The Phantom of the Monasery

 I watched this pretty cool Mexican horror movie on The Criterion Channel. I never heard of it before but it rocked. It's a 30's black and white movie about three people locked in a monastery and some monks from the past come to life. There's also a love triangle between the wife and her husband's friend and they encounter a similar situation that happened to people from the past. I wish that Mexico would release and subtitle more of their horror films from the past. The Witch's Mirror and this were pretty amazing.   

Eerie Tales

 This Conrad Veidt silent is pretty good. Three figures a prostitute, the devil, and death come out of some paintings in a bookstore to tell horror stories. This movie was probably one of the first horror anthologies so it was one of a kind. The most well known story here is Edgar Allan Poe's The Black Cat but my favorite was the suicide club one.

Shoes

 This short Lois Weber movie is painful to watch, not because the movie isn't good but because you know the character is going to resort to desperate means. The movie is about a poor working girl. Her shoes are in poor condition and her life could be better if her father would just contribute to the household. The director takes plenty of shots of the shoes and it is obvious to the viewer that they can't last much longer. When the character resorts to desperate means to get a new pair it isn't easy to watch. This movie isn't really about the shoes. It's about poverty and it's a sad statement on what people resort to just to get by.

I knew her well

 

 

The lovely Stefania Sandrelli gives a great performance in what is essentially a female La Dolce Vita. The girl tries to break into the business by attending parties and she's with several men during the picture. She may be shallow herself but she hides her anguish until what eventually she cracks. This movie wasn't as memorable as La Dolce Vita but it does have good atmosphere and a pretty good soundtrack featuring the likes of Mina and Ornella Vanoni. I need to see more movies starring this actress. 

Decision at Sundown

 

This was a pretty good Budd Boetticher western. At a wedding Randolph Scott tries to shoot the groom. The groom had an affair with his wife who later committed suicide. However, Scott learns that maybe his wife isn't worth all that trouble and may be even more flawed than he knew. I liked this psychological westerns. The 50's and 60's made tons of good psychological westerns. There is more to discover in the genre than High Noon.

Illegal

 Edward G. Robinson plays a lawyer whose life falls to pieces when he finds out that a person who was sent to the electric chair was innocent. He becomes a defense attorney instead. The ending is really neat and had me at the edge of my seat. Jayne Mansfield co-stars. 

The Last Sunset

 This western was awesome. I wasn't expecting much when I put it in. Kirk Douglas and Rock Hudson are enemies a sheriff against a criminal. I only cared a bit about this storyline. The one that I was really interested in was about Kirk Douglas and how he can't let go of the love he had for Dorothy Marlone. He finds a new woman in his life with her daughter. However, there are some unexpected plot twists. I love psychological westerns from the 1950s. People talk about how musicals are dead but westerns are the truly gone genre. This one shows the potential of the genre.