Old Reviews: Detour, Rosemary's Baby, and The Thing

A classic film noir (you have 3 hours to watch) and two horror classicos. In short: three B pictures worth watching.

First up is Edgar G. Ulmer's 1945 "Detour." Sorry for being so late. You now only have three hours to watch this before it leaves netflix instant. Fortunately, it's only about an hour long. It's a very stripped-down, bare-bones film noir (though the camera work is anything but), which manages to have all the film noir properties. It gets especially interesting when the femme fatale, Vera, is introduced. It's a great little B-Movie that everyone who loves film noir should definitely check out. It has its problems and yet it has a lot of staying power; much like last year's "Premium Rush."

Second is Roman Polanski's 1968 "Rosemary's Baby." This is a fantastic horror movie that's more on the psychological side than the blood lust side of the genre. Mia Farrow stars. I've only seen a handful of Mia Farrow movies. She really does a great job in all of them. But I think this might take the cake. Of course, John Cassavetes does a wonderful job as well, but Farrow is the only character who is consistently believable (until maybe the end). This is definitely worth a watch if only to understand all the subsequent pop-culture references. But also, as with "Detour," it has a lot of staying power for a kind of movie that you wouldn't at first think would have such staying power. So, all in all, I'd say it's earned its place in our culture's psyche. I don't know if I'm comfortable calling it a B picture, but it does have some of those qualities. Interestingly, the scene where Farrow walks into oncoming traffic, the traffic is real and Polanski is behind the hand-held since he was the only one willing to do it. Crazy man. If you're wondering where "American Horror Story" got a lot of its inspiration, check it out!

Finally, John Carpenter's 1982 "The Thing," starring Kurt Russell. I found this to be a very entertaining film. My only criticism is that the end was entirely too predictable and, so, pretty much worthless. That's only like the last 15mins though, so, I still recommend giving it a shot. The story is about a group of scientists in Antarctic who stumble upon a life form from another planet that assumes the form of its host. Scary stuff. Who's the alien?! Obviously there seem to be some pretty easy ways to get out of this mess, but the movie keeps your interest despite some of the irrational behaviors of the characters. It's a classic 80s horror film. Folks interested in seeing where cutting-edge special effects were during the times, should not miss it. Watching it makes me want to go back and watch the Howard Hawks original when I have a chance. Check it out for yourself on netflix instant before netflix decides to get rid of everything pre-2010.