SQUIRM (1976)
Article #1286 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-21-2004
Posting Date: 2-18-2005
Directed by Jeff Lieberman
Featuring Don Scardino, Patricia Pearcy, R.A. Dow

A furious thunderstorm causes the destruction of several power lines, sending thousands of volts of electricity into the ground. As a result, carnivorous worms are drawn out of the ground and began attacking the local populace.

I’ve heard good things about the small handful of films directed by Jeff Lieberman, but to date, this variation on the nature-gone-wild theme is the only one I’ve seen. It does make me look forward to his other movies, though. It has some faults; the special effects are somewhat variable and the movie really strains credibility at times (there are two characters who seem incredibly lucky, and a third whose resilience seems downright supernatural). But what the movie does right, it does superbly. The characters are given an infectious (and sometimes eccentric) charm that really draws you into their stories; even the human villain has his likable points. The movie also knows how to get under your skin in subtle ways; you get put on edge just watching characters eat at certain points (string licorice and spaghetti, to be precise). The movie also has a real sense of wit to it. Ultimately, the movie remains enjoyable and unique. And I love the final twist, as it deals with the unexpected fate of my favorite character; to say more would be to say too much.

SOUND OF HORROR (1964)
(a.k.a. EL SONIDO PREHISTORICO)
Article #1285 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-20-2004
Posting Date: 2-17-2005
Directed by Jose Antonio Nieves Conde
Featuring James Philbrook, Arturo Fernandez, Soledad Miranda

In the quest for treasures from ancient Greece, fortune seekers accidentally revive an invisible prehistoric creature.

I feel somewhat ambivalent about this movie. I admire that it works as well as it does, given what appears to have been a very small budget indeed. It does manage to raise a chill from time to time, the ‘sound of horror’ made by the monster is scary enough, and I actually find the characters somewhat likable. Unfortunately, the script is very uneven; once the monster manifests itself, there are way too many conversations about the treasure, an aspect of the movie that only really serves as a McGuffin; in fact, a whole conversation about the nature of the treasure should have gone at the beginning of the movie rather than half-way through. Also, the movie constantly reminds me of FIEND WITHOUT A FACE, and it suffers by comparison; both movies feature people trapped in a house threatened by an invisible monster (or monsters), but in that movie, when the monsters appeared, they were even more grotesque than expected (here the monster merely looks cheap), and the sound they made was much scarier than the sound of this monster. Still, I think it’s better to compare this one to another low-budget movie; namely, THE KILLER SHREWS, because, like that one, I think this movie manages to be quite scary despite the obvious flaws. And I don’t doubt that the presence of Ingrid Pitt also serves as a plus in the movie’s favor.

THE SNAKE PEOPLE (1971)
(a.k.a. ISLE OF THE SNAKE PEOPLE)
Article #1284 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-19-2004
Posting Date: 2-16-2005
Directed by Jack Hill and Juan Ibanez
Featuring Boris Karloff, Julissa, Carlos East

A new Captain of the Police arrives on an island and tries to put an end to the voodoo rituals of the natives.

This is one of the four Mexican movies that Boris Karloff did shortly before his death. They have a very poor reputation, but even though I wouldn’t say any of them were good, I don’t think they’re totally worthless. This one actually starts out quite well, with an intriguing opening sequence (though animal lovers may want to steer clear; I think they killed a real chicken for this) and a good exposition sequence to introduce the characters. However, the movie falls into a muddle after this; ideas are introduced and dropped, some scenes exist purely for exploitational purposes (neither the cannibalism subplot nor the lesbian dream sequence are necessary), and as the movie progresses, it becomes clear that a coherent script was never really crafted for this one. The most interesting thing I can find about this one is Karloff’s performance; it isn’t one of his best, but he does give it his all, and despite the fact that he was on his last legs healthwise, it doesn’t show in his performance. Still, this one is for Karloff completists only.

SHE GODS OF SHARK REEF (1958)
Article #1283 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-18-2004
Posting Date: 2-15-2005
Directed by Roger Corman
Featuring Bill Cord, Don Durant, Lisa Montell

Two brothers, one good, one evil, are stranded on a desert island inhabitied only by a tribe of pearl-hunting women who worship a shark god.

Some thoughts on SHE GODS OF SHARK REEF.

1) Roger Corman shot this one in color on location in Hawaii. He considers it one of his best-looking movies, and even given the faded copy of my print, I’m inclined to agree, if for no other reason than that Hawaii sure is pretty.

2) Let’s tackle the fantastic aspects of the movie. The island of pretty girls puts it into the realm of marginal fantasy. The sharks put it in the realm of marginal horror. That’s about it.

3) Now for the title. The natives don’t worship a “she”, they worship a shark. Still, SHARK GODS OF SHARK REEF is redundant and clumsy, and I suppose calling it GOOFUS AND GALLANT IN PARADISE was out. Then again, maybe the shark was a female. Never mind. Hawaii sure is pretty.

4) The story? Inconsequential. Hawaii sure is pretty.

5) I received a book of film flubs once as a gift, and after looking it over, I decided I really wasn’t a fan of enjoying a film on that level. Most of the flubs listed were ones you might only notice if you were looking for them, and the thought of watching a movie solely to see if you could spot a boom mike or jumping back and forth between scenes to spot continuity errors isn’t all that enlightenining (my weakness is logic errors). However, when a film flub jumps out at you as unexpectedly as the one in the scene where the brothers tie up the old lady, it bears mentioning. Therefore, I’ll mention it; there’s a film flub in that scene. Find it yourself. Hawaii sure is pretty.

6) Uhhh… Hawaii sure is pretty.

7) Other movies I’d like to see – SHEMP GODS OF STOOGE REEF and SHOE GODS FOR SHARP FEET.

8) I can’t help but notice that the architecture for this tribe of primitive women is singularly sophisticated. Maybe they were inspired by how pretty Hawaii is.

9). Hawaii sure is pretty.

10) Ever watch one of those movies where one aspect of the production completely overwhelms the others? And did you ever notice that in some of these productions, the other aspects really aren’t doing much fighting to get noticed on their own? In short – Hawaii sure is pretty.

SHE DEMONS (1958)
Article #1282 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-17-2004
Posting Date: 2-14-2005
Directed by Richard Cunha
Featuring Irish McCalla, Tod Griffin, Victor Sen Yung

Three castaways find themselves stranded on a desert island inhabited by deformed women and Nazis.

By any ordinary set of standards, this movie is a stinker; the script is loaded with cliches and howlingly bad lines of dialogue, it has one of the worst scenes of native dancing I’ve ever seen, and the acting ranges from the somnambulant (Tod Griffin) to the overripe (Rudolph Anders overplays every syllable of dialogue he has) to the one-dimensional (Irish McCalla can play one emotion: disdain). Nonetheless, the reason that Richard Cunha does have a bit of a following is that he knew how to pepper his movies with exploitation elements, and between the ample feminine charms (the native girls), the hideous mutations (also the native girls), and the Nazi brutality (to, among others, the native girls), there’s probably enough here to catch your attention. Still, the scenes that make use of the exploitation elements are broken up by scenes which are just plain talky, and you’d best keep the fast forward button handy. And as for the science elements in the story, I’m still waiting for someone to explain to me how Osler’s experiments with lava qualify as “perpetual motion”.

THE SCREAMING SKULL (1958)
Article #1281 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-16-2004
Posting Date: 2-13-2005
Directed by Alex Nicol
Featuring John Hudson, Peggy Webber, Alex Nicol

A husband brings his overly-sensitive second wife back to the home where his first wife met her death. She grows to believe that she is being haunted by the ghost of the first wife.

When I first saw this one years ago, I thought it was one of the dullest movies I’d ever seen, and was often surprised afterwards to hear an occasional comment from people talking about how much it scared them. I’m glad I gave it a second viewing; their reaction makes much more sense to me. What makes this movie scary is its exemplary use of sound; whenever possible, the movie uses the sound of banging windows, scratching tree branches, etc. to create a malevolent and tense atmosphere. Given the movie’s fine use of this technique, I now find it very easy to appreciate how powerful it might have been, especially in a big dark theater.

Nevertheless, the movie doesn’t quite work for me. There are some odd touches here that I think are supposed to be unsettling (the peacocks, the absence of furniture in the house), but for me, they never quite become scary and remain largely distractions. Nor am I taken in with the performance of any of the three leads; they all come across as muted and somewhat distant, and I never warm up to them enough as characters to care what happens to them. And finally, the movie works best when the horrors are suggested, and the more explicit the horror becomes, the more the tension dissipates into silliness; the fight in the pond near the end of the movie is supposed to be the crowning horror, but it ends up reducing me to giggles. Ultimately, I have to call this one a misfire, though it does have some truly worthy strong points.

SCARS OF DRACULA (1970)
Article #1279 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-14-2004
Posting Date: 2-11-2005
Directed by Roy Ward Baker
Featuring Christopher Lee, Dennis Waterman, Jenny Hanley

A man unfairly accused of rape takes refuge in Dracula’s castle.

If the sole claim to fame of the Hammer horror pictures was that it upped the sex and violence quotient in horror movies, they would still be remembered, though not with quite the same degree of fondness as they are. Furthermore, most of their horror movies would have ended up like this one; the most noticeable aspects of this entry in the Dracula series is that it’s bloodier than the others and that the gowns are cut even lower. There’s also a great performance from Patrick Troughton and a good one from Michael Ripper. It’s hampered by several problems; it’s overdependent on fake looking bats, the plot plays more like a comedy than a serious vampire picture (especially during the first half), and Christopher Lee’s performance feels bored and pouty rather than menacing. It’s nice that they tried to have a scene of Dracula crawling up the wall, but it looks too unconvincing to be really effective. I don’t know if it’s the weakest Hammer Dracula of the bunch, but I would have to place it at the bottom of the ones I’ve seen so far.

SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937)
Article #1275 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-10-2004
Posting Date: 2-7-2005
Featuring the voices of Roy Atwell, Stuart Buchanan, Adriana Caselotti

Snow White flees from the castle of the evil queen who wishes to have her murdered, and takes refuge in a cottage inhabited by seven dwarfs.

It’s now been almost seventy years since this movie first hit the screens, and since then we’ve seen so many full-length animated features that it may be a little difficult to appreciate just how daring and audacious this movie was. I recently read a history of animation called “Hollywood Cartoons”, and one thing that impressed me was the sheer amount of work that went into the making of this movie. The challenges were daunting; two of the challenges were that they had to find a way to extend the style and pacing of animation to make it succeed for the length of a movie and they had to perfect the animation of realistic human characters. One can only wonder how the history of animation would have changed had they failed; instead, it succeeds beautifully. Watching it now, I can still marvel. I love the many effects using water in the movie (the various scenes in which we see characters reflected in the water, the scene where we see Snow White from the vantage point of the bottom of a well, the washing scene and the rain during the chase of the witch), and I can only imagine the amount of work this must have taken.

I could go on and on about the magic of this movie, but instead I’ll just mention that I saw this movie as a child, and three scenes stuck in my memory. I remember the terrifying moment when the huntsman is about to kill Snow White, but can’t bring himself to do it, and instead urges her to make her escape in the forest. I also remember the frantic chase of the witch by the dwarfs in the rain. However, the one single moment that etched itself most deeply in my memory was a simple one; it was that vision of the skeleton in the dungeon reaching out for a pitcher of water that remains just out of reach. It was wonderful to see that these scenes still had the same impact after all these years.

P.S. This musing is dedicated to Frank Thomas. In a sad coincidence, the day of my viewing of this movie was the day that his death was announced. He was one of the inner circle of Disney animators known as the “nine old men”, and he was responsible for the animation of the dwarfs. His career spanned many years, and it was wonderful to discover that he even did some voice work in another of my very favorite animated features, THE IRON GIANT. Goodbye, Frank; this one is for you.

SATAN’S SADISTS (1969)
Article #1274 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-9-2004
Posting Date: 2-6-2005
Directed by Al Adamson
Featuring Russ Tamblyn, Scott Brady, John “Bud” Cardos

A marine and a waitress escape from a gang of bikers who have murdered everyone else in a diner, but end up stranded in the desert with the bikers in hot pursuit.

I’m going to say from the outset that I really don’t have much of a liking for Al Adamson’s exercises in incoherent sleaze and sadism, and I was fully prepared to dislike this one intensely. I also don’t feel it really qualifies for the genres under discussion in this series, though I will admit that Anchor’s madness does nudge the movie in the direction of horror marginalia. However, the DVD opens with an introduction by Sam Sherman, and he claims (among other things) that this is Adamson’s best film, and quite frankly, I find myself agreeing with him. Just in basic terms of storytelling, it’s the only movie of his I’ve seen so far that hasn’t given me headaches trying to follow the plot. It has a sense of unity and completeness; it doesn’t feel cobbled together from several different movies. Also, given the subject matter and Adamson’s cinematic predilections, it shows a certain restraint; it’s not as sleazy or as sadistic as I expected it to be. It also features a strong performance from Russ Tamblyn, as the character of Anchor provides for him a radical departure from his usual roles up to this point; he even penned his big speech himself. The script is also somewhat more clever at times than I anticipated. Still, there are problems; the trip sequence is really nothing more than a bunch of annoying camera tricks, and the ending is decidedly anticlimactic, probably due to the fact that neither the marine nor the waitress ever come to life as characters. It would have been better if they had found a way to end the movie with the fight between Anchor and Firewater (John “Bud”Cardos), both of whom were a lot more interesting. It’s no classic, but it’s far better than the painful embarrassment I expected.

SEVEN DAYS TO NOON (1950)
Article #1272 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-7-2004
Posting Date: 2-4-2005
Directed by John Boulting and Roy Boulting
Featuring Barry Jones, Andre Morell, Hugh Cross

A scientist working on top-secret nuclear projects becomes convinced that his work is evil, and threatens to blow up London with a stolen bomb unless the Prime Minister promises to stop producting such weapons.

This is one of those thrillers that may or may not fall into the realm of science fiction depending on where you draw the lines of the genre. Like SEVEN DAYS IN MAY or THE BEDFORD INCIDENT, it toys with the possibility of certain events transpiring which would be of such immense political and social significance that it threatens to shift into the realm of science fiction, and as such, it hovers very near the margins of the genre. To say whether it qualifies or not may well give away the ending of the movie, which I won’t do here. On its own terms, it’s a memorable thriller. The viewer spends part of the time following the moves of the government and the police in tracking down the scientist, and the other part of the time following the moves of the scientist as he tries to keep undercover and evade them. It’s done with that quiet British reserve that you might expect from one of their thrillers (the evacuation is very orderly, for example), and even feels confident enough with itself to include some humor (the evacuee who is constantly turned back because he doesn’t want to give up his doom-declaring placard, and the soldier engaged in searching for the scientist who takes some time to go through a woman’s underwear drawer), but it does keep you on the edge of your seat. It’s definitely worth catching, and also useful as a starting point for the discussions of the boundaries of science fiction.