Fine actor, Donald Sutherland, has passed. Sutherland appeared in a number of quirky movies but had a very relaxed, personable, acting style that ingratiated the viewer to the performance.
Take a look at “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (1978), to see a fully fleshed-out performance by Sutherland as a character trapped in an impossible scenario who slowly realizes the inevitability of the apocalyptic situation he faces as it begins to make itself apparent. Great work!
Equally memorable are his strong performances in “Klute” (1971) and “M.A.S.H.” (1970).
Donald Sutherland will be missed!
“An American Werewolf in London” gets my vote for the best realized hybrid of the horror and comedy movie genres. But, to be sure, the emphasis is clearly on the horror of the entire situation. Two young Americans are on a backpacking trek across the lonely expanses of Britain when they encounter the completely unexpected. Both are savagely attacked by a giant wolf creature. One is killed but the other unlucky soul lives to experience the nightmare of werewolf transformation. Humor in the style of “Animal House” and “The Blues Brothers” but what would you expect from the director of all three flicks, Jon Landis? Messy, violent attack scenes, mutilated bodies and out of control scenes of panicked crowds all figure into the construction of this film. The scene I chose here includes a masterful high angle shot of a hapless victim being stalked by an alarming pursuer. There are innocents slaughtered by a rampaging monster in this movie but it is the poor protagonist, David, who our sympathies ultimately lie with as he is reluctantly thrust into the Hell of having to endure a life completely out of his control. Haunting. “Wild” to the extreme!
A varied collection of unusual movie and music video clips.
