What I Watched in May

MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN (2019) seems like one of those scripts that needed another set of eyes on it before it was put in front of the cameras. It’s a good movie but it thinks it is a great one. Sadly, it should have been great but it is a little too muddled and, in the end, it feels like a fantastic idea and flawless cast are working to get about 70% of what they could have achieved.

The List 

DR CYCLOPS (1940) – 7 (rewatch on Blu)

THE KID BROTHER (1927) – 7 (Harold Lloyd comedy)

HAUNTS OF THE VERY RICH (1972) – 6 (well done Twilight Zone style TV movie)

SCARED TO DEATH (1980) – 4 (pretty poor monster/detective story)

BLOW THE MAN DOWN (2019) – 7 (well-made small-town crime drama)

BLOODSHOT (2020) – 7 (not as good as hoped but solid)

SPLIT SECOND (1992) – 4 (rewatch) (it does not hold together at all)

YOUNG, VIOLENT, DANGEROUS (1976) – 8 (strong Italian crime film)

MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN (2019) – 7 (needed a tighter script but good)

THE TURNING (2020) – 3 (a mess that tries to have things both ways)

THE FALCON OUT WEST (1944) – 7

WAR OF THE GARGANTUAS (166) – 7 (rewatch)

HUDSON RIVER MASSACRE (1965) – 6 (rewatch on Blu) (a.k.a. REBELS IN CANADA)

BYLETH: THE DEMON OF INCEST (1972) -5

THE POLICE ARE BLUNDERING IN THE DARK (1975) – 4 (weak giallo)

THE KILLER WORE GLOVES (1976) – 7 (well done giallo)

THE SCARLET BLADE (1963) – 8 (rewatch on Blu)

HAPPY DEATH DAY 2 U (2019) – 7 (not as good as the first but good)

LA LLORONA (1933) – 5 (first film version of the Mexican legend is clunky and slow)

THE MAD DOCTOR OF MARKET STREET (1942) – 6 (rewatch)

DEADLY MANOR (1990) – 5 (rewatch on Blu)

THEY CAME FROM BEYOND SPACE (1967) – 6 (rewatch)

TARZAN THE FEARLESS (1933) - 5 (feature edited down from the mostly lost serial)

THE SEVEN MAGNIFICENT GLADIATORS (1983) – 6 (about as good as this mix could have been in 1983)

TRAUMA (1976) – 6 (rewatch on Blu) (Klimovsky’s interesting giallo)

APOCALIPSIS SEXUAL (1982) – 6 (Carlos Aured’s super sleazy crime film)

CASINO ROYALE (2006) – 9 (rewatch)

QUANTUM OF SOLACE (2008) – 7 (rewatch)

TARAS BULBA (1962) – 6 (epic sized tale of Cossacks)

MACISTE IN HELL (1962) – 6 (rewatch of the Italian widescreen version)

ATTACK OF THE MOORS (1959) – 6 (might be better if a superior print surfaces)

ANGUISH (1987) – 7 (incredible Spanish horror film)

THE INVISIBLE DR. MABUSE (1962) – 8 (excellent crime tale)

THE DEATH RAY OF DR. MABUSE (1964) – 6 (too long but pretty good)

SUDDEN DEATH (1995) – 4 (without Powers Boothe’s bad guy this would be unwatchable)

THE LEGIONS OF CLEOPATRA (1959)- 7 (good historical tale)

THE FALCON GOES TO MEXICO (1944) – 6