Quick takes on 5 CLASSIC films

Night of the Living Dead is the grandfather of the modern zombie film, the first to show zombies (called ghouls in this film) as slow, shuffling, man-eating creatures who can only be stopped by a blow to the head. It follows a rag-tag group of survivors staving off the dead in an old farmhouse. They fight among themselves as the zombies outside grow in number, and eventually start getting picked off one by one towards the end of the film, as they await word of rescue from the news broadcast on the television. Released in 1968 from a very small budget, it garnered a ton of negative press for being too gory and intense (young children were able to get in to the theater as this was before the current film rating system), but due to its success, it spawned a whole genre of copycats. It definitely is dated when seen today, and the characters do unspeakably dumb things (even by horror film standards), but where would The Walking Dead be without it?

Logan’s Run is a bit too ’70’s campy for my tastes. It takes place in a dystopian society a couple hundred years in the future, where people are not allowed to live past 29 years old. Instead, they are “renewed” (killed) in one of the regular ceremonies. Logan is a sandman, or cop, who chases those runners who don’t want to be sacrificed. Logan is recruited by the head computer, who oversees the whole society, to infiltrate the secret organization who helps runners reach Sanctuary, a supposedly safe zone for people who have run away from the city. A very good premise for a sci-fi nerd like me, but this 1976 film hasn’t stood the test of time very well. Michael York and Jenny Agutter are solid as the two leads, but most of the other actors are fairly wooden, and the dialogue and action scenes are equally rough. With today’s Hollywood in love with remakes, I’d be in favor of seeing this one updated.

Thirteen years before the cultural phenomenon that was Twin Peaks, David Lynch’s first major film was Eraserhead. Released in 1977, this is a trippy horror movie that is pure art on film. You can watch this one a dozen times and probably come away with some different each time. It follows Henry Spencer, a strange and quiet man who lives in a ramshackle, one room apartment in a rundown, post industrial neighborhood. The buildings and plants all around him are decaying, and life itself seems to be winding down in an almost post-apocalyptic way. Spencer finds that his girlfriend has just given birth, though as her mother admits, “it might not even be a child.” When we see the baby, it is a grotesque alien-like monster. Henry continues to have strange fantasies about a woman in the radiator, and there are also intermittent scenes of a man in space who seems to be controlling it all (or controlling something, anyway). It is all very obtuse, and there is a lot more going on which defies definition. This is not a movie that makes a lot of sense and it is certainly not for everyone, but it is brilliant film making.

His Girl Friday is a classic screwball comedy, released in 1940, starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell. Walter is a driven editor of a popular tabloid-style newspaper. He still has feelings for his ex-wife Hildy (who was also his star reporter) but she got tired of playing second fiddle to his career, and is now preparing to marry a boring insurance salesman, Bruce, to settle down. The backdrop of the story is the impending execution of a murderer, who appears to be innocent. Cary wants to trap Hildy to stay and write the story, going so far as to having Bruce arrested on trumped-up and fake charges on multiple occasions. Like a lot of movies in this genre, the dialogue is quick and funny. Grant is his usual charming self, and Russell is eye-arresting as the strong-willed woman who dominates all the men on screen.

Everyone under 40 knows the Steven Soderbergh Ocean’s 11 with George Clooney and company, but it was originally done in 1960, starring the Rat Pack. Frank Sinatra is Danny Ocean in this one, backed up by Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Peter Lawford, and Joey Bishop. A different take than the remake, but the same basic story: Ocean and his team of crooks are assembled to knock off a bunch of casinos (five in this case) on the same night. The first hour of the film generally moves pretty slow, as each of the characters are introduced and we get to know their individual motives. Once the predetermined night approaches, the action finally takes off. The film relies heavily on the banter and charisma of its leads, but as with most films involving this team, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There are a few unseen twists that keep the men on their toes, and while it isn’t a fantastic film as some of the others I reviewed above, it is still a fun heist movie.