By Debbie Schlussel
When there aren’t many new movies out, I give you recommendations for movies you should rent. Here’s the latest installment.
I picked, in light of this week’s news that Israel located Nazi Dr. Josef Mengele, but couldn’t nab him, lest the Mossad agents involved risk jeopardizing their impending transfer of Final Solution mastermind Adolf Eichmann to Israel to face charges. I like movies about Nazis, in which they get their due. And they do in these two exciting thrillers.
* “The Boys From Brazil“: If only Josef Mengele a/k/a the “Angel of Death” had died the way he did in this flick in which Gregory Peck played and uncannily resembled his likeness and wickedness so well. In addition to Peck, the cast features other greats–Sir Laurence Olivier and James Mason.

Mengele is located in Paraguay by a young Jewish amateur Nazi Hunter (Steve Guttenberg at the beginning of his acting career). Soon, a Simon Wiesenthal-type by the name of Lieberman (Olivier, who is excellent) discovers a weird plot by Mengele to clone Nazis and rebuild the Third Reich. This movie was suspenseful, exciting, and heart-pounding. And it had an interesting, odd science fiction angle to it. This movie is from 1978, but 30 years later, you can hardly tell. It stands the test of time. A great thriller. (Runtime: 123 Minutes)
THREE REAGANS

* “Apt Pupil“: This 1998 movie tells the story of a high school student (actor Brad Renfro–who, sadly, died of a heroin overdose at the age of 25, early this year) discovers that one of his neighbors is a wanted Nazi war criminal (mastefully played by Sir Ian McKellen).
Soon, with this secret, the student blackmails the Nazi and uses him for his own purposes. He promises not to turn him in, if the Nazi tells him about the killings of the Jews and how he did it. The boy becomes sickly fascinated. They ultimately become friends, but it is an evil bond.
This movie is so true-to-life on so many levels. This selfish, spoiled kid knows what the Nazi did, yet doesn’t seem to care much, so long as he can use the Nazi to his own benefit. He doesn’t seem to care whether the Nazi is brought to justice or how many innocent lives he took.
The tagline of the movie is, “If you don’t believe in the existence of evil, you’ve got a lot to learn.” You ain’t kiddin’. That’s definitely what happens in this movie.
There’s a great scene in this movie where the Nazi faces one of his victims. Based on a Steven King short story, this thriller is full of suspense and excitement. You definitely want to know what happens next. (Runtime: 111 Minutes)
THREE REAGANS