Now, here was a fun one, although I can imagine a lot of people finding it trite and boring. To begin with, my wife alerted me to this movie while we were watching a Hellraiser film. She said "there's some movie that has something about a man being turned inside out...."Screamers," or something like that?" And, this is rare. Since I've turned into such a movie nerd/buff, it's not often she'll know about a film I haven't heard of. So, I researched and found "Screamers," and in a now-out-of-print but affordable Scorpion Blu-ray release.
The story of this film and its marketing are almost the best things about it. The film itself began life as an Italian film (directed by Sergio Martino, who also helmed "Torso" and "Your Vice is a Locked Room") called "Island of the Fishmen." It starred Barbara Bach, Richard Johnson and Joseph Cotten, and is straight out of the "Island of Dr. Moreau" playbook. The movie was purchased for American distribution by Roger Corman's company and his team went to work in trying to find a way to sell the movie to the American public.
A prologue of nearly 15 minutes was added, and included appearances from Mel Ferrer and Cameron Mitchell. This had some nice, gory kills, as the original movie was found too tame. And it was Italian!! In the 70s!! There are a few other shots that were added, and the original film was trimmed by 10 or so minutes. The resulting movie is consistently entertaining, although the end is a bit of a mess. But an entertaining mess. We both dug it.
About the marketing: when it was time to release the movie in America, it was released as "Something Waits in the Dark," and nobody was waiting to see it in the theaters. So Jim Wynorski (later to helm the Traci Lords-starring "Not of this Earth") put together a trailer mentioning a man being turned inside out and including footage not even in the movie....and renamed the film "Screamers." So there....nobody gets turned inside out in the movie. Apparently, though, after some theater patrons complained about that not happening in the movie, Corman ordered the insertion of some of the trailer footage (maybe there was other footage, too?) into the release prints. Which was done, but none of that footage survives today. That would have been fun to see.
As you can tell, the story of the movie is almost more fun than the actual movie. But you know what? It's entertaining anyway. And my wife liked it, too. So there. It really is a cross between "Island of Dr. Moreau" and "Creature from the Black Lagoon"....the latter based on the look of the Fishmen themselves. Shots of the halfway-created Fishman toward the end of the picture look exactly like the Creature in the third Black Lagoon movie.
This reminds me: I need to dive into that "Blood Bath" box set from Arrow. Sometime soon. In the meantime, here's the "Screamers" trailer, and remember, it ain't in the movie:
And here's a nice link (from the great Movie Censorship web site) spilling the differences between the American and Italian versions.
Finishing up The Scarlet Box, "Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth." I hadn't seen all of this one before, as the prior DVD releases were all pan-and-scan chop jobs, and I just couldn't make it through it. This time, with a pristine transfer, was much more enjoyable, and it's not a bad movie.....although you definitely get the feeling of "franchise mode." Actors are less memorable, plot is less daring, and I could swear Pinhead's head gear looks like a slip-on job. And we're on to showing a metal band in a club.....Armored Saint, in this case.
Despite those trappings, the movie isn't bad. Once the killings roll in, things start moving, and I did like the dichotomy of Pinhead and his human antecedent (forgot the name). The only appearance of someone in the first two movies is by Ashley Laurence, via videotape. Well, outside of Pinhead. And his human antecedent (gotta look that name up).
One note I'll make about the Hellraiser films.....there is more smoking in these movies than in anything since the 1940s, it feels like. A minor point, maybe, but noticeable, certainly now.
Still, the movie closes The Scarlet Box nicely. I have not seen any of the Hellraiser films past this one, although I've read that "Bloodlines" is okay. Maybe I'll hit that one soon.
And now, let's Italian it up a bit: "Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror." This is from 1981, during the massive Italian zombie movie flood following Fulci's "Zombi 2." Andrea Bianchi is the director of this one; he's mostly notable for the sleazy (and entertaining!) "Strip Nude for your Killer."
Now, you have to know going in that this movie has almost no plot. Really. After a prologue showing a curator being chowed upon by zombies, a bunch of folks go to a house....and get chowed upon by zombies. There is one scene that is famous in horrorland, though, and it does not disappoint. There is the character of what is supposed to be the young son of one couple, but he's played by a 25-year-old smallish man. (Many sources say a midget, but I'm not sure that's true.) In a setup scene, the boy obviously has incestuous thoughts about his mother. And this is all so he can.....well, I won't spoil it for you, but it happens in the last five minutes of the movie. Let's say that you'll view breastfeeding a little differently after seeing this.
For a film with virtually no plot, it's actually fairly entertaining. The zombies, while in some ways looking cheap, are effective. Lots o' maggots, Fulci-style. Lots o' gut-munching, every-director-Romero-and-beyond-style. Enjoy! (Not finding a trailer....)
By the way, I watched the Shriek Show DVD of this....did not go for the recent Severin Blu-ray.
Next up, "Dreamscape." From 1983 (never mind the trailer below stating 1984, the film was made in '83), and maybe today, somewhat buried by the successes of "Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Inception."
In a special feature on the Scream Factory Blu, the screenwriter mentions "Spellbound" as a kicking-off point for the story, in particular the Dalí-designed dream sequence from that Hitchcock film. This is a story centering around the ability to enter people's dreams for good....or bad....purposes. Dennis Quaid stars as a former subject of maestro Max von Sydow's dream experiments. He is rooked back into the dream factory in order to aid an associate of von Sydow's, played by Christopher Plummer. (I'm forgetting character names; just going with actor noms.) And, of course, Plummer's a bad guy, and a "friend" of the President, played by Eddie Albert. (Try as I might, I cannot see Eddie Albert for any length of time without hearing Eva Gabor's "Ohlivah! Ohlivah!")
I found the movie to be a bit of a slow-burn, but maybe I'm saying that because I read too many only-slightly-favorable reviews of the movie before watching it. Once the movie gets in the final third, I thought it was pretty damned good.....and entertaining. Sure, the special effects are dated, but it's always nice to see practical ones. And it really hit me this time how much Dennis Quaid not only looks like Harrison Ford, but pretty much plays off Ford's patented smirk.
Not sure what else to write.....thumbs up from me. Maybe someone can enter Trump's dreams. Stat!
And one more. You know this one. You probably think this one's pretty silly, but hey, this is one from my youth (okay, early teenager) that I have a fondness for. "Night of the Lepus." 1972 killer bunny film. That's right, killer bunnies.
My memory was that this was a TV movie, but apparently not. Released to theatres, it has a fair number of medium-sized names within its furry walls: Stuart Whitman (probably why I thought it was a TV movie), Janet Leigh, and Rory Calhoun. Poking around on review sites before this viewing, I was surprised to see how reviled it is. Now, sure, the fact that the eco-monsters are rabbits is silly on its face (which member of Monty Python saw this first?), but the movie does build some tension. I've always liked the pulsing sound when the rabbits are shown terrorizing the countryside, and it's pretty damned gory for 1972.
Another surprise to me is the derision this movie faces when reviewed by "serious reviewers." Well, I suppose I just explained that with the word "serious." You can't take this movie seriously, but it is well made and somewhat suspenseful, and above all, fun. It takes me back to being a goofy little 12-year-old with a few pimples and not much film taste. Yes!
Back to the goofy horror/splatter/whatever flicks. I'll go with the last few watched, one of them a couple-times-repeat but certainly seasonal.
"C.H.U.D." is one of those....wow, what do you say?.....movies you definitely know the title of but may not have seen all the way through or at all. I was in the former category. The first understanding (in the movie) of what the acronym stands for....Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller....pretty much sums up what the film is about. Well, some of those dwellers and some humans of varying stations in life.
I'm surprised at some of the low ratings for this film; it's pretty enjoyable....a bit slow in the early going (even for this Tarkovsky fan), but it picks up speed later and finishes well. The cast is fairly unique and contains many at least somewhat-known names: John Heard, Kim Greist, Daniel Stern, Chtristopher Curry.....even Brenda Currin. (Come on, tell me you know who Brenda Currin is.) John Goodman also shows up in one of his first roles.
There's nothing surprising about the plot....that might be a reason for low ratings......but the film's still a lot of fun. It really belongs in that short list of "grimy NYC" flicks, with "Taxi Driver," "Maniac," "Basket Case," "New York Ripper," and the like. The monsters look fairly silly, but some of the attacks come off admirably tense. And, if you get the recent Arrow release, you'll be treated to a hilarious commentary from Heard, Stern and Curry....well worth the admission price.
Next up: some Hellraisin'!. I received as a late birthday present Arrow's recent domestic release of The Scarlet Box, comprising the first three Hellraiser movies and a ton of extras, including a very nice hardback book. I've always enjoyed the first two Hellraiser movies but have never gone any farther into the series. Since I've received this, I've only watched the first two films, but I'll jump on that third one soon.
The first two, titled "Hellraiser" and "Hellbound: Hellraiser II" respectively, are every bit as great as I remember them. These truly were "something fresh" when released in the late 80s; horror was still mining the almost-empty slasher cave. The first movie was created (or at least the script was) almost concurrently with Clive Barker's novel "The Hellbound Heart." "Hellraiser" is at its core, a dysfunctional family story. A grisly one, at that. "Hellbound" is an expansion of the first movie, with a couple of the core characters remaining, and is quite different than "Hellraiser," although for me every bit as satisfying. I have a feeling the third one might let me down a bit.
For those of you who know the Hellraiser series primarily from the iconic image of Pinhead, well, he ain't in it much of these two movies. And it might be a surprise to find out that he is one of a cast of Cenobites.....but he seems to be the leader of that little gang. The Cenobites are overlords of an area of the netherworld, overseeing people who crave "extreme sensation," let's say. (Oddly, I thought of "Martyrs" when watching "Hellraiser" this time. If you've seen "Martyrs," maybe you'll understand my connecting these two.) Andrew Robinson and Clare Higgins star in the first film, Higgins in particular shining.....as she does in the second film. Both these movies are better when she's in the scene. Robinson is admirable as the father figure in the first film, but I wish I could see him without shouting out "Callahan! It was Callahan!" ("Dirty Harry" reference....)
I'll leave you with this: these movies are both close to classics in my book, but they are grisly. Even for a horror buff such as myself, there are scenes that make me cringe a bit. And everything's gooey. You'll find out what I mean.
"Black Christmas!" Now, here's a classic. And we didn't even watch the new Shout! Factory edition....have not purchased that one yet. Supposedly, the transfer is much improved from this older Somerville House release, but ya know.....as long as the content's all there, sometimes a slighter image is better for horror. There, I said it.
[I have to quote my wife here. Recently, we watched "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" in its latest Blu-ray edition (and I didn't write about it!), and she said "ya know, the movie now looks TOO good." Even though I enjoyed the clarity of the version, I agreed with her sentiment. Maybe there's something to these folks who hang onto their old VHS tapes of 80s horror.]
"Black Christmas" (1974) is written about a lot as a forerunner of the slasher wave that hit America
after "Friday the 13th" was released in 1980. You usually hear about it as "first there was 'Bay of Blood,' then there was 'Black Christmas,' 'Halloween,' ' Friday the 13th,' and then the avalanche." That's pretty much true. In the pre-internet less-global days, for sure. "Bay of Blood" was from Italy's Mario Bava in 1971, "Black Christmas" was from Canada's Bob Clark, and "Halloween," of course, is from our John Carpenter. I didn't even mention Michael Powell's "Peeping Tom" or Hitchcock's "Psycho" (both 1960). There might be some question as to who saw whose movie, as to influence, although it's generally recognized that a kill in "Friday the 13th, Part II" is straight out of "Bay of Blood." Wait, I'm off track......
"Black Christmas" is less of a slasher and more of a psychological horror, but it's a good one....very creepy. And a very interesting cast: Olivia Hussey (Zefferelli's "Romeo and Juliet"), Keir Dullea ("2001"), Margot Kidder (you know who SHE is), Andrea Martin (later of SCTV), John Saxon (many genre movies of the 60s-80s), and Lynne Griffin ("Strange Brew"). The action mostly takes place in an old multi-level sorority house around (surprise!) Christmas time. The happenings lead you to
believe one character is responsible, until the very end when, well.....hmmm.....
Please watch this one. Doesn't have to be Christmas time. Excellent direction from Bob Clark, who also directed "Porky's" and "A Christmas Story," if you want to know how diverse his interests were. All three of these films look pretty much the same, too. Watch it!!!!
In returning to this blog for the first time in what seems like ages, I thought I'd interrupt the movie reviews, stay well away from the election results (although I might broach that subject later), and concentrate on my own physical well-being. Hey, this blog's about me, right? RIGHT??
Sometime earlier this year, I began to notice an issue when drumming; namely, my right ankle was not cooperating as well as it had been for the bulk of my drumming life. Grace notes in front of a standard strike on the "one" or "three" had become difficult to do. On top of that, I wasn't "feeling" them. I didn't have any numbness, per se, no "my foot fell asleep" sensation. Instead, it was just a feeling of, well, helplessness, when I would attempt to play fast grace notes on the kick drum. This is mainly an issue with the Pocket FishRmen, as the music, besides being blindingly fast most of the time, is loaded with that kind of feel in the kick drum patterns. The guys weren't noticing any difference in my playing, and I realized, after some horror, that I was playing these grace notes after all.....I just couldn't feel them.
The issue is also not at all consistent, and it's hard to tell when I'll have the problem. Some slower to mid-tempo songs are difficult as hell now, namely "Friendly Chimps." There are a couple of Hickoids songs that are more difficult now, but not nearly like the FishRmen ones are. As you can imagine, this is one of the scariest scenarios for a musician to face.
After a couple of trips to my doctor to attempt to diagnose this, I went to a chiropractor....but there wasn't really anything they could do about it...but they wanted me to keep coming back (ha ha)! So my doctor prescribed a bunch of physical therapy visits, and I'm starting to feel like I might be on the road to recovery, and on the road to playing more correctly.
I've been a fairly regular worker-outer (BowFlex, stationary bike) for awhile now, and one thing I definitely did not do enough of is stretching, beforehand and afterward. And I think that is a lot of the issue. I built up so much tightness that I think I was using that tightness to drive my kick drum leg. And I finally got stove up (as we say in the South) to the point that playing was becoming difficult. Now that physical therapy is loosening me up, I find that my ankle feels looser, but it's weak as hell. Two songs played, and my ankle's crying "help!" Going to take a while to build that back up. I'm doing a lot of ankle strengthening exercises now (e.g. balancing on one leg, calf raises), but it might be awhile. I only have three sets to play New Year's Eve. Hoo boy!!
I gotta say - the FishRmen have been more than patient with my complaining about this for some time. As I wrote earlier, they hadn't really noticed the issue in the overall sound, so it probably sounded like I was whining for nothing. They're good fellas.
That's it for the physical report. Back to the movies.......sometime.
Why so many movies? Well, my back's been messed up, badly this time. I'm still able to sit and play drums, but jeez louise, the rest has been nightmarish. Which means I've sat around watching a lot of movies. As a matter of fact, so many that the list in this post's title isn't complete. I know I've forgotten a couple of things I watched recently. Whoa.
On to 'em. "Argento's Dracula," released in, 2012, maybe? But just hitting video in the last year. And utterly vilified in other reviews I've read. Let me raise (?) its status a bit by saying it's not the worst movie I've ever seen, by far. It's not especially great, but it's not terrible. I think what might have set people off is the very cartoonish CGI used in many sequences. Although most of it looks like it was created on a Windows 95 platform, I think it may have been intentional. The music is certainly silly in many places, oftentimes sounding like the soundtrack to a 1970s Chiller Theatre-type TV show.
None of this put me off a bit, but each to their own taste. Frankly, the script for the movie is good. I like the decisions made; the characters are the same, for the most part, but the circumstances and situations are a bit different. One problem the film has, though, is that the acting is all over the place. Thomas Kretschmann doesn't make a bad Dracula at all. And Unax Ugalde as Jonathan Harker is okay, too. I also liked Miriam Giovanelli as Tania, Dracula's "bride" of sorts from the early going. Her story thread of being jealous over his machinations on Mina were an interesting part of the plot. But Asia Argento as Lucy and Marta Gastini as Mina left a lot to be desired. Asia was okay, I guess, a bit wooden, but Marta spent a lot of her screen time with a blank almost-oh-my-god expression. And Rutger Hauer as Van Helsing.....well, he seemed tired or jetlagged the entire time.
Proceed at your own risk, but again, it's not the worst movie I've ever seen, not by a long shot. Mostly, it's pretty entertaining.
"The Bat," from 1959, is based on a stage play and stars Vincent Price and Agnes Moorehead....and, oddly enough, features Darla Hood (Our Gang) in her last screen role. Fun movie, but not a whole lot plotwise to recommend it. It's more of a murder mystery than anything else. The reason to watch it is for Vincent Price, of course, and Agnes Moorehead's performance as a snooty mystery writer. I'd be willing to bet that when Bewitched was being cast, someone remembered her work in "The Bat" and asked her to be Endora. Or at least someone asked her to basically play this role as Endora; they're almost one and the same, even if she doesn't have a Derwood to play off here. All in all, it's fun.
"The House with Laughing Windows," an Italian thriller from 1976, is one of the better films I've seen in awhile. I'd always read good stuff about it, and it did not disappoint. The protagonist is a man who takes a job restoring a mural in a church in a small Italian village. Turns out he learns more about the painter, and this guy was a crazed torturer of people who liked to paint their expressions receiving such treatment. The movie's kind of a slow burn, but the last 15 minutes or so is in-sane. I don't want to write too much more about it, just watch for yourself. It's rather hard to find on DVD right now; I got lucky from an eBay seller. Loved it.
Hey! Let's shift gears, shall we? I'll start with a confession; I've never really been a fan of Charlie Chaplin. But I say this having never watched any of his feature films. I'd seen several of his shorts, and the "Little Tramp" made me cringe. The cutesy act. You know what I mean. I respect Chaplin's artistry, but as far as silent clowns go, give me Keaton, Lloyd, Langdon, Chase, Laurel, and not the guy who has to almost simper in front of the camera.
Well, that might change. I'll re-evaluate. I recently came into possession of a collection of Chaplin's feature films....mainly as an investment, because the boxes are well out-of-print. But I figured I'd give it a go watching some of these. I've begun with "Modern Times."
Released in 1936, and yet for all practical purpose a silent film (there are music cues and sound effects, and the voice of a factory boss), the film, like most silents, is rather vignette-oriented. But the first 2/3 of the movie are flat-out hilarious. You've probably seen the shots of Chaplin in the factory and ending up in the gears of the big machine. That all happens in the first 20 minutes or so; the rest takes place in jail or with Paulette Goddard (as the "gamin"), trying to eke out a life. There is a gag, that I won't even try to fully explain, which happens in that first 20 that I cannot believe got by the censors of the time. I'll just say it involves Chaplin's perpetually-turning wrench and the nut-like ornaments decorating the large bosom of a matronly woman. Nothing happens; it's all inference. And it's friggin' brilliant.
I do think the movie poops out a bit after the first 2/3. The rest is entertaining enough, but something starts to feel more "standard." As in more silent movie gags you've seen before. I still have to recommend it, and I'll watch another Chaplin feature soon.
And what would one of my long many-movie posts be without a Jess Franco effort, huh? This time, it's "Jack the Ripper," from 1976. Produced by Erwin Dietrich and starring Klaus Kinski as Saucy Jack. I give it a "very good" overall. Surprisingly, and not just to connect it with the above-mentioned movie, it co-stars Josephine Chaplin, one of Charlie's daughters. Imagine.....a Chaplin in a Jess Franco flick.
It's a fairly standard horror/butcher flick in many ways, but Kinski is great as the mad doctor who moonlights by curing prostitutes of their trade, permanently. Lina Romay shows up, of course, and it's a hoot to see how Jess films her as opposed to the other women in the movie. There's quite a bit of gore, and not a whole lot of it is convincing, but that's to be expected. We're talking Franco, and the budget probably mostly went to Kinski and Chaplin.
It's enjoyable. Check it out, especially if you've already seen and enjoyed some Franco stuff. Can't find a trailer.....
"The Tenderness of the Wolves," which is a Ulli Lommel-directed effort from 1973 is last on the list for this massive update. I'm still unfamiliar with Lommel (and his mentor, Fassbinder), but this was a good, solid movie. It's based on the story of a German serial killer, one of the ones who inspired the screenplay for Fritz Lang's "M." The guy is a piece of work, certainly, but the strong point of the film is the way everyone around him is portrayed. I don't know if Germany was in the last stages of a Nazi hangover at this point, but there's a culpability in everyone surrounding the lead character. Almost enabling him. I haven't seen much post-war German cinema until recently, and even then, it's been newer films. (Not counting "Wings of Desire," which didn't bowl me over as it seems to do to everyone else.)
I give this one a hearty recommendation, and maybe I'll get around to a Fassbinder film or another Wenders film sometime soon. (Wait, what was I writing earlier?....I've seen many Herzog films. Somehow, they don't seem "German" to me, even if they're in that language. Hmmmm......)
And I can't find a trailer for this one, either. Well.......bye bye!! Hope to be writing again soon.....
