Month: May 2018

Liquid Dreams (1991)

LIQUID DREAMS (1991)
Article 2600 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-18-2008
Posting Date: 9-25-2998
Directed by Mark S. Manos
Featuring Candice Daly, Richard Steinmetz, Juan Fernandez
Country: USA

In the future, a woman comes from Kansas to the big city to move in with her sister. She finds her sister dead, and learns that she was working for an organization that specializes in erotic dancing and videos. She hooks up with a cop and decides to work undercover, joining the organization as a dancer to get to the truth.

Here we are taking another anomalous leap into the nineties with what the video box describes as a “futuristic erotic thriller”. Well, it seems to be futuristic enough. As for erotic, I’ve always believed that one man’s erotic fantasy is another man’s consummate silliness, and if you find MTV-style editing, garish nightclub milieus, bizarre costumes, throbbing robotic techno beats, and “sex is power” messages to be your cup of tea, this might be the movie for you. As for the thriller part, I can only say that the more things change, the more they remain the same; despite all the modern trappings, what we have here is just an old-fashioned mad scientist story. It holds the interest well enough in some respects what with the curiosity value of finding out what’s going on and the presence of such performers as Paul Bartel (who has a great cameo) and John Waters veteran Mink Stole. But for its premise, I found it pretty tame, it has some singularly bad cussing and questionable performances, and the “let’s kill everyone off because it’s the end of the movie” ending makes it hard to take seriously.

 

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I diavoli di Spartivento (1963)

I DIAVOLI DI SPARTIVENTO (1963)
aka The Devils of Spartivento, Weapons of Vengeance
Article 2599 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-17-2008
Posting Date: 9-24-2008
Directed by Leopoldo Savano
Featuring John Drew Barrymore, Scilla Gabel, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart
Country: Italy/France

Rebels battle evil tyrants, or true Prince against pretender to the throne; I’m not sure which.

The vague plot description above is just my way of saying that I’m watching this one in unsubtitled Italian, and the precise plot details are lost to me. Nonetheless, it does involve a group of rebels with a charismatic leader doing battle with the forces of an evil lord. It’s basically a period swashbuckler piece, and the fantastic content is that the rebels enter an ostensibly haunted forest and encounter a follower of Da Vinci, who is trying to bring his scientific ideas to life, so in the course of the movie we have a series of anachronistic inventions (including a device that can launch multiple arrows, a fire-spitting tank of sorts, a poison gas, and several flying machines). When these items show up, the movie is a lot more fun to fans of fantastic cinema and the fact that the plot details are unknown doesn’t matter so much. It’s quite similar to THE CRIMSON PIRATE, even to the point of having a Nick Cravat-like sidekick (doesn’t talk, uses sign language) appear. It’s entertaining enough in a sword-and-sandal style, though it doesn’t really belong to that genre.

 

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One Minute Before Death (1972)

ONE MINUTE BEFORE DEATH (1972)
aka The Oval Portrait
Article 2598 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-16-2008
Posting Date: 9-23-2008
Directed by Rogelio A. Gonzalez
Featuring Wanda Hendrix, Barry Coe, Gisele MacKenzie
Country: USA/Mexico

A woman falls down a flight of stairs after being frightened by some hooded figures. Everyone thinks she’s dead, but she isn’t and is afraid of being buried alive. In her comatose state, she discovers the infidelity of her husband and the plot against her life.

Sometimes I wonder if I can legitimately say I’ve seen a movie. With some of these rarities, I have to settle for whatever copy I can get, and the DVD for this one jumps and skips so badly that I had to watch it twice on two different machines to piece together what was going on. This is far from the best way to view a movie. Furthermore, I wonder if this movie is confused with another one. One of the alternate titles for this is THE OVAL PORTRAIT, and most of the plot descriptions I run into talk about a woman being possessed by lady in a portrait. This at least sounds like a possible way to adapt the Poe story of the same name, but this movie has nothing to do with a portrait; if anything, it owes more to “The Premature Burial”, soap operas (there’s a lot of sleeping around going on) and Old Dark House movies. Yet, the credits match, and so I do nothing but shrug my shoulders.

The movie? Well, given my description of the viewing experience, I’ve got no choice but to give the movie the benefit of the doubt until I see it as it should be seen. At least one thing I can admire; the movie has an incredible amount of flashbacks during the first half hour (before the DVD becomes difficult), yet somehow manages to avoid being totally confusing. That’s something.

In the meantime, I’m making a note to hunt around for a better copy.

 

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Mary Poppins (1964)

MARY POPPINS (1964)
Article 2597 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-15-2008
Posting Date: 9-22-2008
Directed by Robert Stevenson
Featuring Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson
Country: USA

A magical nanny brings joy to the home of a stodgy banker.

MARY POPPINS has long had the reputation of being one of Disney’s undisputed classics. It’s easy to see why; much of the movie is brilliant, Julie Andrew’s singing, Dick Van Dyke’s dancing, and the special effects machine at Disney are all in top form here. Still, the fact of the matter here is that I emerge from watching it feeling a little emptier than I think I should. I first start getting antsy when they all go to the animated fantasy world, and the kids go one way while Andrews and Van Dyke go another, Van Dyke singing a song about how wonderful Mary Poppins is. Now, I have a cardinal rule about songs like this; they’re unnecessary, as we should be able to tell a character is wonderful by their actions rather than having someone sing to us how wonderful they are.

That’s not the only scene I have problems with. Overall, I think the movie, despite its truly great moments, is overlong, and somewhat bloated with whimsy. When I first saw it years ago, I thought the movie was plotless. Watching it again, I know it isn’t, but I do feel the plot is given short shrift in order to make way for more whimsy. Practically every big musical number goes on too long, and I get tired of the way the movie constantly regurgitates certain themes, especially the “spoonful of sugar” philosophy. In short, I don’t place this one the same level as Disney’s early animated features, which seem to be more enjoyable on a broader level than this one.

 

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Lost Island of Kioga (1966)

LOST ISLAND OF KIOGA (1966)
TV-Movie version of serial HAWK OF THE WILDERNESS (1938)
Article 2596 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-14-2008
Posting Date: 9-21-208
Directed by John English and William Witney
Featuring Bruce Bennett, Mala, Monte Blue
Country: USA

A boy whose parents died in a shipwreck grows up on an island in the arctic regions that is kept unseasonably warm by an active volcano. Years later, friends of his parents show up along with a set of modern-day pirates after a treasure. He also has to contend with a hostile band of Indians.

Here’s more serial-converted-into-feature action for you. It’s better edited than is usual for this sort of thing, and it helps that the serial itself didn’t really follow the standard-issue serial plot. It’s still pretty episodic, and Fred ‘Snowflake’ Toones is far from my favorite comic relief actor, but it is nice to see Noble Johnson in a much larger role than usual for him as Kioga’s Indian friend. The island itself and a haunted cave provide the fantastic content. And, since it’s now been quite a while since I’ve done one of these serials-into-features, I’m not in the mood to be my usual cranky self about them; in fact, I rather enjoyed this one.

 

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The Color of Love (1975)

THE COLOR OF LOVE (1975)
aka Lord Shango
Article 2595 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-13-2008
Posting Date: 9-20-208
Directed by Ray Marsh
Featuring Marlene Clark, Lawrence Cook, Wally Taylor
Country: USA

The baptism of the daughter of an unwed mother is interrupted by her boyfriend attempting to prevent the ceremony. In the resulting struggle, the boyfriend is drowned, though it is not sure whether it was intentional or accidental. When the daughter runs away, the mother turns her back on the church and turns to a voodoo cult to get her daughter back. But there are prices to pay…

I had the worst time coming up with a decent plot description for this movie with an all-black cast, because it was difficult to come up with one that gave a real feel for what this movie is like. Anyone going into this hoping for the usual blaxploitation horror movie will emerge frustrated and feel cheated. If, however, you go in expecting a complex, almost Lewtonian horror movie in which the lines between good and evil aren’t quite as clearly defined as they usually are, you’ll be better prepared. It’s more of a drama with subtle horror elements than a full-blown horror movie, and the movie features at least one great performance; as the drummer-turned-drinker who serves as a commentator on the action, Lawrence Cook is fascinating and complex. The movie does a fascinating job of using music to set off the traditional Christian culture with the voodoo culture, and I suspect that devout Christians will not find this one to their liking. Myself, I found it offbeat, subtle, intelligent and compelling, but it will definitely not be to everyone’s taste.

 

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Let’s Kill Uncle (1966)

LET’S KILL UNCLE (1966)
Article 2594 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-12-2008
Posting Date: 9-19-2008
Directed by William Castle
Featuring Nigel Green, Mary Badham, Pat Cardi
Country: UK/USA

A young boy loses his parents and inherits their fortune. He goes to live with an uncle on an island. However, the uncle has designs on the boy’s money, and plots to do away with him while making it look like an accident. The boy discovers the plot, and decides that the best way to save his own life is to kill his uncle first.

The acting is uneven and the pace isn’t always the best, but when William Castle is on his game, the fun factor is undeniable. Well, in this offbeat and somewhat lighthearted variation of THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME, he’s on his game, and it’s great fun watching the boy match wits with his uncle, whose seemingly friendly manner is offset by the fact that he’s a veteran who wrote a book called “Killing the Enemy”. The movie also features sharks, tarantulas, and a crippled man on a cart. It’s Castle’s light touch with this one that really makes it work.

 

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Scream Blacula Scream (1973)

SCREAM BLACULA SCREAM (1973)
Article 2593 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-11-2008
Posting Date: 9-18-2008
Directed by Bob Kelljan
Featuring William Marshall, Don Mitchell, Pam Grier
Country: USA

When Blacula is resurrected in a voodoo ceremony, he seeks a voodoo priestess who can rid him of his curse.

I’ve heard tell that BLACULA is the best of the horror blaxploitation titles of the seventies, and that this sequel doesn’t quite measure up to that one. So I’ll refrain from making any judgment on the original based on having watched this one except to say that it must certainly share this movie’s great strength, which is William Marshall’s excellent performance. His Blacula has such a commanding, authoritative presence that he single-handedly raises this film several notches in my eyes. This is good, because the movie has a few problems. Perhaps the worst one is that the movie’s believability at any one moment is in inverse proportion to the amount of jive talk being used on the screen at the time; this movie has some of the least convincing jive talk I’ve ever heard. Marshall only uses jive talk in one speech, and though it’s the best line in the movie, you can clearly hear the quote marks around them. The performers who are given the least jive talk fare best; both Don Mitchell and Pam Grier come off all right. Still, the story takes an interesting approach, and occasional moments work quite well.

 

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A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin (1971)

A LIZARD IN A WOMAN’S SKIN (1971)
aka Schizoid, Una Lucertola con la pelle di donna
Article 2592 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-10-2008
Posting Date: 9-17-2008
Directed by Lucio Fulci
Featuring Florinda Bolkan, Stanley Baker, Jean Sorel
Country: Spain/Italy/France

A woman reports a dream to her therapist about having murdered a neighbor woman. When the neighbor woman turns up dead a few days later, the evidence points to the woman who had the dream. Is she guilty? Or is she being framed? If so, then who…and how?

I wasn’t particularly impressed with Fulci’s NEW YORK RIPPER a few days ago, and commented that I didn’t think it had a particular sense of style. Not so with this one; this one is very strong on that level, and also manages to make the style enhance and complement the very interesting story itself. This is easily the most impressive Fulci movie I’ve seen yet, as well as being one of the most entertaining giallos I’ve seen as well. It has some fine dream sequences, an excellent Ennio Morricone score, a clever mystery element with a strong ending, a strong sense of suspense, an odd assortment of characters, and it even manages to throw in some Hitchcock references without letting them take over the movie. If IMDB’s ratings can be taken into account, this is one of Fulci’s best movies, and I’m inclined to agree at this point.

 

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984: Prisoner of the Future (1982)

984: PRISONER OF THE FUTURE (1982)
TV-Movie
Article 2591 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-9-2008
Posting Date: 9-16-2008
Directed by Tibor Takacs
Featuring Stephen Markle, Michele Chicoine, David Clement
Country: Canada

An executive finds himself a prisoner when a new political regime comes into power, and he is being tortured to confess to crimes he didn’t commit.

One of my books describes this movie as being Kafkaesque, but I think it lacks the maddening ambiguity of Kafka’s work; I’d say it’s a lot more Orwellian dystopic. From a distance, I rather admire the movie; it’s always a bit interesting to see a science fiction movie from the period that wasn’t flaunting a STAR WARS influence. Nevertheless, I have to admit that, despite all the brooding nihilism and darkness here, I watched the movie with only mild interest. I attribute this to the fact that the movie simply isn’t very convincing. It’s not the weak special effects; though the roller-skating enforcer robots are pretty silly, they aren’t show-stoppers, if you know what I mean. No, it’s more the confused script, the dull characters (Don Francks’ attempts to make his Warden character more eccentric is more distracting than effective), and a general lack of conviction. In short, I never really believe what’s happening, or that it really matters; even the final twist is more of a shrug than a shock. It’s a nice try, but not really a success.

 

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