SHANE (1953)

"From now on, when we fight with them, the air is going to be filled with gunsmoke."

Wyoming, sometime after the American Civil War.  A cattle baron, Rufus Ryker (Emile Meyer), isn't happy with the smaller farms and ranches popping up on "his" land.  When the film opens, Shane (Alan Ladd), a gunfighter with a mysterious past (it's almost like he's an ex-gunfighter), is riding his horse past the homestead of one of the new farmers, Van Heflin and wife Jean Arthur.  They talk a little and as Fate would have it, right as he's about to leave...the cattle baron and his men show up and start talking mad shit.  Shane don't take too kindly to them flapping their lips, talkin' shit, so he sticks around as Helfin's peaceful farmhand.  The "peaceful" part last about a week, cause when they ride into town to get some supplies, some of Ryker's men start talkin' shit yet again!  Shane fisticuffs all up in their grills.  After that, Ryker hires a gunslinger (Jack Palance) to take care of things.     

I've seen SHANE a few times over the years and each time I enjoy it.  Strong cast, beautiful camerawork, steady pace...but is it really worthy of all of the extreme praise that it gets?  I, personally, don't think so.  Then again, I find kids in movies to usually be annoying as fuck and the kid in this movie is no exception.  Oh my God, I was hoping a horse would fall on him or something.  The whole movie: "Shaaaaannnneeeee!" over and over.  Vomit.  The scenes without the kid are much better though.  I especially enjoyed Elisha Cook Jr. and Jack Palance.

Not the greatest western ever, but definitely an above average one that deserves to be seen.  Especially by fans of classic westerns.  If you need me, I'll be in my room watching RIO BRAVO.

ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968)

"Hail, Satan! Hail, Satan!"

I've heard people mention that since ROSEMARY'S BABY came out 5 years before THE EXORCIST it was the catalyst for the Satanic movie boom of the 70's.  That might be true, to a point, but I don't fully subscribe to that argument.  Polanski's film is more concerned with Rosemary's paranoia than with any of the Satanic elements (I believe that ROSEMARY'S BABY is an extension of the ground Polanski covered in REPULSION and would again later visit in THE TENANT) and pretty much all of the terror in the film comes from the unknown, so there wasn't much for the exploiters to exploit.  Yeah, there were a few Satanic films released during the years in between, but it wasn't until THE EXORCIST was released in all of it's spiderwalking, crucifix fucking, head-spinning, vomit-spewing glory that the unholy gates of Hell were fully opened into the movie theaters.

Rosemary Woodhouse is a normal girl.  Her husband is a mildly successful actor that mostly appears in TV commercials.  They've decided to get a new apartment and that's were we see them for the first time: touring an old apartment.  Even this early in the film the seeds of unease are planted with the dark interiors and with a dresser that placed in front of a closet.  Why would the former tenant put it there?  Anyway, Rosemary and her husband rent the apartment and for a little while things go fine, but then small strange things start to happen...

Regrettably, I've never read Ira Levin's novel that was the source material for the film, but from what I've read the film is actually quite a faithful retelling...and it shows.  While I was revisiting the film for this review, I kept thinking how the slow pacing is almost like reading a really good book that teases you while gradually building up steam.  I've never been to film school, but I would imagine ROSEMARY'S BABY would be an excellent example of how to create tension through proper pacing and editing.

Highly, highly recommended for lovers of great cinema.  Modern horror audiences might not care for it since it's not graphic in anyway, but, in my opinion, ROSEMARY'S BABY is not only one of the best films of the 60's, but one of the best movies of all time.  The Academy Awards might have messed up a lot of things over years, but giving the Best Supporting Actress to Ruth Gordon for this film was definitely the right choice.  I would love to know who's idea was it for her to eat so strangely?  And wipe the knife mark on the floor?

 William Castle cameo.