Month: November 2016

Fangs of the Living Dead (1969)

FANGS OF THE LIVING DEAD (1969)
(a.k.a. MALENKA)
Article #1505 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-28-2005
Posting Date: 9-25-2005
Directed by Amando de Ossorio
Featuring Anita Ekberg, Gianni Medici, Diana Lorys

A woman returns home upon inheriting a castle and discovers that she’s from a family of vampires.

In the late sixties or early seventies, a horror movie triple feature called “Orgy of the Living Dead” was making the rounds which insured that anyone driven mad by the movie would be given psychiatric care or placed in an asylum. The movies were called REVENGE OF THE LIVING DEAD, CURSE OF THE LIVING DEAD and FANGS OF THE LIVING DEAD. Obviously, this triple feature was trying to cash in on the success of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, but anyone going into this triple feature hoping for the same harrowing experience of watching that movie would no doubt come away disappointed. In fact, the first two movies predated NOTLD, and had their titles changed for this triple feature. REVENGE OF THE LIVING DEAD was actually THE MURDER CLINIC, while CURSE OF THE LIVING DEAD was Mario Bava’s KILL, BABY, KILL , probably the best movie in the bunch.

I don’t know if this movie played in this country under any other name, but its more common title is MALENKA. It’s probably Amando de Ossorio’s first attempt at a horror film, and it’s pretty lame. The pace drags mightily, the dialogue is simply wretched, and the acting is weak. Granted, some of these problems are no doubt due to the poor dubbing, but there’s something about the way that the actors and actresses carry themselves that makes me believe it’s not significantly better in its native language, besides, I’ve had experience with Anita Ekberg’s thespic talents before (remember SCREAMING MIMI). However, the movie probably wasn’t a total washout; sure, it’s not the least bit scary, but if the presence of Ekberg didn’t clue you off, it does have plenty of heaving bosoms. In fact, you might as well make a sub-genre of it—The Heaving Bosom Vampire movie. It’s not the first I’ve seen, and most probably won’t be the last. How much you like it may depend on just how long heaving bosoms can hold your attention. Ossorio would eventually hit his stride as a horror director with his Blind Dead movies.

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Endless Night (1971)

ENDLESS NIGHT (1971)
(a.k.a. AGATHA CHRISTIE’S ENDLESS NIGHT)
Article #1504 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-27-2005
Posting Date: 9-24-2005
Directed by Sidney Gilliat
Featuring Hayley Mills, Hywel Bennett, Britt Ekland

A poor man with an eye for beautiful things and great art meets a rich young woman who falls in love with him. They marry against the wishes of her relatives, and she buys a plot of land so he can have a famous architect build a dream house on the site. And then…

Though mysteries are closely aligned with horror movies, I’ve had little call to review movies based on the works of Agatha Christie, largely because her stories are really light on anything resembling horror content. This is only the second so far; the first, AND THEN THERE WERE NONE, got by on its similarities to certain ‘old dark house’ thrillers, and this one has the theme of madness cropping up, as well as a couple of jarring images that border on the horrific.

You’ll notice that the plot description is fairly vague and unexciting. This was done on purpose; to have revealed more would have resulted in a barrage of spoilers. It also somewhat reflects the feel of the movie; if you hadn’t seen the name of Agatha Christie in the opening credits, you might well have wondered what kind of movie you stumbled into here. In short, the central murder doesn’t happen until the movie is nearly three-quarters of the way through; everything before that is set-up. How you react to this movie may well depend on how patient you are; those expecting a fast-paced thriller will definitely be disappointed. However, the final twists are doozies, and there’s plenty of satisfaction to be found for those willing to sit back after the movie is over and dwell on the events to see how they all fit together. At any rate, it’s no surprise to me that the movie splits reactions somewhat; some people consider it great, others consider it a bore. I lean towards the former view, myself, but I do advise patience for anyone willing to take a chance on this one.

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The Earth Dies Screaming (1965)

THE EARTH DIES SCREAMING (1965)
Article #1503 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-26-2005
Posting Date: 9-23-2005
Directed by Terence Fisher
Featuring Willard Parker, Virginia Field, Dennis Price

An American test pilot arrives in England to find almost everyone dead. He joins forces with a handful of survivors to survive an attack of robot creatures who also resurrect the corpses of the dead to do their bidding.

During the short sixty-two minute running time of this movie, I found myself being constantly reminded of other movies, such as VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED (the people dropping in their tracks), THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS (survivors just happened to be in the right circumstances to survive), TARGET EARTH (residents in an empty city battling slow-moving robots), and PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (the newly risen dead with blank eyeballs). In feel, it mostly reminds me of THE SLIME PEOPLE, though I do think it’s a little better than that movie. Terence Fisher does what he can; he generally keeps the pace up, and this goes a long way to keeping the movie from buckling under its rushed, underdeveloped script. The latter is written by Harry Spalding under the name Henry Cross, and I find his scripts terribly uneven; he gave us THE DAY MARS INVADED EARTH, HOUSE OF THE DAMNED, WITCHCRAFT (1964) and contributed to THE WATCHER IN THE WOODS; though these movies have their supporters, I myself feel that for the most part, they fall short of being effective. Also, don’t hold your breath waiting for an explanation of what’s going on; there’s none forthcoming. All in all, it’s better than it could have been, but still it’s all rather dreary.

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Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (1973)

DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (1973)
Article #1502 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-25-2005
Posting Date: 9-22-2005
Directed by John Newland
Featuring Kim Darby, Jim Hutton, Barbara Anderson

When a couple moves into an old house, the wife unbolts a small ash door in a bricked-up fireplace, and releases some small malevolent creatures who have sinister plans for her.

My experience with made-for-TV horror movies was rarely positive. When an ad for a made-for-TV movie caught my attention, I would tune in to watch it, but rarely was I really satisfied with the results; the Kolchak movies remained for me the sole exception to this experience. Eventually, I gave up on them; why waste time with these limp substitutions for horror movies when my local Creature Feature was showing the real thing on Saturday Nights?

Had I caught this movie as a kid, I might have had a better time of it; this is one that would have had me on the edge of my seat as a kid, and I’m sure that the warmth of my memories of this one would have been reflected in this review. Unfortunately, today marks the first time I’ve seen it, and though I think it works well enough, it still falls a little short. Though the fireplace monsters are unique and original creations, the surrounding story is a little too familiar; I’ve seen the subplot about the wife who isn’t getting enough attention from her career-obsessed husband several times before, the handyman (William Demarest in this case) who spends most of his screen time giving out vague warnings is also pretty cliched, and though the whispering voices of the creatures are suitably eerie, the movie overuses the concept. Still, I think anyone with fond memories of this one won’t be disappointed by a rewatching, and it is definitely one of the better made-for-TV horror movies out there.

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Dimension 5 (1966)

DIMENSION 5 (1966)
Article #1501 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-24-2005
Posting Date: 9-21-2005
Directed by Franklin Adreon
Featuring Jeffrey Hunter, France Nuyen, Harold Sakata

Spies use a time-traveling belt to help prevent an attempt by communists to blow up the city of Los Angeles.

If you haven’t figured it out from the plot description, the gimmick in this movie is the time-traveling belt. I really am disappointed that they found nothing better to do with the idea than make it part of a James Bond style spy thriller, but this being the mid-sixties, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. At least I think it’s supposed to be a James Bond style spy thriller; actually, it comes across as if someone had been told about James Bond style thrillers, and decided to make one of his own without the benefit of having seen any of the originals. Yes, there are pretty girls and suave spies who specialize in witty repartee. However, the story would easily fit into thirty minutes of a real James Bond thriller, the pacing is non-existent, the repartee painful, the music anonymous and without any of the brassy charm of a real James Bond soundtrack. About the only thing that really comes across as Bondian is the presence of Harold ‘Oddjob’ Sakata as the main villain, and even he’s been dubbed by Paul Frees. The time-traveling belt gimmick remains little more than such; the movie could have been easily rewritten to remove it. In short, this is a dull, cheap, tired little spy thriller; it is a James Bond movie devoid of all the style that goes into that type of movie, and since I consider James Bond movies to be example of “style over substance”, I would say that if you take the style away, you have very little left. In this context, the best thing about it is France Nuyen, who plays her part with a bored sultriness, a decision that would be fatal in most movies but somehow manages to be somewhat interesting here. Jeffrey Hunter is mostly remembered nowadays for having almost been the captain of the Enterprise in ‘Star Trek’, but passed on the opportunity to appear in a second pilot for the series, the role going to William Shatner.

Incidentally, in the U.K., this movie was called DIMENSION FOUR. I take this to mean that they realized that there was less dimension here than originally promised.

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Junior G-Men (1940)

JUNIOR G-MEN (1940)
(Serial)
Article #1500 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-23-2005
Posting Date: 9-20-2005
Directed by Ford Beebe and John Rawlins
Featuring Billy Halop, Huntz Hall, Gabriel Dell

A group of saboteurs known as the Flaming Torches are trying to force the secret of a super explosive from a renowned scientist. They set their sights on capturing his son as a hostage. His son, however, is part of a street gang who has been contacted by the FBI in the hopes of enlisting his help to catch the Flaming Torches.

One of the main problems I have with serials is that they eventually became so formulaic that there are rarely any surprises at all in them. Because of this, I’ve come to appreciate any time they find a way to vary the formula somewhat. I still think the use of The Dead End Kids and the Little Tough Guys was a good idea for serials, since they certainly weren’t your conventional heroes, and the fact that they were often on the wrong side of the law themselves made it more understandable why they wouldn’t enlist the help of the police in their own dealings with outlaws. Still, the serials featuring them weren’t really all that good, and other than the gimmick just discussed, this is a pretty uninspired serial. The main villain is marginally interesting, but he’s still another one of those “sit-at-the-desk-and-bark-out-orders” types that I’ve seen a million times. I do wonder about the intelligence quotient of any gang that has each of its members tattoo their logo on their wrists (thereby making it very easy for the authorities to identify them). And let’s face it; the aggregation known as “The Dead End Kids and The Little Tough Guys” was one of the least interesting of the combinations; give me “The Dead End Kids”, “The East Side Kids” or “The Bowery Boys” anytime, all of which were more fun and interesting.

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Deadlier Than the Male (1966)

DEADLIER THAN THE MALE (1966)
Article #1499 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-22-2005
Posting Date: 9-19-2005
Directed by Ralph Thomas
Featuring Richard Johnson, Elke Sommer, Sylva Koscina

Insurance Investigator Hugh Drummond discovers an organization that hires itself out to corporations to facilitate business deals but uses assassination as its modus operandi.

This was the first of the two movies to revive the character of Bulldog Drummond and cast him in the James Bond mold. These movies are far and away my favorite of that genre; truth be told, I think I prefer them to the Bonds. Maybe its because they’re less stunt-oriented (I’m not a big fan of stunt cinema) and more story and humor oriented. In this one, the assassinations are committed by two beautiful women (Sommer and Koscina) who use time bombs, spear-guns and fatal variations on the exploding cigar gag. Fans of character actor Milton Reid will also find him here as a black belt instructor. The movie also features a great chess sequence, and my favorite use of kleptomania as a plot point to date. Sadly, this series never lasted very long.

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A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1949)

A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR’S COURT (1949)
Article #1498 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-21-2005
Posting Date: 9-18-2005
Directed by Tay Garnett
Featuring Bing Crosby, Rhonda Fleming, Cedric Hardwicke

A mechanic of the twentieth century suffers an accident that sends him back to the time of King Arthur.

Mark Twain’s novel was basically considered a satire, and was at times darkly cynical. There’s not much of that here, but then, given that Bing Crosby is the star, I didn’t expect it would be; I expected a light-hearted musical comedy, and that’s what it is. Oddly enough, it does get a little dark at times; at one point, Crosby’s character visits a poor peasant family who just lost their father to the plague. Though this event causes the character to hatch a scheme to take King Arthur out into the real world disguised as a peasant so he can see the suffering and injustice of the world, the movie immediately undercuts the idea by having our disguised friends sing a cheery, happy song about the joys of being free and without responsibility. The music is merely okay, but the comedy is quite good on occasion; there’s a scene where Sir Sagramore (William Bendix) plays around with a gun without the slightest idea of its danger that is rather enjoyable. All in all, it’s watchable, enjoyable and forgettable, though in all honesty, I must admit that Rhonda Fleming is stunningly beautiful here. Still, I find it impossible to believe that she could effectively disguise herself as a young boy as she does at one point in the proceedings.

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The Clones (1973)

THE CLONES (1973)
Article #1497 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-20-2005
Posting Date: 9-17-2005
Directed by Lamar Card and Paul Hunt
Featuring Michael Greene, Susan Hunt, Gregory Sierra

A scientist escapes from a near disaster to discover that someone who looks just like him has taken his place.

Those who think that cloning paranoia began with Dolly the sheep should check out this one. I remember ads for this movie running on my local TV station, but the movie never actually showed up in town. No wonder. To begin with, the movie gives away its biggest mystery in the title. Then there’s the fact that despite the science fiction premise, the movie largely descends into rather dullish action fare; car chases, gunfights, fistfights, etc. etc. etc. Arty trip sequences add nothing and go nowhere, and the shaky hand-held camera work gets pretty tiresome as well. There’s the odd good moment; the opening is mysterious enough, there’s a scene where our hero checks the bathroom before stealing a car from a service station, John Drew Barrymore has a memorable cameo as a hippie, and Angelo Rossitto fans may want to catch it for a short scene in a phone booth. Other than that, this one is a tedious washout; even having the final shootout take place in an amusement park falls flat. How does it end? Well, it was the seventies, so…

Incidentally, this is also the last credit listed for serial and feature star Bruce Bennett, though where he appears in the movie is a mystery to me.

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Bewitched (1945)

BEWITCHED (1945)
Article #1496 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-19-2005
Posting Date: 9-16-2005
Directed by Arch Oboler
Featuring Phyllis Thaxter, Edmund Gwenn, Henry H. Daniels Jr.

A woman leaves her home and fiancé at the urging of her evil alternate personality.

Arch Oboler was the writer/producer/director of the radio show “Lights Out” before moving into a cinema. This was his first directorial effort, based on an adaptation of a story called “Alter Ego” that he had done for his radio show. It must have made for a fine radio presentation; as a movie, however, it doesn’t quite work. There’s a lot of dialogue here that would have worked fine over the radio, but on screen, it feels artificial, forced and self-conscious. As a director, Arch Oboler knows a few cinematic tricks, and this movie has a few of them; unfortunately, they feel like tricks rather than part of the real action, and they stand out like sore thumbs. The story doesn’t stand up quite as well as it could; I think Oboler made a mistake by making the girl’s alternate personality such a mean-spirited, snarling villainous hussy (whenever she talks, it sounds like she’s trying to do an imitation of one of Edward G. Robinson’s gangsters) because it makes the whole experience seem less unsettling and more like a standard good-versus-evil situation. Still, there are nice touches the story, and Edmund Gwenn is memorable as a psychiatrist. Oboler would go on to direct other genre efforts such as FIVE, THE TWONKY and THE BUBBLE.

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