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#1
Good Movies / Re: Recent Viewings, Part 2
Last post by M.10rda - Today at 06:45:22 AMYou and me, Lester. I took the SATs three times and always got a perfect Written. My highest Math was somehow 510, my lowest was 370! 
I'm still able to do practical math in my head for everything short of my taxes, so I dunno what that whole Math SAT thing was about anyway.
THE CHASE (1946):
A starving/penniless war vet falls for what might (or might not!) be a "Spanish Prisoner" long-game and returns a recovered wallet to an outlandish Greco-Roman mansion, where he is promptly recruited as a chauffeur by a sadistic millionaire and his leering aide de camp (Peter Lorre!). The rich weirdo likes to strongarm other rich guys for fun, keeps a(n unseen) lion or tiger in his wine cellar to take care of victims, and can assume manual acceleration of his limo from the backseat, just to f**k w/ his drivers. He also has a blonde French wife who naturally seduces the veteran and convinces him to run away with her. The plot screeches to a halt for about 5-10 minutes of dull romance, but then midway through there is a surprising twist, and then multiple more twists after that, some of which made pretty much no sense to me. But after a string of purely bad and/or boring movies, this uneven but very oddball noir was at least refreshing!
The male lead/chauffeur is a little stiff at times and the female lead was pretty bland (though Lester might dig her). However Steve Cochran plays the psycho rich guy with a compelling, chilly minimalism... whispering and hissing most of his lines like he's auditioning for the role of Don Corleone in a community theatre production of THE GODFATHER. And of course, Lorre is of immeasurable value in one of the countless henchman roles that, somehow, he always managed to imbue with some fresh nuance. He comes off as mostly bemused and sometimes mildly non-plussed by his employer's behavior here - and at least (unlike some of his credits) Lorre is in the whole movie!
THE CHASE was written by Philip Yordan, screenwriter of some huge and famous movies, some very weird movies (including the bizarre "Good" Movie JOHNNY GUITAR), and some terrible movies. I'm unapologetically a stan for NIGHT TRAIN TO TERROR, the late-career magnum opus that was masterminded by Yordan with the help of five (!) directors. THE CHASE isn't a patch on NTTT, but it is quite weird by 40s noir standards. Although its plot bears some similarities to OUT OF THE PAST, that film actually somehow was released the following year...
...and the second half of THE CHASE is a lot closer to Lynch's LOST HIGHWAY, with its roadrage-suffering antagonist and a dead lead character who counter-intuitively won't remain dead. Yordan was an interesting dude.
3/5 A train does figure prominently in this one...
I'm still able to do practical math in my head for everything short of my taxes, so I dunno what that whole Math SAT thing was about anyway. THE CHASE (1946):
A starving/penniless war vet falls for what might (or might not!) be a "Spanish Prisoner" long-game and returns a recovered wallet to an outlandish Greco-Roman mansion, where he is promptly recruited as a chauffeur by a sadistic millionaire and his leering aide de camp (Peter Lorre!). The rich weirdo likes to strongarm other rich guys for fun, keeps a(n unseen) lion or tiger in his wine cellar to take care of victims, and can assume manual acceleration of his limo from the backseat, just to f**k w/ his drivers. He also has a blonde French wife who naturally seduces the veteran and convinces him to run away with her. The plot screeches to a halt for about 5-10 minutes of dull romance, but then midway through there is a surprising twist, and then multiple more twists after that, some of which made pretty much no sense to me. But after a string of purely bad and/or boring movies, this uneven but very oddball noir was at least refreshing!
The male lead/chauffeur is a little stiff at times and the female lead was pretty bland (though Lester might dig her). However Steve Cochran plays the psycho rich guy with a compelling, chilly minimalism... whispering and hissing most of his lines like he's auditioning for the role of Don Corleone in a community theatre production of THE GODFATHER. And of course, Lorre is of immeasurable value in one of the countless henchman roles that, somehow, he always managed to imbue with some fresh nuance. He comes off as mostly bemused and sometimes mildly non-plussed by his employer's behavior here - and at least (unlike some of his credits) Lorre is in the whole movie!
THE CHASE was written by Philip Yordan, screenwriter of some huge and famous movies, some very weird movies (including the bizarre "Good" Movie JOHNNY GUITAR), and some terrible movies. I'm unapologetically a stan for NIGHT TRAIN TO TERROR, the late-career magnum opus that was masterminded by Yordan with the help of five (!) directors. THE CHASE isn't a patch on NTTT, but it is quite weird by 40s noir standards. Although its plot bears some similarities to OUT OF THE PAST, that film actually somehow was released the following year...
...and the second half of THE CHASE is a lot closer to Lynch's LOST HIGHWAY, with its roadrage-suffering antagonist and a dead lead character who counter-intuitively won't remain dead. Yordan was an interesting dude.3/5 A train does figure prominently in this one...
#2
Bad Movies / Re: Scary movie backstories
Last post by LucanReeve - Today at 04:44:54 AMQuote from: LilCerberus on March 18, 2026, 02:27:03 PMQuote from: M.10rda on March 18, 2026, 02:23:26 PMWho was the serial killer in THE EXORCIST?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Bateson
Wow, I didn't know that before. I am surprised to read that all.
#3
Bad Movies / Re: Scary movie backstories
Last post by M.10rda - Today at 02:08:38 AMQuote from: LilCerberus on March 18, 2026, 02:27:03 PMQuote from: M.10rda on March 18, 2026, 02:23:26 PMWho was the serial killer in THE EXORCIST?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Bateson
Thanks. What a story. IMHO, the Wiki alone fails to provide any persuasive evidence that Bateson was actually a "serial killer" as opposed to just a convicted murderer (of one victim). I tend to think the prosecutor was trying to railroad him for the other, distinct and unrelated murders - not an unheard of strategy per law enforcement during the era. The serial murders are totally dissimilar from the crime of passion Bateson definitely committed, and as Batesom himself stated (and as his behavior w/ cops would reflect) - he was a serious alcoholic drinking a liter of vodka a night, which made him (as it generally would make me) pretty docile and unmotivated to do much but sleep. One night of cocaine, poppers, and rejection drove Bateson to hit a guy over the head and then stab him - which doesn't remotely match the methodical work of the Bag guy.
Besides the halfhearted allegations of law enforcement
all we've got to go on is William Freidkin's claim that Bateson told him he committed the serial murders, as well... but Friedkin (who was still promoting CRUISING) got all the details wrong about the murder that Bateson did commit, so... 
not too persuasive.On the upside - this made me spiral down an RH that included a suggestion from last year (!) that David Fincher planned to revive the engrossing, sadly truncated "Mindhunters" as a trilogy of movies... so that's
. #4
Bad Movies / Re: Scary movie backstories
Last post by Trevor - Today at 01:31:23 AMQuote from: LilCerberus on March 18, 2026, 02:27:03 PMQuote from: M.10rda on March 18, 2026, 02:23:26 PMWho was the serial killer in THE EXORCIST?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Bateson
The second scariest fact about THE EXORCIST.
#5
Bad Movies / Re: Scary movie backstories
Last post by Trevor - Today at 01:19:16 AMQuote from: Alex on Today at 12:19:12 AMQuote from: Trevor on March 18, 2026, 10:56:16 AMQuote from: LilCerberus on March 18, 2026, 09:46:03 AMSaw a video over the weekend about the tragedy on the set of Twilight Zone: The Movie.....
That was horrible. 😳
It still amazes me that John Landis got away with murder and worse: that his career continued successfully thereafter 😳😳
A couple of years ago, just after the pandemic, I went to an exhibition of Ray Harryhausen's work. I found myself unable to listen to the narrated tour as it was John Landis who had recorded it.
😳😳 I don't blame you for feeling that way.
#6
Bad Movies / Re: Scary movie backstories
Last post by Alex - Today at 12:19:12 AMQuote from: Trevor on March 18, 2026, 10:56:16 AMQuote from: LilCerberus on March 18, 2026, 09:46:03 AMSaw a video over the weekend about the tragedy on the set of Twilight Zone: The Movie.....
That was horrible. 😳
It still amazes me that John Landis got away with murder and worse: that his career continued successfully thereafter 😳😳
A couple of years ago, just after the pandemic, I went to an exhibition of Ray Harryhausen's work. I found myself unable to listen to the narrated tour as it was John Landis who had recorded it.
#7
Off Topic Discussion / Re: Random Statements About So...
Last post by claws - March 18, 2026, 11:06:43 PMSo they continue their cover up protection of pedos. Let's see what happens April 14th...
#8
Off Topic Discussion / Re: Memes n' stuff of the day
Last post by LilCerberus - March 18, 2026, 09:46:05 PM
#9
Humorous Captions / Re: Oh no. He comes to Greece ...
Last post by Trevor - March 18, 2026, 09:25:17 PMQuote from: sprite75 on March 18, 2026, 05:21:30 PMf**k. I should've listened to that cat in Athens.
Not only do I have this human who harasses cats all over the globe bothering me, but there's a young human female in his tour group that likes cats as much as he does.
😅🐱😆😃😀
