Month: July 2019

Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment (1954)

DR. HEIDEGGER’S EXPERIMENT (1954)
Article 3618 by Dave Sindelar

Viewing Date: 6-26-2011

Posting Date: 7-11-2011

Directed by Nathan Zucker

Featuring Monty Woolley, Anne Burr, Leon Janney

Country: USA

What it is: TV adaptation of Hawthorne story

A doctor invites three elderly friends to take part in an experiment involving an elixir of youth.

Here’s another episode from “On Stage with Monty Woolley”. I’ve not read the original Hawthorne story, and am only familiar with it through the adaptation of it in TWICE-TOLD TALES. This version and that one depart radically from each other, so I suspect that this one, a simple lesson on the illusion of youth, is probably much closer to the original work. There’s some simple special effects involving the regeneration of the rose, and I couldn’t help but notice that when the three subjects regain their youth, we only see them in that state as reflections in a mirror; this is a very nice touch. Once again, it’s a bare-bones treatment, but it has a certain elegance to it.

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The Cask of Amontillado (1954)

THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO (1954)
Article 3617 by Dave Sindelar

Viewing Date: 6-25-2011

Posting Date: 7-10-2011

Directed by Nathan Zucker

Featuring Monty Woolley, Shepperd Strudwick, Caren Preiss

Country: USA

What it is: TV adaptation of Poe story

A man hatches a plot do take vengeance on a rival during Mardi Gras.

This came on to my list as a movie, but I’m not sure it was ever released as such. It was an episode of an obscure TV show called “On Stage with Monty Woolley”, and it runs just about twelve minutes long. You know it’s a bare bones treatment when you don’t see any of the bricks or mortar for the final sequence of the story; it does this more through lighting, sound effects and suggestion. Monty Woolley is obviously having the time of his life as Montresor, and even though it feels a bit stagebound, it’s done with a certain creativity and efficiency. This one is rescued from my “Ones that got away” list, though I notice there’s still no listing on IMDB for it, neither the TV series or this specific episode.

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The Big Broadcast of 1938 (1938)

THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1938 (1938)
Article 3616 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-24-2011
Posting Date: 7-9-2011
Directed by Mitchell Leisen
Featuring W.C. Fields, Martha Raye, Dorothy Lamour
Country: USA
What it is: Musical comedy revue

A ship called the S.S. Gigantic has a new-fangled electrical engine. It is in a race from New York to Cherbourg against another ship called the S.S. Colossal.

The electrical apparatus aboard the Gigantic is the science fiction content to this movie, but given the musical-comedy nature of the movie, this content (and the plot) are of minimal importance. W.C. Fields gets top billing here, and he’s fine, though this is far from his best effort; he mostly sticks to very familiar shtick. The most significant role next to Fields’s is Bob Hope’s, but, as this was only his first feature-length film, he only gets sixth billing. Except for a short war-time documentary, this would be the only time these two comedy giants would work together, but anyone hoping to see how these two would interact will be disappointed; I only noticed them together in one scene, and that’s a crowd scene that gives them no real opportunity to even acknowledge each other’s existence. Bob Hope does fine, however, as does Martha Raye as Fields’s accident-prone daughter. The only other really familiar name is that of Dorothy Lamour, who here plays Hope’s girlfriend who ends up falling for the inventor of the electric apparatus. It’s a bit of fluff overall, and, of the musical numbers, my favorite features some animation of a “ripple”; I’m not sure who is responsible for this bit, but this sequence was produced by Leon Schlesinger.

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The Twilight People (1973)

THE TWILIGHT PEOPLE (1973)
Article 3615 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-23-2011
Posting Date: 7-8-2011
Directed by Eddie Romero
Featuring John Ashley, Pat Woodell, Jan Merlin
Country: Philippines / USA
What it is: Filipino horror

An adventurer is kidnapped and taken to an isolated island where a scientist is performing strange experiments… and he is the next subject.

The Philippines would actually be a decent place to shoot a version of “The Island of Dr. Moreau”, if you think about it. For that matter, it would also be a good place to shoot a remake of THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME. However, a movie that mixes the two ideas and is shot in the Philippines by the same people who gave us the “Blood Island” movies isn’t necessarily going to turn out to be a good movie (and it isn’t), but it’s a moderately entertaining one. My version of the movie clocks in at eighty minutes, and IMDB lists the time as 84 minutes, so I wonder if there’s a few minutes missing here. If so, it might be that some of my major problems with the movie may be in the missing footage. There’s never an adequate explanation of just what the scientist is doing altogether, though the fact that he’s having humans kidnapped rather than animals does indicate that it’s doing something of a reverse on the Moreau story (and that is clearly confirmed in the final moments); still, that doesn’t explain the disembodied brains. The final confrontation between the John Ashley and Jan Merlin characters is a huge question mark; is the answer in the missing four minutes? or, did they just forget to resolve the situation? or is there some psychological nuance that I’m missing? On a more basic level, the man/animals here are just not as scary as the ones in ISLAND OF LOST SOULS, and all the bloodshed in the world (and there’s plenty in this movie) can’t fix this problem. The scenes of the Bat Man flying around are actually a little better than I thought they would be, though. And if anyone can figure out just what type of animal that one woman is supposed to be (the one known as Angel with the halo), they’re welcome to explain it to me.

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Time Warp (1981)

TIME WARP (1981)
TV-Movie

Article 3614 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-22-2011
Posting Date: 7-7-2011
Directed by Robert Emenegger and Allan Sandler
Featuring Chip Johnson, Adam West, Gretchen Corbett
Country: USA
What it is: Science fiction comedy

An astronaut is sent out to investigate reports of a black hole. However, the military Colonel who sent him out on the mission is infatuated with the astronaut’s wife, and he rigs the mission so the astronaut won’t come back alive. However, the astronaut does manage to come back to earth, but only after going through a time warp that puts him a year into the future… and renders him invisible and unable to be heard by all around him.

I went into this one expecting the worst, and was quite surprised to discover that it was a comedy; the DVD that has the movie makes no mention of this. Amazingly enough, its being a comedy may be its biggest saving grace. This is not to say that it’s a good comedy; it isn’t, and it is mostly very awkward. However, every once in a while there’s a clever or funny idea that cuts through the awkwardness; for example, I like the idea that he can only communicate with those around him with the help of animals. Still, these are only small touches and passing moments, but I suspect that as a drama this would have been just consistently dull, and, as it is, there are a few decent moments at least. Nevertheless, I can’t recommend this one.

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The Projectionist (1971)

THE PROJECTIONIST (1971)
Article 3613 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-21-2011
Posting Date: 7-6-2011
Directed by Harry Hurwitz
Featuring Chuck McCann, Ina Balin, Rodney Dangerfield
Country: USA
What it is: Odd art film with fantasy overtones

A projectionist imagines himself as a superhero named Captain Flash as he goes through his daily activities.

In a sense, there’s no way to adequately describe this mixture of slapstick comedy, bittersweet slice-of-life, and cutting satire. In fact, I might even argue that it doesn’t work as a whole; the satire in particular seems out of place with the rest of the movie. Yet, I found myself loving this odd little film, maybe because the main character (and the movie itself) has such an endearing love for old movies that I find myself entranced by it. There’s a massive amount of footage from the classics in here, some of which our projectionist hero interacts with; just as a sampling, there a scenes from CASABLANCA, GUNGA DIN, FLASH GORDON, the Charlie Chaplin short HIS PREHISTORIC PAST, and EARTH VS THE FLYING SAUCERS. There’s a couple of fake movie trailers for THE TERRIBLE WORLD OF TOMORROW and THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF TOMORROW, and the movie opens with GERALD MCBOING-BOING’S SYMPHONY breaking in the projector. The projectionist himself is such a likable guy that we even forgive him the fact that his story about his encounter with a beautiful woman is a lie; even though this footage works in a much more realistic mode than the super-hero footage, it too is in black and white. Rodney Dangerfield fans will probably be disappointed; he plays a straight role as the dictatorial theater manager, and though he also appears as the villain in the super-hero sequences, it’s a far cry from his usual shtick. The movie eventually turns in on itself, but anyone who notices the movie that is listed on the marquee when the projectionist leaves the theater will see that coming. The movie is certainly not for everybody, but I suspect that you won’t have to watch much of it before you know whether it’s for you or not.

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The Driller Killer (1979)

THE DRILLER KILLER (1979)
Article 3612 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-20-2011
Posting Date: 7-5-2011
Directed by Abel Ferrara
Featuring Abel Ferrara, Carolyn Marz, Baybi Day
Country: USA
What it is: Serial killer with a power tool

A disturbed artist, driven over the edge by the events in his life, begins roaming the streets and killing derelicts with a power drill.

Though the movie isn’t very good, it’s better than it could have been. I think it’s because director Abel Ferrara (who also plays the killer) has a good feel for the seedy, gritty, sleazy atmosphere that serves as a backdrop for the story. It’s easy to see how someone living in this sordid and ugly atmosphere would flip out, especially when a punk band moves into the apartment next door and begins practicing at all hours of the night. The problem is that once the killing begins, the movie begins spinning its wheels, and once it starts moving again, it’s in the most obvious of directions. Furthermore, there are some moments that misfire, though the one that most comes to mind may or may not be intentional; if the director was trying for laughs with the killer’s obsession with a Port-a-Pak, he succeeded, but I don’t really think that was his intention. The punk atmosphere feels pretty authentic, and it’s interesting to see a movie of this sort that seems primarily influenced by TAXI DRIVER rather than the usual type of serial killer story. It’s nasty, definitely not for everyone, but not worthless.

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The Devil Rides Out (1968)

THE DEVIL RIDES OUT (1968)
aka The Devil’s Bride

Article 3611 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-19-2011
Posting Date: 7-4-2011
Directed by Terence Fisher
Featuring Christopher Lee, Charles Gray, Nike Arrighi
Country: UK
What it is: Devil worship movie

A reunion between three old friends takes a dark turn when it is discovered that one of them has taken up with a coven of devil worshipers, and the other two must find a way to save his soul before it is too late.

I’m not quite sure if I consider this my favorite of the Hammer horrors (THE NANNY and a few featuring a character named Quatermass are also in the running), but it’s easily in the top five. It’s not that I don’t see its flaws; the script is a little uneven, the special effects aren’t always up to the challenge, and the ending smacks of deus ex machina, for example. It’s just that its strengths really appeal to me. It’s great to see Christopher Lee as the good guy for once, Charles Gray gives one of the best performances as a master of the black arts since Niall Macginnis in CURSE OF THE DEMON, and there’s something about the way the whole movie plays out through its twists and turns that just sucks me into it. Furthermore, this is one of those rare movies where the existence of skeptical side characters really does the job of creating an environment of audience identification; through them, I really get a sense of being drawn into a situation that I can barely comprehend. There’s a strong and effective emphasis on eyes in this one; the piercing stare of Charles Gray and the weird (possibly crossed) eyes of the countess come to mind. At any rate, I find this one really gripping, so much so that that I even accept the deus ex machina ending, which at least plays itself out in a rather offbeat fashion. This is one I always enjoy.

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Day of the Animals (1977)

DAY OF THE ANIMALS (1977)
Article 3610 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-18-2011
Posting Date: 7-3-2011
Directed by William Girdler
Featuring Christopher George, Leslie Nielsen, Lynda Day George
Country: USA
What it is: Nature runs amok

A group of vacationers takes a hike in the mountains, unaware of the fact that the depleted ozone layer has started to make the animals act hostile.

Director William Girdler had previously given us the JAWS-ripoff GRIZZLY; here he returns once again to the killer animals theme, this time widening the range somewhat to include birds, bears, wolves, dogs, snakes, rats, etc. It doesn’t seem to be borrowing from any one movie in particular; there’s a bit of FROGS, a bit of THE BIRDS, a bit of WILLARD. If anything, it owes more of its structure to the Disaster Movie genre. The movie is fairly predictable and seems to be written to order, but I will give it a little credit for at least venturing into the possibility that the same madness that infected the animals might also infect the humans, but it really doesn’t go far with the idea, nor does it ever really ask why the animals don’t become more vicious to each other rather than just to humans. The ending has the air of the movie trying to have it both ways. All in all, it’s uninspired but mildly entertaining.

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Koko Kills Time (1927)

KOKO KILLS TIME (1927)
aka Koko in 1999

Article 3609 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-17-2011
Posting Date: 7-2-2011
Directed by Dave Fleischer
Cast unknown
Country: USA
What it is: “Out of the Inkwell” cartoon

Koko is chased into the future by an irate Father Time. There he has to cope with advanced technology.

Koko the Clown was a regular character in the “Out of the Inkwell” series by Dave Fleischer; they combined animation with live action, usually with a scenario in which the animated character (Koko) has to match wits with his animator. I wonder if Warner Brothers’ classic cartoon DUCK AMUCK owes anything to this concept. This isn’t the best I’ve seen of the series, but it’s amusing enough; Koko mostly has to contend with the “helping hands” in a barber shop, and then, thanks to his putting money in a device supposed to make predictions for his love life, he finds himself suddenly married with two children. The high point is probably at the beginning; the series always had some fun with the initial drawing of Koko, and this one is no exception. It’s an interesting excursion to the days of silent animation.

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