
planktonrules
Joined Jun 2003
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"Who Done It?" is a great example of a slapstick film. Slapstick was about the lowest sort of comedy...and they were immensely popular in the 1910s. In slapstick films, plot is less important than people bonking each other over the head or shooting wildly at each other. No one is ever killed in these stories and fans loved them. When seen today, most of them are a bit lame and comedy greatly improved in the 1920s.
While this film is very dated, compared to other slapstick movies of the day, it's a bit better than average.
A wife (Gale Henry) is home when various salesmen keep barging into her house. The super-jealous husband suspects his wife and is outside watching and again and again, he attcks the salesmen and beats them with a club. Later another man arrives (it's her brother) and this time they escape without being bonked. So the husband follows them to the theater...where they're about to watch a Gale Henry film! What's next? See the film and let the shooting and bonking begin!
While this film is very dated, compared to other slapstick movies of the day, it's a bit better than average.
A wife (Gale Henry) is home when various salesmen keep barging into her house. The super-jealous husband suspects his wife and is outside watching and again and again, he attcks the salesmen and beats them with a club. Later another man arrives (it's her brother) and this time they escape without being bonked. So the husband follows them to the theater...where they're about to watch a Gale Henry film! What's next? See the film and let the shooting and bonking begin!
A few years ago, IMDB changed its infamous Bottom 100 list. I was able to see nearly every film on the old list...but "Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders" evaded me...until today when I found it on one of the apps on my Amazon Fire tonight.
This film has an overall rating of 2.1...which is abysmal! Before even watching it, I knew it was bad not just because of its rating and its being on the old list but how they made the film. It's a film made up of two spooky stories...and one is simply a condensed version of "The Devil's Gift" (currently with an overall score of 3.1! In other words, they took a stinker film, chopped it to pieces and used it to make up the second half of this movie. The first half is an original story...but like the second one, it's pretty bad.
Story number one is about a very broadly acted nasty reporter who stumbles into Merlin's shop in modern America. Instead of just looking about, the reporter starts threatening Merlin and his wife...until they give him a cursed gift to convince him that magic is real...and to teach him a lesson, of course. It's not good and the makeup is pretty bad...but manages to earn a 3.
Story number two is the edited down crappy film. A guy steals one of those creepy monkey toys with crashing cymbals. It ends up in a second hand shop and a lady buys it for a kid on his birthday. Bad things result. The worst thing about this one is that "Merlin" came out in 1996...and the hairstyles and fashions are all from over a decade earlier, so it looks out of place...especially the ladies' hairstyles. This one is worse...earning a 2.
The worst aspect of the movie is most of the acting, though I will give it a bit of a break on this as they have Ernest Borgnine on hand to introduce the stories...and he's one of the few good things about the movie. But aside from him, the other actors seem like non-professionals or folks who work in community theater...a very small and untalented community. The writing is at best okay...but the stories simply aren't particularly scary or well done. Overall, I'd score the movie a 2. I've seen much worse...but I'm also a glutton for punishment!
This film has an overall rating of 2.1...which is abysmal! Before even watching it, I knew it was bad not just because of its rating and its being on the old list but how they made the film. It's a film made up of two spooky stories...and one is simply a condensed version of "The Devil's Gift" (currently with an overall score of 3.1! In other words, they took a stinker film, chopped it to pieces and used it to make up the second half of this movie. The first half is an original story...but like the second one, it's pretty bad.
Story number one is about a very broadly acted nasty reporter who stumbles into Merlin's shop in modern America. Instead of just looking about, the reporter starts threatening Merlin and his wife...until they give him a cursed gift to convince him that magic is real...and to teach him a lesson, of course. It's not good and the makeup is pretty bad...but manages to earn a 3.
Story number two is the edited down crappy film. A guy steals one of those creepy monkey toys with crashing cymbals. It ends up in a second hand shop and a lady buys it for a kid on his birthday. Bad things result. The worst thing about this one is that "Merlin" came out in 1996...and the hairstyles and fashions are all from over a decade earlier, so it looks out of place...especially the ladies' hairstyles. This one is worse...earning a 2.
The worst aspect of the movie is most of the acting, though I will give it a bit of a break on this as they have Ernest Borgnine on hand to introduce the stories...and he's one of the few good things about the movie. But aside from him, the other actors seem like non-professionals or folks who work in community theater...a very small and untalented community. The writing is at best okay...but the stories simply aren't particularly scary or well done. Overall, I'd score the movie a 2. I've seen much worse...but I'm also a glutton for punishment!
"Open Season" is a rather unpleasant film and it's definitely one that is not for all audiences. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Three sociopathic Vietnam vets (Peter Fonda, John Phillip Law and Richard Lynch) decide to have fun. This means kidnapping a couple and tormenting them. Now they don't kill or torture them yet...they just mess with their minds until the inevitable happens. This inevitable is the trio planning on hunting down and killing the couple like the 1930s film "The Most Dangerous Game" (which is a classic).
Most of the film consists of the trio tormenting and then taking turns chasing each of member of the couple. What happens next? Well, someone else shows up (William Holden)...and they aren't thrilled with the 'antics' of these scumbags!
Technically speaking, this isn't a bad film. But I also felt dirty watching it and actually sped past a few of the nastier portions. It's just a thoroughly unpleasant story and life is too short for me to watch these sorts of things. You might enjoy it...I just felt like it was torture porn...like getting your thrills watching people suffer. It certainly could have been worse and more graphic...but it was unpleasant enough that I don't recommend it.
Three sociopathic Vietnam vets (Peter Fonda, John Phillip Law and Richard Lynch) decide to have fun. This means kidnapping a couple and tormenting them. Now they don't kill or torture them yet...they just mess with their minds until the inevitable happens. This inevitable is the trio planning on hunting down and killing the couple like the 1930s film "The Most Dangerous Game" (which is a classic).
Most of the film consists of the trio tormenting and then taking turns chasing each of member of the couple. What happens next? Well, someone else shows up (William Holden)...and they aren't thrilled with the 'antics' of these scumbags!
Technically speaking, this isn't a bad film. But I also felt dirty watching it and actually sped past a few of the nastier portions. It's just a thoroughly unpleasant story and life is too short for me to watch these sorts of things. You might enjoy it...I just felt like it was torture porn...like getting your thrills watching people suffer. It certainly could have been worse and more graphic...but it was unpleasant enough that I don't recommend it.