Reel Reviews - Movie Reviews, blu-ray/DVD reviews

The Flesh and the Fiends (1960) - Blu-ray Review

Details: Published: 21 July 2020; Written by Loron Hays

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Make no mistake about it, The Flesh and the Fiends is a righteous horror film, drooping left eye and all, as experimental vivisections rule the day. Lost men! Lost souls! With no apologies issued to the dead, The Flesh and the Fiends begins in a spooktacular fashion as a body is torn free from ...

All Hail The Popcorn King: A Joe R. Lansdale Documentary - Movie Review

Details: Published: 21 July 2020; Written by Loron Hays

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“Hallowed be thy name, oh Lord, and shotgun do your stuff!” In which the most well-known unknown author steps into the limelight! For ANYONE interested in genre writing, Texas history, and Joe R. Lansdale, All Hail the Popcorn King is the documentary for you ...

Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema, Volume IV: Six Bridges To Cross (1955) - Blu-ray Review

Details: Published: 20 July 2020; Written by Loron Hays

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Because not everyone can be saved. Inspired by the Great Brink's Robbery of 1950, Six Bridges To Cross makes its targets known early: trigger-happy cops and unrepentant criminals. Civil unrest. That’s what happens when a police officer (George Nader) shoots a kid during a robbery ...

Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema, Volume IV: An Act of Murder (1948) - Blu-ray Review

Details: Published: 20 July 2020; Written by Loron Hays

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An Act of Murder, in which a very uncompromising and stubborn judge learns a tough, tough lesson about guilt and morals, is perhaps one of the most forward-thinking film noir offerings in that it comes from the point of view of a man who defends a very strict and outdated view of law and ...

Haunted Honeymoon (1986) - Blu-ray Review

Details: Published: 19 July 2020; Written by Loron Hays

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...in which the Golden Age of Radio meets the Chiller Comedies of the 1940s. No wonder Haunted Honeymoon was a box office bomb, but that doesn’t mean it needs to be ignored. The film, with over-the-top characters and spooky atmospheres, is damn funny ...

Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema, Volume IV: Calcutta (1946) - Blu-ray Review

Details: Published: 17 July 2020; Written by Loron Hays

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“Two gin slings . . . with ice.” With that famous line, Alan Ladd (Shane) as American pilot, Neale Gordon, begins to fall for Virginia Moore (Gail Russell, The Uninvited). He doesn’t want to, but he can’t help himself. Hell, one look at her engaging beauty and I would, too. Holy cow is she a looker ...

Two Ways To Go West - Movie Review

Details: Published: 17 July 2020; Written by Loron Hays

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The darkness in Two Ways To Go West hits hard. It's also unapologetic, making it essential viewing for anyone inspired by independent filmmaking ...

Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema, Volume 1: A Bullet for Joey (1955)

Details: Published: 16 July 2020; Written by Loron Hays

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Okay, so A Bullet for Joey, directed by Lewis Allen (Appointment with Danger, The Perfect Marriage) and starring Edward G. Robinson and George Raft, doesn’t exactly fit so tidily into the whole film noir genre, but that doesn’t keep it from sharing certain elements of that cinematic world ...

Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema, Volume 1: Big House, U.S.A. (1955)

Details: Published: 16 July 2020; Written by Loron Hays

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From stunning, widescreen vistas in Colorado's Royal Gorge National Park to some deftly handled underwater scenes (filmed in Santa Monica, California), Big House, U.S.A. does not disappoint, going dark with the gruesome murder of a kid at the beginning ...

The Tent - Movie Review

Details: Published: 16 July 2020; Written by Loron Hays

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The new comedy starring Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson called The Hustle is an almost identical remake of the 1988 classic comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels which starred Michael Caine and Steve Martin - itself a remake of Marlon Brando’s Bedtime Story. I say “almost” because ...