Thriller

Quote:
Karel Kachyna’s 1970 The Ear is a harrowing tale that interweaves marital discord and surveillance paranoia. With its portrait of a government functionary who spends a sleepless night wondering if he’ll be arrested before daybreak, it’s no wonder that The Ear had to wait until 1989 for its Czech premiere; the wonder is that it was made at all. The latter, at least, can be explained by the fact that Kachyna’s long-time collaborator, scenarist Jan Procházka, was a government official of some standing – which accounts, no doubt, for The Ear’s insider perspective, playing as it does with the couple’s knowledge of which rooms in their comfortable house are likely bugged and which aren’t.Read More »

Synopsis:
Deborah Ballin is a controversial middle-aged TV journalist, who is campaigning on air on behalf of a battered woman who murdered her abusive husband, claiming justifiable defense against the so-called victim. But her outspoken views championing women’s rights incense one of the studio’s cleaning staff, closet homicidal psycho (and misogynist) Colt Hawker whose deep seated despising all all things female occurred from seeing his Mother throwing boiling oil in the face of his abusive Father when he was a small child (and who’s M.O. is to photograph victims he stabs as they’re spasming to death).Read More »

Monica Rivers is the owner and ringmaster of a traveling circus, and she’ll stop at nothing to draw bigger audiences. When a series of mysterious murders begins to occur and some of her performers die gruesomely, her profits soar. She hires high-wire walker Frank Hawkins, impressed by the handsome and muscular young man. They begin an affair which arouses her previous lover Durando’s jealousy. When Durando is found dead shortly afterward, the other performers begin to take alarm, as a mysterious killer is obviously loose in their midst. Read More »

Synopsis:
When two oil company executives are found dead, insurance company investigator Hugh “Bulldog” Drummond (Richard Johnson) is brought onto the case. Soon, Drummond and his young mod nephew, Robert (Steve Carlson), are circling the globe on the trail of a pair of gorgeous assassins, Irma (Elke Sommer) and Penelope (Sylva Koscina), who dispatch important businessmen after ensnaring them with their feminine wiles. The film updates a popular 1920s British mystery series for the swinging ’60s.Read More »

Taking the Chilean coup as an example, a group of young officers plan to overthrow the Japanese government on V-J Day. They aim to abolish the post-war constitution, restore the national army and revive the traditional spirit of Japan. As the conspiracy is exposed, the coup squadrons are wiped out one by one. The remaining squadron takes over a night train bound for Tokyo.Read More »

Synopsis:
At the core of Without Trace is a story about a young girl who is the daughter a prominent doctor. When the girl goes missing her father gets the police to jump into action because of his class status / wealth. Early on this provides one in the story this provides one of the many intricate back stories. There is a loose cannon detective who takes offense to the fact that the police bend over backwards when someone of wealth is involved and drag their feet when it is someone from a poverty background. Things quickly change when the young girls body is discovered and this detective become more sympathetic towards her.Read More »

This film is interesting in that it may be the rarest and most least well known film in the oeuvre Martin Scorsese, who co-wrote the script despite the film being a German-Dutch coproduction. In other Scorsese connections, the film features a score by Bernard Herrmann. As one might have already guessed by now, Besessen – Das Loch in der Wand AKA Bezeten – Het gat in de muur AKA Obsessions AKA Possessed is a Hitchcockian thriller that would certainly interest fans of Brian De Palma due to its more ‘exploitative’ approach to the Hitch brand of filmmaking. The film also features Dutch auteur Fons Rademakers in an acting role. Paul Verhoeven also contributed to the script, though he was not credited.Read More »

Synopsis:
In the DMZ separating North and South Korea, two North Korean soldiers have been killed, supposedly by one South Korean soldier. But the 11 bullets found in the bodies, together with the 5 remaining rounds in the assassin’s magazine, amount to 16 cartridges for a gun that should normally hold 15. The investigating Swiss/Swedish team from the neutral countries overseeing the DMZ suspects that another, unknown party was involved – all of which points to some sort of cover up. The truth is much simpler and much more tragic.Read More »

Synopsis:
India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska) was not prepared to lose her father and best friend Richard (Dermot Mulroney) in a tragic auto accident. The solitude of her woodsy family estate, the peace of her tranquil town, and the unspoken somberness of her home life are suddenly upended by not only this mysterious accident, but by the sudden arrival of her Uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode), who she never knew existed. When Charlie moves in with her and her emotionally unstable mother Evie (Nicole Kidman), India thinks the void left by her father’s death is finally being filled by his closest bloodline. Soon after his arrival, India comes to suspect that this mysterious, charming man has ulterior motives. Yet instead of feeling outrage or horror, this friendless young woman becomes increasingly infatuated with him.Read More »