Month: November 2017

Le miroir obscene (1973)

LE MIROIR OBSCENE (1973)
aka Obscene Mirror, Beyond the Grave, Al otro lado del espejo
Article 2321 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-3-2007
Posting Date: 12-20-2007
Directed by Jesus Franco
Featuring Emma Cohen, Howard Vernon, Philippe Lemaire

A woman is possessed by a mirror which shows her obscene images and causes her to murder the men in her life.

Yes, it’s Jess Franco again, and this time I get the opportunity to see one of his movies in unsubtitled French, a good way to guarantee that I won’t understand a word of the dialogue. Oddly enough, this problem didn’t really profoundly change the usual viewing experience I have with Franco movies. This comment cuts both ways; for one thing, I find I have some trouble paying attention to the dialogue even when I understand it in many of his movies anyway, much of which I find to be dull, though I should point out this is only a real problem with his weaker movies. On the other hand, it does show me that dialogue isn’t really what Franco is all about. It’s also helpful that once I got the gist of what was going on in the movie, it was fairly easy to follow. As a matter of fact, I think this was one of the better Franco movies I’ve seen, despite the fact that I was also hampered by having a very weak print of it to begin with; like his better movies, I don’t feel I was wasting my time watching it. I even liked the jazzy musical score up to a point, though it is overused. Granted, I’m still not a fan of Franco’s style; for my taste, I find that the sex scenes go on too long, there’s too many closeups of pubic hair, and that camera won’t stay in focus for more than a few seconds at a time. Yet, it managed to hold my attention and left me thinking about it afterwards.

 

0 CommentsLeave a comment

2002: The Rape of Eden (1994)

2002: THE RAPE OF EDEN (1994)
aka Bounty Hunter 2002
Article 2320 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-2-2007
Posting Date: 12-19-2007
Directed by Sam Auster
Featuring Phil Nordell, Francine Lapensee, Jeff Conaway

After the apocalypse (a plague this time), the most valuable commodity is an uninfected woman (known as a virgin), which are in short supply. A bounty hunter is assigned to find one by his Japanese employers, but she proves to be a fairly tough customer.

Here we are with another anomalous jump into the nineties. And here we are once again after the apocalypse. You know the kind; the ones where everybody lives in a desert, but they have plenty and guns, gas and ammunition and, despite the fact that there is now plenty of elbow room out there, people are desperately killing each other off like there’s no tomorrow. Still, you have to wonder just how bad the apocalypse was when the main character dreams of retiring from bounty hunting so he can play golf. This brings us around to the movie’s sole redeeming feature; it manages to have a sense of humor. It really doesn’t save the movie, which is a cheaply made, violent, badly-written, sometimes arty, sometimes unpleasant, sometimes idiotic compendium of badly-acted after-the-apocalypse cliches, but it does offer a bit of respite, which is something anyway. If you’re trying to watch every after-the-apocalypse movie ever made, I can safely recommend you keep this one fairly low on the list.

 

0 CommentsLeave a comment

Farewell to the Planet of the Apes (1981)

FAREWELL TO THE PLANET OF THE APES (1981)
Article 2319 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-1-2007
Posting Date: 12-18-2007
Directed by Don McDougall and John Meredyth Lucas
Featuring Ron Harper, Roddy McDowall, James Naughton

Burke and Virdon set free a man from a fishing village who was being sacrificed because he was too old, and they set out to change the ways of the fisherman. Then they encounter a human who has learned the secret of flight but is in danger for his life from the apes.

This is another TV-Movie edited from episodes of the “Planet of the Apes” TV series; in this case, episode 6 (“Tomorrow’s Tide”) and episode 14 (“Up Above the World So High”, the last one of the series) are combined. Despite the title, there is no escape from the planet, since the series ended before it could resolve its plot. Actually, I liked this one a shade better than the other two I’ve seen, largely because the stories seem less formulaic, less preachy, and show a sense of humor that I found sorely lacking in the others I’ve seen so far. They still fall short of compelling, though, and I still think the series was pretty weak overall. However, it did make me appreciate the best thing about it; Roddy McDowall always put his best foot forward, and his character is far and away the most interesting one in the series. His performance helps to compensate somewhat for the other weaknesses.

With this one, I’ve seen (via TV-Movie versions) just a little under half of the episodes of the series. I’ve got one more of these to go, but it will be several days until I get to it.

 

0 CommentsLeave a comment

The Venetian Affair (1967)

THE VENETIAN AFFAIR (1967)
Article 2318 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-31-2007
Posting Date: 12-17-2007
Directed by Jerry Thorpe
Featuring Robert Vaughn, Elke Sommer, Felicia Farr

A down-and-out journalist who used to be with the CIA finds himself investigating the bombing of a conference in Venice. There he encounters his former CIA boss and his ex-wife, who are also embroiled in the mystery.

I remember this movie popping up on TV a few times during my youth, but on viewing the teasers, I didn’t think it looked promising, despite the fact that Boris Karloff was in the cast; perhaps the fact that he was always mentioned fourth was a further tip-off that it really wasn’t the type of movie I liked. Having watched it now, I feel that I was right; it wouldn’t have interested me much back then. For that matter, it only interests me marginally more now. I do admire it a little; despite the fact that spy movies were in no short supply during the sixties, this largely applies to James Bond movies and their various knock-offs; serious spy movies were in much shorter supply, and I like that this one aspires to be one of the latter. Still, it’s so low key that I found it dull and difficult to follow for the first half, and it didn’t exactly inspire me to pay close attention to the plot details. Things do improve during the second half, though, but not enough. Part of the problem is that for this story to work, the main character has to be complex and interesting enough for us to get caught up in his situation; unfortunately, though I do think Robert Vaughn works just fine in certain roles, I don’t think he really gives his character sufficient depth to make me interested in him. I have no problem with many of the other familiar names in the cast, such as Karloff, Elke Sommer, Roger C. Carmel or Ed Asner, all of whom hold my attention and interest me when they’re on the screen. As it is, I find this spy thriller middling at best.

Oh, and I almost forgot – the fantastic content of the movie is one of the plot secrets that isn’t really revealed until near the end of the movie, but it thrusts the movie into the realm of science fiction. Let’s just say that a scientist has created something that is of use to the villains in the story.

 

0 CommentsLeave a comment

The Forgotten City of the Planet of the Apes (1981)

THE FORGOTTEN CITY OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (1981)
Article 2317 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-30-2007
Posting Date: 12-16-2007
Directed by Don McDougall and Bernard McEveety
Featuring Ron Harper, James Naughton, Roddy McDowall

Virdon, Burke and Galen encounter an ape city where the prefect has the humans fight as gladiators in an arena. They they visit an abandoned city, where Urko captures one of the fugitives, and an attempt is made to get him to reveal the whereabouts of his companions.

Two more episodes from the “Planet of the Apes” TV-series get the TV-movie conversion done on them, in this case, the second and the fifth episodes, “The Gladiators” and “The Legacy”. In the first, a valuable lesson is taught to a decent but misguided ape prefect. In the second, valuable lessons are taught to a young kid given to stealing and mistrust. The first one is slightly better, partially due to the presence of John Hoyt as the prefect. Still, neither one is very good, and after a while the leaden pace, uninspired direction, and lack of incidental music at key points of the story really drags it down. At least with the TV series you can watch one episode at a time.

It’s been three days in a row of bogus TV-movies edited from other sources, and I’m ready to watch a real movie now.

 

0 CommentsLeave a comment

The Baron’s African War (1966)

THE BARON’S AFRICAN WAR (1966)
Feature version of MANHUNT IN THE AFRICAN JUNGLE (1943)
Article 2316 by Dave Sindelar
Vewing Date: 7-29-2007
Posting Date: 12-15-2007
Directed by Spencer Bennet
Featuring Rod Cameron, Joan Marsh, Lionel Royce

Yesterday I covered a bogus TV-movie culled together from episodes of a TV series. Today, for a change of pace, I’m covering a bogus TV-movie culled together from episodes of an old serial. In comparing the experiences, I have to admit I prefer covering the ones culled from TV series; at least I haven’t already covered the originals as part of this series. For the record, this probably does as decent a job as any of converting a serial to a feature, but, like most of the others, it only manages to convert it to a fairly dull feature. As usual, touches of science fiction give it its fantastic content, including the ubiquitous death ray. Nothing new here.

 

0 CommentsLeave a comment

Back to the Planet of the Apes (1981)

BACK TO THE PLANET OF THE APES (1981)
TV-Movie
Article 2315 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-28-2007
Posting Date: 12-14-2007
Directed by Arnold Laven and Don Weis
Featuring Roddy McDowall, Ron Harper, James Naughton
Two astronauts end up stranded in Earth’s future, where apes are the ruling species. They go on the run with a fugitive chimpanzee named Galen.

Hey, didja know that the “Planet of the Apes” movies were so popular they spawned a TV series in the mid-seventies?

And didja know that the series lasted only half a season before being axed?

And didja know that a TV-series that got axed after only half a season had little or no chance to thrive in syndication at the time, even if they did garner a certain cult following?

And didja know that the powers that be got around this problem by editing episodes of the series together into bogus TV-movies that they could sell as part of packages?

And didja know they culled about six TV-movies out of this series, usually with unwieldy titles like LIFE, LIBERTY AND PURSUIT ON THE PLANET OF THE APES and KUMQUATS AND YAMS ON THE PLANET OF THE APES? Okay, I made up that last one, but the first one was a real title, and I’m sure whoever though it up must have thought they were real clever until they sobered up.

And didja know several of these bogus TV-Movies are on my hunt list, and I’ll be covering them in the next week or so?

Well, I’m sure you knew some of that already. This one joins together the first and third episodes of the series, “Escape from Tomorrow” and “The Trap”. The former is just what you’d expect from the first episode of the series; it goes through the motions of regurgitating the themes of the movies while setting up the situation that would drive the series; there isn’t much in the way of surprises here. The second has one of the humans trapped in an underground subway station with the gorilla who is chasing them, and they must learn cooperation and trust in order to survive and escape (which all falls apart at the end of the episode so they can return to the status quo and keep the series going). Based on this collection, I have to come to the conclusion that the reason the series didn’t last long was that it simply wasn’t very good; I found it fairly predictable and repetitive. And it looks like I’ll be seeing a goodly portion of this series during the next few days…

 

0 CommentsLeave a comment

Apache Drums (1951)

APACHE DRUMS (1951)
Article 2314 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-27-2007
Posting Date: 12-13-2007
Directed by Hugo Fregonese
Featuring Stephen McNally, Coleen Gray, Willard Parker

A small western town is threatened by an attack of Apache warriors. The citizens find themselves trapped inside a church with no way to escape.

I will state at the outset that there is no fantastic content in this western, and that I’m covering it because it is listed in John Stanley’s CREATURE FEATURES STRIKE BACK MOVIE GUIDE. So why did John Stanley include this one? Because, despite the lack of fantastic content, he thought it was an interesting movie to watch in the light of it having been the last production of famed horror producer Val Lewton, and I agree on this point. It has a feel quite unlike any other western I’ve seen, and this is partially due to the fact that Lewton uses music in much he same way as he did his horror movies; I like the use of native music, and part of the plot hinges on the drumming and singing the Apaches use when they have the church surrounded; you’ll find yourself listening closely for the music to change, as this will signal an ensuing attack. There are a number of nice touches; I like the sequence where the preacher and the gambler join forces to hold off a band of attacking Apaches, and the final moment of the movie where we discover that someone else outside of the Apaches was trying to get into the church as well. I also like that when the villagers get trapped in the church, the camera never leaves the area, so we feel like we’re trapped as well. The characters are likable, though the acting is uneven, but I found that to be true of his horror movies as well. The main characters are given individual story arcs, though they are a little more simplistic than they should be. Nevertheless, I find this quite entertaining, and I do wonder what it would have been like if Lewton had made other westerns; unfortunately, he died of a heart attack before this one was even released.

 

0 CommentsLeave a comment

The House that Dripped Blood (1971)

THE HOUSE THAT DRIPPED BLOOD (1971)
Article 2313 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-26-2007
Posting Date: 12-12-2007
Directed by Peter Duffell
Featuring Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Jon Pertwee

An inspector from Scotland Yard visits a small town to investigate the disappearance of an actor. He is told the stories of four residents who lived in the house he had leased, all of which came to horrific ends.

It’s another Amicus anthology of Robert Bloch stories, and, for my money, it’s one of the lesser ones. This is not to say that it doesn’t have its moments; it does, with the third story (about a man who is afraid of his young daughter and treats her cruelly) perhaps the best. I also like the second story (about a wax museum), and the fourth story (about a horror actor who gets a cloak for a vampire movie that is a little too authentic) are also quite good. The first story (about a horror writer whose creation comes to life) nor the framing story do much for me though, and I think the movie fails in it establishing its premise that the house itself is the source of the evil; only in the first story does this seem so, whereas in the other stories, it definitely feels that the source of evil comes from other places. Peter Cushing does a good job as usual, and Jon Pertwee does a nice turn as the horror actor; he even makes an offhand reference to his castmate Christopher Lee, who is particularly good here as the father in the third story. However, I don’t think any of the stories here really hits the peaks of some of the other Amicus anthologies.

 

0 CommentsLeave a comment

The Great Alligator (1979)

THE GREAT ALLIGATOR (1979)
aka Big Alligator River, Il Fiume del grande caimano
Article 2312 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 7-25-2007
Posting Date: 12-11-2007
Directed by Sergio Martino
Featuring Barbara Bach, Claudio Cassinelli, Mel Ferrer

A tourist resort runs into trouble when local natives unleash their god; a giant alligator.

At the one hour mark in this movie, I was ready to write it off. It was your standard Italian JAWS rip-off with a couple of familiar names in the cast (Barbara Bach, Mel Ferrer), poor special effects (anything having to do with the alligator in particular), annoying editing (ditto on the last comment), bad dialogue and crummy music (whenever they played this generic funk while the natives were engaged in their tribal rituals, I kept looking for which native was playing the synth). To its credit, the movie does come to life a little bit towards the end, thanks in part to the fact that the alligator attacks are also augmented by native attacks; as a result, there is a real sense of hopelessness during the scene where a group of tourists are trapped in a fenced-off swimming area, they can’t stay because the giant alligator is breaking through the defenses, but they can’t go ashore because the natives will pick them off one by one if they do. A scene where our heroes are trapped in the bottom of the river in a flooded van is also fairly exciting, Other than these two scenes, this one is pretty forgettable.

 

1 CommentLeave a comment