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Horror of Party Beach, The (1964)

October 27, 2015 admin Comments 1 comment

“They are the living dead — they’re zombies!”

Synopsis:
After his girlfriend (Marilyn Clarke) is killed by a radioactive sea creature, a scientist (John Scott) works with his mentor (Allan Laurel) and his mentor’s daughter (Alice Lyon) to help destroy the creatures.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

Horror
Mutant Monsters

Review:
Del Tenney’s low-budget horror flick combines elements of just about every cinematic trope from the ’60s — biker gangs, beach parties, atomic mutations, slumber parties, folk music, and more — in one feature, complete with ludicrously silly rubber creatures from the deep, terrible acting, “teeny boppers” who appear to actually be in their 20s or 30s, laughably unrealistic sequences, a surf music soundtrack by the Del-Aires, and more. Add in the presence of a concerned, overly solicitous African-American maid (Eulabelle Moore) who’s convinced the creatures are the result of voodoo, and the recipe is set for a cliche-filled adventure only worth the time of true bad movie aficianados.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

Effective low-budget cinematography
Plenty of humorously bad dialogue, costumes, and special effects:

“Hey, that reminds me — did I bring my hot dog buns?”
“Then they CAN be killed — with sodium!”

Must See?
No, but it’s certainly worth a look if you enjoy this kind of flick — especially so with MST3K’s commentary. Listed as a Camp Classic in the back of Peary’s book.

Links:

Horror Hotel / City of the Dead (1960)

October 26, 2015 admin Comments 1 comment

“Burn the witch!”

Synopsis:
Influenced by her professor (Christopher Lee), a college student (Venetia Stevenson) travels to the New England town of Whitehead to research its history of witchcraft, against the wishes of her boyfriend (Tom Naylor) and brother (Dennis Lotis). Once there, she stays at an inn run by a woman (Patricia Jessel) who looks suspiciously like a witch burned at the stake centuries earlier; meanwhile, she is warned by both a mute maid (Ann Beach) and a blind local preacher (Norman Macowan) to get away, but she ignores this advice at her own peril.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

Christopher Lee Films
Horror
Witches and Wizards

Response to Peary’s Review:
In his short review of this British horror film — a distinct precursor to Mario Bava’s Black Sunday (1960), released in Italy later that year — Peary writes that while it’s “no classic”, the film possesses “creepy atmosphere plus a few good shocks”. He points out that the “early death of [the] lead actress in [an] inn makes one think quickly of [the] same year’s Psycho,” and that it “contains many plot elements — as well as symbols — that would be used in [the] 1973 British film The Wicker Man.” In sum, Horror Hotel seems to be primarily remembered in comparison with other similarly themed or plotted films of the era. As Richard Scheib writes in his review for Moria, it was:

… the first film to patent the theme of reincarnated witches, Satanic covens and sinister New England towns where the inhabitants mutter portents and run before nightfall … [and it] … sets up much of what would later become the cliches of the genre – the reincarnated witch, the Satanists hiding behind the guise of respectable townspeople, the occult tomes that provide information about the situation… [all] images [that] would become the staple of the Italian Gothic movement…

So, is Horror Hotel worth watching on its own merits? Scriptwise, no: as DVD Savant writes, “we know we’re in one of those horror movies where certain things have to be taken for granted”; indeed, you’ll roll your eyes at the characters’ denseness. But atmospherically speaking, it’s a winner, and a visual treat all the way. Fans of the genre probably won’t be too disappointed.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

Patricia Jessel as Elizabeth Selwyn/Mrs. Newless
Highly effective sets and cinematography

Must See?
No, but it’s certainly worth a one-time look.

Links:

Awful Dr. Orloff, The (1962)

October 26, 2015 admin Comments 1 comment

“I’m fascinated by your skin.”

Synopsis:
With the help of his blind assistant Morpho (Ricardo Valle), a doctor (Howard Vernon) kidnaps beautiful women and brings them back to his castle, where he kills them and removes their skin in an attempt to restore the face of his disfigured daughter (Diana Lorys). Meanwhile, an inspector (Conrado San Martin) receives help from his plucky fiancee (also Diana Lorys) in discovering the identity of the killer.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

Amateur Sleuths
Disfigured Faces
Horror
Jess Franco Films
Mad Doctors and Scientists

Review:
“Eurotrash” director Jess Franco‘s direct rip-off of Georges Franju’s Eyes Without a Face (1960) — with elements of James Whale’s Frankenstein (1931) thrown in — remains a surprisingly enjoyable (if inferior) thriller. With highly atmospheric cinematography and sets, eerie make-up, creative direction, and a feisty, sexy female protagonist — one who knowingly puts herself in harm’s way to help solve her fiance’s mystery — this mad-doctor/amateur sleuth tale delivers enough entertainment to make it worth a look. Given Stuart Galbraith IV’s statement that “Franco showed some promise in his earliest films but by the late 1960s his movies became worse than amateurish, marked by out-of-focus camerawork, incoherent editing, incessant yet pointless use of zoom lenses, and unseemly yet decidedly unarousing voyeurism and exhibitionism”, it seems to me film fanatics should probably consider this their once-and-done Franco viewing.

Note: As far as I can tell, the only other Franco title listed in Peary’s book is Barbed Wire Dolls (1976), one among many women-in-prison flicks he apparently made later in his career.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

Wonderfully atmospheric b&w cinematography
Effective sets
Creative direction
Morpho’s creepy make-up
An innovative score

Must See?
Yes, as a cult film by a cult director.

Categories

Cult Film

Links:

Night Train to Munich (1940)

October 24, 2015 admin Comments 1 comment

Hello, CMBA members! I’m excited to be participating in the fall Trains, Planes, and Automobiles blogathon. This is my third blogathon entry for CMBA: others were reviews of Intermezzo (both versions — 1936 and 1939) for Fabulous Films of the 30s and The Fabulous World of Jules Verne (1958) for Fabulous Films of the 50s.

Welcome! Please click here to read more about this site.

“In time you will see things the way I do — the way everyone in Germany does.”

Synopsis:
An armor-plating inventor (Felix Aylmer) flees Prague in time to avoid Nazi occupation, but his daughter (Margaret Lockwood) is caught and sent to a concentration camp, where she meets a handsome prisoner (Paul Henreid) who helps her escape to England. When she and her father are kidnapped and taken back to Germany, they must rely on the help of a charismatic spy (Rex Harrison) to help them cross to Switzerland — but will their ruse be spoiled by a pair of nosy British passengers (Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne)?

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

Carol Reed Films
Historical Drama
Kidnapping
Mistaken or Hidden Identities
Rex Harrison Films
World War II

Review:
Made just two years after Hitchcock’s classic pre-war thriller The Lady Vanishes (1938), this film — directed by Carol Reed — bears inevitable comparison in many respects, given that it was co-authored by the same screenwriting team (Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder), took place in part on a train, and featured both the same leading actress (Lockwood) and the same wisecracking comedic duo (Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne). By 1940, however, war had officially broken out, and the difference in narrative emphasis shows: Nazis are called out explicitly as heinous villains, concentration camps (albeit in a sanitized sound-set version) are shown, and the call to action on behalf of Brits was more profound than ever. This became an early entry in the lengthy array of wartime cinema produced by Britain, functioning both as escapist fare and patriotic stimulation.

The movie’s pace is fast-moving, and while we find out the true identity of one key character early on, this doesn’t lessen the tension. We are primarily focused on admiring the daring-do of Harrison, who is nicely cast here as a brave (if slightly rash) spy willing to risk his life to help Aylmer and Lockwood.

As in The Lady Vanishes, I’m not a fan of Radford and Wayne’s presence, though they are at least tightly integrated into the plot and serve a critical function:

Although Lockwood’s character isn’t all that memorable:

… Henreid — perhaps best known for his work in Now, Voyager (1942) and Casablanca (1942) — does a fine job in an unenviable role:

… and Harrison is actually not annoying (plus, he SINGS — for real!).

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

Rex Harrison as Gus Bennett
Atmospheric cinematography

Must See?
No; this one is fun but optional viewing for film fanatics.

Links:

Horror Express / Panic on the Trans-Siberian Express (1972)

October 23, 2015 admin Comments 2 comments

“It’s alive — it must be!”

Synopsis:
In 1906 China, a British anthropologist (Christopher Lee) finds a frozen prehistoric body and arranges to ship it on the Transsiberian Express — but soon he and fellow passenger Dr. Wells (Peter Cushing) realize the ancient creature is a living alien, capable of destroying people’s brains and able to transfer itself into a human body. As they work with an inspector (Julio Pena) to determine where the alien is residing, more and more passengers are brutally murdered.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

Aliens
Christopher Lee Films
Horror
Mind Control and Hypnosis
Murder Mystery
Peter Cushing Films
Telly Savalas Films
Trains and Subways

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary refers to this low-budget, Spanish-made sci-fi flick as a “horror gem that devotees of late-night television have kept to themselves” (though its recent release on Blu-Ray and DVD makes this a somewhat dated point). He argues that the “picture is exciting and surprisingly provocative”, and praises the direction (by Eugenio Martin), the “interesting characters”, and the “solid acting”. He notes that “like 2001 and Five Million Years to Earth, it challenges both fundamentalist religion and theories on evolution” — a point I can’t quite agree with, given that it’s much stronger in thrills, chills, and occasional levity than meaty exploration of such topics. While I can understand this film’s cult appeal as a gruesome mash-up of numerous cinematic genres and tropes — a death-filled train ride a la Murder on the Orient Express (1974); a resuscitated frozen alien a la The Thing (1951); brain-dead victims-turned-perpetrators a la Night of the Living Dead (1968) — its true calling card is the fortunate pairing of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, who have great fun working together against dark forces. Watch for Telly Savalas in a cameo role as a Cossack commander who naively believes he and his men can tame the alien.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

Effective use of a claustrophobic train setting
Lurid special effects
Atmospheric cinematography

Must See?
Yes, once, simply as a cult favorite.

Categories

Cult Movie

Links:

Outrageous! (1977)

October 22, 2015 admin Comments 1 comment

“You’ll never be normal — but you’re special. And you can have a hell of a good time!”

Synopsis:
A talented aspiring drag queen (Craig Russell) shares an apartment with his best friend, a schizophrenic young woman (Hollis McLaren) hoping to keep her “bonecrusher” away by becoming pregnant and feeling alive inside.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

Aspiring Stars
Friendship
Gender Bending
Homosexuality
Mental Illness
Misfits
Pregnancy

Response to Peary’s Review:
Peary writes that perhaps the popularity of this “funny, touching film” — based on a short story by Margaret Gibson — is “due to the fact that both [main characters] succeed in achieving their modest goals”. He notes that “at times it’s a sloppy film, poorly lit and edited in a manner that causes you to lose all track of time; but the characters are so likable and believably played” and “the direction and script… are so spirited and tender that you are willing to forgive it for not being as polished as a Hollywood production”. He lauds the film’s emphasis on eschewing conformity, and notes that the “picture shows that those who struggle to retain their ‘healthy brand of craziness’ in our dehumanized world can have a lot of fun”.

Peary specifically calls out Craig Russell’s “award-winning performance as Robin Turner, a character with great range” who is “kind-hearted, angry, witty, philosophical, moody, vulnerable to criticism, strong when he has to be, even heroic, extremely sarcastic, and harmlessly bitchy” — not to mention “dazzling” when he “does impersonations of Streisand, Channing, Garland, Bankhead, Davis, West, etc.” Indeed, the film is chock-a-block full of truly entertaining footage showing Russell doing what he does so well: we can easily understand why he expresses disdain and dismay early in the film when watching an amateur performer on stage, giving a bad name to his craft. Writer/director Richard Benner’s script heads in unusual directions, keeping us on our toes about what will happen next, and occasionally surprising us — but Russell’s friendship with McLaren trumps all, and provides the film with heartwarming continuity.

Note: This film is profiled at length in Peary’s original Cult Movies book.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

Craig Russell as Robin Turner (nominated by Peary as one of the Best Actors of the Year in his Alternate Oscars)
Hollis McLaren as Liza Connors
A refreshingly humane and compassionate view of mental illness: “You and me are here to love and look after each other.”
An authentically feel-good script: “I’ve never known anyone worth knowing who wasn’t a positive fruitcake.”

Must See?
Yes, as an enjoyable cult favorite.

Categories

Cult Movie

Links:

It Conquered the World (1956)

October 22, 2015 admin Comments 1 comment

“I won’t love a monster — I won’t!”

Synopsis:
A cynical scientist (Lee Van Cleef) helps a Venusian alien (Paul Blaisdell) land on earth and begin a campaign to rid humans of all emotions — but his wife (Beverly Garland) and colleague (Peter Graves) are immediately concerned about his ideas.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

Aliens
Dick Miller Films
Lee Van Cleef Films
Mad Doctors and Scientists
Mind Control any Hypnosis
Roger Corman Films
Science Fiction
World Domination

Review:
Roger Corman’s low-budget (what else?) alien-invasion flick is perhaps best known for Paul Blaisdell‘s ridiculously vegetable-like rubber Venusian alien, but actually remains a decent entry in the sub-genre of mid-century Communist hysteria films [such as Invaders From Mars (1953) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)]. Van Cleef is eerily effective (and well-cast) in the central role as a scientist so disillusioned by humanity he’s allowed his ethos to be taken over by an alien agenda, certain that the Venusians will “rescue the world from itself”; and Garland is equally convincing as his concerned, no-nonsense wife. Charles B. Griffith’s sharp script does wonders with scenarios that are otherwise laughable (i.e., rubber bats flying at humans’ necks to remove all emotions), with several scenes in particular — i.e., Graves’ wife (Sally Fraser) matter-of-factly attempting to “infect” him — highly effective. I watched this one with MST3K commentary, but actually believe it should have been seen on its own first. Read And You Call Yourself a Scientist!’s review for an in-depth, appreciative look at this flick, in which the reviewer notes right away that “I have almost as much admiration for this film as I do affection, and I don’t intend to make fun of it any more than is absolutely necessary”.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

Lee Van Cleef as Dr. Tom Anderson
Beverly Garland as Claire Anderson
Charles B. Griffith’s solid B-script:

“Oh, look! Can’t you two talk about anything else? I’m getting tired of hearing about nothing but satellites, isotopes, conical graduations, and the rest!”
“I’d have to take a long, hard look at anything that was going to change the world — and me — so completely.”
“You can’t rub the tarnish from men’s souls without losing a little of the silver, too.”

Must See?
Yes, as one of Corman’s better low-budget outings.

Categories

Important Director

Links:

Connection, The (1962)

October 21, 2015 admin Comments 2 comments

“You will not see the man behind the man — because there is no such man!”

Synopsis:
A director (William Redfield) agrees to fund the next fix for a group of heroin junkies gathered in the apartment of a friend (Warren Finnerty) as they wait for the arrival of their “connection”, a drug supplier known as Cowboy (Carl Lee).

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

Alcoholism and Drug Addiction
Play Adaptations
Shirley Clarke Films

Review:
Shirley Clarke’s black-and-white cinéma vérité film — crafted like a documentary, but actually highly scripted and based on a play by Jack Gelber — broke cinematic ground in its gritty depiction of heroin addiction, overtly flaunting New York’s censorship rules. Indeed, watching this independently produced film puts more mainstream movies of the same year in an interesting perspective: while many of these titles (i.e., To Kill a Mockingbird, The Manchurian Candidate, Days of Wine and Roses) were concerned with “social issues”, none were anything close to this raw in their depiction. With that said, The Connection unfortunately isn’t all that interesting or compelling; it’s far too stagy and dry, and I would revisit any of the above titles before this one for sheer entertainment value. Yet The Connection remains of minor interest simply for its historical importance.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

A refreshingly frank (for the time in which it was made) look at drug use

Must See?
No, though it’s recommended for one-time viewing simply given its historical significance. Listed as a film with Historical Importance and a Personal Recommendation in the back of Peary’s book.

Links:

Portrait of Jason (1967)

October 21, 2015 admin Comments 3 comments

“It only hurts when you think of it. And if you’re real, you’ll think of it a long, long time.”

Synopsis:
Filmmaker Shirley Clarke interviews a self-described gay black “hustler” (Jason Holliday) who tells countless entertaining tales of his life as a sexually voracious “houseboy” and aspiring cabaret singer.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

African-Americans
Aspiring Stars
Class Relations
Documentary
Homosexuality
Race Relations
Shirley Clarke Films

Review:
Shirley Clarke’s cult classic — filmed in her Hotel Chelsea apartment over the course of 12 hours — remains a uniquely structured, unexpectedly haunting entry in her oeuvre as an independent female documentarian. Without explanation or captions, the film plunges into Clarke’s talk with Jason, beginning with how he transformed from “Aaron Payne” to “Jason Holliday” with the help of a budding international spiritual organization which promotes the changing of one’s name to something more “authentic”. (As a bit of trivia, my parents joined this group at around the same time and also changed their birth names.) The film quickly moves on, however, to even more fascinating fare, as Jason, continuously drinking, begins sharing seemingly endless tales of his life as a hustler — or wait, as a houseboy? A companion? What exactly DID Jason do to earn money, and how often did this overlap with his own entertainment? Well, it turns out he did just about anything, and (supposedly) never felt bad about it:

“They think you’re just a dumb, stupid little colored boy and you’re trying to get a few dollars, and they’re gonna use you as a joke. And it gets to be a joke sometime as to who’s using who.”

The stories he has to tell are simply hilarious — at least until the hours wear on and his revelations become increasingly fraught with vulnerability (especially as Clarke’s cameraman, Carl Lee, eggs him on). You’re sure to be engaged — if not haunted, disturbed, and/or entertained — by this most unusual docu-interview.

Note: A docudrama re-imagining what might have taken place during the marathon shooting of this film has just been released; click here to read more.

Redeeming Qualities and Moments:

A surprisingly engrossing “one man show”, covering both light-hearted and much more serious topics

Must See?
Yes, as a unique historical document by an unusual director. Listed as a film with Historical significance and a Personal Recommendation in the back of Peary’s book.

Categories

Historically Relevant

Links:

Kiss of the Vampire (1963)

October 9, 2015 admin Comments 1 comment

“I advise you to ask no questions of anyone in this region.”

Synopsis:
A honeymooning couple (Edward de Souza and Jennifer Daniel) staying in a remote inn run by a nervous man (Peter Madden) and his depressed wife (Vera Cook) — with an inebriated professor (Clifford Evans) as the only other inhabitant — are invited to dinner by a local nobleman (Noel Ravna) and his two grown children (Barry Warren and Jacquie Wallis), who seduce the couple with their charms and lure them back for a masquerade ball with nefarious purposes.

Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:

Cults
Horror Films
Newlyweds
Vampires

Review:
Hammer Studios’ unique entry in the vampire genre offers an appropriate sense of menace, effectively atmospheric visuals and sets, and a convincingly creative vision of what a “den of vampires” might look and act like. While De Souza and Daniel are a little too conveniently naive as the film opens — caught up in conjugal bliss and unaware of how strange their new environment really is — this allows the plot to move forward smoothly, as Daniel is easily taken in by the charms of their enchanting new friends, and de Souza realizes too late that his wife has been brainwashed and kidnapped into the vampires’ cult. The scenes showing white-shrouded vampires sitting around a room waiting for their leader to tell them what to do are eerily reminiscent of Moonie life in the early 1960s, demonstrating the power of fantasy and horror to tap into the cultural zeitgeist. The climax is genuinely heart-stopping, as we wonder how Daniel can be “deprogrammed” without dying. This would make a fascinating if unconventional double-bill with the cult sleeper Ticket to Heaven (1981).

Redeeming Qualities and Moments: