DR. CYCLOPS (1940)
Article #69 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 5-24-2001
Posting date: 10-7-2001

A scientist with bad vision experiments with the power to miniaturize animals. He invites a group of scientists to his jungle laboratory to solve a minor problem, and when they don’t leave after he’s finished with them, he miniaturizes them.

This is a solid SF adventure flick from one of the directors of KING KONG, and though I don’t consider it a real classic, it’s certainly quite enjoyable. I particularly like Albert Dekker’s performance as Dr. Thorkal a.k.a. Dr. Cyclops; his madness is peppered with a number of quirky traits, and he is in fact a surprisingly vulnerable individual. He is like no other mad scientist that I can think of, and this novelty gives the movie much of its appeal.

DELUGE (1933)
Article #68 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 5-23-2001
Posting date: 10-06-2001

An eclipse of the sun causes the destruction of most of the earth. Afterwards, the survivors face the challenge of trying to rebuild civilization.

Watching foreign movies is always a bit of a problem. Having subtitles with the movie is the preferable way, though it does tend to divert your attention from the visuals. Dubbing allows you to keep your eyes on the screen, but tends to be distracting to the ears. So imagine, if you will, the experience of watching a movie that is both subtitled and dubbed, which is perhaps the only way you can see this movie, despite it having been an English-language film. The only known print had been dubbed into Italian, and for American release on video, English subtitles were added. Given the situation, I think I would have preferred that this movie be redubbed.

Nonetheless, I think this is a very good early sound science fiction epic. The destruction of New York by tidal wave is a great special effects sequence, and is the highlight of the film. The second half settles into a kind of post-apocalyptic soap opera, but because the characters and situations are handled with a certain amount of honesty, this sequence is also quite good. This is definitely a movie worth catching even with having to watch it in its current condition.

THE DEADLY MANTIS (1957)
Article #67 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 5-22-2001
Posting date: 10-5-2001

Nuclear testing releases a giant preying mantis from captivity, and it begins a reign of terror on the world.

This is another one of the Big Bug movies that appeared in the wake of THEM!, and like many of the others, it used that movie as a blueprint, even if it never quite understands why or how the original worked. I find the characters unmemorable, the story a bit clumsy, and some of the scenes poorly handled. (The scenes of the soldiers slobbering over the only woman they’ve seen in months is, in fact, embarassing to watch.) Yet, despite all this, the movie is fun and quite energetic; credit director Nathan Juran for having the good sense to keep things lively, a trait he seems to possess no matter what kind of ridiculous movie he was given to direct. In fact, I have a couple of favorite scenes from this movie; the scene where the soldiers run from the mantis amidst a snow field full of barrels, and the quite funny scene where the people talk about their inability to find the mantis while we see the legs of the beast walking around outside the window.

THE DEVIL’S PARTNER (1958)
Article #64 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 5-19-2001
Posting date: 10-2-2001

An old man makes a pact with the devil. A few days later, his nephew rolls into town to discover that the old man was found dead, and has already been buried at the town’s expense. He takes over the old man’s shack, and then a series of strange deaths occur. A man suffering from TB dies of a coronary after drinking some milk from one of the old man’s goats; the owner of a gas station is attacked by his faithful dog, etc. The local sheriff begins to investigate.

This “pact with the devil” film sat on the shelf for four years before it was released. The ads for the movie show a woman riding the back of a centaur; five minutes into the movie, you will know no such scene is going to occur, as the cheapness of the movie becomes evident. For all that, it’s watchable enough, but the plot is poorly thought out. The death of the old man who drinks the goat’s milk serves no purpose whatsoever, and the wino character is nothing but a badly contrived plot device to pass on crucial information to the sheriff. Also, the nature of the powers granted by the devil seems to change in midstream; the nephew begins by being able to control animals, but later has the power to change into them instead. Though this latter power may seem more impressive, he uses it at times where he would have been better off controlling another animal instead of putting himself at risk. This is one badly plotted movie.

THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET (1936)
(a.k.a. SWEENEY TODD, THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET)
Article #62 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 5-17-2001
Posting date: 9-30-2001

An evil barber, Sweeney Todd (Tod Slaughter), makes his fortune by murdering rich customers and taking their money. He is partners with an old woman running a meat pie shop, who takes care of the disposal of the bodies. Problems arise when his partner begins to suspect he is cheating on splitting the money with her. She ends up helping the beau of the woman whom Sweeney wants for his own.

This is the first and (at this time) only Tod Slaughter movie I’ve seen; there is no doubt that he loved playing villainous characters, with his gleeful laugh and contempt for all. The whole story is fun, with Sweeney as a Dickensian villain, terrorizing his apprentices and cajoling his victims with the promise of how quickly he will “polish them off.” I also like how the movie never becomes explicit in how the old lady disposes of the bodies; it adds some nice touches of comic subtlety to the movie, my favorite being a discussion on that particular topic as one of the comic relief characters merrily munches away on one of the meat pies.