What I Watched in December

KNIVES OUT (2019) is as deliriously entertaining a locked door mystery as I have ever seen. It moves cleverly from whodunnit to why-dunnit to how-dunnit and then back through each of those variations with smooth efficiency until the joy of watching such a well-crafted story is nearly overwhelming. The entire cast is excellent from top to bottom with my one complaint being that I wished for just a few more moments for Jamie Lee Curtis to shine. I suspect the eventual deleted scenes on the Blu-Ray will scratch that minor itch. Highly recommended!

Unlike a lot of horror film fans, I’m not against remakes of classic movies. I don’t think most remakes are very good but when they are well made, I’m happy to have a new film to enjoy. This is the second time BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974) has been remade and the 2019 version takes a very different tack compared to the earlier films. All three movies place the potential victims as the most interesting characters in the story but this variation goes out if its way to center their problems in the 21^st century. As with the touchy subjects underlying the situations in the original film (abortion, misogyny) this new movie puts real world concerns (sexual assault, casual sexism) at the heart of the motivations for the villainous actions. Smartly, the script also allows the victims to fight back in ways that demonstrates how women can and should work together to battle less bloody examples of these problems. With less violence, I would hope! This is a film that I think will grow in my estimation in the coming years once I’ve been able to rewatch it in better circumstances than my less than perfect theatrical viewing. I wish theaters would turn up the volume a bit with movies that spend a lot of time using subtle sound design to enhance the scares.

The List  

THE GUN THAT WON THE WEST (1953) – 5

BATTLE OF ROGUE RIVER (1954) – 6

KNIVES OUT (2019)- 9

THE LAST OF MRS. CHEYNEY (1937) – 7

KEEP’EM FLYING (1941) – 6

THE CHILL FACTOR (1993) – 4 (terrible supernatural horror that wastes a good setting)

MIRACLE ON 34^TH STREET (1947) – 8

ASSIGNMENT TERROR (1970) – 6 (rewatch on Blu)

SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS (1964) – 6 (rewatch via MST3K)

SANTA CLAUS (1959)- 6 (rewatch via RiffTrax)

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER (2019) – 6

THE CHRISTMAS CHRONICLES (2018) – 7

TRAIL OF ROBIN HOOD (1950) – 7 (rewatch) (Christmas tree rustlers!)

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) – 10 (rewatch on Blu)

BLACK CHRISTMAS (2019) – 7

TRAPPED ALIVE (1988) – 4 (lame horror tale)

THE KILLING HOUR (1982) – 7 (murder mystery with a psychic twist)

SANTA CLAUS – THE MOVIE (1985) – 5 (fairly mediocre after an interesting start)

ATTACK OF THE MAYAN MUMMY (1964) – 4 (Jerry Warren mangles a 1957 Mexican film)