THE AMAZING MR. X (1948) ** The Hotel California may take the form of a house, but woe to be those who might confuse it for a home. (scary noise) oooooooooooo-ooooooohhhhhhhh! What is it about the Southern California coast, drugs, mysticism, criminals and conmen? I mean, it's somethin'….it's gotta be somethin', right? Bernard Vorhaus presents a very atmospheric film (jagged cliff, craggy beach, sinister mansion) with effects that must have been impressive in their time, but to modern eyes it suffers from so much that's come since then; not just in film, but we just don't scare quite as easily any more, I don't think. We're a little bit more acute to it being out there, a little more open even maybe, but that doesn't necessarily make us less guarded, or at least feel that way. Lynn Bari and Turhan Bey are fine actors for this sort of thing, there is something…extra, addition by the subtraction of detachment…in their nuance, but I think, ultimately, as a film, it just plays its cards kind of fast and doesn't build up to anything more than it had you goin' with, early.
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