5) Duel (1971)

"I'd like to report a truck driver who's been endangering my life."

Director
Steven Spielberg

Cast
Dennis Weaver - David Mann
Jacqueline Scott - Mrs. Mann
Eddie Firestone - Café owner


I'm really using the term "obscure" loosely for Steven Spielberg's TV movie, Duel. It's just that I seldom come across someone, even cinema-smart individuals, who haven't heard of this gem of a movie. According to his filmography, this was Spielberg's sixth movie, released after his short film Amblin (surely that title rings a bell). It was also released before Jaws. 
Duel definitely deserves much more attention and recognition. It's sad this movie doesn't seem to reach the pinnacle other Spielberg movies have reached such as E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, Jaws, Jurassic Park etc.  
The two biggest things this film has going for it, other than it being directed by Spielberg and based on a story written by Richard Matheson, is that it's incredibly entertaining and all too real. After that, it's thrilling in the truest meaning of the expression.
Matheson was a prolific horror/thriller writer with titles that have become very well known - I Am Legend, The Legend of Hell House, The Shrinking Man, as well as three short stories that another popular (and personal favorite) made-for-TV movie, Trilogy of Terror, was based on.
The scare lies in the fact that such a scenario could really happen to anyone, and no doubt probably has millions of times.
Dennis Weaver (aka Sam McCloud from the TV series McCloud) plays David Mann, an everyday salesman driving his red Plymouth Valiant across lonely California canyon roads on his way to someplace important for business. When he reaches the Mojave Desert, he passes an old (even by early 1970s standards) beat up Peterbilt tanker truck. The word "flammable" is labeled across the back in large bold letters. The truck ends up passing him on the road, blowing its horn and claiming its dominance over the dusty freeway. This is where it gets good. Not to be out-smarted, Mann is able to pass him up again, and gives him a taste of the road dirt.
Mann, smiling in his road victory, pulls into a gas station. But who should pull in after him? The same truck!

Meanwhile, the gas station attendant tells him he needs a new radiator hose. Mann doesn't have time to wait, and decides to get back on the road without a new hose. Of course, with any movie, any time the word "need" is used in the first act, you know it's important for something later on.
Before he leaves the station, he catches a glimpse of the truck driver's boots.
Back on the road, beads of sweat begin to run on the salesman's forehead as he sees the truck start approaching his tail. It passes his car and blows his horn to antagonize him. Then he purposely slows down, signals for Mann to go ahead and pass, and then swerves to keep the Plymouth behind him. Rather than swallow his pride, and just let the truck go, Mann decides he's going to pass this asshole (pardon my road language) one way or another. And he does by using a gravel turnout next to the freeway.
We don't see the truck driver's reactions at all. However, we do see the truck come right up to Mann's bumper, tailgating him and tapping him hard enough to have Mann nearly lose control of the car. It eventually becomes severe enough were he does lose control, and crashes into a fence by a diner.
We see the truck speed down the road. And a shaken Mann is left to pull himself together. All he can do now is mellow out inside the restaurant.
He orders some food, and decides to use the restroom. When he comes out, he sees the truck parked outside. That means, the unseen driver is there somewhere with him mixed among the line of other truck drivers in their cowboy hats, jeans...and boots, sitting at the lunch counter. He thinks he recognizes the boots, and confronts the wearer.
The events get more and more intense until it all boils down to how far will both drivers allow their rage to take them in their attempts to prove...what? Is it all about the principle of the matter? Either way, this is an entertaining, and captivating movie. Since the bottom line of any movie is fun, this is simply it.
What driver out there hasn't had a run-in with a magnanimous prick while out on the road whether that driver doesn't believe the speed limit is meant for them, or their tailing you because you're not going fast enough to get to the red light. We've all shared the road with these people, wondering where the highway patrol is when you need them.
There's little dialogue in this movie outside of Mann talking to himself as probably every driver on a long road trip does, especially when driving solo.
Above all, the identity of the driver in the truck is anonymous. The audience isn't treated to the displeasure of seeing who's behind the wheel. The anonymity is a touch that makes it much more frightening. 

Normally in films (horror, and otherwise) the audience is given the privilege of being in on what's happening to the protagonist when the protagonist themselves are unaware. We might get an idea of what the monster is going to do. That's not the case here. Like Mann, we know the truck ins't going to leave him alone. We can feel what he's feeling. We only know what he knows. It was the same decision Spielberg made in
The scene in the restaurant has a portion where we can hear Mann's thoughts about what has been going down, and who the driver might be sitting in there with him. And we see him take a close look at everyone's boots. The dialogue there seems awkward to me, but I get it. The process makes complete sense, and those thoughts of his are crucial to the story. Show, don't tell. Since he's alone, he doesn't have anyone to vent to. He's going to talk to himself so he can calm down. I think the scene could play out without having to hear what he's thinking. After dealing with an overly aggressive truck, and crashing into a fence, his body language made his thoughts pretty clear. You can easily imagine what he must be thinking.
In Duel, the sinister looking junked-up rusty truck is the monster, snorting engine and all. Seeing the driver would spoil the fear factor after we just got a look at that truck.
Duel comes down to its suspense, and excitement. That's all it needs, and it pulls it off fantastically. It's a joy ride for sure - entertaining!

Highlights from Crypticon 2018 Horror Convention in St. Joseph, Mo.

 

 

Actress Linda Blair (The Exorcist) takes a   photo with actor Spencer Wilding

4) Bride of the Gorilla (1951)

"White people shouldn't live too long in the jungle. Brings out their bad side, their jealousies and impatience."

Director
Curt Siodmak

Cast
Barbara Payton - Dina VanGelder
Lon Chaney, Jr. - Commissioner Taro
Raymond Burr - Barney Chavez
Tom Conway - Dr. Viet

Who hasn't asked themselves what would happen if a movie stuck horror icon Lon Chaney, Jr., (The Wolfman) and TV's Raymond Burr (Perry Mason himself) in a movie together? If you're a person who's asked themselves that,  the answer is Burr would turn into a gorilla, Chaney wouldn't know what to do about it, and viewers like me would be completely disappointed with all of it.
If you've never asked yourself that, the answer still stands.
That answer can be seen in the 1951 movie Bride of the Gorilla.
Aside from casting two well known actors of Hollywood's golden age, this movie has nothing going for it. Not even the gorilla. (Spoiler warning) We don't see the gorilla... ever... until the very end of the movie. And I mean, the very end! I admit I did doze off for a bit while I watched this so I might have missed a quick gorilla scene, but I'm willing to bet I didn't miss a thing.
Bride of the Gorilla takes place in the South American jungle where rubber plantation owner, Barney Chavez, murders his old employer just so he can be with his gorgeous wife, Dina. I had to Google this plot point because I just couldn't fully grasp the purpose of the murder.
His crime doesn't go unnoticed. An old witch named Al Long, who roams South American jungles, witnesses the murder. She's also mad because her granddaughter (I think she's referring to her granddaughter. That relationship seemed vague to me) is upset Chavez rejected her love. Evidently, Al the witch isn't very reasonable. Rather than report to the police what she witnessed, she has to cast a spell on Chavez that'll turn him into a rampaging gorilla each night. I guess when you're a witch with magical powers, why bother with the police?
Meanwhile, a superstitious police commissioner named Taro (played by Chaney) is investigating the death, along with strange mutilations of animals around the jungle. I can't blame Taro for being superstitious when witches wander around the jungle.
On top of all that, Dina is getting weirded out as Chavez is losing interest in her, and taking a lot more interest in roaming the jungle at night. She finally decides to follow him, and that's when she sees the truth. He turns into a gorilla at night.
This storyline is mixed with a bunch of stalk footage of jungle animals, tons of dialogue, and the rest is left up to the audiences imagination.

The film opens with a shot of a jungle, with Chaney as the narrator telling the audience, "this is jungle." Thanks, Chaney, for trusting the intelligence of the audience. (End sarcasm.) Anyhow, we then see the shattered remains of an abandoned mansion that's barely standing.
The ending is one big hodgepodge of unclarity. It tries to resolve the story, but just fails.
It's worth mentioning this movie supposedly took ten days to shoot.  Also, the name "Barney Chavez" sounds like it should be a side character on the Simpsons.
This flick tries to play up the suspense, but fails because there's no payoff. The main concern among the characters is how they are going to deal with the looming threat of a beast roaming among their part of the jungle. They talk about it too much,
What made me laugh were the scenes with Barbara Peyton firing a gun. She'd hear a noise, and starting firing round after round blondly...I mean, blindly. There's an argument for gun control if there ever was one. She would just start shooting without knowing what made the noise in the first place. And in good ol' 1950s American fashion, no one seemed to care much.
All this movie led up to was disappointment. Raymond Burr looks angry and confused during most of the movie. Lon Chaney, Jr., seems to be the only actor taking the role seriously despite also looking worried and confused. It wouldn't surprise me if he wished he could have been the monster in this film as he would have done a much better performance than Burr, who belongs in an attorney role anyways.

#KeepGunsOutOfBarbaraPaytonsHands