The Maze (1953) Movie Review

The Maze (1953) IMDB

The Maze (1953) movie poster

When we discuss maze movies we have to include The Maze from 1953 for 2 main reasons: 1) The title is The Maze so it definitely qualifies 2) The movie starts with shots of the hedge maze that is central to the entire story. That story is of a Scotsman, called Gerald, who moves into a castle that has an adjoining hedge maze. It seems his uncle has died and left him the large castle and the servants that come with it (we should all be so lucky). Gerald’s ex-fiancé, Kitty, travels to the castle with her aunt to see why he broke off the engagement with a letter. Gerald is acting strangely and has aged since she last saw him. Kitty and her aunt try to figure out what has happened to Gerald.

The hedge maze is key to the story and plot. There is only one rule for the maze - do not enter it, which means of course you are going to enter it. I’m sure everything will be fine…right ? I mean the rule was just meant to be a recommendation. Overall, the atmosphere and tone of the movie is well done and the acting is fine. Unfortunately, the problem with the movie comes in the final act with the big reveal which is disappointing and makes no sense. Maybe we can get AI to remake the last 8 minutes of the film ??? I would compare this to an M Night Shyamalan film that has a nice premise but misses the landing.

Random note: There is an Intermission just over 49 minutes into this 80 minute film. Can we all agree that we need these to come back for today’s 3 hour films ? Who can sit in a theater that long without a break ?

You can give the full movie a watch at the link below. From a historical note the very first 3D color movie came out April 10, 1953, Vincent Price‘s The House of Wax. This film followed shortly after in July of the same year, or as it says on the movie poster “3 DIMENSION” but was filmed in black and white. A few slight changes and this may have been historically significant.

I would give this a 5.7/10.

You can watch the entire movie here:

The Man With The Golden Gun (1974) Movie Review

The Man With The Golden Gun (1974) (IMDB)

The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) movie poster

The Man With The Golden Gun is the ninth James Bond film and the second (out of 7) starring Roger Moore. The plot revolves around a professional assassin with a golden gun who charges a million dollars per kill. Christopher Lee plays the assassin, named Scaramanga who trains against other assassins in a room that is set-up like a fun-house, and which includes multiple mirror mazes (we learn all of this in the opening sequence that James Bond films are famous for!). If you want to train against other assassins who better to train against than James Bond ? (Léon, John Wick, Ray, The Jackal, Jef, Vincent and Jules, The Bride, Vincent, Nikita are a few options in a list that I started, then kept expanding as I went). I made a strong case for a few others, but James is still probably in the top 10. Is The Terminator considered an assassin ? I’m getting off topic.

Can Bond find the man with the golden gun and spoil his current plot that revolves around solar energy ? 007 does some investigating and follows clues around the world from London to Beirut, Macau, Hong Kong, and Bangkok.

I want to give a shout out to one of my favorite actors from the 70’s and my childhood, Hervé Villechaize. If you do not know the name you probably know him from his catch phrase on a late 70’s tv show “the plane, boss, the plane”. He plays a servant to Scaramanga in the film. Also important is the Bond girl, played by Britt Ekland who had a nice run of movies at this time of Get Carter (1971), The Wicker Man (1973) and this film (1974).

As far as James Bond films go, this one is entertaining and worth a look. It falls firmly in the middle of the pack The cool gadgets that were fun in 1974 are less cool today but you still get the idea !

I give it a 7/10.

Check out the trailer:

The Lady From Shanghai (1947) Movie Review

The Lady From Shanghai (1947) IMDB

The Lady from Shanghai (1947) movie poster

Rita Hayworth plays a vixen that gets director/actor Orson Welles mixed up in a murder plot in this film-noir classic. If you are a fan of film noir this is a perfect representation of the genre. The film was based off of the book If I Die Before I Wake by Sherwood King.

The plot revolves around a possible planned murder and the use of corpus delicti laws that were common at the time. That means that in order to be convicted of a crime you need to prove that a crime has been committed. We have a husband who is suspicious of his wife (Rita) and is having her followed by a private investigator. We get double crosses, misdirection’s and questionable decisions from from our characters.

In the last act our characters find themselves caught in a fun-house mirror maze in a key plot moment that involves gunshots…if they can find what they are shooting at ! One of the few maze films that involves a funhouse mirror maze but is not a horror film. Also a film that doesn’t just contain a maze, but uses it in a major way to move the plot and story forward (like The Shining). Side note - I could listen to Orson Welles speak all day. About anything.

A very solid movie. 8/10.

Check out the trailer:

Labyrinth (1986) Movie review

Labyrinth (1986) IMDB

Labyrinth (1986) movie poster

Jim Henson, Lucasfilm and David Bowie collaborated on this classic fantasy movie. A teenage girl (played by Jennifer Connelly) is angrily babysitting her younger baby brother when she wishes he would be taken away. The Goblin King (David Bowie) grants the wish and takes the brother in a classic case of be careful what you wish for. Her only way to get him back is to solve a Labyrinth in 13 hours or her brother will permanently become a goblin in this weird fantasy world. The film includes a wonderful tribute to MC Escher and tons of interesting puppets courtesy of Jim Henson, along with some musical numbers from David Bowie. The movie is a classic for a reason and if you see it while flipping channels (for those who still do that) you should stop and watch. So many interesting things to keep you interested.

The success of the movie led to spinoffs into other categories since the characters resonated so much with fans. I have reviewed the comics in this post: Maze Comic Book Reviews - Jim Henson's Labyrinth Comics. There have been 3 series from Boom! Studios in addition to the Marvel Comics 3 issue limited series from 1986. If you like the movie you will enjoy these, or if you just like comics the artwork is worth a look.

You can purchase Funko Pops of the biggest characters if that is more of your thing. Also, Jim Henson has a Labyrinth retail website that sells everything you can think of from the movie. Personally, I am a fan of the classic metal lunchboxes, but sadly, I do not need one.

I give the movie a 6.5/10. David Bowie’s hair gets a 9/10. David Bowie’s eyebrows get a 2/10.

Enjoy the MC Escher scene below, featuring David Bowie singing “Within You” along with the movie trailer below that.