Babycall (2012)
Noomi Rapace is brilliant in this Norwegian twist on "Rear Window". She's in a witness protection style program, on the run with her eight year old son from her abusive husband. Kristoffer Joner is likeable as the loner who befriends her. Sadly the movie ultimately suffers from a predictable Shyamalan style twist ending but director Pål Sletaune keeps it moving along nicely and it is quite involving. I certainly enjoyed it more than the over-rated "Girl With The Dragon Tattoo".
6/10
Von Ryan's Express (1965)
Frank Sinatra and Trevor Howard are a great antagonistic couple in Mark Robson's thrilling war movie. Sinatra is an American pilot who crashes in Italy and is sent to a prison camp where Howard leads the inmates. The two bicker over whether it's best to hatch escape plans or lie low till the war ends. When Italy surrenders the prisoners seize a train, planning to escape to neutral Switzerland. Much darker than earlier portrayals of WWII, characters are made to do a lot of nasty things which genuinely trouble them. Great downer ending too.
8/10
Home For The Holidays (1972)
This Joseph Stefano scripted ABC movie of the week seems to have a lot of fans but it hasn't aged well. Four sisters return to spend Christmas with their ailing father, the legendary Walter Brennan. He tells them his new bride Julie Harris is planning to off him to get her hands on the estate. When a raincoat wearing killer starts bumping off the sisters, paranoia strikes. It's most noteworthy for prefiguring the slasher genre by a few years but it suffers from getting bogged down in TV exposition. For curious horror fans only.
5/10
