Overrated

Absolutely Fantastic

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

As a fan of The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra and its sequel as well as Tales from the Pub, I also enjoyed this movie. I will say that all these movies are funnier in direct portion to the number of people watching at once. By yourself it is not that funny, but for some reason when you get about a dozen people or more together to watch, it is the funniest movie you ever say and you will laugh so hard you cannot breathe. If you saw it by yourself or with one other person and din't find it that funny - do yourself a favor and watch it with a group and don't give them any info about it other than you will enjoy it.I have watched a few movies and plays and even read old books of the murder mystery at a mansion variety, and I think this is a good send off to it. The characters are larger than life and ridiculously overacted even as caricatures of the archetypes, except a couple of reporters who actually have a good repertoire and are believable as examples of the old archetypes of 40s and 50s reporters. If you can't stand overly-characterized acting, you will get annoyed at anyone besides these two characters, but try to not be overly critical and just enjoy it.

I don't know about you, but I've become bored with the big budget Hollyweird movies that promise everything and deliver nothing. DARK AND STORMY NIGHT was such a refreshing change. I caught the movie at a premiere and laughed throughout. The acting was first rate. The sets were very well done, and the story never failed to deliver. Every time you thought Larry Blamire had packed all that he could into the movie, he surprises you by adding more.Bob Burns as Kogar was genius. Daniel Roebuck as the intrepid reporter hit the mark. Mark Refield as the diabolical attorney was fantastic.If this movie doesn't give you loads of belly laughs then you must be dead. Hollywood could take a lesson or two from Larry Blamire.

This is not a movie. It might be a Groundlings Theater exercise. Or a practice for an SNL sketch. Or a junior high school play. But whatever it is, this ain't a film, no way, no how.Doing a spoof of an old movie requires a certain belief in the genre, an understanding and respect for the source material. It also, and perhaps most importantly, means having actors who believe in what they're doing, believably inhabiting the characters they're portraying and the universe in which the story is set.There is not a single moment in "Dark and Stormy Night" where anybody watching this misfire will ever mistake the caricatures and cartoon figures presented here for real people... or even real movie characters. The acting is all of the overblown, wink-wink, nudge-nudge variety, as if presented on stage and pandering to the audience's reactions. Shooting on HD and converting to black and white is also no substitute for the rich 35mm film look of the movies this is supposed to satirize."Mad" magazine used to do hilarious movie and television spoofs, and they always worked - for the simple reason that the characters believed what they were doing, interacting in their own peculiar universes and never alluding to the fact that it was all a sendup. Mel Brooks knows this. So does Carl Reiner... and Woody Allwn... and whoever wrote "Austin Powers."This is exactly why "Stormy Night" does not work: every single second, we're acutely aware the actors are doing a sendup... as if they're constantly trying to TELL us it's all a big joke. It's like comedians laughing at their own jokes.That, of course, never works. And neither does this.

I've seen writer-director Larry Blamire's three previous comedies (THE LOST SKELETON OF CADAVRA, TRAIL OF THE SCREAMING FOREHEAD, and THE LOST SKELETON RETURNS AGAIN) each a funny, affectionate and wildly inspired satire of Z-grade sci-fi films from the 50s and 60s. But DARK AND STORMY NIGHT, which I saw in a special screening at the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles, goes beyond a simple spoof to a kind of wonderfully weird and wild verbal comedy which, at its best, reminded me of the Paramount-era Marx Brothers.The film is a giddy bouillabaisse of every Old Dark House picture ever made, from the eponymous "The Old Dark House," to "The Bat Whispers," "Murder in the Blue Room," "Hold That Ghost," "And Then There Were None," and even a few chunks of Lugosi's "The Black Cat" (1934) and "The Ape Man," all stirred together by a loving, but demented hand.The result is one of Blamire's funniest films, and showcasing some truly inspired performances -- Brian Howe's Colonel Blimp accent and permanent wince, Fay Masterson's alternately weepy and creepy ingénue, Andrew Parks' Noel-Coward-from-Costco character, whose constant epigrams are so circular they hang themselves, and Dan Conroy's straight-from-Central-Casting cabbie whose Brooklyn dialect makes Leo Gorcy sound like Alistaire Cooke. But for me the most pitch-perfect performances were delivered by Dan Roebuck and Jennifer Blaire as the competing reporters 8 O'Clock Farraday and Billy Tuesday. They spat their period gibes and rapid-fire, side-of-the-mouth patter with a wise-guy brio that was not only funny, but which so nicely nailed their beloved B-film archetypes they could've been dropped into any Poverty Row programmer of the period without the audience batting an eye. Both were great, but personally, I've always had a weakness for sharp, fast-talking dame reporters, and Blaire skillfully channeled a combination of Glenda's Farrell's Torchy Blane and Roz Russell's Hildy Johnson that left a smile on my face long after the film was over.The jokes are non-stop, and yet, like Lost Skeleton, the picture is not only an affectionate spoof, it's a story that holds together and pays off in its own way. Anyone who's ever spent a rainy Saturday afternoon watching old Mascot, Monogram, or PRC programmers on TV will likely adore this movie.Basically, it's a hilarious flick with a shocking twist ending; like THE CRYING GAME, but with less foreskin. And how often can you say that?