
Hey_Sweden
Joined Sep 2011
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The typically sincere Richard Carlson (It Came from Outer Space) stars here as jazz pianist Tom Stewart, who lives in an island lighthouse. As the movie opens, he's being angrily confronted by obsessed ex-girlfriend Vi (Juli Reding (Why Must I Die)). He ends up letting her fall to her death rather than let her interfere with his plan to marry Meg Hubbard (Lugene Sanders (The Life of Riley)), daughter of a rich local. Vi returns in spirit form to haunt & torment him.
Ultimately quite predictable, and lacking in real scares, Tormented still has some decent atmosphere, and a solid cast. Director Bert I. Gordons' actress daughter Susan (Picture Mommy Dead) is endearing as Megs' kid sister, Lillian Adams (The Jerk) plays the blind resident Mrs. Ellis, Gene Roth (Earth vs. The Spider) is restaurant owner Mr. Nelson, and Vera Marshe (Way Out West) and Harry Fleer (Shock Corridor), who is dubbed by an uncredited Paul Frees (Suddenly), are Megs' parents.
The visual effects designed by Gordon & his wife Flora are fairly amusing, as we see Vi materialize here and there and upset Tom a lot. Of course, Meg fears that he may be going crazy since Tom's the only one who sees & hears Vi most of the time. Character actor and Kubrick favorite Joe Turkel (The Shining) adds some life to the movie in the second half as a sleazy beatnik tugboat captain & blackmailer who keeps addressing Tom as "dad".
If you want to see a genuinely frightening movie about the supernatural, this is not a good bet. But it's still reasonably fun, for fans of B horror. The main hook is seeing Carlson play against type as this self-motivated and shady character.
Six out of 10.
Ultimately quite predictable, and lacking in real scares, Tormented still has some decent atmosphere, and a solid cast. Director Bert I. Gordons' actress daughter Susan (Picture Mommy Dead) is endearing as Megs' kid sister, Lillian Adams (The Jerk) plays the blind resident Mrs. Ellis, Gene Roth (Earth vs. The Spider) is restaurant owner Mr. Nelson, and Vera Marshe (Way Out West) and Harry Fleer (Shock Corridor), who is dubbed by an uncredited Paul Frees (Suddenly), are Megs' parents.
The visual effects designed by Gordon & his wife Flora are fairly amusing, as we see Vi materialize here and there and upset Tom a lot. Of course, Meg fears that he may be going crazy since Tom's the only one who sees & hears Vi most of the time. Character actor and Kubrick favorite Joe Turkel (The Shining) adds some life to the movie in the second half as a sleazy beatnik tugboat captain & blackmailer who keeps addressing Tom as "dad".
If you want to see a genuinely frightening movie about the supernatural, this is not a good bet. But it's still reasonably fun, for fans of B horror. The main hook is seeing Carlson play against type as this self-motivated and shady character.
Six out of 10.
Scripted by William Peter Blatty, based on a novel by Frank O'Rourke, "The Great Bank Robbery" offers some genial fun for lovers of Westerns & comedies. The story revolves around three separate attempts to plunder the riches of the bank in the town of Friendly; two of these attempts involve the digging of tunnels. Zero Mostel ("The Producers") plays a bogus preacher with a bogus flock, Clint Walker ("The Night of the Grizzly") is a jut-jawed Texas ranger, and Akim Tamiroff ("Touch of Evil") is a hard-luck bandito with a dopey son (Larry Storch, 'F Troop').
"The Great Bank Robbery" is the kind of comedy that made me smile often, but rarely laugh out loud. I found it all rather mild, at least until the over-the-top, chaotic finale that pulls out all the stops.
It's the cast that makes this work as well as it does; they're certainly working hard themselves. Kim Novak ("Vertigo") is Mostels' sexy companion, who naturally develops a yen for the studly Walker. Claude Akins ("Rio Bravo"), John Anderson ("Psycho"), Mako ("The Sand Pebbles"), Sam Jaffe ("Gunga Din"), Elisha Cook Jr. ("The Maltese Falcon"), Ruth Warrick ("Citizen Kane"), John Fiedler ("12 Angry Man"), John Larch ("Dirty Harry"), Peter Whitney ("The Big Heat"), Norman Alden ("Back to the Future"), Grady Sutton ("The Bank Dick"), and Bob Steele ("The Big Sleep") all contribute heavily as well, creating a lot of audience goodwill.
Overall, this likeable movie delivers some good zany humor; it hits the ground running, and has some fine action as well as comedy.
Six out of 10.
"The Great Bank Robbery" is the kind of comedy that made me smile often, but rarely laugh out loud. I found it all rather mild, at least until the over-the-top, chaotic finale that pulls out all the stops.
It's the cast that makes this work as well as it does; they're certainly working hard themselves. Kim Novak ("Vertigo") is Mostels' sexy companion, who naturally develops a yen for the studly Walker. Claude Akins ("Rio Bravo"), John Anderson ("Psycho"), Mako ("The Sand Pebbles"), Sam Jaffe ("Gunga Din"), Elisha Cook Jr. ("The Maltese Falcon"), Ruth Warrick ("Citizen Kane"), John Fiedler ("12 Angry Man"), John Larch ("Dirty Harry"), Peter Whitney ("The Big Heat"), Norman Alden ("Back to the Future"), Grady Sutton ("The Bank Dick"), and Bob Steele ("The Big Sleep") all contribute heavily as well, creating a lot of audience goodwill.
Overall, this likeable movie delivers some good zany humor; it hits the ground running, and has some fine action as well as comedy.
Six out of 10.