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Reviews
Dead of Night (1977)
"Bobby" is the best of the three
I saw this movie when it originally aired in 1977. I was only a little intrigued with the first two stories, but it was the third, "Bobby," that gave me nightmares for years. Joan Hackett is excellent (as usual) as Bobby's mother, and Lee Montgomery is equally good as a boy who goes from sweet victim to hellish tormenter. When I saw it again in '82, I was older of course and more cynical, but I found the ending just as frightening as it was the first time I watched it. Damn scary for a T.V. movie, and worth watching when Halloween rolls around!
From the Terrace (1960)
A lush budget guilty pleasure
Paul Newman is doing his angry young man thing here, and Joanne Woodward is wonderful as she goes from rebellious rich brat to shrewish, slutty harridan. It's beautifully filmed with lots of sumptuous sets and it's obvious that a good part of the budget went to costumes. If you like movies with boozy, unhappy rich people who do little more than snipe at each other, you've got to see "From the Terrace."
The Life and Loves of a She-Devil (1986)
A British masterpiece unseen in over a decade.
I saw this series eleven years ago on the A&E network and was absolutely enthralled. One of the best parts is when Ruth frees Mary's hilariously senile mother from a retirement home and releases her on Mary's beautiful world. In an age when every irritating, mindless piece of you-know-what is released on tape and DVD, it astounds me that this masterpiece remains mysteriously shelved somewhere.