniels up with Veneer, the queen of police on Vegas AND Empress Vels evil sister. with time running out The crew and Veneer must find the culprit, recover the jewels and reset Vegas back to the fashion and glam powered society we’ve all come to know and love!

And, I was pretty much sold on this in the first 5 minutes, Im a huge fan of the work of Tom Rubnitz, and this film very much has that kind of ramshackled, quirky, eccentric and delightful vibes and tones to it. Its all OVER the place, predominantly because it took 8 years of on and off filming totally 18 months of film time to get the film over the line. with PLENTY of improvisation both in terms of dialogue and direction.

Its kind of futile to approach this work on a traditional technical scale, this is video art at its most primest case, an experimental hodge podge of crazy ideas and half baked plot lines cooked up at an all drag queen house party in 1982/83. that was just built on and built on till completion.

The scripts arnt polished, feel quite uneven and the 3rd act drags a bit. But the tone is SO against taking itself even REMOTELY seriously, and the dialogue is SO self aware and working against most conventional film standards, that I really did have to rely on vibes alone to guide me here, and what I found was an absolute hoot of a movie. One thats incredibly light, psychadelic, brimming with campy nostalgic call backs to 60s sci fi and culture.

The direction is ramshackled, but sincere, everyones doing the best they can, the sets are all hand built and look vibrant and detailed, the costume design is bizarre and superb, the cast direction, immaculate. Theres a kind of nervous energy to the direction throughout this. The kind of vibe where you arnt entirely sure whats going to happen next. its so skittish on what its trying to show, that viably anything could pop up at ANY moment. and its that kind of energy that really endered me to this one.

The cine is largley locked off tripod shots, its a bit on the safe side, but then, occasionally there will be entire experimental freakout sequences that really pulled me in and held me with there strange and bizarre papercraft vibes. I really enjoyed it, and as someone who’s own film work is very much all about this style of film making, I was utterly engrossed.

The performances are all larger than life, hammy, campy, animated and bright, I dont think there was a single player here that I didnt at least have some good feelings towards. and the soundtrack is a bubblegum pop synthy cheap and cheerful, stripped back arrangement, largely coming from a single keyboard that gave me Frank Sidebottom and John Shuttleworth by way of the B52s vibes. I loved it dearly.

I kind of knew what I was getting into with ‘Vegas In Space’ and I really wasnt dissapointed, it more than surpassed my expectations and im really glad I checked it out. Im delighted to hear that theres a rumour a bluray remaster of this film is on the horizon (I will be preordering that) and I highly recommend if you havent seen this film already, checking it out! its a total trip!

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/vegas-in-space/