THE LOVE WAR (1970)
TV-Movie
Article 2586 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-4-2008
Posting Date: 9-11-2008
Directed by George McCowan
Featuring Lloyd Bridges, Angie Dickinson, Harry Basch
Country: USA

Two alien races vie for possession of the Earth by sending down three agents each to play a deadly cat-and-mouse game to destroy each other; the winning team’s race gets possession of the Earth. One of the aliens on Earth meets and falls in love with an Earth woman.

Based on its 7.2 rating on IMDB, it’s obvious that that this TV-Movie had a great impact on a number of people in its time; most of the user comments are from people who remember it from many years ago but haven’t seen it since. Perhaps I might have felt that way seeing it back then. Watching it now, though, I mostly feel it’s a good premise poorly handled; the script is overly talky and never makes the premise convincing, the direction is uninspired, dreary and lacking in suspense and, though the fate of the Earth is at stake, I never really get the sense that what is happening is all that important. It does have a good twist in the last twenty minutes, but it leads to a downer ending that just makes it all seem drearier. What I found the least convincing is that the humans in the movie don’t seem to notice that we have people running around with loudly beeping trackers and zapping each other with loud ray guns; you’d think this sort of thing would catch someone’s attention. And one clever idea (that the aliens can spot each other by wearing special glasses to see their real selves) starts out well, but eventually becomes tiresome as we, the viewers, aren’t allowed to see through them until the very end of the movie, and the revelation at that point is thoroughly disappointing. This might work better for someone who has a strong affection for TV-Movies in general, but I’m not one of them.

LOOK WHAT’S HAPPENED TO ROSEMARY’S BABY (1976)
TV-Movie
Article 2585 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-3-2008
Posting Date: 9-10-2008
Directed by Sam O’Steen
Featuring Stephen McHattie, Patty Duke, Broderick Crawford
Country: USA

Rosemary’s Baby (Andrew/Adrian) has a split personality. The devil worshipers dispose of Rosemary and attempt to make the child live up to their expectations. Complications arise.

Just knowing that this sequel to the classic horror movie was a TV-Movie was enough to really put me on my guard. To its credit, it doesn’t go in the direction I thought it would; given the popularity of THE OMEN earlier in the year, I thought it would merely be a TV-Movie rip-off of that one masquerading as a sequel to the Polanski film (though, truth be told, I suspect that it was the popularity of THE OMEN that drove this one being made at all). Having now seen it, I find myself almost wishing it WOULD have gone that way; instead, it takes us on a confusing, frustrating, and thoroughly unsatisfying ride. The subtlety and focus of the original movie is gone; instead, we have obvious scares combined with muddled plotting. There are moments here where the touches are simply laughable; in particular, the birthday cake with the candles shaped in the form of a pentagram struck me as utterly ludicrous. Of the original cast, only Ruth Gordon returns in her role of Minnie Castavet, but the character that worked so wonderfully in the original is painfully out of place in this mess; it’s no wonder she’s given very little to do. The biggest problem in the movie is the character of Adrian/Andrew; for a character with a dual personality, it’s a shame you don’t get even one well-developed character at all. On a side note, this is the second movie in a row in a which a character is named Peter in clear reference to the apostle of the same name (in this movie, he’s called Peter Simon, which is just that much more blatant). In the final analysis, the movie goes nowhere; it ends where it begins, and the only thing it does is dispose of a couple of characters from the original movie. Also, third-billed Broderick Crawford has about a minute of screen time. The cast also includes Tina Louise, Donna Mills, and in the Sidney Blackmer role, Ray Milland.

THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE (1979)
Article 2584 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-2-2008
Posting Date: 9-9-2008
Directed by Bill Melendez
Featuring the voices of Simon Adams, Don Parker, Beth Porter
Country:UK/USA

Four children find that the wardrobe in a spare room is a gate to the world of Narnia. There they help the lion Aslan do battle with the evil white witch.

Given the speculations on the Book or Revelation in yesterday’s THE LATE GREAT PLANET EARTH and the religious allegory of this movie, it looks like I’m on a bit of Christian kick here. Personally, I prefer my religion this way, as an allegorical fantasy that works quite well whether or not you want to work out the symbolism (though, if you do, it does add another level to the enjoyment of the story). The books that make up C.S. Lewis’s “The Chronicles of Narnia” are recognized fantasy classics, but, alas, outside of having had this book read to me in grade school, I must admit that I haven’t read the series (though a recent purchase of the series should amend that with time). Still, from all reports, this is faithful adaptation of the first novel, and it seems quite respectful; I’m really glad the film-makers resisted the impulse to add cute, treacly songs to the mix. The animation isn’t flashy, but it does manage effective stylistic touches on occasion. The voice acting is uneven (and it appears that different voices were used for the UK release of the movie), but my only real complaint is that the witch does way too much yelling. Still, it’s the story here that matters, and the story is quite enjoyable. The movie is particularly effective in the scenes where the faun makes his attempt to turn the young girl he has found over to the witch, and the scenes that serve as the allegorical equivalent of the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ; you’ll know when you reach these scenes.

THE LATE GREAT PLANET EARTH (1979)
Article 2583 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-1-2008
Posting Date: 9-8-2008
Directed by Robert Amram and Rolf Forsberg
Featuring Orson Welles, Babetta, Emile Benoit
Country: USA

Orson Welles takes us upon a speculative tour of recent events and how they may fit into the biblical prophecies of Armageddon.

This movie actually opens entertainingly enough with a false prophet being chased up Vasquez Rocks and then being stoned. Exactly what this has to do with the rest of the movie, I’m not sure, but I suppose it does illustrate the hazards of trying to predict the future. The movie then engages in about twenty minutes of reenactments of the lives of the prophets before getting down to its real footage; snippets of interviews and lots (and I mean LOTS) of stock footage. It’s all tied together by Orson Welles asking us every few minutes if the events we see in the stock footage might be proof of biblical prophecies come true. Still, whether you buy the premise or not, the movie does give us a good look at the things that were on people’s minds in the late seventies, and though some of the concerns raised are still relevant (terrorists getting hold of nuclear weapons, for instance), others are quite dated (the fearful rise of Transcendental Meditation, for example). Some of it is scary to think about regardless of its status as a sign of Armageddon. But if you love to see stock footage, this is the movie for you. Still, one image sticks in my mind; amid all the stock footage of marching soldiers, atomic bomb explosions, erupting volcanoes, starving people and time-lapse flower photography, there’s about one-half second of none other than Ignatz the Slurpasaur, and, at this moment, any chance of this movie really scaring me went down the tubes. If I ever watch it again, it will probably be to spot Ignatz.

THE LAST MOVIE (1971)
Article 2578 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-26-2008
Posting Date: 9-3-2008
Directed by Dennis Hopper
Featuring Dennis Hopper, Stella Garcia, Julie Adams
Country: USA

A stuntman stays in Peru after working on a western being filmed there. He then finds himself caught up in the villagers of the area reenacting the shooting of the movie, though they lack the understanding of film illusion, resulting in the use of real violence in place of movie violence.

After the success of EASY RIDER, actor Dennis Hopper decided to make this his next venture into directing. There’s some definite promise in the basic premise of the movie, and individual scenes here and there aren’t bad, but, as a whole, it’s a confusing mess. According to another plot description I found for the movie, an actor dies while the real movie is being shot, but it says something about the incoherence of this movie that I was unable to pick that fact out of the mix. I’m sure some people will be able to find meaning in the jumble and will be fascinated by the movie, but I suspect it isn’t really worth the effort. As for the fantastic content…well, it may be another case of when a movie gets weird enough, it turns into something of a fantasy, and it gets in on strangeness alone. There’s lots of familiar names in the cast, though; Dennis Hopper, Julie Adams, Roy Engel, Samuel Fuller (playing himself), Sylvia Miles, Toni Basil, Rod Cameron, Peter Fonda, Henry Jaglom, Kris Kristofferson, John Philip Law, Russ Tamblyn, James Mitchum, and Peter Fonda all appear, though most of the familiar names appear only as people appearing in the movie western during the beginning of the movie. The title card flashes up a good half hour into the movie. If it feels something like EL TOPO, it may be of interest to know that Alejandro Jodorowsky was a consulting editor.

THE LEGEND OF HILLBILLY JOHN (1974)
Article 2415 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 11-6-2007
Posting Date: 3-23-2008
Directed by John Newland
Featuring Hedges Capers, Denver Pyle, Susan Strasberg

A ballad singer from Appalachia becomes a defier; he battles evil with the help of his silver-stringed guitar.

This unusual and interesting fantasy is based on stories by Manly Wade Wellman, and to some extent, the movie feels a bit like an anthology with the same basic setting and several repeating characters. There’s something truly engaging about the concept, the setting, and the characters, with Denver Pyle and Severn Darden both quite memorable as the grandfather and the mysterious dowser who help the main character. I just wish it was better; the movie is quite confusing at times, especially in the early scenes, and Hedges Capers (as the title character) seems a little too seventies-leading-mannish to really make his character feel authentic. The music is a mixed bag; on a song by song basis, the music works best in proportion to how close it sounds to real folk ballad music and to how far it sounds from seventies singer-songwriter fare. The song that plays over the credits comes off best. The special effects are low-budget, but have a real charm, especially the “ugly bird”. If anything, it makes me want to seek out the Wellman stories and check them out myself; I sense a really great movie could be made from them, and could succeed where this one (a noble effort nonetheless) falls short.

THE LOST MOMENT (1947)
Article 2408 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-30-2007
Posting Date: 3-16-2008
Directed by Martin Gabel
Featuring Robert Cummings, Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead

A publisher discovers that a certain house in Venice contains several love letters by a famous poet, and, in hopes of getting his hands on them, he disguises himself as a writer so he can move into the house. He discovers some haunting and bizarre secrets about the ancient matriarch that owns the house, and her niece.

This movie is based on a novel by Henry James, who also wrote “The Turn of the Screw”, the famous horror story that served as the basis for THE INNOCENTS . This one is not a horror story, but there are some surprising horror elements to it; the daughter has a truly strange split personality, in that she ends up believing that she is her aunt at a much younger age when she was romancing the poet in question. Combine that with a spooky old house, and you actually have enough eeriness here to make the movie less marginal than it might seem. In fact, I found it reminiscent of HOUSE OF USHER , with the ancient Matriarch of this movie (Agnes Moorehead) somewhat similar to the Roderick Usher character in that movie. The movie’s biggest problem is that it is rather talky, and it requires a certain amount of patience to sit through. Those who do manage, though, may find themselves engrossed by the very interesting story, and it does bear some resemblance to “The Turn of the Screw”, in that madness and obsession with the past both play major roles in the story. The movie also features Eduardo Ciannelli in one of the more sympathetic roles I’ve seen him in.

LAST BRIDE OF SALEM (1974)
Episode of “The ABC Afternoon Playbreak”
Article 2391 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-13-2007
Posting Date: 2-28-2008
Directed by Tom Donovan
Featuring Bradford Dillman, Lois Nettleton, Joni Beck

A family moves to Salem Village and hears an eerie tale about witches that sacrifice the descendants of an enemy to gain immortality. The wife of the family begins to suspect that they may be targeted for sacrifice.

On the plus side, the story manages to muster up a bit of atmosphere, and it manages to keep from going on too long. On the minus side, the story is quite predictable, right down to the final twist. I also don’t care for Lois Nettleton’s performance as the wife; though she’s a decent actress in general, she’s too perky and given to florid hand gestures which tend to distract from the reality of the moment. On the trivia side, the fact that some of the characters are named Whately makes me hearken back to Lovecraft’s “The Dunwich Horror”, and the movie features an early role by John Candy, though he really isn’t given anything more to do than to fill in the tableau. On the personal side, my copy is rather muddy-looking, and this further takes away from my viewing enjoyment. To me, it adds up to a mixed bag.

LIZZIE (1957)
Article 2341 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-23-2007
Posting Date: 1-9-2008
Directed by Hugo Haas
Featuring Eleanor Parker, Richard Boone, Joan Blondell

A troubled young woman is receiving threatening notes from a woman named Lizzie. What she doesn’t know is that Lizzie is actually one of three personalities that she has. She sees a psychiatrist for help.

Having seen SYBIL just a short while ago, I was bound to find this exploration into multiple personalities (based on a Shirley Jackson novel) rather simplistic. It’s also dismissed as campy by some viewers, and I can see certain reasons why; I found both Joan Blondell (as Elizabeth’s/Beth’s/Lizzie’s drunken aunt) and Eleanor Parker (in her Lizzie incarnation) to be rather over the top. Nevertheless, I quite like the movie; it makes a real attempt to be realistic and insightful, it avoids some of the pitfalls that plague other movies about psychiatry, and we grow to care about many of the characters. Richard Boone is excellent (and definitely non-campy) as the psychiatrist. The use of hypnotism here is fairly realistic, and I give the movie credit for never mistakenly using the word “schizophrenia” to describe Elizabeth’s condition and for also eschewing a romantic relationship between Elizabeth and the psychiatrist. It’s only marginally fantastic, with Elizabeth’s madness and the presence of hypnotism being common horror elements, though they are not used for horror here at all. This movie was actually released previous to the similarly-themed THE THREE FACES OF EVE, though in the same year.

THE LOST WORLD OF SINBAD (1963)
aka Dai tozoku
Article 2336 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-18-2007
Posting Date: 1-4-2008
Directed by Senkichi Taniguchi
Featuring Toshiro Mifune, Tadao Nakamaru, Mie Hama

Sinbad does battle with an evil premier who is planning to poison the king and marry the princess himself. Sinbad enlists the help of a gang of bandits and a cursed magician to help him. He must face the palace guard, a pirate, and an evil witch as his foes.

All right, it isn’t really Sinbad; in reality, it’s a character named Luzon which got changed to the more familiar Sinbad for American audiences. And he doesn’t visit any “lost world”, either; don’t strain your eyes looking for dinosaurs and prehistoric monsters. Still, even if it isn’t technically a Sinbad movie, the plot is certainly familiar enough to those familiar with Arabian Nights cinema, what with an evil premier conniving to get the princess for his own. The biggest plus is the presence of Toshiro Mifune in the title role; he’s such a charismatic actor that he still manages to entertain tremendously in one of his lesser roles. The witch (played by a man) is incredibly ugly and desperately needs a good orthodontist; she’s the closest thing to a monster here. The special effects are variable; some are good, and some are not so good. The fight scenes are very exciting, though, and the movie delivers a satisfying amount of spectacle. If you can get past the weak dubbing, you might find this one quite enjoyable.