Cruising – 1980, US, 102m. Director: William Friedkin. Streaming: N/A
Dark Tower – 1987, Spain/UK/US, 91m. Director: Ken Barnett. Streaming: Tubi
The Day of the Triffids – 1963, UK, 93m. Director: Steve Sekely, Freddie Francis. Streaming: Tubi
Inn of the Damned – 1975, Australia, 117m. Director: Terry Bourke. Streaming: Tubi
CRUISING (1980) Al Pacino’s rookie NYPD cop, Steve Burns, is finally promoted to detective—via an undercover assignment to flush out a slasher targeting the city’s gay-leather community. This proves an endurance test for Burns as he completely immerses himself within Manhattan’s seedy underworld of sex and drugs. When more murders ensue, Steve delves deeper into a world he’s unfamiliar with and begins mentally unraveling. As with his earlier work in The Exorcist, director William Friedkin applies his knowledge of psychological horror to Cruising, which at its core is really about humanity at its darkest. While the plot is about the hunt for a serial killer, the film is more interested in how society, relationships, and interactions can shape one’s mind and motivations. Haunting, bleak, but never disingenuous, Cruising has been accused of being homophobic in its portrayal of gay lifestyles. This seems presumptuous as the film’s true focus is on death and how it affects people differently—a theme corroborated by the script’s use of multiple killers. A complex and suspenseful film that gets under your skin. B+
DARK TOWER (1987) A nearly-constructed Barcelona high-rise is the target of a malevolent spirit, which starts picking off the building’s many maintenance workers. The first to go is a window washer, who plummets twenty-nine floors to his death—his body is clearly a dummy—but not before landing on one of the building’s fat cat investors. A security guard is next, pulverized when the elevator malfunctions. Site inspector Michael Moriarty thinks it’s all a coincidence, but architect Jenny Agutter believes there’s supernatural shenanigans afoot, especially after someone seemingly becomes possessed and tries to murder her. Could it all have something to do with Agutter’s husband, who died under mysterious circumstances years before? Moriarity wears a sour mug and Agutter is wasted in a one-dimensional role. Director Ken Barnett is actually Freddie Francis, who disavowed the film shortly before its release. A wise decision, Freddie. The participation of Kevin McCarthy is the most shocking aspect of this bloodless bore. D
THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS (1963) When most of the world is struck blind after a strange meteor shower, a handful of survivors in London must not only navigate through a collapsing society, but fight off a breed of man-eating, walking plants grown from meteor spores. An effective adaptation of the popular novel, this is slightly hampered by stiff, unconvincing acting and an obvious lack in technological advances in special FX. Yet this first in a series of filmed adaptations of John Wyndham’s 1951 novel is undeniably fun and contains some impressive sequences of empty London streets that were perhaps inspiration for the opening shots of 28 Days Later. A subplot involving two scientists in a lighthouse was added later and directed by Freddie Francis. B–
INN OF THE DAMNED (1975) Bob Young’s soundtrack to Inn of the Damned is lively and exciting. It’s a shame the movie itself is so lifeless. An unfocused western-horror melodrama filmed in Australia, the film stars the great Dame Judith Anderson (Rebecca, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) as one half of an elderly married couple who, at the turn of the 20th century, operate a small inn in the Victorian outback. What the inn’s guests don’t realize is Anderson and hubby (Joseph Fürst) have gone completely nutty after the murder of their children years before and seek retribution by bumping off their clientele. It’s an intriguing idea bogged down by slack direction and a dull subplot involving an American bounty hunter (Alex Cord) and his very uninteresting interactions with slimy criminals. Anderson delivers an affecting performance, which gets repeatedly swallowed in a dopey plot that never successfully mixes its drama and horror elements. C–