Mark at the movies No 6

 

The Doberman Gang(1972)

Plot

Three bank robbers – Eddie, Jojo and Sammy - plan what they think is a perfect bank heist. As they exit the bank one of them throws the money in the trunk of what looks like their car but is just identical. Dejected, the leader of the crew, Eddie, muses that the human factor is what goes wrong with his plans and that what he needs is robots – something that he can control and that will follow orders exactly. The three-part ways and Eddie is left to come up with his next plan. Eddie finds his inspiration as he watches some Doberman Pinschers chase off a couple of boys who were chasing boys who were trying to rob a junkyard. He poses as a journalist doing a story about trained military dogs, and he convinces an Air Force dog handler named Barney to work with him in a dog training business. At the same time, Eddie reconnects with Jojo and Sammy to come up with a plan to rob a payroll from a bank, including building a replica of the bank.

When Barney is discharged from the Air Force, he comes to work with Eddie and is surprised when Eddie has Dobermans for Barney to train instead of German Shepherds, which is what Barney is accustomed to training. Barney, unaware that Eddie is planning to use the dogs in his heist, reluctantly agrees to train the six Dobermans, to which Eddie bestows the names of famous bank robbers (Dillinger, Bonnie, Clyde, Pretty Boy Floyd, Baby Face Nelson and Ma Barker). They are accompanied by a bulldog that Eddie names J. Edgar, after J. Edgar Hoover. As Barney trains the dogs, he becomes suspicious and figures out the bank robbery plot on his own. Barney confronts Eddie, who tells Barney that he is free to leave and not to worry about the dogs. Eddie reveals that if Barney leaves, he’ll kill the dogs. Barney has also become close with Eddie’s girlfriend, June, and she convinces Barney to stay and finish the job. Eddie outlines the specifics of the plan to Barney, which, if successful, will net the crew $600,000 if all of the dogs come back successfully. For his part, Barney wants half of the take, but he agrees to a one-fourth share after some convincing by Sammy. June is left out of the arrangement but gets a promise from Eddie to receive $15,000 out of his share. June realizes that Eddie sees her as disposable, and she and Barney get even closer behind Eddie’s back.

On the day of the bank robbery, all six dogs do exactly what they are trained to do and enter the bank one at a time, lying down and waiting for the command to start the robbery. Dillinger is the last to enter and carries the note giving the instructions to the tellers. Just before he’s supposed to blow the dog whistles corresponding to each dog, Barney has second thoughts (because June, looking for a bigger share, tells him the dogs will be killed afterwards to get rid of evidence) and leaves the command post across the street. Eddie and June are left to finish the operation and blow the whistles. While Sammy and Jojo head back to the training ranch, sprinkling dirt from the ranch along the way as a sort of trail of breadcrumbs, June picks up where Barney left off. The operation goes off exactly as planned, and the dogs collect the money and head home. One of the Dobermans is hit by a car, and another dog collects that dog’s saddlebag and continues on its way. Another dog is distracted by a standard poodle in a backyard and stops to make friends with it. Eddie connects with Sammy and Jojo at the ranch, but June goes to a different spot and blows the whistles again, giving the command to the dogs to attack the bank robbers. She blows the whistles again, and the dogs collect the bags of money and run to June’s location, where she hopes to get the money, but the dogs will not let her have it. They're not robots—only Barney had any feelings for them, so they feel no connection to anyone else. She tries to get the whistles to signal to the dogs one more time, but J. Edgar takes the whistles and runs off as the Dobermans follow him. June runs after the dogs but can’t catch them. As June watches, J. Edgar and the five remaining Dobermans run into a valley carrying the bags of money.

The true stars of this film are the Doberman and their antics, it's a feel-good film and one of my favourite films featuring animals in this case man's best friend.

The acting by the actors is pretty standard but please watch just for the Doberman s.

Running Time (1 hr 27 minutes)

Rated (PG)

4 out of 4.

Dracula(1958)

Plot.

In 1885, Jonathan Harker arrives at the castle of Count Dracula near Klausenburg to take up his post as librarian. Inside, he is startled by a young woman who claims that she is a prisoner and begs for his help. Dracula arrives, greets Harker, and guides him to his room. Alone, Jonathan writes in his diary, revealing his true intentions: he is a vampire hunter and has come to destroy Dracula.

Sometime later, Harker again is confronted by the desperate woman. She reveals herself to be a vampire and bites his neck. Dracula arrives and pulls her away as Harker passes out. When he awakens in his room in daylight, Harker discovers the bite marks on his neck. He realizes he has lost nearly an entire period of daylight. Harker writes a final entry in his journal and hides the book outside the castle. He descends into a crypt to find Dracula and the vampire woman resting in their coffins. Harker foolishly stakes the woman first, a mistake which will cost him his life. She withers to old age and dies. When Harker turns to Dracula's coffin, he finds it empty. Dracula, awakened, closes the door to the crypt, trapping Harker.

Days pass and Doctor Van Helsing arrives in Klausenburg, looking for Harker. An innkeeper's daughter gives him Harker's journal. When he arrives at Dracula's castle, he finds it deserted, though he comes across the portrait that Harker had of his fiancée Lucy Holmwood, with the photos now gone. Van Helsing finds Harker in Dracula's coffin in the crypt, transformed into a vampire. He stakes Harker before leaving for the town of Karlstadt, where he delivers the veiled news of Harker's death to Arthur Holmwood and his wife Mina, brother and sister-in-law of Lucy, who is ill. When night falls, Lucy opens the doors to her terrace and lays bare her neck—already, it bears the mark of a vampire bite. Soon, Dracula arrives and bites her again.

Mina seeks out Van Helsing's aid in treating Lucy's ailment, but Lucy begs the maid Gerda to remove his prescribed garlic bouquets, and she is found dead the next day. Van Helsing turns over Harker's journal to Arthur. Three days after Lucy is interred, an undead Lucy lures Gerda's daughter Tania to a graveyard, where Arthur has found Lucy's tomb empty. Van Helsing appears and wards Lucy off with a cross. He explains to Arthur that Lucy was targeted to replace the woman Harker killed. Van Helsing suggests using her to lead them to Dracula, but Arthur refuses, and Van Helsing stakes her in her coffin. Arthur takes one final look at Lucy's body and sees her at peace.

Van Helsing and Arthur travel to the border crossing at Ingolstadt to track down Dracula's coffin. Meanwhile, Mina receives a message telling her to go to the address of an undertaker in Karlstadt, where Dracula waits. The next day, Arthur and Van Helsing visit the undertaker but find Dracula's coffin missing. Later, Arthur tries to give Mina a cross to wear, but it burns her, revealing that she is turning into a vampire herself. During the night, Dracula appears inside the house and bites her. Arthur agrees to give her a blood transfusion administered by Van Helsing. When Arthur asks Gerda to fetch some wine, she tells him that Mina had forbidden her to go down to the cellar. Upon hearing this, Van Helsing bolts downstairs and finds Dracula's coffin, but it is empty. Dracula has escaped into the night with Mina, intent on making her his new vampire bride.

A chase ensues as Dracula rushes to return to his castle before sunrise. He attempts to bury Mina alive outside the crypt but is interrupted by the arrival of Van Helsing and Arthur. Pursuing Dracula inside the castle, Van Helsing struggles with the vampire before eventually tearing down the curtains to let in the sunlight. Van Helsing forms a cross with two candlesticks, and Dracula crumbles into dust as Van Helsing looks on. Mina recovers, and the cross-shaped scar fades from her hand while Dracula's ashes blow away in the morning breeze, leaving only his clothes and ring behind.

Without a doubt this part of the Hammer House of Horror and when I watched this in my youth I admit I went to bed hiding under my covers clutching a crucifix as Christopher Lee played in my opinion the best version of Dracula, his eyes seemed to stare into your very soul.

It's a great retelling of Dracula and despite its age still holds its own in the genre of Horror films.

If you do enjoy this film please check out other films made by Hammer House of Horror and may be surprised how much you will like them, also check out the lesser-known Hammer House of Horror television series.

Running time(1h 22m)

Rated (18)

4 out of 4.

Do Revenge(2022)

Netflix

Plot.

Drea Torres and Eleanor Levitan are soon-to-be high school seniors at Rosehill Country Day High School in Miami, Florida. Drea, who attends Rosehill on scholarship, is made a social outcast when her boyfriend, Max, anonymously releases an inappropriate video of her. Eleanor, a new student at Rosehill, is similarly cast out after a false rumour spreads that she held down and forcibly kissed another student, Carissa Jones. The two meet when Eleanor attends a tennis camp over the summer that Drea is working at over the break.

When both Drea and Eleanor recognize that neither will get the justice they deserve, the two devise a plan to team up and get revenge on the other's bully; Drea on Carissa, and Eleanor on Max. Following a makeover from Drea, Eleanor slowly integrates herself into the popular group to expose Max. Drea gets close to Carissa by volunteering at the school farm she runs and meets fellow student, Russ. Eleanor quickly catches the attention of Max and his friends, and she is invited to a homecoming pool party. Eleanor hangs out with Max briefly and discovers that he is cheating on his new girlfriend Tara with Drea’s old rival Allegra. While Eleanor is at the party, Drea sees Carissa at the beach with Russ and steals the farm keys, granting the two access to the farm's greenhouse full of marijuana plants and magic mushrooms.

At the school's Senior Ring Ceremony, catered by Carissa, the two use the narcotics found at the greenhouse to drug their classmates to steal Max’s phone to get evidence of his wrongdoings. Drea anonymously tips off the school’s Headmaster about the greenhouse, destroying Carissa’s reputation and getting her expelled. While searching through Max’s messages, the two find collections of photos and messages from other girls their age stretching back years.

Drea and Russ continue to get close throughout the revenge scheme. At the Valentine’s Day assembly, Eleanor sends Max’s texts to the entire student body. To minimize the fall-out, Max and Tara pretend to become a polyamorous couple, only bolstering his popularity. Drea also receives the news that she has been rejected from Yale, her dream college.

Drea spirals and concocts a new plan to destroy Max and his group at the upcoming Admissions Party, which can only be attended by those accepted by Ivy League schools. As she becomes more unhinged, Eleanor begins to accept her new popularity and friends, beginning a relationship with Max’s younger sister Gabbi. When Max and his friends surprise her for her birthday, Drea crashes the party, almost upending their whole revenge plan. The two fight and go their separate ways after Eleanor accuses Drea of lying about Max releasing her video due to a lack of incriminating evidence. Gabbi overhears this and breaks up with Eleanor, upset.

Drea begins to suspect that Eleanor isn’t who she says she is, seeking out Carissa at a rehab facility for information. Carissa reveals that Eleanor is “Nosey” Nora Cutler, a girl Carissa and Drea knew from a summer camp they attended when they were kids. It was Drea who publicly outed Nora as a lesbian and resulting in her becoming an outcast, an event Drea doesn't even remember. When Drea tries to confront Eleanor, Eleanor threatens to frame Drea's mother for drug possession if she refuses to expose her old friends at the Admissions Party. When Drea tries to flee, Eleanor T-bones Drea's car, putting Drea in the hospital. However, the incident allows Drea to create an elaborate sob story that puts her back in the good graces of her old friends.

During the Admissions Party, Drea reveals Eleanor as “Nosey Nora” to Max’s friends, but immediately regrets it and apologizes to Eleanor for her past actions. Their reconciliation is interrupted when Max discovers their plots against him. He plans to expose the two of them and confesses to releasing Drea’s video, unaware that Eleanor is carrying a recording device. Eleanor and Drea project Max’s confession across the party, turning the student body against him. Max is expelled from Rosehill and his place at Yale is offered to Drea, who rejects it with plans to explore her other options. She and Eleanor skip graduation and drive off into the sunset.

In a post-credits sequence, Drea apologizes to Russ and they makeup, Eleanor gets back together with Gabbi, and Max joins a support group.

Yes, I sat down and watched for my guilty pleasure a teen comedy-drama with a hint of unrequited love and I enjoyed the revenge plot the very clever twist and the ending was superbly over the top, the two main actresses, yes I called that not actors as I hate woke to phase, play their parts with venom, a wicked sense of humour, go check out on Netflix next time you're in need for a bit of escapism.

Running time (118 minutes)

Rated (15)

4 out of 4.

Juniper (2021)

Plot.

A troubled teenager Sam, is on the path of self-destruction due to grieving the loss of his mother and being angry at his father for sending him away to boarding school.

Sam becomes quick to lash out and after pushing the boundaries is suspended from the boarding school.

He gets even more upset as he has to help care for his equally different chair-bound grandmother.

The best way to describe Sam's grandmother is that she is a gin-swinging, droll, cow matriarch who takes great pleasure in ringing a bell to get Sam's attention.

Their soon begin to bond over booze and sunrises as each finds a form of solace and redemption in the company of the other.

This film has no twists and may find the story a relatable family dynamic.No real surprises as seen are what you get in a film that finishes as obviously as it started.

It is beautifully made and I liked the fact the main characters are familiar and come across as compelling enough to tug at the viewer's generational truths.

Running Time (94 minutes)

Rated (15)

3 out of 4.

Catherine Called Birdy (2022).

Amazon Prime 

Plot.

Set in medieval times with a modern twist this film centres on a young 14-year-old girl called Catherine who is feisty and refuses to be weighed down by the expectations of what is expected of a young girl in 1290 England.

She lives with her father who forever overspends beyond his needs, her always pregnant mother, due to struggling to afford their extravagant lifestyle decides their daughter Catherine who is nicknamed Birdy is to get married.

Catherine views marriage as a trap and at every attempt does her best to ruin her chances with any of the suitors.

Also, she is secretly trying to hide the fact started her period this becoming a woman and her crush on her Uncle.

This film is funny, scattered with modern pop song covers. The first hour flies along but it then loses some of its momenta.

But I think most will enjoy that fact Catherine aka Birdy comes across as a medieval feminist icon.

National The proof n's Animal House(1978).

Plot

In the fall of 1962, Faber College freshmen Larry Kroger and Kent Dorfman seek to pledge a fraternity. After they are unable to fit in at the prestigious Omega Theta Pi house's party, Kent suggests they visit the Delta Tau Chi house next door as he is a "legacy" and cannot be turned down because his older brother Fred was a member. John "Bluto" Blutarsky welcomes them and they meet other Deltas including Daniel Simpson "D-Day" Day, Chapter President Robert Hoover, Eric "Otter" Stratton, and Otter's best friend Donald "Boon" Schoenstein and girlfriend Katy. Kroger and Dorfman are invited to pledge and Bluto, Delta's sergeant-at-arms, gives them their fraternity names ("Pinto" and "Flounder" respectively).

Dean Vernon Wormer wants to remove the Deltas who are already on probation due to various campus conduct violations and an abysmal academic standing. Invoking his emergency authority, he places Delta on "double-secret probation" and directs Omega president Greg Marmalard to find a method to permanently remove Delta. Various incidents further increase the Dean's and the Omegas' animosity toward the Deltas, including the prank-related accidental death of a horse belonging to Omega member and ROTC Cadet Commander Douglas C. Neidermeyer as well as Otter flirting with Marmalard's girlfriend, Mandy Pepperidge.

Bluto and D-Day steal the answers to an upcoming test from the trash, unaware that the Omegas have switched the mimeograph negative for the exam. The Deltas all fail and their grade-point averages drop so low that Wormer tells them he needs only one more incident to revoke their charter. To cheer themselves up, the Deltas organize a toga party and bring in Otis Day and the Knights to provide live music. Wormer's wife Marion attends at Otter's invitation. Pinto hooks up with Clorette, a cashier he meets at the supermarket. They make out until she passes out drunk. Pinto takes her home in a shoppinunderaged discovers she is the mayor's underage daughter.

Outraged by Marion's escapades and with the mayor threatening personal violence, Wormer organizes a hearing and revokes Delta's charter. To clear their heads, Otter, Boon, Flounder, and Pinto go on a road trip in Fred's car. Otter picks up four young women from the Emily Dickinson College as dates for himself and fellow Deltas by posing as Frank Lymon, the fiancé of a college student who died in a recent kiln explosion. They stop at a roadhouse bar where The Knights are performing, ignoring its exclusively African-American clientele. A couple of hulking patrons intimidate the Deltas, who flee, abandoning their dates and damaging their car.

Later, Marmalard and other Omegas lure Otter to a motel and beat him up after Mandy's best friend Barbara Sue "Babs" Jansen fabricates an affair between Mandy and Otter. Due to the Deltas' dismal midterm grade, Wormer ecstatically expels them, having already notified their local draft boards that they have lost their student deferments and are now eligible for military service. After Bluto rallies the despondent Deltas with an impassioned speech, they decide to get revenge on Wormer, the Omegas, and the college at the annual homecoming parade. D-armoured vests Fred's damaged car into an armoured vehicle, which they conceal inside a cake-shaped breakaway float and sneak into the parade. The Deltas then sabotage all aspects of the parade and drive through the viewing stand. As chaos ensues, the futures of several of the characters are revealed: most of the Deltas become respectable professionals while the Omegas and the other adversaries suffer less fortunate outcomes: Neieyer being killed in Vietnam by his troops, and Marmalard becoming an aide to President Nixon and getting raped in prison in 1974.

This is one of the editor's favourite films I reckon to the outrageous anarchy shown by the characters, and the wicked almost surreal humour, it's a cult film often put on the top films to watch before you die and despite its age and reference to Vietnam War it still holds it own in today s film market.

Or is the comic genius of John Belushi who only made a handful of films before his untimely death at an early age, I'm not sure but just go search it out and watch and enjoy.

Running time (109 minutes)

Rated(15)

4 out 4 

I expect Jon, Mr Editor may add a little piece about this film.