Reformed Fruit Movie Reviews

So the Son of Dracula was interesting, in that this was the first time I've seen Lon Chaney Jr. in the title role. And to be honest, I loved Lon Chaney as the phantom of the opera, as the wolfman, and even as the mummy, but... this didn't really work for me. Especially the moustache... seriously? Don't get me wrong, he's a great actor in these old monster classics but he doesn't feel right in this role.  Still, it's an entertaining film.

Werewolf of London was a 1935 horror film directed by Stuart Walker and starring Henry Hull who starred as the werewolf. This was a Universal monster film, but even though it was a werewolf film it didn't actually star Lon Chaney Jr and, to be honest, I really preferred Lon Cheney as the tortured werewolf character. 

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The Roaring Twenties was a 1939 crime noir/thriller starring James Cagney, Priscilla Lane, Humphrey Bogart, and Gladys George. 

It's always awesome seeing Cagney in the gangster role, and double cool to see him paired with Bogart. I also love older films like this one, made in the late 30's, but essentially depicting events from the 1910's through the early 1930's. It even gives a little bit of a history lesson, showing clips of "current" world events (pics of Hitler and Mussolini and so on) then setting the context of what was going on back in the "roaring twenties", some 100 years ago. Great stuff.

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Heldorado was a 1946 western starring Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, as well as "Trigger", Roy's horse. Honestly, this is the first Roy Rogers film I've ever seen, and while I know vaguely of the characters, my strongest memorys of Roy Rogers would be the Roy Roger's restaurants in the tri-state area when I lived in the outskirts of Philalphia and, yeah, that has nothing to do with this review.

The format of the film is amusing: Roy's just an easy going cowboy ranger character who just has a mellow demeanor to him, and while the film is based around him cracking down on crime and solving a mystery, there's still plenty of time and opportunity for him to break out into song. 

More of my movie reviews available at youtube.com/reformedfruit

The Enemy Below is a  1957 war movie and is, in my estimation, one of the greatest war films ever made. I've seen it several times and there's just so much I love about this film. What I love about this film is that it doesn't get bogged down with secondary characters, ridiculous subplots or mindless droning exposition. It's just a straight up war film about two brilliant captains, one American, one German, sparring against one another, one in a destroyer on the surface and the other in a U-boat submarine below the waves. When I see a modern film from Hollywood, you know, something really stupid, it helps to remind me that there are films like this one that I can always come back to.

There's not much to really say about the story here. Robert Mitchum plays the American commander Capt. Murrell of the destroyer and Curt Jürgens plays the German commander of the submarine.

The review is also available at youtube.com/reformedfruit

Review of the 1935 Universal Monster classic "The Bride of Frankenstein". More movie reviews at www.youtube.com/reformedfruit

The Wolf Man was a 1941 Universal monster movie starring Lon Chaney Jr. This is my review of the film.

Dracula (1931) starring Bella Lugosi, is a brilliant early horror film. I will be reviewing more of the Universal monster films in the near future.

Some thoughts about the the movie The Country Girl from 1954, starring Grace Kelly, Bing Crosby and William Holden.

Continuing a review of five recent Liam Neeson films.