Willinois

Oh Joseph Cotten, what happened to you? Your career began starring in one of the best, if not the best, films of all time, Citizens Kane. You would go on to star in some great films of the 1940’s. By 1980, between guest appearances in Love Boat and fantasy Island episodes, you made movies like, The Hearse. This film is not a horror movie classic!

To be fair, this isn’t a horrible b-movie, but it’s still a b-movie. It has atmosphere and originality, something that is hard to find now today. I wouldn’t be so hard on Mr. Cotten if he wasn’t making so much other crap in the later years of his life.

The Hearse was directed by George Bowers, this was the highlight of his directorial career. He went on to direct only a few other forgettable films before returning to film editing, which he still does today. William Bleich was the writer and, well, his writing credits are not all the impressive. In other words, he wrote a lot of made-for-TV garage.

Movie Summary
Jane has had a breakdown after a recently bad divorced Jane and moves into her late aunts house. She quickly discovers that no one in town liked her aunt, most likely because of her practice of witchcraft. Personally, someone in my town wants to be a witch, I won’t judge you but back to the film. Jane probably could handle the staring and rude comments if not for the damn hearse that following her around. She meets a man, a nice guy, but is he? Is there a chance that he is the driver of the hearse?

My Thoughts
In some ways it is refreshing to see a film that doesn’t use nudity or gore to be scary, but this film could have used a little because it’s not really scary. It’s just a little to tame for my tastes. It’s flawed, predictable and boring in parts. It’s the kind of a film I like to play when the TV isn’t my main focus. If you need a break from whatever your doing, you can stop, look up, watch a few minutes, and go back to your work. It really doesn’t matter what point the film it at, or what is going on.

So that’s it then, the best I can say about this film, it’s good for background noise and mild amusement!