Month: December 2014

Satellite in the Sky (1956)

SATELLITE IN THE SKY (1956)
Article #291 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 12-31-2001
Posting date: 5-17-2002

A new bomb is set to be tested in outer space. When the propulsion unit of the bomb fails, it stays in the vicinity of the rocket, threatening the lives of the people in it.

The British were capable of making tense thrillers when they put their minds to it; they were also capable of making talky, tiresome snoozefests. This is one of the latter, I’m afraid. It might be considered ahead of its time, as it in many ways reminds me of the disaster movies of the seventies. Unfortunately, that comparison also tells you everything you need to know about the movie; once you’ve seen the first twenty minutes, you pretty much have the measure of it, and nothing in the movie really surprises you. It might be better if I saw it under ideal conditions (the movie is in color and Cinemascope, but my print is in black and white and features the worst pan-and-scanning I have ever seen), but I don’t see it really helping that much. It features Kieron Moore and Donald Wolfit.

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The Tingler (1959)

THE TINGLER (1959)
Article #290 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 12-30-2001
Posting date: 5-16-2002

A scientist studying the effects of fear on humans discovers a force known as the Tingler which grows on the human spinal cord and feeds on fear. When a deaf-mute woman is scared to death, he manages to retrieve one from her body.

This bit of goofy fun is my second-favorite of William Castle’s movies, with some good performances, particularly from Vincent Price and Judith Evelyn (as the deaf-mute) who manages to convey so much wih her eyes. There are some classic sequences here, especially the scene where the woman is scared to death (with its tricky partial-color sequences), and the scene where the Tingler gets loose in a movie theatre (an idea truly worthy of William Castle if ever there was one). It was one of the first movies to feature an LSD trip, though the sequence itself is disappointing; so much more could have been done with it. The plot isn’t particularly strong, but I don’t think it was intended to be; it’s merely there so that Castle has something onto which he can hang his scare sequences.

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Things to Come (1936)

THINGS TO COME (1936)
Article #289 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 12-29-2001
Posting date: 5-15-2002

A story that spans the years concerning war, tyranny and progress.

I’ve always wondered what H.G. Wells thought of the various adaptations of his works, but I suspect that this may be the only one he might have liked; many of the others seem to have little use for the social commentary that was behind much of his work. The movie is talky, but it has a lot to say, and I can’t help but admire the audacity of this movie. The scenes in the future city are breathtaking; there’s no doubt this is one of the major keystones of science fiction cinema. Along with Raymond Massey, it also features Ralph Richardson and Cedric Hardwicke in key roles.

One subtle moment was mentioned by my wife upon viewing this movie; she noticed that a poster shown at one point during the war sequences has the lettering made up of several different fonts. To her, nothing got across how much things had deteriorated by the fact that the printers couldn’t even get together a complete array of letters in a single font.

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Star Wars (1977)

STAR WARS (1977)
Article #288 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 12-28-2001
Posting date: 5-14-2002

A farm boy finds himself embroiled with rebels fighting the empire when he encounters two escaped droids, one of whom is trying to deliver a message to a lost jedi knight.

No matter what anyone says about the role this movie has played in the decline of cinematic SF, I still think it’s one hell of a movie. I can never forget the wonder of seeing for the first time in theaters, especially the cantina sequence and its amazing variety of alien life forms. It’s also an effectively and efficiently told story; simple maybe, but exquisitely presented. Plus, it has Alec Guinness and Peter Cushing, even if they are in roles that aren’t a real challenge to them. Still, it is sad to consider the impact that this movie had in shaping a specific idea of science fiction in the minds of corporate moneymakers; fortunately, they aren’t the only ones who make movies.

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Strangler of the Swamp (1945)

STRANGLER OF THE SWAMP (1945)
Article #287 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 12-27-2001
Posting date: 5-13-2001

A man wrongly hanged for murder haunts the swamp, killing those responsible for his death and their descendants.

This genuinely eerie horror movie from PRC isn’t perfect; it drags quite a bit in the middle of the movie. Still, you have to admire the amount of atmosphere that this cheaply-made movie generates. The setting has a lot to do with its appeal; the shots of people gliding through the swamp on the ferry are quite memorable. The acting is solid throughout, and once again you see how much care PRC put into its product.

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Spiritism (1961)

SPIRITISM (1961)
Article #286 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 12-26-2001
Posting date: 5-11-2002

A woman tries to take care of the financial problems of her family by making a deal with the devil.

I was honestly surprised by this Mexican variation on a famous horror story which every description of the movie mentions, but which really doesn’t come into play until the last part of the movie. I found myself touched and moved by some of the events and relationships; there is a seance in the middle of the movie involving a woman who is in denial about her own death that is almost heartbreaking, even in the dubbed version of the movie I saw. Quite frankly, it doesn’t resemble any other Mexican horror movie I’ve seen, and it has many elements you certainly wouldn’t find in an American movie of this vintage either. It’s not perfect (it’s quite talky at times, and the final ending narration is pretty bad), but I was really impressed. This may be the best Mexican horror film I’ve seen.

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Project Moon Base (1953)

PROJECT MOON BASE (1953)
Article #285 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 12-25-2001
Posting date: 5-10-2002

A saboteur tries to destroy a space station, which forces an expedition sent out to photograph the back side of the moon to actually land on the surface of it.

Yes, that is Robert Heinlein’s name you see on the credits, and there are touches throughout that indicate he did have his hand in this. If you take into account that the show was originally slated for TV, the special effects are very good; for a movie, they do lack somewhat. However, the overall presentation is so humdrum and desultory that it’s hard to keep interested in the story, and the two main threads of the story (the standard spy story and the overly cute and contrived romance) are nothing to write home about. The movie also undercuts some of its good ideas badly; the rather novel idea of making the president of the United States a woman is offset by having Colonel Breiteis be a petulant spoiled girl intruding on a man’s world (though she provides the love interest). Even the novel space station footage where people walk on several planes (I love the DO NOT WALK ON THE WALLS sign) loses its impact during a meeting where some people appear to be sitting on the floor while others are sitting on the wall by making you notice that they have to uncomfortably crane their necks to look at each other; you know that in reality the rooms would have to be designed better than that.

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The Playgirls and the Vampire (1963)

THE PLAYGIRLS AND THE VAMPIRE (1963)
Article #284 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 12-24-2001
Posting date: 5-9-2002

A troupe of showgirls is forced to spend the night in a creepy castle when the bridge goes out.

This one was a pleasant surprise; I was expecting a sex movie masquerading as a vampire flick; instead, it’s a vampire flick masquerading as a sex movie. In other words, the director was more interested in the horror, and this movie is not bad in that regard. Sure, the dubbing is substandard, and the scene of the women practicing their dance routine demonstrates all too adaquately that not only didn’t they cast dancers, but that their choreographer was working none too hard to pull in the paycheck (I initially thought they didn’t have one at all, but then I saw a name in the credits). And, like SLAUGHTER OF THE VAMPIRES, it goes on for several minutes after the movie is essentially over. Still, it works as a horror movie without resorting overmuch to formula, and that was enough for me. Walter Brandi plays the vampire.

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Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932)

MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE (1932)
Article #283 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 12-23-2001
Posting date: 5-9-2002

A sideshow entrepreneur with a gorilla is performing experiments with gorilla blood injected into the veins of women. When the gorilla becomes attracted to a certain woman, he sets his sights on using her for his next experiment.

Considering that this movie eventually (more or less) syncs up with the Poe story, one can’t really complain too loudly about it not being true to the source; considering how many other movies supposedly based on the works of Poe fare in this respect, this movie is a minor offender. My only complaint is that I really don’t care for the character of Dupin being reduced to a mere romantic lead; he has the potential to be a much more interesting character. Other than that, I was quite surprised with how much I liked the movie this time around; the Caligari-like sets are great, the use of light and shadows (especially in Lugosi’s presentation of the ape) is wonderful, and a great deal of wit is evident in the proceedings. It lags a little in the middle of the movie, and, despite the fact that Mirakle has a gorilla (played by Charlie Gemora), they keep intercutting shots of a real chimpanzee in key scenes; maybe they thought all apes look alike. Good work by Lugosi, lots of fun character actors (uncredited), and Brandon Hurst as the prefect of the police.

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Daughter of Dr. Jekyll (1957)

DAUGHTER OF DR. JEKYLL (1957)
Article #282 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 12-22-2001
Posting date: 5-8-2002

A woman returns to her home on her 21st birthday with the man she is going to marry. She discovers that she is the daughter of Dr. Jekyll, and tries to call off the marriage in belief she has inherited the family curse.

Forget the Dr. Jekyll connection; this movie has nothing really to do with the Stevenson story; for one thing, Jekyll was not a werewolf who died by having a stake driven through his heart (talk about mixing up legendary mythologies). If you’ve seen SHE-WOLF OF LONDON, you’ve seen this one before; the only addition to the mix is a real monster instead of a faked one, but even this opens up a whole new set of plot holes. Gloria Talbott does the best she can, but this is still a rotten movie. Also with John Agar, Arthur Shields and John Dierkes (as Jacob, the suspicious manservant). Edgar G. Ulmer has done better.

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