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6:00 AM Turner Classic Movies
The Hypnotic Eye (1960 USA): Now this is more like it, horror fans! Long out of circulation, this low-budget chiller (shot in amazing HYPNOMAGIC!) stars Jacques Bergerac as The Great Desmond, a hypnotist who uses the titular device to make beautiful women disfigure themselves. Why he does so is, of course, the question: jealousy? Mommy complex? Repeatedly waking up on the wrong side of the bed? The film’s story is utterly illogical, but that’s not why you’re tuning in – you’re tuning in for the scantily clad mutilated women, you disgusting misogynist you! Influenced by Franju’s Eyes Without a Face and laying the groundwork for H.G. Lewis’s The Wizard of Gore, The Hypnotic Eye features Merry Anders and Allison Hayes as potential victims of the crazed Frenchman and his amazing blinking eyeball!

7:00 PM HBO Family
Chernobyl Diaries (2012 USA): What’s going on here? A movie about cannibalistic survivors of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster stalking vacationing American college kids on HBO Family? The movie’s terrible, but really folks - make sure the kiddies get to bed early this evening. Also airs at 10:00 PM.

10:45 PM Turner Classic Movies
La Femme Nikita (1991 FRA): Once upon a time, Luc Besson made a good film. This is it. Anne Parrillaud headlines as the convicted felon given a new lease on life (and a substantial makeover) when she’s hired as a black operative by the spooks running the French government. Her training is long and hard, and she begins to doubt she’ll ever get assigned to a mission – until one day she suddenly finds herself face to face with the man she’s supposed to murder. It’s a terrific action flick and makes its widescreen television debut this evening.

Sunday 3/24/13

7:00 AM Encore
Archangel (2005 GB): Pre-Bond Daniel Craig headlines this intriguing tale of subterfuge and mystery set in post-communist Russia. Craig plays Fluke Kelso, an historian specializing in the Stalin era attending a Moscow conference where his address is interrupted by pro-Communist demonstrators. Little do they know, however, that their nemesis has a much bigger fish to fry: a research opportunity to uncover the secret behind the death of their hero Uncle Joe, and the hand in it played by KGB head Lavrenti Beria! Archangel is a little slow and a little long, but anyone with even a passing interest in post-war Soviet history will find it engaging. Also airs at 10:00 AM.

11:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
Early Spring (1956 JAP): I’m a big admirer of Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu’s work, but haven’t seen this one. Not to be confused with his films Late Spring, Early Summer, or Late Autumn – and really, how could you get them confused? – it’s Ozu’s tatami-eye take on the post-war salaryman phenomenon. Too bad he didn’t live long enough to make Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring instead of Ki-Duk Kim.

Monday 3/25/13

1:00 PM Turner Classic Movies
The Big Circus (1959 USA): Yep, it’s a circus movie. Wait...where are you going? You don’t like circus movies? Well, to be honest, I’m not too keen on ‘em either (unless, of course, Lon Chaney is involved). That said, this is a pretty good one about a big top company on the path to financial disaster and the various parties involved in last-ditch efforts to save it. Naturally, there’s a huge cast of big names (Victor Mature, Rhonda Fleming, Vincent Price, Red Buttons, etc), but top marks go to Peter Lorre as Skeeter, the show’s aging and decaying clown. Even if you hate circus movies, this one’s worth checking out for Lorre’s performance alone.

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