Very well executed
Fantastic!
It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.
View MoreGreat movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.
View MoreLarry Gordon wakes up on board a train journey, to an adoring fan of his crime writing Miss Owens. The pair hear a loud scream and set off to investigate, whilst searching the train the pair stumble upon two detectives who are holding dangerous prisoner Steve Harding, who is awaiting trial for murder. Later a body is discovered, and with the horrendous weather stopping the train, Larry concludes that the killer must be a passenger on the train.I waited with anticipation to see this film, being a huge whodunit fan, this seemed in theory to fit the bill. Very much a B movie, although from the point of view of filming, production values etc. it looks very slick, very nicely made in fact. The acting is pretty good, Sydney Tafler and Barbara Murray are the standouts, both excellent in truth. I think the film attempted to cross genres, the typical British whodunit, close setting, quirky suspects, and it also tried to import some of the gangster genre that had been popular, towards the end there's a big shoot out scene, which seems oddly placed. The plot loses it a little, becoming a little messy.It didn't satisfy me from the point of view of a whodunit, as to be honest I couldn't have cared, but in many other ways it's a solid movie, not a classic, but watchable. 6/10
View MoreThis is a thriller which starts well ,then rather looses its way in talk,before ending a shootout more typical of Westerns.Unusually Sidney Tafler plays the hero.It starts on a train where he is recognised for his crime writing by a fellow passenger.Whilst the action is on the train it is quite interesting.However when the passengers get off at the snow bound station it rather hits the buffers.Texhniques beloved of quota quickies.i counted 10 characters in one shot.each would speak his piece and it would then be the turn of the next actor,so no editing is required.this middle section is over talkative and dull.However towards the end the pace picks up again with lots of gun play.The last scene is very reminiscent of "Woman In The Window".In the end a fairly average British B film.
View MoreThe scenario in which a group of people find themselves in a closed environment where a murder is then committed by an unseen hand was not new when this short black and white film was made. However, Mystery Junction plays out the tale neatly and efficiently, keeping us guessing all the way, although following exactly who has done what to whom becomes increasingly difficult.The acting is excellent, the cinematography exemplary - there are some quite classical compositions, one in particular towards the end. This is a very British film, the drama comes from tension, not from heroics. Indeed, that heroism is futile is made plain throughout, and even where violence brings results, they will ever play you false.The quality of this film is masked by its low budget, and, on the print I just saw on television, murky resolution. Two of the cast, Sydney Tafler and Ewen Solon, went on to prominent TV careers, and most of the others found plenty of work in television. However, for Pearl Cameron, whose performance was a minor highlight of the film, this was her second, and last credit.While not an outstanding film, Mystery Junction is worth watching if you value tight, understated drama.
View MoreIt's actually a British film. We think at the beginning of an Agatha Christie story, or something like Alfred Hitchcock's LADY VANISHES, a suspense aboard a train. A sort of closed theatre topic. And it is. But not in the way we may expect. It turns to have some kind of American point of view, in the middle of the film. It is more interesting than the films made in the early talkies, boring at the most. Of course, this feature is much talkative, we could not wait for action or gunfights.I don't know the director, maybe he made some stuff for TV later. Well, let's be generous, it's not a bad programmer. I won't describe the exact story and spoil you the film, even if I could with a warning.
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