Month: August 2020

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973)

THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD (1973)
Article 4871 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 7-14-2015
Directed by Gordon Hessler
Featuring John Phillip Law, Caroline Munro, Tom Baker
Country: USA
What it is: Arabian nights fantasy

Sinbad finds himself in competition with an evil black sorcerer for a wonderful treasure – a crown of untold wealth.

I know there are some who consider this the best of Ray Harryhausen’s Sinbad movies, but I still lean more towards THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD; I feel the earlier movie is more efficiently mounted, and the Ray Harryhausen creations are more memorable. However, this one does have a few advantages. I think it’s the best acted of the three movies, with Law as an effective Sinbad, several solid turns from the supporting cast, and an (especially) memorable performance by Tom Baker as the black sorcerer Koura; Baker adds several nice touches that bring his character to life, and the movie proved instrumental in him being cast in DOCTOR WHO. There are some definite highlights in Harryhausen’s animation here; my favorite moments of these include the creation and the taming of the homunculus, and the scenes involving the multi-armed statue of Kali, my favorite creation in this movie. I do find myself wondering how it would have turned out if the casting had gone differently; Christopher Lee was the front-runner for the Tom Baker role, and Robert Shaw was desperate for the role of Sinbad; the latter does an uncredited performance as the voice of the Oracle. All in all, it’s a solid entry in the series, and much better than the third one, SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER.

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Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)

GODZILLA VS MEGALON (1973)
aka Gojira tai Megaro
Article 4870 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 7-13-2015
Directed by Jun Fukuda
Featuring Katsuhiko Sasaki, Hiroyuki Kawase, Yutaka Hayashi
Country: Japan
What it is: Godzilla movie

Nuclear testing causes an underground empire to strike back to the surface people on Earth by releasing a giant monster named Megalon. He is joined by Gigan in a fight against Godzilla and a robot named Jet Jaguar.

I have a weakness for Japanese giant monster movies, so when I saw this one popping up on my hunt list, I decided to order the new version on Blu-Ray so I could see a restored, nice-looking subtitled version (rather than the shoddy dubbed panned-and-scanned VHS one that I already had). Now, one pitfall of watching an improved edition of a movie that you’ve already seen before is that it looks so much better that you’re thinking the movie itself has improved. In a few minor ways, it has; watching it in its original screen ratio is a definite plus, and some plot points that get lost in the shuffle in the English dubbed version are clarified here. Still, it remains one of Toho’s most threadbare entries in the series; the script is one of those where most of what happens happens because that’s what happens in other movies of the series, and several of the action sequences (the fight with the military, the fight with the planes, and the destruction of the city) are made up primarily of footage from other films. Take special note during the city destruction sequence that you never actually see Megalon in the city; you see the scenes of destruction and then see Megalon’s head against an undefinable background that could be anywhere. Still, the movie does feature two special effects sequences that are rather impressive; the opening sequence involving the earthquake on the lake, and the destruction of the dam (where the monster comes riding down on the rush of water) are very good. Still, as good as my new copy looks, this remains to my eye one of the weakest of the series.

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Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)

EYES OF LAURA MARS (1978)
Article 4869 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 7-12-2015
Directed by Irvin Kershner
Featuring Faye Dunaway, Tommy Lee Jones, Brad Dourif
Country: USA
What it is: American giallo

A fashion photographer who specializes in pictures that combine sex and violence discovers she has a psychic link with a serial killer who gouges his victims’ eyes out. Even worse, the targets of the killer are people in the photographer’s own inner circle…

I remember the media attention the movie received when it was first released in the late seventies, but I hadn’t thought about it for years until it popped up on my hunt list. It was only then that it occurred to me that the plot premise made it sound like an American version of the Italian “giallo” movie. As such, it is rather disappointing; though in some ways the movie is concerned with style, the direction is actually rather bland and ordinary for the most part. I do remember it being rather odd at the time that the theme song for the movie was being sung by Barbra Streisand though she didn’t appear in the movie (I gather this is the only movie where she does this in which she didn’t star). From reading the trivia section on IMDB, I discovered that she originally was intended for the title role, which eventually went to Faye Dunaway. Having seen it now, I wish Streisand had played the role; though I’m not a big Streisand fan, she would have brought a certain moxie to the role that would have made the title role a lot more interesting than it is here, and though Dunaway gives a professional performance, it’s not an inspired one and the character is rather dull. On the plus side, there’s a few good performances from Tommy Lee Jones, Brad Dourif and Rene Auberjonois, and there’s a couple of interesting plot elements; I particularly like that the movie plays up the fact that when Mars is having her psychic visions, she is blind to her own environment. However, the script is weak; there are some scenes that seem silly and forced, and I felt it became glaringly obvious who the real killer was. The script was originally written by John Carpenter, but was rewritten later without his involvement. I’m afraid this one didn’t really work for me.

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The Crazies (1973)

THE CRAZIES (1973)
aka Code Name: Trixie
Article 4868 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 7-11-2015
Directed by George A. Romero
Featuring Lane Carroll, Will MacMillan, Harold Wayne Jones
Country: USA
What it is: Nightmarish science fiction thriller

A plane crash releases a bioweapon virus into the drinking water of a small Pennsylvania town. The military places the town under martial law to try to keep the virus from spreading, but some of the citizens resist, and the situation begins to spiral out of control…

In this movie, Romero tries to capture the same magic that resulted in his classic NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, and though this movie doesn’t have anywhere as high a reputation as that one, I think he succeeds for the most part. The scenario is truly nightmarish; a virus developed by the military with no known antidote infects a town. The virus either kills its victims or drives them mad, and the desperate attempts of the military to keep it contained while keeping it a secret results in armed resistance from the citizenry, many of whom have become homicidal in the process. The story follows roughly four storylines; there’s the military staff trying to keep things under control, a couple that’s trying to escape from both the military and the infected citizenry, a scientist trying desperately to find a solution, and the political and military forces behind the scene trying to figure a way to cover up the truth and minimize the damage. With the possible exception of the people involved in the fourth of those storylines, the people involved are somewhat sympathetic and trying to do the best they can in a situation that is rapidly disintegrating, and trying to fight a battle that may have already been lost. Like NOTLD, it’s a low budget movie with a cast of unknowns, and the story is kept moving by some excellent editing. Granted, the situation isn’t quite as archetypal as that of the earlier film, and the quieter, sadder ending doesn’t have the same level of shock. Nevertheless, I was on the edge of my seat throughout this one, and I found it a worthy entry in Romero’s oeuvre.

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Dr. Tarr’s Torture Dungeon (1973)

DR. TARR’S TORTURE DUNGEON (1973)
aka The Mansion of Madness
Article 4867 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 7-10-2015
Directed by Juan Lopez Moctezuma
Featuring Claudio Brook, Arthur Hansel, Ellen Sherman
Country: Mexico
What it is: Mexican Poe adaptation

A journalist visits a French asylum in order to write an article on the advanced techniques being used there. However, things are not quite right in the asylum…

I could probably go on about how the mystery at the center of this story is a bit of a no-brainer, but I think that would imply that the director was interested in that revelation being a surprise. I don’t believe that was Moctezuma’s intent. Rather, I think he saw the story as a springboard for what really interested him, which was the bizarre dialogue, weird behavior, and surreal imagery in which the central concept allowed him to indulge, and, to be honest, Moctezuma does have a flair for these things. A DVD cover on display at IMDB has a quote that name-drops Bunuel, Fellini and Ken Russell as people whose work bears similarities to that of Moctezuma’s in this movie, though I think a more apt and more relevant comparison could be made to the works Alejandro Jodorowsky; after all, Moctezuma served as an associate producer on EL TOPO. Still, all of those other film-makers are more audacious than Moctezuma, and nothing I’ve seen of his at this point is of the level of the works of the others. Still, it has its uses. One of the odd things about this movie is its attempts at humor, an aspect I probably wouldn’t have noticed if the music on the soundtrack didn’t get goofy during those moments. I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised, since Poe’s source story (to which the movie is more or less faithful) was one of his more humorous ones, but in this movie, the humorous moments are not only out of place, but they don’t really work very well. Still, if you take into account that this is Moctezuma’s first directorial effort, it’s not all that bad.

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Count Dracula (1977)

COUNT DRACULA (1977)
Article 4866 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 7-9-2015
Directed by Philip Saville
Featuring Louis Jourdan, Frank Finlay, Susan Penhaligon
Country: UK
What it is: The classic tale retold

A vampire comes to England from Transylvania and threatens the lives and souls of two women, Can the men in their lives save them?

For those who like their adaptations of classic novels to be faithful, this TV-Movie from England is the closest they’ll get to the original Bram Stoker novel. Which is not to say that there aren’t a few differences, the most striking of which is the combination of Arthur and Quincy into a single character, and surprisingly enough the resultant character is closer to the latter (he has an American accent, though not a very convincing one). Still, I’m not quite thrilled with this version; it doesn’t quite generate the level of suspense it needs to sustain its two and a half hour length, and some scenes are awkward and silly. It is surprisingly bloody for a TV-Movie, and occasionally lapses into artiness. On the plus side, it is anchored by some excellent performances; I really like the work of Jack Shepherd as Renfield, Judi Bowker as Mina, and especially Frank Finlay and Louis Jourdan as Van Helsing and Dracula; the movie works best when these actors are allowed to shine. Overall, it’s an interesting and ambitious adaptation, but it doesn’t rank as one of my favorites.

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Spasmo (1974)

SPASMO (1974)
Article 4865 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 7-8-2015
Directed by Umberto Lenzi
Featuring Robert Hoffmann, Suzy Kendall, Ivan Rassimov
Country: Italy
What it is: Dreamlike giallo

A man hooks up with a woman, kills a stranger in her bathroom, and then tries to figure out what’s going on.

There are certain types of movies out there where, for most of their running lengths, you have one question running through your mind, and that question is “What the hell is going on?” That’s not necessarily a bad thing if what’s happening on a moment by moment basis is fascinating enough to keep you glued to the screen. Unfortunately, I don’t find that the case here; most of the action consists of giallo and mystery cliches, driving scenes, people wondering what’s going on, and conversations that seem to be mostly made up of people mouthing half-completed vague generalities. To me, this doesn’t build suspense; it just makes me itchy for the movie to get around to the point where it actually shows us the hand its playing. And, after seventy minutes of futzing around in vagueness, all I can say is that there better be one humdinger of a revelation to make it feel worth the effort. Sadly, I found no humdingers. As for the giallo elements, it’s surprisingly light on blood, but there’s a fair amount of sexual perversion to go around. Some people will probably like this one for its dream-like qualities; I myself have seen better dreams.

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Carrie (1976)

CARRIE (1976)
Article 4864 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 7-7-2015
Directed by Brian De Palma
Featuring Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving
Country: USA
What it is: Stephen King adaptation

A young, timid girl (whose mother is a mentally unstable Christian fanatic) becomes the target of cruel teasing by her fellow classmates, the latter of which are punished by detention. Several of them plot a horrible revenge, but are unaware that the girl has developed telekinetic powers…

I blow a bit hot and cold on De Palma, because sometimes I find his stylistic excesses and obsessions to be more annoying than exhilarating. However, this is one of his triumphs. He wisely keeps the stylistic flourishes under control for the first half of the movie so the viewer can absorb the superb performance from Sissy Spacek as the title character; she brings so much life and humanity to Carrie that we end up caring about her immensely. The stylistic flourishes only come into play when they enhance the story and add to the atmosphere; they feel natural and organic here. Piper Laurie is also very memorable as the insane mother, and Amy Irving does a find job of playing up the ambiguity of whether she’s involved in the revenge or not. The movie proved to be a big boost to the careers of De Palma as well as Stephen King, who would soon emerge as one of the most popular horror writers of all time. And even if I’m not really fond of the final little shock moment (it seems a little forced to me), I will admit that it is exquisitely timed.

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Amityville II: The Possession (1982)

AMITYVILLE II: THE POSSESSION (1982)
Article 4863 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 7-6-2015
Directed by Damiano Damiani
Featuring James Olson, Burt Young, Rutanya Alda
Country: Mexico / USA / Italy
What it is: Evil house refurbishment

A dysfunctional family moves into a house where there is a great evil.

This prequel to THE AMITYVILLE HORROR falls roughly into two parts. The first part mostly just regurgitates the elements of the first movie (including the regurgitating clergyman) with a few other elements added to the mix (an abusive family dynamic and an incest subplot) and then takes the step the previous movie only threatened to take. The second half mostly uses THE EXORCIST as its model, though I can’t say it does so with a great deal of intelligence. The end result is a movie that feels doubly derivative, sometimes silly, and even a bit desperate at times; there are moments where it feels like it’s just throwing out whatever it can to make itself scary. At its best, the movie is merely okay; at its worst, it’s positively dim-witted, especially when the priest decides to break the possessed boy out of prison. I’m afraid I wasn’t very impressed with this one.

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Zero for Conduct (1933)

ZERO FOR CONDUCT (1933)
aka Zero de conduite: Jeunes diables au college
Article 4862 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 7-4-2015
Directed by Jean Vigo
Featuring Jean Doste, Robert le Flon, Louis Lefebvre
Country: France
What it is: Surreal school rebellion

Several students stage a rebellion at their dictatorial boarding school.

I don’t know if I’m going to end up covering the whole oeuvre of Jean Vigo, but I’ve covered half of his output in the last week. He was the son of an anarchist who had a troubled childhood and suffered from ill health his whole life; he died at the age of 29 having made only four movies. His style was clearly ahead of his time, and his work was initially banned in France; it didn’t get much distribution until after WWII. This is a strange movie, full of surreal imagery that occasionally slips over into the realm of the fantastic (a disappearing ball and a drawing that comes to life are its most notable manifestations). The strange textures he created with water in the Jean Tarin film are here recreated with the use of pillow feathers near the end of the movie. I can’t quite evaluate it at this point; it’s one of those movies that may require several viewings to fully appreciate, but it is clearly innovative and proved quite influential.

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