Month: December 2018

La valse du gorille (1959)

LA VALSE DU GORILLE (1959)
aka Operation Top Secret
Article 3065 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-28-2009
Posting Date: 1-4-2010
Directed by Bernard Borderie
Featuring Roger Hanin, Charles Vanel, Jess Hahn
Country: France
What it is: Probably a Gizmo Maguffin spy thriller

Plans for a method of returning space rockets to earth become the prize in a battle of wits between spies.

The title above translates into THE GORILLA’S WALTZ, which is an interesting title; I wouldn’t have an idea what the movie was about from that one. However, the title under which it first entered my list isn’t that ambiguous; I’d expect a movie called OPERATION TOP SECRET to be a spy movie of sorts. My copy is in French with no subtitles, and a good deal of the plot description above is from John Stanley’s “Revenge of the Creature Features Movie Guide”, and that is pretty sparse. It was apparently based on a novel that was part of a series of spy novels by one Antoine-Louis Dominique (a former secret agent), and the Gorilla is apparently the nickname of the main character here. The movie has a low rating on IMDB, so I’m assuming the story is fairly weak, but it has some odd little touches, such as the spy with the magnetic hook for a hand. Still, the movie was largely impenetrable to me, so I’m going to have to reserve any judgment.

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The Night Nurse (1978)

THE NIGHT NURSE (1978)
TV-Movie
Article 3064 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-27-2009
Posting Date: 1-3-2010
Directed by Igor Auzins
Featuring Gary Day, Kate Fitzpatrick, Kay Taylor
Country: Australia
What it is: Oddball horror thriller

A woman gets a job as a night nurse for a reclusive former opera singer known as “The Diva”. The recluse’s daughter (who has been selling her mother’s art collection and replacing them with prints) attempts to drive the new nurse away, but the recluse has taken to her. However, there are more skeletons in the closet here than she suspects…

Though I don’t think the user ratings necessarily give an accurate idea of the critical worth of a movie, they do manage to give a little snapshot on how people feel about a movie. This one has a rating of 4.6, which means it’s not highly regarded, and I can see why; as a horror movie, this is pretty mild stuff, and the big horrific finale is clumsy. Still, I think it’s the overly talky script that is the main culprit. I myself didn’t have that much of a problem with it; the talk is there to establish character, and this is a very character-driven story. It seems to be a variation on one of the subplots of THE CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE; we have a wheelchair-bound recluse, a jealous daughter, and an intruder who threatens to steal the affection of the mother that belongs to the daughter. What I like about this movie is that it is quite unpredictable; the opening set-up (when the daughter kills an art dealer) makes us think we’ve got a handle on where the story will go and who the villain is, but the movie has some surprises in store for us before it comes to its conclusion. I have respect for a movie that can consistently surprise me, especially if the story still holds together with each revelation. Even the very final moment is a surprise, albeit one in which the movie simply refuses to take the expected ending. Due to some clumsiness and slowness, it’s not a great movie by any means, but it is something different for those who like their horror to be a little unpredictable.

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Valley of the Dragons (1961)

VALLEY OF THE DRAGONS (1961)
Article 3063 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-26-2009
Posting Date: 1-2-2009
Directed by Edward Bernds
Featuring Cesare Danova, Sean McClory, Joan Staley
Country: USA
What it is: Low-budget caveman antics masquerading as Jules Verne epic

Two duellists are whisked up by a comet, where they find themselves in a prehistoric world that had been whisked up on the comet’s previous journey to earth.

I’ve been curious about this movie ever since it was mentioned in a quiz in Cracked Mazagine (and I’m sure some of you see no spelling mistakes there). In the quiz, they showed a series of stills from horror/science fiction movies, and you were supposed to pick out the name of the movie from a multiple-choice list. This was pretty easy, as the other titles were obvious fakes (I remember one called THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME WEARS BELL-BOTTOMS). This movie was one of the answers that was supposed to be correct, and the photo showed a real cool-looking dragon. However, as I was to discover a few years later, the dragon on display was actually the one from THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD. This raised a question to me; did the mazagine get the wrong photo, or did VALLEY OF THE DRAGONS cop footage from THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD? As I’d never seen VALLEY OF THE DRAGONS, I didn’t know.

Well, now I’ve finally seen it, and I can say that no Harryhausen footage (new or borrowed) appears in this movie at all. Which is not to say that this movie was above borrowing stuff from other movies; the prop spider from CAT WOMEN OF THE MOON appears at one point, as does footage from RODAN and (especially) ONE MILLION B.C. Yes, this means we have Ignatz and Rumsford going through their battle once again, and we get the volcano destruction footage as well (just how many times have I seen that woman fall under the advancing lava?). It did make me wonder if ONE MILLION B.C. and all its footage vanished from the face of the earth, how many other movies would be swept up in the wake. Well, that’s a side issue. As far as this movie goes, despite the outlandish premise, it’s pretty much standard caveman escapades, with the addition of a couple of semi-modern (that is to say, nineteenth century) Engish-speakers to add to the comprehensibility and to teach the two tribes of caveman about cooperation (if the modern men had been named Ernie and Bert, I could make a good Sesame Street joke here). To its credit, the volcano footage doesn’t destroy this world in its entirety. It also has a bit of a sense of humor, which, given that the movie was directed by Edward Bernds (who helmed a lot of the Three Stooges shorts), is no real surprise. Overall, it’s no better than it sounds, but at least it isn’t a whole lot worse.

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Shadow on the Land (1968)

SHADOW ON THE LAND (1968)
TV-Movie
Article 3062 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-25-2009
Posting Date: 1-1-2010
Directed by Richard C. Sarafian
Featuring Jackie Cooper, John Forsythe, Gene Hackman
Country: USA
What it is: Alternate universe United-States-under-dictatorship thriller

In an alternative universe, the United States is under the control of a dictator who uses a special band of law enforcers known as the ISF to control the people. A resistance group known as the Society of Man has arisen to overthrow the dictatorship. In this story, an army general is taken into custody by the ISF, but the resistance group breaks him out of a concentration camp to discover what he knows. The IFS places Major Shepherd McCloud in charge of finding the general, unaware that the Major is a double agent for the Society of Man.

Usually, ideas like this are the stuff of exploitation; I’m thinking of movies like STRANGE HOLIDAY and RED NIGHTMARE. This one tries a different tack; it’s more of an espionage thriller in which the resistance group pits itself against the law enforcers. It’s interesting, but not entirely convincing, and, as a stand-alone movie, it’s rather unsatisfying in the final analysis. But that’s the point; it isn’t really a stand-alone movie, but another pilot for an unsold TV series. I actually was a bit surprised by this discovery (not that the pilot didn’t sell, mind you, but that it was intended as a pilot), because it just didn’t seem like it was an idea that had a real chance of becoming a regular series; I think there would have been a great deal of ambivalence in people’s minds about the concept. Still, as I said, it was interesting; there are odd bits of engaging dialogue, and Gene Hackman is memorable as a priest who must decide on which side he will fight. At any rate, this is one of the odder TV-Movies out there.

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The Lord of the Rings (1978)

THE LORD OF THE RINGS (1978)
Article 3061 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-24-2009
Posting Date: 12-31-2009
Directed by Ralph Bakshi
Featuring the voices of Christopher Guard, William Squire, Michael Scholes
Country: USA
What it is: Animated version of epic fantasy

When it is revealed by Gandalf that the magic ring possessed by Frodo the hobbit is actually the one ring created by the evil lord Sauron, the hobbit must embark on a quest that will ultimately bring about the destruction of evil and the rescue of Middle-Earth.

At the time this movie was made, I would have guessed that animation would have been the only effective way to bring Tolkien’s epic story to the screen. Even at that, Ralph Bakshi would not have been my ideal choice for the project (though he was probably the best choice at the time), and I suspect that it would have worked much better as a TV mini-series than a motion picture. Still, it would have been a risky venture whatever choice was made. This version gets roughly half-way through the second volume of the trilogy, and even this was squashing too much of a story into too short a time; those who are familiar with the story will have no trouble following, but if you don’t know the story, it will end up feeling like a confusing mess, a situation only made worse by the fact that no sequel was made (though an unrelated animated version of THE RETURN OF THE KING made by Rankin/Bass would eventually manifest itself). Bakshi keeps some of his more excessive stylistic touches in check; he obvious truly loves the story. The movie is almost entirely rotoscoped, which is impressive on one level, but disappointing on another. In condensing the story, the characters are often given short shrift. Some scenes are rushed, and others go on too long. In the end, I find it more useful as a refresher of the first half of the story more than anything else.

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The Underwater City (1962)

THE UNDERWATER CITY (1962)
Article 3060 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-23-2009
Posting Date: 12-30-2009
Directed by Frank McDonald
Featuring William Lundigan, Julie Adams, Roy Roberts
Country: USA
What it is: Science Fiction of the “New Frontiers” variety

A project is undertaken to build a self-sufficient underwater city.

This is an earnest, well-intentioned slice of Heinleinian science fiction; it generally eschews melodrama in favor of the step-by-step process by which the city is developed, settled, and becomes able to fend for itself. It’s rather cheesy at times, the characters are two-dimensional, and it occasionally relies too much on devices such as narration and newspaper headlines, but after a while, the sincerity does win through. There’s an eel attack, a manta ray attack, and a battle between an octopus and an eel, but they’re all side issues (in fact, the manta ray attack is dispensed with via a newspaper headline), so you can’t really call it a monster movie. The movie was shot in color, but it was released to theaters in black and white; however, television prints were in color. My favorite scene occurs near the end, where the celebration of the city’s success is undercut by an ominous revelation.

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Track of the Moon Beast (1976)

TRACK OF THE MOON BEAST (1976)
Article 3059 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-22-2009
Posting Date: 12-29-2009
Directed by Richard Ashe
Featuring Chase Cordell, Leigh Drake, Gregorio Sala
Country: USA
What it is: Wolf Man variation of the lizard variety

A geologist is hit by a meteor from the moon. A piece of it lodges in his brain, and he turns into a murderous lizard monster on a nightly basis.

This movie sat on the shelf for four years before it found a distributor. That’s no surprise; it’s a tired variation on THE WOLF MAN, badly scripted, flatly directed and atrociously acted. The most striking thing I noticed about it is that the director must have also seen THE LEOPARD MAN; he borrows a key moment from that movie, though he doesn’t handle it near as well as it was in that one. The dialogue runs from the trite and cliched (“Why did this have to happen to you?”) to the ludicrous (“Moon Rocks? Oh, wow!”). It might be good for a laugh, but little else.

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Time After Time (1979)

TIME AFTER TIME (1979)
Article 3058 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-21-2009
Posting Date: 12-28-2009
Directed by Nicholas Meyer
Featuring Malcolm McDowell, David Warner, Mary Steenburgen
Country: USA
What it is: Time travel story with horror overtones and a comic edge

Writer H.G. Wells is appalled to discover that one of his closest friends is actually the notorious Jack the Ripper… and is doubly shocked to discover that that friend has stolen his time machine to continue his murders in the future. Fortunately, the time machine returns to its original time, and H.G. Wells uses it to go to the future and track down Jack the Ripper.

This has long been one of my favorite time travel movies. I find the premise clever, I like the juxtaposition of two historical characters thrust into modern times, and having them try to adjust to how the actual future diverges from their views of it. All three leads are excellent; both Malcolm McDowell and Mary Steenburgen are engaging, and David Warner is the perfect choice to play Jack the Ripper. The movie has a fair amount of humor, especially with Wells trying to come to terms with such modern conveniences as telephones, cars, garbage disposals, and fast-food restaurants. It has its social commentary as well; when Jack the Ripper shows Wells all the violence on TV and describes himself as an ‘amateur’, we get the point. It’s quite scary on occasion, especially when the Ripper discovers how Wells got his address. One thing I noted with this viewing; the scenes in England actually feel like they’re from movies from the late fifties or early sixties (when the original version of THE TIME MACHINE was made), and it doesn’t start feeling like a modern movie until H.G. Wells reaches the present day. In between we get the time travel sequence, which looks like the stargate sequence in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, and I couldn’t help but feel how that made a perfect bridge from the earlier movie style to the later one. My favorite moment is when H.G. Wells replaces his broken glasses.

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Supervan (1977)

SUPERVAN (1977)
Article 3057 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-20-2009
Posting Date: 12-27-2009
Directed by Lamar Card
Featuring Mark Schneider, Katie Saylor, Morgan Woodward
Country: USA
What it is: Lowbrow van worship movie with science fiction touches

A man takes a solar-powered supervan that shoots laser beams to a van “freakout”, where he hopes to win the $5000 prize.

This movie features –

1) endless CB chatter

2) nonstop songs about vans

3) a wet t-shirt contest with Charles Bukowski

4) a cop-in-an-outhouse scene

5) lots of car-wrecks

6) a sex-with-whipped-cream scene that is sent out over the airwaves

7) a van-hopping preacher’s wife

8) lots and lots of van convoys and van design footage

9) Len Lesser as a cop

10) motorcycle-driving rapists.

I think there’s also a plot in there somewhere, but I can’t be sure. Is it good? I’m not even sure it really exists. I’ll just say this much; a) it’s designed for people who think SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT was elitist and too arty, and b) it was filmed in Kansas City, Missouri, which is only four hours away, and that’s too close for comfort.

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Strange Illusion (1945)

STRANGE ILLUSION (1945)
Article 3056 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-19-2009
Posting Date: 12-26-2009
Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer
Featuring Jimmy Lydon, Warren William, Sally Eilers
Country: USA
What it is: Crime Thriller with mystic overtones

While on a fishing vacation, a teenager has a nightmare in which his family is threatened by a shadowy figure who plans to marry the boy’s widowed mother. When he returns home, he discovers that his mother has become attached to a strange man, and, bit by bit, he finds the elements of his dream coming true.

This movie is definitely more of a crime thriller than a supernatural one, but the precognitive dream does drive the action; it is the similarity of events in real life to those of his dream that pushes the boy into investigating further. This is one of Edgar G. Ulmer’s better known movies, though it is important to take note that it came from PRC, the bottom of the Poverty Row studio heap, and that means it doesn’t have the production values that would really make it fly. Still, give it its due, and it does deliver enough bang for its buck. As for the fantastic content, outside of the precognitive dream, there’s the fact that the villain is a serial killer of sorts. The dream sequence is done with enough imagination and power that you remember it throughout the movie, which is handy when aspects of it start coming true. This is another example of how well a ‘B’ movie can work with discipline and imagination.

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