This week on The Movie Gourmet – new reviews of A House of Dynamite, one of the Best Movies of 2025 – So Far, and Urchin, which isn’t, and the droll, hard-to-find Austrian comedy Peacock. Plus a highlight of the campy horror movie The Tingler, on TV late tonight.
CURRENT MOVIES
- A House of Dynamite: a master filmmaker reminds us of the terrifyingly plausible. In theaters and on Netflix.
- Eleanor the Great: grief, an appalling lie, redemption. In theaters.
- Anemone: resisting redemption. In theaters.
- One Battle After Another: sometimes hilarious, sometimes thrilling, always outrageous. In theaters.
- Peacock: a chameleon, lost. Limited release in select arthouses.
- To a Land Unknown: no good choices. Amazon, AppleTV, Youtube.
- To Kill a Wolf: mysteries revealed. Amazon, AppleTV, Fandango.
- Urchin: no redemption here. In arthouse theaters.
ON TV
On October 29, Turner Classic Movies brings us the 1951 film noir The Prowler stars the usually sympathetic good guy Van Heflin as the twisted bad guy. Heflin is a beat cop responding to a call – a woman has reported a prowler outside her house. By the time Heflin and his partner arrive, the prowler is long gone, but Heflin is lusting after the comely woman (Evelyn Keyes), who is home alone every night because her husband works as an all-night DJ. Under the ruse of making sure that the prowler has vamoosed, Heflin returns and overcoming her reticence, seduces her. As befits a film noir, once he finds out about the husband’s insurance policy, sleeping with the guy’s wife just isn’t enough anymore.
It’s a strong screenplay, penned by the blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (who also provides the voice of the DJ). The Prowler is one of my Overlooked Noir.