Disc Reviews

I’m a sucker for a good “Invisible Man” story. Ever since H.G. Wells put out his story in 1897, he’s captivated readers, and his story has been a part of Hollywood history since 1933. For decades we’ve gotten to see Hollywood tackle the story and offer viewers some FX wizardry that has ranged from cheap and silly to simply Hollywood magic (aka CGI or even better, a man in a green suit). A good portion of these films have been good. I’ve always been a fan of the 1992 John Carpenter film Memoirs of an Invisible Man, and more recently in 2020 we had The Invisible Man, which I’d argue might be the best of the “Invisible Man” films. Then you have a film like The Man Who Wasn’t There, a 1983 release that tries to reinvent the story and fails in such a way that you have to wonder if anyone involved with the making of the film had ever seen the previous films or read the books, because the result is a mixture of bad to awful, and no amount of bare breasts could save this film, though they inserted plenty to test this theory. So what makes this a film I’d wager many involved wish it could just vanish from their film resume?

The film opens up with Sam Cooper (Steve Guttenberg); he works for the State Department and is trying to make it on time for his wedding. As he’s getting ready, an invisible man who happens to be a secret agent bursts into his room and is killed by a group of men who are trying to retrieve this secret formula that is stored inside a silver ball that can make someone turn invisible. The police, the Soviets, and the American government all believe Sam is the killer of the agent, so he’s forced to go on the run, and he’s taken the formula with him.  His bride has called off the wedding, and with nowhere to run, the only person that can help him is Cindy (Lisa Langlois), who seems happy that his wedding was ruined and is eager to be with him.  OK, so the plot doesn’t seem bad, but the problem is  that the execution is so bland, and rather than play this more seriously, instead they go for laughs, but there is NOTHING to laugh about here. This film is one train wreck of a joke that never delivers.

If you're a fan of some of the old almost-forgotten films, then you're a fan of Film Masters. For a few years now they've been digging up a lot of these old "classics" and spending the time and resources to give them the full 4K restoration treatment. It appears that lately they've had their sights on some of the early films from The Filmgroup, which of course is the moviemaking machine of Roger Corman. Corman became the king of making quality low-budget films that almost always made at least a little money. In the 1960's and 1970's you could watch these wonderful budget horror and science fiction films doubled up at your local drive-in theaters. I certainly have memories of those days, and they were completely made up of Roger Corman or Hammer films. Corman gave their first break to some of the biggest names in the filmmaking industry: Francis Ford Coppola, James Cameron, Joe Dante, Peter Bogdanovich, Martin Scorsese, Jack Nicholson and Ron Howard. They all got their first breaks directing films in what has become known as The Roger Corman Film School. Thanks to Film Masters, we have a couple of those golden oldies on Blu-ray looking better than they ever did before. This time our double feature presents The Devil's Partner and Creature From The Haunted Sea. Let's take a look at what's inside, shall we?

"A town terrified by an unknown killer, and the killer hunt is on. Is it the village belle or her sweetheart? Is it the beloved doctor or the town drunk? Could it be the accomodating waitress or the stranger? Whoever the stranger is, he's raising the Devil in town. The Devil's Partner is busy, too. A blood-marked trail will take you into shocking terror. Half man/half beast, he sold his soul to the Devil."

One of the best things about being a critic that I have discovered over the years is how it puts shows and films in front of me that under different circumstances I might never have given a chance. The French detective drama, Mongeville, is a perfect example of this. I wouldn’t say the show is a hard–hitting drama, but instead a cozy murder mystery where each episode is 90 minutes that had me nostalgic for the old TV murder mysteries like Murder She Wrote. This was something I was glad I went into blindly and over the course of the 28 episodes the show took me on a journey through the French city of Bordeaux, travelling through the countryside and meeting some interesting characters along the way. So was this a series worth checking out as its characters pieced together the clues one mystery at a time? Grab your passport, gloves, and a few evidence bags, because that’s exactly what you’re about to find out.

Season 1 introduces us to Antoine Mongeville (Francis Perrin). He’s a retired judge who, well, has just found it a little difficult to leave his job completely behind. In this season Mongeville is still trying to piece together what happened to his daughter who was kidnapped, and along the way he is helping Detective Axelle Ferrano (Marie Moute) with a few homicide cases. There is the police Captain Briare (Pierre Aussedat) who has a bit of history with Mongeville and doesn’t like the idea of Mongeville inserting himself on these various cases, but as the series stretches on this continues to be a running joke, until finally Briare just accepts that there is no way he can keep Mongeville from helping out, especially when the man always delivers results.

While the film definitely feels like a Wizard of Oz carbon copy, it is not without its charms. For one, it was nice to see Keanu Reeves in one of his earlier roles, before Bill and Ted or Speed. Same goes for Drew Barrymore; while this wasn’t one of her first roles, as she was a child actor, it was still nice to see some of her earlier work, especially as it was one of the film’s charms that I mentioned earlier. Babes in Toyland tells the story of Lisa Piper, a eleven-year-old girl. While most girls at this age are all-consumed by Christmas and presents, she is too busy caring for her family, as the death of her father has caused her to have to grow up fast. As a result, she has no time for toys, and she resents being treated like a child despite her age. Concerned about a impending snowstorm, Lisa travels to her older sister Mary’s job to warn her. Mary’s boyfriend, Jack Fenton (Reeves), gives them a ride home, but loses control due to the blizzard conditions. Lisa is thrown from the car and transported to Toyland, a magical realm built out of toys. As I said, definite Wizard of Oz vibes. In truth, this story’s origins date back nearly as far as the novel that inspired the Oz film. Babes in Toyland is inspired by the 1903 operetta of the same title with some slight deviations, as this version of the film features a new score as well as maintaining select portions of the original score.

Back to Lisa; after being thrown from the car, she arrives in Toyland in time for the wedding of Mary Contrary (who looks exactly like her older sister, Mary) and the villainous Barnaby Barnacle (who looks exactly like Mary’s pervy boss). Mary is about to wed Barnacle, despite being truly in love with Barnaby’s nephew, Jack Be Nimble (who also resembles Reeves’ Jack Fenton). Lisa helps thwart the wedding, but soon realizes that Barnaby’s plans extend beyond taking Mary as his bride, but also include taking over Toyland. Banding together with her new group of friends, Lisa endeavors to stop him.