Month: July 2017

Hercules Against Rome (1964)

HERCULES AGAINST ROME (1964)
aka ERCOLE CONTRO ROMA
Article 2036 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-11-2006
Posting Date: 3-10-2007
Directed by Piero Pierotti
Featuring Sergio Ciani, Wandisa Guida, Livio Lorenzon

Hercules must save the Roman emperor from a plot against him by the pretorian guards.

At least that’s the plot I got off of IMDB. You know, I usually don’t have much trouble locating the Sword-and-Sandal movies that pop up on my list; I manage to find them without a great deal of hassle (if I don’t already have them in my collection). This one was far and away the hardest to get. When it finally made itself available, I was quite glad, even if the print was undubbed and subtitled in what looks like Dutch; if the latter statement is true, that means that in the Netherlands they subtitle Sword-and-Sandal movies, a fact that actually gives me pause.

In truth, it hardly made a difference to me. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a Sword-and-Sandal movie where the plot made much of a difference to me, and the fun things about it (watching Hercules kick butt) are still here in spades. I really like Alan Steel; he looks like he’s having the time of his life during the fight scenes. Not only does he knock someone off his horse with a really big mallet, he also attacks people with pillars, hits them with logs, pushes a huge rock off of a cliff, and when it comes time for him to bend the bars back, he chooses instead to just pick up a big rock and knock the whole cell door down. He even dispatches one of the villains with an anvil, an act that would make Bugs Bunny proud. The main fantastic content is, of course, Hercules’s great strength; you try dispatching someone with an anvil and see how hard it is.

I wonder just how many more of these I’m destined to see.

 

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The Automobile Chase (1905)

THE AUTOMOBILE CHASE (1905)
aka PARIS TO MONTE CARLO, LE RAID PARIS-MONTE CARLO EN DEUX HEURES
Article 2035 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-10-2006
Posting Date: 3-9-2007
Directed by Georges Melies

An automobile races from Paris to Monte Carlo, wreaking havoc along the way.

The fantastic content in this comic Melies film is somewhat slighter than usual, but a scene in which they run over and flatten a person (who is then returned to the correct shape through the use of tire pumps) moves it into the area of fantasy. The car may also be a science-fiction invention as well; I don’t recall other cars of the era looking that way, and it does get somewhat airborne on occasion, so that might qualify. My favorite scene is when the car hits the biggest obstacle on its trip; a guard uses his big round stomach to push the car back in the direction it came. My print has some of the hand-coloring used at the time, but it ends rather abruptly.

 

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The Apparition (1903)

THE APPARITION (1903)
aka LE REVENANT
Article 2034 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-9-2006
Posting Date: 3-8-2007
Directed by Georges Melies
Featuring Georges Melies

An old man tries to read, but his candle proves uncooperative. Then he tries to rid the room of ghosts.

Georges Melies made over five hundred short movies during the first 20 years of cinema, and most of them probably have fantastic content. Yet I’ve only covered a handful of them so far, largely due to the fact that my sources for movie titles to this point largely neglect the silent era. That changes with the inclusion of Don Willis’ first volume of “Horror and Science Fiction Films”, which made a real attempt to be complete. Though my hunt list will now be quickly filled with obscure and unfindable early silents, it will also give me a chance to delve more extensively into some of the extant films from the oeuvre of Melies.

The story here is basically comic, with the old man trying to keep a mobile candle in one place long enough to read his paper. With the ghosts, he attempts to do battle with them and ends up wrecking his own room. Beyond that, there’s very little in the way of a story here, but you can enjoy some of these early experiments with double exposure and trick editing.

 

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Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964)

GHIDRAH, THE THREE-HEADED MONSTER (1964)
Article 2033 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-8-2006
Posting Date: 3-7-2007
Directed by Ishiro Honda
Featuring Yosuke Natsuki, Yuriko Hoshi, Hiroshi Koizumi

When a giant three-headed monster wreaks havoc across the Earth, Mothra tries to convince Godzilla and Rodan to join forces to defeat the menace.

This movie marks a turning point in the Godzilla series. Not only does it introduce the title monster, Ghidrah (probably Toho’s greatest creation since Godzilla himself), but it also marks Godzilla’s change from a menace to a hero (albeit reluctantly). It takes quite a while for the monster action to start, but the first half of the movie remains fun nonetheless because of the innumerable plot elements that get woven together, including visitors from Mars, an attempted political assassination of a princess, the investigation of a strange meteorite, and a doom-speaking prophetess. It’s difficult to say how serious to take the movie, because much of the humor may be from the dubbing. At any rate, despite the fact that he doesn’t reform until the end of the movie, Godzilla doesn’t really come across as much of a threat; Rodan certainly seems to be getting the better of him in their one-on-one fight. The funniest sequences involve the monsters, including a scene where Rodan and Godzilla bat a rock back and forth while Mothra watches as if it’s a tennis match, and the scene where the fairies translate the monster’s conference; apparently, Godzilla can cuss up a blue streak. It may be silly at times, but it’s one of the most entertaining movies of the Godzilla series.

 

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The X from Outer Space (1967)

THE X FROM OUTER SPACE (1967)
aka UCHU DAIKAIJU GIRARA
Article 2032 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-7-2006
Posting Date: 3-6-2007
Directed by Kazui Nihonmatsu
Featuring Eiji Okada, Toshiya Wazaki, Itoko Harada

A space ship embarks on a trip to Mars to discover why all previous expeditions were destroyed. They encounter a flying saucer, and end up retrieving a substance that grows into a huge monster when taken to earth.

If there was a competition going for the worst of the Kaijus, this one would have its chicken-shaped foot squarely in the ring. The special effects are abysmal, the plot is a mess, the chicken-headed monster with wiggling antennae is goofy, and the score is horrid. The monster’s name is Guilala (not X), and he has the most appalling and repetitive monster theme ever; it consists of pulsating drums and what sounds like two out-of-tune clarinets blaring the same note repeatedly. I also don’t care for the perpetually-out-of-focus flying saucer (which, to my eyes, looks more like a meat pie than a fried egg). Still, I can’t deny there’s a certain campy charm to the whole thing, though I do feel the first half of the movie is an almost total snoozefest. If you’re just getting into kaijus, this is not the place to start.

 

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Deadly Harvest (1977)

DEADLY HARVEST (1977)
Article 2031 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-6-2006
Posting Date: 3-5-2007
Directed by Timothy Bond
Featuring Clint Walker, Nehemiah Persoff, Geraint Wyn Davies

When changing weather patterns and poor governmental management result in a worldwide famine, the government covers up the crisis by instituting deceptive rationing and martial law. Farmers soon find themselves under siege from desperate men who want their food.

There are plenty of flaws in this Canadian science fiction doomsday feature; the acting is highly variable, though Nehemiah Persoff comes off best as a black market food dealer. The score is also uneven; it will be movingly sublime one moment and annoyingly intrusive the next. It’s also a little on the obvious side and given to blatant manipulation on occasion. However, the basic premise is interesting, and the story (which weaves together four basic groups of people; a farm family trying to feed and protect themselves, and a city family trying to acquire food, a group of black market food rustlers, and a protection group which offers their services to local farmers for food) is sturdy enough. It’s also interesting to consider thematically how it compares with other survivalist/end-of-the-world scenarios; there are certain similarities here with PANIC IN YEAR ZERO and ON THE BEACH. The underlying theme is a common one to these types of movies; just where does a conventional morality fit in these violent and brutal times? As a result, the movie holds the interest despite the flaws. The movie also features an early performance by Kim Cattrall.

 

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Wild in the Streets (1968)

WILD IN THE STREETS (1968)
Article 2030 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-5-2006
Posting Date: 3-4-2007
Directed by Barry Shear
Featuring Shelley Winters, Christopher Jones, Diane Varsi

A politician, hoping to catch the youth vote, hooks up with a pop star to perform at his rallies and help in his plan to bring the voting age to eighteen. The pop star has ideas of his own, though, and he uses this connection as a springboard to to pursue his own agenda, which includes reducing the voting age to 14 as well as making that the minimum age for members of Congress and the Presidency. The pop star manages to get himself elected, and puts into effect some radical policies.

This paranoid foray into social science fiction is definitely a product of the late sixties. The premise is outlandish, but it’s a tribute to director Barry Shear and writer Robert Thom that they manage to concoct a storyline that (for the most part) makes the premise seem possible. It’s effective enough, and it helps that the music actually does feel authentic enough to pass muster; in fact, the signature song, “The Shape of Things to Come” is included on the “Nuggets” boxed set. Some of the satire is cuttingly incisive; just for example, I can appreciate the supreme irony that the singer gets elected on the Republican ticket, and the irony is not lost on the singer and his group either. A good cast sells the story as well; as well as the ones listed above, the movie features Hal Holbrook, Richard Pryor, Ed Begley, and in cameos, Melvin Belli, Dick Clark, Walter Winchell and others. Teen idol Bobby Sherman, Monkee Peter Tork, and child actor Bill Mumy also appear. This one is definitely interesting, though its dark irony is offset by its basic naivete. And given the premise, the ending was logical and inevitable.

 

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When Worlds Collide (1951)

WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE (1951)
Article 2029 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-4-2006
Posting Date: 3-3-2007
Directed by Rudolph Mate
Featuring Richard Derr, Barbara Rush, Peter Hansen

When a wandering star named Bellus is discovered to be on a collision course with the earth, a group of people decide to build a rocket that will take them to safety on the star’s sole planet, Zyra.

This doomsday movie from producer George Pal is generally well received. Certainly, the special effects are top-notch (with the exception being the shot of the Zyra landscape, an effect that Pal wanted to do as a miniature but the film got shipped out before he could). I always find the movie a bit on the disappointing side, though I like it a lot better than some of Pal’s weakest efforts (CONQUEST OF SPACE and ATLANTIS, THE LOST CONTINENT). The problem I have is that the human conflicts and stories that surround the event are pretty cliched; the use of a love triangle is particularly unimaginative, though at least none of the two rivals for Barbara Rush’s character’s hand dies heroically saving the others. Still, there are nice bits; I like the scenes where Riichard Derr’s messenger pretends to know more than he does in order to find out the nature of the message he’s delivering, and I like the scene where one of the rivals almost leaves the other stranded on the top of a flooded house. The movie also features John Hoyt, but sadly, this is one of his few performances I don’t like; his selfish millionaire is a fairly one-note affair, though in all fairness I should point out that it was written that way. Still, the scenes of the flooding of New York and the construction of the rocket ship are fun. Fans of TV sitcoms from the sixties should also recognize Hayden Rorke and Frank Cady in the cast.

 

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When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth (1970)

WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH (1970)
Article 2028 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-3-2006
Posting Date: 3-2-2007
Directed by Val Guest
Featuring Victoria Vetri, Robin Hawdon, Patrick Allen

A blonde woman escapes one tribe intent on sacrificing her and joins up with another tribe, but the brunette women of that tribe are jealous of her but one caveman loves her and there are dinosaurs.

Actually, the dinosaurs don’t do a particularly good job of ruling in this one; most of them end up as petroleum-products-to-be at the hands of those annoying mammalian pests. Still, my own title for the movie (THE EARTH GETS MOONED) would probably have been rejected by the powers that be, even though it’s far more accurate; after all, the plot (such as it is) does seem to revolve around the earth acquiring the moon, and the skimpy costumes of all cast members (male and female) guarantees a generous amount of mooning. This takes place in that dim and distant time in the past where cavemen coexisted with dinosaurs, the earth had yet to acquire its satellite, and the most prominent invention was the underwired bra. A 27-word caveman lingo was devised for this movie, but I found it nearly impossible to follow; they use the word “akita” so many times that I thought it meant “hey”; actually, it means “look”. Due to the language barrier, the plot is difficult to follow, but I suspect that it’s your basic “the course of true love never did run smooth” tale. All in all, prehistoric business as usual.

 

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The Ghosts of Berkeley Square (1947)

THE GHOSTS OF BERKELEY SQUARE (1947)
Article 2027 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-2-2006
Posting Date: 3-1-2007
Directed by Vernon Sewell
Featuring Robert Morley, Felix Aylmer, Yvonne Arnaud

Two military men die while testing a trap in their house, and are condemned to haunt the place until reigning royalty comes to visit.

This is a fairly entertaining ghost comedy, with solid performances throughout, especially from our two leads, Robert Morley and Felix Aylmer, who constantly try to manipulate the current residents of the house to bring in royalty, which will release them from their curse. It’s fun to see the various groups who come to inhabit the house; at one point it’s a brothel, at another point it’s a medical hospital, and at one time or another a circus moves in as well as the Nawab of Bagwash (who apparently doesn’t count as royalty). Naturally, the schemes to bring in royalty backfire, often through the ghosts’ own actions. The cast also features Ernest Thesiger as a member of a psychical research society whose investigation of the haunted house could bring the much wanted visit. Director Vernon Sewell was also responsible for several other fantastically-themed movies, including LATIN QUARTER, THE BLOOD BEAST TERROR, CURSE OF THE CRIMSON ALTAR, and THE HORRORS OF BURKE AND HARE.

 

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