dir Adam Wingard, Davis Bruckner, Ti West, Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg, Radio Silence cast Calvin Reeder, Lane Hughes, Kentucker Adley, Adam Wingard, Hannah Fierman, Joe Swanberg, Sophia Takal, Norma C. Quinones, Helen Rogers, Daniel Kaufman, Nicole Erb
A revival of the old portmanteau format made famous by Dead of Night (1946) and the films of Amicus Productions in the 60s and 70s, crossed with the found-footage style of The Blair Witch Project (1999) and Paranormal Activity (2007), this is an uneven, but frequently entertaining mix.
In the wrapaound segment, "Tape 56", directed by Wingard, a group of thugs who make money filming their own acts of vandalism and assault sneak into a house to steal a videotape wanted by a mysterious employer. They find a corpse and a stack of VHS tapes that they then watch, hoping to discover the one they are searching for. The rest of the segments, of course, represent the contents of the tapes they watch.
In "Amateur Night", directed by Bruckner, a bunch of drunken slimeballs go out on the town, hoping for easy sex. Unfortunately for them, they pick up the wrong girl and meet a very bloody, but richly-deserved, fate. This segment has obvious strengths and weaknesses. The main drawback is that we actually have to spend time with the bar-crawling idiots, which is even more painful than the horrors that are inflicted upon them at the end of the segment. Of course, watching scummy characters get what's coming to them seems to be a major trope in recent horror, but I think these guys are even more annoying than intended. On the other hand, Hannah Fierman does a masterful job playing the monster. Slim, pop-eyed, and spacy, she's exactly what a supernatural creature masquerading as human would be if such a thing were to turn up on the real world.
"Second Honeymoon" is the most restrained of the bunch. This is not surprising as the director is Ti West who in The House of the Devil (2009) and The Innkeepers (2011), directed two of the most Lewtonesque horror films of recent years. Two young marrieds traveling through the West on vacation are stalked, unknown to them, by a plastic-masked figure with a very large knife. What does this person want from them? This was somewhat conventional, but played to a satisfying conclusion.
The less said about the Glenn McQuaid-directed "Tuesday the 17th", the better. The only good thing about this one is that it's short. Three kids travel to a small lake where a series of brutal murders took place not long ago. You can guess the rest. Just another cookie-cutter 80's slasher cut down to 20 minutes.
The most notable thing about "The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger" is that we see it through Skype, rather than a hand-held camera. A young woman has regular conversations with a lifelong male friend in anticipation of his imminent visit. He is able to see through her computer that a strange presence seems to be haunting her apartment. No points for guessing that everything is most definitely not as it seems. This episode is just OK, but does feature a very good performance by Helen Rogers as Emily. She's very appealing as an emotionally fragile, but game character who seems to take the weird occurrences in stride. Nicely played. This one also features some hilariously gratuitous topless shots.
The last segment, "10/31/98", directed by the collective Radio Silence, rivals "Amateur Night" and "Second Honeymoon" as the best of the segments. A group of 20-something guys, on their way to a Halloween party in Seattle, get lost. When they think they've discovered the house, it seems deserted, but they do hear some strange noises in the attic. When they go to investigate, all hell breaks loose, almost literally.
I watched V/H/S late on a dull night on Netflix streaming, and didn't feel that I wasted 2 hours of my time. The found-footage style has definitely been overdone in recent years, but V/H/S does a good job making the style work to its advantage. It's not destined to be remembered as a classic, but is perfectly entertaining for horror fans.
Monday, May 4, 2015
The Babadook (2014)
dir Jennifer Kent cast Essie Davis, Noah Wiseman, Hayley McElhinny, Daniel Henshaw, Barbara West
Amelia (Davis) is in trouble. Almost seven years ago, her husband died in a traffic accident while rushing her to the hospital for the birth of their son, Samuel (Wiseman). She still has literal nightmares about that evening, which left her a single mother barely holding on to a soul-killing job at a retirement home. Worst of all, Samuel is a seriously troubled child. His night terrors keep Amelia up most nights, and he is obsessed with his belief that a monster is coming to harm him and his mother. His eagerness to share this information, and his home-made weapons intended to fight the monster, have caused him to be a social outcast and made him unmanageable at school. Even Amelia's sister, Claire, can't stand him. One night Samuel brings his mother a book entitled "The Babadook" for bedtime reading. Neither have ever seen the book before nor do they know how it came to be in Samuel's bookshelf. In childish rhymes, illustrated with creepy pop-ups, the book warns Amelia and Samuel that the titular monster is coming to get them. Soon, seemingly supernatural events start to happen, and things go from bad to very much worse.
This Australian indie is quite simply one of the best horror films of recent years. Its strongest aspect is the way the it constantly pulls the rug out from under the viewer. I thought I had it figured out 2 or 3 times, but it always managed to subvert my expectations. It did so intelligently; there are no deus ex machinas here. This was one of the few horror films I've seen in which I truly was unable to anticipate the outcome. The performances by Davis and Wiseman are exceptional. When the film starts out, Amelia is a pathetic victim, and Samuel is an insufferable brat, but both become very different over the course of the film, and the performers put the changes across convincingly.
The horror in the movie is intense, not from gory attacks, but from the racheting-up of tension as the Babadook begins to manifest itself more openly. There's also a very grim tone, with little attempt at humor. Even Samuel's improvised weapons, which could be the stuff of comedy in a movie with a different tone, are not played for amusement. There's a real sense of threat here, which more violent movies often fail to pull off. In The Babadook, violence is used sparingly, but is properly horrifying when it does occur. The script, written by director Kent, ensures that we care about the characters. This is one of the few horror movies I've seen that has real emotional impact. It not only has something to say, it has something worthwhile to say. It's nice to see a horror film made for intelligent adults.
This film does have several discernible influences, but it doesn't fit easily into any sub-genre and is clearly not copying any other film. It's truly unique, and it is a masterpiece.
Amelia (Davis) is in trouble. Almost seven years ago, her husband died in a traffic accident while rushing her to the hospital for the birth of their son, Samuel (Wiseman). She still has literal nightmares about that evening, which left her a single mother barely holding on to a soul-killing job at a retirement home. Worst of all, Samuel is a seriously troubled child. His night terrors keep Amelia up most nights, and he is obsessed with his belief that a monster is coming to harm him and his mother. His eagerness to share this information, and his home-made weapons intended to fight the monster, have caused him to be a social outcast and made him unmanageable at school. Even Amelia's sister, Claire, can't stand him. One night Samuel brings his mother a book entitled "The Babadook" for bedtime reading. Neither have ever seen the book before nor do they know how it came to be in Samuel's bookshelf. In childish rhymes, illustrated with creepy pop-ups, the book warns Amelia and Samuel that the titular monster is coming to get them. Soon, seemingly supernatural events start to happen, and things go from bad to very much worse.
This Australian indie is quite simply one of the best horror films of recent years. Its strongest aspect is the way the it constantly pulls the rug out from under the viewer. I thought I had it figured out 2 or 3 times, but it always managed to subvert my expectations. It did so intelligently; there are no deus ex machinas here. This was one of the few horror films I've seen in which I truly was unable to anticipate the outcome. The performances by Davis and Wiseman are exceptional. When the film starts out, Amelia is a pathetic victim, and Samuel is an insufferable brat, but both become very different over the course of the film, and the performers put the changes across convincingly.
The horror in the movie is intense, not from gory attacks, but from the racheting-up of tension as the Babadook begins to manifest itself more openly. There's also a very grim tone, with little attempt at humor. Even Samuel's improvised weapons, which could be the stuff of comedy in a movie with a different tone, are not played for amusement. There's a real sense of threat here, which more violent movies often fail to pull off. In The Babadook, violence is used sparingly, but is properly horrifying when it does occur. The script, written by director Kent, ensures that we care about the characters. This is one of the few horror movies I've seen that has real emotional impact. It not only has something to say, it has something worthwhile to say. It's nice to see a horror film made for intelligent adults.
This film does have several discernible influences, but it doesn't fit easily into any sub-genre and is clearly not copying any other film. It's truly unique, and it is a masterpiece.
Sunday, April 19, 2015
Fascination (1979)
dir Jean Rollin cast Franca Mai, Brigitte Lahaie, Jean-Marie Lemaire, Fanny Magier, Muriel Montosse
Unlike its neighbors Italy and Spain, France did not produce many horror films for the international market in the 1960s and 1970s. Jean Rollin was the French director who came the closest to attaining the international horror "star director" status of Italy's Mario Bava, or Spain's Jesus Franco. Rollin specialized in highly stylized erotic vampire movies and his reputation rests mainly on four such films that he made between 1968 and 1971, plus The Iron Rose (1973) and this film.
Our story begins in France, 1905, with a group of women drinking cattle blood in a slaughterhouse, which, we are led to understand, has become a popular "cure" for anemia. After this brief prologue, we join Marc, a member of a gang of thieves who have stolen a box full of gold coins (actually "full" may be stretching it, as we see a few coins at the bottom of the box). Briefly taking hostage the female member of the gang, he double-crosses his compatriots and runs through the woods with the gold, pursued by his erstwhile partners in crime. He comes upon a large chateau in the middle of a lake, accessible only by a stone causeway. Seeking refuge in the castle, he finds it occupied by two beautiful young women, the blonde Eva and the brunette Elisabeth. The women claim to be servants of the chateau's owners, who have arrived in order to ready the castle for their employers' arrival. Marc locks the women in a bedroom. They laugh, produce a hidden key, and make love. Then, they let themselves out of the room and tell Marc that there is someone dangerous due to arrive that evening and warn him to leave before nightfall. The seductiveness of the women and fear of his gang keep Marc at the house and he eventually meets the leader and other members of Eva and Elisabeth's "blood cult" (remember the prologue?).
Fascination starts slow, but becomes enjoyable. Rollins opts for a dreamy, not-quite-realistic feel, which he accomplishes quite well. The bleak woods and chateau make a good setting for an atmosphere of mystery and suspense. The interiors of the chateau make a good setting, although they have modern-looking electric lights. The dialogue, at least in the subtitles, seems more like poetic speech than the kind of things people actually say to one another (or probably said to one another in 1905). The film is quite talky, but when Eva grabs a scythe, the promise of bloody murders does not go unfulfilled. Walking toward the castle, carrying her scythe, with the wind blowing the cloak, which has long slits on the sides, to reveal glimpses of breasts and pubic hair, Eva represents a uniquely French view of death personified.
There's an element of sadism in the film. Like Franco's Necromincon, this features a woman knifing a man to death during sex. The women are strong characters who laugh at Marc's attempts to control them; they are the ones in control. On the other hand, they also turn out to be the film's monsters; merciless killers who prey on men without apparent guilt.
Like most of Rollin's horror films, Fascination features quite a bit of female nudity, but does not skimp on the horror, though it is not graphically violent. The most explicit scene is probably the stabbing, though the knife is so obviously a blunt prop that it lends a bit of unintentional humor to the sequence. Like other French horror films, such as Eyes Without a Face, Fascination seems to exist at the nexus of art and exploitation. If you are interested in arty European horror, such as Necronomicon, or Bava's Lisa and the Devil, this will not be a waste of your time.
Our story begins in France, 1905, with a group of women drinking cattle blood in a slaughterhouse, which, we are led to understand, has become a popular "cure" for anemia. After this brief prologue, we join Marc, a member of a gang of thieves who have stolen a box full of gold coins (actually "full" may be stretching it, as we see a few coins at the bottom of the box). Briefly taking hostage the female member of the gang, he double-crosses his compatriots and runs through the woods with the gold, pursued by his erstwhile partners in crime. He comes upon a large chateau in the middle of a lake, accessible only by a stone causeway. Seeking refuge in the castle, he finds it occupied by two beautiful young women, the blonde Eva and the brunette Elisabeth. The women claim to be servants of the chateau's owners, who have arrived in order to ready the castle for their employers' arrival. Marc locks the women in a bedroom. They laugh, produce a hidden key, and make love. Then, they let themselves out of the room and tell Marc that there is someone dangerous due to arrive that evening and warn him to leave before nightfall. The seductiveness of the women and fear of his gang keep Marc at the house and he eventually meets the leader and other members of Eva and Elisabeth's "blood cult" (remember the prologue?).
Fascination starts slow, but becomes enjoyable. Rollins opts for a dreamy, not-quite-realistic feel, which he accomplishes quite well. The bleak woods and chateau make a good setting for an atmosphere of mystery and suspense. The interiors of the chateau make a good setting, although they have modern-looking electric lights. The dialogue, at least in the subtitles, seems more like poetic speech than the kind of things people actually say to one another (or probably said to one another in 1905). The film is quite talky, but when Eva grabs a scythe, the promise of bloody murders does not go unfulfilled. Walking toward the castle, carrying her scythe, with the wind blowing the cloak, which has long slits on the sides, to reveal glimpses of breasts and pubic hair, Eva represents a uniquely French view of death personified.
Like most of Rollin's horror films, Fascination features quite a bit of female nudity, but does not skimp on the horror, though it is not graphically violent. The most explicit scene is probably the stabbing, though the knife is so obviously a blunt prop that it lends a bit of unintentional humor to the sequence. Like other French horror films, such as Eyes Without a Face, Fascination seems to exist at the nexus of art and exploitation. If you are interested in arty European horror, such as Necronomicon, or Bava's Lisa and the Devil, this will not be a waste of your time.
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Shock Waves (1977)
dir. Ken Wiederhorn cast Peter Cushing, Brooke Adams, John Carradine, Luke Halpin
In a decade that saw Last House on the Left, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Hills Have Eyes, as well as Dawn of the Dead, and Zombi, this is one zombie film that cuts against the grain . Instead of gut-munching corpses, this gives us undead World War II German soldiers who drown their victims, rather than devouring them. As such, it eschews gore for less bloody thrills. Interestingly, it's set in the Caribbean even though these zombies have nothing to do with voodoo.
The film begins with a couple of Caribbean boaters picking up a lone woman from a life raft, then tells the story in flashback. Rose (Adams) was a passenger on a small tourist charter captained by cantankerous Ben Morris (Carradine). After encountering some sort of strange phenomena on the ocean (it's never really specified what this is; a weakness in the film), the boat's navigation equipment doesn't seem to be working correctly. During a pitch-black night, the boat nearly collides with a ship that suddenly emerges out of the darkness. Next day, the passengers discover that the boat has been damaged and is taking on seawater. To add to their troubles, the Captain is missing. However, they find they are near an island next to which rests the rusting hulk of a grounded ship.
The passengers and remaining crew member use the life boat to ferry themselves to the island to seek help. However, all they find is an abandoned resort hotel. Eventually, they discover that an old man (Cushing) is living there, and has a fantastic story to tell. During World War II, he was a member of the German SS and Commandant of the "Death Corps"; a unit of unkillable Nazi zombies created by reanimating dead soldiers. The zombies were effective fighters, but proved impossible to control. Just before Germany's final defeat, they were sent away on a ship to keep them out of Allied hands. When the Commandant learned that the war was over, he sunk the ship, hoping to rid the world of the zombie menace. However, the disturbance encountered in the beginning of the film has awoken them, and they are converging on the island. Being undead, with no need to breathe, they can survive underwater and walk on the sea floor. There is a boat stored on the island, but can the survivors get to it and get away before the zombies finish them off?
Viewers looking for something like the George Romero zombie films will probably be disappointed. The zombie attacks simply consist of holding their victims underwater until they drown. In fact, one wonders what would have happened if the potential victims had simply stayed away from water. The humans in the movie don't really try to fight the zombies; they just hide or try to get on a boat and leave the island. They're unarmed and don't try to find something heavy and bash the zombies' heads in. The zombies all wear dark goggles, and at one point a zombie seems to "die" after Rose accidentally rips the goggles off its face. However, the movie never really follows through on this. There are long sequences of the survivors running or walking through the jungle.
Still, the movie does have several strengths. The Aryan zombies with their scarred faces, German SS uniforms, and dark glasses certainly do look scary. Several scenes of them slowly rising out of the water are very effective. Wiederhorn also does a good job of making a spooky locale out of an unconventional setting (a tropical island) and of building up a feeling of looming danger and dread. The run-down hotel was especially well-used for this. It's also great to watch Cushing, doing a great job and putting the same kind of care into a very small part that he put into his roles as Van Helsing or Baron Frankenstein. Despite some plot holes and the fact that it's relatively slow, the film is suspenseful. I did really find myself caring about the fate of Rose, who is well-played by Adams.
One of the comments made about this film by nearly every source I encounter is that it's the best of the sub- sub-genre of Nazi zombie films (or at least of underwater Nazi zombie films). I'm sure that this is right; though I haven't seen them, other Nazi zombie films like Zombie Lake and Oasis of the Zombies don't have good reputations. I don't think Shock Waves is a lost classic, but it is an entertaining low-budget genre effort that can be enjoyed straight, rather than ironically. It's worth seeing.
In a decade that saw Last House on the Left, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Hills Have Eyes, as well as Dawn of the Dead, and Zombi, this is one zombie film that cuts against the grain . Instead of gut-munching corpses, this gives us undead World War II German soldiers who drown their victims, rather than devouring them. As such, it eschews gore for less bloody thrills. Interestingly, it's set in the Caribbean even though these zombies have nothing to do with voodoo.
The film begins with a couple of Caribbean boaters picking up a lone woman from a life raft, then tells the story in flashback. Rose (Adams) was a passenger on a small tourist charter captained by cantankerous Ben Morris (Carradine). After encountering some sort of strange phenomena on the ocean (it's never really specified what this is; a weakness in the film), the boat's navigation equipment doesn't seem to be working correctly. During a pitch-black night, the boat nearly collides with a ship that suddenly emerges out of the darkness. Next day, the passengers discover that the boat has been damaged and is taking on seawater. To add to their troubles, the Captain is missing. However, they find they are near an island next to which rests the rusting hulk of a grounded ship.
The passengers and remaining crew member use the life boat to ferry themselves to the island to seek help. However, all they find is an abandoned resort hotel. Eventually, they discover that an old man (Cushing) is living there, and has a fantastic story to tell. During World War II, he was a member of the German SS and Commandant of the "Death Corps"; a unit of unkillable Nazi zombies created by reanimating dead soldiers. The zombies were effective fighters, but proved impossible to control. Just before Germany's final defeat, they were sent away on a ship to keep them out of Allied hands. When the Commandant learned that the war was over, he sunk the ship, hoping to rid the world of the zombie menace. However, the disturbance encountered in the beginning of the film has awoken them, and they are converging on the island. Being undead, with no need to breathe, they can survive underwater and walk on the sea floor. There is a boat stored on the island, but can the survivors get to it and get away before the zombies finish them off?
Viewers looking for something like the George Romero zombie films will probably be disappointed. The zombie attacks simply consist of holding their victims underwater until they drown. In fact, one wonders what would have happened if the potential victims had simply stayed away from water. The humans in the movie don't really try to fight the zombies; they just hide or try to get on a boat and leave the island. They're unarmed and don't try to find something heavy and bash the zombies' heads in. The zombies all wear dark goggles, and at one point a zombie seems to "die" after Rose accidentally rips the goggles off its face. However, the movie never really follows through on this. There are long sequences of the survivors running or walking through the jungle.
Still, the movie does have several strengths. The Aryan zombies with their scarred faces, German SS uniforms, and dark glasses certainly do look scary. Several scenes of them slowly rising out of the water are very effective. Wiederhorn also does a good job of making a spooky locale out of an unconventional setting (a tropical island) and of building up a feeling of looming danger and dread. The run-down hotel was especially well-used for this. It's also great to watch Cushing, doing a great job and putting the same kind of care into a very small part that he put into his roles as Van Helsing or Baron Frankenstein. Despite some plot holes and the fact that it's relatively slow, the film is suspenseful. I did really find myself caring about the fate of Rose, who is well-played by Adams.
One of the comments made about this film by nearly every source I encounter is that it's the best of the sub- sub-genre of Nazi zombie films (or at least of underwater Nazi zombie films). I'm sure that this is right; though I haven't seen them, other Nazi zombie films like Zombie Lake and Oasis of the Zombies don't have good reputations. I don't think Shock Waves is a lost classic, but it is an entertaining low-budget genre effort that can be enjoyed straight, rather than ironically. It's worth seeing.
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Cronos (1993)
dir. Guillermo del Toro cast Frederico Luppi, Ron Perlman, Claudio Brook, Margarita Isabel, Tamara Shanath
Jesus Gris (Luppi), a Mexican antique dealer, discovers a strange mechanical insect in an old statue. We know from the prologue that this is the Cronos Device, invented by a 16th-century alchemist who used it to prolong his life into the 1930's. The device promptly "attacks" Gris, digging its legs into his arm and drawing blood. Over the next few weeks, Gris feels rejuvenated and finds that he feels compelled to make frequent use of the device. Unfortunately, the device has a nasty side effect; it causes Gris to crave blood. Gris soon discovers that a reclusive, dying industrialist, De la Guardia, has the instructions for the device and desperately wants to get his hands on it. De la Guardia sends his nephew Angel (Perlman) to get it from Gris by any means necessary.
Cronos is more a film of ideas and images than plot. The movie avoids horror cliches. Gris, the film's "monster" is easily the most sympathetic character in the movie. He's a loving husband and is especially close to his nearly silent grand-daughter, Aurora. He never resorts to attacking anyone for their blood; in one cringe-inducing scene, he actually licks blood off the floor of a public bathroom after a fellow partygoer suffers a nosebleed. De la Guardia, on the other hand, is cold and unfeeling, insulting and even violent towards Angel, who returns his contempt. Angel (somewhat inexplicably) is perfectly willing to hurt or kill Gris to get the Cronos device. Del Toro does include one cliche that really works in this context: Aurora, the innocent child, seems to be the only one who really knows what's going on.
Cronos is startlingly original and like nothing I had seen before. It might be short on explicit horror content and lacking a conclusive ending, but its fascinating to think about and to look at, and Luppi is great. Del Toro is now a major Hollywood director. This is the film that put him on the map, and rightly so.
Jesus Gris (Luppi), a Mexican antique dealer, discovers a strange mechanical insect in an old statue. We know from the prologue that this is the Cronos Device, invented by a 16th-century alchemist who used it to prolong his life into the 1930's. The device promptly "attacks" Gris, digging its legs into his arm and drawing blood. Over the next few weeks, Gris feels rejuvenated and finds that he feels compelled to make frequent use of the device. Unfortunately, the device has a nasty side effect; it causes Gris to crave blood. Gris soon discovers that a reclusive, dying industrialist, De la Guardia, has the instructions for the device and desperately wants to get his hands on it. De la Guardia sends his nephew Angel (Perlman) to get it from Gris by any means necessary.
Cronos is more a film of ideas and images than plot. The movie avoids horror cliches. Gris, the film's "monster" is easily the most sympathetic character in the movie. He's a loving husband and is especially close to his nearly silent grand-daughter, Aurora. He never resorts to attacking anyone for their blood; in one cringe-inducing scene, he actually licks blood off the floor of a public bathroom after a fellow partygoer suffers a nosebleed. De la Guardia, on the other hand, is cold and unfeeling, insulting and even violent towards Angel, who returns his contempt. Angel (somewhat inexplicably) is perfectly willing to hurt or kill Gris to get the Cronos device. Del Toro does include one cliche that really works in this context: Aurora, the innocent child, seems to be the only one who really knows what's going on.
Cronos is startlingly original and like nothing I had seen before. It might be short on explicit horror content and lacking a conclusive ending, but its fascinating to think about and to look at, and Luppi is great. Del Toro is now a major Hollywood director. This is the film that put him on the map, and rightly so.
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Plague of the Zombies (1966)
dir. John Gilling cast Andre Morell, Diane Clare, Brook Williams, Jacqueline Pearce, John Carson
Residents of a late 19th-century Cornish village are dying mysteriously and the local doctor, Peter Thompson (Williams), seems powerless to find the cause of the deaths, much less stop the "plague." In desperation, he writes to his mentor, Sir James Forbes (Andre Morell), in London for advice. Sir James decides to pay an unexpected visit to Cornwall, bringing along his loyal daughter, Sylvia (Clare), who is a friend of Dr. Thompson's wife, Alice (Pearce). One there, he finds that the local tin mines, abandoned for lack of workers, seem to be operating again, and that the local squire, Clive Hamilton (Carson), is just back from a sojourn in Haiti. Gee, I wonder what could be happening?
Hammer Film's only foray into the zombie sub-genre and one of the last major zombie films before George A. Romero changed the game forever, this is fun if not a certified classic. Like most Hammer horror films, it is well-acted. Andre Morell is the epitome of the capable, level-headed, upper-class British professional. I think he's great as a sixtyish hero (he was 57 when the film was released); he exudes gravitas, but also compassion. Carlson is effectively ice-cold as Squire Hamilton, who can be charming, but is the polar opposite of Sir James, in that Hamilton has no compassion for anyone "beneath" him and is perfectly willing to exploit the working classes for selfish ends. Most reviews pan the performance of the beautiful Clare (supposedly, a direct descendant of Buffalo Bill!) while praising that of Pearce. I think both actresses turn in fine work. Character actor Michael Ripper, who had small parts in dozens of Hammer films, has a medium-sized role as the local policeman. As always, he's great.
The script, sets, and costumes in "Plague of the Zombies" are superior. I especially liked the masks and robes worn by the voodoo cult members. Like most Hammer films, this looks much more expensive than it actually was and easily lends itself to suspension of disbelief. The green-skinned zombies don't really look like dead bodies, but the look is pretty effective all the same.
This film also one of the great sequences in zombie history. After watching a zombie rise (only to be quickly dispatched by Sir James), Dr. Thompson faints. He then dreams of awakening alone in the misty graveyard and watches in horror as the inhabitants of the graves claw their way out of the earth and surround him. Shot mainly in Dutch angles, it's a great, scary scene.
On the negative side, there are lots of plot holes if you care to look for them. Also, the film is structured as a mystery. However, as Bruce Lanier Wright points out in his excellent Nightwalkers: Gothic Horror Movies, this is laughable, as the solution to the "mystery" is obvious by the time the film is a few minutes old. This is one of many, many British and American horror films that equate voodoo with devil worship. At least here, most of the villains are white, though Hamilton does have a couple of black servants/followers.
Still, if you can get past these weaknesses, and don't require your zombies to be of the flesh-eating persuasion, this one is very entertaining.
Residents of a late 19th-century Cornish village are dying mysteriously and the local doctor, Peter Thompson (Williams), seems powerless to find the cause of the deaths, much less stop the "plague." In desperation, he writes to his mentor, Sir James Forbes (Andre Morell), in London for advice. Sir James decides to pay an unexpected visit to Cornwall, bringing along his loyal daughter, Sylvia (Clare), who is a friend of Dr. Thompson's wife, Alice (Pearce). One there, he finds that the local tin mines, abandoned for lack of workers, seem to be operating again, and that the local squire, Clive Hamilton (Carson), is just back from a sojourn in Haiti. Gee, I wonder what could be happening?
Hammer Film's only foray into the zombie sub-genre and one of the last major zombie films before George A. Romero changed the game forever, this is fun if not a certified classic. Like most Hammer horror films, it is well-acted. Andre Morell is the epitome of the capable, level-headed, upper-class British professional. I think he's great as a sixtyish hero (he was 57 when the film was released); he exudes gravitas, but also compassion. Carlson is effectively ice-cold as Squire Hamilton, who can be charming, but is the polar opposite of Sir James, in that Hamilton has no compassion for anyone "beneath" him and is perfectly willing to exploit the working classes for selfish ends. Most reviews pan the performance of the beautiful Clare (supposedly, a direct descendant of Buffalo Bill!) while praising that of Pearce. I think both actresses turn in fine work. Character actor Michael Ripper, who had small parts in dozens of Hammer films, has a medium-sized role as the local policeman. As always, he's great.
The script, sets, and costumes in "Plague of the Zombies" are superior. I especially liked the masks and robes worn by the voodoo cult members. Like most Hammer films, this looks much more expensive than it actually was and easily lends itself to suspension of disbelief. The green-skinned zombies don't really look like dead bodies, but the look is pretty effective all the same.
This film also one of the great sequences in zombie history. After watching a zombie rise (only to be quickly dispatched by Sir James), Dr. Thompson faints. He then dreams of awakening alone in the misty graveyard and watches in horror as the inhabitants of the graves claw their way out of the earth and surround him. Shot mainly in Dutch angles, it's a great, scary scene.
On the negative side, there are lots of plot holes if you care to look for them. Also, the film is structured as a mystery. However, as Bruce Lanier Wright points out in his excellent Nightwalkers: Gothic Horror Movies, this is laughable, as the solution to the "mystery" is obvious by the time the film is a few minutes old. This is one of many, many British and American horror films that equate voodoo with devil worship. At least here, most of the villains are white, though Hamilton does have a couple of black servants/followers.
Still, if you can get past these weaknesses, and don't require your zombies to be of the flesh-eating persuasion, this one is very entertaining.
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974)
dir Terence Fisher cast Peter Cushing, Shane Briant, Madeline Smith, David Prowse
Simon Helder, a young 19th Century German doctor,
is convicted of sorcery for attempting to revive the dead. Sent to the same
asylum for the criminally insane as was Dr. Frankenstein, he hopes to meet his
idol, but is told that the Baron is dead. Helder soon learns, however, that
Frankenstein is not only very much alive, but has taken over the asylum.
Despite the fact that the fire at the end of Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed has rendered his hands useless for
surgery, he is attempting to carry on his experiments with the help of the
beautiful Sarah, an elective mute. Frankenstein, calling himself “Dr. Victor”,
accepts Helder as his assistant. The young doctor learns that Frankenstein has
revived the body of a brutish murderer who died by suicide, and plans to
harvest necessary replacement parts, including a brain, from other inmates. His
plans for Sarah, however, lead Helder to question the Baron’s sanity.
Hammer’s last gothic horror film, this does not quite
measure up to their best, but still is worthy. Cushing gives another
outstanding performance as Victor Frankenstein, projecting strength and
authority in his early scenes, but soon showing signs of an irreversible
instability. As always, Cushing is magnetic, making us care about a quite
unlovable character. Smith (better here than as Ingrid Pitt’s love slave in The Vampire Lovers (1970)) and Briant provide
able support. David Prowse does well as the creature for this outing, giving
some pathos to his role as a genius trapped in an ugly, subhuman hulk of a
body. As usual for Hammer, the film’s production designs, sets, and costumes
are outstanding, lending an authentic air to a fantastic story.
On the other hand, the film is badly let down by the design
of the monster. Asking us to accept the hairy, apelike figure as a human body
stretches credulity a bit too far. The monster makeup is obviously just that
and does not lend itself to suspension of disbelief (according to Tom Johnson
and Deborah Del Vecchio’s excellent Hammer
Films: An Exhaustive Filmography, it was imposed on Fisher because of a
promise made to the American distributors). The exterior cutaways to the asylum
building are of a laughably obvious model. And, as with many Hammer Films, it
doesn’t pay to examine the plot too
closely.
Still, this is a worthy finale for a great series. In the
1970’s, Hammer desperately tried to tinker with their formula for the Dracula
series, updating it to the present (Dracula
A.D. 1972 (1972); The Satanic Rites
of Dracula (1974)) and even trying to marry it with the trendy Kung Fu
genre (The Legend of the 7 Golden
Vampires (1974)). But, with the Frankenstein series, Hammer stuck with what
they did best: atmospheric, Victorian-era Gothic horror. Cushing’s performance adds
a note of poignancy to the film. Although the ending is left open for further
sequels, it is obvious that Frankenstein is insane, and that he will never be accepted
by the world in which he lives. It’s a sad goodbye to the character, as well as
the studio.
Trivia Note: As
fans of fantastic films will no doubt be aware, Cushing and Prowse reunited three
years later, to portray (with an assist from James Earl Jones) the primary villains
in Star Wars (1977).
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Virgin Witch (1972)
dir. Ray Autin cast Ann Michelle, Vicki Michelle, Keith Buckley, Patricia Haines, James Chase, Paula Wright
Christine and Betty (Ann and Vicki Michelle), two 20-ish miniskirted sisters, are alone in London after leaving a repressive home life under the control of their strict father. Christine goes to see Sybil Waite (Haines), one of London's top modelling agents, and seems to be in luck when a last-minute job opens up and all the other models are booked. She agrees to go with Sybil to a remote manor out in the English countryside for the weekend while Betty tags along. However, all is not as it seems; Sybil is part of a coven of witches that may have designs on both sisters. You may think you know where this is going, but things take a very unexpected turn which I will not reveal.
An erotic horror fantasy, with the emphasis definitely on sex rather than blood, Virgin Witch demonstrates why British low-budget horror films were often so much more entertaining than their American counterparts. For one thing, the availability of old estates on which to film gave even the cheapest films a professional look and made it possible to create a creepy atmosphere without a ton of money to spend. The old house in Virgin Witch, hemmed in by a thick forest, seems lonely and sinister and does lend a hint of grim foreboding to the proceedings. Also, the acting in low-budget British films was usually superior to the acting in American B films. There is no one on the level of a Peter Cushing or Barbara Steele in this film, but all the main cast members are perfectly accomplished. The acting does not get in the way of the story.
Virgin Witch is actually more of a sex film than a horror film. It is literally bloodless, with a very low body count. The witches actually don't seem all that evil; their rituals don't invoke Satan or use Satanic trappings and they don't seem to have any kind of agenda that involves bothering anyone outside their coven. In fact, their rituals seem to mostly involve their leader having sex with a willing young (but not underage) woman on an altar, while the other members of the coven dance around naked.
There is a lot of nudity in this film. Both Michelle sisters are astonishingly gorgeous, and both, especially Ann, have abundant nude scenes. In fact, Ann's naked torso is the first thing seen in the film, backgrounding the title. It seems that Christine is being set up to be the victim throughout much of the film, but she never loses her confident demeanor and we always get the feeling she's not as helpless as she seems. Its a good performance and she's fun to watch, even when she's not nude.
Phil Hardy's Encyclopedia of Horror Movies, compares Virgin Witch favorably to Hammer's Karnstein films. I agree that it's better than the silly Lust for a Vampire, but not as good as The Vampire Lovers. In the end, Virgin Witch is light on horror content, even when compared to other non-gory horrors such as Let's Scare Jessica to Death. Most of the horror is in the coven's rituals (which, for some reason, involve the demonic mask from the Japanese film Onibaba!), but they are not violent or terribly frightening. Virgin Witch is not some kind of landmark of low-budget horror film making, but it's still well-made enough to be worth seeing.
Christine and Betty (Ann and Vicki Michelle), two 20-ish miniskirted sisters, are alone in London after leaving a repressive home life under the control of their strict father. Christine goes to see Sybil Waite (Haines), one of London's top modelling agents, and seems to be in luck when a last-minute job opens up and all the other models are booked. She agrees to go with Sybil to a remote manor out in the English countryside for the weekend while Betty tags along. However, all is not as it seems; Sybil is part of a coven of witches that may have designs on both sisters. You may think you know where this is going, but things take a very unexpected turn which I will not reveal.
An erotic horror fantasy, with the emphasis definitely on sex rather than blood, Virgin Witch demonstrates why British low-budget horror films were often so much more entertaining than their American counterparts. For one thing, the availability of old estates on which to film gave even the cheapest films a professional look and made it possible to create a creepy atmosphere without a ton of money to spend. The old house in Virgin Witch, hemmed in by a thick forest, seems lonely and sinister and does lend a hint of grim foreboding to the proceedings. Also, the acting in low-budget British films was usually superior to the acting in American B films. There is no one on the level of a Peter Cushing or Barbara Steele in this film, but all the main cast members are perfectly accomplished. The acting does not get in the way of the story.
Virgin Witch is actually more of a sex film than a horror film. It is literally bloodless, with a very low body count. The witches actually don't seem all that evil; their rituals don't invoke Satan or use Satanic trappings and they don't seem to have any kind of agenda that involves bothering anyone outside their coven. In fact, their rituals seem to mostly involve their leader having sex with a willing young (but not underage) woman on an altar, while the other members of the coven dance around naked.
There is a lot of nudity in this film. Both Michelle sisters are astonishingly gorgeous, and both, especially Ann, have abundant nude scenes. In fact, Ann's naked torso is the first thing seen in the film, backgrounding the title. It seems that Christine is being set up to be the victim throughout much of the film, but she never loses her confident demeanor and we always get the feeling she's not as helpless as she seems. Its a good performance and she's fun to watch, even when she's not nude.
Phil Hardy's Encyclopedia of Horror Movies, compares Virgin Witch favorably to Hammer's Karnstein films. I agree that it's better than the silly Lust for a Vampire, but not as good as The Vampire Lovers. In the end, Virgin Witch is light on horror content, even when compared to other non-gory horrors such as Let's Scare Jessica to Death. Most of the horror is in the coven's rituals (which, for some reason, involve the demonic mask from the Japanese film Onibaba!), but they are not violent or terribly frightening. Virgin Witch is not some kind of landmark of low-budget horror film making, but it's still well-made enough to be worth seeing.
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