Monday December 19, 2011 at 9:38
THE TEN BEST MOVIES I SAW IN 2011
Here are the best eight movies I saw for the first time this year, and two that have been so beautifully restored it was liking seeing them for the first time.
LIPS OF BLOOD (LEVRES DE SANG) (1975)
Written by Jean Rollin and Jean-Loup Philippe Directed by Jean Rollin
When a man (Jean-Loup Philippe) sees a photo of a ruined castle, he realizes that he was there during a period in his childhood that he cannot remember. He goes in search of that location, and the woman (Anne Belle) who he met there when he was 9 years old. This exquisitely dreamlike feature uses real locations and no special effects whatsoever to evoke a persistent, dreamlike state. The middle section, particularly, presents a nocturnal Paris nearly devoid of people that feels oddly, concretely fantastic, in precisely the manner dreams do: the impossible happens in a a matter-of-fact way. Shot on a small budget in 3 weeks on locations that were torn down immediately after the film wrapped, this is a minor gem of surrealistic cinema that hearkens back to the methods of Louis Feulliade, making the fantastic arise inexplicably from the everyday. (Redemption’s DVD is struck from the original negative.)
WILD GUITAR (1962)
Written by “Nicholas Merriwether” (Arch Hall Sr) and Bob Wehling Directed by Ray Dennis Steckler
Minutes after Bud Eagle (Arch Hall Jr) arrives in Hollywood with 15 cents in his pocket, he’s playing his guitar on television and on his way to stardom. Another small masterpiece from the unique sensibilities of Ray Dennis Steckler, and I say that with no irony whatsoever. On a typically tiny budget, Steckler manages to cram social commentary, goofball comedy, action and surf music into 87 minutes of grin-inducing entertainment. We also get some fascinating period glimpses of Grauman’s Chinese, the Egyptian and Pantages theatres. More polished overall than many of his films, with a convincingly innocent Arch Hall Jr giving a good performance as an actor (as a character who couldn’t be more different than his title role as THE SADIST) and an even better performance as a singer/guitarist (the few blues licks we hear from him were obviously recorded live). Also good are his dad Arch Hall Sr (credited as William Watters) as crooked manager Mike McCauley, Nancy Czar as his twistin’ ice skating girlfriend Vickie, Steckler himself (under his nom d’ecran Cash Flagg) as McCauley’s goon “Steak” and the director’s wife Carolyn Brandt (credited as Carol Flynn) dancing while Hall croons. Like most of Steckler’s movies, WILD GUITAR is over flowing with raw talent, energy, and sheer enthusiasm for movie making. If this movie doesn’t give you “Twistin’ Fever”, nothing will! (Viewed on TCM in a decent print.)
OF GODS AND MEN (2010)
Written by Etienne Komar and Xavier Beauvois Directed by Xavier Beauvois
Algeria, 1996. A small group of French Trappist monks have become part of the local Muslim community, dispensing medicine and advice to the populace.When they find themselves caught between rebels and the official army, they must decide if they will desert the people they serve. Quiet, deliberate, moving and powerful, this extremely confident film features almost no physical violence, but manages to build nearly unbearable tension as the monks weigh their religious beliefs against their own natural feelings toward self preservation. The screenplay and Beauvois’ direction are even-handed in their treatment of all the characters: even the army and the rebels are individualized human beings. The entire cast is uniformly excellent; Lambert Wilson is wonderful as the elected leader of the brothers, Olivier Rabourdin is moving as a troubled brother who eventually finds peace with his decision, and its good to see Michael Lonsdale again here as the quiet conscience of the group. At least two scenes are among the most suspenseful I’ve seen in any film of recent years. (Viewed on the big screen at Landmark’s Kendall Square Cinema, Cambridge.)
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (2011)
Written and Directed by Woody Allen
Successful screenwriter but struggling author Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) is visiting Paris with his fiancee (Rachel McAdams) when he finds himself in the City of Light of the 1920’s, in the company of his heroes F. Scott (Tom Hiddleston) and Zelda Fitzgerald (Allison Pill), Ernest Hemingway (Corey Stoll), Picasso (Marcial di Fonzo Bo), etc, with Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates) giving him advice on his writing. When he meets Picasso’s current mistress Adrianna (Marion Cottilard), he begins to realize how unfulfilling his relationship is with his 21st Century fiancee. When Woody Allen is thoroughly engaged with his material, as he is here, he can create stories that flow effortlessly. His engagement with Paris, begun with EVERYONE SAYS I LOVE YOU, (coincidentally, the last Allen movie I’d seen), seems to have supplanted NYC as his muse, and his affection and rapport with the city is in every frame of his new film. And who can blame him? All the actors, both famous and not, who embody the familar figures of the art world do a terrific job, with stand-outs being Corey Stoll’s pitch perfect Hemingway, whose machismo provides the biggest laughs in a movie that kept a constant smile on my face; Allison Pill as vibrant, troubled Zelda; and Adrian Brody as Salvador Dali, giving his best performance ever in his single scene. The likeable Owen Wilson rarely succumbs to the trap of acting and sounded like a Woody Allen clone, a pitfall that others have fallen into before him, Cottilard is lovely and charming, and even Carla Bruni as a Rodin Museum tour guide and Lea Seydoux as flea market vendor Gabrielle are perfect. Light, amusing and thoroughly charming, this is Woody Allen at his best. (Viewed at the Coolidge Corner, Brookline, on their large main screen.)
HENRI-GEORGES CLOUZOT’S INFERNO (2009)
A Film by Serge Gromberg and Ruxandra Medrea
In 1964, the man who directed the classic DIABOLIQUE and WAGES OF FEAR got carte blanche from Columbia to make a film titled INFERNO, in which he wanted to visually depict the distortions within the mind of a husband (Serge Reggianni) insanely jealous of his wife (Romy Schneider). He was unable to finish the film, but his footage has been used in this brilliant documentary that examines what went wrong when an artist who previously was known for his precision and exactitude goes off on a mad experiment. In the existing material shot for the uncompleted film - which is extensive - Romy Schneider gives a stunningly open, vulnerable and naturally sexy performance. (I watched Park Circus’ Region 2 DVD, which looks beautiful.)
— Robert Deveau, The Doomed Farmer
Written by Jean Rollin and Jean-Loup Philippe Directed by Jean Rollin
When a man (Jean-Loup Philippe) sees a photo of a ruined castle, he realizes that he was there during a period in his childhood that he cannot remember. He goes in search of that location, and the woman (Anne Belle) who he met there when he was 9 years old. This exquisitely dreamlike feature uses real locations and no special effects whatsoever to evoke a persistent, dreamlike state. The middle section, particularly, presents a nocturnal Paris nearly devoid of people that feels oddly, concretely fantastic, in precisely the manner dreams do: the impossible happens in a a matter-of-fact way. Shot on a small budget in 3 weeks on locations that were torn down immediately after the film wrapped, this is a minor gem of surrealistic cinema that hearkens back to the methods of Louis Feulliade, making the fantastic arise inexplicably from the everyday. (Redemption’s DVD is struck from the original negative.)
WILD GUITAR (1962)
Written by “Nicholas Merriwether” (Arch Hall Sr) and Bob Wehling Directed by Ray Dennis Steckler
Minutes after Bud Eagle (Arch Hall Jr) arrives in Hollywood with 15 cents in his pocket, he’s playing his guitar on television and on his way to stardom. Another small masterpiece from the unique sensibilities of Ray Dennis Steckler, and I say that with no irony whatsoever. On a typically tiny budget, Steckler manages to cram social commentary, goofball comedy, action and surf music into 87 minutes of grin-inducing entertainment. We also get some fascinating period glimpses of Grauman’s Chinese, the Egyptian and Pantages theatres. More polished overall than many of his films, with a convincingly innocent Arch Hall Jr giving a good performance as an actor (as a character who couldn’t be more different than his title role as THE SADIST) and an even better performance as a singer/guitarist (the few blues licks we hear from him were obviously recorded live). Also good are his dad Arch Hall Sr (credited as William Watters) as crooked manager Mike McCauley, Nancy Czar as his twistin’ ice skating girlfriend Vickie, Steckler himself (under his nom d’ecran Cash Flagg) as McCauley’s goon “Steak” and the director’s wife Carolyn Brandt (credited as Carol Flynn) dancing while Hall croons. Like most of Steckler’s movies, WILD GUITAR is over flowing with raw talent, energy, and sheer enthusiasm for movie making. If this movie doesn’t give you “Twistin’ Fever”, nothing will! (Viewed on TCM in a decent print.)
OF GODS AND MEN (2010)
Written by Etienne Komar and Xavier Beauvois Directed by Xavier Beauvois
Algeria, 1996. A small group of French Trappist monks have become part of the local Muslim community, dispensing medicine and advice to the populace.When they find themselves caught between rebels and the official army, they must decide if they will desert the people they serve. Quiet, deliberate, moving and powerful, this extremely confident film features almost no physical violence, but manages to build nearly unbearable tension as the monks weigh their religious beliefs against their own natural feelings toward self preservation. The screenplay and Beauvois’ direction are even-handed in their treatment of all the characters: even the army and the rebels are individualized human beings. The entire cast is uniformly excellent; Lambert Wilson is wonderful as the elected leader of the brothers, Olivier Rabourdin is moving as a troubled brother who eventually finds peace with his decision, and its good to see Michael Lonsdale again here as the quiet conscience of the group. At least two scenes are among the most suspenseful I’ve seen in any film of recent years. (Viewed on the big screen at Landmark’s Kendall Square Cinema, Cambridge.)
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (2011)
Written and Directed by Woody Allen
Successful screenwriter but struggling author Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) is visiting Paris with his fiancee (Rachel McAdams) when he finds himself in the City of Light of the 1920’s, in the company of his heroes F. Scott (Tom Hiddleston) and Zelda Fitzgerald (Allison Pill), Ernest Hemingway (Corey Stoll), Picasso (Marcial di Fonzo Bo), etc, with Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates) giving him advice on his writing. When he meets Picasso’s current mistress Adrianna (Marion Cottilard), he begins to realize how unfulfilling his relationship is with his 21st Century fiancee. When Woody Allen is thoroughly engaged with his material, as he is here, he can create stories that flow effortlessly. His engagement with Paris, begun with EVERYONE SAYS I LOVE YOU, (coincidentally, the last Allen movie I’d seen), seems to have supplanted NYC as his muse, and his affection and rapport with the city is in every frame of his new film. And who can blame him? All the actors, both famous and not, who embody the familar figures of the art world do a terrific job, with stand-outs being Corey Stoll’s pitch perfect Hemingway, whose machismo provides the biggest laughs in a movie that kept a constant smile on my face; Allison Pill as vibrant, troubled Zelda; and Adrian Brody as Salvador Dali, giving his best performance ever in his single scene. The likeable Owen Wilson rarely succumbs to the trap of acting and sounded like a Woody Allen clone, a pitfall that others have fallen into before him, Cottilard is lovely and charming, and even Carla Bruni as a Rodin Museum tour guide and Lea Seydoux as flea market vendor Gabrielle are perfect. Light, amusing and thoroughly charming, this is Woody Allen at his best. (Viewed at the Coolidge Corner, Brookline, on their large main screen.)
HENRI-GEORGES CLOUZOT’S INFERNO (2009)
A Film by Serge Gromberg and Ruxandra Medrea
In 1964, the man who directed the classic DIABOLIQUE and WAGES OF FEAR got carte blanche from Columbia to make a film titled INFERNO, in which he wanted to visually depict the distortions within the mind of a husband (Serge Reggianni) insanely jealous of his wife (Romy Schneider). He was unable to finish the film, but his footage has been used in this brilliant documentary that examines what went wrong when an artist who previously was known for his precision and exactitude goes off on a mad experiment. In the existing material shot for the uncompleted film - which is extensive - Romy Schneider gives a stunningly open, vulnerable and naturally sexy performance. (I watched Park Circus’ Region 2 DVD, which looks beautiful.)
ROAD TO NOWHERE (2010)
Written by Steven Gaydos Directed by Monte Hellman
A young filmmaker (Tyghe Runyan) shoots a film about an unsolved crime and becomes enmeshed in his own story. Which is like summing up CITIZEN KANE by saying its a film about a newspaper publisher. The brilliant Monte Hellman came out of the Roger Corman school of filmmaking, but unlike his contemporaries Peter Bogdanovich, Francis Ford Coppola or Martin Scorsese, he never had a LAST PICTURE SHOW, GODFATHER or MEAN STREETS, and so remains virtually unknown to the general public today. Which is a cryin’ shame, because his films are just as good as any made by his fellow Corman graduates, and his first feature in over 20 years is cause for celebration. ROAD TO NOWHERE is a hall of mirrors in which the characters are never sure if they can trust their eyes and the audience feels likewise. If LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD drives you nuts, this is definitely not the film for you. But if, like me, you enjoy being surprised and confounded, see ROAD TO NOWHERE first chance you get. Its not perfect, with some of the actors convincing in one scene and not the next, but it will linger in your mind for days afterward and, like Hellman’s other most characteristic films (IGUANA and CHINA 9 LIBERTY 37), will reward repeat viewings. I intend to see it again and, probably, again. (Viewed at the Harvard Film Archive, Cambridge, where this digitally shot film was shown digitally. Its now available on DVD)
A young filmmaker (Tyghe Runyan) shoots a film about an unsolved crime and becomes enmeshed in his own story. Which is like summing up CITIZEN KANE by saying its a film about a newspaper publisher. The brilliant Monte Hellman came out of the Roger Corman school of filmmaking, but unlike his contemporaries Peter Bogdanovich, Francis Ford Coppola or Martin Scorsese, he never had a LAST PICTURE SHOW, GODFATHER or MEAN STREETS, and so remains virtually unknown to the general public today. Which is a cryin’ shame, because his films are just as good as any made by his fellow Corman graduates, and his first feature in over 20 years is cause for celebration. ROAD TO NOWHERE is a hall of mirrors in which the characters are never sure if they can trust their eyes and the audience feels likewise. If LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD drives you nuts, this is definitely not the film for you. But if, like me, you enjoy being surprised and confounded, see ROAD TO NOWHERE first chance you get. Its not perfect, with some of the actors convincing in one scene and not the next, but it will linger in your mind for days afterward and, like Hellman’s other most characteristic films (IGUANA and CHINA 9 LIBERTY 37), will reward repeat viewings. I intend to see it again and, probably, again. (Viewed at the Harvard Film Archive, Cambridge, where this digitally shot film was shown digitally. Its now available on DVD)
THE HIDDEN HAND (1942)
Written by Anthony Coldeway and Raymond Schrock, from a play by Rufus King
Directed by Ben Stoloff
Homicidal maniac John Channing (Milton Parsons) escapes from the lunatic asylum where he has been held for the last ten years and returns to the family manse where he is greeted by his sister Lorinda (Cecil Cunningham) who is nearly as mad as he is. Together, they hatch a plot to discover which of their relatives is greedy enough to murder Lorinda for her money. A delightfully macabre mystery comedy that is a rare showcase for Parsons, usually relegated to funereal supporting roles, here having the time of his career as Mad John Channing. He’s given a run for his money by Cecil Cunningham, a decorous grand dame as twisted as he is. Thunder storms, hidden panels, trap doors, and a frightened Willie Best round out the Old Dark House/Reading of the Will proceedings nicely. Part of Warner Archive’s “Horror/Mystery Double Features” DVD set, and, along with SH! THE OCTOPUS, if any of the rest are as much fun as these two, its a steal of a deal. (A nice transfer of an occasionally speckled print.)
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MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE (2011)
Written and Directed by Sean Durkin
Martha (Elizabeth Olsen) escapes from a cult family and seeks shelter from Lucy (Sarah Paulson), the sister she hasn’t seen in years. Lucy and her husband (Hugh Dancy) take her in, but it becomes increasingly evident that Martha is more damaged than any of them realize. This is a tense, nearly unbearably suspenseful film in which the past and the present keep shuffling into each other, striking the characters and the audience off balance. This first feature from writer/director Sean Durkin is brilliantly unsettling, economical in its story telling, and profoundly even-handed in its depiction of what could easily be sensational material, with a strikingly mature, deep and rich performance from young Elizabeth Olsen as the title character, seeking shelter from the past only to discover that, just when she begins to feel safe enough to express what has happened to her, her haven is revoked. No less impressive are Sarah Paulson in the thankless role of her older sister, torn between her guilt for not having been more present in her younger sister’s past and obligation to the stresses of her husband’s current job, and John Hawkes, who plays Patrick the cult family leader with a subtlety, conviction and quietness that makes him all the more insidiously dangerous. Special mention needs to be made of the off-kilter cinematography of Jody Lee Lipes, whose shots are never framed exactly where you expect them to be, adding to the film’s pervasive unease. On a side note, Olsen’s performance in this reminds me of how many impressively deep performances I’ve seen in recent years from young actresses, namely Mia Wasikowska in HBO’s “In Treatment”, Jennifer Laurence in WINTER’S BONE and Elle Fanning in SUPER 8. Hopefully all four of these young actresses will continue to get roles worthy of their talents. (Viewed on the big screen at the Kendall Square Cinema.)
THE ISLAND OF LOST SOULS (1932)
Written by Waldemar Young and Philip Wylie Directed by Erle C. Kenton
Edward Parker (Richard Arlen), the soul survivor of a shipwreck, is rescued by a freighter carrying cargo to an island not on any map. Thrown overboard by the drunken captain, Parker finds himself the guest of Dr. Moreau (Charles Laughton), who has been conducting experiments on animals. Genuinely disturbing on so many levels, let’s start with Charles Laughton’s brilliant, subtle performance as Dr. Moreau, a scientific sadist who performs operations on his living animal subjects without anesthesia, in complete disregard of their pain. In fact, his research subjects have dubbed his laboratory The House of Pain, a title that Moreau glories in. The scenes in which he wields a bull whip, instructing his subjects in The Law (“What is the Law?” “Not to spill blood. Are we not men?”), are emblematic of the true nature of his character, who knows what it feels like to be God. Laughton’s performance is never showy, never hammy, as it could easily have been; he is obviously invested in his character and makes emotional changes with mercurial speed. His performance is rich, deep, and thoroughly creepy. Also worthy of acknowledgement is the uncredited makeup work of Charles Gemora (who appears briefly in his more familiar guise as a gorilla), who created a seemingly endless army of misshapen half-humans, all nightmarishly realistic. Nightmarish, in fact, perfectly describes the film’s general atmosphere, as it depicts the agony inflicted on Moreau’s victims unflinchingly; the pain they feel is palpable and disturbingly real, never the “indications of pain” that pass as tokens of the real thing in most genre films fearful of detracting from their entertainment value. H.G. Wells wrote “The Island of Dr. Moreau” as an anti-vivisection tract. (Let’s just pause a moment to consider the real-life horror of that word: vivi, meaning alive; section, meaning to cut up.) But he was so repulsed by this film that he was happy when the British Board of Film Censors banned it, a testament to how real it feels. Erle C. Kenton moves the fine script by Young and Wylie along rapidly, and the sequence toward the film’s end in which the humanimals lurch into fire-lit close-up is a stand out. Special mention must be made of Kathleen Burke, who makes Lota the Panther Woman awkwardly believable and sympathetic, of Arthur Hohl as Moreau’s self-loathing human assistant, and Bela Lugosi, Hans Steinke, Buster Brodie, and Tetsu Komai as particularly effective beast men. This pre-code horror movie has been in serious need of restoration for decades, and Criterion has performed admirably with this typically fine DVD release. Though rough in spots and occasionally dark, THE ISLAND OF LOST SOULS isn’t likely to ever look or sound better than this. Criterion has also created a menu that is a small work of graphic art in and of itself, so good I watched it several times before starting the feature. If you’re a fan of classic horror, this is the Must Have disc of the year.
Written and Directed by Sean Durkin
Martha (Elizabeth Olsen) escapes from a cult family and seeks shelter from Lucy (Sarah Paulson), the sister she hasn’t seen in years. Lucy and her husband (Hugh Dancy) take her in, but it becomes increasingly evident that Martha is more damaged than any of them realize. This is a tense, nearly unbearably suspenseful film in which the past and the present keep shuffling into each other, striking the characters and the audience off balance. This first feature from writer/director Sean Durkin is brilliantly unsettling, economical in its story telling, and profoundly even-handed in its depiction of what could easily be sensational material, with a strikingly mature, deep and rich performance from young Elizabeth Olsen as the title character, seeking shelter from the past only to discover that, just when she begins to feel safe enough to express what has happened to her, her haven is revoked. No less impressive are Sarah Paulson in the thankless role of her older sister, torn between her guilt for not having been more present in her younger sister’s past and obligation to the stresses of her husband’s current job, and John Hawkes, who plays Patrick the cult family leader with a subtlety, conviction and quietness that makes him all the more insidiously dangerous. Special mention needs to be made of the off-kilter cinematography of Jody Lee Lipes, whose shots are never framed exactly where you expect them to be, adding to the film’s pervasive unease. On a side note, Olsen’s performance in this reminds me of how many impressively deep performances I’ve seen in recent years from young actresses, namely Mia Wasikowska in HBO’s “In Treatment”, Jennifer Laurence in WINTER’S BONE and Elle Fanning in SUPER 8. Hopefully all four of these young actresses will continue to get roles worthy of their talents. (Viewed on the big screen at the Kendall Square Cinema.)
THE ISLAND OF LOST SOULS (1932)
Written by Waldemar Young and Philip Wylie Directed by Erle C. Kenton
Edward Parker (Richard Arlen), the soul survivor of a shipwreck, is rescued by a freighter carrying cargo to an island not on any map. Thrown overboard by the drunken captain, Parker finds himself the guest of Dr. Moreau (Charles Laughton), who has been conducting experiments on animals. Genuinely disturbing on so many levels, let’s start with Charles Laughton’s brilliant, subtle performance as Dr. Moreau, a scientific sadist who performs operations on his living animal subjects without anesthesia, in complete disregard of their pain. In fact, his research subjects have dubbed his laboratory The House of Pain, a title that Moreau glories in. The scenes in which he wields a bull whip, instructing his subjects in The Law (“What is the Law?” “Not to spill blood. Are we not men?”), are emblematic of the true nature of his character, who knows what it feels like to be God. Laughton’s performance is never showy, never hammy, as it could easily have been; he is obviously invested in his character and makes emotional changes with mercurial speed. His performance is rich, deep, and thoroughly creepy. Also worthy of acknowledgement is the uncredited makeup work of Charles Gemora (who appears briefly in his more familiar guise as a gorilla), who created a seemingly endless army of misshapen half-humans, all nightmarishly realistic. Nightmarish, in fact, perfectly describes the film’s general atmosphere, as it depicts the agony inflicted on Moreau’s victims unflinchingly; the pain they feel is palpable and disturbingly real, never the “indications of pain” that pass as tokens of the real thing in most genre films fearful of detracting from their entertainment value. H.G. Wells wrote “The Island of Dr. Moreau” as an anti-vivisection tract. (Let’s just pause a moment to consider the real-life horror of that word: vivi, meaning alive; section, meaning to cut up.) But he was so repulsed by this film that he was happy when the British Board of Film Censors banned it, a testament to how real it feels. Erle C. Kenton moves the fine script by Young and Wylie along rapidly, and the sequence toward the film’s end in which the humanimals lurch into fire-lit close-up is a stand out. Special mention must be made of Kathleen Burke, who makes Lota the Panther Woman awkwardly believable and sympathetic, of Arthur Hohl as Moreau’s self-loathing human assistant, and Bela Lugosi, Hans Steinke, Buster Brodie, and Tetsu Komai as particularly effective beast men. This pre-code horror movie has been in serious need of restoration for decades, and Criterion has performed admirably with this typically fine DVD release. Though rough in spots and occasionally dark, THE ISLAND OF LOST SOULS isn’t likely to ever look or sound better than this. Criterion has also created a menu that is a small work of graphic art in and of itself, so good I watched it several times before starting the feature. If you’re a fan of classic horror, this is the Must Have disc of the year.
HORROR EXPRESS (1972)
Written by Arnaud d’Usseau and Julian Halevy (aka Julian Zimet)
Directed by Eugenio Martin
Scientist Alexander Saxton (Christopher Lee) discovers a fossilzed ape-like being and transports it via the trans-Siberian express, whose international passengers include his chief rival, Dr. Wells (Peter Cushing). It comes to life during the trip and begins to kill the passengers. Long relegated to miserable Public Domain copies, Severin Films has now released a beautifully restored DVD of this which, in my opinion, is the best film Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee made together, after HORROR OF DRACULA. In one of the disc’s many wonderful extras, director Martin says he always thought of it as an adventure film, rather than a horror film, and he’s right: it’s a classic adventure thriller, with a diverse group of people trapped in a small, enclosed environment, being picked off one by one by a mysterious, shape-shifting monster (prompting the film’s most amusing dialogue exchange: when the Inspector says to Lee and Cushing that anyone on the train could be the monster, even the two scientists, offended by that absurd notion and mustering all of his considerable dignity, Cushing replies “Monsters? We’re British, you know.”) It’s got good production values, a fine, tightly constructed script by two Hollywood veterans that uses some neat concepts (primarily from John W. Campbell’s “Who Goes There?” and the film and television scripts of Nigel Kneale), an unusual score, a good supporting cast (particularly Alberto de Mendoza as Pujardov the monk and Julio Pena as Inspector Mirov) and fast paced direction that picks up speed in the film’s final act. Most of all, it gives Lee and Cushing the opportunity to play friendly rivals and chivalrous British heroes, and they rise to the occasion. A most entertaining movie, now finally available in a print worth watching. My vote for most unexpected and welcome restoration of the year.
— Robert Deveau, The Doomed Farmer
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