Shameless Self Expression

  Set during the American Civil War, soldier George Hilton deserts his post to be with his lover who is about to give birth. She dies of cholera before he can get there, and the child later dies of cholera as well. It’s spread just about everywhere, it seems. Hilton lays the blame for this double tragedy at the hands of the child’s grandfather, landowner Ernest Borgnine, who disapproved of their union and basically abandoned the baby. For his part, Borgnine throws the blame in Hilton’s direction. Hilton forms a gang of outlaws (including Alberto de Mendoza and Gustavo Rojo) to seek his vengeance.   The fantastic poster featuring the mean mug of Ernest Borgnine inspired me to check out this 1969 revenge-spaghetti western from director Julio Buchs ( “I’ll Kill Him and Return Alone” , co-scripted by Lucio Fulci). Also known as “Vengeance is Mine” , you can see why: It’s a cold, hard revenge film and damn underrated if you ask me. Buchs shows that vengeance is ugly, blo...

I’m a huge Christopher Lee fan, and I enjoyed director Jon Spira’s previous documentary “Elstree 1976” more than most seemed to, so I was very much looking forward to this 2024 documentary on cinema’s Lord of Misrule . Sadly, there’s not much here you can’t find in the aforementioned Lee autobiography (an updated version of his Tall, Dark, and Gruesome ). The added gimmick of soundalike Peter Serafinowicz and accompanying marionette puppet narrating Lee’s story is bizarre and completely unnecessary, though the vocal impersonation is quite solid. The puppet was just a step too far for me, and the animated segments were also rather ugly-looking. If you’ve not read the autobiography in any of its editions, you may want to check this one out. If you’re a Lee aficionado/fan like me (I’ve seen 131 of his 290 IMDb acting credits thus far, for what it’s worth), it’s watchable but not especially essential viewing.   I did learn a few things here, for instance I didn’t know that actres...