Month: June 2018

Nightmare (1972)

NIGHTMARE (1972)
aka Voices
Article 2681 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-30-2008
Posting Date: 12-15-2008
Directed by Kevin Billington
Featuring David Hemmings, Gayle Hunnicutt, Lynn Farleigh
Country: UK

A couple, traumatized by the death of their son when they left him by himself momentarily, spend the night in an abandoned house the woman has inherited. As they struggle with their demons, they begin to suspect that the house is haunted.

John Stanley rightly praises this obscure British movie for its twist ending, and well he should. Unfortunately, to get to that ending, you have to go through the rest of the movie, and therein lies the problem. It starts out well enough, but once the couple enters the house, it turns into one of those movies where two unlikable people flaunt their dysfunctional relationship (with yelling, accusations, manipulation, shaming, hysteria, etc., etc.,) in front of you for about an hour with hardly anyone else on hand to divert your attention from the ugly, depressing scene. Had there been a modicum of wit in the script (along the lines of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”, say), it might have been bearable. It also would have helped if the hauntings had somehow been indelibly tied to the characters and their situation, but, outside of the fact that the wife thinks one of the ghostly visions might be her dead son, it doesn’t. So, in the final analysis, I would have to say that the twist really wasn’t worth the unpleasantness of getting to it. Chalk it up as another one that would have made a for a good half hour segment on an anthology show rather than as a full-length movie.

 

1 CommentLeave a comment

Very Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind (1978)

VERY CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE FOURTH KIND (1978)
aka Incontri molto ravvicinati del quarto tipo
Article 2680 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-30-2008
Posting Date: 12-24-2008
Directed by Mario Gariazzo
Featuring Maria Baxa, Monica Zanchi, Mario Maranzana
Country: Italy

Three students try to seduce their physics teacher by pretending to be aliens. They manage to have close encounters.

Ah, just what the world needs; a softcore Italian sex comedy inspired by Spielberg’s UFO movie. I’m tempted to say the only reason Spielberg isn’t rolling over in his grave is that he isn’t dead yet, but, in truth, I think this movie is too inconsequential for such a comment, and besides, as far as these things go, this one really isn’t too bad; in short, I’ve seen worse. Still, in terms of its fantastic content, this one is for completists only, and since it establishes early on that the space aliens are really college students, there’s really no reason to bother. Chalk this one up as another one out of the way.

 

0 CommentsLeave a comment

The Immortal (1969)

THE IMMORTAL (1969)
TV-Movie
Article 2679 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-28-2008
Posting Date: 12-13-2008
Directed by Joseph Sargent
Featuring Christopher George, Ralph Bellamy, Don Knight
Country: USA

A test car driver’s blood is given in a transfusion to a dying tycoon, who makes an amazing recovery. When it is discovered that the driver’s blood is immune to all known diseases and has amazing curative properties, the tycoon decides to fake the driver’s death and kidnap him so he can rejuvenate himself whenever he wants to.

As a TV-Movie movie doing double time as a pilot for a TV series, this one is pretty good; it’s well-acted, exciting, and quite entertaining. Still, I’m not sure I would have allowed it to go on as a series; I suspect that this pilot pretty much exhausted the possibilities of what we could do with the central fantastic gimmick, which means that from here on out, the immortality theme would serve as little more than a Gizmo Maguffin for what seems to be another variation on “The Fugitive”. As it is, the show lasted about half a season before coming to an end. There are a couple of things I didn’t care for in the movie. One is Barry Sullivan’s make-up as the dying tycoon; it looks like old age makeup rather than making him look like he’s old (if you know what I mean). The other is Carol Lynley. I’m not sure why, but as I continue with this series, I’ve discovered that there’s something about her performances that I don’t like; to me, they feel artificial, and there’s a cuteness about them that feels contrived. And at heart, I would have enjoyed this movie more if it had featured a complete story arc rather than having served as a setup for a series.

 

0 CommentsLeave a comment

Tenderness of the Wolves (1973)

TENDERNESS OF THE WOLVES (1973)
aka Die Zartlichkeit der Wolfe
Article 2678 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-27-2008
Posting Date: 12-12-2008
Directed by Ulli Lommel
Featuring Kurt Raab, Jeff Roden, Margit Carstensen
Country: West Germany

A serial killer who preys on young men and boys is loose in Germany. The police begin to suspect that a black marketer they deputized to round up other criminals may be the culprit.

I’m not familiar with the work of Ulli Lommel either as a director or as an actor who had a long association with cult item Rainer Werner Fassbinder, but I’ve gotten the impression that most of his directorial work is pretty weak. If the ratings on IMDB are any indication, this is far and away his best movie, a crime/horror thriller based on the exploits of serial killer Fritz Haarmann (who killed his victims by biting their necks, and then, with the help of his assistant, cut up the bodies and sold them for meat) and modeled somewhat off of Fritz Lang’s M. One can definitely see Lang’s influence on the style of this movie, and Kurt Raab (who gives a strong performance) even looks like Peter Lorre. In terms of violence, the movie is fairly mild, but its emphasis on the gay sexual orientation of the killer is likely to alienate many viewers. Fassbinder has a small role in the film.

 

0 CommentsLeave a comment

Percy (1971)

PERCY (1971)
Article 2677 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-26-2008
Posting Date: 12-11-2008
Directed by Ralph Thomas
Featuring Hywel Bennett, Denholm Elliott, Elke Sommer
Country: UK

A man becomes the recipient of the first penis transplant in history, and becomes obsessed with finding the donor.

I have to admit that this movie surprised me. It’s not because it’s good, mind you (it’s so-so at best), but rather, it’s because it actually does aspire to be something more than an exploitation piece (which is something I can’t say about THE AMAZING TRANSPLANT, which deals with the same subject matter). I initially thought it odd that the theme song for this movie was the plaintive “God’s Children”; if I remember correctly, they wanted Ray Davies to write a funny song about transplants and instead got this gentle anti-transplant song instead. However, it almost seems that the movie takes the song’s lead; in the end, the attention, the fame, and the women does nothing for our hero, as he ends up believing in the value of a single monogamous relationship. In short, the movie has an unexpected serious side. Still, the movie is fairly weak; most of the laughs consist of repetitive double entendres, and the pace is quite sluggish at times. Still, I do have a bit of fondness for the music by the Kinks that appears on the soundtrack, and I’m sure any fan of their music will recognize the melody that is used for the background music during the sequence when the transplant is “tested” for the first time.

 

0 CommentsLeave a comment

Illusion of Blood (1966)

ILLUSION OF BLOOD (1966)
aka Yotsuya kaidan
Article 2676 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-25-2008
Posting Date: 12-10-2008
Directed by Shiro Toyoda
Featuring Tatsuya Nakadai, Marko Okada, Junko Ikeuchi
Country: Japan

A samurai poisons his wife, and then finds himself haunted by her spirit.

This is the second version I’ve seen of this particular story; the other is THE GHOST OF YOTSUYA. I have to admit to being a little disappointed by this one; though it’s quite well made and has some very effective and eerie moments, it also gets a little dull on occasion. Furthermore, there’s something a little distracting about the comic relief in the movie; it’s another case where the comedy element detracts from the power of the story. Still, I do have to wonder what I’m missing; the running time of the Japanese version of this movie goes over three hours, which means the movie was virtually cut in half for the print I’ve seen, and apparently huge amounts of the violence and nudity was removed. Still, there’s something compelling about the story, and I like the concept that ghosts can create illusions that can cause the characters to perform acts against their own best wishes.

 

0 CommentsLeave a comment

Laboratory (1980)

LABORATORY (1980)
Article 2675 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-24-2008
Posting Date: 12-9-2008
Directed by Bob Emenegger and Allan Sandler
Featuring Martin Kove, Ken Washington, Corinne Camacho
Country: USA

Space aliens kidnap humans and isolate them in a remote air force base for experiments.

You know, from a distance I respect this science fiction movie; despite the commonness of the idea of aliens experimenting on humans, I really haven’t seen it handled that much, and, despite the fact that it does show some influence from CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (in its use of music as a communication device), it is far from an imitation. Still, when I look up close, it has too many problems I can’t ignore. First of all, the script is rather weak, and the characters are poorly developed and/or stereotypes. Second of all, the score is one of those that largely just drones on and on at the same tone without any regard to the action on the screen; they try to keeep it low and below the surface, but I still noticed. Thirdly, the decision to have the aliens speak in distorted video-game voices backfires because it renders much of their dialogue unintelligible. But worst of all, the movie just utterly fails to build up much in the way of suspense; it takes low-key one step too far into soporific. In short, this could have been a much better movie. Still, I do have to take note of a movie which combines the talents of both Steven Spielberg’s and Cameron Mitchell’s respective sisters.

 

0 CommentsLeave a comment

The Girl in the Kremlin (1957)

THE GIRL IN THE KREMLIN (1957)
Article 2674 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-23-2008
Posting Date: 12-8-2008
Directed by Russell Birdwell
Featuring Lex Barker, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Jeffrey Stone
Country: USA

While on a case in which he is trying to locate a woman’s twin sister, a detective stumbles across an amazing story; Josef Stalin did not die in 1953, but, through the use of plastic surgery, is now living abroad under a fake identity.

We’ve seen this type of plot with Hitler quite a few times; why not one with Stalin as well? As you might expect, it’s a sensationalistic piece of exploitation propaganda, in which the most interesting element is the revelation that Stalin had a fetish for women with shaved heads. The opening sequence in which actress Natalie Daryll’s hair is shorn is easily the most memorable scene here; after that, the movie becomes a snoozefest of the first order, despite the fact that it gives us a one-armed man, William Schallert as Stalin’s estranged son, and Zsa Zsa Gabor having a fight scene with herself (and I’m willing to bet neither of the fighters is Zsa Zsa). Outside of that, the most interesting thing about this is noticing that the writing credits include both Val Lewton writer DeWitt Bodeen and “Star Trek” writer/producer Gene L. Coon in his first writing assignment. All in all, this is little more than an obscure curiosity piece.

 

1 CommentLeave a comment

The Incredible Hulk: Death in the Family (1977)

THE INCREDIBLE HULK: DEATH IN THE FAMILY (1977)
TV-Movie aka The Return of the Incredible Hulk
Article 2673 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-22-2008
Posting Date: 12-7-2008
Directed by Alan J. Levi
Featuring Bill Bixby, Jack Colvin, Lou Ferrigno
Country: USA

Bruce Banner gets involved with a young heiress who has lost the ability to walk after she was rescued from a boat fire that killed her father. He discovers that the heiress is being poisoned by her stepmother and an unscrupulous doctor. This makes him angry, and you wouldn’t like him when he gets angry…

Adventures in Movie-Watching: This movie first entered my hunt list under the title THE RETURN OF THE INCREDIBLE HULK, a title that is easy enough to find when you’re hunting movies. Unfortunately, the movie that is marketed under that title is NOT this movie; it is, in fact, a movie called THE INCREDIBLE HULK RETURNS, a late eighties TV-Movie that made an unsuccessful attempt to revive the series, and, from what I saw of it, looks pretty silly. For a while, I assumed that the movie I was looking for was one of those TV-Movies hammered together from episodes of the TV show. It was only later I discovered that this was actually the second movie-length pilot for the original series, and was available on the recent DVD releases of the series. So, finally, I’m able to cover it.

I have to admit that I never watched the series when it was popular for a couple of reasons. For one, I felt that live-action TV versions of superheroes tended to compromise the concept by having the superheroes fight ordinary villains rather than supervillains. The other reason is that I’m not a particular fan of the whole superhero genre in the first place, a revelation that often leaves the mouths hanging open of my friends when they discover this. At any rate, I pretty much ignored the series.

Now, having seen the second pilot, I understand why it became a series, and, if this pilot accurately captures the feel of the series itself, I can understand the affection that the series has garnered over the years. It’s greatest asset is simple; Bill Bixby’s performance as Bruce Banner is so captivating that you totally caught up in the character and his issues. Furthermore, this TV-Movie has a good script and is quite well directed; you really do care about all of the characters you’re supposed to care about, and their struggles and conflicts have a real resonance. I even liked Lou Ferrigno’s performance as the Hulk, even when the script calls for him to do something other than wreak havoc; he handles comic scenes and the more poignant scenes very well indeed. The biggest problems I had were probably unavoidable. The sequences where Bruce Banner must get angry in order to turn into the Hulk often feel contrived (and I’m willing to bet this problem extended to the series as well), and the special effects aren’t always up to par; the Hulk’s battle with the grizzly bear actually looks convincing enough until… well, if you’ve seen it, you probably know what I mean, and if you haven’t, you’ll know what I mean when you see it. Still, the problems are easily overlooked; Bill Bixby’s performance is such a solid anchor that you’re quite willing to forgive any flaws. Had I been the TV executive in charge of deciding whether to turn this premise into a series, the TV-Movie would have convinced me that it would fly.

 

0 CommentsLeave a comment

Two on a Guillotine (1965)

TWO ON A GUILLOTINE (1965)
Article 2672 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-21-2008
Posting Date: 12-6-2008
Directed by William Conrad
Featuring Connie Stevens, Dean Jones, Cesar Romero
Country: USA

When a famous magician dies, he is buried with instructions that imply that he will return from the dead. His daughter, who he hasn’t seen in years, will inherit his entire fortune if she agrees to spend seven nights in his old mansion. However, all is not what it seems…

The John Stanley “Creature Features” book describes this movie as William Conrad’s failed attempt to make a William Castle movie, and I can see his point; there are moments here where I can definitely sense Castle’s influence, especially in comparison to HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL. However, I also agree that the attempt is not really a success; though it does start out promisingly, and it has a few good touches, it misses the mark. For one thing, the attempt at a light touch misfires, as it causes the scariness to dissipate rather than to provide a contrast to it. The movie also is too long; much of the overextended romantic subplot could have been pared out. Furthermore, the actual scares are mostly lame, and having the actresses scream their lungs out at every opportunity doesn’t really cover this up. On the other hand, it is kind of fun to see Dean Jones in one of his movies before he started his string of Disney shopping cart films. Cesar Romero is also quite fun as the magician, though he doesn’t have enough screen time. In short, it just doesn’t deliver the shocks you’d expect from one of Castle’s better movies. By the way, if you keep your eyes open during the hall of mirrors sequence, you’ll see Conrad give us a cameo appearance. Billy Curtis and Richard Kiel also make appearances.

 

0 CommentsLeave a comment