Rock Around the Clock was such a hit at the box office that Sam Katzman wasted little time whipping up this follow up. Bill Haley and the Comets are back but his part is even less integral to the plot this time. The movie is actually about a singer played by Alan Dale - who I'd never heard of but who was apparently a crooner in the 50s who switched over to rock and roll. He looks like a former crooner but is meant to be a pop star, probably the biggest problem this unpretentious film has.
The plot involves Dale returning to his hometown to find that rock and roll has been banned - which is a great teensploitation rock and roll plot (as Footloose showed). But it suffers from Dale's casting - I think he was only 30 but he's an old looking 30 and he feels old in a role that needed a Pat Boone or an Elvis. (When Dale romances the daughter of a columnist and is attempted-seduced by a trampy girl, it looks creepy).
It's professionally put together at least and does have Little Richard performing not just "Long Tall Sally" but also "Tutti Fruiti". There's a cute finale where the kids prove a point to the crusty oldies by putting on a performance of 1920s songs. Arthur Freed pops up again as Dale's manager.
Sunday, March 30, 2014
Movie review - "Rock Around the Clock" (1956) **1/2
Low budget quickie from Sam Katzman that was enormously profitable - I watched this shortly after Rock Rock Rock and it's a lot more polished (it was a Columbia movie) felt older because its lead character is middle aged (or at least looks/feels it).
Someone called Johnny Johnston is a big band manager who is worried the bottom is dropping out of the big band market, but luckily for him he drives through a small town where Bill Hayley and the Comets are playing. He's captivated by the music and dancer Lisa Gaye; he sets about romancing Gaye to get the Comets to sign a deal (she's sexually aggressive with him - going the pash when they go swimming 0 and isn't punished for it, which is a nice change), then there's a dull love triangle plot where Alix Talton as a vixenish booking agent goes against the Comets to stop the Gaye-Johnston romance. Fortunately Talton has a dopey middle aged guy waiting in the wings to take her.
A surprisingly large amount of this is devoted to the plot but there are still plenty of tunes, including the title track, "See You Later Alligator", and "Only You" and "The Great Pretender" from the Platters. Arthur Freed, who was a 50s rock and rock musical film whore, appearing in practically all of them, pops up in this one as himself.
There's a lot of self conscious dialogue about being a square and rock and roll and what the kids like. But the music is good, the execution competent and it is historically fascinating. Billy Haley doesn't have much of a part - he and his band sing several songs but he only has a few lines of dialogue.
Someone called Johnny Johnston is a big band manager who is worried the bottom is dropping out of the big band market, but luckily for him he drives through a small town where Bill Hayley and the Comets are playing. He's captivated by the music and dancer Lisa Gaye; he sets about romancing Gaye to get the Comets to sign a deal (she's sexually aggressive with him - going the pash when they go swimming 0 and isn't punished for it, which is a nice change), then there's a dull love triangle plot where Alix Talton as a vixenish booking agent goes against the Comets to stop the Gaye-Johnston romance. Fortunately Talton has a dopey middle aged guy waiting in the wings to take her.
A surprisingly large amount of this is devoted to the plot but there are still plenty of tunes, including the title track, "See You Later Alligator", and "Only You" and "The Great Pretender" from the Platters. Arthur Freed, who was a 50s rock and rock musical film whore, appearing in practically all of them, pops up in this one as himself.
There's a lot of self conscious dialogue about being a square and rock and roll and what the kids like. But the music is good, the execution competent and it is historically fascinating. Billy Haley doesn't have much of a part - he and his band sing several songs but he only has a few lines of dialogue.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Movie review - "Rock Rock Rock" (1956) **1/2
The first movie made by the team of Rosenberg and Subotsky who later went on to form Amicus, best known for their work in the horror genre. This is a musical, though curiously it has one thing in common with some of Amicus' best known work, which were all-star anthologies: it's a collection of different musical performances by well known stars of the time, linked together by a loose narrative.
The narrative concerns the adventures of a young Tuesday Weld, trying to save money for a prom dress. She falls for a boy (Teddy Randazzo) and has to fight off a bitch. A lot of the dialogue is concerned with things like borrowing money and interest rates - I think Subotsky had money on the brain writing this.
This is chiefly of interest for the acts on display: Chuck Berry, the Moonglows, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, among others, plus Alan Freed doing the introducing, plus Connie Francis dubbing Tuesday's singing voice. They are all lively and the movie enjoyable; Tuesday is a solid center for this sort of thing.
The narrative concerns the adventures of a young Tuesday Weld, trying to save money for a prom dress. She falls for a boy (Teddy Randazzo) and has to fight off a bitch. A lot of the dialogue is concerned with things like borrowing money and interest rates - I think Subotsky had money on the brain writing this.
This is chiefly of interest for the acts on display: Chuck Berry, the Moonglows, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, among others, plus Alan Freed doing the introducing, plus Connie Francis dubbing Tuesday's singing voice. They are all lively and the movie enjoyable; Tuesday is a solid center for this sort of thing.
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Movie review - "Island of the Snake People" (1971)
Towards the end of his life Boris Karloff worked with some exciting new directors - Peter Bogdanovich, Michael Reeves and Jack Hill. He actually made more movies with Hill than the other two - four at the end of his life which were Mexican films with some Karloff footage shot in Los Angeles.
They are not very highly regarded movies, even by the most devoted Karloff fan, and really only for completists. There are some effective moments here however and it's not a bad story: a voodoo cult is running riot on a small island, under the thrall of a priest. Karloff plays a rich local landowner - do you reckon he had anything to do with it? He's got a niece who is a temperance campaigner, one of several interesting little tidbits.
There's also a few ceremonies involving a snake, one where a woman puts a snakes head down her throat; a dwarf, some necrophilia and chicken sacrificing, plus two heroic police investigators, one handsome the other a character actor, a snake dancer, and some half-decent atmosphere. It lacks logic and Karloff's absence for most of filming is irriatingly evident at times - this one boosts his presence by featuring his photo heavily during the credits but it's not enough.
They are not very highly regarded movies, even by the most devoted Karloff fan, and really only for completists. There are some effective moments here however and it's not a bad story: a voodoo cult is running riot on a small island, under the thrall of a priest. Karloff plays a rich local landowner - do you reckon he had anything to do with it? He's got a niece who is a temperance campaigner, one of several interesting little tidbits.
There's also a few ceremonies involving a snake, one where a woman puts a snakes head down her throat; a dwarf, some necrophilia and chicken sacrificing, plus two heroic police investigators, one handsome the other a character actor, a snake dancer, and some half-decent atmosphere. It lacks logic and Karloff's absence for most of filming is irriatingly evident at times - this one boosts his presence by featuring his photo heavily during the credits but it's not enough.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Movie review - "Curse of the Crimson Altar" (1968) **
One of the last horror movies of Boris Karloff, this sees him teamed with Christopher Lee although neither have a part as big as Mark Eden, who is the lead. He plays a man who goes looking for his brother and winds up at a mysterious old house where they old witch ceremonies.
Eden isn't much - he looks like the sort of actor who'd have a busy career playing doctors or suspects in BBC adaptations of Agatha Christie movies. He's not a bad actor he'd just bland. Still, there is Lee has a nutty professor, Karloff as a wheelchair bound professor of the occult (Karloff was supposedly meant to play Lee's part but was too ill so they wrote him another one), Barbara Steele in a way-too-small part as a witch priestess, Virginia Wetherell as the girl in the house who has an affair with Eden (he hilariously manhandles her in one scene that I think is supposed to be romantic, and in another one has a very gratuitous nude moment getting out of bed).
Apparently there was a fair bit of rewriting that went into this and I'm not surprised because it's very choppy with a number of logic issues. The climax is weird with Karloff spouting exposition while firemen arrive to put out a fire in the house. There's some campy witch ceremony stuff, particularly at the beginning.
Steele has a memorable outfit, covered in body paint, Karloff is as professional as ever and there are some chills. A minor late 60s effort but fans will enjoy it.
Eden isn't much - he looks like the sort of actor who'd have a busy career playing doctors or suspects in BBC adaptations of Agatha Christie movies. He's not a bad actor he'd just bland. Still, there is Lee has a nutty professor, Karloff as a wheelchair bound professor of the occult (Karloff was supposedly meant to play Lee's part but was too ill so they wrote him another one), Barbara Steele in a way-too-small part as a witch priestess, Virginia Wetherell as the girl in the house who has an affair with Eden (he hilariously manhandles her in one scene that I think is supposed to be romantic, and in another one has a very gratuitous nude moment getting out of bed).
Apparently there was a fair bit of rewriting that went into this and I'm not surprised because it's very choppy with a number of logic issues. The climax is weird with Karloff spouting exposition while firemen arrive to put out a fire in the house. There's some campy witch ceremony stuff, particularly at the beginning.
Steele has a memorable outfit, covered in body paint, Karloff is as professional as ever and there are some chills. A minor late 60s effort but fans will enjoy it.
Movie review - "The Witchfinder General" (1968) ****1/2
Possibly overpraised in some circles because it was the last film of its director, Michael Reeves, who died not long after this was released - it nonetheless remains a startling tough, vivid action horror movie. This was a hit and kicked off the second cycle of Poe movies for AIP but is very different from the Poes - Reeves was a big Don Siegel fan and approached this as a Western, and it feels very Western-y, with chases on horseback across the countryside, and women folk being raped and vengeance driving characters to great violence.
It benefits from a rich historical background: the English civil war with the country divided, lawlessness rampant and witchfinder Matthew Hopkins running about dispensing justice. He's played by Vincent Price in one of that actor's best performances - not hammy, but genuinely chilling. There is excellent support from Robert Russell as his odious companion.
It's very pacey and clear - Hopkins goes for a local priest (Rupert Davies) who is accused of a witch but is talked out of it by said vicar's niece (Hilary Dwyer) who offers up sex instead. But when Russell rapes Dwyer all bets are off and the priest is killed. Dwyer's boyfriend Ian Ogilvy goes looking for revenge which takes him a while but he ends up chopping Price into pieces. Which to be fair Price deserves but the experience has sent him and Dwyer half mad - the image of her screaming her lungs out is one of many you're likely to take from this film.
The plot is a bit repetitive in places - someone captures someone then escapes - but it's full of action and incident. Ogilvy is a strong hero, Dwyer is very pretty and pleasingly sexually liberated (before the rape). I also liked Nicky Henson as one of Ogilvy's mates and Patrick Wymark's cameo as Cromwell. There is some violence (witchburning, axe choppings) but you're mostly likely to remember the bleak, intense mood of it all.
It benefits from a rich historical background: the English civil war with the country divided, lawlessness rampant and witchfinder Matthew Hopkins running about dispensing justice. He's played by Vincent Price in one of that actor's best performances - not hammy, but genuinely chilling. There is excellent support from Robert Russell as his odious companion.
It's very pacey and clear - Hopkins goes for a local priest (Rupert Davies) who is accused of a witch but is talked out of it by said vicar's niece (Hilary Dwyer) who offers up sex instead. But when Russell rapes Dwyer all bets are off and the priest is killed. Dwyer's boyfriend Ian Ogilvy goes looking for revenge which takes him a while but he ends up chopping Price into pieces. Which to be fair Price deserves but the experience has sent him and Dwyer half mad - the image of her screaming her lungs out is one of many you're likely to take from this film.
The plot is a bit repetitive in places - someone captures someone then escapes - but it's full of action and incident. Ogilvy is a strong hero, Dwyer is very pretty and pleasingly sexually liberated (before the rape). I also liked Nicky Henson as one of Ogilvy's mates and Patrick Wymark's cameo as Cromwell. There is some violence (witchburning, axe choppings) but you're mostly likely to remember the bleak, intense mood of it all.
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Movie review - rewatching "Streets of Fire" (1984) ****
Every now and then I like to rewatch Streets of Fire, one of my own personal cult movies. There is something really special about it for me, in part because I watched it as a kid, when movies seize you in a particularly strong way, but also because of its sheer oddity. A mixture of 50s juvenile delinquent movies, rock and roll, Jim Steinman songs, war, Westerns, fantasy, shooting on a sound stage, most scenes at night, kissing in the rain, fights with sledge hammers, bikers, blues, strippers, tough talking types.
The opening scene remains terrific with its thumping drums and base, and MTV tight editing of Diane Lane as "Fire Inc" or whoever they were singing "Nowhere Fast" - a tune that sounds completely incongruous to the 1950s look of everything else but I went with it. To be honest Diane Lane, while stunning, is never completely convincing as a rock chick - she lacks the fire of a true rock star (I have no idea of what over young actress at the time could have played it better but the fact remains she's the weak link in the main cast) - but the number is spectacular and has a spectacular ending with Willem da Foe (great entrance) and his bikers going on the attack. We see a teary black woman yell at the bikers and never see her again (I've seen this movie so many times I notice the little editing quirks - like holding on Michael Pare for an extra close up when he's driving in the car with Rick Moranis and Amy Madigan; and also the word echoes grate on me).
Anyway then Michael Pare comes into the action and has a fantastic star entrance, looking cool on the train, then beating up some enjoyably convenient thugs accompanied by a thumping Ry Cooder song - I've never been able to find out the name, if anyone can help me I'd love to know. Which then half way through changes to a different tune ("Get Out of Denver" I believe) that jars.
But anyway the rest of the first half stays at the high level I love of Streets of Fire - meeting Amy Madigan (one of the all time great sidekicks and worthy of another movie), Bill Paxton's turn as a bartender, Rick Moranis' hilarious turn as a tough talking manager (NB his character is actually quite brave), the mechanic who gives Pare the guns, going into the Battery, meeting Ed Begley Jnr's cameo as a homeless man, the action at the Battery (the sort of place that turns up in lots of Walter Hill movies- bikers, strippers, blues), the thrilling rescue sequence with some top lines ("McCoy I'm a great fan") jump cut editing and stunts, with a fantastic confrontation between Pare and de Foe among the flames.
After that the movie becomes less sure. The whole sequence where they go to that weird neon lit section where everyone's acting like they're in a late 80s video with big hats and kissing and listening to rock videos on the TV seems strange and out of place of the rest of the movie (the Battery and Richmond all seem like they're part of the same world - this place doesn't). Why have that girl character who joins them? She just tags along, doesn't go out with anyone, doesn't complicate things. The all-male black singing troupe aren't that memorable either, although at least they have some pay off, appearing at the end to mime "I Can Dream About You".
There are some good moments in the second half - Michael Pare's little speech to Diane Lane that prompts her to kiss him in the rain, their love sequence, the Bombers trapping everyone in Richmond (I wish more could have been made of this). The final fight between DaFoe and Pare is expertly choreographed and shot, but it does feel underwhelming for a finale (with bikers and townsfolk just looking on) and I wasn't too wild about Pare punching Lane in the face, even if it is for "her own good". Still I can forgive a lot for that ending with Lane and Pare kissing, and her singing "Tonight Is What It Means to Be Young" with her support group and new band really getting into it as Pare walks off into the sunset and goes to have adventures with Amy Madigan. So romantic...
Very very much a flawed movie. I'm not sure if it would have been a success even had the last half's script problems been fixed but lots of people love it. Such as me!
The opening scene remains terrific with its thumping drums and base, and MTV tight editing of Diane Lane as "Fire Inc" or whoever they were singing "Nowhere Fast" - a tune that sounds completely incongruous to the 1950s look of everything else but I went with it. To be honest Diane Lane, while stunning, is never completely convincing as a rock chick - she lacks the fire of a true rock star (I have no idea of what over young actress at the time could have played it better but the fact remains she's the weak link in the main cast) - but the number is spectacular and has a spectacular ending with Willem da Foe (great entrance) and his bikers going on the attack. We see a teary black woman yell at the bikers and never see her again (I've seen this movie so many times I notice the little editing quirks - like holding on Michael Pare for an extra close up when he's driving in the car with Rick Moranis and Amy Madigan; and also the word echoes grate on me).
Anyway then Michael Pare comes into the action and has a fantastic star entrance, looking cool on the train, then beating up some enjoyably convenient thugs accompanied by a thumping Ry Cooder song - I've never been able to find out the name, if anyone can help me I'd love to know. Which then half way through changes to a different tune ("Get Out of Denver" I believe) that jars.
But anyway the rest of the first half stays at the high level I love of Streets of Fire - meeting Amy Madigan (one of the all time great sidekicks and worthy of another movie), Bill Paxton's turn as a bartender, Rick Moranis' hilarious turn as a tough talking manager (NB his character is actually quite brave), the mechanic who gives Pare the guns, going into the Battery, meeting Ed Begley Jnr's cameo as a homeless man, the action at the Battery (the sort of place that turns up in lots of Walter Hill movies- bikers, strippers, blues), the thrilling rescue sequence with some top lines ("McCoy I'm a great fan") jump cut editing and stunts, with a fantastic confrontation between Pare and de Foe among the flames.
After that the movie becomes less sure. The whole sequence where they go to that weird neon lit section where everyone's acting like they're in a late 80s video with big hats and kissing and listening to rock videos on the TV seems strange and out of place of the rest of the movie (the Battery and Richmond all seem like they're part of the same world - this place doesn't). Why have that girl character who joins them? She just tags along, doesn't go out with anyone, doesn't complicate things. The all-male black singing troupe aren't that memorable either, although at least they have some pay off, appearing at the end to mime "I Can Dream About You".
There are some good moments in the second half - Michael Pare's little speech to Diane Lane that prompts her to kiss him in the rain, their love sequence, the Bombers trapping everyone in Richmond (I wish more could have been made of this). The final fight between DaFoe and Pare is expertly choreographed and shot, but it does feel underwhelming for a finale (with bikers and townsfolk just looking on) and I wasn't too wild about Pare punching Lane in the face, even if it is for "her own good". Still I can forgive a lot for that ending with Lane and Pare kissing, and her singing "Tonight Is What It Means to Be Young" with her support group and new band really getting into it as Pare walks off into the sunset and goes to have adventures with Amy Madigan. So romantic...
Very very much a flawed movie. I'm not sure if it would have been a success even had the last half's script problems been fixed but lots of people love it. Such as me!
Movie review - "Breathless" (1959) ***1/2
I have heard so much about how this revolutionized filmmaking to be honest it's a bit annoying. Did it, really, or is that just something people say? Maybe I have to go back to 1959 to appreciate it. It does retain an energy thanks to the location shooting (not revolutionary at the time, surely?) but also two electric star performances. Jean-Paul Belmondo is one of the great anti heroes of all time: punched-face handsome, lean, borderline sociopathic, horny, Bogart obsessed.
He's beautifully matched by Jean Seberg, with her oh-so-iconic short hair and stripey top and no bra.
I've seen this movie a bunch of times and forget most of it - the opening gangster sequence, pretty much all the action, the dreadful press conference with the pretentious fat man in sun glasses, all the scenes of people having meals in cafes.
The memories I have are associated around the stars: Seberg calling out "New York Herald Tribune"; Belmondo wiping his hand across the lips; Belmondo's death; the long scene of the two of them in bed.
It's sexy and exciting but surely film critics have been over-impressed by the pop culture references: the Cahiers du Cinema in jokes, Godard's own past as a critic, the references to Monogram and Bogart. I liked it - I just hate having it shoved down my throat.
Movie review - "About Time" (2013) ****
Richard Curtis' most recent movie is less a rom com than a "drama-dy" which is reminiscent of some of the time plays of JP Priestley. It has a lot of logic problems - Curtis sets up the rules of time travel and then breaks most of them, pays distracting lack of attention to big issues (would Domhnall Gleeson really be dissuaded to make money by his father saying "have you ever met a really happy rich person?", once he starts doing some favours for others such as his flatmate I began wondering why he didn't help by warning victims of terrorist attacks and car crashes)...
But after a while I went with it, and the piece worked it's magic on me. Curtis clearly has such a good heart, and that comes through in his movie, which is never mean, full of love and kindness, and the importance of family and looking out for each other.
Gleeson lacks the star power of Hugh Grant but is very likeable as a gawky Curtis lead who discovers he has the power to use time, and romances charming Rachel McAdams - who is a bit too pretty for him, but maybe I'm just biased. There's a typically stunningly strong support cast including Bill Nighy (dad), Lindsay Duncan (mum), Tom Hollander (grumpy playwright), Richard Griffiths and Richard E Grant (cameos as actors), Lydia Wilson (wacky sister), Josh McGuire and Will Merrick (silly best best friends)... plus our own Margot Robbie, looking gorgeous as an early object of Gleeson's desire.
There are plenty of Curtis tropes: a wedding, a funeral, some dopey best mates (not one but two), a manic pixie dream girl, an American love interest, upper middle class setting, some pop culture references (in this case a lot of adoration for Kate Moss), the wacky housemate. Still there's freshness too: the Cornwall house, the dinner in the dark (I love this sequence). London has been lovingly shot, as have the women. The second half is more about Gleeson and Bill Nighy than McAdams - in fact McAdams isn't seen that much.
This makes you think about regret, love, time passing, family... I was moved and even shed a tear. I think sci fi fans might struggle with the logic though!
But after a while I went with it, and the piece worked it's magic on me. Curtis clearly has such a good heart, and that comes through in his movie, which is never mean, full of love and kindness, and the importance of family and looking out for each other.
Gleeson lacks the star power of Hugh Grant but is very likeable as a gawky Curtis lead who discovers he has the power to use time, and romances charming Rachel McAdams - who is a bit too pretty for him, but maybe I'm just biased. There's a typically stunningly strong support cast including Bill Nighy (dad), Lindsay Duncan (mum), Tom Hollander (grumpy playwright), Richard Griffiths and Richard E Grant (cameos as actors), Lydia Wilson (wacky sister), Josh McGuire and Will Merrick (silly best best friends)... plus our own Margot Robbie, looking gorgeous as an early object of Gleeson's desire.
There are plenty of Curtis tropes: a wedding, a funeral, some dopey best mates (not one but two), a manic pixie dream girl, an American love interest, upper middle class setting, some pop culture references (in this case a lot of adoration for Kate Moss), the wacky housemate. Still there's freshness too: the Cornwall house, the dinner in the dark (I love this sequence). London has been lovingly shot, as have the women. The second half is more about Gleeson and Bill Nighy than McAdams - in fact McAdams isn't seen that much.
This makes you think about regret, love, time passing, family... I was moved and even shed a tear. I think sci fi fans might struggle with the logic though!
Friday, March 21, 2014
Movie review - "Dr Phibes Rises Again" (1972) **1/2
Considerably less good sequel to the original in part because Phibes motivation isn't as good - he revives himself and wants to revive his wife (why didn't he do this in the first film?) only to discover that the scrolls he had to do this have gone missing. So he enlists the use of his assistant (who died in the first film, something irritatingly overlooked especially as there was no need for it - he could have enlisted another hot assistant) and goes about knocking off the people who stole his scrolls using exotic Egyptian methods... when really his focus should be on helping his wife.
So the story isn't as logical or emotionally satisfying - the love Phibes had for his wife, which drove the first one, is muddier. There's also too much narration. But Price is in strong form and he has excellent adversaries in Robert Quarry (who wants to live forever) and Fiona Lewis, as his lover, and the movie gets better as it goes along.
The production design and costumes look impressive and it at least attempts to be smart. It would have been nice to see a third Phibes movie, if only because it gave Price such a great role.
So the story isn't as logical or emotionally satisfying - the love Phibes had for his wife, which drove the first one, is muddier. There's also too much narration. But Price is in strong form and he has excellent adversaries in Robert Quarry (who wants to live forever) and Fiona Lewis, as his lover, and the movie gets better as it goes along.
The production design and costumes look impressive and it at least attempts to be smart. It would have been nice to see a third Phibes movie, if only because it gave Price such a great role.
Movie review - "Theatre of Blood" (1973) ***1/2 (warning: spoilers)
This has a wonderful central idea which will appeal greatly to anyone who's ever had a bad review - a Shakespearean actor goes around killing critics who have him bad write ups using murder techniques specified in tales of the Bard - and a legendary cast - Vincent Price in the lead, supported by Diana Rigg, Ian Hendry, Robert Morely and others - plus much genuine cleverness - adapting Shakespeare murders to the modern day - that you don't entirely mind that the movie is at heart a rip off of The Abominable Dr Phibes....
You've got Vincent Price playing a mad genius whom everyone thinks is dead taking revenge on a group of people, knocking them off one by one via some ancient method, using a beautiful female accomplice who is mostly silent, with most of the people dying deserving it except for one "good" on, and the investigation led by a middle aged character actor playing a policeman, the female accomplice dies at the end as the police close in.
Diana Rigg is a much better actor than any of Price's Phibes' co stars, but actually that's distracting here because she's so obviously under-utilised - she gets to dress up in some wacky outfits, including a moustache and crazy 70s wig, and has a decent enough death scene, but you wish she'd been given more of a character to play. It might have helped tackle some of the repetitive nature of the story by having her do something more interesting than just support her father.
Price is in outstanding form, having terrific fun with his murderous ways and getting to perform great slabs of Shakespeare - this was one of his favourite roles and no wonder. And yet, his protagonist here is much less touching than Dr Phibes (at least in the first movie) because he's driven by ego and revenge more than love.
I was also annoyed by the depiction of Ian Hendry as a "good" critic - with his really nice apartment, and black skivvies, and comb over hair and massive side burns, he's not a very engaging or likeable hero, more like a spoilt little brat, but I think we're meant to have sympathy for him (he's brave at the end not backing down on his reviews, he gets the last line). When he tells Rigg "I only gave your dad bad reviews because I wanted him to try something other than Shakespeare" I felt like stabbing him myself. I hate critics who use that argument. If that's what you want then actually write it - or turn director/writer and give him the role! Anyway, my own prejudice coming out there.... Still, it meant for me he was a critic who I wanted to die and I had to be stuck with him living.
It looks handsome, the supporting cast is a lot of fun: I mean Harry Andrews, Coral Browne, Dennis Price, Diana Dors, Morley (who has to eat his own dogs!), Arthur Lowe, Milo O'Shea, Robert Coote.
You've got Vincent Price playing a mad genius whom everyone thinks is dead taking revenge on a group of people, knocking them off one by one via some ancient method, using a beautiful female accomplice who is mostly silent, with most of the people dying deserving it except for one "good" on, and the investigation led by a middle aged character actor playing a policeman, the female accomplice dies at the end as the police close in.
Diana Rigg is a much better actor than any of Price's Phibes' co stars, but actually that's distracting here because she's so obviously under-utilised - she gets to dress up in some wacky outfits, including a moustache and crazy 70s wig, and has a decent enough death scene, but you wish she'd been given more of a character to play. It might have helped tackle some of the repetitive nature of the story by having her do something more interesting than just support her father.
Price is in outstanding form, having terrific fun with his murderous ways and getting to perform great slabs of Shakespeare - this was one of his favourite roles and no wonder. And yet, his protagonist here is much less touching than Dr Phibes (at least in the first movie) because he's driven by ego and revenge more than love.
I was also annoyed by the depiction of Ian Hendry as a "good" critic - with his really nice apartment, and black skivvies, and comb over hair and massive side burns, he's not a very engaging or likeable hero, more like a spoilt little brat, but I think we're meant to have sympathy for him (he's brave at the end not backing down on his reviews, he gets the last line). When he tells Rigg "I only gave your dad bad reviews because I wanted him to try something other than Shakespeare" I felt like stabbing him myself. I hate critics who use that argument. If that's what you want then actually write it - or turn director/writer and give him the role! Anyway, my own prejudice coming out there.... Still, it meant for me he was a critic who I wanted to die and I had to be stuck with him living.
It looks handsome, the supporting cast is a lot of fun: I mean Harry Andrews, Coral Browne, Dennis Price, Diana Dors, Morley (who has to eat his own dogs!), Arthur Lowe, Milo O'Shea, Robert Coote.
Monday, March 17, 2014
Movie review - "Alphaville" (1965) **1/2
Godard does science fiction and this view of the future has a bit of everything except logic and special effects: nods to Orwell, Brave New World and James Bond, Orson Welles-esque lighting, a private eye hero (played by expat American star-in-France-only Eddie Constantine), a femme fetale (Anna Karina), some evil scientists, a high body count (the star shoots a lot of people dead).
There was a lot of imagination but to be honest I found this hard going and during the second half wished it would end. There's a creep Big Brother type voice which appears throughout the film and got on my nerves as did the ping sound.
I wasn't familiar with Constantine's work as an actor but got what he was supposed to be very quickly - the French love their craggy action stars. Karina is beautiful, there are some decent character actors. But this is an acquired taste.
There was a lot of imagination but to be honest I found this hard going and during the second half wished it would end. There's a creep Big Brother type voice which appears throughout the film and got on my nerves as did the ping sound.
I wasn't familiar with Constantine's work as an actor but got what he was supposed to be very quickly - the French love their craggy action stars. Karina is beautiful, there are some decent character actors. But this is an acquired taste.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Movie review - "The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues" (1955) *
If you want some guide of why Roger Corman made a reputation whereas so many of his fellow 50s schlockmeisters didn't, compare this with its double bill companion piece, Corman's The Day the World Ended. They were made for ARC which became AIP, and both films had great James H Nicholson titles and posters but didn't match up.
This is a hard film to get to - there are a couple of attacks in the water but most of the action takes place in various offices with people chatting. The central conflict concerns a scientist whose atomic experimentation caused the creature, and investigating officials.
There's a spy, a trashy 50s starlet, women taking showers and going to the beach, the scientist not appreciating what chaos he's unleashed, a laughably bad monster. It's actually not a bad story, if not very original, but has dreadful handling, dialogue and acting.
This is a hard film to get to - there are a couple of attacks in the water but most of the action takes place in various offices with people chatting. The central conflict concerns a scientist whose atomic experimentation caused the creature, and investigating officials.
There's a spy, a trashy 50s starlet, women taking showers and going to the beach, the scientist not appreciating what chaos he's unleashed, a laughably bad monster. It's actually not a bad story, if not very original, but has dreadful handling, dialogue and acting.
Movie review - "The Beast Must Die" (1975) *1/2
Amicus' last horror movie is one of their most bizarre: Calvin Lockhart invites a bunch of friends to a country estate hoping to expose one of them as a werewolf. It's a real mixture of things - you've got the blaxploitation element, with Lockhart cast in a very British story (which does make for some interesting colour blind casting); there's a Ten Little Indians type plot, with a bunch of suspects gathered at a house, only the gimmick being one of them is werewolf; there's a real mix in the cast, which includes Peter Cushing and Michael Gambon.
To make the experience even odder the filmmakers throw in a "werewolf break" where you get to guess who the werewolf is, a quite effective emotional ending where someone bitten by the wolf kills themselves, some terrible fashions and awful music. It feels like a wacked out episode of an early 70s British TV show.
Not a good movie by any stretch of the imagination but at least different.
To make the experience even odder the filmmakers throw in a "werewolf break" where you get to guess who the werewolf is, a quite effective emotional ending where someone bitten by the wolf kills themselves, some terrible fashions and awful music. It feels like a wacked out episode of an early 70s British TV show.
Not a good movie by any stretch of the imagination but at least different.
Movie review - "The Abominable Dr Phibes" (1971) ****
Maybe four stars is too much but I really liked this late entry Vincent Price AIP movie - it ranks with the best he ever did for the company and among the best movies he ever made. It's got so much going for it - a great central character (tormented doctor grieving the loss of his wife), with a clear goal (avenging the death of said wife on the operating table), and clever gimmick (he does it via ten Biblical plagues).
There's also lots of neat touches: it's set in the 1920s and so has some gorgeous decor; Price's Phibes is a constructed creature who can only talk through a speaker. The support cast is impressive (it includes Joe Cotten and Terry Thomas), the wit is sly, Virginia North is beautiful (though I wish she'd have more of a character to play). Robert Fuest directs with genuine visual flair - it's a treat for the eyes. It's also genuinely moving because at heart its a love story.
If I had a gripe it's there isn't anyone really for the audience to identify with - there's a middle aged detective, and I suppose Cotten... maybe I was hoping for someone younger. There's Cotten's son but he's a bad actor.
There's also lots of neat touches: it's set in the 1920s and so has some gorgeous decor; Price's Phibes is a constructed creature who can only talk through a speaker. The support cast is impressive (it includes Joe Cotten and Terry Thomas), the wit is sly, Virginia North is beautiful (though I wish she'd have more of a character to play). Robert Fuest directs with genuine visual flair - it's a treat for the eyes. It's also genuinely moving because at heart its a love story.
If I had a gripe it's there isn't anyone really for the audience to identify with - there's a middle aged detective, and I suppose Cotten... maybe I was hoping for someone younger. There's Cotten's son but he's a bad actor.
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Movie review - "Cry of the Banshee" (1971) **1/2
This early 70s AIP horror flick, part of their second Poe cycle, has gotten a bad wrap from the fans and even the people who worked on it. I didn't mind it so much though I wish it had been less of a rip off of Witchfinder General, with Vincent Price once again in period clothes tormenting the peasants and accusing them of being witches, and Hilary Dwyer on hand screaming and screaming and screaming.
The actual story isn't bad - Price is a rich lord who is mean to everyone and delights in trying to stomp out witches (more for his own pleasure than legal reasons); he runs into trouble when he tracks down a real life coven of witches, led by Elisabeth Bergner, star of the 30s stage and screen, and they take out a curse on him and his family.
There are lots of subplots going on here, so there's plenty of light and shade and characters with some complexity - Price's daughter Dwyer is in love with a nice servant and gets rogered by him fairly often (Dwyer was good as these English roses with a taste for naughtiness), only for the servant to get possessed; his son has a nasty side; his wife is tormented and spaced out; his step son is sadistic. There's also a drunken gravedigger, the head witch, and a nice priest.
At times it was a bit confusing as to what was going on in part because I wasn't that familiar with many of the supporting actors and had trouble keeping track of who was who. Also it's really nihilistic - the witches are kind of nice but turn to violence very quickly, the nice son has little trouble killing, the nice daughter is killed, the nice servant is possessed and turns into a murderer. Of course there are rape/molestation sequences, which early 70s cinema seemed unable to do without. Also there are places where it's down right laughable - the witches rituals, Dwyer's screaming, and, if I'm honest, Terry Gilliam's opening credit sequence.
But at least its ambitious and was no way near as bad as I thought it would be.
The actual story isn't bad - Price is a rich lord who is mean to everyone and delights in trying to stomp out witches (more for his own pleasure than legal reasons); he runs into trouble when he tracks down a real life coven of witches, led by Elisabeth Bergner, star of the 30s stage and screen, and they take out a curse on him and his family.
There are lots of subplots going on here, so there's plenty of light and shade and characters with some complexity - Price's daughter Dwyer is in love with a nice servant and gets rogered by him fairly often (Dwyer was good as these English roses with a taste for naughtiness), only for the servant to get possessed; his son has a nasty side; his wife is tormented and spaced out; his step son is sadistic. There's also a drunken gravedigger, the head witch, and a nice priest.
At times it was a bit confusing as to what was going on in part because I wasn't that familiar with many of the supporting actors and had trouble keeping track of who was who. Also it's really nihilistic - the witches are kind of nice but turn to violence very quickly, the nice son has little trouble killing, the nice daughter is killed, the nice servant is possessed and turns into a murderer. Of course there are rape/molestation sequences, which early 70s cinema seemed unable to do without. Also there are places where it's down right laughable - the witches rituals, Dwyer's screaming, and, if I'm honest, Terry Gilliam's opening credit sequence.
But at least its ambitious and was no way near as bad as I thought it would be.
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Movie review - "The Oblong Box" (1969) **1/2
The Witchfinder General was success a success at the box office that it ushered in a second cycle of Poe movies from AIP with Vincent Price (even though Witchfinder hardly had any connection with Poe). This was meant to reunite Price and Hilary Dwyer with Michael Reeves, but the latter died during preproduction and was replaced by Gordon Hessler who does a decent enough job... maybe Reeves would have done better, but Hessler has been unfairly neglected due to the fact he didn't die young.
Anyway the plot has Price as an English lord whose brother is disfigured and sent insane in the West Indies, so Pricey does a Jane Eyre and locks him up at home. When he thinks the brother has died he does a body swap requiring some body snatching... at which point it became clear this movie was ripping off a whole slew of others.
It's not a bad story, the avenging voodoo-worshipping West Indians, pretty English actresses (regal Hilary Dwyer and likeable maid Sally Gleeson), a masked brother, a family curse, body snatching Christopher Lee... But dramatically it suffers from dropping Price from the middle and focusing on his brother, who is masked (Alister Williamson), and who we never get a feel for. Dwyer is wasted - what's the point of having her in the film? They would have been better off having a love triangle between Price, Williamson and Gleeson... or have Price aware of what was going on instead of being passive...
I know this is back seat scriptwriting but I can't help it - watching the film is frustrating. There's so much good stuff going on (Lee and Price together, Price back in the Poe saddle) it's a shame it wasn't better. Still apparently production was a hard slog and its meant to be a miracle they got this, so that's something.
Anyway the plot has Price as an English lord whose brother is disfigured and sent insane in the West Indies, so Pricey does a Jane Eyre and locks him up at home. When he thinks the brother has died he does a body swap requiring some body snatching... at which point it became clear this movie was ripping off a whole slew of others.
It's not a bad story, the avenging voodoo-worshipping West Indians, pretty English actresses (regal Hilary Dwyer and likeable maid Sally Gleeson), a masked brother, a family curse, body snatching Christopher Lee... But dramatically it suffers from dropping Price from the middle and focusing on his brother, who is masked (Alister Williamson), and who we never get a feel for. Dwyer is wasted - what's the point of having her in the film? They would have been better off having a love triangle between Price, Williamson and Gleeson... or have Price aware of what was going on instead of being passive...
I know this is back seat scriptwriting but I can't help it - watching the film is frustrating. There's so much good stuff going on (Lee and Price together, Price back in the Poe saddle) it's a shame it wasn't better. Still apparently production was a hard slog and its meant to be a miracle they got this, so that's something.
Sunday, March 09, 2014
Movie review - "From Beyond the Grave" (1974) ***1/2
Some fresh talents revitalise Amicus' anthology series - director Kevin Connor working from stories by R. Chetwynd-Hayes. It was the last in their series (though Amicus producers would make others in that genre) and one of the best, with some excellent acting and production design, strong stories, and energetic direction.
It linking device is an antique store, which is suitably creepy, especially as run by Peter Cushing. The stories feel varied: David Warner buys an antique mirror and gets possessed; Ian Bannen passes himself off as a war veteran to Donald Pleasance and lives to regret it; Ian Carmichael gets possessed by a mysterious spirit coming from a snuff box; Ian Ogilvy and Lesley Ann Warren (so young so lovely) bring back the spirit of an ancient sorcerer.
The support cast bring a lot to it - Pleasance's daughter Angela plays his real daughter; Diana Dors is great fun as Bannen's nagging wife; Margaret Leighton (hammy as a clairvoyant) and Nyree Dawn Porter are on hand as well. I thought it was a bit harsh poor old Carmichael died while Ogilvy and Warren got to live by chopping up a door but that's life in the Amicus game.
It linking device is an antique store, which is suitably creepy, especially as run by Peter Cushing. The stories feel varied: David Warner buys an antique mirror and gets possessed; Ian Bannen passes himself off as a war veteran to Donald Pleasance and lives to regret it; Ian Carmichael gets possessed by a mysterious spirit coming from a snuff box; Ian Ogilvy and Lesley Ann Warren (so young so lovely) bring back the spirit of an ancient sorcerer.
The support cast bring a lot to it - Pleasance's daughter Angela plays his real daughter; Diana Dors is great fun as Bannen's nagging wife; Margaret Leighton (hammy as a clairvoyant) and Nyree Dawn Porter are on hand as well. I thought it was a bit harsh poor old Carmichael died while Ogilvy and Warren got to live by chopping up a door but that's life in the Amicus game.
Saturday, March 08, 2014
Movie review - "They Came from Beyond Space" (1967) **
The book Amicus: The Studio that Dripped Blood describes this has one of the worst films made by the studio but it actually isn't that bad, with a perfectly serviceable plot: meteors fall in a field in Britain, scientists are sent to investigate and wind up having their souls taken over by aliens.
There is a major debit in the performance of Robert Hutton, playing a scientist who is protected from the aliens' influence by a steel plate in his head. Movie leads didn't come more bland than Hutton, and his monotone performance weighs this down - which is particularly harmful in the scenes with Zia Mohyeddin, who plays his girlfriend who gets possessed. It's also laughable how irresistible he's meant to be to women.
The low budget hurts, and its far too talky when there should be action, especially in the first half. And the second half is silly. But Freddie Francis' direction keeps things lively, Michael Gough is fun as an alien, and you'll enjoy if approached in the right spirit.
There is a major debit in the performance of Robert Hutton, playing a scientist who is protected from the aliens' influence by a steel plate in his head. Movie leads didn't come more bland than Hutton, and his monotone performance weighs this down - which is particularly harmful in the scenes with Zia Mohyeddin, who plays his girlfriend who gets possessed. It's also laughable how irresistible he's meant to be to women.
The low budget hurts, and its far too talky when there should be action, especially in the first half. And the second half is silly. But Freddie Francis' direction keeps things lively, Michael Gough is fun as an alien, and you'll enjoy if approached in the right spirit.
Movie review - "Madhouse" (1974) ***
Historically significant in its own small way as the last movie Vincent Price made for AIP - although this is really more of an Amicus movie (it was shot in England with Amicus producing and AIP providing the finance). It was not a success at the box office and helped end the second horror cycle.
Price plays a fading horror star whose career was hurt by a scandal and who comes to England to make a TV series. A woman turns up murdered and fingers point at him - then there are more murders, committed by the character Price plays.
This doesn't have much of a reputation but I quite enjoyed it. Vincent Price did seem to suit the 60s more than the 70s (something about the colour stock; that decade was more expressionistic, which suited his acting more) but he's always fun, and as an extra bonus he gets several scenes with Peter Cushing, as a fellow actor. Plus there's footage of old AIP Price films, such as The Pit and the Pendulum and The House of Usher - including cameos from dead Basil Rathbone and Boris Karloff - and Vincent warbling on the soundtrack.
There's also some grisly murders; Robert Quarry having fun as a sleazy producer; Hammer starlet Linda Haden as an opportunistic starlet turned victim (there's a scene where she tries to seduce Price in bed - was this the first such scene anyone played with Price?); Adrienne Corri is fantastic as a crazy actress living in a house of spiders; Natasha Pyne likeable as a nice PR person (her death made me a bit sad - it wasn't necessary, surely?); Michael Parkinson appears as himself.
No classic, not by any means, and I may have been unduly influenced by sentiment and horror movie in jokes but I enjoyed it.
Price plays a fading horror star whose career was hurt by a scandal and who comes to England to make a TV series. A woman turns up murdered and fingers point at him - then there are more murders, committed by the character Price plays.
This doesn't have much of a reputation but I quite enjoyed it. Vincent Price did seem to suit the 60s more than the 70s (something about the colour stock; that decade was more expressionistic, which suited his acting more) but he's always fun, and as an extra bonus he gets several scenes with Peter Cushing, as a fellow actor. Plus there's footage of old AIP Price films, such as The Pit and the Pendulum and The House of Usher - including cameos from dead Basil Rathbone and Boris Karloff - and Vincent warbling on the soundtrack.
There's also some grisly murders; Robert Quarry having fun as a sleazy producer; Hammer starlet Linda Haden as an opportunistic starlet turned victim (there's a scene where she tries to seduce Price in bed - was this the first such scene anyone played with Price?); Adrienne Corri is fantastic as a crazy actress living in a house of spiders; Natasha Pyne likeable as a nice PR person (her death made me a bit sad - it wasn't necessary, surely?); Michael Parkinson appears as himself.
No classic, not by any means, and I may have been unduly influenced by sentiment and horror movie in jokes but I enjoyed it.
Friday, March 07, 2014
Movie review - "The Vault of Horror" (1973) ***1/2 (warning: spoilers)
Amicus once again raiding EC Comics for stories for their anthologies, although the movie this really has more in common with is Dr Terror's House of Horrors - it's got a group of men (no women) who are stuck together in an enclosed environment (in this case a basement of a building) who tell stories about dodgy things they've done and eventually realise they're all dead.
A lot of the stories have a similar sort of structure: our protagonist does something bad, then suffers for it with their life... but they are still entertaining. Daniel Massey kills sister Anna Massey (his real life sister) for her inheritance, unaware she lives in a town of vampires; Terry Thomas nags Glynis Johns about cleanliness to the point of insanity; Curt Jurgens steals a trick from an Indian magician; Michael Craig buries himself alive (in what really is a silly scam); artist Tom Baker gets revenge on people who've ripped him off.
There is some clunky plotting and writing, with plot points being awkwardly set up, but to be honest I didn't mind that much here. The cast give good performances - I did miss the presence of Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee (it felt odd to be watching a British horror film without at least one of them) but there are no weak links; Tom Baker, with his crazy eyes, is especially good. And Roy Ward Baker provides some suspense.
A lot of the stories have a similar sort of structure: our protagonist does something bad, then suffers for it with their life... but they are still entertaining. Daniel Massey kills sister Anna Massey (his real life sister) for her inheritance, unaware she lives in a town of vampires; Terry Thomas nags Glynis Johns about cleanliness to the point of insanity; Curt Jurgens steals a trick from an Indian magician; Michael Craig buries himself alive (in what really is a silly scam); artist Tom Baker gets revenge on people who've ripped him off.
There is some clunky plotting and writing, with plot points being awkwardly set up, but to be honest I didn't mind that much here. The cast give good performances - I did miss the presence of Peter Cushing or Christopher Lee (it felt odd to be watching a British horror film without at least one of them) but there are no weak links; Tom Baker, with his crazy eyes, is especially good. And Roy Ward Baker provides some suspense.
Wednesday, March 05, 2014
Movie review - "And Now the Screaming Starts" (1973) ** (warning: spoilers)
Amicus were supposed imitators of Hammer horror but only rarely made the full length period pieces that were similar to those turned out by their more famous rival; this was one of them and it's not very good, despite a strong cast. Stephanie Beacham marries rich Ian Ogilvy and moves to his large estate, only to discover Ogilvy's family are subject to a curse.
The curse turns out to have its origin in an old Hound of the Baskervilles-style scandal involving an evil ancestor who raped a woman, causing the woman's fiancee to curse the family. There is a lot of rape here... Beachman thinks she's been raped by a ghost, or a groundskeeper, she becomes pregnant.
Ogilvy and Beacham were born to appear in period costume, as was Peter Cushing, who plays a doctor trying to figure out if Beacham is insane or not; Patrick Magee and Herbert Lom (raping ancestor) have lively cameos.
But it's not much of a story and Roy Ward Baker's direction, as usual, doesn't bring much to the proceedings; this cries out for atmosphere, creeps and intensity and doesn't get any of it. The last third makes a great mistake in turning Beacham's character passive; the climax in particular is dull with Ogilvy running around emoting in a grave while Cushing watches on, bored.
Beacham is very beautiful at least - she shows some cleavage, can act, and does a hilarious scream. She was an effective horror queen and it's a shame she didn't make more in this genre than she did. Ogilvy really doesn't have much of a character to play.
Maybe this would have worked better condensed down to be a segment of one of their anthology movies.
The curse turns out to have its origin in an old Hound of the Baskervilles-style scandal involving an evil ancestor who raped a woman, causing the woman's fiancee to curse the family. There is a lot of rape here... Beachman thinks she's been raped by a ghost, or a groundskeeper, she becomes pregnant.
Ogilvy and Beacham were born to appear in period costume, as was Peter Cushing, who plays a doctor trying to figure out if Beacham is insane or not; Patrick Magee and Herbert Lom (raping ancestor) have lively cameos.
But it's not much of a story and Roy Ward Baker's direction, as usual, doesn't bring much to the proceedings; this cries out for atmosphere, creeps and intensity and doesn't get any of it. The last third makes a great mistake in turning Beacham's character passive; the climax in particular is dull with Ogilvy running around emoting in a grave while Cushing watches on, bored.
Beacham is very beautiful at least - she shows some cleavage, can act, and does a hilarious scream. She was an effective horror queen and it's a shame she didn't make more in this genre than she did. Ogilvy really doesn't have much of a character to play.
Maybe this would have worked better condensed down to be a segment of one of their anthology movies.
Tuesday, March 04, 2014
Movie review - "Asylum" (1972) ***
It took me watching several Amicus anthology films before it dawned on me they were the modern day versions of Grand Guignol shows.... several different short tales of horror under the one umbrella (the big difference being that Grand Guignol often interspersed its horror with comedy). The reason this one triggered that thought is the framing device is ripped off an old Grand Guignol play - Robert Powell is trying to get a job as a psychiatrist in a loony bin and is challenged to identify a doctor from one of several patients.
The stories here: Richard Todd murders his wife Sylvia Syms so he can run off with mistress Barbara Parkins; Peter Cushing gets a tailor to make a suit that brings people back from the dead; Charlotte Rampling is shoved into rehab by her brother and is visited by old troublesome friend Britt Ekland; Herbert Lom creatres crazy dolls. Also there's the question of whether Powell will make it out alive - what do you reckon?
The stories are decent and the cast is awesome, but I really wish Freddie Francis had directed instead of Roy Ward Baker - this could have used his flair. The running times of some of the stories feels too long (eg Cushing, Lom segments). Still, Rampling makes you wish she'd done more horror flicks, Ekland is good value, the doll is creepy and you can't really go wrong with several stories set in a lunatic asylum.
The stories here: Richard Todd murders his wife Sylvia Syms so he can run off with mistress Barbara Parkins; Peter Cushing gets a tailor to make a suit that brings people back from the dead; Charlotte Rampling is shoved into rehab by her brother and is visited by old troublesome friend Britt Ekland; Herbert Lom creatres crazy dolls. Also there's the question of whether Powell will make it out alive - what do you reckon?
The stories are decent and the cast is awesome, but I really wish Freddie Francis had directed instead of Roy Ward Baker - this could have used his flair. The running times of some of the stories feels too long (eg Cushing, Lom segments). Still, Rampling makes you wish she'd done more horror flicks, Ekland is good value, the doll is creepy and you can't really go wrong with several stories set in a lunatic asylum.
Monday, March 03, 2014
Movie review - "Tales from the Crypt" (1972) ***
The cast for Amicus' anthology movies continued to rise: this one features Ralph Richardson, Roy Dotrice, Joan Collins, Richard Greene and Ian Hendry as well as the usual suspect, Peter Cushing. It's based on the famous comic book and resulted in one of Amicus' most popular ever films.
The acting is of high quality, and it looks great, as movies directed by Freddie Francis usually did. It runs 90 minutes and features five stories plus a "bridging" story so some of the tales feel a bit thin. Still there are some decent shocks and gore (this is more bloody than others in this series, complete with still-beating hearts and intestines).
The stories: Joan Collins knocks off her husband only to be tormented by a maniac (this one was very brief); a man runs off with his mistress and winds up in a car crash; some nasty money grubbers try to run nice little old Peter Cushing off his land; Barbara Murray gets the right to grant three wishes and makes a balls up of it (wishing her husband Richard Greene wasn't dead.... then turning him into this creature whichcan't die, which was a neat twist); blind people get revenge on an officious nursing home manager Nigel Patrick in an installment that takes too long to get going.
It's always fun to see Joan Collins play someone evil, Peter Cushing is touching as the little old man, and Patrick Magee once again provides some tasty ham in his performance. But the atmosphere isn't as strong as the better ones in this series. It could have done with some more menace and shock.
The acting is of high quality, and it looks great, as movies directed by Freddie Francis usually did. It runs 90 minutes and features five stories plus a "bridging" story so some of the tales feel a bit thin. Still there are some decent shocks and gore (this is more bloody than others in this series, complete with still-beating hearts and intestines).
The stories: Joan Collins knocks off her husband only to be tormented by a maniac (this one was very brief); a man runs off with his mistress and winds up in a car crash; some nasty money grubbers try to run nice little old Peter Cushing off his land; Barbara Murray gets the right to grant three wishes and makes a balls up of it (wishing her husband Richard Greene wasn't dead.... then turning him into this creature whichcan't die, which was a neat twist); blind people get revenge on an officious nursing home manager Nigel Patrick in an installment that takes too long to get going.
It's always fun to see Joan Collins play someone evil, Peter Cushing is touching as the little old man, and Patrick Magee once again provides some tasty ham in his performance. But the atmosphere isn't as strong as the better ones in this series. It could have done with some more menace and shock.
Sunday, March 02, 2014
Movie review - "Lone Survivor" (2013) **** (warning: spoilers)
Thrilling, heart-pounding war film which marks a massive improvement on Peter Berg's early foray into the War on Terror, The Kingdom. It helps this is based on a true story and focuses on a more containable, emotional story: four members of a recon patrol who are dropped into the Afghan mountains to stake out a Taliban leader, and find things go horribly wrong.
Because we know from the opening sequence and title that only one person will make it back, there is tremendous tension all throughout. It's all going to go badly, and at least three people will die, so you sit there waiting for the Grim Reaper to call.
It also means that Mark Wahlberg, who plays the title role, actually doesn't have the best part - the other three are better, because they all get these awesome death scenes. There are excellent performances from Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster and believe it or not Taylor Kitsch - Berg maybe felt bad about Battleship and owed it to the guy, so gave him a choice role in this, and Kitsch is actually really good.
The first two acts of this are outstanding, with wonderful sense of authenticity, some decent comic by- play (the soldiers worrying about wedding gifts, painting schemes at home, initiation ceremonies for a new soldier) which have the important role of setting up the characters so we actually care about them; then the excitement of the landing, and being discovered by young kids and an old man, and an ethical discussion whether to kill them, tie them up or let them go, then the pursuit and high-powered action sequences. (I know this is being wise in hindsight but surely even at the time tying them up was the right way to go.)
The last third starts with a real wham - the death of Eric Bana and his rescue team - but then becomes a bit more wonky when Wahlberg falls into the hands of some friendly Afghans. He becomes more passive, the story felt more Hollywood - although this element is apparently true as well, I think it would have felt more believable if it had been clearer that the friendly Afghans were partly annoying the Taliban because they had a long-standing feud with the neighbouring tribe. Still, Wahlberg's final farewell to his new allies brought a lump to the throat.
It really is a powerful, epic film. It does dehumanise the Afghans - even the friendly ones barely get any translated dialogue - but since its told from the point of view of American soldiers I feel that's justifiable; it's entirely justifiable dramatically.
Eric Bana provides gravitas in a support part and the guy who plays Turtle from Entourage is in it, and completely fits in.
Because we know from the opening sequence and title that only one person will make it back, there is tremendous tension all throughout. It's all going to go badly, and at least three people will die, so you sit there waiting for the Grim Reaper to call.
It also means that Mark Wahlberg, who plays the title role, actually doesn't have the best part - the other three are better, because they all get these awesome death scenes. There are excellent performances from Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster and believe it or not Taylor Kitsch - Berg maybe felt bad about Battleship and owed it to the guy, so gave him a choice role in this, and Kitsch is actually really good.
The first two acts of this are outstanding, with wonderful sense of authenticity, some decent comic by- play (the soldiers worrying about wedding gifts, painting schemes at home, initiation ceremonies for a new soldier) which have the important role of setting up the characters so we actually care about them; then the excitement of the landing, and being discovered by young kids and an old man, and an ethical discussion whether to kill them, tie them up or let them go, then the pursuit and high-powered action sequences. (I know this is being wise in hindsight but surely even at the time tying them up was the right way to go.)
The last third starts with a real wham - the death of Eric Bana and his rescue team - but then becomes a bit more wonky when Wahlberg falls into the hands of some friendly Afghans. He becomes more passive, the story felt more Hollywood - although this element is apparently true as well, I think it would have felt more believable if it had been clearer that the friendly Afghans were partly annoying the Taliban because they had a long-standing feud with the neighbouring tribe. Still, Wahlberg's final farewell to his new allies brought a lump to the throat.
It really is a powerful, epic film. It does dehumanise the Afghans - even the friendly ones barely get any translated dialogue - but since its told from the point of view of American soldiers I feel that's justifiable; it's entirely justifiable dramatically.
Eric Bana provides gravitas in a support part and the guy who plays Turtle from Entourage is in it, and completely fits in.
Movie review - "What Became of Jack and Jill?" (1972) *
Awful psycho thriller which ranks among the worst movies Amicus ever made. It's a about a young man who lives with his grandmother and schemes with his trashy girlfriend to knock off grandma. They eventually shock her into an early demise Les Diaboliques style, but can't enjoy the inheritance.
I can't recall a film which hated young people so much - the two leads are mean and nasty and it's full of talk about youth wanting change and who will look after the old people. Now there's nothing wrong with making a film about fear of the young and being overlooked - it's a basic primeval emotion, which is a solid basis for any thriller - but the depiction of the younger generation here is so relentlessly simplistic and one eyed. Also the old lady is such a whiny old crone, constantly whimpering about her fear of the young and asking her grandson to get her cups of tea, that after a while you start to wish they'd knock her off.
As it, they take almost an hour to do it. The time before then is padded with chats about the youth in revolt, and what a drag the old lady is - no interesting plot twists, or atmosphere, or character, or anything worth watching. After they kill her the young people have some fantasies about spending the money but nothing much else happens then either apart from the fact the old lady has left behind one of those movie wills where someone can't inherit money if they marry someone else. This might be okay if that someone else became another character, but they don't... we're stuck with two dull leads.
Vanessa Howard, as the femme fetale, is at least pretty but not much of an actor. It's patronising, poorly made, dull and stupid.
Directed by Aussie Bill Bain.
Saturday, March 01, 2014
Movie review - "The Ghost Ship" (1952) ** (warning: spoilers)
Dermot Walsh and Hazel Court play a couple who buy a yacht - an awfully big one too with a stoker who works underneath and everything. They sink a lot of money and time into it and get worried when they think it might be haunted.
This low budget British thriller was part financed by Nat Cohen, whose stamp pops up on many British films of the 50s through to 70s, but isn't one of his best efforts. The writer-director Vernon Sewell liked the basic story (based on a play) - this was the third of four movies he made of it.
But the material isn't that strong - the lead couple aren't that interesting, and neither is the mystery. I hate ghost stories where it's revealed to be not a ghost after all - it always feels like a cheat. And a young Ian Carmichael does a very long, unfunny drunk sequence which I think is meant to be charming.
There is some humour in the scene where a scientist explains about people's ability to sense psychic phenomena, with materialistic money-hungry people being less susceptible. The acting is on the whole solid (there's an Aussie in the cast, Joss Ambler), the photography fine and it doesn't go for very long. Small virtues but at least they're there.
Movie review - "I, Monster" (1971) **
Disappointing re-telling of the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde story from Amicus, despite the presence of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee in the leads. It might have been better had they played those roles respectively - Cushing would have made a tremendous Jekyll and Lee a wonderful Hyde - but here the double role goes to Lee. And while I like Lee - who doesn't have a soft spot for Christopher Lee, with that magnificent height, voice and bearing - the fact is, he's a limited actor, and it annoyed me here. Cushing plays his friend, who thinks that the Hyde character is blackmailing Jekyll (although they use different names in this movie) not aware they're the same person.
The pacing is slow, there's a lack of atmosphere and suspense, and a weak support cast - the only other role of note is the one played by Mike Raven as a fellow gentleman friend of Cushing and Lee's; there's also a horny Victorian housewife (introduced as if she's going to be important, then throw away) and a cliched buxon barmaid.
There are far too many scenes of people sitting around drawing rooms talking and not nearly enough scary bits. Some solid work from the art department and costume people is wasted.
The pacing is slow, there's a lack of atmosphere and suspense, and a weak support cast - the only other role of note is the one played by Mike Raven as a fellow gentleman friend of Cushing and Lee's; there's also a horny Victorian housewife (introduced as if she's going to be important, then throw away) and a cliched buxon barmaid.
There are far too many scenes of people sitting around drawing rooms talking and not nearly enough scary bits. Some solid work from the art department and costume people is wasted.
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