Sometimes the story behind a movie can be more compelling than the movie itself. I’m not saying that’s the case for “The Last Run”, but its behind-the-scenes drama was pretty interesting. Arguments over creative differences, frequent rewrites of the script, and some rather significant departures had MGM Studios wondering if the film would ever get made.

“The Last Run” was first set to be directed by John Boorman (“Deliverance”, “Hope and Glory”) but he left because he didn’t like screenwriter Alan Sharp’s original script. Shortly after, Boorman was replaced by the legendary John Huston (“The Maltese Falcon”, “The African Queen”). Despite not liking the script, Huston agreed to make the film. His constant rewrites led to some intense disagreements with star George C. Scott during early production (it’s said Scott’s drinking didn’t help). It eventually led to Huston walking off the set. Enter Richard Fleischer who came in and saw the film over the finish line.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Scott shared his long-held desire to play a “Bogart-like” part. So it’s pretty easy to see what drew him to “The Last Run”. While watching it, similarities to certain Humphrey Bogart movies such as “High Sierra” instantly came to mind. I’m not saying “The Last Run” matches those Bogart classics, but it’s certainly in the same vein.

Scott playing Harry Garmes, a semi-retired criminal and seasoned driver who was once a wheelman for organized crime families in Chicago. That was nine years ago. Now he’s living in the small village of Albufeira, Portugal where he owns a fishing boat that he leases to his loyal friend Miquel (Aldo Sambrell). You could say Harry is somewhat of a solitary man, merely existing ever since his marriage fell apart following the tragic death of his three-year-old son. He spends most of his time tuning and test-running his 1956 BMW 503 convertible just to prove to himself he still has it.

Harry is surprised when he unexpectedly receives a job offer – his first in nearly a decade. Some area gangsters orchestrate the prison escape of a hotheaded and obnoxious young killer named Paul Rickard (Tony Musante). Harry is to pick him up and drive him from Portugal, across Spain, and into France. The first phase of the job goes off without a hitch. But before heading to France, Paul orders Harry to stop in a nearby town to pick up his girlfriend Claudie (Trish Van Devere). The rest of the story revolves around the different relationships that spring up within the trio after an unexpected double-cross turns things upside-down.

While both Boorman and Huston had their issues, there’s actually a lot to like about Sharp’s script. For one, there’s a very deliberate withholding of information in select areas that may frustrate some viewers. But it has a very distinct (and quite effective) purpose. Sharp also does a good job with his characters. Scott is a great fit – tough but sympathetic – and Sharp is able to tell Harry’s story without spoon-feeding us every detail. But Claudie is the real wildcard and Sharp leaves us constantly questioning her loyalties.

Alongside Sharp’s script and Fleischer’s crisp direction, the movie is enhanced even more by composer Jerry Goldsmith doing his best Ennio Morricone impression (and that’s not an insult). Then there’s the exquisite cinematography of Academy Award winner Sven Nykvist, the frequent DP for the great Ingmar Bergman. From the gorgeous shots of the countryside to the thrilling high-speed car sequences, Nykvist gives the film a gritty yet organic texture.

“The Last Run” wasn’t well received at the box office and it’s a movie that you rarely hear talked about today. But it’s a rock-solid crime genre flick and yet another terrific vehicle for George C. Scott. It tells a wily story that’s propelled by good performances and a cool Euro-American style. It may tip its hand a little too soon, but frankly I didn’t care. I was having too much fun with this simple yet beguiling gangster-thriller entry.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

Writer-director Francis Galluppi is all set to helm a new installment in the long-running and wickedly fun Evil Dead franchise. But before that he’s turning back the clock with “The Last Stop in Yuma County”, his tense, gritty, and wildly entertaining feature film debut that at different times reminded me of everything from “The Petrified Forest” to “Jackie Brown” to the pulpy B-movie thrillers of the 1970s. That mash-up alone was enough to win me over.

There are also early Coen brothers vibes that emanate from every pore of this gripping neo-western that’s set mostly within a single location. It’s a character-rich crime thriller laced with black comedy that strategically builds suspense on its way to an inevitable powder keg finish that you’ll never see coming. And Galluppi presents it all with such panache, capturing a distinctly Southwest flavor and shrewdly commanding the film’s tricky tone in a way that brings the film’s many influences to light.

You won’t find an ounce of fat on Galluppi’s lean and taut story. Clocking in at a swift 90 minutes, “Yuma County” wastes no time cranking things up and kicking into gear. Set in the early 1970s, the movie opens with a traveling knife salesman (Jim Cummings) driving across the parched Arizona desert on his way to his daughter’s birthday party some four hours away. As he drives, news of a bank robbery comes across the radio – an early hint of what’s to come.

In need of gas, our unnamed salesman stops at a station in the middle of nowhere to fill up his tank. But the attendant, Vernon (Faizon Love) informs him that he’s all out and the fuel truck hasn’t yet arrived. With the next station 100 miles away, the salesman has no choice but to wait. So he heads to an adjacent diner where a waitress named Charlotte (Jocelin Donahue) is just opening up for the day. After some small talk he slides into a red leather booth with a cup of coffee and the crossword puzzle from a day-old newspaper.

A few minutes later, two shady looking brothers, Beau (the always captivating Richard Blake) and Travis (Nicholas Logan) pull up in a green Ford Pinto matching the description of the getaway car from the aforementioned bank heist. They enter the diner and take a seat in the corner, also waiting for the fuel truck to arrive. Soon after others filter in including a neighborly elderly couple, Robert (Gene Jones) and Earline (Robin Bartlett), two movie-loving Bonnie and Clyde wannabes, Sybil (Sierra McCormick) and Miles (Ryan Masson), and a friendly local cowboy named Pete (Jon Proudstar). And just like that Galluppi light’s the fuse that slowly burns towards the film’s combustible ending.

The cast is superb, bringing personality to what is an eclectic blend of characters, each feeling perfectly at home in the rural Americana setting. Blake is especially good, conveying pure menace through his piercing line delivery and ice-cold stare. Cummings is also terrific playing an antsy observer who’s thrust into a nerve-racking mess. The great Gene Jones is always a treat and Donahue adds a charming yet smart and resourceful presence. We also get a really good performance from Michael Abbott Jr. as Charlie, the local sheriff and Charlotte’s husband.

Throughout “The Last Stop in Yuma County” Francis Galluppi shows instincts and control not often found in first-time directors. His keen storytelling doesn’t waste a second and he never tips his hand, leaving us in a constant state of suspense. Meanwhile Mac Fisken’s sun-bleached cinematography melds with the tunes of Roy Orbison, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and The Grass Roots to immerse us in a setting so vivid and well defined that you’ll feel the summer heat and taste the rhubarb pie. “The Last Stop in Yuma County” releases May 10th in theaters and on digital.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

Robert Altman’s New Hollywood neo-noir “The Long Goodbye” has all the markings of old school film noir – a private eye, a femme fatale, a twisty crime-driven story, seedy characters, and so on. But Altman’s film is just as much a stiff jab at classic noir, a revisionist incarnation, and at times a borderline mockery. And what better way to poke fun at a “genre” (and annoy its fans) than by using one of its most renowned characters as your centerpiece.

As I’ve written before, I love film noir. And while they don’t come around very often these days, I’ll be first in line every time one does. But I also like Altman’s unique and fascinating spin. It’s entertaining from start to finish and it features many of the characteristics I look for and love in a film noir. But Altman and screenwriter Leigh Brackett (who was the co-writer of the 1946 Humphrey Bogart noir classic “The Big Sleep”) take several of those very same characteristics and turn them on their heads. The results are pretty great.

It starts with the lead character, noir stalwart Philip Marlowe, this time played by Elliott Gould. What better way to prod the “genre” than through one of its most well known protagonists? Altman’s Marlowe isn’t nearly as sharp. He routinely seems one step behind. He’s even a bit of a sap. And he often comes across as a man out of time (a 1940s gumshoe in 1970s Hollywood). It seeps out in everything from his chain-smoking (no one else smokes) to the 1948 Lincoln Continental Cabriolet he drives around town.

Rather than the first-person narration that often accompanies film noirs, here the haggard Marlowe constantly mumbles to himself. It’s mostly early on (Altman seems to forget about it in the second half) and the bits we’re able to make out can be pretty funny. He lives in a top floor L.A. apartment where he keeps to himself outside of his occasional exchanges with the free-spirited hippie girls next door. And there is his picky-eating cat (there’s a great early scene where Marlowe goes to the supermarket at 3AM to get cat food – terrifically written, shot, and edited).

One evening Marlowe’s drab routine is shaken when he’s paid a visit by his good friend Terry Lennox (played by baseball player Jim Bouton). Terry needs help getting out of town so he asks Marlowe for a ride across the Southern border to Tijuana. It’s suspicious but Marlowe doesn’t ask any questions. When he gets back Marlowe is visited by LAPD detectives who take him in for questioning. We learn they’re looking for Terry and are prepared to charge him with the murder of his wife, Sylvia. Marlowe doesn’t cooperate and ends up spending three days in the county jail with little to no explanation.

After Marlowe is let out he pushes the cops for information. They tell him Terry was found dead in Mexico of an apparent suicide. Marlowe isn’t having any of it. “I don’t believe he killed her. I don’t believe he killed himself.” He wants answers, but first he’s approached by Eileen Wade (Nina van Pallandt) who happens to live in the same neighborhood as Terry and Sylvia. She wants Marlowe to find her alcoholic husband Roger (Sterling Hayden), a blustering giant who has been gone for a week. Marlowe agrees to help, but little does he know, his search for Roger ends up setting him on the path to find out the truth about Terry.

As with any good noir – even one more focused on bucking trends than following them – we get an array of mysterious characters. In addition to Pallandt’s Eileen and Hayden’s Roger, we get a really good Mark Rydell playing a dangerous gangster named Marty Augustine. Henry Gibson pops up playing a bizarro Dr. Verringer. There’s even a young Arnold Schwarzenegger making a fun uncredited appearance.

The supporting work is good throughout, but it all comes down to the wisecracking Gould – messy and unkept, with a cigarette loosely dangling from the corner of his mouth. He’s the special sauce that makes the whole thing work and a perfect fit for the kind of movie Altman is shooting for. Throw in the jazzy score from none other than John Williams and Vilmos Zsigmondy’s well-calibrated cinematography and you have an immensely entertaining noir that gleefully goes against the grain.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

Hats off to the writer-director duo of Cameron and Colin Cairnes for delivering one of the most devilishly clever and effective horror movie premises you’ll see this year. The Australian siblings have brought together classic supernatural horror and the once popular found footage style to create “Late Night with the Devil”, a genuinely creepy and utterly absorbing high-concept chiller that gives a welcomed leading role to the always captivating David Dastmalchian.

Dastmalchian has always been a fascinating actor. Through the frequent use of leering eyes and an uncomfortable gait, he has made it easy to typecast him in odd and often unsettling roles. But doing so overlooks the impressive range and versatility that he possesses. And we see that truth on rich display in “Late Night with the Devil”, a movie that lets him tap into his well established strengths while also giving us something fresh and new.

Dastmalchian is terrific playing Jack Delroy, the television host of a 1970s nationally syndicated late-night variety show called Night Owls. Through opening narration by the immediately recognizable Michael Ironside, we’re told that Night Owls was a major network hit. Yet despite several years of success, Jack’s sense of fulfillment remained dampened by his inability to top Johnny Carson in the late-night ratings.

As the narrator continues, we learn that Night Owls started to hemorrhage viewers. With his ratings in a free fall and sponsors threatening to abandon his show, Jack began courting controversy through edgier content. And that leads to 1977 during the show’s sixth season. On Halloween night, Jack’s desperate attempt to turn his fortunes around resulted in a shocking and terrifying supernatural encounter broadcasted on live television.

A rediscovered master tape from that horrific night sets the framework for the sinister “Late Night with the Devil”. It’s an ingenious device that the Cairnes brothers utilize to near perfection, capturing a 70s aesthetic through brilliantly detailed production design from Otello Stolfo, Stephanie Hooke’s costumes, and the music of Glenn Richards. Anyone familiar with the variety and talk shows of the era will love the accuracy in the brothers’ recreation. And that accuracy is crucial. If we don’t buy into the setting we’re probably not going to buy into the supernatural chaos that follows.

But the genius of the framing goes beyond the aesthetic. It’s also in the narrative structure itself. After the table-setting narration, the story unfolds through raw footage of the actual live broadcast. During commercial breaks the camera gives us behind-the-scenes looks – following around the various characters and capturing their reactions and growing concerns. It works wonderfully.

As for those characters, the Cairnes’ create and develop a small but beguiling group starting with Jack. Dastmalchian commands every ounce of our attention through a masterful performance that anchors the entire movie. Not only will you never question his position as a seasoned television host, but you’ll never doubt the emotional conflict that drives so much of what his character does.

Also vital to the movie’s success are the supporting roles. There’s Gus (Rhys Auteri), Jack’s very own Ed McMahon-like sidekick. There’s the pompous Carmichael Haig (Ian Bliss), a former magician turned hardcore skeptic cast in the James Randi mold. And then there’s the mysterious (and kooky) medium named Christou (Fayssal Bazzi). But perhaps most fascinating is Dr. June Ross-Mitchell (Laura Gordon), a parapsychologist and author who’s on the show in support of the new book Conversations with the Devil. She brings her book’s subject, Lilly (Ingrid Torelli), the 13-year-old lone survivor of satanic suicide cult. What could go wrong?

It’s those latter two who lead to something no one is prepared for. Despite June’s warnings that Lilly is growing more unstable, the ratings-starved Jack pushes for a demonstration. The condescending Carmichael sees what follows as nothing more than a parlor trick. That is until they summon an evil that defies explanation and can’t be controlled. Soon they all find themselves trapped in this hellish nightmare with no sense of escape. And we feel trapped too – a testament to the film’s effectiveness.

The Cairnes’ love for genre filmmaking can be seen all throughout “Late Night with the Devil”. Countless pop culture nods, obvious horror movie homages, and some killer retro satire are a big part of the fun. But more seriously, the movie also speaks to the cravings for fame and the potential high price of success. It’s all wrapped up in a movie that simmers rather than burns – that is until the fierce and frightening final fifteen minutes which delivers the kind of fitting payoff we all were waiting for. “Late Night with the Devil” opens in theaters March 22nd.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS

There’s a morbidly funny idea hidden somewhere inside of “Lisa Frankenstein”. Unfortunately it never rises to the surface in what turns out to be a messy, rhythmless, and forgettable horror-tinted romantic comedy. Pulling from the Mary Shelley literary classic and countless teen comedies that came before it, “Lisa Frankenstein” attempts to meld its multiple inspirations into something playful, ghoulish, and original. But the movie flatlines early and never is able to gain any kind of momentum.

The film is the feature-length directorial debut from Zelda Williams who shows off some occasional flash. But the bigger surprise (or should I say disappointment) is that it’s written by Academy Award winner Diablo Cody. This is Cody’s first script since 2018 and it’s a far cry from the much lauded work that launched her career. In fact, it’s the script that weighs things down. Williams makes some vain attempts to energize the movie. But the story sputters, the characters go nowhere, and the humor consistently falls flat.

Among the few bright spots is lead actress Kathryn Newton. She does what she can with the character Lisa Swallows, a socially awkward outcast trying to fit in at a new high school. Many of her problems stem from her difficult past, most notably her mother being killed by an axe murderer. In the years since, her father Dale (Joe Chrest) has remarried. Lisa’s insufferable new step-mother Janet (Carla Gugino) gave her a new stepsister, the shallow, sometimes snobby, but oddly sympathetic Taffy (Liza Soberano).

To find solace, Lisa spends her free time in the old abandoned Bachelor’s Grove Cemetery where she takes a special liking to a young man’s Victorian-era grave monument. But then something happens that alters the course of Lisa’s life. Lightning strikes the young man’s grave somehow reanimating his corpse (science I guess). In a number of ways that defy belief, Lisa keeps her new zombie beau (played by Cole Sprouse) hidden, slowly growing closer to him in the process.

I suppose there are a few paper-thin coming-of-age themes and the movie has a little to say about self-discovery. But those kinds of things feel like afterthoughts. The film has no real convictions of any kind. It has nothing much to say about anything. You could make a case that it tries. But its efforts are so lackadaisical that any message is easily lost as you slog through the unfunny antics, the flat dialogue, and the uninspired characters. Lisa (thanks to Newton) is the exception. She’s someone we really want to root for, but unfortunately the material doesn’t let us.

“Lisa Frankenstein” wraps up with a truly awful ending that falls somewhere between crude absurdity and lazy predictability. It pretty much kills any sympathies you may have held onto. It’s the final straw for a movie that never seems sure of itself, wastes so much potential, and squanders a gothic horror-comedy idea that could have been a slam-dunk. It even fails to tap into the nostalgia of its late 1980s setting. Altogether it left me with a lot of frustration and one big sigh of relief once the final credits started to roll. “Lisa Frankenstein” is in theaters now.

VERDICT – 2 STARS

Director William Eubank ventures to the Philippines (as portrayed by Australia) in the awkwardly titled “Land of Bad”, a somewhat conventional yet meticulously crafted military movie set in South Asia’s Sulu Sea. While the basic outline of the story will feel pretty familiar to anyone who has watched thrillers of this kind, Eubank shows a great eye for action. From setting it up to its execution, he and cinematographer Agustin Claramunt put together some stunning combat sequences that more than make up for the flaws.

The story (co-written by Eubank and David Frigerio) unfolds on two fronts that gel together pretty well despite one being significantly more compelling than the other. At Palawan Air Base in the Philippines an antsy 27-year-old JTAC (Joint Terminal Attack Controller) officer named Kinney (Liam Hemsworth) preps for his first field mission with fellow soldiers. He’ll be joining a trio of highly trained Delta Force operatives that includes team leader Sugar (Milo Ventimiglia), Abel (Luke Hemsworth), and Bishop (Ricky Whittle).

The four HALO jump down to an island occupied by extremist militants. Their mission is to rescue a captured CIA asset who was gathering intel on a Russian arms dealer named Alexander Petrov. Meanwhile at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, a crusty drone pilot who goes by Reaper (Russell Crowe) along with his partner Nia (Chika Ikogwe) will be providing them surveillance and air support from a remote controlled MQ-9 drone up above.

After navigating through the dense jungle the team arrives at Petrov’s base and begin preparing to go in. The time and level of detail Eubank puts into their precise and by-the-numbers reconnaissance adds to the realism and does a good job building tension leading up to the inevitable action. But the team’s mission immediately goes sideways following the unexpected arrival of a brutal terrorist named Saeed Hashimi (Robert Rabiah). Soon bullets are flying as the team finds themselves fighting for their lives.

Following the overwhelming chaos of battle (and the first of several great action set pieces), Kinney ends up alone in the enemy infested jungle with only Reaper on the radio and his drone in the air to guide the young soldier to his extraction point. But once Kinney arrives, Eubank hits us with his second big set piece – a fiercely intense and visually jaw-dropping sequence that sets the story on an entirely different trajectory.

While chunks of the story may feel familiar, Eubank’s keeps things moving at a propulsive pace, specifically when on the ground in the Philippines. The scenes back in Vegas are a lot shakier. The attempts at adding tension and drama at the airbase mostly fall flat and distract from the actual mission. Crowe’s Reaper spends as much time arguing with his Commanding Officer over basketball and complaining about the disorder of the kitchen’s coffee cabinet than in his chair trying to guide Kinney to freedom.

There’s also not a lot of depth when it comes to its characters. They try with Reaper who we learn is on his fourth marriage and has a pregnant wife at home who could go into labor at any second. But none of it leaves much of an impressive. There are also a few odd choices that don’t work at all. Take later in the film where we get a whimsical sequence in a grocery store intercut with a much more serious torture scene in the field. It’s a jarring contrast that doesn’t have whatever effect Eubank was going for.

Yet even with its story-based issues, “Land of Bad” kept me glued to my screen. As a pure military action movie, it hits its marks. Firefights, hand-to-hand combat, air strikes – we get it all and Eubank shoots it as well as anyone you’ll see. The performances are solid especially from Liam Hemsworth and Crowe (despite the material letting down the latter). A tighter script with less crass military speak and more investment in the characters would have done wonders. Still, “Land of Bad” has the edge-of-your-seat thrills and the immersive detail to keep us engaged. “Land of Bad” hits theaters February 16th.

VERDICT – 3 STARS