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#21
Bad Movies / Re: 100 Movie titles that are ...
Last post by zombie no.one - Today at 09:04:18 AMnice!
2. PATRICK (1978)
2. PATRICK (1978)
#22
Bad Movies / 100 Movie titles that are just...
Last post by Rev. Powell - Today at 08:54:26 AMThe title must contain only a name, nothing else.
1. Barbarella (1968)
1. Barbarella (1968)
#23
Entertainment / Re: What have you been listeni...
Last post by Rev. Powell - Today at 08:50:23 AM
"Say a Prayer to the Gods of Getting Going" by Squirrel Flower
#24
Good Movies / Re: Recent Viewings, Part 2
Last post by M.10rda - Today at 08:38:13 AMDOUBLE DOOR (1934):
Three adult siblings live in their family's Manhattan mansion: Rip, who's about 30 and about to be married; Caroline, who's 42 and single; and Victoria, who must be around 80 and is pure evil. Victoria lives to psychologically and sometimes physically torment Rip and Caroline, and now plans to literally murder her lovely new sister-in-law Anne if Anne won't get in line to take her share of licks. DOUBLE DOOR is about 30 years early for the oldsploitation genre of the 60s and 70s (BABY JANE, SWEET CHARLOTTE, the films of Curtis Harrington) but that makes it nicely offbeat for its vintage. Some of its high-contrast B+W photography looks spookier than anything in Tod Browning or James Whale. All of the supporting acting is good, there's a bit more psychological insight than in most films of the era, and although her family struggles to endure her sadism to keep the peace, Victoria is smartly denied much possibility for sympathy and any redemptive values. As a result, she's (again) a scarier monster than Dracula or Frankenstein or the Wolfman. DOUBLE DOOR's hook is undeniable: will her family escape her homicidal wrath and will Victoria receive her just comeuppance?
But the film has three small or equivocal issues. One is the titular DOUBLE DOOR, which figures prominently in the action but, at the very end, functions predictably and satisfyingly, though not quite as established.
A second is subjective: the older I get, the less patience I have with films about BPD-suffering narcissists abusing their loved ones. ZELLY AND ME (which is, to be fair, a great movie) drove me up the wall as a teenager - but that's a film about a helpless little girl w/ no recourse against her grandmonster. All of the victims in DOUBLE DOOR are adults, and though the film provides rationale for why they might feel like they need to put up w/ Victoria, I don't feel like I need to be held hostage with them and by Victoria... I got real toxic people in my own life to be held hostage by!
That caveat segues into but also somewhat mitigates my final "issue" w/ DOUBLE DOOR. Plenty of reviews on Letterboxd claim that Mary Morris' performance as Victoria is the best or only reason to watch the film. Morris originated the role onstage, and the fact that this was her only screen appearance automatically made me curious to check out her performance. Once I had, I admit I understood Morris' short film career. She gives a rather unidimensional - even "flat", shall we say - performance. If one was to say Good Acting was about being Entertaining (which I'm only suggesting per diabolic advocacy), one could suggest that every other member of the cast is more Entertaining or watchable than Morris. But, alas, real sociopaths aren't "entertaining", like the Joker or Hannibal Lecter or Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman. The malignant narcissists that I know are boring people - boring like the character Patrick Bateman is in his real (rather than his fantasy) life - who have little sense of humor and no imagination besides a pervasive paranoia about how everyone else's behavior is negatively impacting them. They aren't "entertaining" - they're miserable to be around. (One might also cite the outspoken insult comic who occupies the Oval Office, whose antics somehow amused a sizeable number of easily entertained Americans for a decade, but whose plummeting poll numbers reflect a growing disinterest and boredom even on behalf of his fanbase.)
Mary Morris as Victoria is miserable to be around - though I stuck with DOUBLE DOOR to see her get what was coming to her. I suppose Morris deserves props for giving a highly realistic - boring, loathsome - performance! 3/5 Kent Taylor (who plays her brother) showed up in tons of cheaper, less-well-made (though more entertaining!) horror movies in the 50s and 60s.
Three adult siblings live in their family's Manhattan mansion: Rip, who's about 30 and about to be married; Caroline, who's 42 and single; and Victoria, who must be around 80 and is pure evil. Victoria lives to psychologically and sometimes physically torment Rip and Caroline, and now plans to literally murder her lovely new sister-in-law Anne if Anne won't get in line to take her share of licks. DOUBLE DOOR is about 30 years early for the oldsploitation genre of the 60s and 70s (BABY JANE, SWEET CHARLOTTE, the films of Curtis Harrington) but that makes it nicely offbeat for its vintage. Some of its high-contrast B+W photography looks spookier than anything in Tod Browning or James Whale. All of the supporting acting is good, there's a bit more psychological insight than in most films of the era, and although her family struggles to endure her sadism to keep the peace, Victoria is smartly denied much possibility for sympathy and any redemptive values. As a result, she's (again) a scarier monster than Dracula or Frankenstein or the Wolfman. DOUBLE DOOR's hook is undeniable: will her family escape her homicidal wrath and will Victoria receive her just comeuppance?
But the film has three small or equivocal issues. One is the titular DOUBLE DOOR, which figures prominently in the action but, at the very end, functions predictably and satisfyingly, though not quite as established.
A second is subjective: the older I get, the less patience I have with films about BPD-suffering narcissists abusing their loved ones. ZELLY AND ME (which is, to be fair, a great movie) drove me up the wall as a teenager - but that's a film about a helpless little girl w/ no recourse against her grandmonster. All of the victims in DOUBLE DOOR are adults, and though the film provides rationale for why they might feel like they need to put up w/ Victoria, I don't feel like I need to be held hostage with them and by Victoria... I got real toxic people in my own life to be held hostage by!That caveat segues into but also somewhat mitigates my final "issue" w/ DOUBLE DOOR. Plenty of reviews on Letterboxd claim that Mary Morris' performance as Victoria is the best or only reason to watch the film. Morris originated the role onstage, and the fact that this was her only screen appearance automatically made me curious to check out her performance. Once I had, I admit I understood Morris' short film career. She gives a rather unidimensional - even "flat", shall we say - performance. If one was to say Good Acting was about being Entertaining (which I'm only suggesting per diabolic advocacy), one could suggest that every other member of the cast is more Entertaining or watchable than Morris. But, alas, real sociopaths aren't "entertaining", like the Joker or Hannibal Lecter or Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman. The malignant narcissists that I know are boring people - boring like the character Patrick Bateman is in his real (rather than his fantasy) life - who have little sense of humor and no imagination besides a pervasive paranoia about how everyone else's behavior is negatively impacting them. They aren't "entertaining" - they're miserable to be around. (One might also cite the outspoken insult comic who occupies the Oval Office, whose antics somehow amused a sizeable number of easily entertained Americans for a decade, but whose plummeting poll numbers reflect a growing disinterest and boredom even on behalf of his fanbase.)
Mary Morris as Victoria is miserable to be around - though I stuck with DOUBLE DOOR to see her get what was coming to her. I suppose Morris deserves props for giving a highly realistic - boring, loathsome - performance! 3/5 Kent Taylor (who plays her brother) showed up in tons of cheaper, less-well-made (though more entertaining!) horror movies in the 50s and 60s.
#25
Good Movies / Re: Movies that you never "got...
Last post by zombie no.one - Today at 08:30:17 AMQuote from: lester1/2jr on Today at 12:50:52 AMJurassic Park "Look, it's CGI dinosaurs." Wow, what a big deal.
erm well, yes?
#27
Movie Reviews / Re: Mutant Reviewers From Hell
Last post by Sitting Duck - Today at 05:45:59 AMI got a summoms from the Thra DA to show up in movie court to prosecute The Dark Crystal.
https://reelsofjustice.buzzsprout.com/1154249/episodes/19709225-roj-612-the-people-vs-the-dark-crystal-with-sitting-duck
https://reelsofjustice.buzzsprout.com/1154249/episodes/19709225-roj-612-the-people-vs-the-dark-crystal-with-sitting-duck
#28
Humorous Captions / Re: Of course this is gonna su...
Last post by Trevor - Today at 04:57:12 AMQuote from: sprite75 on August 26, 2026, 08:43:55 PMQuote from: Trevor on August 16, 2026, 02:56:34 AMUgh. Did you really have to borrow one of Trevor's shirts for this shot? 😳😉😏🐢
Are we talking about Scotty or Erica here?
😅☺️😃😀
Both I think 😉
#29
Good Movies / Re: Movies that you never "got...
Last post by lester1/2jr - Today at 12:50:52 AMJurassic Park "Look, it's CGI dinosaurs." Wow, what a big deal.
#30
Good Movies / Re: Childhood nightmare fuel p...
Last post by lester1/2jr - Today at 12:48:02 AMChildren of the Corn freaked me out. I think it was the brainwashing sort of aspect and the fact that they were kids my age.