Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell make great sparring partners in "His Girl Friday," a remake of "The Front Page." Grant plays the conniving newspaper publisher Walter Johnson, and Rosalind Russell is the reporter Hildy Johnson, a woman this time, and Johnson's ex-wife. She's trying to get remarried, move to Albany, and quit the newspaper business, but Walter can't bear it. He cons her into helping out with a controversial death row case and then makes sure her fiancée (Ralph Bellamy) suffers a series of mishaps - arrest for stealing a watch, arrest for "mashing," arrest for counterfeiting, and the theft of his wallet. This all happens while Hildy interviews Earl Williams, a man due to be hung the next day... and then hides him in a roll-top desk in the courthouse press room when he escapes during a psychiatric evaluation.

It's madcap, all right, and there are no two better people to carry it off than Grant and Russell, who make a great team. It's a hilarious story, with the most rapid-fire, non-stop dialog ever heard anywhere, often with several conversations going on at once. It's exhausting trying to keep up with it.

Strangely, without computers and cell phones, the story of journalists working on a story holds up because the emotions and activities are realistic and still go on. It's as Hildy describes - no set schedule, no normal meals, and long hours. Nothing much has changed.

This is a frenetic comedy, and while the impending hanging of Earl Williams is certainly serious, this plot is more of an excuse to observe the machinations of Hildy and Walter - it's a subplot, though it drives the main story.

"The Front Page" is a favorite of Hollywood's, remade many times - three versions under its original title, a TV series, two TV productions, plus the film "Switching Channels." And of course, "His Girl Friday," possibly the best of all of them.


Whoever had the bright idea to turn the Ben Hecht-Charles MacArthur play, The Front Page into a boy and girl comedy ought to get a Nobel Prize for comedy if such an award had been available at the time.

Of course it helps when one of your two main characters has an ambiguous first name like Hildy. Short for Hildreth when Pat O'Brien plays it, Rosalind Russell is all female in this one. Russell bites off a huge chunk of Katherine Hepburn career woman territory here and she digests it well.

She's the best reporter on the staff of the Morning Post and her editor Cary Grant doesn't want to lose her no way. At one time he even married her, but that didn't take. They're divorced now and Russell is fed up and decides she wants a home and children and security and Ralph Bellamy is going to give her all of that. Plus a home with his mother Alma Kruger for a year in Albany.

As her friendly rival reporter Regis Toomey says, there ain't no way that Russell could ever leave the newspaper game. She proves it when she goes to work on that one last assignment to cover an execution at the state penitentiary.

Even though Howard Hawks did add a romance into The Front Page he did not sacrifice one iota of the biting satire from Hecht and MacArthur. If you watch the either The Front Page or His Girl Friday or even the remake from the eighties Broadcast News you will swear the world is made up of boobs and nitwits and the only smart people around are journalists. Too often however that's proved to be the case.

Poor meek John Qualen who was listening to some radicals speaking and got caught up in the moment and accidentally shot a black police officer. Back then ethnic politics were played to the hilt and a law and order mayor, Clarence Kolb, wants to see Qualen executed. His brother-in-law, sheriff Gene Lockhart means to see the sentence is done.

Cary Grant's paper is against capital punishment at least for this poor schnook. Of course when Qualen escapes all kinds of complication arise and Russell's on the job to report them.

As he was in The Awful Truth, Ralph Bellamy is there to be the slightly befuddled doofus who loses the girl to fast talking Cary. Bellamy's performance is a brilliant piece of work itself. He's so funny because he plays the part absolutely straight and the humor falls around him.

Howard Hawks assembles a really grand cast of memorable character actors. My favorite however, brief though his scenes are is Billy Gilbert who is a messenger from the governor who is delivering a sentence commutation. The poor man gets waylaid and involved in all kinds of intrigue that is all going on over his head. You have to see him to believe how funny he is and he does it without a sneeze.

His Girl Friday successfully combines screwball romantic comedy with biting satire and no seams show it all in the stitching. It's a blueprint on how to do successful cinema comedy.


*** This review may contain spoilers *** His Girl Friday starts out strong with witty banter exchanged by Cary Grant as Walter Burns and Rosalind Russell as Hildy Johnson. Cary and Rosalind had a lot of chemistry in this film. Walter Burns is a blunt, impatient, controlling, man. I started out with a bit of sympathy for Hildy, who plays a woman who just wants a normal life away from journalism. Both characters turn out to be manipulative,unsympathetic, and very similar. The plot loses steam and is not very interesting, and is full of annoying characters. Everyone seems really corrupt. The movie started off really interesting, but couldn't sustain itself.


In this second film version of the hit play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur The Front Page, New York newspaper reporter Hildy Johnson (played by Pat O'Brien in 1931) is now a sassy, confident woman (Rosalind Russell). Hildy has had enough of the newspaper life and is going to quit and marry dependable (boring) Bruce Baldwin (never-gets-the-girl Ralph Bellamy) and move to Albany. The thing is, her editor and ex-husband Walter Burns Cary Grant) doesn't want either thing to happen and tricks Hildy into covering just one more story  that of a deluded radical charged with murder. What follows is a super-charged side-splitting satire of the headline-hungry newspaper business and of course, a bit of romance.

Howard Hawks directs his stars and a brilliant cast of supporting players (Billy Gilbert, a real scene-stealing stand-out) at a breathless pace, using overlapping dialog to increase the feeling of frenzy. You'll want to watch this one again and again to catch all of the terrific dialog. Some of those witty lines (at least as legend has it) were improvised, such as when Grant describes Bruce Baldwin, saying that he "looks like that film actor, Ralph Bellamy." Later, during a rapid-fire telephone exchange, Grant responds to another actor's line with "The last person to say that to me was Archibald Leach just before he cut his throat!" (Archibald Leach of course, being Grant's real name.) Named to the National Film Registry in 1993.


The kind of work executed in His Girl Friday is no shorter than masterful; it should be a frenzy, a fiasco of dialog going and overlapping and reverberating and the pacing clocking in at ridiculous amounts at times (other times, oddly enough, it slows down just enough for us and the actors to catch respective breath). But Howard Hawks and his screenwriter Charles Lederer have the material down to a T. The film brilliantly interweaves a newspaper story that unfolds over the course of a day and night around a man who's to be (wrongfully) sentenced to death, and a love-triangle played out between Walter (Grant), Hildy (Russell) and Bruce (Bellamy), as Walter can't stand that his ex-wife is not only leaving the paper- which she's wildly amazing at as a writer and reporter- but for Albany insurance man Bruce Baldwin as new husband. He constructs an ingenious lot of tricks, mostly to put Bruce in jail, so that he can play on Hildy's ego to come back to the paper and, maybe, to him too. But it won't be easy.

Hawks overcomes what could have been stagey picture- since it is based on a play, and feels it at times with its main set at the newspaper office- with what is first a true intuition to how to tell the story without getting in the way of a good conversation; sometimes going in three directions! It's not exactly a movie that brings out a whole lot of belly laughs; rather it's the accumulation of just solid chuckles, guffaws, and the occasional fall-on-the-floor moment that hit the best with characterization, behavior, mannerisms, manners. Matter of fact, it's extremely, keenly observed about how every character is who he/she is, and is fairly stuck in their ways, from the headstrong Hildy, the good but flabbergasted Bruce, his old mother, the "I'm innocent!" pleading man on death row, the Sheriff, the Mayor, the bunch of gruff and grizzled and card-playing newspaper men. But everyone's about as close to being, if not incredibly, fully realized, and there's barely a scene where someone doesn't say something, or repeat something, or refer or make some quip that doesn't get a laugh. This is how it's done, basically, in the best "screwball" style.

Even Hildy, who seems to be completely set upon leaving the newspaper biz, isn't without moments of vulnerability that crack through her tough, Hawksian-exterior. And Russell, I should add, comes off a lot of the screen time stealing the show. While Grant is no sleepwalker and puts to work his skills at being charming and amusing while also playing a conniving persona, Russell puts everything she's got into a character that is probably far stronger than Bruce can take and is just about an even match for Walter Burns's double-crossing. Hell, she can even do a dramatic scene here or there, or make it so that she's right on the level with another actor (i.e. the one playing the death-row guy) so that comedy and drama come and go depending on the beat of the scene. It's breathtaking to watch her work, and it's likely her best performance (Grant, too, comes away with much of his screen time).

Just make no mistake, this isn't a comedy that is based on the actors for most of the support. It's a wild combination of the pacing of the story, of the rat-tat-tat-tat style of overlapping and interweaving dialog (the likes of which one might see today on the TV show Gilmore Girls or, more cinematically, Altman) and that it never comes along as too rushed within the suspenseful narrative. And it floored me as being somewhat unique, and it only takes itself so much seriously in the world its set in so that it's always entertaining. If you're tuned into His Girl Friday, Hawks won't bore you for a second, and it's a mighty achievement.


Just this morning, as I was flicking absent-mindedly through the television channels, I accidentally clicked my way onto Channel 31 (Australia), which, I hazard to venture, is not generally known for its quality programming. Luckily, my eye was momentarily caught by a young and sharp-looking Cary Grant, and I immediately identified the film to be 1940's 'His Girl Friday,' which I had been meaning to watch for some months. Just like Frank Capra's holiday favourite 'It's A Wonderful Life,' the film has fallen into the public domain, and so television stations are completely free to air it whenever they want. This also means that any company is allowed to throw a poor-quality print onto DVD at practically no cost to them, so this is something to be wary of. Unfortunately, I missed a few minutes of the beginning of the film, but I was too hooked into the story to worry about that until later.

For his remake of the 1931 film 'The Front Page' (which was directed by Lewis Milestone and starred Adolphe Menjou), Howard Hawks took the story  complete with all its witty, rapid-fire dialogue  and changed the male character of Hildebrand 'Hildy' Johnson to a female  Hildegaard 'Hildy' Johnson (Rosalind Russell)  and also the ex-wife of the newspaper editor, Walter Burns (Cary Grant). When Hildy expresses her intentions of quitting the newspaper business and marrying Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy) in Albany, Walter takes every precaution possible to prevent her from boarding that train. With a convicted cop-killer, Earl Williams (John Qualen), set to be hanged in the morning, the press-room at the prison is abuzz with vulturous reporters scavenging about for a good story. Rather than simply admitting his continuing love for Hildy, Walter uses the great lengths to which he will go to stop her leaving to tell her how he still feels about her. Also, along the way, Hildy discovers  as the night gradually becomes more and more exciting  that she is a reporter at heart, and will never be able to rid herself of the desire to uncover that perfect story.

The jokes come thick and fast, with the talented cast delivering the clever dialogue faster than you can register it, barely giving you any time to laugh. Especially in screwball comedies such as these, actor confidence is absolutely essential, and everybody involved here performs admirably. In addition to the entertaining and often-heated banter between Walter and Hildy, other excellent characters include Bruce Baldwin (the unfortunate would-be future husband whose is arrested on no less than three occasions, and whose mother is kidnapped), the bumbling Sheriff Peter B. Hartwell (Gene Lockhart), Walter's sneaky henchman, Diamond Louie (Abner Biberman), the governor's clueless delivery-man, Joe Pettibone (Billy Gilbert) and a long line of newspaper reporters, each of whom witnesses the same event and yet still reports it in a completely different and entirely inaccurate manner.


This movie is my personal most favorite movie starring Rosalind Russell. Many may choose her "Mame" or "Gypsy" as her very best, but I think for her comedic talent "His Gal Friday" is her very best. Whenever she shared the screen with Cary Grant there was a fast-paced banter that magically makes me cackle. Grant is suave as always and just look at the sharp 40's style suits that Russell is dressed in. Love the hats. Have you ever heard anyone put so many words into a sentence without drawing a breath as when she finally for the umpteenth time tells Walter Burns (Grant) that she's out of the news business while tearing up her last interview? And then, maybe predictably, as the latest news breaks right in front of her, she automatically turns into a relentless news hound! This is a smart movie, it has plenty of plot and character development, it has great strong characters, it makes commentary on the newsbusiness then that is relevant to the newsbusiness today and sarcastically shares the modern view of government I think, as well. This is a classic movie that is perhaps timeless. See it!


His Girl Friday is one of the rare comic films that is not only hilarious but actually changed how films are made (or at least written). Director Howard Hawks' adaptation of The Front Page was the first time that lines were written specifically to be overlapped and Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell grab hold of those lines and never let go. This film is full speed comedy that never lets up.


Cary Grant stars in this film. Is there anything else that needs to be said? Grant plays the former husband of newspaper reporter Russell. It is of course a romantic comedy, but one that is hilarious even today. The chemistry and dialogue between Grant and Russell rings genuine. Besides the romance, and the comedy, is the commentary the film makes about newspaper reporting and reporters. The key to this film is listening. This is not a popcorn picture where you can make comments to your viewing companions. If you talk you'll miss half of the jokes. So keep quiet and enjoy. Also Grant makes references to himself in a typically funny scene.


This is perhaps Cary Grant's funniest film (I'd rank it a hair behind "Arsenic and Old Lace") The rat-a-tat dialogue has rarely been so perfectly timed as between he and Rosalind Russell, who delivers the definitive caricature of a 1930's career gal. And Ralph Bellamy's hamhanded nice guy was so effective that his name became synonymous with that type of role. Amazing that he was ever taken seriously afterwards. The writing is superb, better than most any dialogue you'll hear today. And Howard Hawks directs the whole shebang at just the right pace and tone to keep it all together.

The story is pretty simple. Russell is Grant's ex, and she's come back to see him at the newspaper he edits and she used to write for to inform him that she's getting remarried (to Bellamy) Whew! Meanwhile, Grant decides to win her back at the last minute, sucking her back into the newspaper game by tricking her into covering the last day of a man on death row. Can't tell you what happens, you'll have to watch for yourself.

If this all sounds a bit familiar, but you know you haven't seen it, there were several other filmed versions of the play this was based on, "The Front Page". The Matthau/Lemon version was okay, but avoid the painfully unfunny 80's version, "Switching Channels" with Kathleen Turner and that Superman fella.

Veddy veddy funny. It makea me laugh. 10 out of 10.


This movie is my favorite of all time. The dialogue is spectacular, and is delivered with such rapid-fire speed that one viewing is not enough. The film comedy was elevated to new heights with Howard Hawks outstanding direction. Based on the classic play "The Front Page", Hawks gives it a delightful twist by presenting Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant as an estranged couple of newspaper journalists who haven't quite written the final line of their love story. Ralph Bellamy is great as the beleaguered as strait-laced Bruce Baldwin who is the perfect comic victim of Grant's devious deals to get Russell back. Everyone who has ever enjoyed a comedy from "Airplane" to "Blazing Saddles" owes a debt to this movie.

It's an AMC cable channel staple, and rightfully so. It's a 9 1/2 out of 10.


terrific script, great performances, grant & russell are terrific together. the film is full of funny little inside jokes from cary grant's "the last person who said that to me was archie leach..." to "you know, bruce. he looks like ralph bellamy." love it, love it, love it. and rosalind russell is my kinda babe!

- bdp


This version, a remake of the original by Pat O'Brien and Adolphe Menjou, is the best of the three versions of this play adapted to the screen. (The third starred Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau and is nearly as good.)

It's an absolute hoot. And I've seen it probably two dozen times. It's better than potato chips. I can't just watch one scene. Whenever it's on I'm hooked for the duration.

The snappy patter, split-second timing and overlapping dialogue is enough to make you want the script for re-reading after the credits have run.

They don't make 'em like this any more.


Along with Airplane!, The In-Laws, The Producers, and Duck Soup, this is one of the funniest movies ever made. The idea of changing the gender of one of the reporters in The Front Page works beautifully, and Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell are perfect as the feuding would-be couple. Hawks keeps the pace frantic. If you're watching this on video, you'll probably have to rewind several times to catch the jokes you missed while you were laughing.


Movies don't get better than this. It is utterly uniquely American and will always be a great movie. The energy and verve of this film is palpable. I remember watching this about 35 years ago and it still stands up - from start to finish.

You feel like a fly on the wall watching some inner secret organization called "The News." It is so good that although there are many talented supporting actors, Rosalind Russell is the pivotal character. With her all things stand. Cary Grant is brilliant as always but Ms. Russell is so good and so dominant (without being overbearing) that the movie is like a 1 woman show.

The unfortunate thing is that it has nothing to do with today's so-called "media." I was a freelance photojournalist for a few years in NYC and I can tell you that things are very different from this movie. Don't idolize news reporters b/c this species has hit the latte' cafe' and they ain't turnin' back.

Regardless, see it and you will know what real total unmitigated non-agenda plain old fashioned ENTERTAINMENT is all about. 10+/10.

-Zafoid


One of the finest examples of 1930s comedy, and an excellent adaptation of a story that has been told many times, *His Girl Friday* is Hollywood at its best. Perfectly pairing Grant and Russell with an excellent script by Charles Lederer, based on Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur's 1931 play, *The Front Page*, it is the kind of studio magic that could occur when the powers-that-be assigned the best work to the best candidates. Grant, whom I found arrogant and repellant later in his career  not to mention redundant  is at his suave-and-smooth best here as Walter Burns, newspaper editor,, with the perfect foil in Rosiland Russell. As Hildy Johnson, Burns' ex-wife, Russell plays was in the process of cutting her teeth developing characters like this. Hildy is the archetype that gave Russell her reputation as a fast-talking dame, with machine gun delivery, and a smart-mouthed answer for everything. Hildy is off to marry Bruce, played by Bellamy, but her ex, Walter, still needs her to be his star reporter and cover the execution of a convicted killer. Every early journalistic stereotype is in full force  from reporters who would stop at nothing to get their story, to the city editor with a visor and sleeve-garters. Gene Lockhart, Ernest Truex and Clarence Kolb are all in fine form, but even the finest supporting performances pale against Grant and Russell. They are both delightful in this stylish slapstick farce that had previously been filmed as *The Front Page* (and later, again as *The Front Page* in 1974, and as *Switching Channels*). It also spawned a slew of imitators, not the least of which was TV's *Moonlighting*. Screenwriter Lederer's scripts have a freshness even today  1995 saw a remake of his script *Kiss Of Death* and 2001 brings us *Ocean's Eleven*, which Lederer wrote the script for in 1960.


His Girl Friday is my favorite comedy of all time.The dialogue is funny fast and witty. Grant and Russell are brilliant,and the movie is about something too.My favorite comedy of all and one of my favorite movies .Some of my other favorite comedies are MASH,Animal House,Being There,and Bringing Up Baby.


"His Girl Friday" is Howard Hawk's inspired remake of the award-winning Broadway play and previous movie release of "The Front Page". It's the story of a rapid fire newspaper editor, Walter (Cary Grant) and his star reporter and ex-wife, Hildie Johnston. Hildie has decided to retire to the country with her soon to be new husband (Ralph Belamy). But when a prison break captures the imagination of a troupe of cutthroat reporters, all rabid for the scoop, Hildie sets aside marital bliss for one last hurrah behind the desk as a cub reporter.

THE TRANSFER: BEWARE THIS DVD! There are no less than 12 bootlegged versions of "His Girl Friday" circulating through various vendors on DVD. In all but one case the image quality looks as though the entire print had been fed through a meat grinder.

The version you want is the one from Columbia Tri-Star Home Video.

Its packaging features a disclaimer that reads "mastered from the original camera negative." This version of "His Girl Friday" exhibits in short  exemplary video quality. The B&W picture has been completely restored. Age related artifacts are nonexistent. The gray scale, black and contrast levels are perfectly realized. Fine detail will astound. There are no digital anomalies. The audio is mono but very nicely cleaned up.

EXTRAS: This version also includes some very nice  if all too brief  featurettes on the careers of its stars Rosiland Russell and Cary Grant and the making of the film. There's also the original theatrical trailer.

BOTTOM LINE: This girl is worth seeking out!


Howard Hawks was completely on top of his game when he shot this film. It is an enduring, eternal film classic.

He took an already popular story, "The Front Page", and fixed it by creating the female Hildy. This came about during a party, at which Hawks, holding forth, was going to have the party goers read "The Front Page" for a lark. So he hands around the scripts, and discovers there aren't enough men. A woman gets the Hildy part.

And the rest, movie-lovers, is Cinema History. What a master stroke!

Great casting! Great acting! Great direction, and photography! Great screenplay that nicely serves up Big City Corruption and dances around the unscrupulous abuse of 1st Amendment freedoms by the Press.

All with taste, artistic and noble. And unbelievably funny throughout.

Perfect.


Grant and Russell are comedy gold in this picture. They have an excellent comedic chemistry. Russell deliver's Hildy's lines so naturally it was as though MacArthur and Hecht wrote that dialog for her, specifically. and still maintained the grit of the original.

I've never been a big fan of Ralph Bellamy but he plays the bright-eyed innocent with zest. And Grant is deliciously reprehensible as Walter Burns. I have trouble seeing what Hildy saw in him during their first marriage and that's as it should be.

My only quibble is the inevitable 'woman gives up her own life for a man' scenario that is so much a part of 30's, 40's and 50's cinema post-code. Hildy is most alive when she's chasing the story and Russell looks a touch uncomfortable playing the 'little woman' moments. Less believable.

All in all the best of the film versions.


This was a pretty good film, but I did not find it as awesome as apparently most people did. Cary Grant was in fine form, and I was impressed with Rosalind Russell. I haven't seen much of her earlier work, and always thought of her as the Mother Superior in "The Trouble With Angels". She was quite beautiful here, and played her role with the feistiness it required. But the whole thing left me a bit cold, and not for the reasons mentioned by others (overrunning dialog, insensitive plot elements like suicide and execution, politically incorrect references to black folks). Interestingly, I felt the same way when I saw Billy Wilder's version with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matheau. With the cast and directors of both films among my favorites, I'm at a bit of a loss as to why I didn't care all that much for these films. I suppose that I simply wouldn't have cared for the original play, and all dissatisfaction stems from that


This is a very entertaining comedy. The dialogue is lightning paced and flows quickly from one character to the next without a break in between. Cary Grant is excellent in his attempts to keep his ex-wife from re-marrying and on the staff of the newspaper. Rosalind Russell plays the part of his ex-wife well, matching his banter in kind. This movie is worthy of all the praise it gets. One thing I realized while watching this film, a lot of the classic comedies are founded on good witty dialogue. Unlike most of the comedies made today which seem to be founded in silly site gags and bathroom humor. Given a choice, give me the classics any day.

***1/2 (Out of 4)


And featuring the likeable clown from Freaks. What more could one ask? A low-budget Old Dark House mystery that is better than it needs to be, with sharp dialogue and engaging characters...can't go wrong!

Why can't all B pictures be this good?


"One Frightened Night" is the story of an old man who invites his relatives to come to dinner and discuss his will. He tells them that if his granddaughter is found, she will get all of his money, but if she is not, he will divide it amongst the guests. Well, the granddaughter arrives in the nick of time, however, then another young woman shows up claiming to be the granddaughter. When the first young woman is found dead in her bedroom, a classic murder mystery ensues. This is one of the less known murder-mysteries of the 30's, but it is still very good. The plot has twist and turns and interesting characters that will keep you entertained. If you happen to come across this one, I highly recommend this obscure little whodunit gem!

Not Rated, but should be suitable for people 10 years old and up


Jasper Whyte calls all of his associates and friends (few in number) to his house (on a night with plenty of rain, thunder, and lightning) to give away all of his estate before an inheritance tax would lessen the amount. One million dollars is to be given to relative Tom Dean, maid Elvira, Dr. Denham, lawyer Felix, and another relative, Laura Proctor (and her husband Arthur). When Felix arrives at the mansion, he brings a woman who claims to be Doris Waverly, Whyte's long lost granddaughter. Seeing his only true heir, Whyte decides to give all of his money to her, which obviously ticks off all the others. Things however become more complicated when another woman comes to the mansion claiming to be Doris Waverly (arriving with her vaudeville partner, the Great Lavelle- a magician). Whyte asks the two woman to confront each other, but the first Doris is found murdered in her room. Whyte and Dean send for the police in order to find out who the first woman was and who had her killed, and Doris (the second and real one) must be able to survive until midnight when she gets her inheritance. Very good "Old Dark House" type mystery, with a lot of similarities to The Cat and the Canary, with the young woman inheriting everything while all other members are shut out. Grapewin (as Whyte) and Ford (as Lavelle) play their roles to the hilt which helps the movie and the rest of the cast give adequate performances. Cabanne's direction and the rest of the production crew are able to maintain the mystery and suspense quite well, but its nothing to go ape over. Rating, 7.


One of the best old house murder mysteries.

I loved this and I can't wait to see it again. As the reviewer on IMDb says it confounds your expectations by allowing things and people to survive and for events to unfold differently then you thought... (Read The IMDb comments after you see the film since they give too much away) Basically this is about an old guy who was going to give his fortune away to friends and relatives because his grand daughter can't be found. His daughter and he broke years ago and he wants to reconcile with his closest living relative.

Just as he's about to give the money away the lawyer shows up with his grand daughter... everyones gift is taken back and the natives get very restless...

Complicating matter is the sudden arrival of the grand daughter to ... yes another girl claiming to be the grand daughter shows up with a stage magician in tow...

Murder ensues and things get very tense and very silly as a masked man tries to kill again... I have no idea if its possible to really deduce who did it, but it doesn't matter it just great fun.

Its wonderful and only 65 minutes long.

This is a gem to treasure with only one false, very false romantic note, it like how the hell did that happen? It must have been a contractual thing.

If you want to see a great mystery see this movie. I can not recommend it highly enough. If you find it in the bargain bin get it. This is worth every penny you'll pay for it.


It's an agreeable surprise to find Charley Grapewin billed as the star of this fun and thrill-filled old dark house escapade. While it's possible to pick holes in the ingenious plot, the dialogue, the direction and even the cinematography, you can't argue with the central idea, the pacing, the superior production values (for a Poverty Row effort) or the obvious enthusiasm of players and technicians to make a movie that's always most enjoyable to watch and listen to, despite the obvious limitations of a "B" budget offering, set within the none-too-lavishly appointed confines of the old Mack Sennett Studio in North Hollywood. All things considered, Mac D'Agostino's sets are delightfully eye-catching. I love the trophy room!

The picture starts off most promisingly on the right foot with an ingenious credits sequence improvised and directed by Joseph H. Lewis. The movie then quickly gets down to familiar but nonetheless pleasing business as the camera focuses on Charley Grapewin, who quickly and cleverly explains to his assembled relatives what nice round figures each will realize from his $6 million will, provided of course that his long-lost grand-daughter doesn't turn up before the clock strikes twelve. Needless to say, she doesin the person of lovely Evalyn Knappor does she?

As expected, the mystery and horror elements (the phantom himself or herself isn't all that frightening, but there's a sequence in the trophy room that's bound to raise goose bumps) jostle for attention with some smart repartee and even a bit of knockabout. But even that is well done!


For fans of 1930's Poverty Row, the very presence of a storm-battered mansion elicits a pleasant feeling, and makes otherwise unforgivable flaws within the film bearable. I've never seen an "Old Dark House" movie I didn't like, but some are definitely better than others. Case in point: "One Frightened Night."

Starting with an ingenious credit sequence, the movie consistently offers an awareness of its own cliches. This refreshingly tounge-in-cheek-attitude - along with top-notch acting and pacing - make it a superior product. Everything seems to click. I recommend this as an intro to Old Dark House movies. 10/10.


Intriguing, better-than-average old house thriller where a cantankerous old millionaire decides to give his money to his heirs whilst still alive - providing of course his lost granddaughter from a runaway daughter continues NOT to be found. But on this one frightening night - a granddaughter arrives as does mischief, mayhem, and murder. One Frightened Night, made for Mascot Pictures, is cheaply made and has no major stars; however, it does more with what it does have than in some A List movies of the same period. The opening with the title names put on shades drawn throughout the opening title sequence had me at once, and then actor Charley Grapewin, Uncle Henry from The Wizard of Oz and Inspector Queen from the Ellery Queen movie series, comes on and chews up so much scenery with his cantankerous old codger bit that you end up loving his character from the first moment you see him. Obviously the similarities with this film and The Cat and the Canary are going to be made - and with good reason as both have much in common: a similar story with similar plot twists, a cast of greedy relatives/friends, secret passageways and burning candles, an austere, humorless old maiden of a maid, light comedy amidst the backdrop of murder, and much more. This film is certainly not as polished as that one but a great deal of fun nonetheless. I love the dialog in this film - particularly that of Grapewin but also of Wallace Ford as the "Great Luvalle" and Fred Kelsey as Sheriff Jenks. In one scene Grapewin learns that one of his annoying, greedy relatives, a somewhat hysterical woman won't talk at all anymore and someone says something to that effect. Grapewin looks on dubiously and says something to the effect that she was a remarkable woman for not speaking at all and keeping silent. Such humor is pervasive throughout. One Frightened Night is just good, old-fashioned fun. Period.


Wonderful cast in the extreme, very good directing, fine soundtrack, exceptionally well done photography, well scripted, with some nice plot twists and turns. Again ... Classic all the way. Best part? The cast. Worst part? The continuity could have used some tweaking here and there. I mean, when you dash in out of a rain storm, well, you ought to be wet. Down side? None. Difficult to figure out? Well, not really. You can pretty much do that ten minutes into the movie. At least I did. But there are twists enough to keep you doubting. It takes both thought and perseverance. Keep track of who is where and who does what. The fun comes in when you realize that certain characters obviously find it, they think, as clear cut as you do. That is ... IF you do. And if you do ... Then you get to set back, relax and watch the cops try to figure it out while essentially being lead around by the hand by those ( like you ) who know. If you don't? Hey, hang in there. How close is it to being a real 10? If the girl's coat had been wet when she came in out of the rain? I'd have given it a 10. And thats just about as close it gets.


I have to agree with Eric Miller; this film is a GEM! A neat intro, all-star cast (for 1935) and an interesting story by the Great Stuart Palmer make this a top-notch film! If you're a fan of "Old House" films, this is a MUST-see!

There is a "goof" listed for this film: "A room which has been locked since 1915 contains up-to-date (1935) fixtures".

Whoever said that didn't watch the film closely, because they are incorrect! The locked room HAS NO visible lights -- the old man uses a candle when he enters with his niece.

The room they must be talking about is the "trophy room", complete with mummies, skulls, daggers and all sorts of "weird" things! (Two different rooms).

Norm Vogel www.normsfilms.com


One Frightened Night

One Frightened Night is a mildly interesting vintage movie from 1935. A group of relatives and business associates gather at the home of an elderly gentlemen who has decided to give away his fortune before an inheritance tax takes effect that night at midnight (Oh, for the good old days!).

Of course a long lost granddaughter shows up, it begins to thunder and lightning and folks begin to end up dead. One Frightened Night is a who done it mystery that does manage to keep you guessing until the end.

*** Mild Spoilers Ahead ***

The movie begins with creative credits involving a window shade and the arm of a man. The crusty, cantankerous and wealthy old man is played deliciously by Charley Grapewin who later turned up in The Wizard of Oz. He was the best part of the movie. Mary Carlisle was terrific in her role as one of two women claiming to be his long lost granddaughter and Regis Toomey was okay in his role as a playboy who needs to grow up.

The biggest drawback of One Frightened Night for me was that the overall story never completely eluded the feel of a poorly made B movie. At times the movie came to life due to the liveliness of some of its characters and then the poor production values intruded to detract from this movie.

Also of interest in the movie was the participation of Hedda Hopper who played a daughter of the wealthy man Jasper Whyte. She of course, went on to become a famous Hollywood gossip columnist, which would seem a good thing considering the hammy job of acting she delivered in this role. And then there is Wallace Ford, who was just okay in this movie and who was also underused. Christy Cabanne, the director, would use Wallace or Wally Ford again in his later movie, The Mummy's Hand, in which Wallace Ford gave a wonderful comedic performance in what was also a much better movie.

I rate One Frightened Night a 69 out of 100, or a D + +. I recommend it to only die hard fans of vintage movies. Marxi.


'Naked Fear' opens with a terrified naked woman being stalked and killed by a faceless hunter. The premise of hunters stalking and killing humans is of course nothing new, from 'The Most Dangerous Game' to the 'Predator' movies, but rarely has the idea been done as well with a low budget. Danielle De Luca stars as Diana, a naive young woman who ends up working in a seedy strip joint in a town where game hunting is an obsession and women seem to be disappearing at an alarming rate. However as they are all drifters, strippers or prostitutes, nobody cares except a newly posted cop Dwight (Arron Shiver). After a night at work, Diana wakes up naked in the wilderness with an armed killer on her trail. 'Naked Fear' could have at this point simply turned into a boring exploitationer with the main purpose for the camera to linger on De Lucas' nude body as she runs from her nemesis, but instead director Thom Eberhardt crafts a suspenseful and enthralling movie. De Luca is naked for a long section of the movie, but the director shoots the movie in a way that it's clear the fate of Diana is what is important, not her nudity. Eberhardt also underplays the gore as he never shows any of the torture the hunter inflicts on Diana before letting her loose in the wild. I found this refreshing after watching Eli Roth delighting in the torture of women in the risible 'Hostel II' & Danielle De Luca is very good in a demanding physical role which must have taken a lot of bravery to do. As the story unfolds 'Naked Fear' stays believable,as Diana does not suddenly develop kick boxing skills or make elaborate traps like Rambo. Also, the actions of the local townspeople from Dwight to Diana's flatmate Rita (Lisa Hill) never seem unrealistic (though the ending did seem a little out of place after everything which had gone before it).

The underlying message of the movie is that Diana, Rita and the other strippers and prostitutes to many of the townspeople are as worthless as the deer the locals kill for fun. Don't be put off by the nudity as the worst thing about 'Naked Fear' is its rather lurid title.

If you find the idea of a killer hunting naked women as game preposterous, this movie is amazingly based on real life killer Robert Hansen. In the late 1970's Hansen kidnapped female dancers and prostitutes before stripping them naked and hunting them down in Alaska. He killed 15 women before he was caught.


Nearly every review of a movie contains a so called spoiler, because otherwise it will be very hard to write about a movie beside the fact you have seen a movie. But anyway: this movie spoils itself in the very first minutes and show a hunter killing a deer, oops, a naked woman. Exactly this is the message of the movie: hunting humans like animals. Nasty premise. After this we follow a really nice girl on her way to become a prostitute to become at least the victim of the deranged hunter from the beginning. What will sound like a terrible exploitation movie is in fact a very clever handled mixture of drama and thriller, sometimes creepy, sometimes entertaining in the way of a self-parody. To make a personal commentary: the only reason for me as a film critic person since 30 years to write here for no money is the fact I want to push movies I like. End of Spoilers - have an entertaining and haunting evening with this not "important", but (in all departments from acting, writing to directing) very well executed chiller.


This one was a lot better than it had any right to be, given the fairly lurid storyline. I give the producers credit for delivering a credible and compelling story, as well as a believable performance from Danielle DeLuca. Not sure if this will qualify as a spoiler, but not going to take any chances: Story takes a little while to get going, but once the hunt is on, things really take off. Yes, Ms DeLuca is naked for a good part of the second half but, unless you're a twelve year old boy, you become engrossed enough in her predicament that you aren't focusing on that fact. While I appreciated the choice of the camera not lingering on her naked body, I did find it somewhat annoying that it did linger on other unnecessary shots. Sunsets, a car backing out of a driveway and several shots of trophies mounted on the wall. Seemed to be trying to make a point continuously that was gotten the first time around, but it's a small quibble. What points they may have lost from me were gained back by the unexpected ending. Not earth-shaking, but not something I saw coming, either. Bravo.

While this obviously isn't going to win any awards, it's a more than passable way to spend an hour and a half. An hour and a half, to paraphrase so many "original" reviewers on this site, that I happily don't want to give back!


Unique variation on The Most Dangerous Game has quite the interesting twist..the prey is an attractive and NAKED stripper(..who becomes stuck in the position of dancing in front of bar slobs due to a run of bad luck). Reluctantly, she responds to the advice of a roommate, for a little extra cash, by getting in the car with a stranger she meets in her club, attempting to back out, but her choice of a pick-up was lousy..an expert hunter, who has graced the cover of magazines devoted to the sport, who likes to hunt down prostitutes on the side! When she attempts to escape from his jeep, he cold-cocks her, not long after, she finds herself in the middle of a wilderness buck naked. He, of course, is equipped with proper clothing attire, cross bow, and rifle. While, he has been successful as a predatory hunter(..he does have considerable advantages), this choice could be his undoing, for she's quite resourceful and strong.

From the director of Sole Survivor and Night of the Comet, Thom Eberhart tackles to survivalist adventure genre and Naked Fear adds a certain spin never to be topped. Kudos should be heaped on Danielle De Luca who goes far beyond the call of duty, her character naked and bruised in the middle of New Mexico wilderness..certainly a breathtaking setting to have this naked girl running about.

Not only does she deserve credit for baring everything for a large portion of the middle of the movie, but for her credible performance as a frightened victim who pushes herself to continue moving, despite her difficult circumstances. The role is incredibly demanding, and De Luca wasn't just some actress hired for how she looked in the buff. While spending a great deal of time, once her character awakens to find herself a quarry for the psychopath, running and hiding, trying to catch her breath at times, De Luca maintains our sympathy for her character's plight started from the very beginning and is established as a common occurrence in New Mexico..young, pretty girls snatched away from what they've known as a civilized world, flung into stripping and prostitution thanks to a series of events, call it fate if you wish, that landed them there.

JD Garfield is Colin Mandel, the psychotic predator who is so hellbent on catching and killing Diana(De Luca), he even assassinates a father and his two boys whose presence he wouldn't allow to thwart his mission. Arron Shiver is Dwight Terry, a newly hired deputy, fleeing from a past that haunts him, who suspects Colin when he discovers that Diana is the latest girl missing, and evidence builds against him. Joe Mantegna adds some respectability to the movie as a cop, Tom Benike, who attempts to warn Dwight against going down the road of investigating his friend(..Tom and Colin are hunting buddies).

Colin houses his victims' keepsakes in a tacklebox and we get a chance to witness his despicable antics as he pursues Diana, often bragging and grinning about his handiwork. He's such a loathsome scumbag, it doesn't take much to root for Diana to get the upper hand.

The plot might ask a leap of faith from the viewer concerning the idea that Diana could actually overcome her dire / grim situation, gaining an eventual advantage, using cunning and whatever weapons she could get her hands on in order to fight back against her stalker, but that's all part of the fun. If you can make it through the opening act, which sets up the characters involved in the movie, it'll be worth the wait...I felt that the movie could've been trimmed a bit and still would've been effective. Admittedly, sometimes you become side-tracked ogling De Luca's body(..or, at least, I did) despite her harrowing ordeal, the action sequences and exhilarating location are assets that accompany the eye candy.


I suspect some might question my reasons for liking this movie, but I actually liked it a lot. While movies on terror nowadays seem to involve gore and torture, this one is more mental. Oh yes, the title does say naked fear and it does involve nudity, but for me the real horror here is where it should be - a mental thing. I do think for many of us perhaps the most frightening thing is for us to be vulnerable and scared - even more so than the events themselves that scare us. And what could make one more vulnerable than to be naked, alone, and fearing someone out to kill you? If you can identify at all with this actress, you might come away with something of real horror and true fear - and yet have that fear without the chainsaws and other items of gore so frequent nowadays. It would be wrong to say what happens, but I do think the plot developed well and led to a story that I felt perhaps was more believable than some who rated this movie. And maybe since this is situational mental horror, the movie just might stay in our minds more than the simplistic slasher movies.


I generally try to avoid the cheap new releases at the local discount store, because there's so many bad "horror movies" puked out these days that it's pathetic. But I picked this one up & looked at it several times & finally decided to give it a shot, and hey, I thought it was a keeper.

We have a small New Mexico town. We have a bunch of slime-balls running a strip club (with other services available on the side) just outside of town, apparently on a reservation. We have a "new girl in town", Diana, who thinks she got hired to work at some classy place as a dancer (I guess) but who is very wrong with her perceptions of how things should be.

And, we have someone, who is a big game hunting enthusiast, who also helps keep the local population of strippers & prostitutes down by taking them out to the wilds in his airplane, stripping them, and giving them a head start while he tracks them down & kills them. Only this time, with the "new girl in town", he was a little unprepared for her to be uncooperative with the scenario.

We also have a local sheriff's deputy, one who got a bit mouthy at a previous job that he no longer has, who is champing at the bit to put two and two together and figure out why there are so many missing girls in this town, but the sheriff (Joe Mantegna) doesn't exactly appreciate his efforts. However, Diana's roommate, a hooker & a junkie with a heart of gold (or at least, a minimal sense of decency), seems to think that something bad has happened to Diana & is making quite the fuss about it.

Diana, however, when she's not running naked through the wilderness (which is, actually quite often), is fairly adept at fighting back against Mr. Sadistic Big Game Hunter, who seems to be related to Jason, Freddy, & Michael Myers, since he takes a rock in the face, falls off a cliff, and gets run over by a car, only to keep on ticking...well, for a bit, anyway. And Diana comes across some campers who try to help her but the poor suckers are just in the way...etc.

Anyway, this does have elements of "The Most Dangerous Game" and "Naked Prey", but it's got a few twists and turns to it to keep it interesting, plus the locales are great for most of the scenes. Overall, I'm pleased to say that for once I don't feel I got ripped off by getting this & having to throw it straight into the trade-in pile. 7 out of 10.


NAKED FEAR is actually a better action/suspense movie than it would initially appear. The movie theme of sociopathic hunter hunting an innocent, kidnapped person is not new. The twist this time around is that the intended victim is female. However I now recall a 1987 direct to video movie filmed in Australia where a bunch of outback lowlifes terrorize a woman then decide to hunt her like prey. She turns the tables on them by, yes, getting really angry and then going after them with hand-made weapons. Another similar movie was a movie-of-the week back in 1977 where a hunter played by Andy Griffith accidentally shoots a homeless old guy in the desert. When his hired guide refuses to remain silent, Andy Griffith hunts him down but in the end is thwarted by a slingshot found by the intended victim.

SPOILERS****SPOILERS****SPOILERS

Like the other intended victims of the other movies, Diane (Danielle DeLuca) decides not to be a victim and fights back, which makes all the difference. When you watch the movie, you get a sense of that a remake was done of the NAKED PREY, a classic back in 1966 starring the late Cornel Wilde, who depicted a captured guide hunter in late 1800s Africa, set free to be hunted by the African tribesmen hunters. The plot development is similar. The hunted victim falls back up an incredible will to live and survive and resolves not to be the victim. Also it helps in all the movies of this plot them that the intended victim was in good physical shape to begin with.

I won't be a hypocrite who enjoyed watching attractive Danielle DeLuca run for her life in the nude and then criticize her later for doing a nude role in a B thriller movie. Danielle obviously saw this role as an edgy action thriller which was correct because the nudity was not pornographic. She was willing to go the extra step in depicting total helplessness at the start. It would have been too easy for the psycho killer to have kept her clothes on. My only astonishment is how she could have run barefooted in the New Mexico outback. From what I believe I know about New Mexico there's a lot of thorny mesquite trees in the countryside. I recommend this movie as worthwhile watching for a decent action/thriller. I always see the moral and ethical lesson in such movies. You can choose NOT to be the victim and fight back if you want to, no matter what the odds against you. Like Cornel Wilde in NAKED PREY, Danielle De Luca (Diane) started out her struggle for survival with literally NOTHING.


This is a strange movie. The title, the DVD cover, the 18 rating (in Germany) all suggest it's at least soft porn. But it comes out as very much else.

If you don't want to be spoiled, don't read this - for to give justice to "Naked Fear", one must discuss the ending ten minutes as much as the rest.

One might summarize it in a headline: "Crime statistics reversed - last year: 5 women disappeared, this year: 5 woman molesters killed". The first part takes up most of the film, in gripping intensity (and yes, no porn at all) it builds an incredible tension - and then we get a maybe oversimplified, but ultimately satisfying solution.

Is this a feminist movie? I can't really tell - but the solution appears to be much more on the female side than, say, Thelma & Louise. Those were in less thrilling troubles, and ultimately went down in bliss - Diane here takes her summary revenge, becoming a terminatress, and seems to live on quite happily (ever after?)

Even though I'm male and got attracted by the promise of frontal nudity, I now find this film strong for totally different reasons. The concept of being hunted in a wilderness (wasn't New Mexico where Steve Fossett went missing for half a year without trace?) does not depend on gender. And the woman's point of view comes over very convincingly. Very strong piece.


I saw NAKED FEAR on Showtime last night; and, think that it owes a lot to its predecessors; both on film and in print.

My first introduction to anything of this ilk, is the exceptionally well-written "Open Season" a paperback released in the 1970s upon which a film starring Peter Fonda was made. Unfortunately, that film is out of print; and, I've never seen it; but, the book was excellent.

I did see 1932's "The Most Dangerous Game," which may be the original telling of this tale of human as prey and predator. I also rated that film 9 out of 10 stars, here on IMDb; and, feel that NAKED FEAR is a very modern adaptation of the story.

Sub-par variations on this theme include 2000's "Hunting Season," which I rated only 3 stars; and, 1961's "Bloodlust," starring the Brady Bunch's Robert Reed as the handsome protagonist. I rated that one three stars as well; but, I think I may bump that up to four.

NAKED FEAR exceeded my expectations in almost every element of the film. The characters were believable, sympathetic, multi-faceted. The action was fast paced. The dialog was fine. The score kept things moving along. The cinematography was gorgeous. The plot was plausible; and, gripping -- I was enthralled right from the opening scene.

My only objection is the ending. Why did Christine Vasquez turn this into a wannabe "I Spit on your grave?!?" Couldn't she have just left it with Diana Kelper recovering in the hospital? Why did she have to go on a killing spree. It just doesn't make sense.


This was better than an empty dessert. By that I mean, I went into this thinking it would just be an average, silly, exploitive film with gratuitous nudity and not much of an original plot. I got the nudity and a lot more substance. Yes this theme has been done before but there were many surprising twists and shocks that usually are taboo in films like this. This was a psychological thriller for sure . There was the cliché. The usual suspect, the well to do pillar of the community , and of course negative traits of hookers and strippers. The usual fare ,setting the plate , for an all familiar film. The tension was there, check. The twists were there, check. Fine acting, check. The ingredients were there and then some. The movie, I felt, did a fine job of establishing most of the characters and showing their true selves ... Negative and positive. The realness was there. I will not give away the ending, only to say you will not be disappointed. Enjoy .


Its been a long time that there has been an effort to re create the genre of Exploitation. The main stream is busy at making films from cartoons, comics and books.

real creativity of art is lacking these days. This movie could be have much better, but at least some one dared to make it, so my hats off to director. But more than that, it is the actress who has done a worth-looking role. Running around naked for around 30 minutes of the movie length is not an easy job.

So, salute to bravery.

The good part is that there is sex or profanity in the movie and can be watched any where and any time. The nudity is tasteful and at one time, you are more interested in what is happening next and not what is in front of you.

I just wish that other actors could have done a better job.

Now, question is. Will there be more movies like this or not?


This movie starts off with a woman running naked in a field and being targeted by a crazed hunter and is then shot dead. This, along with the movies title sums up what you're in store for. The idea of this film has been delved into on television on Gilligan's Island and in the movies many times already. The premise is nothing new, but at least this one delivers in the nudity department and should keep horny late night viewers very very happy. I've waited for a good movie like this to come along and this one delivers in at least letting the viewer escape into the twisted fantasy of hunting humans.

Some have called this softcore porn, I don't know if this is the correct label but it is definitely a fun little exploitation film... and definitely the kind I like! As many of these type films are this is based on a true story, this one's based on an Alaska serial killer named Robert Hansen who after sexually abusing and raping his prostitute victims released them in a remote area of Alaska to stalk and kill them with his rifle.

In this film Danielle De Luca plays a stripper named Diana who is kidnapped, stripped naked and awakens in a remote wilderness area in New Mexico only to be hunted by a madman with a compound bow and his rifle. It comes off as an excuse to to show her completely naked with her breasts bouncing in all their glorious beauty as she runs. At times the hunting scene reminded me of I Spit on Your Grave but without the over the top violent rape scenes. If your offended by any of this I suggest you steer away and see if something else on.

As most movies like this do, the victim clearly has a chance to escape or at least disarm the killer at one point as Diana had but decides to run off instead giving him another opportunity to to hunt her down and even kill others along the way. In the end it turned out the killer had preyed on and hunted prostitutes, as to the final victim it leaves it open for a possible sequel.

By far it's not the best movie in the world and it does come off at times as some made for television movie but well worth watching just for Danielle De Luca's performance during the hunting scenes which is worth the rental alone. The only recognizable face otherwise is that of Joe Mantegna as a sheriff who has seen better days and most probably agreed to do this solely for the paycheck.

As said, if seeing half naked strippers do their thing on stage or if you enjoy watching women captured, stripped naked and then hunted like wild animals then don't miss this one! It's really not as bad as it could have been and with the nudity removed could be a decent Channel 11 late late movie.


If you think of the main villain as Elmer Fudd, this movie becomes much more funny.

So essentially, you have this small New Mexico town, where the local police department takes no notice of the fact that dozens of strippers from the local strip clubs vanish without a trace. In fact, the part of the movie that is about the one rogue cop who tries to catch the real killer is so irrelevant to the plot that I'm not even sure why they included it.

THe main part is about the hunter dude who decides that he would rather hunt strippers than deer. That is of course, after he rapes them. (Tastefully shown with a cut-away.)

The heroine of the movie is show as a innocent girl who is tricked into stripping and prostitution. Of course. We wouldn't feel any sympathy for her if she CHOSE to be a prostitute. She is stripped naked and forced to run from the crazy hunter who goes after her with a crossbow until she actually proves too resilient, and he switches to a long range hunting rifle. After running past enough strategically placed branches and cropped camera shots, she finds some clothes to finish the movie in.

Of course, the strip club in the movie is laughable. If the writer had spent any time in a real strip club, it might have increased the cost of this movie to a whole $61.00.

Not to say it wasn't totally without merit. There was some snappy dialog and some interesting scenes. But most of it was repetitive.


I'm giving this film a three, since I have seen "A Night to Dismember" and know how bad a film can really get. This one at least has custom score and actors who talk when their mouths move. Beyond that, this is all kinds of godawful. Apparently realizing that the first 45 minutes of the film are unbelievably boring, someone decided to try to compensate for it with excessive female nudity in the latter 45 minutes. In fact, I've heard that this film was partially funded by the State of New Mexico, and that they were very upset to see the final product because they considered it to be a porno.

The story is like a string of poorly executed stereotypes. An innocent young girl is tricked into becoming a stripper, and forced to remain in the job via methods that are obviously illegal -- no particular reason is given for why she doesn't go to the police. Meanwhile, lots of strippers and prostitutes have been mysteriously disappearing. Surprise, she ends up being taken by the same killer, who seems to like to hunt naked women out in the brush by Rio Rancho. We get to watch her variously run and stand idly around in the nude, until they presumably couldn't convince the actress to tolerate anymore of this so SHE DIGS FOR A SHIRT. Yessiree, it's common knowledge that if you just dig enough random holes you'll eventually turn up an entire wardrobe! She then gets to run around in a shirt that's been slit up the sides so that you still frequently catch views of her crotch and buttocks. Meanwhile, a police officer in town seems to have a lead as to the killer's identity, but he is discouraged from pursuing it because it would be scandalous to damage the reputation of a guy who manages a café, or something. Yes, it sounds just as stupid on the screen.

While I don't think this could reasonably have ever been a great film, I could even see how to improve the story as I watched it. For example, were this Diana character a prostitute from the start, it would not only explain why she doesn't complain to the police about her obviously illegal treatment at the strip club, but also would make her transformation at the end at lot more profound. (I won't give a spoiler -- if you're like me you'll have guessed the ending 10 minutes prior based on the question "How would a third rate Lifetime Original Movie end?") In fact, I have a suspicion this was originally written to be something in the style of a made for TV LMN film, but when it was decided to produce the film independently it was decided to capitalize on all potential for nude scenes, in order to appeal to a broader audience (id est, one that does not consist exclusively of alcoholic housewives.) The film also claims at the start to have been based on a true story. No one has yet been able to identify which story that is, indicating the film either was going the Blair Witch route in trying to lend itself credibility, or else was conceived after hearing something about some man who tried to kill some naked girl somewhere.

Congrats to my friend Matt Sanford, though! Your two-minutes of screen time were the most enjoyable part of the movie.


Prime time remake of the classic soap opera. Governess Victoria Winters (Joanna Going) goes to the town of Collinsport to take care of young David Collins (a VERY young Joseph Gordon-Levitt). She stays a Collinwood a HUGE mansion run by Elizabeth (Jean Simmons) and Roger (Roy Thinnes) Collins. Meanwhile, in the local cemetery, good for nothing Willie Loomis (Jim Fyfe) opens a coffin looking for jewels. This resurrects Barnabas Collins (Ben Cross) a vampire and he proceeds to attack the Collins family while romancing Victoria who is the resurrection of his dead fiancée. Got all that?

I'm a big fan of the old TV series. It was badly acted and moved slow but it was full of vampires, werewolves, ghosts and witches and it was never boring. It played on afternoons (around 3:30 or so) and kids ran home to see it. In 1990 NBC decided to revamp it as a night time soap and started it off with this 5 hour movie (shown over two nights). The plot for this was a combination of the old TV series and the "House of Dark Shadows" movie. The acting is pretty terrible. All the younger women in the cast are beautiful with limited acting ability. It's pretty obvious they were chosen for their looks and nothing else. Going is OK but the rest are hopeless. The same goes for the guys (although Michael T. Weiss and Gordon-Levitt try). Ben Cross, in the main role, is tall and handsome but lacks the charisma to make Barnabas work. (In Cross' defense he hated doing the series--and it comes through loud and clear). However it does have an eerie atmosphere, was shot on beautiful locations and was pretty bloody for a TV series. The fast pace helps too. This led to a short-lived (4 months) TV series which wasn't bad either. So this is worth seeing but it ends with a cliffhanger leading into the series. I give it an 8.


I love the newer version of the series versus the old one. It was a lot more detailed and I loved Ben Cross as Barnabus more too. He looked more like a vampire and so did the others. And they should details when they fed on people too. I like attention to detail like that. Though I wasn't even born yet to watch the original series when it was on, I did watch it in reruns on sci-fi a few years ago before they took it off the air. My mom was a big fan of the original, so she taped the new series when it aired and I loved every minute of it.They need to put it on DVD now so everyone can see it that hasn't watched it or wants it in their movie collection like I do. Maybe we'll all get lucky and it will be out on DVD in the near future.


I expected less, since the series in the late 60's was so lame; but this long, two-part series was pretty damn good. Fast-moving and tightly-paced production with strong performances. I watched only because Barbara Steele was in it; by the conclusion I was hungering for more. Yeah, they ought to release this on DVD.

The leads were superb--very strong performance by actor in the Barnabas role. Ben Kingsley? I forget. And his love interest Joanna Going was hot, to say the least. She was later in that Brendan Fraser film STILL BREATHING, playing the babe Fraser's character pursued. By the way that's another film that, I think, is overlooked. A satisfyingly funny romantic comedy.

Joanna Going just happened to sit next to me in the balcony of the Paramount Theater at STILL BREATHING's world premiere in Austin during SXSW a few years ago. I hope she still thinks of me.


Podium. Directed by Yann Moix. ***

I haven't had this much fun for a while!

Courtesy of the 8th French Cinema Tour, "Podium" just hit theaters in a festival-like run here; Oh! I got so lucky! It's such a funny comedy, one of the best I've seen coming out of La France, and one of the best of the year for sure.

Benoit Poelvoorde is Belgium's national treasure for sure. He's performance is outstanding; he played Bernard Fréderic with such emotion, wit and realism that I'm gonna be real mad if he doesn't get a Best Actor nomination at the Cesars. The thing that is so great, is that his character is hateful and charismatic at the same time. He believes he's a star, so he starts acting like one: mean and rudely. He's a great singer and dancer too (maybe Kevin Spacey could borrow him some ideas).

Great writing, solid direction, hot French chics (or according to Bernard, "sexual bombs") in a comedy that smartly explores the obsession for fame, celebrity and pop idols. You won't regret if you watch it. Believe, it is worth it.

The tribute to French super star, Claude Francois is there, making the whole thing nostalgic. And one more thing... perhaps Americans should keep their hands out of it, and not starting to think about a remake. I suppose it will start its international commercial run in 2005, so where it's available, don't miss it!

7/10


It's an excelllent comedy! Benoit Poelvoorde is totally amazing, the script is intelligent, smart and funny. Julie Depardieu is beautiful and a good actress and Jean-Paul Rouve from the Robin des Bois is excellent as Michel Polnareff! If you like Claude Francois this film is made for you!

Well done.


This is the story of Bernard Frederic, a "double" of Claude François (France's Elvis - author of classics such as "My Way"). A special television broadcast on doubles incites him to return to a life he stopped for his wife. We follow him during the steps leading to the big show...

There is something in this movie that makes it irresistible. Is it the story (very original), the rythm (fast but not furious :-)), the humor (I had a smile on my face almost the entire movie), the music (the mood was so positive that the audience sang along)? Or the cast? Benoît Poelvoorde (Bernard Frederic) has shown in this film just how talented he was. An outstanding performance then from him but also from his two co-stars the beautiful Julie Depardieu and the always disconcerting Jean-Paul Rouve. This movie should soon be crowned one of France's cult movies alongside classics such as "Le Père Noël est une Ordure", les "Visiteurs" or "Les Bronzés".

Except if you are looking for what is wrong in a movie, you shouldn't be disturbed by its minor flaws. However for those who read the book (such as me), there may be some level of disappointment (not for me though). You must know that the movie shows only part of Bernard Frederic's impressive personality. He is depicted in the book as impulsive, selfish, stingy but still very likeable. We get to see only a small selection of the ferociously funny situations from the book. But I guess it would have undermined the rythm of the film. So go see it if you want to feel a boost of energy!


Bernard Frédéric (Benoît Poelvoorde) devoted his life to his biggest icon Claude François, perhaps the most famous mainstream French singer in the seventies. To fully live his passion and his admiration for him, he organized provincial tours in which he sang with female dancers "Cloclo"'s most popular songs, flanked by his associate Couscous who assured the first parts of his shows, dressed as Michel Polnareff's double. But today, galvanized by his wife Véro (Julie Depardieu) who forced him to choose between her or his god, his once exciting life got bogged down in a humdrum one. An employee in a bank, he also lives in a modest suburban house until one day, his former chum approaches him again to prompt him to attend a TV show about celebrity doubles. Frédéric can't withstand to the desire to attend it, dressed as Claude François. But he would have to defy the promise he made to Véro who might see this as the last straw about the future of her relationship with her mercurial man...

What can be said about a film which enjoyed a conspicuous publicity campaign and made it a household name virtually everywhere in France? Well, visually, it's an appealing film. The director Yann Moix retorted to a quite kitsch cinematography with often gaudy colors to recreate the aura of the Claude François mania in the seventies. A mania which is still vivacious today in Frédéric's mind and in his relentless training to be on this vital TV show about double celebrities. A quirky directing with split-screens which includes authentic footage dating from the seventies and an epileptic editing consolidates this whimsical menu. One word about the last sequence: Moix doesn't tap overflowing effects to leave the viewer speechless about the harrowing vibe the scene conveys and one forgets its formulaic character.

Then, the scenario seems to have been sedately written. It's true that the scriptwriters including Olivier Dazat follow an ultra-mapped scheme to tell Frédéric's efforts to reach the TV show which seems to be the most crucial thing on earth for him. However, there's more on the paper and to the picture than meets the eye. This scenario has its moments and they are numerous like when it comes to showcase and construe Frédéric's apparently simple but complex persona. He's a lackluster man when Claude François isn't on his mind but when his passion for Claude François has the upper hand and his determination to reform his female dance band make his demeanor with his surrounding hateful, obnoxious, on the brink of the unacceptable as the sequences when he selects his female dancers and then asks her questions (he has all the answers) about his god bear witness. But he's especially guided by his former tour companion, Couscous, deemed as disreputable by Véro. In a way, this hare-brained Polnareff's double is his evil genius because he indirectly jeopardizes Frédéric's couple to make him resume his one-time favorite activities. It's all the more serious as Véro is deeply enamored of her man. Moreover, does headstrong Frédéric's imagination play tricks on him? Is the sequence during which he's phoned by Claude François a dream or an hallucination? So, the scriptwriters have penned a cohesive screenplay which concerns nearly all of us, at least the ones who have heroes in any domain in life. To which extent, can we go to fully identify oneself with a celebrity for whom one is in awe? Could it make us cut off from the reality? Doesn't one risk a split personality?

"Podium" was basically a novel written by Moix himself for Benoît Poelvoorde to convince him to transpose it to the silver screen and to act in it. It bore fruit. The Belgian actor, once revealed with the half-gruesome, half-wacky "C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous" (1992) carries an important part of the film on his shoulders and his input both in the film and in his role is visible. His charisma, François' songs he heartily sings, the choreography are reproduced with painstaking application. But the rest of the cast isn't sacrificed. Julie Depardieu, (Gérard's daughter) acts her role with reserve and self-control and deftly circumvents the drawbacks her role was tending. Jean-Paul Rouve, him, keeps a part of mystery to Frédéric's sidekick and Polnareff's double.

On the surface, the story of "Podium" smells the reheated but the authors had the gusto to cool it down to better entertain the viewer and to arouse essential questions about his tastes and likes. This a little oddball film should appeal to Poelvoorde's fans and to "Cloclo"'s. And as soon as the film ends, French viewers, be prepared to hum his tunes. All together now: "Alexandrie, Alexandra", "Des Magnolias Par Centaines!" etc...


I first saw "C'est arrivé près de chez-vous"(Man bites dog) about ten years ago and I was amazed by the whole thing.The darkest humor ever,sick violent scenes,and of course,the Man himself.Poelvoorde plays a violent maniac but he's funny and charismatic at the same time.Fast forward to 2005:I realised there was a new movie with that guy that I've never seen in another film.I didn't know that much about Claude Francois,but I had to see Poelvoorde in another role.Here he plays Bernard Frédéric,an ex-imitator of Cloclo.He stopped his "career" in show-business when his wife,Véro, gave an ultimatum.So now he has a boring job,9 to 5, a son, a "normal" life. But when he learns that there is an imitator contest on prime time TV,his passion takes over.So many funny scenes in this movie! The auditions of his "Clodettes"(he's so rude with them ,can't watch it without laughing)the psycho-therapist,the introduction of his partner Couscous,the sex scene in which he changes his love tempo depending what Claude song he has in mind,...Add to this a great soundtrack, dancing, beautiful women in there Clodettes suit, a happy ending and you have 90 minutes of pure joy.I can't wait to see the long version.


This movie came out in Belgium in 2003 but I waited to see this wonderful movie until now. The story is simple but the movie is great. Benoît Poelvoorde is playing Bernard, a bank clerk of the greatest dullness. A job he had to take 'cause his wife couldn't stand living with a dual-personality (or as she's called NO personality). So he promises her never to do the man again. His great obsession is the french star Claude François. Bernard is the perfect double of the star, no, resurrection is the better word. When there is a competition 5 years after the Promise, there's a competition for doubles on television and the best claude françois wins 100000 euro (125000 dollar) Bernard wants to compete and starts his old routine but he thinks he IS the star and starts acting on it. The actors are one for one top quality but the star is indeed Benoît Poelvoorde from my beloved country. His splendor, to be able to show a character that you can hate and love at the same time, is remarkable. I really can recommend this one Some pointers for the people oversees (United states): If you don't know claude françois it's easier to look at the movie like Claude = Elvis. Then it's easier to understand the hype If you look carefully: you can notice the original french version of 'my way' by Frank Sinatra or in this case 'comme d'habitude'


This movie is one the greatest comedy I've ever seen... The actors are so good, I can't compare it with any other movie. The singing performance by Benoit Poelvoorde is perfectly incredible too ! Nevertheless,I guess american audience would not understand this movie, as it deals with a french music symbol, Claude François...

That's why I let myself dream of an american transcription of "Podium"... imagine Adam Sandler or Bill Murray play some unlikely Elvis double... If some producer could read it :)

Congratulations, Yann Moix !!


Very good rhythm, pretty picture, wonderful actors, a lot of humour and some sweet and beautiful moments. So yes, it's a great movie and it's worth to see it! I'm not at all a fan of Claude François (I'm more into rock and jazz) but this movie gave me the will to discover this singer...it's quite weird... Anyway, Benoît is fantastic, very moving. Julie is sublime. Jean-Paul is perfect as usual. And there must be some future cult quotes ;)

Well done to all the cast, the crew and Yann Moix!

Rad ^__^


Seriously . . . why would you really watch this movie? If you aren't a fan of Riki Takeuchi, this movie will make your head spin with it's apparent suckitude. However, as a Riki Takeuchi movie that features him speaking English and shooting up Los Angeles, it's a seriously awesome flick. Basically, it's a terrible 80s-style action movie. The production values, over-the-top action, and ridiculous plot would have been de rigeur in 1986. But being a late-90s movie, it's even sillier. The cheese is laid on thick, but not unintentionally. It's very tongue-in-cheek in a way. Takeuchi's performance is strong, as usual, even given the crappy trappings. He sneers, shows off his coiffed doo, and impales people on katanas - all bases covered. And there's a Chevy Nova SS for no reason! And it's pee-yellow - where else are you going to see that?


From the opening to the ending, bad acting, bad directing, bad story. The star of this picture was pretty good, but so much of the cast were acting on the level of school play.

There is a lot of action, but much of it suffers believability, well, as does much of the movie too! My favorite cheap stunt is the man being hit by the car. It starts with a bad guy pulling out his gun, the lead actor hearing it and spinning around while pulling his gun out, somehow a Geo Metro approaching from out of frame at 5 miles per hour 'crashes' in to the bad guy, which of course shatters the windshield.

Nothing says action done wrong more than this film. This film's best use is an example of what not to do for anyone who wants to make their own action movie. I did appreciate the directors leg and foot focus which appears at the establishing shots of any scene with a female in it.


OK - I bought the DVD because it was only 3.99 in the January sales and because it starred Riki Takeuchi. I feel I was robbed - this film is one of the worst I have ever seen. The actors (I use that word advisedly) are dreadful; the dialogue is sparse and stupid and the film is padded out with endless shots of cars driving past and shots of streets from the driver's point of view. The final showdown is laughable as Riki runs out of bullets and the bad cop doesn't shoot Riki (although he has a loaded gun) and just lets Riki run about 20 yards towards him with a sword and impales him on the front gates. I see from this database that the director Shundo Ohkawa went on to make two other films. How does such lack of talent get to make so many movies? Stay well away from this pile of poo.


There is no way for me to accurately convey how terrible this movie is, but I will try. Buying the Cow is one of those movies that you never knew existed and upon discovering wished that you could altogether forget, but can't because it is such a wonderful example of what people should not do with studio money. Aside from the lackluster plot, stock characters and painfully unfunny bathroom jokes which seem to run rampant throughout the movie (most of which are so belabored as to remove the possibility of eliciting even a measly chuckle) there is something so weary about the movie that you begin to wonder if it may have been written by an Old Hollywood heavyweight trying to make a comeback in the new century and only succeeding in poorly rehashing the old jokes and stereotypes that made him successful forty or more years ago.


This movie, much like Swingers and Tomcats and Van Wilder bring about an enlightening view for young men out in the dating scene. Some scenarios are exaggerated in the movie, never the less, shocking similarities are clearly recognized. Ryan Reynolds cocky yet confident attitude, portrayed in the movie, is hilarious! All single men should be required to see the movies mentioned above.


Every taboo base is covered, from mocking homosexuals to squeezing laughs out of paedophilia. This might not be so bad if we were allowed glimpses of character between the cheap shots, but the whole thing feels stitched together like a bad re-telling of urban legends; the kind of material that would be deemed unfit for even the shoddiest of best man's speeches, never mind an 80 minute motion picture. I suppose there's potential in a comic examination of last minute wedding jitters; but this turkey spends more time fobbing us off with unbelievable scenarios, rather than dirty its hands by tackling something as mature as 'psychology'. You might think you're "Buying the Cow", but you're actually getting a typical dog...


A romantic movie, with the O'Connell's usual humor. If you liked Tomcats, you'll LOVE this movie. Amazing twists and turns with an overall awesome romantic storyline of what love and everything about love really is about. Ryan Reynolds (Van Wilder) was, as usual, a great comedy actor, and we got to see his oh so nice butt, again in this movie! Kept me in a laughing riot, as well as a romantic 'aawww' feeling. All in all, I would definitely recommend this movie.


I came upon this movie purely by accident when it was being shown on cable, and found myself riveted to my seat, not wanting to miss a minute of it. The performance by Joseph Cross was captivating, but what was even more compelling was the story itself. I was constantly trying to figure out how it was going to end.

The ending turned out to be a real surprise, but I was also impressed by the portrayal of boyhood that the audience receives in the process of getting there. It was so true to life that I found myself wondering how much of it was based on the film writer's own experiences. Above all, I was impressed by the amount of respect the movie seems to have for boys, and by its willingness to recognize that 5th graders sometimes think deep thoughts and ask deep questions.


What I initially thought of as a kiddie flick, I was pleasantly surprised to find 'Wide Awake' so much more (though I should have known better since it was written by the wonderful M. Night 'Sixth Sense' Shymalan).

The story of the film revolves around a little boy named Joshua who seeks to find God in order to ensure his dead grandfather is safe. Ten-year-old Josh is Catholic and an unflinching believer in his faith until the death of his beloved grandfather. Suddenly all Josh has been raised to believe in is thrown into turmoil as he finds his faith seriously called into question. He begins to wonder why God allows so much bad to exist in the world and, more importantly, what happened to his grandfather following his death.

The film is not just a story of faith but also of growing up and realising the world is not a simple place with absolutes, rather things may not always be what they seem. The ending, like 'Sixth Sense' does have a great twist that works so well and will leave even the hard-hearted feeling warm. Joseph Cross, as Josh, and Timothy Reifsnyder, as his best friend Dave, were able to carry the film at a first-rate level despite being so young. Cross portrayed Josh's innocence, his disenchantment with God, his love for his friends and family and the joy at his end revelation with the proficiency of a professional triple his age. His touching performances brought heart to the story. The adult actors in supporting roles, with Dana Delany and Denis Leary as Josh's parents and Rosie O'Donnell as the nun teacher, were decent yet understated as they, quite rightly, let the child actors shine.

One of the best things of this film is that although much of the cast are children, they aren't the typical annoying brats you see tend to encounter in Hollywood films. The storyline isn't sugary either. The interaction of Josh with his friends and adults around him were handled poignancy, especially the flashback scenes with his grandfather that portrayed their strong bond perfectly.

'Wide Awake' does make you wonder if ten-year-olds' can have deeper thoughts and views than adults give them credit for and I think many of us can empathise with how childlike wonder slowly gives way to adult insights as we grow up and leave childhood behind. This isn't a film just for the religious but those who are interested in a realistic depiction of a child's coming-of-age.


My husband and I thought this was an excellent movie! We watched it with our 2 young daughters and it opened a great deal of doors for discussions with them. The casting was wonderful! I had read in an article that M. Night Shyamalan was kind of disappointed with it over-all, and I think that he should re-consider that thought. He states that he wants people to somehow be touched by and to identify with the work that he produces and this movie does exactly that! It hits home on all different levels for young and old.

This is a must see for families!!


This was the first film written and directed by M. Night Shyalaman, who would go on to make a film called "The Sixth Sense" a few years later. They're not exactly the same genre of movie, but they both have a very similar feel to them, in both dialogue and overall tone & pacing.

This movie was a lot of fun to watch, and worth the rent, if you can dig it out of the children's section at your local video store (it's rated PG). Good performances from all, with maybe only 1 or 2 scenes giving themselves away, something "The Sixth Sense" wasn't guilty of at all.

That said, it's worth something as a milestone, as well... compare the early works of David Fincher or even Ron Howard, and notice how they got better as they went along, making more movies. This movie is a solid B+, with The Sixth Sense being the obvious A. We can only guess what "Unbreakable" may hold for us.

Great actors and writing in this one, regardless. It is very much the story of young Josh and his search for God, and is not at all a Rosie O'Donnell movie as you may have been led to believe. Well worth watching. Denis Leary never looked so nerdy.


While many people believe this movie is not worth the time and use the low grossing as evidence to back that up, I believe it is an excellent coming of age story. It shows us how children deal with death and reminds us that sometimes it takes a tragedy to open our eyes. It may be a little mundane to use a child as the center for a coming of age drama to give the audience a lesson in how to deal with death, but this movie does a really good job of waking us up. I cried and I laughed. Each time I cried it was real and sad, but each time I laughed it was heartfelt and even if for a fraction of a second that laugh made me happy. It is hard to find a quality movie that is able to invoke such an emotional response.


I truly enjoyed this little sleeper of a film. I had never heard of it and fell upon it by chance. It's completely unlike the other films I've seen by M. Night Shyamalan in that it's not caught up in the supernatural or science fiction. I think it really show just what a great film maker he is. Made in 1998 it was just before his big stuff hit the screens. It's just a simple story of a young boy searching for God after his Grandfather dies and in the process finding himself awakening to what's going on in life as well as restoring his faith. A pretty good cast all around, and all basically in supporting roles for the young actor Joseph Cross carries the film. I don't know why it kept such a low profile.


I've never understood why so many people seem turned off by this movie. Aside from some unnecessary uses of the 'S' word, this is a very original, very moving story that could even be of comfort to children who have lost a relative or friend.

What's not to like? We have very positive messages here. Seeking and finding strength in faith, dealing with reality. The child actors are outstanding. Joseph Cross portrays his character so perfectly that it is at times very moving.

A great supporting cast of Dennis Leary, Dana Delaney and Rosie O'Donnell (at her funniest, yet most reserved persona). Flawless directing by Shyamalan and a great score by Edmund Choi that has since been used elsewhere.

A perfect little film with a big heart for anyone who's lost someone they loved.


This movie had a little of everything, humor, relationships, and more. I would recommend this movie to anyone


it was this movie, not the sixth sense, that turned me into the huge m. night shyamalan fan i am today. i saw this movie back before i even heard of the sixth sense. i saw it because i saw a trailer for it before another movie i had rented. after viewing just the trailer, my sister and i looked at each other and said, "we have to see that..." so, when i found it at blockbuster a few months later, i jumped to rent it. now i only wish that i had gotten a chance to see this limited release movie in theaters. the story of young Joshua questioning life while everyone, including his best friend, parents, and teachers scoff at him is heartbreaking. while searching for the answers of his initial question he sees life they way it should be seen. the thing i love most about m. night is the "FEELING" you get while watching his movies. there are two moments of heavy realization in this movie, millions of feel good moments, millions of laughing moments, millions of crying moments. i've since taped this movie off of cable and i still cry every time i see it. the only word i can think to describe this movie, and every other movie m. night has done, is beautiful. please go see it. you'll be glad you did.


I didn't think I would stumble across this movie unless I bought it online but then I got a job working at a video store and there it was. It was an absolute joy to watch. I have seen 'coming of age' movies before but none can come close to this one. The cinematography and music was excellent. It was funny and tearful at the same time. I recommend it to everyone. It is an obvious work of M. Night full of his trademarks and his certain touch! Go watch it!


Are 5th graders sensitive? Do they have worries, doubts and hopes? Do they at least think? SURE THEY DO! This movie takes a peek about a boy´s opinion on life, about what makes it all happen. Have you ever asked yourself those questions? - Thankfully this film (because it is more than a movie, it is a film) doesn´t fall in the trap of easy joking and unnecessary plots. It is simply a well told story (not to mention who´s behind the camera), with a lot of heart in it. I´d definitely recommend it, not just for a rainy afternoon, but for your whole life. - P.S.: You can tell some things about the movie´s creator just by watching it.


This was my sleeper of the year. Little attention was given a film about a kid searching for God after his grandpa dies. Yet young Joseph Cross will win your heart as he starts what could be a terrific career. The film is hardly perfect but is so different from most other films and how can it be so funny. Well it is. Sometimes films work & some don't. If more people saw this gem of a movie, then more would love it.


My favorite type of film. Makes you think but doesn't bore. [Almost] makes you want to cry but isn't mushy. Makes you laugh but doesn't try too hard. All in all a good flick. It reminds me very much of "The Cure", which I also enjoyed.


just watched this movie...and i can surely say this is my favorite movie.

It will take you through the journey of Joshua.. a mission he has embarked upon...to find God so that he can make sure his Grandpa is okay in heaven.

It is more than a movie to me.I could really relate to Joshua as i also used to think a lot about God at that age partly because i was born in a very religious family.The feelings Joshua goes through in his search for god and how it changes him to a certain extent for eg, when Freddie Waltman-a boy who has bullied Joshua since 3rd grade has to leave school...instead of feeling happy he feels really sad for him... have been narrated on screen beyond words...only a genius could have achieved this.

Anyone who has taste for good cinema...watch this..I'm sure it will become your fav too!!:)


For his first film, M. Night Shyamalan, leaves much to be desired in this film. It's not really a bad film, maybe mediocre at best. Nothing wrong with the story, but the film is very low energy and a bit too sugary for my taste. The acting is weak, the directing is slow paced and not involving and I found myself nodding off occasionally. Maybe I needed a nap but I don't think so. The story involves a child's quest to find God after his beloved grandfather dies. Most of the film takes place in a Catholic Boys Academy and the hijinks that ensue are very corny and cheesy. Rosie O'Donnell and Camryn Manheim were OK as nuns but the young cast were all below par as actors. The good news is that Shyamalan did survive this to direct "Sixth Sense", "Unbreakable" and "Signs".


One of the best movies I have seen in my life time! An absolute masterpiece from M Night Shyamalan. This film tells about a 10 year old boy Joshua A Beal's (Joseph Cross) quest for God after his grandfather's death.

The performance of the kids in this film were stunning especially Joshua's. I simply fell in love with this boy's innocent face and meaningful questions he asks. One of the best things in this film is the dialogues that were highly thoughtful and brilliant.

The running race scene in the school which involves Joshua's grandfather was a touching one where I couldn't control tears in my eyes. Other brilliant performers are Joshua's friend Dave, Robert (grandfather) and Sister Terry done by Rosie O'Donnell. This boy Joshua steals my heart, how could M Night Shyamalan brings out such a talent from his little heroes? Hats off Shyamalan, you were so unlucky this film didn't brought you laurels, in my view your best one.

The feeling you get when you watch the movie is warmth, heartening which will last for some time. The best part is the climax where I couldn't control crying


One word to describe this film... a Masterpiece. A sheer masterpiece with such a perfect blend of comedy, tragedy, and feel-good moments. I found myself wanting to jump through the television screen and be part of the movie myself. The young lead actor will capture your heart and leave you breathless. I was especially moved by the epilepsy scene. Don't give up on this movie just because the first five minutes are a little dull. And on another note, how misleading that comment on the box is, "Rosie O'Donnel is hilarious"! She is in a few scenes, but she makes little impression on the storyline. Its directing is flawless. I am so glad i stumbled across this film, it has made such an impact on my life! I hope that you can say the same.