Category Archives: Doc’s Classic Movies Reviewed

Sherlock Jr. (1923)

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January 7

Going back over 100 years for today’s Genre-ary film, I picked up a rental on Fandango at Home for Sherlock Jr., a classic black and white, silent film starring Buster Keaton.

When I was doing the DailyView, I watched some Buster Keaton films, but I found that I preferred the Charlie Chaplin ones. Both were similar in their silent, comedic slapstick manner, but I just found Chaplin more appealing, more charming overall. However, after watching Sherlock Jr., I may have to reassess my opinion.

Buster Keaton was gold in this movie, giving a magnificent performance in both physical comedy and remarkable stunt work.

According to IMDB, “A film projectionist longs to be a detective, and puts his meagre skills to work when he is framed by a rival for stealing his girlfriend’s father’s pocket watch.”

Some of the things that this film accomplished in 1923 was simply astounding. Some of the stunts were superior to what I thought it could be done.

The dream sequence of the projectionist was sensational. The dream sequence where Keaton was the amazing detective Sherlock Jr. and it was funny, it had amazing choreography and slapstick comedy.

Of course when we say silent films, we mean that there is no one we can hear speaking. The is a constant musical score playing over the imagery of the movie. The soundtrack was composed by Timothy Block and his score was perfect for the speechless film. It was light-hearted when it needed to be, it was silly at times, and it was dramatic at the appropriate moment. The score truly helped to make this a classic film.

I thought Buster Keaton was special in this movie and the film was so much fun. I can see why it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 1991.

Alan Partridge (2013)

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January 6

I went back to HBO Max for today’s Genre-ary film and it was considerably better than yesterday’s. Alan Partridge was hilarious, clever British style humor that truly was a joy to watch.

According to IMDB, “When famous DJ Alan Partridge’s radio station is taken over by a new media conglomerate, it sets in motion a chain of events which see Alan having to work with the police to defuse a potentially violent siege.”

Alan Partridge is played by Steve Coogan and this film featured his brilliant wit and great dialogue that was as funny as it was intelligent. Colm Meaney co-starred with Coogan as Pat Farrell, one of the DJs that got canned when the new media conglomerate took over the radio station. Little did Pat know, Alan Partridge had a hand in helping to make the decision.

Alan was being put into so many crazy situations with this siege that you could tell what a fantastic character this guy was… and that was with him being a jerk in much of the film. Even though he was selfish and putting himself first, I could not help but love Alan.

Apparently, Alan Partridge was a character originally on a television program in England. It would be an interesting thing to see, just to compare the comedy with the film.

I really enjoyed this movie and I loved the character of Alan Partridge.

Miss Pinkerton (1932)

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January 5

We head back to 1932 today for the Genre-ary to a film called Miss Pinkerton. The 1932 film was viewed on HBO Max.

To be fair, it is labeled as a comedy/mystery/thriller, which is why it made its way on to the list for this year’s Comedy Genre-ary. Thing is…. there is not much of a comedy to it.

According to IMDB, “A hospital nurse is recruited by the police to watch a household where a suspicious death has occurred.“

Joan Blondell played the titular character, Miss Pinkerton, which was an alias she took on to help the police with their case. She was actually a nurse named Miss Adams. Blondell had some good presence as the lead of the film, but there was not a ton to the film.

The story of this movie is fairly convoluted and messy. I am not sure what was going on here.

Office Space (1999)

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January 4

The Genre-ary continued on today with a classic comedy from the late 90s called Office Space. I had heard of this film before, but I can honestly say that I really had no idea what the film was about.

According to IMDB, “Three company workers who hate their jobs decide to rebel against their greedy boss.“

This film is a satirical look at big business and corporations, and the people who work mindlessly within the structure of said business. The ridiculousness of some of the situations did not feel totally made up. I could easily be convinced that things like this actually happen in the offices across the country.

Ron Livingston does a great job as Peter. He is very relatable and you can feel his frustration over his life and his job. Jennifer Aniston appeared as Joanna. David Herman and Ajay Naidu were part of the office staff and friends to Peter. Stephen Root was very invested in his eccentric character and made every minute on screen worthwhile. Diedrich Bader was another standout and his character was hilarious. Another character who maximized his screen time.

Gary Cole is one of the most unlikable characters in the film, and he does a great job with it.

I found this movie very funny and I enjoyed it. There is not a ton of story involved with it, but the characters are fun and the bits are funny.

The Jerk (1979)

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January 3

The Genre-ary continued today with The Jerk, a movie that, when I was compiling the possible list of comedies for the Genre-ary, I realized that I had not seen the entire film. Of course, I had seen parts of the movie. The “The new phone book’s here” scene is iconic. However, I could not recall much of anything else, so if I had seen it as a youth, this would be like a whole new movie.

And, as I said, I did not remember most of this movie, telling me that I had not seen the film all the way through.

Steve Martin is one of my favorite comedic actors, especially recently with his turn as Oliver on Only Murders in the Building. I was a fan of his from the early 80s with his song King Tut and some of his other films such as Roxanne, Parenthood, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, and Little Shop of Horrors.

In The Jerk, directed by comedy legend Carl Reiner, Martin played a slow-witted, innocent guy, Navin, who was raised as a poor black kid in a sharecroppers family. That very idea, considering Martin is as white as a person could be, was hilarious. It also was not as insulting as I first thought it might be.

After discovering his own life rhythm, Navin left home to try to find out who he really was. He then embarked on a wild ride that found him becoming a huge success and losing it all.

Martin’s performance reminded me of an actor who is always loud and over the top. I typically am not a fan of this type of role, but Steve Martin brought something extra to it that made it enduring. I can only guess that this film was an inspiration to actors such as Jim Carrey, Kevin Hart, Adam Sandler, and Chris Farley, as they all have made a career of the loud, obnoxious type character that Steve Martin was showing in this film.

The film’s title is not accurate to me though as Navin was not really a jerk, but more of a simpleton. There was an innocence about him that helped make him appealing to the audience.

The film featured several other actors in important roles including EYG Hall of Famer Bernadette Peters, Carl Reiner (as himself), Bill Macy, Mabel King, Richard Ward, M. Emmet Walsh, Jackie Mason, Dick Anthony Williams, Catlin Adams, and Dick O’Neill. Several of these key character actors add a perfect flair to the cast, playing off the ridiculousness of Martin’s Navin.

The Jerk is a classic and I am happy that I finally did take the time to watch the entire film. The plot itself is a little lacking, but it is more of a comedy sketch to see where Navin is at any time during his life.

Eddie Murphy: Raw (1987)

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January 2

It is Genre-ary time and today’s comedy is a stand up film featuring Eddie Murphy. Eddie Murphy’s Raw is a hilarious film that probably couldn’t work in today’s environment.

It is interesting that this concert film started off with a scene featuring famous black actors including Samuel L. Jackson, Tatyana Ali, Damien Wayans, Basil Wallace, Leonard Jackson, and Gwen McGee. It was a scene of a family night at home with a talent show among the kids. Little Eddie Murphy (Deon Richmond) did some comedy, setting the tone for the rest of the film.

Eddie Murphy showed a remarkable energy on the stage and his routines were very funny. There were a couple of them that made me cringe a bit (aka the homosexual jokes) but most of the show was entertaining. Murphy’s rapid fire delivery and pacing was an impressive demonstration of his comedic skill. He had the full audience enraptured with his words.

There was an ironic section too as Eddie did an imitation of a phone call he received from Bill Cosby about all the profanity Murphy would use on his stage show. In retrospect, a little swearing should not have bothered Cosby a much as some other things he was doing.

The stage section of the film was filmed in front of a live crowd in New York City.

Who Done It? (1942)

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January 1

January is here and that means that it is time to start our annual tradition, the Genre-ary. We have done Sci-fi, Musicals, Documentaries and this year, we will be doing comedies.

I wanted to start off with one of the top comedy duos who I watched a lot as a child. I know there were great comedy duos/team like the Marx Brothers, Laurel and Hardy, but Bud Abbot and Lou Costello were my favorite ones.

Of their list of movies, I picked out one I did not remember at all called Who Done It? Bud and Lou get themselves involved in a murder investigation on the set of a radio broadcast of a murder mystery show.

Much like most Abbot and Costello movies, the plot is tangential to the comedy of the film. The comedy comes from the slapstick of Lou Costello physically throwing himself around, bashing his head into things and flopping his body around. There are also plenty of word plays and puns throughout. This film even goes as far as to include some allusions to Abbot and Costello’s most iconic bit, Who’s on First.

You are not waiting for a lot of sense to be made. It is truly ridiculous. But the lengths Abbot and Costello will go to get a laugh is really impressive. It seemed that their very presences would make the other characters around them be dumber, in a good way.

This film also included Mary Wickes, who was Mary Lazarus in the Sister Act films as well as Emma Allen in White Christmas. Her distinct voice and facial image made her stand out among the craziness associated with Bud and Lou.

The film was fast-paced, tangent-inducing, slapstick fun. Yes, Lou Costello was loud and acted in a chaotic, if not insane, manner. It all added to the fun of the pair. They kicked of the Genre-ary in a positive light.

Terrifier 2 (2022)

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13 of The October 13

With this film, the October 13 comes to a close for 2025. For the final movie of the list, I decided to give Terrifier 2 a chance.

I had watched the original Terrifier last week as a part of the October 13, but I did not like it much. Outside of a neat new killer, Art the Clown, there wasn’t much to the film.

Terrifier 2 however takes a much different route. I did enjoy this one much more.

It started off with some brutality that made me look away from the screen a couple of times. I am not a huge fan of the graphic blood and gore in the franchise, but that is something that I have never been much of a fan of.

What was different with this movie compared to the first one was the protagonists. Sienna (Lauren LaVera) and her younger brother Jonathan (Elliott Fullam) were two characters that I really enjoyed. I thought both of them had much more development than any character in the original and I wanted to see them survive the movie. It was nice to have some characters to root for.

Now, the third act was weird and magically bizarre and I am not sure if I loved how things happened, although the conclusion to the movie was oddly satisfying.

I did like this film better than the first one. It was still too long, but I was cheering for Sienna and Jonathan the whole time. Maybe I can watch Terrifier 3 for next year’s October 13.

The Uninspired (2009)

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12 of The October 13

I had high hopes for this film.

The Uninspired was based on Kim Jee-Woo’s 2003 Korean horror film, A Tale of Two Sisters. I have never seen that film so I did not have to worry about a comparison.

According to IMDB, “Anna returns home after a stint in a mental hospital, but her recovery is jeopardized by her father’s new girlfriend and ghastly visions of her dead mother.“

I started with this movie and I was intrigued with what it was laying out. There was kept its story close to the vest at the beginning, and I liked the very beginning of the film. Then, it seemed to take a shift into a situation with a manipulative girlfriend that we’d seen many times before.

Sadly, that middle part of the movie was so dumb that the film skidded to a halt. It became nonsensical several times. Then, in the third act, the film went completely off the rails as the film tried to pull a poor man’s Sixth Sense twist that really did not work… at all. I found it to be totally ridiculous and it did not make any sense, nor did they care that it did not.

I was really disappointed with the film.

Vampyr (1932)

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11 of the October 13

In all honesty, I am not sure I have any idea of what happened in this movie.

The October 13 headed back to 1932, thanks to HBO Max, for a black and white gothic horror movie entitled Vampyr.

It is bizarre, wild, disorienting and nightmarish. And I am not sure I know what happened.

According to IMDB, “A drifter obsessed with the supernatural stumbles upon an inn where a severely ill adolescent girl is slowly becoming a vampire.”

The info drop they present us with included a lot of details that we have not seen in vampire stories before, which is fine, but it was a little difficult to follow.

The visuals of this movie, especially the odd out-of-body experience that our main protagonist, Allan Gray went through happened without any explanation at all. The death of the doctor at the end of the film, smothered in flour, was also as weird of an ending as you could expect. Then, Gray and Giséle, who had been kidnapped by the doctor, were on a boat.

It all feels more like a fever dream than anything else.

Isle of the Dead (1945)

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10 of the October 13

With this year’s October 13, most of the films have been from the last 10-15 years. I wanted to find something older to add to the list, so I went to HBO Max and found a film from 1945 featuring EYG Hall of Famer Boris Karloff called Isle of the Dead.

According to IMDB, “On a Greek island during the 1912 war, several people are trapped by quarantine for the plague. If that isn’t enough worry, one of the people, a superstitious old peasant woman, suspects one young girl of being a vampiric kind of demon called a vorvolaka“

The film was a slow burn for much of the runtime, as the characters stuck on the island began to fall from the plague. However, once the identity of the “vorvolaka” was revealed and she went on her spree in the end of the film, the story picked up rapidly.

Boris Karloff gives a great performance as General Nikolas Pherides. The General was very much suspicious of Thea (Ellen Drew) and the combination of the sickness and his own paranoia led to a madness gripping him. Karloff was definitely the stand out of the actors involved.

The music of the score worked extremely well, creating a sufficient feel for each scene.

The story was simple and the horror did elevate near the third act. With a strong performance from an iconic horror actor, Isle of the Dead ended on a strong note.

Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel (2018)

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9 of the October 13

This is the third Hell House film that I have seen. I have not gone in any specific order. I started with the original Hell House film and then, for the October 13 for 2024, I watched the Hell House LLC: Origins film.

This, the first sequel to the original, has been on my queue on Amazon Prime for quite awhile now.

The film had some moments to it, but it was a step down from the other Hell House films that I have seen. The found footage/documentary format does work well for this series. This film added the “Morning Mysteries” talk show idea to help build the suspense of what was going on.

However, the twist at the end was laughable. There were good moments leading into this, but none of them would be as remembered as this horrific ending twist. It is perhaps one of the worst ending sequences I have seen in a long time.

Even if I had been engaged with the film up until the ending, that would have truly wrecked it. As it is, I was mildly interested in the film prior to this, but it took a major nose dive after that.

Terrifier (2016)

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8 of the October 13

I have avoided the Terrifier franchise up until this point. I figured that I could include this in the October 13 this year since I found them available on Peacock. I have always enjoyed a good killer clown.

Of course, I much prefer Pennywise to Art the Clown.

I did like the design of the character of Art the Clown. He looked good. After that though, I was not much of a fan of this movie.

The biggest problem was that none of these characters, including Art, meant anything to me. There was really no story to the film. Sure, most slasher films have a limited amount of story, but there usually is something. This was lacking completely.

The killings were gruesome and had a bit of humor to them. I had to roll my eyes at the hacksaw killing because of how impossible it would be. If you know, you know. It felt as if the gore was the only thing that Terrifier had going for it.

The ending in the morgue made no sense as there had been zero hints prior that Art was anything more than just a kook in a clown mask.

While Terrifier was just 1 hour and 25 minutes long, the sequel expanded to a whopping 2 hours and 25 minutes, which will probably prevent me from watching it any time soon. The first film did not inspire me to want to invest that long into a second taste of Art the Clown.

Strange Frequencies: Taiwan Killer Hospital (2024)

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7 of The October 13

For the next film in the October 13 this year, I went to Netflix for a 2024 Philippine found footage film based on a Korean film from 2018 called Gonijam: Haunted Asylum.

According to IMDB, “Reality TV stars face mounting supernatural horrors while filming at haunted Xinglin Hospital in Taiwan. As paranormal activity intensifies, group dynamics crumble and a dark force manipulates their survival choices.“

The idea of a group of online celebrities doing a livestream inside a horrendous haunted asylum and streaming their eventual deaths across the internet does not sound like a situation that is improbable. In fact, I could see something like this taking place in the world of YouTube today.

It seemed as if most of these actors were playing some form of themselves during the film. They all did an exceptional job of creating tension and anxiety through their outright terror and panic to escape the horrors that they were facing.

A few of the deaths were terrible, including the ones that were more quiet, like Zarck, who appears to have caught some kind of deadly virus and he was breaking our in scabs and growths.

While a lot of the dialogue was members of the team just calling out each other’s names (aka “ALEXA!”, “QUEN!” etc.), it built that feeling of confusion and hysteria.

This was a good use of the found footage subgenre and the movie had some interesting comments to make on the online community. The responses to the live stream on the side of the screen were very realistic.

The Devil’s Candy (2015)

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6 of The October 13

I had never heard of this movie before, but after seeing Dangerous Animals, directed by Sean Byrne, I saw on his IMDB page that he had done another horror film called The Devil’s Candy. I was impressed enough with the Dangerous Animals movie, that I looked into this movie. It had a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and was available on Shudder.

With the positives, I added it to the possible films for the October 13 this year. I just watched it and it was a frightening thriller with some solid performances.

According to IMDB, “Metal music, paint, and family are the passions of struggling painter, Jesse, who lives a happy life with his wife, and daughter. Things look brighter when Jesse finds a huge old house, in rural Texas, selling at a very low price, due to its mysterious past. They move in and Jesse converts the barn into a studio. But soon, his work starts taking on a new, darker flavour – and things get even more ominous when the hulking, unbalanced son of the former owners appears on the doorstep. Jesse’s family won’t be safe until they find a way to quiet the Devil himself.“

Pruitt Taylor Vince played Ray Smilie, who lived in the house before. His presence in the film was disturbing every second he was on screen. You felt for him at first, but that does not last long as he begins to do some horrendous things.

The tone of this movie was so uneasy, filled with tension that you were never really sure where the film was heading next and whether or not this was going to turn out to be a positive ending. I like that kind of film and the mood was truly ramped up.

Byrne does a great job directing this and you can see where his storytelling highlights the important details in the film. He is one of our new voices in horror with a couple huge successes under his belt.