Spotlight On A Murderer YIFY __TOP__

This could have been a great documentary but it lacks the necessary focus: the victims and the killer fade somewhat into background and leave the spotlight to an excessive number of scattered interviews.I respect the choice of giving a voice to families and survivors, but making a documentary about a serial killer without explaining adequately his MO, genesis and motives, doesn't really cut it.

Spotlight on a Murderer YIFY

A treat for the eyes and exercise for the brain, "Dial M For Murder" is Hitchcock's second "drawing-room perfect murder" movie, after "Rope", the latter a darker and more sinister affair altogether. Hitchcock himself in interviews played down the quality of this movie, amongst other other things indicating that it was treated almost as a warm-up for the more ambitious "Rear Window" which immediately followed it in his career.However. it actually has a lot going for it, being beautifully shot in luminous colour, extremely well acted in almost every role and peppered throughout with those eye-catching and brain-satisfying flourishes which so distinguished the director from the rest.Yes, it is very set-bound, betraying its stage origins and likewise very talky, especially on exposition, but it keeps the viewer alert throughout and delivers a neatly satisfying conclusion. I do wish Hitchcock could have done better with his back-projection unit (an old-fashioned, jarring trait he still hadn't grown out of by "Marnie" some 10 years later) and I occasionally found the constant too frivolous background music an intrusion, but it's well paced throughout, helped considerably by an on-form cast.Ray Milland is excellent in a kind of darker Cary Grant type persona, Grace Kelly (who'd want to murder her?) goes convincingly from loveliness to wretchedness while it's pleasing to see Robert Cumming to the fore, recalled by Hitch for the first time in over a decade (since "Saboteur" in 1942). The actors playing the would be murderer and nosey police inspector are just fine too.About those flourishes..., perhaps the most famous being the changing spotlight on Grace Kelly's doomed face as her trial is condensed into just a few terse minutes and of course the murder scene itself, even if one can't imagine her extended stabbing gesture being strong enough to cut through Swann's jacket far less kill him stone dead, but I also enjoyed the raised tracking shot looking down on Milland as he explains his plot to Swann and particularly the parting shadows of lovers Cumming and Kelly at Milland's unexpected approach.Yes, it's old fashioned Hollywood movie-making, but it's old-fashioned Hollywood movie-making at its best and in my opinion an unjustly overlooked effort from the Master.

The star of this film is Ray Milland, though Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings and John Williams are there to provide support. The marriage between Milland and Kelly is on the rocks, though neither is letting this on to the other. Grace has been cheating on him and Milland, who knows this, is planning on killing her. Why kill her instead of a divorce? Well, Kelly is wealthy and Milland wants to remain in the lifestyle to which he's become accustomed.Originally Milland's plan is just to have her killed by an old college associate who's gone bad, but when Grace miraculously survives this attack, his plans quickly change and he tries to make it look like she murdered the assassin. While clearly self-defense, Milland is very clever and seems to have thought of just about everything in order to get her convicted of murder. However, the plan is perhaps too clever and too well thought-out and in the end, there is a terrific confrontation with the police investigator and Milland's plans unravel.Probably the most memorable and amazing scene in the movie is the scene where Kelly kills the would-be murderer. It was done very vividly--particularly when he fell backwards--further driving the scissors into his body. This was a brilliant scene and it made me wince. In fact, throughout the film, there were many well-constructed and executed scenes that make it obvious the script writers and director were in top form. While not among his most famous films, this is one of Hitchcock's better movies and he has a very deft hand in creating a fascinating and literate murder mystery.

Based on the John Katzenbach story "In the Heat of the Summer", this Florida-lensed crime thriller does hold ones' attention with its straightforward telling of an interesting tale. Kurt Russell is aces as Malcolm Anderson, a star reporter for the Miami Journal who is contacted by a murderous psychopath (Richard Jordan) who has killed once and who promises that there will be other murders. The killer, who craves the spotlight, decides to use Anderson as his mouthpiece, creating a very uneasy "collaboration" between killer and reporter. Things start to really turn South when Anderson starts getting the bulk of the attention, leaving the killer feeling resentful. This is a solid set-up for a movie that ultimately does indeed lose a fair deal of its impact by turning conventional for its final act, but until then it's solidly entertaining, with the performances of Russell and Jordan serving as effective anchors. The give and take between their two characters is compelling stuff, and it's a good thing that Anderson isn't treated as some typically infallible movie hero. The supporting cast is mostly strong; Mariel Hemingway as Anderson's schoolteacher girlfriend Christine is appealing as she always is, but her character has little to do besides look and act concerned and eventually be put into peril. Richard Masur (reunited, along with producers Lawrence Turman and David Foster, with Russell after "The Thing") is Anderson's editor, Andy Garcia (in one of his earliest movie roles) and Richard Bradford are the weary detectives on the case, Joe Pantoliano is a photographer, and the almighty movie tough guy William Smith appears briefly as a character supplying critical information. The Miami setting adds a lot of ambiance, especially as the storms start coming up towards the end of the story. Lalo Schifrin's music is also highly effective. Even in light of the clichéd climactic confrontation, there is some enjoyable resonance to "The Mean Season" as it deals with the big issue of journalistic culpability, and the role that the media play in our receipt of the news. An overall grim feel to the presentation, and an atmospheric opening, are also assets in this generally good, if not great, and reasonably convincing movie. Seven out of 10.

Although numerous influences are recognisable (the most obvious being Hitchcock and Nicholas Roeg's DON'T LOOK NOW), this is still an enthralling, top-notch horror-cum-thriller which endlessly parades a group of lovable eccentrics as they become caught up in the slashings of a masked murderer. As well as being influenced, it's also an influential film - as seen in the wealth of masked weirdos filling the screens in the '80s, from the repeated stabbings of Michael Myers to that owl guy in STAGE FRIGHT. The strangest thing about this film is that two of the brilliant performers in it (one the director, Sole, the other Paula Sheppard, an actress) never achieved the fame that they deserved judging by their work here. Sole's direction is assured and stylish, and his work combined with the art direction and the photography make this one of the most colourful (think Argento) and visually interesting movies of the seventies.Although it's not a gratuitously gory film in the style of Argento, the violence when it comes is brutal and includes stabbings in the neck, stomach, foot and leg - all unusual and painful parts of the body to be injured in. The blood flows quite freely in these scenes, making them particularly horrific to watch. The interesting plot is a cross between an exploration of religious themes and imagery and the effect it has on people, and a standard murder mystery, with an unknown assailant bumping off members of an apartment block one by one.The acting is excellent throughout, with every actor or actress putting conviction into their characters. Particularly good are Linda Miller as the harassed mother, Tom Signorelli as the determined father and the actor playing the obese slob of a neighbour who meets a sticky end - his grotesque character is definitely one for the memory. Although the limelight was stolen by the later-famous Brooke Shields, most overlooked is the acting of Paula Sheppard, who is this film's lead star. She invests her role with innocence and corruption in turn, and her obtuse character is the most interesting in the film. By turns seductive, cruel, childish and mature, Sheppard's Alice is a superb character and the final shot is a hauntingly memorable one.While modern fans of the horror film may be put off by the slow pacing and the literate script, this is a brilliant film whichever way you look at it and easily stands against the best work of Italian maestro Dario Argento - indeed the influence of the Italian giallo is very strong in this film, which can be seen as an American giallo in itself. Completed by an eerie score and an unexpected villain, ALICE SWEET ALICE is a film well worth hunting down and watching.

The drummer of a rock and roll band Roberto Tobias (Michael Brandon) sees a man wearing sunglasses stalking him everywhere. He follows the man to a derelict opera house and when he confronts the stranger, he pulls a knife. However Roberto accidentally stabs him in self-defense and the man falls from the stage to the floor. Out of the blue, a spotlight is turned on and Roberto is photographed in the crime scene by a masked person on a theater box. Roberto leaves the place and returns home. On the next morning, he reads the newspaper the news about a stranger called Carlo Marosi that was murdered. During the night, Roberto and his wife Nina (Mimsy Farmer) welcome friends and Roberto finds a photo of the previous night entwined with his vinyls. He tells the truth to Nina and their maid Amelia (Maria Fabbri) overhears the story. While Robeto meets his friend Godfrey (Bud Spencer) to ask for help, Amelia schedules an encounter in the park with someone to blackmail with the photos she had found in the apartment; however Amelia is murdered in the park Meanwhile Nina's cousin Dalia (Francine Racette) arrives to stay with Nina. But soon Carlo Marosi appears eating at a restaurant and calling someone to meet him. What has happened in the opera house?"4 mosche di velluto grigio" is a flawed film with am intriguing title. The atmosphere is suffocating most of the time; the camera work uses unusual angles and positions; the cast has good performance. But the plot point with the identity of the killer is weak and quite senseless. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Quatro Moscas Sobre Veludo Cinza" ("Four Flies on Grey Velvet") 041b061a72