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Fool's Views (8/11 – 8/31)

September 5, 2014, 4:51 am
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Nothing phallic about this shot at all.

Howdy folks,

Well, once again, the good folks at Kitley’s Krypt saved my horror bacon, as my required monthly Kryptic Army mission were the only two fright flicks caught during the last three weeks of August. I lay the blame squarely at the feet of Cincinnati Playhouse’s long rehearsal days and the fact that my little apartment came fully stocked with a subscription to Turner Classic Movies; needless to say, my viewing priorities shifted almost immediately. In addition to the full features listed below, I enjoyed catching 20, 30, or sometimes 60-minute snatches of literally dozens of others. And, thanks to a TCM-sponsored viewing of Three Days of the Condor, I was further inspired to try out the Chicago Public Library’s downloadable video option for two other Redford flicks (bringing 2014’s total to nine), as well as paying tribute to a recently deceased comic master by watching what many consider to be his last great performance.

As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.

Enjoy


HORROR:

KRYPTIC ARMY ASSIGNMENT: FORGIVENESS DAY (aka REVENGE!!!):


Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge (1989) d. Friedman, Richard (USA) (1st viewing)

***CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW***





Puppetmaster III: Toulon's Revenge (1991) DeCoteau, David (USA) (1st viewing)

***CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW***




CIVILIAN:


Friends of Eddie Coyle, The (1973) d. Yates, Peter (USA) (1st viewing)

Probably the least glamorous, low-thrills examination of career criminals and racketeering ever made, yet completely fascinating for its lived-in performances by Robert Mitchum, Richard Jordan, Peter Boyle, and a handful of other terrific character actors. Adapted for the screen by producer Paul Monash from George V. Higgins’ novel.





Frozen River (2008) d. Hunt, Courtney (USA) (1st viewing)

Melissa Leo earned an Oscar nomination for her fearless, vanity-free portrayal of a single mom, struggling to keep her family afloat in upstate New York, who stumbles into an illegal alien smuggling scheme orchestrated by Mohawk rebel Misty Upham. Watching Leo juggle morals and half-truths keeps the viewer on their toes, with numerous emotionally devastating sequences. Sadly, this remains Hunt’s only feature writing/directing credit to date (she was also nominated for an Oscar for Original Screenplay), although IMDb lists her as helming a Nicholas Kazan script called The Whole Truth featuring Keanu Reeves, Renee Zellwegger, and James Belushi. Not my favorite trio of actors, but fingers crossed anyway.





Shortbus (2006) d. Mitchell, John Cameron (USA) (1st viewing)

Um, wow. Sex, sex, sex. Talking about it, wishing for it, tiring of it, frustrated by it, hetero, homo, domination, orgasm, masturbation, oral, anal, orgy, love ain’t easy. The title refers to a local Manhattan getaway where it all happens. Funny, honest, emotional, and explicit. Written and directed by Mitchell, who gave us Hedwig and the Angry Inch in 2001 and the searing Nicole Kidman / Aaron Eckhart drama Rabbit Hole in 2010.





World's Greatest Dad (2009) d. Goldthwait, Bobcat (USA) (1st viewing)

I didn’t plan for this to be a tribute view to Robin Williams, who took his own life August 11; it just worked out that way. I’ve had this on my radar since it came out five years ago, but was put off by the title, the blah poster, Williams’ presence (assuming it to be another unfunny comedy from the once-great wild man), and the unknown directorial quantity known as Bobcat. (I’d seen Shakes the Clown once, but frankly didn’t remember being all that knocked out by it. After this and Willow Creek, I’m ready to give it another shot.) I don’t know if I agree with ALL the critical adulation, but there’s no denying that Williams is in fine form as a schlubby middle-aged schoolteacher who attempts to rewrite his pain-in-the-ass son’s legacy following an accidental tragedy. The pitch-black comedy skillfully juggles taboo subjects, wicked satire, and genuine pathos, delivered by a quirky ensemble delivering excellent support for its lead. Worth checking out, although some may find the life-imitating-art-imitating-life ironies too much to handle.




THANK YOU, TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES:


D.O.A. (1950) d. Mate, Rudolph (USA) (1st viewing)

Terrific noir potboiler starring Edmund O’Brien as a tax consultant who finds himself poisoned with only 24 hours to locate his killer and/or learn the reason why. Famed cinematographer Mate delivers several astounding virtuoso sequences, such as O’Brien’s panicked flight through the crowded San Francisco streets or a shadowy stalking sequence in a dilapidated warehouse. Pamela Britton is dynamite as the doomed man’s devoted Girl Friday, and B-movie stalwart Beverly Garland (It Conquered the World) makes her film debut as a tough-talking secretary who knows more than she lets on.





Every Girl Should Be Married (1948) d. Hartman, Don (USA) (1st viewing)

Breezy if forgettable trifle pitting dedicated bachelor Cary Grant against the dogged pursuits of fatalist romantic Betsy Drake with the requisite situational comic vignettes handled well by the cast. Grant and Drake tied the knot in real life less than a year after the film was released.





Gentleman Jim (1942) d. Walsh, Raoul (USA) (1st viewing)

Errol Flynn is charming as heavyweight boxing champ James J. Corbett, who introduced finesse and skill into what was previously a brawler’s domain. Taking his titular nickname as its marching orders, the movie paints Corbett as a near-saint both in and out of the ring, even down to his gracious treatment of defeated warrior James L. Sullivan (Ward Bond, in a deliciously broad turn), but still manages to entertain.





Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) d. Potter, H.C. (USA) (1st viewing)

Every homeowner should find a moment to identify with in this winking worst-case-scenario of Cary Grant and Myrna Loy’s attempt to construct the domicile of their dreams. Numerous clever physical gags, but the real fireworks are between the two stars, with Melvyn Douglas classing up the joint as Loy’s former flame and current contentedly platonic friend.





This Gun for Hire (1942) d. Tuttle, Frank (USA) (1st viewing)

Alan Ladd’s breakout role as on-the-run hired killer Raven pairs him opposite blonde bombshell Veronica Lake, the first of seven movies the two made together. When gangster Laird Cregar attempts to double-cross the stone-hearted assassin, Raven sets his sights on his former employer, dragging singing magician Lake into the mix as a hostage. Ladd was originally given “introducing” billing in the opening credits, even though he’d appeared in several other pictures in smaller parts; when the flick became a hit, Ladd was given top billing alongside Lake, bumping former headliner Robert Preston (as her rugged cop boyfriend) to third. Anyone got the skinny on whether Lake was actually performing her own sleight-of-hand for the nightclub routines? Looked pretty authentic to me.




REDFORD IN THE '70S:


Electric Horseman, The (1979) d. Pollack, Sydney (USA) (3rd viewing)

Redford is in full-on charming rogue mode as a washed-up rodeo star Sonny Steele, reduced to hawking breakfast cereals and riding around high school football fields in his Christmas light-accented costume (when he’s not too drunk to stay in the saddle). Infuriated at corporate crony John Saxon’s doping of a championship race horse to keep it docile during a Vegas trade show, Sonny rides the beast off the lot and down the Strip, with eager-for-a-scoop reporter Jane Fonda hot on his trail. The chemistry between Redford’s laid-back outlaw and Fonda’s high maintenance opportunist is the picture’s main attraction; the open-valve idealism gets a little thick at times, but the capable supporting cast (including Willie Nelson in his screen debut) and gorgeous locations balance out the blarney. This marked the reunion of Fonda and Redford a dozen years after Barefoot in the Park, with much of the film shot near Redford’s Utah home.





Great Waldo Pepper, The (1975) d. Hill, George Roy (USA) (1st viewing)

There’s not a lot of plot within this biopic about the former WWI flyer and Depression-era barnstormer, but the aerial sequences are, in a word, breathtaking. Watching actual stunt pilots execute impossibly complicated and daring maneuvers, expertly integrating shots of Redford and co-stars Bo Svenson and Bo Brundin in flight, is pure screen magic. Time and again, I openly mourned the fact that we’ll never experience such sheer wonder again, knowing that ACTUAL HUMAN BEINGS were pulling this stuff off. Redford offers another complex portrayal of a rule-bending antihero, though he’s not given many notes to play. With Geoffrey Lewis, Susan Sarandon, Edward Herrmann, and Margot Kidder.





Three Days of the Condor (1975) d. Pollack, Sydney (USA) (2nd viewing)

One year before All the President’s Men hit screens, Redford starred alongside Faye Dunaway, Max von Sydow, and Cliff Robertson in this hit adaptation of James Grady’s novel about government corruption and conspiracy. Redford’s pattern-seeking, code-cracking employee (“I just read books!”) narrowly avoids being assassinated with his co-workers (a terrific and brutal sequence) and finds himself on the run with no safe haven. Kidnapping random hostage Dunaway, his attempts to learn who is behind the hit lead to murky and insidious conclusions, while we in turn learn that Redford may not be who he seems to be. Tight, taut political thriller in the tradition of The Conversation and The Parallax View.


2014 Totals to date: 231 films, 141 1st time views, 133 horror, 28 cinema
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THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE (1973) Blu-ray Review

September 11, 2014, 4:03 pm
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Legend of Hell House, The (1973) d. John Hough (UK)

In the pantheon of top-notch haunted house movies, this fine, moody offering ranks just below Robert Wise’s outstanding The Haunting, to which it owes a great debt. The familiar premise concerns a team of spiritual sleuths – a scientist, his wife, and two mediums – assigned to investigate Belasco House (aka “Hell House”) to prove (or disprove) the notion of life after death. However, unlike the ambiguity of Shirley Jackson’s story or the subsequent 1963 film version, Richard Matheson’s screenplay (adapted from his 1971 novel Hell House) elects to make the existence of the malevolent presence within the so-called “Mount Everest of haunted houses” undeniably explicit. According to Matheson, his personal dictate was “I’m going to do a haunted house story where you damn well know it’s haunted and there’s no question in your mind.”


Emeric Belasco, the “roaring giant,” filled his house with every mortal sin conceivable, including “drug addiction, alcoholism, sadism, bestiality, mutilation, murder, vampirism, necrophilia, cannibalism, not to mention a gamut of sexual goodies.” Such debauchery seems to have left a dark presence shrouding the opulent abode, but who or what it is ... that is the mystery to be unraveled.


Rather than resorting to cheap bloodletting, director John Hough (Twins of Evil, The Watcher in the Woods) achieves a more visceral quality through skillful use of camera angles and sound, earning terrific suspense and shocks through well-executed low-tech effects (slamming doors, flying silverware, etc.). Aiding in this task are superb British cinematographer Alan Hume (Return of the Jedi) and electronic musicians Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson, working in concert to develop an atmosphere of isolation, claustrophobia, and disorientation.


Matheson’s story is well served by its accomplished cast, headlined by Pamela Franklin (having cut her acting teeth in another masterful ghost story, 1961’s The Innocents) as mental medium Florence Tanner and Roddy McDowall (Planet of the Apes, Fright Night) as physical medium Benjamin Fischer, the rattled sole survivor from Hell House’s last expedition. Clive Revill, best known as the voice of The Emperor in The Empire Strikes Back, plays the practical-minded physicist Dr. Lionel Barrett, perfectly matched by gorgeous Gayle Hunnicutt as his devoted wife Ann. There’s also a brief cameo from a certain horror icon and Batman butler, but we’ll leave that to sharp-eyed viewers to discover.

Matheson adds a kinky sexual element to the proceedings, complete with lusty somnambulists and unnerving spectral assaults, although nothing in this PG-rated feature is as blatant as his original source material (which is well worth seeking out). If there is a flaw to be voiced, it’s that the long-awaited final resolution of both the book and the film fails to match the nail-biting tension of the preceding scenes. One can’t help but be left with a head-scratching “Huh, that was it?” feeling, but enough goodwill has been built up to earn a more-than-passing grade.


Shout! Factory’s recent Blu-ray release is a godsend to hardcore fans, who have had to content themselves with 20th Century Fox’s smudgy, ill-handled, decade-old DVD release until now. Blessed with a gorgeous hi-def transfer, art director Robert Jones and costumer Eileen Sullivan’s excellent work can finally be appreciated in all its glory. As for the supplementals, there’s the usual collection of photo galleries, trailers and radio spots, but one can’t help but feel a slight tinge of regret that the Powers That Be (aka BD producer Cliff MacMillian) chose to have Franklin do the audio commentary track as opposed to director Hough (who is spotlighted in a featurette), especially after encountering both firsthand.


The 30-minute interview with Hough, cleanly directed by Calum Waddell, reveals a man well-versed at his craft and eager to discuss details of the personal favorite of his films. (Understandable, as it was the one that landed him a three-picture deal with Disney, where he did the two Witch Mountain films followed by Watcher in the Woods.) He’s also a pleasantly cheeky fellow, pointing up the difficulty of creating some of the illusions and trick shots in-camera but electing not to disclose how they were pulled off! (A good magician, as they say.) He also briefly touches on working with John Cassavetes on the unsettling demon rapist flick, The Incubus, as well as how the generous McDowall agreed to appear uncredited in Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry.


With all this enthusiasm and knowledge up for grabs, the decision to go with Franklin for the commentary is puzzling; one can only assume it was one based on the actress’ proximity (she lives in L.A., Hough in England) rather than her instant recall. Once the track started, my worst fears were confirmed; Franklin, though a lovely subject with kind words to say about all involved, offers little insight into what’s happening on screen and most of the time doesn’t seem to be watching the film at all. Further compounding frustrations is the inexplicable choice of having a moderator present ... MINUS A MICROPHONE.

"Who is that disembodied voice...no, really WHO IS IT...???"

The end result is akin to listening to one half of a telephone conversation, with our unnamed individual gamely soliciting anecdotes from the genre veteran’s career, although half the time we don’t know which movie she’s talking about (unless you’re sitting with IMDb open and clicking through her credits). “Oh yes, Marlon Brando was quite nice on that shoot.” (Night of the Following Day) “That was the one with the giant worms, yes?” (Food of the Gods) Sigh. Great big effing sigh. It's a rare misstep for S!F regular MacMillian, one that I’m afraid I saw coming. Should have been Hough for the commentary and Franklin for the featurette, no question. And next time, turn on both mikes.

"Quite right, AC," says Revill.

Even so, any lover of bumps in the night should make every effort to snap up this HIDDEN HORROR (so nice to see so many of our award-winning tome’s selections getting the high-def treatment lately). The Legend of Hell House is available now from Shout! Factory and can be ordered HERE.

https://shoutfactory.com/film/film-horror/the-legend-of-hell-house

--Aaron Christensen, HorrorHound Magazine
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THE DEAD 2: INDIA (2013) Blu-ray review

September 29, 2014, 6:20 pm
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The Dead 2: India (2013) d. Howard J. Ford / Jonathan Ford (UK)

The Ford Brothers made a big splash in 2010 with their zombie flick The Dead set in the epic vistas of Africa, chronicling the journey of two human survivors – one American, one African – who must form an uneasy alliance in the face of their common undead enemies. The combination of gorgeous location shooting, solid portrayals, impressive practical and digital f/x, and an atmosphere of sunlight-drenched dread proved a potent one, and the film was embraced by audiences and critics alike. Unfortunately, in this tenuously connected companion piece, the writer/director siblings (with Jonathan again serving as cinematographer) bring nothing new to the table except tired clichés and horrendously mannered performances, neither of which aid their cause.


We are introduced to American engineer Nicholas (Joseph Millson), in country to assist in building India’s massive wind farms, and learn that his dallying with one of the local ladies Ishani (Meenu Mishra) has resulted in her being knocked up, much to the chagrin of her deeply religious father (Sandip Gatta Gupta) who had planned to marry her off to someone else.


All this exposition spills out within the first 10 minutes like the entrails of a gutted rotter, with much the same stink, and if the star-crossed lovers tropes weren’t bad enough, we’re also given an orphaned tyke, Javed (Anand Krishna Goyal), so Nicholas can serve as a surrogate father. As the two make their way across the desolate, unforgiving landscape to meet up with Ishani, they predictably meet up with hordes of shamblers and humans cruel and kind. But with the rare exception of a paraglider stunt and an unfortunate mother and child trapped in a car, there’s nothing we haven’t seen done before and better.


There’s no denying that the Fords have carved out a specific niche in the overflowing zombie landscape, one where Walkabout meets The Walking Dead, but despite the magnificent panoramas, the story is badly hobbled by the sluggish pace and Millson’s dull central turn – the guy is game on a motorcycle or with a small engine strapped to his back, but fails to deliver the necessary empathy for our lead.


Further exacerbating matters are the impenetrable accents of Mishra, Goyal, and Gupta; I have a pretty good ear for dialects, but I had to flip on the subtitles after only five minutes and start again. (With over half the dialogue indecipherable to the Western ear, viewing this in a festival setting would have been extremely frustrating.)


Ultimately,this is far from the worst zombie movie ever made, but it’s hardly must-see material. (Personally, I’m eager to see what the Bros. Ford are capable of outside of their highly specialized milieu.)

The Dead 2is available now on Blu-ray from Anchor Bay (special features include an interview/making-of with the Fords conducted by English horror fan Billy Chainsaw and some deleted scenes) and and can be ordered HERE.


---Aaron Christensen, HorrorHound Magazine
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PIECES OF TALENT (2014) movie review

September 30, 2014, 10:28 am
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Pieces of Talent (2014) d. Joe Stauffer (USA)

Charlotte (Kristi Ray) is an attractive twentysomething trapped in her small town, paying the rent by working as a waitress at the local titty bar as she dreams of a career as a film actress. Her drunken, chain-smoking mother (Barbara Weetman) living with her (not the other way around) demeans these fantasies, and given Charlotte's string of failed local independent auditions (her resume consists of “a few music videos”), it seems unlikely she will ever see her name in lights.

One night, the young would-be starlet strikes up a friendship with a bedraggled misfit photographer after he is beaten up for shooting inside the club. When he regains consciousness, David Long (played by “David Long,” a pseudonym for co-screenwriter Dustin Lewis) reveals that he is a filmmaker, and he thinks Charlotte would be perfect for his next project. We quickly learn, however, that David is a bona-fide wackjob whose idea of art has some nasty and twisted edges, the type that snag and rip and rend flesh from the bone.


The concept of a serial killer who films his bloody deeds for kicks isn’t a particularly revelatory one, dating all the way back to Michael Powell’s 1960 masterpiece, Peeping Tom. What makes Pieces of Talent worthy of note is that it is considerably more than the sum of its parts. Joe Stauffer, the movie’s director, co-writer, producer, editor, and cinematographer, utilizes an eclectic palette of stylistic choices to keep viewers off balance.


Shaky handheld passages are intertwined with elegiac tracking shots, grainy black-and-white camcorder footage juxtaposed with hypnotically beautiful fantasy sequences shot in slow-mo, mirroring the sizzling synapses of his addled antagonist. The soundtrack (to which Stauffer also contributed) is populated by dozens of songs that undulate from moody acoustic guitar to full-on drone to lonely piano tinkling.


The rough-around-the-edges performances lend an air of verisimilitude to the Nowheresville that holds our heroine in its dusty grasp, and Ray’s sunny blonde optimism makes her the perfect object of David’s (and our) affection.


Lewis, with his long unkempt locks and fixed lunatic grin, is so compellingly creepy that we may find ourselves wondering what she sees in this strange broken bird, but considering her dead-end life, it’s also understandable that she would see David’s eccentric artist as a potential ticket out. After all, he seems just crazy enough to be a genius, and who knows, maybe on some level he is.


He certainly knows his way around a welding torch, as his demented, ever-evolving metal sculptures make clear.


Stauffer’s skill and DIY sensibilities refreshingly defy the usual apologies required for an indie effort’s meager budget; the young man clearly possesses drive and a singularity of vision. Pieces of Talent may not be for all tastes, but it’s impossible to dismiss out of hand, and serves as a terrific calling card for all concerned (including practical effects man Tony Rosen, who provides us with some chilling chunks of choice charnel-house material).


The extras-laden 2-disc DVD set can be purchased directly from the filmmakers at www.piecesoftalent.com and is well worth checking out.




--Aaron Christensen, HorrorHound Magazine
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LUCKY BASTARD (2014) DVD review

September 30, 2014, 11:23 am
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Lucky Bastard (2014) d. Robert Nathan (USA)

Fading porn producer and director Mike (Don McManus) runs the “Lucky Bastard” website, which arranges and records the sexual exploits of their devoted male fans with adult film professionals. Against her better judgment but in need of cash, sexy starlet Ashley St. Clair (Betsy Rue) is cajoled into pairing off with eager amateur “Dave G.” (Jay Paulson) for a bout of interweb wank material. Unfortunately, Dave turns out to be a little too eager both in and out of the bedroom – he surprises his co-star by revealing her real name and then prematurely loses the crew from his pink submarine. Emotions run high and devil-deals are made, all captured within the hidden-camera laden lair, but as the crime scene footage that opens the film makes clear, there is no “happy ending” in store for anyone.


If you’ve heard of this heard of this twisted little item, it’s likely due to its web presence where exec-producer and co-writer Lukas Kendall detailed the travails of gaining distribution for an NC-17 independent thriller whose hook is being set within the world of porn. It has since garnered a growing number of positive reviews, which further piqued our curiosity.



But despite its racy premise and occasional nudity from Rue (who memorably let it all hang out in 2009’s My Bloody Valentine), there’s a surprisingly low titillation factor here. Instead, it’s a well-wrought study of wavering morals and emotional manipulation, with solid performances all around, expert cinematography from Clay Westerveldt, and crackerjack editing from Hellraiser II director Tony Randel. (Producer and legendary schlockmeister Jim Wynorski seems to have helped put the pieces in place and then gotten out of the way.)


Not everything works as tightly as it could, but Kendall and first-time director Robert Nathan (whose industry credits include writing and exec-producing numerous Law & Order episodes) get more things right than not. While this is, yes, another found-footage movie, the conceit actually works since the material comes from the myriad lenses scattered throughout the location (McManus comments that this is one of those “reality TV houses”) and a professional crew hired to “film everything.”


It also helps that we are genuinely engaged by these jaded characters who are clearly not thrilled by their lot in life, but too entrenched to feel shame (or much of anything). None are particularly sympathetic, but neither are they villains; everyone is just trying to get the job done, even Dave who quite literally can’t.


Speaking of which, Paulsen and McManus are terrific foils for one another; both tender delicately shaded characters whose emotions turn on the proverbial dime without losing an ounce of authenticity. (There aren’t too many modern-day Wynorski productions that can make the same claim.) As the put-upon females, Rue and comely co-star Catherine Annette are equally layered, assuming and dropping the mask of fantasy girls as the situations demand, using sexual maneuvers to mask their hurt and pain.


If this all sounds like a bit much for casual viewers seeking cheap thrills, it probably is. There’s more talk than flesh or blood, and the violence – while still intense – is rarely placed full frame. Gorehounds and sex fiends will probably cry foul, expecting more prurience for their MPAA rating, but with expectations in place, there are enough fresh ideas and technical skill on display to serve the turn.


Lucky Bastard is currently streaming on Hulu and available On-Demand and DVD from Cavu Pictures. Special features include an audio commentary track shared by Kendall and Nathan (the former is genuinely engaging and forthright, while the latter takes himself just a little too seriously), which only heightened my respect for Westerveldt and Randel's efforts in seamlessly pulling off the found-footage illusion. Not that I'm asking for more FF films, but dammit, this is the way to do it, folks.


--Aaron Christensen, HorrorHound Magazine
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Fool's Views (9/1 – 9/30)

September 30, 2014, 2:09 pm
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"You don't think AC's losing his touch, do you? Oh, shhh, here he comes..."

Howdy, folks!

Yep, the whole month of September has come and gone with only 14 flickers taken in. Chalk it up to a hectic performance schedule and a renewed commitment to physical fitness – funny how when you’re putting in up to three hours sweating it out, there are fewer left in the day for the Views. Luckily, a number of DVD screeners, two platelet donation sessions, a group outing to the multiplex, the continued blessing that is Turner Classic Movies, the Kryptic Army, and a trickling of random flicks filled out the bill. That said, considering I’ve built up a head of steam for the upcoming October Challenge, I think it’s only right to have taken it a little easier this month – things are about to get keeeeeerazy up in here.

As always, feel free to leave your two cents worth – we’ll make sure you get some change back.

Enjoy!



HORROR:


Dead 2: India, The (2013) d. Ford, Howard J. / Ford, Jonathan (UK) (1st viewing)

***CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW***





Legend of Hell House, The (1973) d. Hough, John (UK) (5th viewing)

***CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW***





Lucky Bastard (2014) d. Nathan, Robert (USA) (1st viewing)

***CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW***





Pieces of Talent (2014) d. Stauffer, Joe (USA) (1st viewing)

***CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW***





Scared Stiff (1953) d. Marshall, George (USA) (1st viewing)

This remake of the 1940 Bob Hope comedy The Ghost Breakers (which I have yet to see), is decidedly a Martin & Lewis vehicle right down the line. Jerry is a clumsy frightened busboy in a swanky club where Dean is crooning, but when mobsters come looking for Dean (who’s been messing around with the boss’ girl), they head off to Havana with lovely young Lizabeth Scott who has just inherited a supposedly haunted castle. There are a couple of somnambulist zombies and ghosts, but the most disturbing thing is probably Lewis’ Carmen Miranda impression. Not funny, not scary, not recommended.




CIVILIAN:


Brüno (2009) d. Charles, Larry (USA) (1st viewing)

Sacha Baron Cohen brings another of his Ali G Show characters to the big screen after the mammoth success of 2006's Borat. Sadly, it’s clear that even though he and director Charles are again utilizing the “mockumentary” format, there’s no freshness to the other characters’ reactions since they are clearly in on the joke. Tries to be (and occasionally succeeds) outrageous, but it’s mostly a bunch of jokes about mincing gays and narcissism. I think I laughed once.





Compliance (2012) d. Zobel, Craig (USA) (1st viewing)

Closely following the events of the 2004 “Mt. Washington scam” (where a female fast food employee was accused of stealing by a male caller claiming to be a police officer, and then strip-searched and sexually assaulted by the management, all at the behest of the mystery voice), this critically acclaimed drama falters mightily in the presentation of its characters, such that the viewer can only feel insulted rather than complicit. In order to be anything other than an exercise in audience superiority, Zobel needed to make his hapless employees dumber and/or Pat Healy's antagonist smarter. As it currently stands, we’re completely disconnected from the dramatic action, not asking, “What would I do?” but rather, “What planet are these people from?”





Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) d. Gunn, James (USA) (2nd viewing)

Remember how everyone was debating the merits of Godzilla a few months back? Then we got a legitimately smart and entertaining blockbuster and suddenly, no one was talking about Godzilla anymore. We are Groot.





Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (2010) d. Stern Ricki / Sundberg, Anne (1st viewing)

Terrific documentary about the trailblazing comedienne and her refusal to go gently into that good night even as she turns 75. Frank about her extravagant lifestyle, equally extravagant expenses, flagging popularity, and the countless plastic surgery procedures without apology or pity.





Samurai Cop (1991) d. Shervan, Amir (USA) (1st viewing)

One of the classic trash movies of our day, with brain-blowingly bad acting, script, editing, fight scenes, love scenes, cinematography, direction, etc. Review-wise, William Wilson of Video Junkie has already done the job – check it out HERE.





Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014) d. Rodriguez, Robert / Miller, Frank (USA) (1st viewing)

Man, oh man. What was brave and innovative a decade ago now feels tired and mannered, with every male cast member trying to affect a gravel-voice and the women alternating between husky and breathy. With few exceptions (pssst, Jessica Alba, you look great, but you can’t act), the all-star cast is serviceable but thoroughly uninspired, with Eva Green’s doffing her duds the only worthwhile surprise to be had in 102 minutes. Not a total waste of time, but you’d be better off busting out the 2005 original (which actually felt, well, original).





Touchez Pas au Grisbi (1954) d. Becker, Jacques (France) (1st viewing)

Legendary French actor Jean Gabin (Grand Illusion) delivers a stunning low-key performance as a career criminal looking to cash out of the game, following the proverbial “one last score.” Loose lips start sinking ships around him, but the screen veteran is the pinnacle of icy cool. Pretty sure I was turned onto this by one of Roger Ebert’s Great Movies books (yep, just Googled and it was the second volume), and no disagreement here.





Way We Were, The (1973) Pollack, Sydney (USA) (2nd viewing)

“Everything seemed so important then...even love!” Redford and Streisand, both at the height of their popularity, paired for this exercise in well-wrought romantic melodrama about an idealist (she) and a golden boy (he) whose political and ethical convictions keep them apart even as they are passionately drawn together. A little schmaltzy, but Babs and Bob sell it right down the line. Marvin Hamlisch won the 1973 Best Song Oscar for the title tune (sung by Streisand), as well as Original Musical Score, then picked up a hat trick by winning Best Adapted Score for The Sting (also starring Redford).




BOGIE, MEET BACALL:




To Have and Have Not (1944) d. Hawks, Howard (USA) (1st viewing)
Big Sleep, The (1946) d. Hawks, Howard (USA) (2nd viewing)

To honor the late Lauren Bacall (who passed away on August 12, just a few weeks short of her 90th birthday), TCM ran a 24-hour salute to her work. Sadly, I was tied up much of the day with tech rehearsals and errands, but I made sure to carve out time to see her first and third features, the ones that paired her with the love of her life. Hawks was apparently not wild about the offscreen sparks, seeing as how he had designs on the 19-year-old newcomer himself, but there was no denying the magic onscreen between the two. But even as magnetic as Bacall is, it is Bogart who commands the screen with his every wry glance and gesture. My God, that man was a STAR.


2014 Totals to date: 256 films, 152 1st time views, 138 horror, 30 cinema
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SCARE-A-THON 2014: PICK YOUR POISON

October 1, 2014, 1:32 pm
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WELCOME TO SCARE-A-THON 2014!!!!!

It's that time of year again. After a brief sabbatical, the Doc is back at it, watching as many scary movies as possible during the month of October to raise funds and awareness for a charitable cause. In the past, we've raised thousands of dollars for Season of Concern, AmeriCares, and The Friends of Children. However, this year, I'm trying an experiment: Rather selecting the beneficiary of our efforts, it's up to YOU to choose where your hard-earned dollars go.

Whether it's a high-profile entity (American Cancer Society, ALS), a local support house for women and children, a favorite arts organization, animal rescue, or your friend's Kickstarter, here's that oft-needed push to do something good for someone else with no ribbons or ice bucket videos required. Plus, you will also be raising awareness about your particular cause, as I will be posting links to the organizations' respective websites right here on the daily H101 blog posts and as well as on Facebook.

My usual donation suggestion is 10 cents ($0.10) per film, but you can go as high or low as you like. For the price of a jumbo pack of Halloween candy, you can make a huge difference in someone's life.

Mmmmm, philanthropy tastes delicious...


Three easy steps:
1) Choose your charity (or charities, if you're so inclined)
2) Decide how much you'd like to pledge per film (my plan is to watch 80-100 movies, so budget accordingly)
3) Share the Scare! (i.e. tell your friends)

Email me at drach101@gmail.com with 1) and 2) any time during October; at the end of the month, I'll let you know how many movies were watched, how much you personally raised, a list of all the charities, and the grand total amount.

That's it! Thanks for your time, everyone, and have a happy and safe Halloween!!!

AC

(Special Thanks to Christianne Benedict of Krell Laboratories for the fancy banners!)


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OCTOBER MOVIE CHALLENGE - 10/1

October 3, 2014, 10:04 am
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Challenge Totals to Date:

Movies Watched Today: 1
Total Movies Watched:1
First Time Views: 1
Amount raised: $4.85

Today's showcased SCARE-A-THON Charity: REACH COUNSELING, sponsored by John Pata

To showcase your charity, send an email to drach101@gmail.com with your pledge amount and the charity's website!




1. Exists (2014) d. Eduardo Sanchez (USA) 86 min.

My official review is embargoed until the film's release date of 10/24 (limited theatrical and VOD), but I can say that of the five Bigfoot films I've seen this year (Happy Camp, Willow Creek, The Legend of Bigfoot, and The Capture of Bigfoot), this one offers the most Sasquatch bang for the buck. Plus, I dig that Sanchez fellow. Check it out (when it comes out).


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OCTOBER MOVIE CHALLENGE: 10/2 - 10/3

October 4, 2014, 7:35 am
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Challenge Totals to Date:

Movies Watched Today: 3
Total Movies Watched: 4
First Time Views: 1
Amount raised: $14.55

Today's showcased SCARE-A-THON Charities:

 TRILLIUM PERFORMING ARTS, sponsored by Sheila Jordan

AND

THE TIME COMMUNITY THEATER, sponsored by Gavin Schmitt

To showcase your charity, send an email to drach101@gmail.com with your pledge amount and the charity's website!



2. Gamera, the Giant Monster (1965) d. Yuasa, Noriaki (Japan) (2nd viewing) 78 min.

After Toho Studios resurrected Godzilla in the 1960s with a series of highly profitable battle royales, the race was on to cash in on the kaiju eiga (“giant monster movie”) wave. The most successful of these imitators emerged from Daiei Studios in the form of Gamera, an enormous fire-breathing...turtle. After a plane crashes in the Arctic carrying (what else?) nuclear weapons, the oversized amphibian awakens from the ice caps sporting huge lower fangs and a bad attitude. Now to be fair, turtles were never designed to look cool walking around on their hind legs (and giant turtles don’t pull it off any better). But soon the marauding menace (who flies by spinning around like a flying saucer shooting flames out of his legholes) is clumsily stomping miniature cities into oblivion, and only the love of a turtle-obsessed child can stop his hideous rampage. Just when things seem truly desperate, the world’s ultra-top minds come up with the ultra top-secret “Z-Plan,” which basically consists of luring Gamera into the nose cone of a rocket and shooting him into space. A brilliant scheme, especially if one plans to bring their monster back for numerous sequels. Following in the footsteps of Godzilla’s Raymond Burr, the American release of the film, Gamera the Invincible, featured re-edited scenes of American stars Albert Dekker and Brian Donlevy





3. Gamera vs. Barugon (aka War of the Monsters) (1966) d. Tanaka, Shigeo (Japan) (3rd viewing) 100 min.

Probably the darkest of the original Showa series (and the only installment not directed by Noriaki Yuasa), the story picks up six months after the events of the first film with three men traveling to New Guinea to recover a giant opal hidden in a cave during WWII. Unbeknownst to them, the opal is really an egg within lies the monster Barugon, a goofy-looking creature armed with an enormous perma-grin, an iguana-like tongue that shoots out freezing gas, and a rainbow laser beam from its back! Gamera's return is explained via a rogue meteorite crashing into the Z-plan rocket, but he is then relegated to the sidelines throughout much of the film, only thawing out in the last act to save the day. No obnoxious children show up, and there's a surprisingly high level of violence, both human and monster alike.





4. Gamera vs. Gyaos (1967) d. Yuasa, Noriaki (Japan) (3rd viewing) 86 min.

A highway construction project grinds to a halt when the seemingly indestructible monster bird/bat combo Gyaos appears from within the mountain, shooting lethal lasers from its mouth and creating windstorms with its giant wings. Even Gamera can't seem to make a dent in the creature and spends much of the movie convalescing, nursing his wounds at the bottom of the sea. This marks the beginning of the giant turtle's standing as "the friend to all children" as he saves a pudgy boy from Gyaos and allows the brutally obnoxious little bastard to ride on his back. Not as wacky as future chapters, but the writing is on the wall with wackadoo schemes like giant vats of artificial blood placed atop a spinning pedestal in the hopes of dizzying the giant monster senseless until the sun rises. Ummmm, okay! Sounds like a plan to me.
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OCTOBER MOVIE CHALLENGE 10/4 - 10/5

October 9, 2014, 8:37 am
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Challenge Totals to Date:

Movies Watched Today: 2
Total Movies Watched: 6
First Time Views: 1
Amount raised: $29.10

Today's showcased SCARE-A-THON Charities:

MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY, sponsored by Christine Thom

AND

THE COMIC BOOK LEGAL DEFENSE FUND, sponsored by Whit Spurgeon

To showcase your charity, send an email to drach101@gmail.com with your pledge amount and the charity's website!



10/4

5. Gamera vs. Viras (aka Destroy All Planets) (1968) (2nd viewing) 81 min

Okay, right about here is when things started getting silly for the Gamera series, too silly even for my 9-year-old self. This is the film that introduced not only the trademark “Gamera March” but also the infamous line, “Gamera is the friend to all children.” Too bad the tykes in question are a couple of authority-busting scamps (one Japanese, one Caucasian, setting the pattern for the next three films) whose idea of a good time is sabotaging experimental mini-submarines. Earth is under attack by a spaceship comprised of five bumblebee-striped beach balls, upon which is a fantastically stupid-looking octopus alien who can’t fight for crap. His humanoid automaton underlings have their moments, especially when we only see them in silhouette with their lit-up eyes blinking. After encountering this one and Gamera vs. Guiron as a kid, I never really went back to the big turtle except when accompanied by the MST3K gang. Upon revisiting, it’s interesting how I needed to become an adult to appreciate the kiddy factor.




10/5



6.Devils, The (1971) d. Russell, Ken (UK) (3rd viewing) 112 min

A visual feast, an emotional whirlwind, an exercise in operatic excess, and dozens of other colorful turns of phrase can be used to describe Russell’s full-tilt retelling of the true story of the morally flawed Father Grandier (Oliver Reed), the emotionally and physically twisted Sister Jeanne (Vanessa Redgrave), and the small French town of Loudon targeted by Cardinal Richelieu’s religious cronies. With scenes of hysterically masturbating nuns, insane exorcisms, and excruciating torture sequences, if you’re not exhausted and conflicted by the end, I don’t know what to tell you.
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OCTOBER MOVIE CHALLENGE 10/6 - 10/8

October 9, 2014, 9:04 am
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Challenge Totals to Date:

Movies Watched Today: 3
Total Movies Watched: 9
First Time Views: 2
Amount raised: $43.65

Today's showcased SCARE-A-THON Charities:

GRAMEEN FOUNDATION, sponsored by Alan Ball

AND

THE FRIENDS OF CHILDREN, sponsored by Jeff Cummings

To showcase your charity, send an email to drach101@gmail.com with your pledge amount and the charity's website!



 

10/6

None





10/7



None




10/8



7.
Gamera vs. Guiron (aka Attack of the Monsters) (1969) d. Yuasa, Noriaki(Japan) (3rd viewing) 82 min

More giant turtle and irreverent youth silliness, although I think this may have been the first time I’d seen the uncut Japanese version which features the knife-headed alien nemesis slicing a random “Space Gyaos” in half, then dicing him into pieces. Made my jaw drop, I can tell you that. I do like how sinister this one is, with two sexy space women chatting eagerly about eating kids’ brains after feeding them doctored-up doughnuts and milk. This is also the one where Gamera does his high bar gymnast act and dismount. Loooopy.




8.
Gamera vs. Jiger (aka Gamera vs. Monster X) (1970) d. Yuasa, Noriaki (Japan) (1st viewing) 82 min

I was genuinely surprised to realize that I had never seen this one, and even more surprised at how kind of awesome our hero-on-the-half-shell’s opponent is. Resembling a scaled down triceratops, African guardian Jiger has death rays, telekinesis, dart guns, rocket thrusters… I mean, this guy kicks ass. He even injects Gamera with a needle, implanting one of his own zygotes to combat from within! I mean, come on! Plus, the mythology regarding an ancient African statue, Death Flutes, timely references to Expo ’70 in Osaka, and a kaiju version of Fantastic Voyage are all pretty cool, and the kids aren’t too obnoxious.




9.
Gamera vs. Zigra (1971) d. Yuasa, Noriaki (Japan) (2nd viewing) 88 min

The final installment in the Gamera franchise (before 1980’s hastily assembled stock footage fest, Gamera: Super Monster) is neck and scaly neck with GvVirasfor the silliest cast and monster, with a single female space alien (funny to watch them go from several to two to one as the budgets dwindled) launching an attack on Earth at the behest of the silver fish/bird creature running the show. The kids (a pudgy-cheeked Caucasian girl paired opposite a Japanese boy) are pretty insufferable and barely anything is done with the Sea World setting. Juvenile to say the least, and that’s pretty much where you need to dial your brain. The brief kaiju fight scenes are fun, as Gamera is super lively in his flappy-armed way.
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OCTOBER MOVIE CHALLENGE 10/9 - 10/10

October 12, 2014, 2:42 pm
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Challenge Totals to Date:

Movies Watched Today: 4
Total Movies Watched: 13
Total First Time Views: 2
Amount raised: $64.35

Today's showcased SCARE-A-THON Charity:
MO MONEY FOR PIGS, sponsored by April Atwood

To showcase your charity, send an email to drach101@gmail.com with your pledge amount and the charity's website!



10/9

10.
Gamera: Super Monster (1980) d. Yuasa, Noriaki Japan (2nd viewing) 92 min

The heroic flying flamethrower on the half-shell is subjected to an ignominious resurrection with this cash-grab revival, one in which 95% of the monster action comes courtesy of footage swiped from the previous seven features.  

***CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW***





11.
Gamera: Guardian of the Universe (1995) d. Kaneko, Shuseke (Japan) (2nd viewing) 95 min

After Toho wrapped its Heisei series of Godzilla films (1984-1994), Daiei Studios roared back with an impressive reboot of their successful kaiju that left jaws aplenty on the floor. After picking them up, the masses collectively murmured, “That was a Gamera film? But, it was actually, um, good.” It’s clear that Kaneko & Co. had picked up a few tips from their elders, elevating production values across the board, as well as introducing a recurring character along the lines of Godzilla’s Miki Saegusa, in this case Asagi Kusanagi (as played by Ayako Fujitani) who reveals an unexplained psychic connection to everyone's favorite fire-spewing chelonian as he battles a new and improved strain of Gyaos.




10/10


12.
Gamera 2: Attack of the Legion (1996) d. Kaneko, Shuseke (Japan) (2nd viewing) 99 min

Nasty little crab little creatures (as well as a jumbo-sized one for the requisite final rumble) are our twenty-ton tusked tortoise. Even darker and more technologically impressive than the first, with an eyebrow-raising deus ex machina conclusion that will either have popcorn flying at the screen or double-fisted salutes to the heavens. Didn’t care for it the first time; the second, it just felt right.





13.
Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris (1999) d. Kaneko, Shuseke (Japan) (2nd viewing) 108 min

This somewhat belated third chapter intertwines the events and characters of the preceding two films (consistency in a monster series??? What will they think of next?) to introduce a young lady grieving the accidental death of her parents when Gamera toppled into their house during his struggle against Gyaos in 1995. This issue of collateral damage is given great weight, both in the aforementioned storyline as well as Kaneko’s explicit death toll as we see the human victims blown about in the wake of the giant monsters given much greater weight. A fine conclusion to a worthy second chapter, effectively throwing the gauntlet back at Toho (as if the Touchstone 1998 Godzilla wasn’t cause enough) to launch their Millennium series of features.
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OCTOBER MOVIE CHALLENGE (10/11 – 10/12)

October 13, 2014, 7:38 am
$
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Challenge Totals to Date:

Movies Watched Today: 12
Total Movies Watched: 25
Total First Time Views: 2
Amount raised: $123.75

Today's showcased SCARE-A-THON Charity:

UNITED WAY OF GREENBRIER VALLEY, sponsored by Sheila Ann Jordan

To showcase your charity, send an email to drach101@gmail.com with your pledge amount and the charity's website!

A special salute to the Music Box Theatre  and their Music Box of Horrors for their annual 24-hour cavalcade of mayhem and madness on the big screen, where fans are surrounded by other folks who GET IT. Congratulations on a decade of debauchery - looking forward to the next!



14.
Phantom Carriage, The (1921) d. Sjostrom, Victor (Sweden) (2nd viewing) 107 min

A gorgeously wrought and beautifully performed silent effort that continues to resonate nearly a century since it was first unveiled. A drunken wastrel (Sjostrom, pulling triple duty as actor, writer, and director) at the hour of his death is forced to recall his pitiful life, as well as the many opportunities for redemption he has rejected throughout, by the titular vehicle’s driver. While there are indeed ghostly spectres drifting throughout the film (the translucent image of the carriage itself is both lovely and haunting), the real horror is of the Christmas Carol ilk – the pain of reliving each of one’s most damning missteps, helpless to change the past.





15.
Man They Could Not Hang, The (1939) d. Grinde, Nick (USA) (2nd viewing) 64 min

Boris Karloff’s Dr. Savaard develops an artificial heart, but is interrupted before he can complete the experiment and sentenced to death. His assistant, however, revives him through Savaard’s own techniques and the wronged doc sets about avenging himself against those that convicted him. The second act’sTen Little Indians motif provides a fair amount of tension and excitement, along with a few unintentionally hysterical (in all senses of the word) line readings from Ann Doran. Directed with verve by Grinde (who also directed the veteran spookster in The Man with Nine Lives and Before I Hang the following year).





16.
Cat People (1942) d. Tourneur, Jacques (USA) (5th viewing) 73 min

Arguably their most successful collaboration, this first effort by producer Val Lewton and director Tourneur is a stunner that stands the test of time. Simone Simon plays the enigmatic and beautiful Irena, a Serbian woman new to America, who is befriended near the panther cage at the zoo by charming naval architect Oliver Reed (Kent Smith). The two soon grow closer, and eventually marry, but Irena is reluctant to be intimate with her new husband, fearing "something evil inside me.” Namely, she believes she is one of the “cat people,” a strange race of people that transform into killer panthers when their emotions are aroused. After a time, the frustrated Smith begins to show interest in female co-worker Alice (Jane Randolph) - did he forget that jealousy is a strong emotion as well?) Tourneur weaves an incredibly suspenseful tale, emphasizing the unseen and utilizing some astonishing work with shadows and light. The film contains numerous classic moments: the pet shop, Irena’s pursuit of her rival down a shadowy street, the swimming pool scene, the stalking of Oliver and Alice in the office, and on and on. A highly influential masterwork, not to be missed





17.
Curse of the Werewolf, The (1961) d. Fisher, Terence (UK) (4th viewing) 91 min

The first and only lycanthrope movie to come out of Hammer Studios (surprising, considering how many vampire, mad scientist, and mummy efforts were to pass before the venerable studio’s lenses) is one of the finest on record, a handsomely wrought and emotionally resonant tale that continues to hold up a half century on. A mute beggar girl (Yvonne Romain) is sexually assaulted by an imprisoned mad beggar (Richard Wordsworth), eventually giving birth on Christmas day to a young – and cursed – baby. After a troubled childhood marked by attacks on livestock and preventative bars on windows, the adult Leon (Oliver Reed, in his first starring role) heads off to encounter life and love with a fair maiden (Catherine Feller), but dark forces and full moons conspire to destroy any chances of true happiness. Fisher’s direction is strong as usual, with a terrific ensemble of fine performances, highlighted by Clifford Evans grounded, sympathetic turn as Leon’s father. Roy Ashton’s memorable makeup designs meet and occasionally exceed Jack Pierce’s efforts with the yak hair and fangs.





18.
Borrower, The (1991) McNaughton, John (USA) (4th viewing) 92 min

Kevin Yagher’s (Child’s Play, A Nightmare on Elm Street) juicy effects can’t save McNaughton’s muddled and ill-advised follow-up to Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. A decent B-premise (alien comes to earth, his head explodes, he has to keep tearing the heads off of other humans to replace it until they in turn explode) is sloppily executed and Rae Dawn Chong does little to help the cause. Granted, it all goes down slightly better in a packed theater of generous genre fans, but the whole thing smacks of a troubled production (it was, according to our intrepid, embittered director, on hand for an after-show Q&A) and a general sense of haphazardness. When the central premise is that the alien’s body remains the same while hosting a repertory of new heads, it might be worth keeping basic body type (or skin color, in the case of Antonio Fargas’ noggin) consistent.





19.
Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) d. Herzog, Werner (Germany) (3rd viewing) 107 min

A brooding and deliberately paced telling of Dracula that prioritizes nightmare atmosphere over all else, resulting in an unforgettable and disturbing masterpiece. Klaus Kinski’s bald and diseased bloodsucker is pure monster, but one marinated in melancholy, and Popol Vuh’s haunting and oppressive musical score matches him all the way, mournful drones rising and ebbing like the lonely tides. The scenes of plague-riddled, rat-infested tableaus evoke visceral responses both emotional and intellectual (seriously, where did they get them all?) and while there aren’t many true scares, the scales are balanced by on overwhelming sense of dread from the opening credits to the final frames. With Bruno Ganz as Jonathan Harker, Isabelle Adjani as Lucy, Walter Ladengast as Van Helsing, and The Tenant novelist Roland Topor as Renfield.





20.
Dead Snow: Red vs. Dead (2014) d. Wirkola, Tommy (Norway) (2nd viewing) 100 min

Better going this time with expectations in check, but the complaints lodged in my original viewing still hold true. Bigger, gorier, and dumber than its derivative but spirited predecessor.

***CLICK HERE FOR FULL REVIEW***





21.
Nightmare (aka Nightmare in a Damaged Brain) (1981) d. Scavolini, Romano (Italy) (2nd viewing) 97 min

Released following a series of experimental recuperative drugs trials, mental patient George Tatum (Baird Stafford) is deemed cured, although the second he hits the streets, we can tell that a second opinion might be in order. By carving a neurotic southerly path to Florida to reunite Tatum with his estranged wife and family, this Video Nasty earned its rep thanks to some vicious scenes of bloodletting, the credit for which were a matter of controversy for years. The marketing department created posters trumpeting the gory effects came courtesy of Tom Savini, but the master of splatter hotly denied any involvement in the production whatsoever. When production stills surfaced, showing him on set, he ultimately acknowledged being called in as a technical advisor. However, it was Ed French, a skilled technician whose estimable genre resume boasts C.H.U.D., Creepshow 2, The Stuff, Sleepaway Camp, Amityville II, and Terminator 2, who actually ran the show, and the red stuff flows freely, particularly during an oft-repeated flashback sequence.





22.
Shakma (1990) d. Parks, Hugh / Logan, Tom (USA) (2nd viewing) 100 min

This killer monkey flick starring Christopher Atkins (The Blue Lagoon), Amanda Wyss (A Nightmare on Elm Street), and genre vet Roddy McDowall and one seriously pissed-off baboon deserves a greater legacy than its relative obscurity might indicate. A scientifically anger-enhanced simian (played by “Typhoon”) hunts down medical students in a locked-in hospital, unleashing unbridled fury on any number of unfortunate doors that stand between he and his prey. The human stars are likeable but bland, and at 100 minutes, things start to feel a little padded out and repetitious, but when Shakma is on the warpath, it’s a pretty raucous and rowdy good time. Not a classic, but worth checking out.





23.
Don't Look in the Basement (1973) d. Browrigg, S.F. (USA) (2nd viewing) 89 min

A very low budget sanitarium shocker from that features two memorable murders before the opening credits roll! A young nurse (Playboy model Rosie Holotik) takes a job at a secluded mental hospital, where she discovers that her prospective employer has been killed and the asylum is now run by strict disciplinarian Anne MacAdams. With a wildly eccentric cast of crazies, the film rides on a fever-dream energy that continually surprises with its unpredictability. Not an easy film to sit through, as the ultra-low production values will either draw the audience into its mad world of distorted sound, bad lighting, and stilted acting or it will lose them early on. For those who stick with it, there are several rewarding twists, claustrophobic encounters with all varieties of madmen, and a powerful bloodbath finale. Granted, there is probably a bit much in the screaming, crying, and wailing departments, but a palpable atmosphere of madness exists as a result. Nightmarish and jarring at times, tedious and frustrating at others, this is one basement worth looking into.





24.
Just Before Dawn (1981) d. Leiberman, Jeff (USA) (2nd viewing) 90 min

Yes, it’s another “young folks in the woods pursued by a homicidal maniac” slasher, but like The Final Terror, writer/director Lieberman (Squirm, Blue Sunshine) and co-writer Mark Arywitz elevate the material by giving us characters and situations with which we can identify, played out by a worthy cast and young (Chris Lemmon, Gregg Henry, Ralph Seymour, Deborah Benson, Jamie Rose) and veteran talent (George Kennedy, Sleepaway Camp’s Mike Kellin). Not heavy on gore, but amply suspenseful and capped by one of the most distinctive and memorable ending kills EVER.





25.
Audition (1999) d. Miike, Takaski (Japan) (2nd viewing) 115 min

At his teenage son’s behest, widower Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi) entertains the idea of remarrying and takes his film producer friend up on the idea to manufacture a fake series of film auditions in order to meet his future bride. Immediately smitten by former ballerina Asami (Eihi Shiina), the older man begins a tentative courting dance outside the studio confines, only to discover his new love comes with a certain degree of … baggage. To say more is to say too much, but Miike’s Stateside breakout film announced a subversive force to be reckoned with, an artist of great technical skill and fearless knack for audience manipulation.
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OCTOBER MOVIE CHALLENGE (10/13 – 10/14)

October 15, 2014, 12:50 pm
$
0
0
Challenge Totals to Date:

Movies Watched Today: 4 
Total Movies Watched: 29 
Total First Time Views: 5 
Amount raised: $143.55 

Today's showcased SCARE-A-THON Charity: 

ACT ONE ARTS INITIATIVE, sponsored by Becca M. Engle

To showcase your charity, send an email to drach101@gmail.com with your pledge amount and the charity's website!




26.
Jug Face (2013) d. Kinkle, Chad Crawford (USA) 82 min

“The pit wants what it wants.” Pregnant teen Ada (Lauren Ashley Carter) learns she is next in line for sacrifice within her backwoods community and so tries to escape her fate. What’s interesting is that as writer/director Kinkle’s story progresses, we find ourselves morally conflicted as to whether Ada’s life is more precious than those of her neighbors’ as they are offed one by one by the temperamental spirit residing in a muddy, bloody pit. After all, they were actually playing by the rules. A marvelous dark fairy tale, with a Who’s Who of indie horror cinema assembled before (Carter and Sean Bridgers of The Woman, Larry Fessenden, Sean Young, The Girl Next Door’s Daniel Manche) and behind (producers Lucky McKee, Andrew van den Houten, and Robert Tonino) the lens.





27.
Babadook, The (2014) d. Kent, Jennifer (Australia) (1st viewing) 93 min

A troubled widow (Isolation’s Essie Davis) wrestles with her own mental and emotional stability as well as that of her seven-year-old son (Daniel Henshall), a struggle exacerbated by the titular malevolent presence invoked by the reading of a children’s book. A well-crafted tale of haunting and psychological breakdown, one that nearly does itself a disservice by amping up the chills so early that it has nowhere to go. Davis is outstanding in a showcase role, with the young Henshall providing marvelous support. Expanding her terrifying 2005 short film Monster , which concerned a similar creature residing in a boy's closet, writer/director Kent seems poised to take her rightful place within the hearts of the horror faithful.





28.
Battery, The (2012) d. Gardner, Jeremy (USA) (2nd viewing) 100 min

After having praised it so highly last year and conducting an enthusiastic interview with Gardner for H101 and HorrorHound Magazine, I was a little leery about revisiting last year’s festival fave. My concerns were unwarranted, as it holds up extremely well a second time around. Granted, some of the dialogue comes off a little stilted and it probably doesn’t need to go on quite as long as it does, but it’s still one of the finest independent undead efforts in the last five years.





29.
Tools of Ignorance: Making The Battery (2014) d. Bacco, Matt / Stella, Elise (USA) (1st viewing) 90 min

A terrific homespun reflection on the creative process, battling budgets and one another, the cast and crew assemble to dish on one another and collectively celebrate their surprise success. Makes for a great double header (or double tap, depending on your tastes).
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OCTOBER MOVIE CHALLENGE (10/15 – 10/16)

October 17, 2014, 9:04 am
$
0
0
Challenge Totals to Date:

Movies Watched Today: 5
Total Movies Watched: 34
Total First Time Views: 9
Amount raised: $202.39

Today's showcased SCARE-A-THON Charity: 

THE INNOCENCE PROJECT, sponsored by Fawn Krisenthia

To showcase your charity, send an email to drach101@gmail.com with your pledge amount and the charity's website!


10/15

30.
The Craft (1996) d. Fleming, Andrew (USA) (2nd viewing) 101 min

“Now is the time, now is the hour. Ours is the magic, ours is the power.” The shallow spell spoken by the film’s comely quartet of teen witches matches its cinematic impact perfectly—not terribly inspired, but it does the job. When new student Sarah (Robin Tunney) falls in with a trio of “dark girls” (Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell, Rachel True), they are soon dabbling in the dark arts with squealing abandon. Courtesy of a relatively chintzy ritual, the feminine foursome conjure “Manon, the Spirit of All Things” to allay their personal hardships (poverty, racism, romance, physical scars). At first, everything seems rosy as the supernatural forces work in their favor. However, the desires to sample blacker magic create a rift with Sarah’s “natural witch” and the breezy movie turns marginally malevolent as the conflict escalates. Director Fleming, who shares screenplay credit with Peter Filardi, attempts to create dizzying atmosphere with circle-happy camerawork, the results ranging from effective to intrusive. With well-done special effects (for the time) and capable performances from its attractive cast (the dynamic Balk fares best, with Campbell and True bland by comparison), this is a pleasant enough time-waster, but the film’s emotional depth never extends beyond that of its not-quite-adult characters.




10/16


31.
Restoration/Air Conditions (2014/2012) d. Oliver, Ryan (USA) (1st viewing) 80 min

This pairing of rising Midwestern filmmaker Oliver’s short subjects makes for a terrific double header, as both feature blue-collar male protagonists wrestling with older pieces of machinery with tense and terrifying results. The first, Restoration, sees muscular gearhead Brant McCrea picking up a rusted-out 1950 Fleetline Deluxe from its rustic resting place in the country, ignoring former owner William J. Norris’ veiled warnings about its dark history. Upon its arrival at McCrea’s Chicago garage, the murderous spirit of a young girl connected to the vehicle makes her presence known, with greasy, gory results. The cinematography by Marcel Morin is absolutely stunning; ditto Gregor Mortis’ witty, gritty sound design. But it is Oliver’s overall aesthetic that truly demands attention, combining graphic gore (courtesy of Cirque FX) and elegiac slow-motion shots within a testosterone-laced, beer-and-sweat-soaked atmosphere. Similarly, Air Conditions places gruff workaday hero John Fenner Mays atop a high rise apartment to repair a faulty A/C unit, only to have his hand trapped by a puddle of mysterious goo. This simplistic set-up earns an impressive degree of suspense – think 127 Hours by way of The Collector and you’re on the right track – capped by a hilariously sinister WTF reveal. Oliver is the real deal, and I’m stoked to see what else his twisted artistry has in store.





32.
Nightmares (aka Stage Fright) (1980) d. Lamond, John (Australia) (1st viewing) 79 min

This mixed-bag Australian slasher seizes upon its location, that of a sumptuously ornate theatre house, and attempts to wring cheap thrills out of it. The script by Colin Eggleston (who directed the superb Long Weekend two years prior) presents a very slim and gimmicky premise: after a young girl inadvertently contributes to her mother’s accidental death by way of broken windshield glass, the poor waif henceforth associates sex (mum was dallying with her beau while driving) with bloodshed, and proceeds to mow down anyone in her vicinity engaging in carnality. Strangely, Lamond elects to keep the identity of the killer a “mystery” throughout, even though we see Helen (Jenny Neumann) clearly having flashbacks to the crimes after they occur and we know she’s the one with the sex/glass hang-up. Oh, did I mention that all the murders are committed with shards of glass, necessitating the shattering of random window panes and bottles immediately beforehand? Wouldn’t you think that would eliminate the element of surprise essential to any successful serial killer? One of those 80s flicks where you just have to switch off the brain and enjoy the boobs, buns, and blood, of which there are plenty.





33.
Sweet Sixteen (1983) d. Sotos, Jim (USA) (1st viewing) 88 min

A confused and lackadaisical slasher enlivened by imaginative poster art and a great cast. Following a young teen’s murder, the small community is thrown into an uproar, whipping up tensions between the various social groups making up the populace. Bo Hopkins is on hand as the sheriff, trying to keep Don Stroud’s beer-swilling good ol’ boy from tangling with Don Shanks’ virile no-nonsense Native American, and Patrick MacNee and Susan Strasberg’s stuff socialites cry for justice while their saucy daughter Aleisa Shirley takes onscreen showers, skinny dips, and wears as little as possible. Friday the 13th Part III’s Dana Kimmell plays Hopkins’ teen Sherlock daughter. Not bad, but not good.





34.
Asmodexia (2014) d. Carreté, Marc (Spain) (1st viewing) 81 min

Intriguing if meandering demonic drama presents an elder religious leader Eloy (Lluis Marco) and his granddaughter Alba (Claudia Pons) heading toward a destined confrontation with their spiritual opponents, set during the week of Dec 21, 2012. (You know, when the Mayan calendar ran out.) While there aren’t many legitimate scares and trying to keep track of who is on whose side and which flashback applies to whose memory might require a scorecard on the viewer’s part, the performances are strong, the atmosphere thick, and locations exotic.
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OCTOBER MOVIE CHALLENGE (10/17)

October 18, 2014, 11:28 am
$
0
0
Challenge Totals to Date:

Movies Watched Today: 3
Total Movies Watched: 37
Total First Time Views: 11
Amount raised: $266.40

Today's showcased SCARE-A-THON Charity: 

LCC K9 COMFORT DOGS, sponsored by Mark Matzke


To showcase your charity, send an email to drach101@gmail.com with your pledge amount and the charity's website!



35.
Van Helsing (2004) d. Sommers, Stephen (USA) (2nd viewing) 132 min

A thundering, crashing exhibition of bloated Hollywood razzle dazzle that missteps so many times there must have been a bet on. Writer/director Sommers, who previously exhibited (relative) good sense reworking classic movie monsters in The Mummy and The Mummy Returns, operates here under the assumption that more is more and ye gods, is he ever off the mark. Turning the dignified vampire expert into wisecracking action hero Hugh Jackman was a dubious call to begin with, but we soon learn that he doesn’t limit his bounty hunting to the bloodsuckers. Heck, he’ll hunt anything that was ever in Universal’s film vaults, including Frankenstein’s Monster, Igor, werewolves, vampirettes, and the big baddie himself, Dracula. (If he could have found the Invisible Man, he probably would have taken a poke at him, too.) A whirling fizzle of special effects, convoluted plot, substandard wire-work, cartoonish CGI, and lame one-liners, this is an affront to classic horror fans everywhere, showing no respect for the past and no inspiration in the present. Kate Beckinsale is fetching but vapid in her corset and tight pants, Richard Roxburgh plays the head undead as a sullen shrieking bore, and Jackman wrestles with his costumes and curiously futuristic firepower. That sound you hear is Edward Van Sloan and Peter Cushing rolling over in their graves. Rest easy, boys.





36.
The Squad (2011) d. Marquez, Jaime Osorio (Argentina/Spain/Colombia) (1st viewing) 107 min

A premise with promise is nothing without proper execution. That’s the lesson to be learned from this exercise in military horror, one that covers nary an inch of fresh ground that GP 506, The Bunker, Deathwatch, The Objective, and any number of its cinematic band of brothers haven’t already explored with varying degrees of success. The titular squad of soldiers seizes a deserted Colombian guard-post only to discover that their former comrades have been brutally and mysteriously slain, the only survivor being a terrified mute woman. Again, a solid jumping off place, but Marquez spends the next 90 minutes abusing his depth-of-field lenses (seriously, if I had a nickel for every tracking shot with someone’s head in the center of the frame and blurry shapes in a halo around him, I’d have the budget for another, better movie), and narratively running in place and around in circles. There are sporadic moments of violence, amidst the brow furrowing and jaw tensing tedium, as the squad is predictably whittled down, but mostly I was just waiting for something – anything – to happen. The closing credits stinger hints at what might have been a more interesting film, but as it stands, this is a 30-minute Twilight Zone episode padded out to a near two-hour running time. It’s also a bit disheartening that Marquez can’t be bothered to reveal anything about his characters such that we might, oh, care what happens to them, focusing instead on pumping up the fog machines and keeping the lights dim. Bleah.





37.
Horror of Dracula (1958) d. Fisher, Terence (UK) (5th viewing) 82 min

The success of Hammer’s Curse of Frankenstein update made a redux of Universal’s other “Dark Twin” a foregone conclusion, and with its fresh injection of sex, blood and vampirism, Horror of Dracula announced itself as a landmark horror film, cementing Lee’s status as a rising star. As the bloodsucking Count, his formidable screen presence and striking physical prowess are well put to use, creating a Dracula that is by turns courtly, shocking, seductive, vicious, charming, and terrifying. Lee is well matched by top-billed Cushing’s charismatic turn as Van Helsing, a man as proficient with a tourniquet as he is with a hammer, stake, or a pair of candlesticks. Director Fisher keeps the action moving along nicely, and the climactic chase through Castle Dracula is probably the most exciting and memorable climax to any vampire film, full stop. With James Bernard’s epic score pounding away, Cushing and Lee leap over stairs and tables, flinging themselves at each other like two young swashbucklers. Shattering box office records around the globe, the film was so successful that distributors Universal-International gave over the remake rights to all their classic horror characters. The floodgates open, Hammer spent the next two decades sating fans’ newfound taste for flesh and blood with sequels, remakes, variations on classic tales, and Psycho-inspired b/w thrillers. . .many starring Lee, the original Tall Man.
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OCTOBER MOVIE CHALLENGE (10/18 - 10/19)

October 20, 2014, 6:47 am
$
0
0
Challenge Totals to Date:

Movies Watched Today: 8
Total Movies Watched: 45
Total First Time Views: 10
Amount raised: $324.00

Today's showcased SCARE-A-THON Charity: 

DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS, sponsored by Kevin Theis and Siri Buurma


To showcase your charity, send an email to drach101@gmail.com with your pledge amount and the charity's website!



10/18 

38.
The Brides of Dracula (1960) d. Fisher, Terence (UK) (3rd viewing) 85 min

More explicit than its predecessor in terms of the vampire’s sexual allure and, ahem, potency of his bite, this Christopher Lee-free installment features a brand new vampire threat for Peter Cushing’s intrepid Van Helsing, that of Baron Meinster (David Peel). Chained up by his aristocratic mother (Martita Hunt), the dashing villain is loosed from his bonds by a comely young schoolteacher (Yvonne Monlaur, ridiculously full lips, cat eyes, and oh-so-fetching French accent compensating somewhat for her vacant thesping) and soon the countryside is crawling with fetching fanged femmes (Andree Melly and Marie Devereux). In addition, there are some delicious supporting turns, including Michael Ripper’s fevered coachman, Miles Malleson’s eccentric physician, and Freda Jackson as Peel’s crony familiar. Directed with skill and panache by Fisher, Brides is deserving of more attention than many of the later sequels; it’s probably the second-best Dracula film Hammer ever produced during its long reign, filled with action, surprises, and a wingding windmill climax showcasing Van Helsing’s ingenuity and athleticism.





39.
Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) d. Fisher, Terence (UK) (4th viewing) 90 min

Following the triumph of Horror of Dracula, Lee avoided donning the fangs again for fear of typecasting (witness Bela Lugosi). He was eventually lured back into the cowl eight years (and a pile of cash) later for this rather predictable tale of two vacationing English couples who wander into the Count’s almost-but-not-quite deserted castle in search of a good stake dinner. Andrew Kier’s gruff Father Sandor respectably takes up the vampire hunting duties in place of the absent Cushing, and Barbara Shelley’s vivid character arc from priggish prude to prowling predator is a distinct highlight. However, Lee’s dialogue was reputedly so clumsy that he refused to utter a word of it, reducing his performance to a series of hisses, stares, and gestures. Even so, his substantial screen presence resonated with audiences, the film was another gigantic hit, and he eventually returned to the role four more times under the Hammer banner.





40.
Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968) d. Francis, Freddie (UK) (3rd viewing) 92 min

Though Hammer had churned out several sequels and spin-offs over the previous 10 years, there was no denying the Count’s marquee value. Lee’s third go-round as the big D occasionally paints by numbers, but still manages to inject some fresh ideas into the mix. A direct follow-up to Prince of Darkness, Lee is revived from beneath icy waters by a rivulet of blood dripping from a priest’s cut forehead; finding his castle sanctified, he sets out to make life Hell for resident Monsignor Mueller (Rupert Davies), his niece Maria (Veronica Carlson), and her atheist sweetheart Paul (Barry Andrews). Screenwriter Anthony Hinds (as “John Elder”) plays fast and loose with the legend, which allows for some surprising moments (such as when Lee is staked. . .and pulls the sucker out!) The appealing cast and Francis’ fleet-footed direction make this an enjoyable Gothic programmer, and the last cohesive Hammer Dracula pic.





41.
Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970) d. Sasdy, Peter (UK) (3rd viewing) 91 min

For Lee, 1970 was The Year of The Cape – hard upon completing Jess Franco’s Count Dracula (complete with mustache, as per Stoker’s novel), he was coerced into yet another installment of Hammer’s long running series. Due to the star’s increasing reluctance (and salary demands), Hammer exec Anthony Hinds had scripted a Dracula film without Dracula, planning to have Ralph Bates take over as the Count’s dark disciple. When Warner Bros. refused to back the film without him, Lee submitted to the cowl once again. Even so, the character operates very much on the periphery, the “sins of the fathers visited upon their children, then visited back on the parents” theme providing the narrative thrust. The subversive acts of comely youth Linda Hayden, Isla Blair, and Martin Jarvis doing in dads Geoffrey Keen, Peter Sallis, and John Carson (as Lee performs a superfluous countdown: “The first... The second... The third...") eventually culminate in the zaniest finale of the entire franchise. But wait, there’s more...



10/19



42.
Scars of Dracula (1970) d. Baker, Roy Ward (UK) (3rd viewing) 96 min

Lee wrapped up his exceedingly busy year (10 films!) with yet another toothy offering, this time revived by - wait for it - a vampire bat puking up blood onto the ashes left at the conclusion of Taste. (Yep, never a dull moment in Hammerland.) As if they knew the well was running dry, Hinds and director Baker start seemingly throwing anything and everything at the wall to see what sticks. Insane swarm of rubber vampire bats attacking parishioners? Check. Flimsy sets visibly shaking as villagers trundle through? Check. Dracula scaling castle walls like a spider, whipping the hell out of servant Patrick Troughton, and stabbing Anouska Hempel with a rubber knife? Check, check, and booiing! For sheer exploitation goodness, Scars is never boring, but even as the Count bursts into lightning-borne flame in the final reel, it was clear the main vein was running dry.





43.
Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972) d. Gibson, Alan (UK) (3rd viewing) 96 min

Taking a cue from Bob Kelljan’s modern-setting vampire smash, Count Yorga - Vampire, Hammer sought to enliven their foundering flagship by bringing everyone’s favorite bloodsucker into the present day. Further shoring up marquee value, Cushing was persuaded to return as Van Helsing, granting fans a chance to see the old rivals square off again. Despite oft-heard groans about the mod nubiles’ grating “hip” dialogue and the fact that vampire lore is again transmogrified to suit the occasion (silver for vampires?), there’s still plenty for aficionados to enjoy. Cases in point: the delicious Caroline Munro and Stephanie Beacham, Christopher Neame’s underrated “Johnny Alucard,” Lee and Cushing’s breathtaking prologue sequence, Stoneground’s awesome musical stylings... (Okay, okay, I kid, I kid.) Neither unmitigated disaster nor unqualified success, A.D. 1972 is an apt metaphor for Hammer at the time – a once-powerful giant trying to adapt in a strange new world.





44.
The Satanic Rites of Dracula (aka Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride) (1973) d. Gibson, Alan (UK) (3rd viewing) 87 min

Lee’s final fanged appearance for Hammer goes much, much further into the bonkers-verse than any Dracula effort ever dreamed before. Picking up two years after the events of the previous film, Cushing’s Van Helsing character learns that a mysterious organization (run by a Howard Hughes-type billionaire) is designing a virus to wipe out humanity in toto. It’s no surprise to learn the hermit-like mogul is Dracula (played by guess who) – what is surprising is how much the audience is just expected to go along with Don Houghton’s breakneck narrative. Where did Dracula get all those sheepskin vest-wearing, motorcycle-riding henchman? Where’d his infinite wealth come from? How’d he come back from the grave in the first place? Why’s he trying to wipe out his food source? It’s best not to get caught up looking for logic and just enjoy the pairing of these two titans of terror who, in spite of the insanity and inanity, are game as ever, determined to ride this bus to its thorny end.





45.
Dracula (1979) d. Badham, John (USA) (3rd viewing) 109 min

Following a long weekend in Hammerland, I was obliged to honor the femalien’s request to revisit her favorite childhood Count, and it’s not hard to understand why. Fresh off his Broadway triumph in the role, a young and handsome Frank Langella smirks and smolders his way into the hearts of heroines Jan Francis and Kate Nelligan, leaving the former bitten and drained, the latter smitten and stained with his tainted blood. Donald Pleasance provides a busy and eccentric turn as Dr. Seward, head of the local loony bin, while Laurence Olivier lends estimable gravitas as an aging but feisty Van Helsing, wrestling with undead demons and an unplaceable European accent (Dutch? Swiss? German?) with equal fervor. Dismissed during its original release as lacking in horror elements – and I’m sure the laser beam-accented love scene between Nelligan and Langella didn’t do them any favors – this is decidedly more romantic thriller than monster movie. That said, it’s exquisitely realized with superb production values, and though I could have done without the final bat-kite mo-mo, it’s a more-than-worthy entry in the undead nobleman’s cinematic legacy.
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OCTOBER MOVIE CHALLENGE (10/20)

October 21, 2014, 8:12 am
$
0
0
Challenge Totals to Date:

Movies Watched Today: 4
Total Movies Watched: 49
Total First Time Views: 13
Amount raised: $352.80

Today's showcased SCARE-A-THON Charity:

SMART – START MAKING A READER TODAY, sponsored by Patrick Mathewes


To showcase your charity, send an email to drach101@gmail.com with your pledge amount and the charity's website!




46.
End of the Line (2007) d. Devereaux, Maurice (Canada) (1st viewing) 95 min

An impressive and thought-provoking flick from our neighbors to the north, showing once again that budgetary constraints are no excuse for substandard storytelling. A group of transit riders find themselves caught up in a religious cult’s uprising, fleeing for their lives from the blade-bearing bible thumpers through Toronto’s desolate subway tunnels. The impressive practical gore effects and overall execution of writer/producer/director Devereaux’s concept balance out the occasionally iffy performances, and though the “Whaaaaaaaa…?” ending might leave some viewers cold, it’s worth starting the film over for a revisit of the opening 10 minutes to help things click into focus. (Hint: keep an eye on the muffins.) I've chosen the original concept poster art above, as the official DVD cover makes it look like a "monster in the subway" creature feature - I understand why they changed it, anticipating outcry from Christian audiences, but it's a much stronger image and more accurate depiction of the film's subject matter.





47.
The Willies (1990) d. Peck, Brian (USA) (1st viewing) 91 min

Most anthology efforts are uneven by their very nature, but this one really defines the term. Starting off promisingly with two brothers (Jason Horst, Joshua Miller) backyard camping with their cousin (Sean Astin), the trio attempts to top one another with a variety of short (and gross) anecdotes, each lasting only a few minutes and with titles like “Tennessee Frickasee” “Haunted Estate” and “Poodle Soufflé.” Following the opening credits, we get into the meat of the matter with “Bad Apples” about a bullied schoolboy (Ian Fried) who discovers an unforeseen ally in the form of a likeable custodian (James Karen), only to discover that the broom-pusher has a darker, scalier side. The rubber monster (designed by William Stout of Tony Gardner’s Alterian Studios) is fun and cheesy, and there’s a fair amount of graphic splatter to be enjoyed. Unfortunately, the second story, “Flyboy,” lasts nearly an hour and takes a long while to go a short distance in depicting slovenly adolescent sociopath Gordy Belcher (Michael Bower) who spends an inordinate amount of time pulling wings off flies and placing them in elaborate dioramas (castles, churches, diners). There’s also a subplot (in a short subject?) about a farmer with a mysterious fertilizer that causes gigantism, a detail that pays off in the finale, but like our central figure, the overall piece needed to lose some weight. Trivia: writer/director Brian Peck appeared as “Scuz” in the 1985 horror/comedy classic The Return of the Living Dead.





48.
Grim Prairie Tales (1990) d. Coe, Wayne (USA) (1st viewing) 83 min

A surprisingly underrated portmanteau film, considering its impressive cast and worthy storytelling. Set in the proverbial Old West, tenderfoot Brad Dourif’s campfire peace is disturbed by ragged bounty hunter James Earl Jones’ intrusion. The odd couple proceeds to bellow and challenge one another in enjoyably colorful fashion, then gets down to the business at hand – that of spinning dark and mysterious tales to chill the bones and “make bats fly out of your ears.” The first follows a roaming trapper (Will Hare, aka “Grampa” from Silent Night Deadly Night) who stumbles through an ancient Indian burial ground with predictably calamitous results. Next is a boy-meets-pregnant-girl story (Mark McClure and Michelle Joyner) that culminates in an ain’t-seen-that-before “climax,” followed by the darkest of the tales, that of a young girl’s emotional dilemma upon discovering her loving papa (William Atherton) is a murderous, lynching racist. The final tale unfolds the mysterious aftermath of a lethal duel with a deadeye gunslinger (Scott Paulson) haunted by his bested foe, featuring some wild hallucinogenic animation by Anthony Zierhut and writer/director Coe animation. Jones’s final closing-credits line (and delivery thereof) is a winner.





49.
Aliens (1986) d. Cameron, James (USA) (6th viewing) 137 min

What could be more nail-biting than Ridley Scott’s Alien? More Aliens, of course. What could easily have been an unmitigated cash-grab disaster turns into cinematic gold in the hands of writer/director James Cameron, who delivers that rare and wonderful thing: a sequel that actually rivals its predecessor. The action picks up fifty-seven years later, with Nostromo’s lone survivor, Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), found drifting in suspended animation. Upon awakening, she reveals her encounter with the creature, only to discover that industrious business types have colonized the infected planet, now dubbed LV-426. When contact with the colonists is lost, a gung-ho group of space Marines is sent to assess and rectify the situation, with Ripley reluctantly accompanying as advisor. The sharply directed film places its emphasis on explosive action and suspense, and the memorable heroes and villains (human and otherwise) in Cameron’s script are colorfully fleshed out by his game and willing cast (including Michael Biehn, Jennette Goldstein, Paul Reiser, Lance Henriksen, and a scene-stealing Bill Paxton). Weaver returns to the role with a vengeance, creating a multi-layered character that believably evolves from frightened victim to machine-gun toting heroine, her efforts earning her an Oscar nomination for Best Actress (astounding not only for the genre, but for a sequel, no less.) Stan Winston – part of the film’s Oscar-winning visual effects team that also included Robert Skotak, John Richardson, and Suzanne M. Benson – pulls out all the stops, giving us hordes of ill-tempered aliens that assault the human infantry with breathtaking ferocity, and the climatic showdown between Ripley and the mother of all Aliens is one for the ages.
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OCTOBER MOVIE CHALLENGE (10/21)

October 22, 2014, 9:51 am
$
0
0
Challenge Totals to Date:

Movies Watched Today: 5
Total Movies Watched: 54
Total First Time Views: 13
Amount raised: $415.80

Today's showcased SCARE-A-THON Charity:

SEASCOUTS CHICAGO - SHIP 5111, sponsored by Drew Martin

(You can donate directly to their PayPal accountby sending to purser@ship5111.org)

To showcase your charity, send an email to drach101@gmail.com with your pledge amount and the charity's website!



50.
The Last Man on Earth (1964) d. Ragona, Ubaldo/Salkow, Sidney (Italy/USA) (3rd viewing) 87 min

“Another day to live through. Better get started.” From its opening shots of barren city landscapes littered with lifeless corpses to its bleak conclusion, the first screen version of Richard Matheson’s novel I am Legend is a downer all the way. But considering the subject matter, this is no surprise, and director Ragona (with additional material inserted by Salkow for its U.S. run) is to be lauded for remaining true to Matheson’s apocalyptic spirit. Following a worldwide plague that transforms the living into vampiric undead, lone survivor Robert Morgan (Vincent Price) spends days dispatching former friends and neighbors with wooden stakes and nights tearfully watching home movies while the infected batter away at his barricaded home. The stark black-and-white scenes of shambling undead, some former loved ones, cannot help but conjure images of Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (still half a decade away). Through haunting voice-over, Price projects the appropriately weary tone of a man isolated for nearly three years, torn between apathy and a base animalistic desire to survive, even if his less-than-athletic screen presence makes him an unlikely and/or unconvincing hero at times. (In the face of Uncle Vincent’s limp-wristed stake-pounding, one cannot help but imagine what Peter Cushing – originally considered for the role – might have done with it.) The flashback sequences of the plague’s early days never quite pack the punch they should, due to the cast’s oddly mannered acting, but with the help of a strong third-act twist, the film musters an ending both tragic and satisfying. An admirable effort overall, leaps and bounds ahead of 1971’s The Omega Man and 2007’s I am Legend based on the same material.





51.
The Tomb of Ligeia (1964) d. Corman, Roger (UK) (3rd viewing) 82 min

The last of Corman’s Poe adaptations is certainly one of the best-looking, due to terrific exteriors shot in the English countryside (the notoriously tight-fisted producer/director was looking to explore a different look from the previous studio-bound installments). Adapted from Poe’s slim story “Ligeia” by future Oscar-winning scribe Robert Towne, the film revels in its morbid gothic atmosphere and excellent performances. In the midst of a well-photographed foxhunt, the Lady Rowena (Elizabeth Shepherd) comes across grieving widower Verden Fell (Vincent Price) and his groovy period shades. Immediately drawn to his mysterious nature, she insinuates herself into his life, and the two happily court and marry. Following their honeymoon, however, she observes the return of her husband’s dark mood, accompanied by increasingly strange behavior. Under hypnosis, she reveals Price’s darkest fear: The spirit of his previous wife, the dark, exotic Ligeia (also played by Shepherd), is intermittently inhabiting the body of his new bride, fulfilling her dying curse that she “would be his only wife.” If all this seems a little much, it is, with Corman and Towne blatantly borrowing elements from previous AIPoe outings (hallucinatory dream sequences, black cats, fiery climax). But the costumes and sets look great, and Price dives into the role of madman clinging to sanity with his usual aplomb, ably matched by Shepherd in her dual roles of tormentor and savior.





52.
House on Haunted Hill (1959) d. Castle, William (USA) (5th viewing) 74 min

This classic fright-fest frivolity from producer/director Castle stars Vincent Price as eccentric millionaire Frederick Loren, offering $10,000 to five diverse guests if they can spend the entire night in the titular haunted house; thrills and chills ensue. Castle has never been more adept at creating straight-faced spooky atmosphere, and Robb White’s snaky screenplay provides characters and mystery adequate to hold our attention through the film’s zippy running time. Doors creak open and slam shut, decapitated heads appear and disappear, and vats of acid bubble deliciously in the cellar, with a wonderfully cheesy skeleton topping off the delightful buffet. The mental (and sometimes physical) tug-of-war between Loren and willful wife Annabelle (Carol Ohmart) provides an additional layer of tension to the proceedings. Their beleaguered guests include Richard Long’s dashing jet pilot and cute Carolyn Craig (a great screamer, though not much more should be asked of her). Elisha Cook, Jr. is top-drawer as a frightened mouse of a man, alternating between shots of whiskey to ease his frazzled nerves and doom-filled warnings to anyone who’ll listen. This is the film where eternal showman Castle revealed his classic “Emergo” stunt of flying a skeleton on wires over theatre patrons, but even without gimmicks the film stands strong on its own, supplying equal measures of eerie jolts and campy fun. (Favorite moment: the floating servant woman.)





53.
Return of the Fly (1959) d. Bernds, Edward (USA) 4th viewing) 86 min

Philippe Delambre (Brett Halsey) follows in his father’s buzzy footsteps by resurrecting the transporter machine – much to the chagrin of Uncle Francois (Vincent Price) – only to be pitched into it alongside another winged traveler by his duplicitous business partner (David Frankham). As a straight-ahead goofy ’50s monster movie, this thoroughly laughable sequel to the previous year’s classic is undeniably entertaining, but for all the wrong reasons. Rather than a true follow-up, it’s best seen as a parody, with a multitude of goddawful effects, unintentional comedy, cartoonishly huge fly heads, and plot inconsistencies galore. From Halsey’s inexplicable entomophobic histrionics to the detective/guinea pig switcheroo to the matted fly photo with Halsey’s head stuck on it crying “Help me!” (minus the corresponding arm and leg that should be on there, considering his humanoid counterpart), Bernds’ script is a litany of ridiculousness from start to finish, played admirably straight by all involved. Terrible, but Turkey-liciously so.





54.
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) d. Aldrich, Robert (USA) (3rd viewing) 134 min

Former Shirley Temple-like child star Baby Jane Hudson (Bette Davis) fails to transition successfully into adult fare, her good fortune only sustained by her warm and benevolent sister Blanche (Joan Crawford). But after a tragic auto accident leaves Blanche crippled, both their careers come to a screeching halt. . .whereupon their screeching co-habitation begins with Jane’s increasing alcoholism and sadism tipping her ever-closer to madness. The teaming of “over-the-hill” stars Davis and Crawford (54 and 56 at the time, respectively) as the two embittered siblings combined with Ernest Haller’s stark black-and-white was a surprise smash hit, launching a mini-wave of “hag horror” (or “psycho-biddy”) offerings such as The Nanny, Die! Die! My Darling!, Strait-Jacket, and Aldrich’s own Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte. Victor Buono, after years of episodic guest spots, makes his first credited big screen appearance here as a fussy English pianist recruited by Jane to revive her act, and the two misfits’ interactions provide the necessary viewer empathy for Davis’ otherwise harpy-like antagonist. The on-set tension between the two leading ladies is the stuff of legend, detailed in Shaun Considine’s 1989 book, Bette & Joan: The Divine Feud.

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OCTOBER MOVIE CHALLENGE (10/22)

October 23, 2014, 7:31 am
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Challenge Totals to Date:

Movies Watched Today: 4
Total Movies Watched: 58
Total First Time Views: 13
Amount raised: $446.60

Today's showcased SCARE-A-THON Charity:

THE LEUKEMIA & LYMPHOMA SOCIETY, sponsored by John Pata

To showcase your charity, send an email to drach101@gmail.com with your pledge amount and the charity's website!


55.
The Raven (1963) d. Corman, Roger (USA) (7th viewing) 86 min

A childhood fave that continues to hold up half a century later, thanks to the game comic performances from screen scream veterans Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, and Peter Lorre. Concerned that they might be repeating themselves, Corman and screenwriter Richard Matheson opted to spin the dark and forlorn premise of Poe’s best-known poem into an extravagant slapstick romp involving quarreling wizards, magic spells, duplicitous wives, and warnings from beyond the grave. A young Jack Nicholson is also on hand, and his hilarious interplay with onscreen patriarch Lorre provides many of the biggest laughs. Price is clearly in his element, smirking and mugging away, but Karloff’s subtler facial expressions and gestures often manage to upstage both of his hammier co-stars. Lovely Hazel Court isn’t given as much to do as Price’s not-so-much-lost-as-loose Lenore, but she makes the most of her vain and self-serving temptress, while blonde and bland Olive Sturgess is serviceable as the requisite ingénue. The frothy blast concludes with a memorable wizards’ duel, each jousting spell more charming than the previous, and brought to vivid realization by effects man Pat Dinga.





56.
The Comedy of Terrors (1963) d. Tourneur, Jacques (USA) (2nd viewing) 83 min

After the success of The Raven, AIP attempted to tap the comic vein a second time but with decidedly diminished returns, both artistically and financially. The premise of a funeral home recycling its one coffin and occasionally helping the town’s populace into them is an amusingly dark one, but despite its terrific veteran cast, the comedy feels much more forced and mean-spirited, with Price’s tyrannical drunken lout snarking at underling Lorre and wife Joyce Jameson (who had memorably appeared opposite the two stars in “The Black Cat” episode of that year’s Tales of Terror). Karloff is back as well, but given little opportunity to shine, relegated to “what’s that?” deaf jokes and snoozing under those distinctive bushy eyebrows. One can understand the temptation to flip the antagonistic relationship between Price and Lorre, but it just doesn’t play as well as watching the little fireplug tear into Uncle Vincent towering above him. Not to say there aren’t a few amusing moments, such as Jameson’s ear-and-glass shattering attempts at opera and Basil Rathbone’s Macbeth-spouting cataleptic that just won’t stay dead, but it’s surprising that screenwriter Richard Matheson couldn’t have come up with better zingers than simply having Price endlessly bellow “Shut up!” Great title, though.





57.
Witchfinder General (aka The Conqueror Worm) (1968) d. Reeves, Michael (UK) (5th viewing) 86 min

Price dials it waaay down as misanthropic real-life 17th-century witch hunter Matthew Hopkins under the guiding hand of up-and-comer Reeves, and though the tension on set between the young upstart and the screen veteran, the result is one of the finest and most chilling performances of the horror icon’s career. Aided by a solid ensemble that includes Ian Oglivy, Hilary Heath, Rupert Davies, and Robert Russell, Witchfinder would prove to be the final film for Reeves who, after having achieved his masterpiece following two interesting if flawed efforts (The She Beast and The Sorcerers), died of a drug overdose in early 1969. A true horror classic, this is certainly one of the finest genre pictures distributed by the AIP umbrella (co-produced by Tigon). The slightly rejiggered American release, The Conqueror Worm, opened and closed with Price narrating passages from the Poe poem in voiceover in an attempt to tie it into their AIPoe series, which added an unfortunate bookend of hamminess to an otherwise dead serious production. (Superior poster art, however.)


Despite being shorn of some nudity from the uncut UK print, MGM’s Region 1 DVD release in 2008 was cause for rejoicing for the film’s long-overdue home video presence, with Shout! Factory’s high-def upgrade (as part of last year’s Vincent Price Collection box set) doubly so. Heath’s hysterical screams over the final credits will haunt you for days. Highly Recommended.





58.
Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972) d. Fuest, Robert (USA) (3rd viewing) 89 min

After the surprise hit of the original Phibes, Fuest and Price returned for another go-round of mirthful murderous mayhem, this time with the mad doctor hoping to revive his lost love via a sacred papyrus scroll and the mythical “River of Life” in Egypt. Robert Quarry co-stars as a millionaire equally consumed with the river’s life-restoring properties, one not at all amused by Price’s propensity for knocking off his expedition members through varied outlandish means. As before, myriad elaborate murder scenes are the highlights, with victims stung by scorpions, blasted by sand, and jugged in giant gin bottles, though expectant viewers may express some chagrin at the lack of a pervasive theme – it’s simply “kill ‘em all and make it extravagant.” By the same token, the black comedy in Fuest and Robert Blees’ script is much better incorporated, with everyone seemingly in on the joke this time around. Price, allowed to smirk and waggle eyebrows as he enjoys fine champagne through his neck-port, is clearly having more fun, and the always game Quarry makes for a formidable foe. Phibes’ assistant Vulnavia (now pronounced “Vul-nay-via”, rather than “Vul-nah-via”) is played by Australian beauty Valli Kemp, while Peter Cushing and Terry-Thomas make brief appearances (with Caroline Munro again unbilled as Phibes’ beloved, despite numerous close-ups. Strange, what?) In the end, the sequel actually surpasses its predecessor for sheer entertainment, while never quite matching its intellect. (The following year’s Theatre of Blood manages to combine all of the above, and remains my personal favorite of the three.)
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