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Reviews
Marked Men (1940)
Some potential, and worth watching
This movie is in the public domain. A friend of mine downloaded it as "Desert Escape" and gave it, along with a batch of other public domain movies, to me as a gift. Whenever the weather is poor and I'm home I pull one out. I've been pleasantly surprised to find some interesting movies and big stars. This movie doesn't have any big stars -- at least not any I recognize -- but it has an interesting setting: Tempe, Arizona, and the surrounding desert, in modern times (1940 -- although the movie appears to have been made a little before that-- it has a late 30's feel). So many old movies are set in New York (to take advantage of sets already built?) that my interest is always piqued by an unusual setting. The story revolves around Bill Carver, who was imprisoned for a crime he did not commit -- or did he? What makes this movie worth watching is his interaction with Wolf the dog, the old-fashioned sentiments expressed by the main characters, and a scene at a picnic that appeared to use local residents as extras. Will you be riveted by the story? Maybe not. It's a fairly standard crime drama brought home, but I thought it was above average in execution and the dog (a Rin-Tin-Tin-ish shepherd) adds greatly to the story.
Inhabited (2003)
Bad Seed fans take note
A solid, natural performance from Megan Gallagher makes this movie, which is underwritten but worth viewing for her performance and some interesting camera work and a 'something's not right here' atmosphere. Offbeat performers include Patty McCormack ("The Bad Seed")and Malcolm McDowell ("A Clockwork Orange"), hamming it up as a shrink. There is nothing more distracting than bad child actors, and this film suffers a blow from what seems to be a miscast little girl (Sofia Vassilieva), but she redeems her performance towards the end of the film. Horror films succeed or fail based on their ability to convince us there is something to be afraid of (whether or not the fear is rational); this film plays it too conservatively and then rushes the ending. Still, not a bad film that combines family dynamics with the horror genre.