The Comedy of Terrors (1964)

The Comedy of Terrors (1964) is a American International Pictures comedy horror film directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, and Joe E. Brown (in his final film appearance). The film also features Orangey the cat, billed as "Rhubarb the Cat". It is a rare blend of comedy and horror, much in the vein of Universal Pictures's 1948 classic Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.

Set sometime in the Victorian era (in New England), the film tells of drunkard Trumbull (Vincent Price), an unscrupulous undertaker who murders people in their own homes in order to keep himself in business and to have enough money for more drink.

One night, after one failed attempt when the widow of his victim leaves without paying his fee, Trumbull and his lowly servant Gillie (Peter Lorre) decide to murder their landlord, Mr. Black (Basil Rathbone), who is said to have bouts of death-like sleep, which Trumbull and Gillie are unaware of.

Black seemingly dies of a heart attack from being frightened by Gillie, and Trumbull places the supposedly-deceased Black in his family crypt and returns home to celebrate his new-found wealth. However, Black awakes and returns to the funeral parlour, quoting random lines from Shakespeare's Macbeth, which he was reciting from a script at the time of his heart attack. Humorous events follow as Black chases Trumbull and Gillie around the parlour before (finally) being killed after a lengthy monologue.

Gillie elopes with Trumbull's abused wife, who he has taken a shining for, and Trumbull is left a depressed heap on the floor. His father-in-law (Boris Karloff) appears after only a few short appearances throughout the film, and gives Trumbull some "medicine" that Trumbull was attempting to feed his father-in-law throughout the film. But the "medicine" turns out to be poison, and Trumbull drops dead by Black's side.

La più bella serata della mia vita (1972)

Many Ettore Scola's fans do not even know the existence of this gem is beyond me."La Piu' Bella Serata Della Mia Vita" has everything a movie buff demands: -A first-class screenplay,where ,at every minute,you can expect the unexpected.

-An incredibly extraordinary cast:think of it! Alberto Sordi,one of the luminaries of the brilliant Italian cinema,pit against the creme de la creme of French veterans :Pierre Brasseur,Charles Vanel and ,last but not least ,Michel Simon!A dream of a cast and Scola directs them in a masterful way.

"La Piu' Bella Serata" borrows elements from Agatha Christie's "And then there were none " -aka "ten little Indians" ,Claude Autant-Lara's "L'Auberge Rouge" -the endings are similar-, Julien Duvivier's "Marie -Octobre" or Robert Hossein's unfairly overlooked "Jeu de la Vérité".But all those elements,Scola makes them his very own ,and his movie has no cause to be jealous of those previous works."Piu Bella Serata" is arguably one of the finest Italian movies of the seventies.

Like Luigi Comencini's overlooked classic "Lo Scopone Scientifico " -where again Alberto Sordi and Silvana Mangano played opposite Bette Davis and Joseph Cotten-,this film is a fable.And you have got to pay attention to comprehend all the serious heavy things the director tells us.

These three retired magistrates want to carry on with their work:judging people is their idée fixe ,they are akin to Racine's central character in "Les Plaideurs"."We have already judged Joan of Ark,Dreyfuss and others " says Simon,but we do prefer judging people in the flesh!" The movie also deals with the skeletons in the closet:Sordi's character is not the goofy naive bon vivant he seems to be.Little by little,we discover he might be a monster (He would be one in Mario Monicelli's "I Nuovi Monstri" a brilliant film made of sketches,1978) The judges' desirable mansion in the Swiss mountains with its baroque decorations ,its hunting trophies (what a symbol) ,Janet Agren's luminous beauty (the perfect bait),add to an entrancing atmosphere.The movie runs the whole gamut: it' sometimes a hilarious comedy,sometimes a fantasy and horror gem (with accents of "the most dangerous game" ),sometimes a detective story,sometimes a melodrama (Sordi's childhood).

Expect the unexpected! Enjoy!