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What was the last movie you saw?
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Victoria Silverwolf
Vegetarian Werewolf
Twins of Evil (1971)
Better-than-average Hammer vampire flick. Peter Cushing gives an intense performance as the leader of a bunch of witch-burning religious fanatics. His twin nieces (real-life identical twins, and Playboy Playmates) arrive after their parents die. One is pure and innocent, the other rebellious. Complicating matters is the local handsome young Count. He seems, at first, just to be a libertine, and opposes the witch-burners. Don't expect him to be our hero, however. Bored with a phony Satanic ritual, he really kills the peasant girl selected as the "sacrifice." This causes a dead ancestor to rise from her grave. (This provides a very loose link to the famous vampire story "Carmilla," and a couple of other Hammer movies, but it's very minor.) After they get into some heavy smooching, she turns him into a vampire. The rebellious twin visits him, and undergoes the same transformation. Eventually, the witch-burners catch the evil twin, but the Count causes the twins to switch places, threatening to have the good twin be burned at the stake while the evil one escapes. It all builds up to a rousing, violent climax. Handsomely filmed, it manages to offer the late Hammer combination of blood and female skin in a classy package.
Better-than-average Hammer vampire flick. Peter Cushing gives an intense performance as the leader of a bunch of witch-burning religious fanatics. His twin nieces (real-life identical twins, and Playboy Playmates) arrive after their parents die. One is pure and innocent, the other rebellious. Complicating matters is the local handsome young Count. He seems, at first, just to be a libertine, and opposes the witch-burners. Don't expect him to be our hero, however. Bored with a phony Satanic ritual, he really kills the peasant girl selected as the "sacrifice." This causes a dead ancestor to rise from her grave. (This provides a very loose link to the famous vampire story "Carmilla," and a couple of other Hammer movies, but it's very minor.) After they get into some heavy smooching, she turns him into a vampire. The rebellious twin visits him, and undergoes the same transformation. Eventually, the witch-burners catch the evil twin, but the Count causes the twins to switch places, threatening to have the good twin be burned at the stake while the evil one escapes. It all builds up to a rousing, violent climax. Handsomely filmed, it manages to offer the late Hammer combination of blood and female skin in a classy package.
Hilarious Joke
Fool
Inside
Bo Burnham's amazing one-man musical Netflix special.
Bo Burnham's amazing one-man musical Netflix special.
Victoria Silverwolf
Vegetarian Werewolf
Night of the Devils (1972)
Slow, moody, dream-like Italian horror film. Starts with the protagonist wandering around in torn clothes, bloody and exhausted. Cut to surreal scenes of violence and nudity, with the protagonist's brainwaves being studied in a hospital. It seems that he has no memory of who he is. A woman shows up, claiming to know him. He completely freaks out when he sees her, so he has to be sedated. This leads to a flashback. It seems his car broke down in the middle of nowhere, so he walked to an isolated farmhouse. The folks there have just buried the patriarch's brother. They warn the protagonist that all the doors and windows must be shut tight at night. There's also this strange-looking woman wandering around outside. To say anything more would spoil the movie's slow build, but what's going on isn't too surprising. Anyway, it's an effective blend of Gothic and gore.
Slow, moody, dream-like Italian horror film. Starts with the protagonist wandering around in torn clothes, bloody and exhausted. Cut to surreal scenes of violence and nudity, with the protagonist's brainwaves being studied in a hospital. It seems that he has no memory of who he is. A woman shows up, claiming to know him. He completely freaks out when he sees her, so he has to be sedated. This leads to a flashback. It seems his car broke down in the middle of nowhere, so he walked to an isolated farmhouse. The folks there have just buried the patriarch's brother. They warn the protagonist that all the doors and windows must be shut tight at night. There's also this strange-looking woman wandering around outside. To say anything more would spoil the movie's slow build, but what's going on isn't too surprising. Anyway, it's an effective blend of Gothic and gore.
I am saving Twins of Evil for the 50th anniversary of its premiere this October. It was released on a double bill in the Uk with Hands of the Ripper and both films have Katya Wyeth, probably most famous for being the ascot fantasy girl at the end of A Clockwork Orange.
Coincidentally I watched CLASH OF THE TITANS which premiered in the US on June 12 1981. It got an earlier release in the UK. But Raiders of the Lost Ark was also released on June 12. They share two things on common. The London Symphony Orchestra and Pat Roach-who had a couple of roles in Raiders--including the mechanic of the flying wing. In COTT he is Hephaestus working on the mechanical owl. In both films you could say he works as a mechanic with winged machines.
This movie has a lot value. The score is really good, the creatures and the flowery acting. I especially like moments when Athena in a sotto voce tone rebukes the command of Zeus that she give up her owl. "Nevah!" It was a very cute owl so you can understand her reluctance.
One thing I notice is how Perseus is not really all that, how shall we say, traditionally heroic. Yes he catches Pegasus and defeats Calibos (I never noticed before how much he resembles Charlton Heston) but he has a lot of help. He's got the always reliable Thallo who is a great character and has the immortal line "away from these hell sent swarms of blood-gutted marsh flies." He also triumphantly shouts "Per-se-us!" when he throws him the sword. Hamlin has Burgess Meredith who gives him some sage-like advice. And he has the help of the Olympians who send him Bubo the mechanical owl. Bubo does a lot to help Perseus--he may have even killed the third scorpion which goes missing from the fight.
I kind of wish they had followed the official version of the story a little closer because I like the idea of him having to deal with the other two gorgons after he beheads Medusa and making his escape on Pegasus born from the blood.
The weakest thing in the movie for me besides too much Bubo (very well animated though) is the Kraken design-which looks a lot like the Ymir.
I think that scene is anti-climactic in ways because they could not effectively convey a giant monster using stop motion. Jim Danforth, who animated Pegasus and Dioskilos, probably could have done more with it. Harryhausen was overtaxed with other things but it is a weak design despite a really impressive location and some water explosions which made it seem more fancy.
The tail emerging from the gate underwater does look huge though.
Last feature film of Donald Houston who gets crushed on screen by Laurence Olivier.
What a way for an actor to go.
Coincidentally I watched CLASH OF THE TITANS which premiered in the US on June 12 1981. It got an earlier release in the UK. But Raiders of the Lost Ark was also released on June 12. They share two things on common. The London Symphony Orchestra and Pat Roach-who had a couple of roles in Raiders--including the mechanic of the flying wing. In COTT he is Hephaestus working on the mechanical owl. In both films you could say he works as a mechanic with winged machines.
This movie has a lot value. The score is really good, the creatures and the flowery acting. I especially like moments when Athena in a sotto voce tone rebukes the command of Zeus that she give up her owl. "Nevah!" It was a very cute owl so you can understand her reluctance. One thing I notice is how Perseus is not really all that, how shall we say, traditionally heroic. Yes he catches Pegasus and defeats Calibos (I never noticed before how much he resembles Charlton Heston) but he has a lot of help. He's got the always reliable Thallo who is a great character and has the immortal line "away from these hell sent swarms of blood-gutted marsh flies." He also triumphantly shouts "Per-se-us!" when he throws him the sword. Hamlin has Burgess Meredith who gives him some sage-like advice. And he has the help of the Olympians who send him Bubo the mechanical owl. Bubo does a lot to help Perseus--he may have even killed the third scorpion which goes missing from the fight.
I kind of wish they had followed the official version of the story a little closer because I like the idea of him having to deal with the other two gorgons after he beheads Medusa and making his escape on Pegasus born from the blood.
The weakest thing in the movie for me besides too much Bubo (very well animated though) is the Kraken design-which looks a lot like the Ymir.
I think that scene is anti-climactic in ways because they could not effectively convey a giant monster using stop motion. Jim Danforth, who animated Pegasus and Dioskilos, probably could have done more with it. Harryhausen was overtaxed with other things but it is a weak design despite a really impressive location and some water explosions which made it seem more fancy.
The tail emerging from the gate underwater does look huge though.
Last feature film of Donald Houston who gets crushed on screen by Laurence Olivier.
What a way for an actor to go.
Victoria Silverwolf
Vegetarian Werewolf
Scandal Sheet (1952)
No similarity to the made-for-TV "Great Adaptation" of the same name I mentioned a while ago, except for the fact that it features the head of a tabloid newspaper. In this one, Broderick Crawford is a guy who has changed a respectable but failing journal into a sleazy but successful rag. During a "Lonely Hearts" dance set up by the paper as a publicity stunt, the wife he deserted long ago, who knows him under another name, confronts him. At her apartment, he more-or-less accidentally kills her when she threatens to expose him. His ace reporter investigates the death, which looks like an accident at first, and slowly begins to track down the killer. It's a tense suspense film.
No similarity to the made-for-TV "Great Adaptation" of the same name I mentioned a while ago, except for the fact that it features the head of a tabloid newspaper. In this one, Broderick Crawford is a guy who has changed a respectable but failing journal into a sleazy but successful rag. During a "Lonely Hearts" dance set up by the paper as a publicity stunt, the wife he deserted long ago, who knows him under another name, confronts him. At her apartment, he more-or-less accidentally kills her when she threatens to expose him. His ace reporter investigates the death, which looks like an accident at first, and slowly begins to track down the killer. It's a tense suspense film.
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Return Of The Living Dead Part II
Having re-watched the original a couple of months ago, I thought I'd give the sequel another go. It's a parody of the original movie (which itself was a very well made parody of Night of the Living Dead), with a similar premise ad even some actors reprising similar roles. But any horror is replaced with comedy, and much of it is poorly done compared to the original. Watch the first movie if you want to see a really good, darkly funny zombie movie and forget this one ever happened.
Having re-watched the original a couple of months ago, I thought I'd give the sequel another go. It's a parody of the original movie (which itself was a very well made parody of Night of the Living Dead), with a similar premise ad even some actors reprising similar roles. But any horror is replaced with comedy, and much of it is poorly done compared to the original. Watch the first movie if you want to see a really good, darkly funny zombie movie and forget this one ever happened.
Jeffbert
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THE GREAT ESCAPE (1963) I paid attention to the part in which the officers on both sides introduced themselves, & did find it odd that one of the Germans used the word 'Colonel' & another used 'Captain,' while addressing the English guy using the German term for his rank.
Comparing it to the film THE PASSWORD IS COURAGE, very similar escape scenes, tunnel digging, etc.; but I guess that is unavoidable.
THE NAKED AND THE DEAD (1958) Staff Sergeant Sam Croft (Aldo Ray) is just about as nasty as could be.
He even makes the bad guys look good. He also was the villain in a Western movie that I wrote about some months ago. Anyway, here, he is murdering prisoners, and pulling their gold filled teeth, among other atrocities.
So, the U. S. Marines are on a particular Pacific island, and the unit is ordered to reconnoiter a mountain top, and report their findings to a passing aircraft. An argument between Brigadier General Cummings (Raymond Massey) & his aide First Lieutenant Robert Hearn (Cliff Robertson) results in the former sending the latter into combat, in command of the unit led by Sgt. Croft, and a conflict between a battle hardened Sergeant & the Lieutenant who lacks such experience ensues.
Great supporting cast, includes [Trelane] (William Campbell), as Brown; [Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane] (James Best), as Rhidges; among others.
Very tense drama.
Comparing it to the film THE PASSWORD IS COURAGE, very similar escape scenes, tunnel digging, etc.; but I guess that is unavoidable.
THE NAKED AND THE DEAD (1958) Staff Sergeant Sam Croft (Aldo Ray) is just about as nasty as could be.
He even makes the bad guys look good. He also was the villain in a Western movie that I wrote about some months ago. Anyway, here, he is murdering prisoners, and pulling their gold filled teeth, among other atrocities.So, the U. S. Marines are on a particular Pacific island, and the unit is ordered to reconnoiter a mountain top, and report their findings to a passing aircraft. An argument between Brigadier General Cummings (Raymond Massey) & his aide First Lieutenant Robert Hearn (Cliff Robertson) results in the former sending the latter into combat, in command of the unit led by Sgt. Croft, and a conflict between a battle hardened Sergeant & the Lieutenant who lacks such experience ensues.
Great supporting cast, includes [Trelane] (William Campbell), as Brown; [Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane] (James Best), as Rhidges; among others.
Very tense drama.
When I see him in other stuff I think of Trelane.
Also, when I see Philip Pine, I think of the infamous Colonel Green.
hitmouse
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Based on a terrific Norman Mailer novel of the same name. I didn’t know there was a movie. Will check it out.
THE NAKED AND THE DEAD (1958) Staff Sergeant Sam Croft (Aldo Ray) is just about as nasty as could be.
So, the U. S. Marines are on a particular Pacific island, and the unit is ordered to reconnoiter a mountain top, and report their findings to a passing aircraft. An argument between Brigadier General Cummings (Raymond Massey) & his aide First Lieutenant Robert Hearn (Cliff Robertson) results in the former sending the latter into combat, in command of the unit led by Sgt. Croft, and a conflict between a battle hardened Sergeant & the Lieutenant who lacks such experience ensues.
Great supporting cast, includes [Trelane] (William Campbell), as Brown; [Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane] (James Best), as Rhidges; among others.
Very tense drama.
Recently watched Annihilation for the second time. I really didn't pay attention the first time apparently because it seemed like a completely different movie when I payed attention. I thought it was decent, I could use some good suggestions for films though!!
I've been meaning to see this, mostly because some was shot in my area of buffalo ny. I thought the first was ok so this one is on my list! Thank you for reminding me!
Victoria Silverwolf
Vegetarian Werewolf
So Sweet, So Dead (Rivelazioni di un maniaco sessuale al capo della squadra mobile, 1972)
Also known by the charming title The Slasher Is the Sex Maniac, which gives you some idea of how sleazy this giallo really is. I suppose either title is less awkward (and easier to put on a marquee) than Revelations of a Sex Maniac to the Head of the Criminal Investigation Division.
Anyway, you know what you in for with the very first scene, before the opening titles, which shows us the bloody, naked corpse of a murdered woman. Similar killings follow, all the victims of which are married women having affairs. Photographs of them with their lovers are left with the bodies. Suffice to say that the homicide detective on the case is fated to discover that the murders strike close to home. Don't expect a happy ending.
In addition to the usual red herrings and such, there are a couple of oddly irrelevant plot points. Somebody witnesses one of the murders, but can't identify the killer, in typical giallo style, but she drops out of the movie completely, even though her own mother becomes a victim later. The most random element is a man on crutches, the husband of a victim, who falls down a flight of stairs to his death. It's simply an accident, that has nothing to do with anything else.
Although nicely filmed, it's a less than satisfactory example of the form.
Also known by the charming title The Slasher Is the Sex Maniac, which gives you some idea of how sleazy this giallo really is. I suppose either title is less awkward (and easier to put on a marquee) than Revelations of a Sex Maniac to the Head of the Criminal Investigation Division.
Anyway, you know what you in for with the very first scene, before the opening titles, which shows us the bloody, naked corpse of a murdered woman. Similar killings follow, all the victims of which are married women having affairs. Photographs of them with their lovers are left with the bodies. Suffice to say that the homicide detective on the case is fated to discover that the murders strike close to home. Don't expect a happy ending.
In addition to the usual red herrings and such, there are a couple of oddly irrelevant plot points. Somebody witnesses one of the murders, but can't identify the killer, in typical giallo style, but she drops out of the movie completely, even though her own mother becomes a victim later. The most random element is a man on crutches, the husband of a victim, who falls down a flight of stairs to his death. It's simply an accident, that has nothing to do with anything else.
Although nicely filmed, it's a less than satisfactory example of the form.
Victoria Silverwolf
Vegetarian Werewolf
Eye in the Labyrinth (L'occhio nel labirinto, 1972)
Interesting psychological suspense film. A woman wakes from a nightmare of her lover being murdered, only to discover that he has disappeared. She goes to his last known location and winds up at the villa of a woman who has a bunch of arty types in residence. There's also an older man around, who seems both sinister and helpful. Just about everybody has some kind of dark secret. There are attempts on the woman's life, and a drawing made by a mentally disturbed teenage boy which seems to depict a murder he witnessed. It all leads up to a Shocking Twist Ending. Worth a look.
Interesting psychological suspense film. A woman wakes from a nightmare of her lover being murdered, only to discover that he has disappeared. She goes to his last known location and winds up at the villa of a woman who has a bunch of arty types in residence. There's also an older man around, who seems both sinister and helpful. Just about everybody has some kind of dark secret. There are attempts on the woman's life, and a drawing made by a mentally disturbed teenage boy which seems to depict a murder he witnessed. It all leads up to a Shocking Twist Ending. Worth a look.
Victoria Silverwolf
Vegetarian Werewolf
The Beast From the Beginning of Time (1965)
Ultra-cheap, amateur, unreleased monster movie made by a TV horror host of the time, using the facilities of the television studio where he worked. Science types dig up a Neanderthal man from the time of the dinosaurs (!) and bicker over it for about half the film. The Neanderthal finally gets around to reviving and killing people. (A fair amount of gore for 1965.) Since it can only be killed by something from its own time (?) they stab it to death with a dinosaur bone (!) and we get one of those "the end . . . or is it?" type final credits. Pretty dull stuff, interesting only as a curiosity. Looks more like something from the early 1950's than the mid 1960's.
Ultra-cheap, amateur, unreleased monster movie made by a TV horror host of the time, using the facilities of the television studio where he worked. Science types dig up a Neanderthal man from the time of the dinosaurs (!) and bicker over it for about half the film. The Neanderthal finally gets around to reviving and killing people. (A fair amount of gore for 1965.) Since it can only be killed by something from its own time (?) they stab it to death with a dinosaur bone (!) and we get one of those "the end . . . or is it?" type final credits. Pretty dull stuff, interesting only as a curiosity. Looks more like something from the early 1950's than the mid 1960's.
Victoria Silverwolf
Vegetarian Werewolf
Images (1972)
Short version: Robert Altman's Repulsion.
Like the same director's science fiction film Quintet, this is not typical of his work. There are only five characters of any importance. At the heart of the film is a woman. We frequently hear her narrate the children's fantasy book she's writing, a clue that she is not entirely connected to reality. The other characters are her husband, a rather shallow, immature fellow; the husband's friend, who constantly forces his attentions on her (whether she welcomes this or not is very ambiguous); the friend's teenage daughter, who is something like a younger version of herself; and an ex-lover, who happens to have died years ago. Ghost or hallucination? There are no easy answers. She also encounters herself from time to time. The men frequently change from one to another, and it is impossible to tell what is real. It's a compelling portrait of madness, made more so by stunningly gorgeous photography and a chilling soundtrack (with separate credits for "music" and "sounds.")
Short version: Robert Altman's Repulsion.
Like the same director's science fiction film Quintet, this is not typical of his work. There are only five characters of any importance. At the heart of the film is a woman. We frequently hear her narrate the children's fantasy book she's writing, a clue that she is not entirely connected to reality. The other characters are her husband, a rather shallow, immature fellow; the husband's friend, who constantly forces his attentions on her (whether she welcomes this or not is very ambiguous); the friend's teenage daughter, who is something like a younger version of herself; and an ex-lover, who happens to have died years ago. Ghost or hallucination? There are no easy answers. She also encounters herself from time to time. The men frequently change from one to another, and it is impossible to tell what is real. It's a compelling portrait of madness, made more so by stunningly gorgeous photography and a chilling soundtrack (with separate credits for "music" and "sounds.")
Little Shop of Horrors. I don't get why people go crazy for these films (like this and 'Rocky Horror Show' which is so rapey it's horrific). You've got a woman being sexually and physically abused, with a voice that's so ridiculous I literally couldn't understand half of what she's saying, and yet I couldn't work out if this was supposed to be funny or not. Her boobs are always popping out and the plant gropes her before trying to eat her, yet why would a plant be sexually attracted to a human? Then you've got the weird BDSM stuff between Steve Martin and Bill Murray that has absolutely nothing to do with anything and seems to only be in the film because the director was fapping off to it or something. Only good thing about the film was the three unnamed black ladies who, it turns out when you see the credits, do actually have names.
hitmouse
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I dont think there is any real connection between these two films apart from the fact they are musicals and have an sf theme, so “these films” needs more definition. If you want dodgy and coercive, how about Seven Brides for Seven Brothers?
LSOH is actually quite a conventional example of the form, whilst RHS started out as a deliberately transgressive underground stage show in the 1970s and became a very influential film. I have seen RHS on stage and in film dozens of times. I understand why it ( quite deliberately) divides opinion, and I really enjoy it.
Little Shop of Horrors was greatly ballyhooed about in the 80s. So very heavily promoted. Jim Henson got some of the praise because of the plant, which speaks with a black voice. I wonder if that is still politically correct. Also it has that song by Steve Martin about animal abuse and dentistry. It isn't really referenced much now. You don't hear the tunes from LSOH being hummed.
I have never seen Rocky Horror but it started as something small while LSOH was like a big budget Broadway musical sort of thing. The original movie is very cheap and quaint.
FFOLKES 1980 -- An anti-James Bond action movie. Roger Moore is as far removed from 007 as possible. It's an ok action movie with some good humor and clever use of cats-especially in the final scene.
I have never seen Rocky Horror but it started as something small while LSOH was like a big budget Broadway musical sort of thing. The original movie is very cheap and quaint.
FFOLKES 1980 -- An anti-James Bond action movie. Roger Moore is as far removed from 007 as possible. It's an ok action movie with some good humor and clever use of cats-especially in the final scene.
Victoria Silverwolf
Vegetarian Werewolf
The Mob (1951)
Solid crime drama. Broderick Crawford is a cop who happens to witness a murder. The guy who did the shooting claims to be a police detective, and has the badge to prove it, but he actually just took it from a cop he killed a while ago. The killer gets away, killing another guy in the process. Crawford is officially suspended, but is actually given an undercover assignment to infiltrate The Mob extorting dock workers. (You have to accept the fact that shaving off his mustache makes Crawford unrecognizable.) Plenty of sarcastic dialogue, plenty of tough guys, plenty of folks pretending to be something they're not, plenty of fights and shootings. A fair amount of high-tech police work for 1951, too. Crawford's machine gun style of barking out his lines really adds something. There's a lighthearted ending, after the big climax, in which you have to assume that a gorgeous blonde finds Crawford irresistible. One odd thing: In order to pretend to be from New Orleans, Crawford drinks white wine and beer together. I can't find any information confirming that this is a New Orleans thing.
Solid crime drama. Broderick Crawford is a cop who happens to witness a murder. The guy who did the shooting claims to be a police detective, and has the badge to prove it, but he actually just took it from a cop he killed a while ago. The killer gets away, killing another guy in the process. Crawford is officially suspended, but is actually given an undercover assignment to infiltrate The Mob extorting dock workers. (You have to accept the fact that shaving off his mustache makes Crawford unrecognizable.) Plenty of sarcastic dialogue, plenty of tough guys, plenty of folks pretending to be something they're not, plenty of fights and shootings. A fair amount of high-tech police work for 1951, too. Crawford's machine gun style of barking out his lines really adds something. There's a lighthearted ending, after the big climax, in which you have to assume that a gorgeous blonde finds Crawford irresistible. One odd thing: In order to pretend to be from New Orleans, Crawford drinks white wine and beer together. I can't find any information confirming that this is a New Orleans thing.
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