It's been claimed that Fangoria magazine's Scream Greats Vol. 2 killed the series, but that is absolute nonsense. What ended it was not anger at and rejection of this installment by Fangoria readers and horror fans in general, but instead the company's own disinterest in continuing it. My pride in this is not just the fact that it features me and my then fledgling (one month old) Church of Satanic Liberation. Rather it is a valuable expose of factions on both ends of the spectrum - including mine, warts and all. That and the film clips are priceless.

In its initial release, the truly disturbing parts of this production were the obvious psychopaths claiming to have been witness to child sacrifice; acts which NEVER took place. According to an FBI report several years later, the whole "Satanic child abuse" hysteria was groundless, including reports by women claiming they'd been raised to be "breeders for Satan".

There are indeed comedic aspects. I believe the Warrens and Lady Rhea steal the show here, surpassing even my all too obvious drug induced (Comtrex and beer) ramblings. Why? They took their nonsense and themselves seriously. That was a trap I never allowed myself to fall into.

Overall, Scream Greats Vol. 2 is an interesting, important, and comical look into a major social issue of its time. Watch it with an open mind.


The only reason to watch this is the world's first glimpse of Paul Douglas Valentine. Sure the lunatics like Ed and Lorraine Warren and Ted Gunderson add some side-splitting moments, but PDV sticks out like a sore thumb as the only person knowing what’s going on and able to play the audience properly. A true atheistic satanist, Valentine was obviously having fun throughout and clearly had his tongue planted firmly in his cheek more than once. The “satanic panic“ was a joke and should be just another silly footnote to the 80s. Sadly, the 21st century has produced a new breed of “theistic satanists“ who actually worship him as a deity. Now THAT is scary.

And sad.

In the interest of full disclosure I should state that I am family.


I am a proud owner of Volume 1 of this series (can only two entries be considered a series? - ah well, I digress) and this entry explains why there was no third. Volume one was an excellent retrospective of Makeup man/FX artist Tom Savini. Volume two is... I don't know what it is other than a waste of time. As other reviewers have mentioned, this killed the franchise. Fangoria had a great idea with Volume 1 - present an in depth background of an influential person in the horror/fantasy film making world. I was looking forward to chapters about George Romero, Rick Baker, even Jim Henson! (Black Crystal?) This entry killed it. RIP.


I admit that I'm biased here. Paul Valentine is a friend I've known since grade school and this video was the first I'd seen of him since 1974. Wow! Paul used to say in school he didn't need math because he was going to be like Elvis - an entertainer. He dreamed of being a rock star and movie star and what do you know? Here he was headlining a Paramount Pictures video! I admit that as a Christian I was taken aback at first but the little boy I first met in second grade was there for all too see. I rapidly came to understand what Paul was presenting. He no more worshipped the devil than I do but he knew a potentially successful schtick when he saw it; a schtick he readily admits to having parlayed into 24 years of personal appearances, a mammoth "satanic" church, and hundreds of YouTube videos and BlogTalkRadio shows. Good job, Paul!

But I don't believe for a second you're a satanist.


Disappointing follow-up to the phenomenal Scream Greats Vol 1 eschews the planned focus on esteemed contemporary horror film figures, instead embracing sensationalist examination of and commentary on, you guessed it, satanism and witchcraft.

Of little interest to rational Fangoria or Starlog readers, it consequently killed the series dead.

Originally, bearded filmmaker Tobe Hooper was to be the focus of this installment. What went wrong?

Recommended for superstitious adolescents and gullible adults, only.

Otherwise, don't bother.


In 1860, Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickok joined their strength to establish a communication route with the East through a fresh and fast relay stations of young riders on horseback...

Charlton Heston plays the legendary mountain man, buffalo hunter, U. S. Army Scout and Indian fighter and backer of the 'Pony Express' from St. Joseph to Sacramento in only ten days... Forrest Tucker plays his friend Wild Bill Hickok, an U. S. Marshal who brought order to the frontier with many encounters with outlaws among them Michael Moore (Lance Hastings) and Henry Brandon (Cooper) whose plans are to destroy the relay stations and ambush the express riders...

The film is loaded with action scenes and amusing moments...

- When Heston stops a stagecoach and tells the coachman: 'I'm Buffalo Bill Cody.' 'Sure, and I'm Wild Bill Hickok,' replies the driver... Coming alongside and smiling, Heston says: 'Nope, You're not that ugly!'

- When Heston meets Tucker arriving in town... Their courteous words are replaced by a shooting game, a rare but funny expression of friendship, putting holes in each other's garments including Tucker's nine dollars expensive hat... 'It's fancier than shaking hands,' expresses Jan Sterling to Rhonda Fleming from the window of her hotel...

-When Jan Sterling comes into the presence of the famous 'Pair of Bills,' wishing to increase her impression on Buffalo Bill with a fancy pink dress... Seeing her, Heston notes: 'Why not you go back and put some clothes on!'

Rhonda Fleming plays Evelyn Hastings, the ravishing wealthy redhead, who falls in love with Heston, leaving alone her brother who never wanted the 'Pony Express' to get through..-

Jan Sterling plays the sincere pretty blonde who loves so much Buffalo Bill...

Filmed in Technicolor, this enjoyable Western, based on factual account, is adequately entertaining...


Just because "Pony Express" is a western and the Indians are characterized as the bad guys, does not mean it is without merit. Certainly viewers who insist that their movies must be politically correct learning experiences or must have educational value like a two hour university lecture will abhor its lighthearted approach and historical inaccuracy. Yet it is precisely this lighthearted approach that makes this movie so much fun.

The four principals, Charlton Heston (Buffalo Bill Cody), Forrest Tucker (Wild Bill Hickok), ravishing Rhonda Fleming, and hoydenish Jan Sterling serve up a potpourri of good-natured banter (and seem to have a lot of fun in doing so) that makes the running time of 95 minutes and incidental plot just whiz by. If nothing else, this movie serves to remind us that most people do have a sense of humor and that life is not all a funeral dirge.

California, led by a group of businessmen, wants to secede from the union and become an independent republic, citing the country's general apathy towards it as the primary reason. Eastern businessmen and politicians, on the other hand, feel that, by improving communications between Washington and California, they can discourage the citizens of that remote state from making such an irrational move. To this end they seek the help from Buffalo Bill and Wild Bill Hickok to organize a "pony express" which will deliver mail and news from East to West and visa-versa in double-quick time. In attempting to implement the scheme, the two friends must first overcome violent opposition from the owner of a stagecoach line who stands to lose a cross-country mail contract if the plan succeeds, hostile Indians who see the advent of the white man as yet another encroachment to their way of life, and the California businessmen themselves whose interests extend beyond Californian independence.

Of course, the story is full of historical inaccuracies. Buffalo Bill Cody and Wild Bill Hickok, for instance, barely knew each other. Hickok handled a six-gun much better than Buffalo Bill. "Pony Express" riders were mostly teenage orphan boys who had to be "willing to risk their lives every day" (Even in those days, businessmen knew how to protect themselves against liabilities.). But so what? I first saw this movie when I was eight years old and loved it so much that I immediately went to the library to read up on these historical characters and events. Was I upset when I found that so much of the plot had been fabricated? Not in the least. I was grateful that the story was interesting enough to have piqued my interest in this specific chapter of American history. Any movie that induces you to want to learn something more cannot be a bad movie.

On the plus side, it does have some good action sequences (this was in the days before horses learned to gallop in slow motion), and uses the Indians as enemy only for dramatic effect and not as a source of derision. In fact, the chief, represented by white man, Pat Hogan, is probably the film's most admirable character. "I have never known Yellow Hand to lie or go back on his word," says Cody at one point and it is not without good reason that he shows some remorse after he is forced to kill him.

It also gives us a look at a young Charlton Heston, before he became a staple of the large, big budget biblical epics. At this point in his career, Heston was still experimenting, trying to find himself as actor by taking on such varied roles as a circus boss, President Andrew Jackson, a South American plantation owner, a soldier of fortune, or a surgeon. Just the fact that he doesn't have to deliver each line as if he were speaking from a pulpit makes his work more interesting, if not necessarily better.

Best of all, it was here that I saw Rhonda Fleming for the first time. I fell in love with her immediately and wanted to marry her when I grew up. When I watch this movie today, I still think it was a good idea.

Despite its overall low ratings, I cannot help but like "Pony Express". It has amiable characters, snappy dialogue (which emphasizes just how much modern screenwriters have lost their sense of humor) and a plot that moves briskly to its predictable conclusion. If the movie hearkens back to simpler, more clear-cut times, it is at least nice to see heroes who genuinely like each other and who can get the job done while having some fun doing it, rather than today's friendless, dour-faced loners with chips on their shoulders who spend every waking minute searching for "the truth."

-30-


Does anyone remember The Young Riders television series? Though that one got into the never never land of our old west mythology eventually at least it got it right about one thing. The Pony Express riders were in fact young teenage boys. William F. Cody was all of 13 when he was riding for them. James Butler Hickok, later nicknamed Wild Bill, was in his early twenties.

So when we see Charlton Heston doing all he's doing as Buffalo Bill in this film Pony Express, he's really playing a thirteen year old living out a fantasy dream of having both Rhonda Fleming and Jan Sterling chasing him.

Pony Express may in fact be one of the last of that grand tradition of B westerns where famous characters from the American frontier are taken and put into plots that had nothing to do with reality. Cody's famous fight with Cheyenne chief Yellow Hand is also included here although that in fact took place in the 1870s not in 1860.

In this film, Charlton Heston and Forrest Tucker as Wild Bill Hickok stumble upon a plot to detach California from the United States while the north and south sectional conflict edges closer to civil war. Part of that plan is stop the Pony Express and its promise of quick mail delivery. Rhonda Fleming's brother is part of the dastardly scheme and Jan Sterling plays a Calamity Jane like character who has eyes for Cody, but Cody has them for Fleming.

This film also marked the farewell appearance of Porter Hall who has a small role as another frontier character, legendary mountain man Jim Bridger. It's possible that Bridger, Cody, and Hickok may have all met at the same time, but I doubt it was under the circumstances shown.

Don't let the A list cast fool you. What you have in Pony Express is one of that dying group of B westerns which were getting a new life on television at this time.


The story of the Pony Express is one of the most interesting and fascinating stories of the west. California at that time was totally isolated, and would get the news from the government many months later, thus many people would be for secession, because they did not believe they could be governed like that. There was no telegraph, so they decided to pick those skinny guys, the equivalent of today's jockeys, and make them alternate, also switching horses, so in ten days the express mail would get from St Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento. Now you might ask what Buffalo Bill (Charlton Heston), Wild Bill Hicock (Forrest Tucker) and a sort of Calamity Jane named Denny (Jan Sterling) fit into this and the answer will be marketing. Famous western names would please the crowds. I would have wished for a more serious film, but I can't deny the film is entertaining, fast paced, colorful and with a lot of action, The scenes where the pony express is shown are very good. I just was hoping for a more historical and serious film, but who knows, one day they will make it.


With the coming of sound to the movies and "the Crash" to the stock market, musicals, screwball comedies and tightly plotted "cozy" mysteries became staples of 30's film going and frequently a valuable, if unintentional, tour of the decade's culture (one of the potential motives of one of the suspects in THE PENGUIN POOL MURDERS is a "margin call" on a brokerage account about to be wiped out by falling stock prices!).

In 1932, a year after Dashiel Hammett had introduced the "hard boiled" detective to novels and films with his Sam Spade in THE MALTESE FALCON (a decade before the Oscar winning remake we all know today!), while Philo Vance was still at his peak, Charlie Chan had just started his marathon run, and two years before Dashiel Hammett would backtrack to seemingly invent the "comedy mystery" in the first of the THIN MAN series, Stuart Palmer's "Hildegarde Withers" stories were pointing the way to that perfect bantering comedy.

Miss Withers was one of the first screen characters to build on "the little old lady" detectives first introduced by Mary Roberts Rinehart and later to be highly polished - though with fewer comic overtones - in Agatha Christie's Miss Marple tales.

Beautifully acerbic character actress Edna May Oliver first assayed the plum role of Withers in THE PENGUIN POOL MURDER, playing every stereotype of the prim, corseted but observant, spinster school teacher for all they were worth against the background of a solidly plotted mystery and a grand supporting cast headed by perennial mystery fixture James Gleason as the much put-upon Inspector Piper. A New York City now long vanished became an active part of the supporting cast.

While Miss Oliver chose not to be pinned down to the continuing Withers role after only three films (THE PENGUIN POOL MURDER - '32, MURDER AT THE BLACKBOARD - '34 and MURDER ON A HONEYMOON - '35), passing on the part to solid comedienne Helen Broderick for the less well written but enjoyable and frequently aired MURDER ON THE BRIDAL PATH - '36 and (with less effect) fine supporting comedienne Zasu Pitts for a final two (THE PLOT THICKENS - '36, and FORTY NAUGHTY GIRLS - '37), all the Withers' films are fun - but the Olivers are the best of the bunch.

Connoisseurs of period mystery should especially treasure THE PENGUIN POOL MURDER for its location shots of some now vanished (or at least radically transformed) Manhattan landmarks - most notably the then New York City Aquarium (long before the institution decamped to Brooklyn).

The building at Battery Park, at the tip of Manhattan, has since lost its roof and interior to be returned to its original (now landmarked) form as the actual battery (a fort - "Castle Clinton") which protected New York Harbor in the early 1800's. Before becoming the Aquarium shown in the 1932 film it was already a famous roofed building: converted in 1823 to the "Castle Garden" theatre where in the 1850's Jenny Lind, "the Swedish Nightingale," made her American debut and Lola Montes danced! From 1855 to 1890, it was the United States' immigration depot before Ellis Island was built, and as such, the first ground in America millions of immigrants set foot on. Then, for years it was the New York City Aquarium where Manhattanites could see examples of aquatic life (and the occasional movie corpse).

The Aquarium would not pass muster today for the cramped, indeed life threatening, conditions its inmates were forced to endure - but that in itself is part of the realistic picture of life in the 30's seemingly minor films like these can offer. While the Aquarium interiors were studio recreations, these had to be believable pictures of the world the audiences they were issued to lived in, and we can learn a lot from them about that world as a result. We have come a long way . . . in some ways.

Today, New York's Battery Park grows out from and around the building which beautifully starts of THE PENGUIN POOL MURDERS. The Park contains - directly in front of the former Aquarium - the most eloquent and complete memorial the tragedy of 9/11/01 could possibly have: the "fractured globe" which originally sat in the Plaza between the Twin Towers - now with an "eternal flame" at its base. If you're going to be in New York, don't miss this increasingly meaningful piece of sculpture - but first see its setting as it looked 70 years earlier in delightful PENGUIN POOL MURDERS!


I haven't seen this film for many years, but the performances by Edna May Oliver and James Gleason are memorable. Miss Oliver's performance was brilliant enough to command the release of other movies starring her as Hildegard Martha Withers. This group of movies also represented, I believe, an attempt by the studio to make Edna May Oliver (who was not British, by the way, but solidly American) a leading lady. That attempt failed, probably because she was not a sex symbol. But in the Penguin Pool Murder she wins over James Gleason by the sheer force of her character, and when he finally succumbs she characteristically responds, "I thought you'd never ask!" Or perhaps she was not cast more as a leading lady because she was, simply put, unsurpassed as a character actress. It isn't that she wasn't a box-office draw; for, as a gentleman who lived through the golden age of Hollywood once said to me, "Who didn't love Edna May Oliver !"


This is the first of three films that Oliver and Gleason made together as teacher Miss Withers and Inspector Piper. It is also the best, though Murder on the Blackboard is also top notch. The series continued without Oliver, but not at the same level. The dialogue is witty, prim, sarcastic and sometimes even suggestive. Gleason and Oliver have a fabulous chemistry, the likes of which would never been seen today, due to casting decisions that have more to do with pretty faces that acting talent and intelligence. If you like early talkie mysteries, this one will satisfy anytime.


It's really too bad that they only made a few Hildegarde Withers mysteries and that only a few of these starred Edna May Oliver. The bottom line is that in the 1930s, no woman in Hollywood was more fun to watch in colorful supporting roles than Miss Oliver, so it was a real treat to see her in a starring role--and one that allowed her cool screen persona to shine! Instead of the usual somewhat insipid detective series films, her Miss Withers was a smart-aleck and tough lady--not some pampered playboy or Chinese detective. Plus, it was a great casting decision to have her work with police detective James Gleason and give him better than usual writing for such a role. In practically every B-detective series, the police are complete morons--so much so that the films lack any suspense or chemistry at times. Usually you KNOW the cops are all idiots and the amateur sleuth knows everything, but here she is assisted by a reasonably capable cop and they work on the case together. Because of this, it was cute to see that through the course of the film, Gleason's character fell for Miss Withers--he grew to love and respect her just like the audience did throughout the film.

For the genre, this is about as good a film as you'll find--plus, it has cute penguins and Edna May Oliver!! What more could you ask for in a movie?!?!


Edna Mae Oliver and James Gleason were two of the best character actors in Hollywood in the "golden age" of film making. Oliver always had a precise, aristocratic hauteur (she was Lady Catherine De Burgh in the 1940 PRIDE AND PREJUDICE), but it usually masked an intense intelligence (see how she tears apart Basil Rathbone's Murdstone in David COPPERFIELD), and a decent morality. Gleason is not a university or book based intelligent gent. But he is a street smart type, who knows precisely what's what. And in THE PENGUIN POOL MURDERS they joined together as Hildegarde Withers and Inspector Piper of the New York Police Department. And from rubbing each other the wrong way they become friends, allies in solving the case, and possibly more (the movie suggest at the end).

Hildegard is a schoolteacher, who takes her class (a remarkably mixed racial class for 1932) on a field trip to the New York Acquarium, then in lower Manhattan in what is still Castle Clinton National Monument (it was also, in the 1850s, Castle Gardens, where Jenny Lind sang to the public). The visit is interrupted when Isidore (the Jewish kid in the class) points out (as in the summary line) that there is a man inside what he calls the "duck" pool. Actually it is the tank for the penguins.

The film follows how Hildegard and Piper pursue their investigations into the murder and gradually find that helping each other makes more sense. The humor builds as both our intrepid detectives confront various types, like humorless, dyspeptic Clarence Wilson as the aquarium director, and relatively stupid policeman Edgar Kennedy to find out what is the truth. It all comes down to a courtroom showdown, where the killer trips himself up in an unexpected manner.

A first rate comedy and who-done-it, that led to MURDER AT THE BLACKBOARD and MURDER ON THE HONEYMOON before the two stars went their separate ways.


In the 1930s, RKO produced a series of mysteries concerning the detective activities of schoolteacher Hildegarde Withers. Viewing the first film, THE PENGUIN POOL MURDER, one can understand why the series immediately took off. The mystery itself is well constructed and engrossing. Director George Archainbaud's presentation of the murder victim's discovery is imaginative. In an aquarium, a boy discovers a penguin acting strangely, as if encountering an intruder. The penguin's behavior is immediately explained when a corpse suddenly plunges into the tank! The scenario, based on a Stuart Palmer novel, features some intriguing red herrings with plausible motives for the murder. By the time the killer is revealed, it is fairly obvious who the culprit is, but the mystery is resolved in a clever and credible manner.

THE PENGUIN POOL MURDER is especially worthwhile due to its spirited lead performances. As Withers, Edna May Oliver is drolly acerbic, tartly disdaining the police's ineffectual work as she proceeds to solve the case. As Police Inspector Oscar Piper, James Gleason blusters amusingly, determined to find the killer without Withers' help. Oliver and Gleason truly sparkle in their relationship. Initially, they're cagey of each other but an underlying mutual affection quickly develops. Piper and Withers continue to argue about the case throughout the picture but in an amiable manner that precludes the possibility of mutual ill will. Even if the mystery becomes too familiar to be suspenseful upon repeated viewings, THE PENGUIN POOL MURDER can still be savored due to Oliver and Gleason's marvelous chemistry.


"I'm a schoolteacher and I might have done wonders for you if I'd caught you early enough!!!" so starts the witty repartee between Hildegarde Withers and Inspector Piper, and a great movie partner- ship was born.

This was the first film in a far too short series. Stuart Palmer created the character of Hildegarde Withers (Edna May Oliver) and the very exasperated Police Inspector Piper (James Gleason). With Oliver's barbed wit and dry one liners and the fact that Gleeson knows he can't solve the case without her, it is a match made in heaven.

Oliver made 3 Hildegarde Withers films - "The Penguin Pool Murder", "Murder on a Blackboard" (1934) and "Murder on a Honeymoon" (1935). After that Helen Broderick took over. She was a great character actress ("Top Hat", "Swing Time") and managed to keep the standard set by Oliver high. However when Zasu Pitts took over it was hard to imagine her as a rational and witty schoolteacher, who would never miss a clue. Even the title "40 Naughty Girls" shows how low the series had sunk.

"hmmm, a pickpocket ", "the man's a born detective!!!"

Gwen (Mae Clarke) is having a fling with Phillip Seymour (Donald Cook). She is married to stuffy Gerald Parker, the director of the Aquarium, but is planning to divorce him. When he surprises them in a secret meeting, Phillip punches him and he falls down the stairs. He later turns up dead at the bottom of the penguin pool.

Piper gathers the suspects together. Hemingway (Clarence Wilson) who has just been sacked because he has been playing the stock market with Aquarium funds, lawyer Barry Costello (Robert Armstrong), Seymour because he has confessed and Gwen because she is acting suspiciously. Rochelle Hudson makes an appearance as a sassy receptionist. Both Gwen and Phillip are arrested hoping to bring the real murderer out of hiding. Costello, who secretly loves Gwen provides enough evidence to prove that only a man could have killed Parker thus exonerating Gwen. You will not believe the ending (it is really good!!!)

"It takes a certain type to be a detective - yes I've noticed that!!!"

Recommended.


Edna May Oliver plays the gawky ,spinsterish and bespectacled amateur sleuth Hildegarde Withers -the sort of person who always carries a neatly rolled umbrella irrespective of the weather-who teams up with wisecracking policeman Inspector Piper(James Gleason)to solve the murder of Gerald Brooks (Guy Usher).The title derives from the murder location -the Battery Park Acquarium. There is no shortage of suspects-from the Acquarium director (Clarence H Webb)to the ungrieving widow of the deceased (Mae Clark)and one of her lovers (Donald Cook).Together they set a trap to unmask the killer.

Oliver and Gleason work well together and they are blessed with a witty script by Willis Goldbeck as well as some pacey direction from George Archainbaud

This was the first of a series and is a good example of solid studio professionalism from its era


Edna May Oliver is probably second only to Marie Dressler as the most famous character actress of the 1930's and Miss Dressler was a star whereas Miss Oliver tended to play mostly second leads. THE PENGUIN POOL MURDER is one of about a dozen starring features for Edna May and it an absolute treat, probably the funniest comedy-mystery ever made. The first of three films for Oliver as novelist Stuart Palmer's fiftyish caustic, snoopy schoolteacher Miss Withers, the movie was a major hit in 1932 and one can see why even today, the duologue is hilarious, the setting quite novel, and the cast is fine, especially Oliver and James Gleason who have such a superb team chemistry together is near tragic they only made three films together (Oliver left RKO-Radio Pictures in 1935 and the studio unwisely decided to carry on the series with different actresses much to moviegoers - and author Stuart Palmer's - displeasure.) The plot has been dealt with by other posters so I won't go in to it but even if murder mysteries are not your thing, if you love a good comedy you'll will thoroughly enjoy this picture as Oliver gets off some delicious zingers, mostly at the semi-incompetent Inspector Piper (Gleason)'s expense. As a mystery, it works very fine as well although I think most people might be able to pick out the murderer well before either Withers or Piper. The movie boasts two cultish 1930's leading ladies in support cast quite against character, Mae Clarke in an unusually glamorous role for her as one of the suspects and most surprising, Rochelle Hudson, best known for her ultra-wholesome ingénues, painted up like a back street hooker as a floozy of a telephone operator who has a hilarious run-in with Miss Withers. Every time I watch one of the three Oliver Miss Withers pictures I regret there are not more of them out there. At least there are a dozen or so Miss Withers novels by Stuart Palmer ( many still in print including THE PENGUIN POOL MURDER) for us to cast her again in our minds eye again in the role. I believe Hildegarde Withers is the greatest of all the old lady snoops in mystery novels and films - and that includes Miss Marple and Jessica Fletcher.


In the early 1930's, the marvelous character actress Edna May Oliver starred in a three-film series as spinster school teacher/murder detective Hildegarde Withers. To say she fit the role perfectly, with her sniff of suspicion & acerbic way with dialogue, is a great understatement. The films are fun, but the main reason to spend the time is Miss Edna May.

In this, the first of the series, Miss Oliver discovers a very dead body floating in the penguin pool in the New York City Aquarium. Even with her class in tow, she wastes not a moment in starting to gather clues.

James Gleason is great as the police detective trying to solve the crime HIS way; others in the cast include Robert Armstrong, Edgar Kennedy & the lovely Mae Clarke. Look fast for Rochelle Hudson


Gerald Parker is found dead in the penguin pool of a local aquarium. Who did it? Is it his unhappy, unfaithful wife? The man who loves her? The curator of the aquarium who want bankrupt because of him? Schoolteacher Hildegarde Withers (Edna May Oliver) and Inspector Piper (James Gleason) team up to find out.

It's creaky in spots and some of the acting is bad but, all in all, this is an enjoyable murder comedy. The script is quick with some very funny, sarcastic and somewhat suggestive lines. The identity of the murderer wasn't obvious (to me at least) but afterwords I realized everything pointed to him.

As I said, some of the acting is bad (Mae Clarke needed serious acting lessons and the guys playing Phillip and her husband were wooden) but the main roles are played great! Oliver (a WONDERFUL character actress) is letter perfect as Withers and Gleason is just great as gruff Inspector Piper. These two had wonderful chemistry together and interplay between them is just great. Also there's some (mild) sexual tension between them which just adds to the fun!

The first of RKO Pictures very short-lived Hildegarde Withers series. Only three had Oliver in them. I'd love to see the other two!


I first watched The Killing Edge back in the mid 1990's when I found it on the bargain-price rental shelf at our local video shop. As I had never heard of the film before, and taking into consideration that this was a British, (And therefore shot on a shoestring budget!), post-apocalypse film, I had an idea that it was going to be a pretty poor excuse for a film. The storyline is pretty weak and full of holes, there has been a nuclear war that has wiped out most of civilisation, those survivors left alive are being rounded up by the remnants of the army and either shot out hand or forced to work the land, watched over by "The Terminators". The killing Edge follows one survivor, an ex-soldier who survived the holocaust thanks to being in a motorway tunnel when the attack happened, make his way through the contaminated wastelands in search of the wife and child he left at home on the morning of the war. The film is amazingly bad, for the most part the costumes appear to have come from really bad 1980's army surplus and charity shops, the acting is wooden and totally unconvincing. The sets range from a random field, an old gravel pit/landfill site, and supermarket car park on a Sunday morning and a foul 80's show home. This film really must have had a budget of about 10p. However, this is a good film if you can manage to open your mind and revel in its utter crapulence, so many plot holes, such little acting talent, bad costumes, bad props, bad sets, bad sound, you will wonder exactly how it was possible for someone to make such a rubbish film?! Furthermore, every time I have watched the killing edge I am left feeling utterly depressed, there are no high points to the film whatsoever. I must say that the theme music is genuinely excellent, a moody 80's synth tune that sounds like some old boy came up with it one afternoon whilst sitting at his new Casio keyboard on an easter bank holiday in 1985. Anyway, if you see this film at a bootfair or second hand shop part with your 50p, take it home and watch it.


I saw this movie about 15 years ago. It has stayed with me ever since.

I specifically joined IMDb, for the sole pleasure of bitching about this film. Well this film and Battlefield Earth, which by comparison is a marvel of cinematographic brilliance.

My brother (Gary who will never be forgiven for this.) chose this film and we saw it with friends. It has become our benchmark for how completely rubbish a film can be.

After 15 years I still feel I was unfairly robbed of 1.5 hours of my life. We sat there staring in disbelief like rabbits staring into an oncoming cars headlights, instead trusting our instincts and turning it off after the first 5 minutes.

My comments above show more plot and character development and generally a better story line that this film. This film should win any contest for bad taste gift. Should only be bought as a gift for people you don't like. (Assuming anyone was optimistic (stupid) enough to think that anyone would want to buy it.).

Utterly utterly cr#p. I'm p1ssed that I can't give it a zero or a minus score. Did I mention this was all time worst film I have ever seen? I have enjoyed TV commercials more than this film.

This film truly deserves legendary status.


This is a truly terrible film, that frankly doesn't need to exist. The basic premise was reasonably interesting, being set in Britain and about a normal guy, after some sort of nuclear war. Unfortuneatly the entire thing devolves into a putrid mess of cliché, and a teddy bear that acts everyone else in this pile of drek off the screen. Teds performance is a tour de force compared to all the human actors. I don't want my money back, so much as I would rather pay more money to ensure no one involved in this project ever worked in film again. Quite frankly, insulting. If I had my way, Every copy of this film would be melted down and the plastic used to do something useful, though the aura of fail surrounding the film would doubtless taint whatever product was made with it, possibly compelling all within a hundred feet to use stilted dialogue and be utterly unconvincing-I was very aware I was watching a film at all times, and an awful film at that. I can only hope my words can express even a fraction of the horror that is watching this. Though you may get a giggle out of Ted.


This film is so unutterably terrible that it remains the best (worst) example of a bad film I have ever seen. Worse than American Ninjas 3 with its rubber knives & awful acting, worse than Sickle even (The Slaughterhouse Massacre with its stupid archetypal characters, wafer thin plot & shameful acting) - why, it's EVEN worse than The Thin Red Line (for which I still want compensation for the hours of wasted life & trauma.) The only reason to watch this film is for comparative purposes - if it's anywhere near The Killing Edge, it isn't worth the time you'll take to watch it. SO bad is this film, in fact, that 10 years after having seen it it remains like the North Star in my discussions on films with my best mate - i.e., well at least it was better than The Killing Edge

So go on, watch it. It's like THAT tape in The Ring - once you watch it, things will NEVER be the same.


The Killing Edge has very little plot, and not much thought or money put into it. But this is a brilliant film when viewed as a spoof. Statements like "How about you Ted, fancy a shave?" and "But first Ted i'll shoot you, you little b@#!£" both directed at a teddy bear make this a very funny and enjoyable movie. There are some classic fight scenes including a near showdown at the end in which everyone gets shot about 20 times and live. I won't spoil it by giving away the plot(if you can call it a plot) but if you can get hold of this film you are extremely lucky.


"Dennis the Menace" is unique in its own way because it's observant. This movie made me laugh at stuff i've always laughed at and things i'd never thought I would laugh at. The film can be surprisingly innocent at times and sincere and heartwarming. And the kid who plays Dennis is a way better actor than Macaulay Culkin. I liked the film for its imagination and humor. A good film. I also liked how they showed Dennis trying to resist the temptation to do something bad but can't resist.


For whatever reason, this film has been somewhat underrated since its release in the early nineties. I suspect that much of the apathy stems from the fact that audiences at that time had reached the saturation point with "Little kid outsmarting the bad guy" slapstick (Home Alone 1 and 2, The Three Ninjas series, etc). Still, this version of Dennis Mitchell's escapades is well worth a look, and is certainly holds its own against other John Hughes films with a similar (ok, "identical") premise.

The highlights of the film include winning performances by Mason Gamble and Walter Mathau as Dennis and Mr. Wilson, respectively. Mason Gamble was one of the more talented child actors to grace the screen at the time- if you're able to see more than a 'cute kid' and listen to his inflection, he's actually pretty funny. Mathau, of course, is Mathau and brilliant. It's somewhat annoying that the film decided to go 'PC' in portraying Alice Mitchell as a career woman, but other than that, the casting of the parents and Martha Wilson was perfect. The musical score was also excellent- whimsical, nostalgic, without coming across as cloying.

There were only two problems with the film, but they were big ones. First, the director did not adequately develop Wilson's friendship with Dennis, which makes the end scenes seem forced and trite. The only recollection I have of Wilson even speaking civilly to Dennis before he 'ran away' was when he briefly explained why he kept his coins in a safe. Other than that, their relationship was nothing but snarls, grumbling, and apologies. Secondly, the introduction of Switchblad Sam was a typical (and oh so tired) Hughes device, although it was surprisingly violent compared to his other films (watching a cute little five year old force feed and then accidentally set a villain on fire was slightly disturbing, to say the least). Christopher Lloyd's performance was over-the-top and distracting, taking away from what could have become a semi-classic children's film.


How can this movie get such a low rating? It is really well made, has some very funny moments and the casting is excellent. Dennis is cute as a button and totally believable, his parents are.. well, just perfect and mr Wilson is the best mr Wilson you could wish for. The same applies to many of the smaller roles. And then there is Christopher Lloyd in one of his best performances ever. I loved this movie, both the first and second time I saw it. It deserves at least an 8, so I gave it a 9 to boost the score.


I feel really badly that this movie is on the list of worst according to average vote. If you consider that it relies very much on slap-stick humour, which does not appeal to everyone, that might explain its poor showing.

The movie is best compared to "Home Alone." I feel it is by far the better of the two movies. Dennis is wide-eyed and innocent and the slap-stick scenarios are 'accidental' rather than contrived as in "Home Alone."

This is a movie that elderly parents can watch and be guaranteed to have a good time. It is also a movie that kids will love. If those in between can't appreciate it, that speaks a lot for their loss of innocence.


I saw this movie in seventh grade on a free day in school, when I heard that we were watching it, I had heard that it did not do to well, but then I decided to just watch it. And then we did, I recalled that I was laughing so hard, no sound came out! I am telling you, I was laughing my head off when I saw this, this movie is hysterical, it has got really big laughs, it is totally a slap-happy time, you must see this, you will be laughing yourself silly! I was totally surprised about seeing this movie, I thought that it was not going to be very good, but I was wrong, I was laughing so hard that I was almost crying! Why did I like this movie, because it is just plain funny, that's why! There is usually a time where a movie based on a TV show isn't good, but I was surprised with this, I totally had a really good time!

The gags in this movie are all very hysterical, they are typical in a usual slapstick comedy movie, there are gags which usually involve people getting hurt! But I was really surprised, it is not one of the funniest movies that I have ever seen, the funniest is Duck Soup, but this is one of the funniest that I have seen in a few years, I believe that you should see this, you will be laughing like crazy! Go ahead and think I am crazy if I liked this movie, but it is just fabulous!

One more thing, I don't know why I really thought that this movie was funny, but I was really enjoying it when I watched it. I just that that is was totally funny, its one of the funniest movies that I have seen in a couple of years, but it is not the funniest movie that I have ever seen. But all the same, the movie is hysterical, you really must see this, you will be laughing out loud at it!

10/10


This is probably one of the most funniest movies I've ever seen in my life. I have watched the cartoon here and there when I was a kid and read a few of the comic strips. This movie was excellent.

*Spoiler Alert*

There are so many funny moments in this film that I just have to name a few:

1. Dennis finds Mr. Wilson in bed sick and decides to give him some medicine. So, he sits on Mr. Wilson and aims his slingshot with the aspirin on it at Mr. Wilson's mouth. Well, you can guess what happens next.

2. There was one part where Dennis runs away from home and runs into Switchblade Same who was played by Christopher Lloyd. Switchblade Sam attempts to tie up Dennis but Dennis tells him he's doing it wrong and attempts to show him how to tie the knots right by demonstrating it on him. As stupid as the guy is, he allows it. When Dennis is done, the guy can't get free.

3. There was the part where he eats an entire pot full of beans. What happens is what made me and my classmates laugh so hard.

*End Spoiler*

Overall, the movie is very funny. It's sad that they don't make them like this anymore.

I give this film 10 stars out of 10. If there were three films that made me laugh the most that were kind of related, the list would look like this:

1. Problem Child

2. Dennis The Menace

3. Home Alone


Dennis the Menace is a great hilarious movie. The music composed by the legendary Jerry Goldsmith is perfect especially for the scene when we fist see Christopher Lloyd. The cast is great and it was great seeing Llyod and Lea Thomson in the same film again ala the Back to the Future trilogy.Walter Matthau,Joan Plowright,and Paul Winfield were very good and I think it was a fine choice of putting Mason Gamble for the menace job as Dennis. The film has non-stop laughs especially the scenes with Matthau and I just love the scene when the end credits are playing.If you want to laugh look no further than Dennis the Menace!


I remember growing up with "Dennis The Menace" TV re-runs. I loved the black & white sit-com, but this 1990s movie version almost tops it! That lovable sling-shot-toting kid with the cowlick is an unlikely "menace" to retired postman Mr. Wilson, who wants nothing more than to be left alone. Dennis Mitchell always seeks out Mr. Wilson's company, but each time disaster strikes, usually causing harm to property or Mr. Wilson (sometimes both). Mrs. Wilson adores Dennis and often volunteers to watch him when the Mitchell's list of possible baby-sitters is exhausted.

There is a sub-plot with a "bad guy" who, of course gets "fixed" by our hero. This is the perfect family movie. It's funny, sweet and makes you feel good when it's through. I showed this video to my 4th grade class (as a reward). I never saw a group of 10 year-olds enjoy a film like they did this one. Enjoy this wonderful film again and again, it's a gem!


I've loved this film since I first saw it. There aren't many films that have me in stitches with laughter, but this one sure does. Walter Matthau is perfect as Mr. Wilson and Joan Plowright gives a very heartfelt performance as Martha Wilson. Lea Thompson is great as Dennis' mother and Christopher Lloyd is so delightfully icky as Switchblade Sam - he looks like he's bathed in oil slick and then raided a mental patient's wardrobe. And those teeth! I just about fall of the couch during the sabotaged toiletries scene - the scream that Matthau let's loose upon using the 'nasal spray' is priceless. And don't get me started on the scene where Dennis breaks Mr. Wilson's dentures and replaces them with chicklets. One of my favourite kids films and one I'll no doubt keep coming back too.Highly recommended.


Dennis Mitchell (Mason Gamble) is a five year old boy, who's clever and always curious. Which Dennis doesn't meant to be a bad little boy. But his neighbor George Wilson (Walter Matthau) is been suffering for some time, Because of Dennis' antics. When a poor, grease thief (Christopher Lloyd) comes to Dennis' home town for robberies. But he didn't think that he can't match with this little kid.

Directed by Nick Castle (The Boy Who Could Fly, The Last Starfighter, Major Payne) made an amusing comedy family film, which is based on a comic-strip by Hank Ketcham. Gamble is very likable in the title role. Matthau is perfectly cast as Mr. Wilson. The Cast includes:Joan Plowright, Lea Thompson, Robert Stanton and Paul Winfield. But the Script, Written by John Hughes (The Breakfest Club, National Lampoon's Vacation, Pretty in Pink). Who also produced this film manages to somewhat rip-off his "Home Alone" style mischief violence for laughs. Which isn't that bad, since it was a modest hit at the box office and audiences of all ages should enjoy this. Watch for a young Natasha Lyonne for a bit part and Devin Ratray from the "Home Alone" fame. (*** 1/2 out of *****).


Nick Castle directed this hilarious family film that did better then what people give it credit for today.

This is a live-action version of the classic comic-strip that i still read to this day. Walter Matthau and Mason Gamble fit their characters so well and have such great chemistry together. Joan Plowright plays Mrs. Wilson in this movie. Lea Thompson and Robert Stanton also make an appearance as Dennis's parents. I was questioning Christopher Lloyd's role when i saw this in theaters because that almost overshadowed the fact that this was a family film and his role as a robber caught me off guard. I didn't like his role until the end, him and Mason Gamble have a great moment together in the end when Dennis is torturing him, i laughed to tears on that seen, the knife nailing him the butt.

Overall, an 8 out 10. There really is no plot to this film, just a good hearted comedy with a great cast and some great comedic moments.


you know how switchblade sam rolls into town? on steel rails, leapin' off the locomotive at full speed and dustin' himself off. then he scopes out the town and says, "i bet they don't even lock their doors." this is the happiest man in the world. he walks into people's houses, eats their food, jacks all their cash and jewelry... shoot, he even steals candy from a baby. cops try to give him guff, but he don't sweat it. he'll cook up a whole pot of beans, even when he isn't hungry. he eats his apples off of his switchblade. he got some tight threads. he probably gets laid all the time too, but they ain't showin' that in this movie. he drinks his whiskey straight out the flask. he kidnaps kids and holds them for ransom.

mr. Wilson is kinda cool too.


Dennis the menace only got 4.7. and that is unacceptable. it deserves at least a 16. but you don't give us that option. and that makes you butt faces. Dennis the menace is wonderful. he has a girlfriend named Polly and she is pretty with glasses. there is a scary man. his name is Christopher and he is in back to the future. the story line is glorious. his name is switch blade Sam and he takes apples from little children. we like the movie Dennis the menace, it is fab-u-loud. thank you. sincerely. with greatest concern

Joseph Danaher

and Erica Eades


I don't know why 'Dennis' only receives a 4.7 rating on IMDb because it is a rather enjoyable film with plenty of cute/funny moments that leave you chuckling so surely deserves a few points more. Based on the comic book and Eighties cartoon, this film centres on five-year-old Dennis, a boisterous little boy who just wants to help but everything he touches turns into a catastrophe. He hero-worships his miserable next-door neighbour Mr Wilson despite the old grump being the sort who thinks children should be seen and not heard. The main storyline is about a thieving hobo Switchblade Sam who has turned up in Dennis' town to make a picking except he hasn't counted on a certain blond-haired moppet making his life a misery!

Mason Gamble was just so adorable as Dennis, giving a very engaging and energetic performance that leaves kids wanting to be his friend and adults wanting to adopt him. He's the sort of child who is cute but charming enough to not be just another cutesy Hollywood brat. Walter Mathau was also perfectly cast as the cantankerous Mr Wilson who just doesn't have time for small children and he has a very nice rapport with Joan Plowright, who played the exasperated Mrs Wilson. I also have to mention Christopher Lloyd as he is totally unrecognisable as the filthy, slimy Switchblade Sam and how he is just hilarious as the hardened thief who quickly regrets ever meeting Dennis.

In many ways, this film is more involving and enjoyable than similar films such as 'Home Alone' since Dennis is a very sweet, likable character compared with the more cocky and, at times, grating Kevin. There is also few sugary, overly-sentimental moments that often crop up in family films. It would have been nice to see more of interactions between Mr Wilson and Dennis since that was always a great focal point of the cartoon series but this film is still a worthy successor. It should keep fans of the cartoon amused as well as thrill young kids who may not have ever heard of Dennis before now.


Dennis the Menace was one of the best movies I have ever seen. The actors were brilliant, there was not one part that no one would not laugh about it. Out of ten I give this movie a ten plus. The actor Mr Wilson (Walter Matthau) was the best of them all. Knowing that a 72 year old man could be that great in the making of this movie. it is a terrible shame that he passed away in 2000. I will miss him terribly. He had made heaps of movies that were fantastic and really funny to watch.

Joan Plowright was great playing Mrs Wilson. She really knows how to act.


I've noticed a lot of people here made negative comments about this movie, but I don't see why. I really liked it. I always enjoyed reading Dennis the Menace comics and watching the cartoon in the 80s. I really thought the plot was interesting. I also liked how Dennis kept outsmarting that robber. It's really a good family movie with swear words or anything in this movie, (except for when Mr. Wilson says the abbreviation for 'gosh darn.'). I recommend for the people who disliked this movie to watch it again and give it another try.


I saw this film when it first came out and I loved it then and still do so I'm pleased to have finally bought it on DVD. Just watch it!!! I found it funny throughout and the end of the film where the villain (played beautifully) suffered at the unknowing hands of Dennis is a joy to watch. Just watch it!!!


Dennis the Menace is among the few films on the video shelf that is able to keep the entire family amused. In the film, we see the newspaper cartoon of our youth come to life with a cast that could not have been more perfectly chosen. Walter Mattheau and Joan Plowright are ideal as the neighborly object of Dennis' affection; he the loveable old curmudgeon and she the unfulfilled neighborhood grandmother. Mason Gamble embodies the spirit of the spunky menace you cannot help but love. Margaret and Joey appear on the screen just as you had always imagined them, as do the parents of the menace.

Of course Christopher Lloyd gives a fine performance as the true menace to this sleepy village. Lloyd may be just a tad too scary for younger children, and some of the riverside scenes with Lloyd and Gamble may be the stuff of nightmares. Parents beware.

If your young ones are not easily scared or influenced to devilment, this will be the film to provide an evening of fun for all ages.


As I write this, Dennis the Menace is running on cable in the background. I'm half-listening to it, and I'm not watching it. It's that uninvolving.

Great actors, a talented director and writer still can't save a bad script. John Hughes, fairly fresh from Home Alone, had contractual obligations to fulfill, and adapted Hank Ketchum's classic comic strip for film. But studio bosses like to meddle, and I suspect there was a lot of "change this, change that, it'll make more money" sorta stuff that flew around during production.

It boils down to this. Walter Matthau. Chris Lloyd, Joan Plowright, and everyone in this film is wasting their time. The whole movie is pointless and dumb, and if you really want to watch Dennis at his best, go find the old black & white television episodes from the late Fifties. Even all the Oscar-caliber talent in this thing couldn't save it from mediocrity.

Recommendations. Want to see these actors at their best? Fine. Here's what to rent:

For Walter Matthau, The Odd Couple. For Joan Plowright, I Love You To Death. For Chris Lloyd, Back To The Future, all three of them. For Paul Winfield, Roots. Better yet, the Star Trek episode "Darmok". and for this film's director, Nick Castle, The Last Starfighter.

Just stay away from this mess. Maybe that way it'll end up buried in the vaults somewhere and vanish into well-deserved obscurity.


Like everyone else my age, I read "Dennis The Menace" comic strips and comic books when I was a kid. He and his dog and neighbors all provided laughs. With a cast that included Walter Matthau, Christopher Lloyd, Joan Plowright and Lea Thompson, I was sure this would provide laughs for me now as an adult, as well.

Wrong.

This was NOT funny, just one stupid gag after another. There was no real story line and most of the characters were annoying, not humorous. No wonder this was another disappointing "bomb" at the box office.

Not everything is bad. Matthau is "Mr. Wilson" true to form. He looks and acts like you figure he would out of the comic strip. Dennis' parents pretty much do the same and some of the stuff is fairly funny.

But there are some big-time disquieting aspects of this movie. "Dennis" is not the innocent- but-mischievous kid of the comics, but a mean-spirited, sadistic kid in here. Did I really hear Matthau utter "GD" three times without making it sound like it was blasphemous? Oh, how clever these Hollywood folks are in their clueless idea of "family fare." Speaking of that, what was the purpose of the sleazy character "Switchblade Sam?" In this age of child molestation and worse, this kind of character is funny? A guy hanging around schoolyards making threats is funny? No, not really.

Once again - clueless Hollywood. What Dennis does to him is not funny, either - it's over-the-line. You would be appalled if your kid acted like this. This is far cry from the intention of comic book writer. It is typical of the sick screen writers of today.

If you think I'm over-reacting, check Roger Ebert's review of this movie. I don't agree with him on many films but he was extremely offended by that character, too, and thought it had no legitimate reason for being in this movie. Good for him.

This should be a "G" rated movie. It's "Dennis The Menace," for cryin' out loud, so why the PG attitude?


This movie is a real treasure. Walter Matheau is excellent as Mr. Wilson and Mason Gamble brings the cartoon Dennis to life for us! Christopher Loyld does a wonderful job of being a menacing Switchblade Sam and is able to be vicious without being truly scary - which is helpful as this is primarily a family movie. His part is important because it shows how even a really mean person (which Mr. Wilson's character is not) can be foiled by the innocent childhood antics of Dennis the Menace.

The real joy of this film, beyond the many sight gags and the smart dialog, is how the movie doesn't seem to age with time.. I saw it at the theater in the early 90's and it still seems fresh 13 years later. Also, it is one of those rare movies that can be watched over and over and still surprisingly be interesting, enjoyable and brightly funny!


I haven't seen the cartoon of Dennis the menace, but saw the movie as a kid and thought it was good back then,but watching it now i have realized how boring it is. Although, i've always admired the robber, I thought there was wonderful acting shown by Christopher Lloyd. Walter Matthieu was also good, as well as mason gamble. The music played through the movie was good but got a bit monotonous at times. I liked the music played when the bad guy was around. The opening scene was done well with the music and it gave us a good look at the relationship between Dennis and Mr. Wilson. I like how each time something happened he actually didn't mean it to happen.


DENNIS THE MENACE, in my opinion, is an excellent film adaptation of a classic TV show with smashing performances. Also, even though everyone gave an appealing performance, I liked Dennis' (Mason Gamble) the best. In addition, I thought that Mr. Wilson (Walter Matthau) was a very cantankerous guy. However, I thought that Margaret (Amy Sakasitz) was an absolute b****. Before I wrap this up, I'd like to say that everyone involved in this film did a very good job. In conclusion, I highly recommend this excellent film adaptation of a classic TV show with appealing performances to any fan who hasn't seen it. You're in for a good time, so go to the video store, rent it or buy it, kick back with a friend, and watch it.


Dennis the menace, as the last word points it out right away, is a menacing movie.

It is supposed to be for kids, but I remember that I was pretty scared of the movie and I thought that Dennis was just an utter crazy boy, scary in his way. I know that he is kind of supposed to be scary for adults, but as a kid I couldn't really identify myself with anybody in the movie; you're not really involved.

Furthermore, a lot of the cuts are directed in a way to submit horror, but in a gentle way. That is like showing us a dangerous car accident but underlining it with cheery music. Something is awfully wrong, it does not feel right. Kids will be frightened by the villain, Mr. Wilson, the girl with the dolls and by the way the director Nick Castle brought the ideas to the screen (only Mrs Wilson is a charming, nice person). This movie simply is not for kids.

You might think then this is for adults, for moms and dads, to watch with their children... nnnnno. You see, the problem is that, while you actually are capable of feeling of how much Dennis is a menace for retired men, you never really think that he's an interesting kid; he's very naive, over the top naive which is basically it.

The movie then is not for children, nor their parents or anybody else. Especially not for teenagers, nowadays they watch films like Matrix at the age of thirteen. The result is that this movie is probably for no one.

4/10


This film is one of the few films to offend me. It proclaims itself to be a children's movie, but is so full of gratuitous (presumably meant to be "comical") violence, nasty "pranks" and the gruesome sequence with Christopher Lloyd being tortured (nearly to death) by the obnoxious brat Dennis makes DENNIS THE MENACE entirely inappropriate for children. The fact that it is a terrible film in all other respects makes it entirely inappropriate viewing for adults, as well! Would you want your child to repeat any of the "antics" Dennis gets away with in real life? They would land your child in jail or the hospital; vicious films like this and HOME ALONE, PROBLEM CHILD, etc. have no place in your child's life. Another alleged "children's film" to stay away from for its grotesque, unrelenting, mean-spirited violence and adults-only humor is Dreamwork's MOUSE HUNT. Let you children watch these films at your own risk!


Once seen, never forgotten. Very few films have ever moved into Hitchcock's territory and beaten him, but Seven Waves Away / Abandon Ship is one: ultimately it's a much superior film to Hitchcock's similar Lifeboat. Seven Waves Away was made with impressive conviction and passion by writer-director Richard Sale, who was very active in the 1950s but didn't get another opportunity to direct a feature after this one, despite living 36 more years (what's up with that?). Working with production designer Wilfred Shingleton and art director Raymond Simm and filming almost entirely in a large tank (except perhaps for a few long shots), Sale created an unforgettably immediate atmosphere for a completely harrowing and uncompromising tale of survival at sea under the worst imaginable physical and ethical circumstances.

The cast performed admirably under very trying circumstances (imagine being wet all day, every day); in fact, the miseries of the filming process influenced the acting in a quasi-documentary manner that benefits the picture enormously. Even seen on television, Seven Waves Away is an intensely experiential movie; I can only imagine what it felt like on the large screen.

This was practically Tyrone Power's last hurrah; in his early forties when the movie was filmed, he died of a heart attack on a project shortly thereafter (as his actor-father Tyrone Power Sr. had before him). Power acts with tremendous force and tension as the "captain" here; the dramatic arc of the story is contained entirely within his decision-making process, and for a first-time viewer his key decision (which I will not reveal) will always register as startling because it runs so counter-intuitively to our received sense of ethics. But that is part of what gives Seven Waves Away its wallop.


In 1946 Tyrone Power managed to start convincing his friend and producer, Darryl Zanuck, to occasionally let him flex his muscles as a straight, serious actor. Zanuck reluctantly agreed, so that Power did THE RAZOR'S EDGE and (more important) NIGHTMARE ALLEY. In the former he struggled to show a man who sought and found spiritual piece in the years following World War I, while his friends went mad in the materialistic hopelessness of Europe and America. In the latter he showed he could play a really nasty, opportunistic heel. But neither film was a blockbuster for Power (THE RAZOR'S EDGE did help push the career of his co-star Clifton Webb). NIGHTMARE ALLEY was a critical success, but a flop at the box office. Zanuck returned Power to his old heroic films, aged a little because he was growing older. As a partial sop his characters had less pleasant sides - his character in PRINCE OF FOXES is a willing tool of Cesare Borgia (Orson Welles) for the first half of the movie. But Power remained the good guy hero.

In the 1950s (after his contract with Fox was completed) Power made more varied films, that showcased the good actor he had become. In particular his tragic biography THE EDDIE DUCHIN STORY, his interesting western RAWHIDE, his shifty defendant in WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION, his physically damaged (and emotionally wounded) hero in THE SUN ALSO RISES, and this film, ABANDON SHIP/SEVEN WAVES AWAY. The story is reset in modern times. It is the story of the sinking, in 1841, of the William Brown - the same shipwreck that is the subject of Henry Hathaway's movie SOULS AT SEA (1937) that starred Gary Cooper, George Raft, and Henry Wilcoxen. Basically the situation is this: you are in the sole floating lifeboat from a ship that has sunk. There are fifty people clinging to it or inside it. But the frail boat can only be assured of floating with twenty or so passengers in it. So, as the surviving officer in the boat you have to decide who shall live and who shall die. Cooper had to make that choice in SOULS AT SEA, and faces trial for murder as a result. Power does the same thing here too - with similar results.

But the handling of the William Brown tragedy in SOULS AT SEA was the conclusion of that film: The situation and it's resolution took all of ten minutes of the total movie. In ABANDON SHIP, Power is in this dreadful moral dilemma for the entire film. The Captain (Lloyd Nolan) dies early on. Power has to pick and choose among all these few survivors as to who should be kept and who is expendable (based on age, physical condition, value to society). He is unable to rely on anyone else - a fact that is brought to his attention not only by the actions of a critical Stephen Boyd at one point, but by the way Mai Zetterling and James Hayter distance themselves from him when the lifeboat is finally picked up. All powerful in his unwanted element while everyone's lives depended on him, he is all alone when the dangers for the survivors pass away.

ABANDON SHIP is a hard film to sit through as it is so bleak - it is the bleakest movie that Powell ever made (even THE EDDIE DUCHIN STORY had an element of hope in it because Eddie's son Peter was there to carry on the family's name and reputation). But it is an example of good acting all around with a thoughtful script. And it demonstrates that Tyrone Power was a mighty dramatic performer when he was given the right material.


From the opening scenes, director Richard Sale makes you aware that this is not going to be a "pretty" film. With the small shot of a simple sea mine floating in the water transforming into a classic 1950s explosion with horrific screams of passengers, Sale again reminds you that this is not going to be a typical Hollywood disaster film. As a reviewer, I must remind those reading that this is not a pretty picture  do not expect your typical film where the heroine always makes good decisions and those that are made do not impact the lives of others. "Seven Waves Away" was a flawless film. It is one of those rare, extremely rare gems that has gone out of print, probably forgotten by most, but when found will provide the most gut-wrenching 97 minutes of cinematic viewing. The plot is simple  a luxury liner is destroyed by a random mine, those surviving are cramped into a lifeboat only equipped to handle 12, 14 at the most, but the dilemma, there are 27 surviving passengers. Weight, rations, sanity, and control are all factors that our leader, Tyrone Powers, must struggle with to save as many lives as possible. With no land for the next 1200 miles, Powers must remain in control, even with death knocking at every door.

"Seven Waves Away" now ranks among one of my favorite films of all times. Why? Director Richard Sale does a phenomenal job directing a strong cast in such a small space. He creates a sense of claustrophobia that is unprecedented in the film industry. This film is the chapter missing from the over-budgeted disaster film "Titanic", which happily everyone shows up safe near the end. This is the human element of disaster, the choices that are made, and the difficulty of survival. This couldn't have happened without those playing their respective roles. Tyrone Powers was more than impressive as the designated master-in-command of this little boat full of scared people. When we first met him, as he assisted in others floating away from the wreckage, we can see that he is going to be a force in this film, and it isn't until he is pushed that we see the full potential of his character. He pushed himself away from any swashbuckling stereotypes that he was better known for, allowed water to be pushed into his face, and gave us a rugged performance that hasn't been seen for a very long time. It was due to Powers' portrayal that the others fell into their own characters as well. Others have argued that each character seemed cliché and at times racist, but to me, they all worked and fell into their roles respectively. The only one I had trouble believing was Mai Zetterling's portrayal of Powers' love interest and nurse. She was cardboard with lines, but worked with the others around her. She was tolerable because the actual story was powerfully near to perfection.

With the characters in place, a strong lead that obviously could control the darkening waters, all we needed to ensure was that there was a strong enough story to accompany these deserved moments. Thankfully, there was. "Seven Waves Away" was one of the tightest scripts that I have witnessed in a very long time. The camera shots were tight, the special effects were 50s style, but perfection in every direction, and the bleak tones were what kept me on the edge of my seat each minute of this film. There is something about a film, especially one made in the 50s that shows unfortunate people just floating out to their death. There is also something about the power of a film that isn't afraid to be honest to itself. "Seven Waves Away" was honest; the horrid nature of Powers saying "women and children don't mean anything anymore" had my heart racing. He was powerful, yet torn all at the same time. He carried a burden none of us would probably be willing to do, and oddly, he was hurt for it. The ending of this film is really what pulled it together for me. The excitement of the crew turned to a wicked shade of turnip at the first signs of possible safety. The honesty of this film is what struck the chord with me. It was powerful and real all at the same time. There wasn't time for cheap CGI or pathetic special effects, this was a human driven film, and it worked because they were all characters we either believed in or have once known. Which would you have been if you were in this boat  one of the strong or one of the weak? This is a conversation that I could have with anyone after viewing this film, and it is conversation that launches this film into my immediate favorites.

Overall, I don't think my words gave this film credit at all. It was, again, one of those rare films that should never go out of print, but remain a staple in our cinematic community. Tyrone Powers is superb, and Richard Sale gives us a story nearly worthy enough of Hitchcock. I still get goose bumps as I think about Powers making the final decision on those that are considered "dead weight". This film carried a heavy theme and wasn't afraid to show it to the world. It is a real film about honest events and the truth behind humanity, it speaks further truth now, and would make for a great re-interpretation if not Hollywood-ized too much. I cannot suggest this film enough. If ever you find yourself with a bit more money in the wallet, this film is the perfect investment for your collection. A beauty from beginning to end.

Grade: ***** out of *****


Abandon Ship/Seven Waves Away is a very powerful and difficult film to watch, made a little more palatable by the presence of one of film's great matinée idols, Tyrone Power. I'm sorry one of the posters didn't find him sexy. That man oozed sex from every pore of his body - just ask anyone who came within two feet of him, including his costar in this film, Mai Zetterling. Their torrid affair is discussed in vivid, oh so vivid detail in her autobiography - a whole 18-page chapter.

Sex aside, this film comes off as a great deal grittier than Lifeboat. For me, Tallulah Bankhead was so dazzling in Lifeboat, much of the focus was on her, which somehow dissipated a lot of the tragedy. The two films are similar, though, on some plot points. However, due to Bankhead, there was some humor in Lifeboat. Abandon Ship/Seven Waves Away has none.

The film will keep you glued to your seat, but it is not easy to take, as it is unrelenting in its message and harrowing scenes. You will suffer along with each person who is sacrificed so that others may live.

It's great to see Tyrone Power in a meatier role, and I do believe his career would have taken some exciting turns, both on stage and screen, had he lived past the age of 44. His face was a total curse (to him only) and got in the way of serious acting pursuits for years. His performance in Abandon Ship is excellent and stands as one of his best. There are other films where he had a tendency to tighten up, but this wasn't one of them. It's a shame about him - like so many men of that era, he always had a cigarette in his hand; in Power's case, it was suspected he had heart trouble, but he was in denial about it and didn't want it verified. So we're stuck with what work of his we have, and a lot of it is pretty darn good.

** According to Mai Zetterling's book, All Those Tomorrows, the cast sat in a boat floating in a large indoor tank at Shepperton Studios. There were wind and wave machines and a watershoot pouring cold water on the cast. A starting pistol had to be used to start action as there was no way to hear the director. In the end, the whole film was dubbed because no one could hear. Zetterling had a nearly three-year affair with Power, which gets a chapter in her book.


This was my first viewing of the film and in my humble opinion Ty Power was terrific as a dramatic actor. It really opened my eyes to his capabilities. He had what it takes to project the reality across to us, the viewers. Although I wouldn't want to be in his situation, of deciding on the fate of survivors in a lifeboat, still I felt his decisions were the best that could be done in such an extreme and dire situation. I'm sure no one would want to be in his shoes at that time.

Each actor contributed in their minor roles, - nice to see Stephen Boyd in an earlier role - Lloyd Nolan seen rather briefly, and Mai Zetterling as the nurse who was supportive throughout.

Who can say what each and everyone would be willing to decide on if confronted with the inevitable decision of life and death, or basic survival as in this case. It's certainly something to think about in quiet moments.

I found this film riveting throughout as the dialogue progressed and decisions were made, rightly or wrongly, on people's lives.

It's a remarkably realistic revelation of human nature at its best and worse. A "must see" for those interested in drama, and particularly in Ty Power's development as a serious performer. Well recommended.


Abandon Ship is my #1 choice of any movie to divide any group of people into argument; a story of true history and unprecedented command decision by a captain, in this case the captain of a lifeboat loaded up with far too many people and isolated 2000 miles from land.

The decisions made by the captain were harsh but not cruel, always with the intended purpose of effectively saving lives, but going against commonly accepted morality.

It's almost impossible to write a longer review of this picture. Many films claim to be mesmerizing; few are. This one fits the description. No matter what your viewpoint, it'll engross you to the core. Seek this one out ASAP.


As gripping and powerful as it is, ABANDON SHIP! is a survival story that's hard to view from the comfort of an armchair or theater seat. The viewer can identify so completely with the daunting task facing the ship's officer (TYRONE POWER) when making life and death decisions with regard to how many people can use the lifeboat when a sunken ship leaves them adrift at sea.

True, there are a few stereotypes among the raft's passengers, but the drama becomes real and forceful due to the strong performances from an excellent cast. MAI ZETTERLING is fine as a nurse with a romantic relationship to Executive Officer Power and STEPHEN BOYD and LLOYD NOLAN are fine as other ship officers caught up in unusual circumstances surrounding their survival at sea.

Not for the squeamish, it has echoes of Hitchcock's LIFEBOAT (but without the humor).

Tyrone Power was at a stage in his career when he wanted more serious roles rather than stay forever fixed in the minds of movie-goers as a swashbuckling star. Here he certainly had his chance to prove his acting skills and he does a splendid job in a grim role, one of his last parts before his premature death from a heart attack at age 45.


Seven Waves Away is the story of ship's officer played by Tyrone Power who to save the people in his charge after a shipwreck has to cast several of them adrift so the bulk can be saved. The only thing that 100% of those who view this harrowing tale is they pray that such a responsibility never falls on them.

I'm not sure it was peace or war time that this story is supposed to have taken place. The ship is an ocean liner on a round the world cruise. But what happens is that it strikes a loose mine floating out in the south Atlantic, 1500 miles from the coast of Africa. I can't believe that people would be taking cruises in the middle of a war nor would any pleasure ships be sailing.

As Tyrone Power describes it, the mine didn't just strike the ship in one spot. It went under the ship and bounced along the bottom and when it exploded, it cut the ship right in half. It was down faster than the Lusitania when it was torpedoed. Less than 10 minutes, no lifeboats launched, no distress signal sent.

The boat they're on is the captain's ship to shore craft. It accommodates nine and twenty seven are in Power's charge as the senior ship's officer. Who's to live and who's to die?

Mai Zetterling is on the boat, she's Power's girl friend, a fact noted with some resentment by others, but she's a nurse. Lloyd Nolan is another officer who sacrifices himself after telling Power what his duty is.

Best performance in the film is that of Moira Lister who's a society woman and a swimmer. She's just full of cutting remarks about the 'brave captain'.

The film lists Ted Richmond as producer, but a silent partner in the venture was Tyrone Power. His performance as the ship's officer with a double Job like burden is excellent. He was well past his youthful days as a romantic idol and it's sad to think he would be dead next year because any number of parts would have opened up for him. This one in fact should have netted him an Oscar nomination.

Seven Waves Away is a film not for the faint hearted.


Tyrone Power forsakes his "handsome man" image to star in this film, skillfully made (on a limited budget, I'm sure). The b&w photography is among the best I've ever seen. Supporting characters are slightly over-the-top, but solidly entertaining. The one drawback is when the drama shifts abruptly into documentary-style at the very end. So two points off for the sudden and unwarranted mood change. Could easily have had a sequel -- glad it didn't. An 8!


No need to recap the much-repeated plot. I'm not sure which came first this movie or the "Lifeboat Paradox" used as illustration in many college courses in ethics. What the lifeboat situation sets up so starkly is the clash between two prevalent theories of right and wrong. These two are worth taking a brief look at since their conflict makes up the crux of this intense melodrama.

Ty Power ends up opting for a Utilitarian standard where the aim of correct conduct is to bring about the greatest good for the greatest number of people. This standard okays sacrificing some in order to save others in circumstances where all other alternatives would result in less 'good' for a fewer number of people. Under the desperate circumstances, Power is approximating that standard by sacrificing those least likely to survive in order to save those most likely to survive, while the 'good' to be maximized is individual survival. The classic objection to this theory is that it can justify sacrificing the innocent in order to bring about a 'greater good', whatever good or value that might be. Here the weak and the injured are cast adrift through no fault of their own, and it's this aspect that's so repugnant to ordinary sensibilities, such as the professor's.

But, it's well to keep in mind that a Utilitarian standard is used all the time when making life-and-death decisions in wartime. So-called "collateral damage", for example, amounts to a rough utilitarian calculus applied during bombing campaigns where civilian casualties are inevitable. What's so unnerving in the movie is that unlike bombing campaigns we can put names and faces on those sacrificed, which is why Power is advised not to get too familiar with the others.

This utilitarian theory conflicts with a second theory, the more conventional Egalitarian standard, which holds that all human life is of equal value. On a strict application of equality, no person should be sacrificed for the benefit of another, and when human life is held as the supreme value, some version of pacifism would appear the logical conclusion. Without viewing the film a second time, Stephen Boyd's character, I believe, comes closest to acting out a consistent Egalitarian standard since he refuses to sacrifice another without sacrificing himself.

(In passingMoira Lister's sardonic young woman appears to admire Power's strength of character simply for his strength and not for whether he's made the morally right decision. Suggesting that strength of character is in some sense more basic than right and wrong points toward the amoralism of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.)

Anyway, the survivors, including Power, begin the ordeal by holding to presumably some conventional form of egalitarianism. But under the pressure of circumstance, they give in to Power's conversion to a utilitarian view of the situation. However, when rescue comes and the pressure is off, they revert back to convention, leaving Power to take the heat and deal with the law. This suggests that Power may end up being something of a martyr to their survival. After all, the law, at least as we proclaim it, reflects an egalitarian standard (everyone is equal before the law), and on that basis Power is guilty in some sense of a crime since he has valued some lives over that of others. Nonetheless, has Power done anything more blameworthy than, say, a bomber pilot who kills x-number of civilians in utilitarian pursuit of the greater good of winning the war. We pin medals on the latter, but the former, we're informed, was jailed for six months.

I suspect the movie is correct in suggesting that under normal circumstances people identify with the more idealistic equality standard. But in severe conditions, we're likely drawn in a more pragmatic utilitarian direction. Nonetheless, the two really do clash at a fairly basic level. Whatever one's opinion on these matters, the film dramatizes the academic issues pretty effectively.

The movie itself offers little relief from the dire predicament the survivors are in. It's pretty much 90 minutes of harrowing grimness. I can't imagine the contents made money, at the same time I think it's a tribute to the producers that the film got made at all. As sheer entertainment, the film's value may be questionable, but as a prompt for getting audiences to think about questions of right and wrong, I believe it succeeds admirably.


***SPOILER ALERT*** True story of a shipwreck, due in the film to a WWII German naval mine, that had the ship's-The Crescent Star- second mate Executive Officer Alec Holmes, Tyrone Power, take command after the fatality injured ship's Captain Paul Darrow Laurence Nismith, put him in charge of it's survivors.

Under the most extreme and dangerous circumstances Holmes gathers the some 35 Crescent Star survivors in a lifeboat that can hold no more the 15 people! Stuck in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean some 1,500 miles from the nearest land, the African Continent, Holmes has to now choose those who can help make it to shore and those who are just dead weight and have to be thrown overboard in order for the rest to survive. The movie has a very determined yet tortured and guilt ridden Holmes make the ultimate decision of life or death for those he's been put in charge of on the overcrowded lifeboat. A decision that in the end he'll have to stand trial for and possibly face the death penalty for premeditated murder!

Knowing what he has to do to save the few people on the lifeboat who could survive the long and dangerous, in the teeth of a powerful South Atlantc Ocean storm, trip to Africa Holmes does in fact accomplish his almost impossible mission. That's even after he ends up almost getting killed by one of the lifeboat's passengers who threw a knife in his chest. Not reaching the African coastline Holmes and the surviving passengers were rescued by a British freighter-The British Soldier-just when Holmes himself was about, in him feeling that he's become a burden to those on board, to throw himself overboard!

***SPOILERS***What's so sad and depressing about the ending is that none of the survivors with the exception of the ship's nurse Julie White, Mai Zettering, and one of it's passengers Edith Middleton, Moira Lister, who's husband was one of those who ended up under the waves, were willing to vouch or stand up for the man who was most responsible in saving their lives: Alec Holmes!

Based on the true story of the wreck of the William Brown back in the spring 1841 "Abandon Ship" shows us how people can in many cases desert and leave hanging the very persons who not only saved their lives but risked their own lives in doing it! Even for the self-serving gutless and selfish reasons that they can conjure up in their not too sharp as well non analytical minds.

P.S In the sinking of the William Brown the boat was sunk by an iceberg not naval mine like in the movie based on it. Also the William Brown was not a luxury cruse ship like the Crescent Star was with its passengers not of the upper crust of society. But mostly poor and downtrodden Irish emigrants trying to find a new start in life in America. The only thing that matched both the fictitious Crescent Star and real William Brown was the name of both ships tragic hero Alac Holmes! Who in real life was made a scapegoat for the maritime deserter and made to spend six months behind bars after being convicted for involuntary manslaughter! That for Holmes heroic part in saving some 15 persons who, if it wasn't for his brave and at the same time difficult actions, would have ended up at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean!


This copycat film was not nearly as compelling as the late '40's film Lifeboat, the best post WWII lifeboat film. Both shared similar story lines, but Lifeboat had better actors and more interesting story twists.

See Lifeboat instead. Much better cast and more subtle and effective acting than with the over-the-top, chew-the-scenery overacting from Tyrone Power. Lifeboat also had a good and sympathetic-til-the-end, rescued German sailer subplot that was effective in pulling our heartstrings until we saw that often things are not what they appear to be. They are often worse.


I saw this movie twenty years ago and thought what absolute nonsense.

Overly melodramatic with the three persons Tyrone Power briefly encounters at the beginning.

"Have you seen her? Have you seen her?" Said to be based on a true story, I made inquiries back then and was told that there was indeed a ship that sank as quickly as this one, the fictitious Cresent Star, was purported to have done, but there was no incident with an officer passing survivors off of a lifeboat into the water. The officer himself was pure fiction.

There is a remake with Martin Sheen about 1975. This one proposes a trial of some sorts afterward.

In truth, there was several incidents on the Titanic alone that involved lack of room in lifeboats, one such situation was the lifeboat had standing room only and the survivors appeared to be walking on water as they edge of the boat was that close to the water, but no one was passed over the side.

This movie possessed no more thought and insight other than to go "what would you do?" if you were in a similar situation.

I couldn't help but notice there would even be an incident with a shoe, which occurred in Hitch's Lifeboat.

I think Mai Zetterling threw the shoe overboard.

Just a lot of intense, overly melodramatic nonsense.

Definitely check out Lifeboat for much greater thought and human development.


Very watchable mid period classic hardcore. The mother/son incest theme I can take or leave but it was convincingly done. Kay Parker as the late 30 year old mother was spot on and gives an excellent performance, with and without cock in her mouth. Her son, played by Mike Ranger is fine but looks a little older than the 19 years accredited to him. There is not too much storyline and everyone seems relaxed and happy with their respective roles. Very well paced, there is for once not a scene that outstays its welcome and with varied cinematography and music (occasionally none!) this looks and feels like a laid back late 70s enterprise. Oh, some great shots out on the streets of San Francisco too as a bonus.


Excellent movie! Although today the films of this industry are much more sophisticated , Taboo is still amazingly stimulating and not old fashioned at all . It's the best movie in the style I've ever seen . Shocking story but not gross as almost all of the kind . The cast is more than OK !!!

When you see this film it seems like nothing really important has been created in the porno gender . It's probably the movie that my parents watched in the secret of their bedroom when I was pay attention to my little cars. The hardcore scenes are correct unlike many of the type that usually lasts too long. A good movie!


Classic adult feature with the legendary Kay Parker and Mike Ranger (as the stud, her son). They just don't make'm like this anymore. Good interesting story along with some pretty intense action. Not by the new millennium standards (action wise), but great acting and a story to go along with it.

**** out of a possible ****, rent it or buy it wherever you can find it. Availible in a recently remastered DVD version. This even has an audio commentary by Kay Parker, which is pretty great to listen to. An also excellent sequel was made a year or so after this one,aptly titled, Taboo II. Which once again starred Kay Parker,in a smaller, less meatier role, although she still played the same character as in the first.


I really wasn't hot on seeing this film. I'm not into cartoons, and even less into fighting movies. But my friends wanted to see it and so in I went. I have to say that going to watch the film with not expecting anything much might have helped, but I actually really liked it. I'm amazed that this was made in Hong Kong. The last thing I saw like this was Shrek which was very funny - but this is actually a lot more cooler. Even with me not being into fight stuff I was really tensed up for the fighting bits. I actually left nail marks on my bf's arm :p Also, what I really liked was that they didn't make the girl part (Ying Ying) in the film too girly. I mean, she was actually even cooler than the lead guy. I really had to laugh at the way she controlled Lang - go girl power go! I'm going to get the DVD and learn some of her moves ;)


I'm not sure who it was that described this movie as "Crouching Tiger meets Shrek", because that in itself sets an unreasonable benchmark in all sorts of ways. Let's be fair here, both Shrek and Crouching Tiger won Oscars, for crying out loud. Dragonblade is first and foremost an animated children's feature, produced on a shoestring budget - particularly compared to the sackfuls of money thrown at the likes of Shrek. Moreover, the only similarity with Crouching Tiger is in that martial arts are featured in this film, but it's far from being an art house movie, nor does it pretend to be so.

As far as plots go, it's not the most complex out there - but then again, you have to constantly remind yourself throughout that it's a kids' film. Boy meets girl, girl has idiot brother, idiot brother lives up to expectations, mysterious monster terrorizes village, boy sets off on quest to find weapon to defeat monster, all is well in the end. Characters are introduced throughout the story, mostly diversionary, some irritating - of these, three spring to mind - the obligatory cartoon sidekick animal creature, the funky Guardian spirit and the grammatically-challenged teacher type (oh why does wisdom equate with a Yoda-like sentence construction?).

What is scintillating about this film is the martial arts. Directed by a martial artist himself, the film attempts to do justice to the intricacies of wushu. Several fighting styles are apparent in the film, carefully rendered and presented in a way that wushu purists will feel vindicated, yet non-experts will be entertained. The various set-pieces between characters are unique, exciting, laudable. In that respect, definitely enough to keep accompanying parents entertained for the duration of the film - along with various script nods to other films. From the not-so-subtle Taxi Driver innuendos to the blatant Babe reference. With a little Klingon thrown in.

I would have like to see much, much more action in the film. The pacing of the plot is slightly uneven (let's get to the throwdown, people!), with too much time spent on story exposition and not enough on the central premise of the film - it's a cartoon action movie for kids, right? Again, the budget must be kept in mind when appreciating the animation involved. Then again, it's not meant to be realistic - it's a cartoon, folks.

Just as Mulan worked in English and not so much when dubbed into Chinese, I believe this film to be the opposite, appealing in far greater amounts in its original Cantonese version. Voiced by actors recognizeable to the Chinese-speaking market, the idioms and language used, along with the singular heritage of the movie leading to its setting, makes it immediately less corny than its English counterpart.

In summary, it's a good little kids' movie, with enough in it for accompanying parents to appreciate. Moreover, as a film 100% produced in Hong Kong, it's definitely something that Hong Kong can be proud of.


I saw this film this evening at the Freer Gallery in Washington, DC, as part of their 10th Annual Made in Hong Kong Festival. Yes, yes I understand it is the first ever computer generated kung-fu movie out of Hong Kong, but it was awful. I guess this is as much a rant about the film as it is about including it in the film festival. This is an example of a highly pandering (can you say that?) direct to video for pre-schoolers. The animation is completely awful. It looks like a late 80s video game...just purely awful. I will give it that some of the fighting is 'neat', but did that make me want to sit through 90 mins of horror for? NO. It references countless films. As a cinephile of course ya get me every time...but in recent days this has become far too much (a few other films in this 'genre' come to mind). It is just one and another reference, line, on and on...are you trying justify us parents (not that I am one) sitting through this garbage? This is a great example of a direct to video minor film. Then again do we need more examples of that?


At first I thought, "what did I get myself into?". Twenty minutes into the movie and I started looking at my watch and wishing that I wasn't here. I didn't come all the way to Hong Kong to watch a crap Kungfu movie! Then all of a sudden Ka-POW! Talk about being worth the wait. DragonBlade is a roller coaster ride with a long way up in the beginning. And as we all know, the further up that roller coaster goes... the bigger and more exciting that ride ends up. I just can't imagine anyone getting the total impact of the fights without watching it on the big screen the fights are so in your face that it absolutely pulls you in. So worth seeing.


Hong Kong's first fully-fledged computer-animated movie is, for the most part, a treat. Distinctly Chinese in its orchestration, the fantasy elements are played up for the kids, the humour a little too cagey to really laugh at, while the martial arts spectacles are really quite astonishing. The story concerns local hero Hung Lang, a kung fu supremo, who befriends a talking bird (of course) and is sent on a dangerous adventure to retain the sacred Dragon Blade from the mystically cavernous underworld known as Asteria, facing insurmountable peril along the way, in order to slain the Boar King, a giant pig-looking tyrant causing havoc in the town. The characters are a little wet, particularly our soulless hero, yet Karen Mok's engaging sidekick Ying Ying is a worthy substitute, and the delirious spurts of action make the whole experience quite compelling.