Crime | Cagey Films

Cheap sci-fi and hardboiled noir in 3D

Posted on September 27, 2023September 19, 2023 by Kenneth George Godwin

Members of the gang come down hard on Mike Hammer (Biff Elliot) and his secretary Velda (Margaret Sheridan) in Harry Essex's I, the Jury (1953)

A 3D restoration of Phil Tucker’s ultra-cheap Robot Monster (1953) doesn’t really help this oddly endearing slice of poverty row sci-fi, but Classicflix’s 4K restoration of Harry Essex’s adaptation of Mickey Spillane’s I, the Jury (1953) is a revelation of what a great cinematographer could accomplish with first-wave 3D technology; Spillane’s brutal noir was shot by John Alton, a master of light and shadow, and the sense of space and imagery which plays on multiple planes in almost shot makes this one of the most impressive looking 3D movies of its time.

Grefé, Shatner and the resurrection of Impulse (1974)

Posted on August 30, 2023August 29, 2023 by Kenneth George Godwin

Matt Stone (William Shatner) is attentive to a nightclub dancer's performance in William Grefé's Impulse (1974)

Grindhouse Releasing have resurrected one of Florida exploitation master William Grefé’s best films with an impressive two-disk set showcasing Impulse (1974), starring William Shatner as a con-man/killer, along with two other features plus hours of extras.

Carl Franklin’s One False Move (1992): Criterion Blu-ray review

Posted on July 26, 2023July 25, 2023 by Kenneth George Godwin

Fantasia (Cynda Williams) just wants to get home to see her child in Carl Franklin's One False Move (1992)

One False Move (1992), a slow-burn character study of small-time criminals and a small-town cop punctuated by disturbing burst of violence, gave Tom Paxton his best role and launched the careers of director Carl Franklin and writer-actor Billy Bob Thornton. This low-budget independent production gets an impressive restoration from the Criterion Collection in a dual-format 4K UHD/Blu-ray release.

Comedy, disasters, crime and horror: more new releases

Posted on June 14, 2023June 12, 2023 by Kenneth George Godwin

The Bowler (Janeane Garofalo) has issues with her father's skull in Kinka Usher's Mystery Men (1999)

I’ve been revisiting some familiar movies in upgraded editions, with new transfers and extras; some I haven’t seen in years, even decades, They run the gamut from horror to comedy, thrillers to superheroes, zombies and monsters.

Murder, robbery and paranormal activity: three new releases

Posted on June 7, 2023June 6, 2023 by Kenneth George Godwin

Bank robber Milan (Johnny Hallyday) seems weary of his life choices in Patrice Leconte's Man on the Train (2002)

Three recent releases spanning nine decades offer radically different viewing experiences, from James Whale’s pre-Code courtroom drama The Kiss Before the Mirror (1933), rife with bourgeois misogyny, to Patrice Leconte’s Man on the Train (2002), steeped in existential weariness, to Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s Something in the Dirt (2022), in which the residents of a nondescript Los Angeles apartment discover a portal to cosmic horror.

What I haven’t been writing about

Posted on May 24, 2023May 24, 2023 by Kenneth George Godwin

Mia Goth as a porn actress who encounters a rural killer in Ti West's X (2022)

Although I write regularly here about the movies I watch, there are a lot more I don’t get around to mentioning – the reasons for what write about or ignore are not entirely clear.

Seijun Suzuki’s Branded to Kill (1967): Criterion Blu-ray review

Posted on May 20, 2023May 19, 2023 by Kenneth George Godwin

Misako (Annu Mari) lures Hanada (Joe Shishido) into danger in Seijun Suzuki's Branded to Kill (1967)

Criterion’s new dual-format release of Seijun Suzuki’s Branded to Kill (1967) showcases a 4K transfer of this radical deconstruction of the yakuza genre starring the idiosyncratic Joe Shishido as hit man who finds himself disappearing down a rabbit hole of paranoia and violence.

Román Viñoly Barreto’s El vampiro negro (1953)

Posted on May 10, 2023May 9, 2023 by Kenneth George Godwin

Flicker Alley and the Film Noir Foundation have released another fascinating Argentine movie from the early 1950s on the heels of two revelatory releases last year. Román Viñoly Barreto’s El vampiro negro (1953) is even more intriguing than Viñoly Barreto’s The Beast Must Die (1952) and Fernando Ayala’s The Bitter Stems (1956), being a reworking of Fritz Lang’s M (1931) from a very different perspective – that of a mother whose daughter is at risk from the serial child murderer.

Recent Arrow releases, part two

Posted on March 15, 2023March 15, 2023 by Kenneth George Godwin

But once hired, Jack (Clive Owen)'s addiction to watching losers kicks in in Mike Hodges' Croupier (1997)

More recent releases from Arrow: Nightmare at Noon (1988), a horror-thriller from prolific Greek filmmaker Nico Mastorakis; The Righteous (2021), a bleak, Bergman-influenced study of guilt and grief with supernatural intimations from Newfoundland actor/filmmaker Mark O’Brien; and a superb hi-def restoration of Mike Hodges’ late career masterpiece Croupier (1997) in a two-disk set which includes an engaging documentary in which the 89-year-old filmmaker reminisces about his life and career.

Recent Arrow releases, part one

Posted on March 8, 2023March 6, 2023 by Kenneth George Godwin

Toshio (Yuya Ozeki) lurks in dark corners in Takashi Shimizu's Ju-On: The Grudge 2 (2003)

Recent Arrow releases include Japanese ghosts (a deluxe box set of Takashi Shimizu’s Ju-On movies) and gangsters (Shinji Somai’s genre-bending Sailor Suit and Machine Gun [1981]) and one of the best early adaptations of an H.P. Lovecraft story (Daniel Haller’s The Dunwich Horror [1969]).

Tag: Crime