Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Bumpy Chip It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Richard Chatten With a ruthless if wildly implausible plot full of coincidences and catastrophes averted by just seconds, 'Cry Terror!' doesn't quite match the elegance of most of Andrew & Virginia Stone's other location-shot thrill rides, but you probably won't care too much as a superb cast, magnificent location photography and Howard Jackson's creepy 'psychological' score all do their stuff under the baton of maestro Stone.The acting as in all Stone's films is consistently good. Rod Steiger's gang are a seriously mean bunch, and it speaks volumes that even Neville Brand - explicitly identified as both a drug addict and a convicted rapist - is frightened of Steiger.

Ed-Shullivan This film is exactly why I like watching the classic 1950's black & white suspense films. From the beginning to the very end it is just bursting with suspense and the caliber of movie stars is top notch. Rod Steiger plays the mastermind psycho extortionist Paul Hoplin who convinces (rather easily) James Mason who plays TV repairman Jim Molner to develop a tiny bomb on the pretense that the TV repairman Jim could get a lucrative government contract to manufacture these tiny bombs. Instead Paul's going to use these tiny bombs to blow up planes in the air filled with passengers if his extortion demand for $500,000.00 is not met.TV repairman Jim has no choice to go along with this devious plan since Jim, his beautiful wife Joan played by Inger Stevens, and their innocent little daughter Patty (Terry Ann Moss) are being held not only as hostages until the ransom money is turned over but the plan is to pin the crime on the gullible bomb maker.Now the extortionist Paul (Rod Steiger) is assisted by a cast of three top notch actors played by Jack Klugman, Neville Brand and Paul's moll, a very young Angie Dickinson in holding the Molner family hostages. Neville Brand plays Steve, a nervous pill popping sexual predator who just can't wait to get his filthy hands on the hot looking momma Joan Molner when he is left alone to keep an eye on Joan. Jack Klugman plays Vince, the thug who isn't afraid to use either a knife or a gun to keep the Molner family obeying his commands. Angie Dickinson plays Eileen Kelly and within the first 30 minutes we find out she is the mastermind Paul's moll and a cool and calculating killer who wants that half a million dollars more than anything.As Paul maintains his cool throughout executing his carefully thought out extortion plan with the assistance of his three (3) partners in crime, father Jim Molner and hot looking momma Joan are independently trying to figure out a plan to save not only themselves but heir precious and innocent little daughter Patty. As all this is going on you have lead FBI agent Frank Cole (played by Kenneth Tobey) trying to figure out who are these criminals and is Jim Molner actually involved in the crime or a victim himself?Although this film is almost 60 years old, I am anticipating that the film may be released in the blu ray format that it so richly deserves to be maintained as a film classic.Footnote: It was a tragedy that TV and film star Inger Stevens had such personal demons that she struggled with short term affairs with many of her co-stars (including James Mason in Cry Terror!) which culminated in her tragic death at the very young age of 35 when she was in the prime of her life. Her acting skills are second to none and she certainly helped carry this film "Cry Terror!" to a high caliber suspense/thriller with an all star cast of co-stars.I give the film an 8 out of 10 rating.

Spikeopath Cry Terror! is written, produced and directed by Andrew and Virginia L. Stone. It stars Rod Steiger, James Mason, Inger Stevens, Neville Brand, Angie Dickinson, Kenneth Tobey and Jack Klugman. Music is by Howard Jackson and cinematography by Walter Strenge.Once in a while there comes a time when you have to say enough is enough with your willingness to accept the fantastique with certain genre viewings. Most film noir fans and avid watchers of olde classic crime cinema will gladly, and rightly, expect and embrace contrivances and a suspension of disbelief. However, this only works if the cast are dynamite in performance and the ultimate pay off is an edge of the seat wowzer.Cry Terror! asks way too much of its viewers, even for those just passing through looking to tick off a Rod Steiger or James Mason movie from their completist lists. The Stone's, Andrew and Virginia, get pretty much everything wrong here.Potential of story is nicely set up. Mason is an inventor type dude who gets bluffed by Steiger's shifty operator into making some time bombs on promise of a government sanctioned military contract. Steiger, though, is a thief type who along with his less than brainy minions, demands ransom money or they will blow up passenger aeroplanes. Fast forward and Mason and family (wife and child) are taken hostage whilst Steiger smirks a lot and demands money with menace from the authority suits led by a square jawed Tobey.So far so possibly good, then. The FBI guys are shown debating and pontificating in true documentary style, while back at the sweaty hostage house Mason stands firm to protect his woman and child. Stevens as his wife is coerced by force into being the bag lady, so she has to go out in the car and collect the ransom money in an allotted time scale or else Jimmy and child are done for. She narrates her every thought as she comes across the everyday pains of American traffic. The suspense is marginal as we are asked to wonder if she will make the return rendezvous in time.Meanwhile, Jimmy and child are left in the company of Klugman and Dickinson up in some penthouse suite. Klugman is utterly miscast and Dickinson is utterly wasted. So as they are probably miffed at the weak script, both Jack and Angie allow Jimmy to go a wandering out on the terrace for twenty minutes, from where he turns into John McClane in a lift shaft and achieves absolutely nothing that ultimately affects the finale!It's so frustrating, that a highly impressive cast list could be so badly used, in fact a few role reversals could have made this an excellent thriller, and that is even allowing for the ridiculous plot dynamics. There's a pat on the back due for the Big Apple location photography, while Brand, although cast in type, creates the only genuine menace in the picture as a sexually aggressive ex-con dependant on "Bennies" to get him through the day. But break it down as a whole, and it's very much a case of a production team getting it badly wrong. 6/10

richwgriffin-227-176635 This movie is simply superb. The acting, direction, editing, camera work, suspenseful plot, locations - everything works and is top notch! So why isn't it better known?? The cross-cutting between all the different characters is incredibly well done. I especially love Inger Stevens performance as the young wife. The tense scenes when she is driving in a car to bring the ransom money to the gang members and is going in the wrong direction was thrilling. Rod Steiger is great as a "mastermind criminal". The late 1950's look of the movie is a treat. The psychological use of black & white cinematography is superb. This is an MGM movie but MGM wasn't what it used to be by 1958, "Gigi" excepted. This is Andrew Stone's very best movie. TCM shows it from time to time and it is not to be missed!