Death Among The Pines - 2025 - UK

Death Among The Pines - 2025 - 6/10 

 
Secluded cottage, cold downpour outside, Angela is home alone.
When the stranger knocks.  He’s cold, wet.  Could he come inside just to warm up?
He is a bear of a man, with facial cuts and blood.
Nonetheless, she opens the door, even while the radio broadcasts a police manhunt alert.
Thriller lays down the tropes, the expectations, only to twist perceptions repeatedly.
A few glaring logic holes keep this from being great.

Murders In Aix-en-Provence - 2016 - France

Murders In Aix-en-Provence - 2016 - 6/10 
AKA - Meurtres à Aix-en-Provence

 
The first corpse was found crucified, eyes gouged out, ritually tortured.
Per the prophesies of Nostradamus, more shall follow.
The inspector in charge needs the assistance of the premier Nostradamus expert.
Her sister, with whom the two have shared a hate relationship since childhood.
The expert refuses, until she receives the removed eyeballs as threat.
French mystery has plenty of gruesome deaths, as well as emotional outbursts.
The mystery and plotting is better than most of these (this being an early one).

The Case Of The Curious Bride - 1935 - USA

The Case Of The Curious Bride - 1935 - 6/10 

 
Ex-flame seeks free legal advice from Perry Mason for her “friend”.
The lawyer refuses, advising her to be more truthful.
Skip a scene and Rhoda is up to her neck in murder, blackmail and bigamy.
Flirts with violations throughout, yet this manages to squeak past the Production Code. 
Warren, as ever, is suave, humorous, at ease in murky legal areas.
Mason’s private eye, “Spudsy” Drake, has a decent role and contributes.
Wini Shaw, underutilized, sings a Berkeleyish number.  Flynn fans, he arrives late. 
Excellent film to study director Curtiz’s methods for brisk narrative and camerawork.

Trengellick Rising - 2023 - UK

Trengellick Rising - 2023 - 6/10 
AKA - Trengellick ow Sevel

 
Disgraced soldier Pascoe is dispatched to Trengellick, small village on the Cornwall coast.
Assignment: watch for an invasion force.
He immediately discovers the locals are a nefarious lot, brutal and murderous.
Gothic film is rough, rugged, atmospheric (and much too dark).
https://www.trengellickrising.com/

The Survivors - 2025 - Australia

The Survivors - 2025 - 6/10 

 
Answers may lie in the coastal caves that flood during high tide.
One girl went missing, was forgotten; two men drowned, were enshrined.
Another local took blame, others shoulder massive guilt.
Fifteen years pass, until an outsider arrives, asking all manner of questions.
Before her death.
Enjoyable thriller mystery chock full of suspects, motives and secrets.
Along with jealousies, resentments, buried longings.
Bit of an emotional overload at times.

Concordia - 2021 - Germany

Concordia - 2021 - 6/10

 
The gated, monitored city of Concordia, with thousands of surveillance cameras.
On the streets, in offices, cafes, in homes, bedrooms, bathrooms.
Observing, listening, studying heart rates, impulses.
The more invasive the AI community is, the safer everyone is.
Until the mysterious murder of one of the techs.
Being a guarded city, police are not permitted inside, and local agents attempt to solve.
The conclusion a bit open, scores swing depending on which side of optimist/pessimist spectrum one is.

The Unfaithful - 1948 - USA

The Unfaithful - 1948 - 6/10

 
The prowler forced his way into the house.
Chris, whose husband was away, feared for her life.
The dagger found its way into her hand, then into him.
Open and shut, self-defense, right?
First third of this is Noir, dominated by John Hoyt as the detective.
Middle is the not-so-fast mystery angle, slowly revealed.
Last third is ladies melodrama, peppered with Eve Arden as the barb tongued viper.

Chestnut Man: S02 - 2026 - Denmark

Chestnut Man: S02 - 2026 - 6/10 

 
A copycat killer has been restaging a bygone serial killer’s modus operandi.
This time, victims are given a countdown via a nursery rhyme, then hunted down.
The detective duo is back, although freighted with an ex-romantic liaison.
(Don’t date coworkers – EVER – the relationship will only fail.)
Narrative is intricately plotted (contrived?), with tight suspense.
Those who like family drama, backgrounds, et al, those are here, too.

Psycho - 1960 - USA

Psycho - 1960 - 7/10

 

 

Bank secretary, annoyed by a pompous braggart, casually embezzles $40K.
Drives into oblivion, plagued by guilt, anxiety, growing regret of her impulsive action.
A downpour forces her off the main highway, where she takes shelter at an old motel.
A classic shocker that must be viewed stone cold.
If you have never viewed this one, don’t read a damn thing.  Really.
Turn off the distractions, just focus on the female criminal and relax.

The Golden Bowl - 1972 - UK

The Golden Bowl - 1972 - 7/10 

 
Ex-pat Americans live in luxury in Europe.
Affluent, they catch of eye of aristocratic Euro mercenaries.
Including a cash poor prince, who marries a naïve Maggie.
Maggie’s best mate Charlotte, marries Maggie’s father.
We suspect, long before our American friends do, that the prince and Charlotte share an intimate relationship.
Superb adaptation of Henry James’ layered novel.
This may prove too slow for many, yet deception takes time to be exposed.
Avarice, opulence, innocence and experience.

The Bird With The Crystal Plumage - 1970 - Italy

The Bird With The Crystal Plumage - 1970 - 6/10 
AKA - L'uccello dalle Piume di Cristallo

 
Sam has writer’s block, so he heads to Rome with his English model girlfriend.
After witnessing and intervening in an attempted murder, he foolishly “gets involved.”
Sam begins investigating on his own.
So much so, that the assassin warns him, and threatens his English bird.
Does he listen?  Please.
Argento debut film is a tour de force, bristling with style and flourishes.

A Blueprint For Murder - 1953 - USA

A Blueprint For Murder - 1953 - 6/10

 
Uncle Cam hurries to the hospital where niece Polly is critical.
Doctors are baffled.  Then Polly recovers, only to die by dawn.
Just one of those sad things, I guess.
Until Cam’s friend, a pulp mystery writer, speculates about strychnine.
Sure enough.  Stranger still, Cam’s brother, Polly’s dad, had also died mysteriously.
Suspicion falls on the widow, the second wife, who stands to inherit – once little Bobby dies.
More mystery than Noir, neither lead is quite believable.

Murder, He Says - 1945 - USA

Murder, He Says - 1945 - 6/10

 
Pollster Pete ignores misgivings and heads to the Fleagle farm.
Where a colleague had disappeared, and the folks are downright hostile.
Right quick, Pete is in a mess of trouble.  Beaten, horsewhipped, tied up, questioned.
Where’s the money? – What money? I just got here. – Where’s the money?
Fast-paced mystery / comedy set in the Ozarks, gives MacMurray a lot of room.
The real find is Jean Heather, career on a streak, before the accident.

Exterior Night - 1993 - USA

Exterior Night - 1993 - 6/10 

 
Outside his window, an earlier world beckons.
Steve puts himself into the black and white cityscape, follows the bluesy “Déjà Vu”.
Gangsters, nightclubs, Pulp writer Biff Farley, a mysterious package, the sidewalk shooting.
And the canary, whose face has troubled generations of his family.
Steve is soon enamored by a blonde songbird, who had been haunting his dreams.

 
Caught in a recurring timeslip, Steve tries to sort a buried family mystery.
Borrows from The Purple Rose Of Cairo (1985), and will be great for Noir fans.

The Hairdresser Mysteries - 2026 - UK

The Hairdresser Mysteries - 2026 - 5/10 

 
Lily opens a retro shop in a new town, along with best mate Clara.
They arrive, and murders soon begin – which she has a talent for solving!
Mysteries in this are bland, poorly written and uninspired.
Prime example of stale formula and bad writing.
Cast seems alright.  The entire creative team ought to be replaced.

Rose Of Nevada - 2025 - UK

Rose Of Nevada - 2025 - 6/10 

 
Thirty years on, the self-named ship slips into port.  Abandoned.
A skipper appears who will pilot the craft, yet they need a two man crew.
Enter the visiting stranger, and an impoverished local.
Who step into the shoes of the lost crew … in more ways than one.
Rugged film does not flinch from the realities of fishing.
Unexplained elements are fine, although the plot grows repetitive.
Overall bleak tone along the lines of Bait and Enys Men.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3372674

Blue Rita - 1977 - Switzerland

Blue Rita - 1977 - 5/10 
AKA - Das Frauenhaus

 
Blue Rita is the name of the club and the proprietress.
Serving a clientele of the sophisticated and jaded.
It is also a place where Blue Rita and her lesbian operatives capture and torture spies.
Extorting information and bank accounts.
Absurd Jess Franco flick is awash in nudity and Pop Art.
Interesting camera work and angles, although I suspect a targeted porn audience would grow bored.
English subs = https://sub-scene.com/subtitle/3372671

Stella Blómkvist - 2017 - Iceland

Stella Blómkvist - 2017 - 6/10 

 
Stella is supposedly a lawyer.  Maybe she is the courthouse once.
The rest of the time, she acts like a private eye, along with a lot of alcohol and sex.
Three two-part episodes, mostly of risqué behavior of Iceland’s rich and powerful.
Prime minister beleaguered, rich kids terrorized, Chinese influencers.
Scenery underutilized and not enough to tempt armchair travelers.
OK enough mysteries, but none meriting a rewatch.
Heida Reed (Stella) looks and walks like a runway model.

The Whispering Shadow - 1933 - USA

The Whispering Shadow - 1933 - 5/10 

 
Aforementioned crime lord remains unseen, yet murders by radio waves (and TV for those few early adopters).
Nevertheless, he, his henchmen, and a whole mess of extras pursue the Czar’s jewels.
Mascot serial is cheap across the board: plotting, direction, logic, characters, action.
Bela is the best thing in it, and the main reason to view.
If you suffer insomnia, watch to help you kill another night.

Murder In Orléans - 2017 - France

Murder In Orléans - 2017 - 6/10
AKA - Meurtres à Orléans

 
During the annual festival, the female playing Joan of Arc is murdered by crossbow arrow from 100 yards.
Ha!  That ought to narrow down suspects.  I mean, that takes skill, right?
The victim was beloved by all, well, maybe not.
Detective duo is son-in-law / mother-in-law combo.  C’mon, really?
Hither and yon, interrogate and theorize, sniff the home life.
Contrived mystery will hold interest, although afterward one might think, “Hey, did them say contrived?”