TERROR CREATURES FROM THE GRAVE (1965)
(a.k.a. 5 TOMBE PER UN MEDIUM)
Article #1290 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-25-2004
Posting Date: 2-22-2005
Directed by Massimo Pupillo
Featuring Barbara Steele, Walter Brandi, Mirella Maravidi

A lawyer visits an old castle to help make out the will of a man whom he discovers has been dead for a year. He then discovers that all the witnesses at the man’s death have been dying one by one over the last year.

This movie claims that it was “inspired by Edgar Allan Poe”, which seems like a way of saying that it’s not based on any specific work of his. I could cynically point out that the any horror movie could be described as having been “inspired by Poe”, as I think the whole horror genre was inspired by him. Nevertheless, I think they mean something specific; I suspect that certain plot elements in the story were indeed inspired by a reading of “The Masque of the Red Death”. Certainly, the basic storyline (revenge from beyond the grave) isn’t very original, but the fact that the story ties itself to the execution of ancient “plague spreaders” gives it an unusual twist. This movie has some nice moments; in particular, a bizarre shot of plants moving in a tank of water, and a shot of a row of severed hands coming to life stay in the memory. The ending itself is pretty good as well, and some of the murders are memorable. Unfortunately, the middle section of the movie feels protracted and tedious, and the movie becomes quite dull on occasion. I also believe the ending makes a major mistake by refusing to let us catch a glimpse of zombie plague spreaders. Though I suspect this was done to allow our imaginations to run wild, it fails because it never really gives a sense of a real “presence” of the creatures; instead, we get the sense that the actors are reacting in horror to nothing at all. I also find it hard to believe that the zombies would have been too grotesque to show; given the number of disturbing visuals used in the movie (mutilated faces of men after having been stomped on by horses, infected with plague, and burned with acid), to not show the zombies because they would have been too grotesque would have been an act of hypocritical coyness.

TALES OF TERROR (1962)
Article #1289 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-24-2004
Posting Date: 2-21-2005
Directed by Roger Corman
Featuring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Basil Rathbone

Three tales from Edgar Allan Poe are presented.

There are some definite benefits to presenting Poe in this sort of anthology. For one thing, when you have an actor playing major roles in all the tales (as Vincent Price does here), it gives him a chance to show his range, which would otherwise require the viewing of several movies to appreciate. Another is that it avoids the problem of padding out the stories to fill a feature-length movie. The four stories (two of which are combined into a single entity) are well selected, giving us a good range of Poe’s work. The first, MORELLA, is probably the weakest, but it does cleanse the palate somewhat by allowing Corman to get his conflagration out of the way. The second is truly wonderful; Price, Peter Lorre, and Joyce Jameson all give excellent performances in a story that successfully merges THE BLACK CAT and THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO while giving it a strong comic twist (kudos to Richard Matheson). The third one is the most straightforward horror story of the bunch, and it is also quite good, with Price joined by Debra Paget and Basil Rathbone. In many ways, this movie paved the way for both THE RAVEN and THE COMEDY OF TERRORS. My favorite moments are from the middle story; the great wine-tasting sequence is a classic, and I also like the scene where Price and Jameson play “head games” with Lorre.

TALES FROM THE CRYPT (1972)
Article #1288 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-23-2004
Posting Date: 2-20-2005
Directed by Freddie Francis
Featuring Joan Collins, Peter Cushing, Roy Dotrice

Five people taking a tour of underground catacombs get lost and stumble into a hidden chamber, where a hooded man reveals to them secrets of their lives (and deaths).

This is one of the better anthology horror films out there. The tales are based on comic book stories from E.C. Comics. Generally, the format of each story is pretty standard; a man or woman who has just committed a dastardly act is treated to a horrific comeuppance; only the fourth story here (a variation on “The Monkey’s Paw”) doesn’t quite fit the pattern. The first story (about a woman who kills her husband only to find herself terrorized by a homicidal maniac disguised as Santa) is fairly ordinary, but it does make good use of music (the easy-listening Christmas music adds a lot to the atmosphere), it does have a decent amount of suspense, and it does a good job of telling a great deal of its story visually. The second story (about a married man who has a nightmare while running off with another woman) is the weakest of the bunch. The fourth story does indeed come up with a satisfyingly gruesome variant of its source inspiration. However, it’s the third and fifth stories that are the classics here. The third (about a poor old man who becomes the target of harassment by a rich neighbor) is anchored by a moving and powerful performance by Peter Cushing, and the ending is a great shock moment. Still, the best story is that last one, in which Nigel Patrick plays the neglectful superintendent of an institute for the blind whose cruel policies inspires a truly memorable act of vengeance from the residents (led by Patrick Magee); I saw this movie years ago, but I never forgot this sequence. Ralph Richardson is also on hand and having fun as the Cryptkeeper.

TWISTED NERVE (1968)
Article #1262 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-28-2004
Posting Date: 1-25-2005
Directed by Roy Boulting
Featuring Hayley Mills, Hywel Bennett, Billie Whitelaw

A disturbed young man (suffering from a possible chromosomal problem) becomes attached to a woman who feels sorrow for him and pays for a toy he stole. He then works his way into her life through the use of subterfuge.

This movie opens with a spoken disclaimer meant to deal with the controversial central issue of the movie. The disclaimer says there has been no scientific evidence linking mongolism and psychotic/criminal behavior. Still, I would imagine that even with the disclaimer, this movie would probably upset anyone who has had to personally deal with mongolism. It’s very well acted, especially by Hywel Bennett, and he leaves you wondering whether his childlike Georgie character (as opposed to his scheming and manipulative adult character) is real or merely an act. At any rate, those who come into this one expecting primarily a psycho thriller may go away disappointed; on that level, it’s overlong (almost two hours) and slow-moving. However, it held my interest throughout, largely because the various characters are so well-developed that I found myself caught up in each of their lives; in fact, much of the running time is dedicated to defining these characters. The movie also features a score by Bernard Herrmann, the highlight of which is the most disconcerting whistled tune since the one in M. If you go in expecting a character-driven story, this one will be much more effective.

TERROR OUT OF THE SKY (1978)
Article #1246 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-12-2004
Posting Date: 1-9-2005
Directed by Lee H. Katzin
Featuring Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Dan Haggerty, Tovah Feldshuh

When killer bees infiltrate a bee raising institute, the director must race against time to prevent the development of a deadly swarm.

Bees make good horror animals; the thought of being stung to death by a swarm of them does get to you on a gut level. Consequently, any killer bee movie will put you on edge at least a little. Nonetheless, I can’t really say that I’ve seen a killer bee movie that I would actually describe as “good” (though THE SWARM is entertaining in its own way). This TV-Movie was a sequel to THE SAVAGE BEES, which I thought was merely average. I thought this one was quite bad. I got very annoyed at the foolishness of some of the characters, the horrible dialogue, and the formulaic plot elements. The director of the institute refuses to share his knowledge with the authorities, and the fact that this undercuts his ability to stop the bees apparently does not occur to him. There’s also a by-the-numbers love triangle which is resolved in the most cliched of fashions. I also don’t have much respect for the woman who decides that the people most fit to undertake the perilous task of tracking down the killer bees is a troop of boy scouts. Another major problem I have is this; in order to save the townspeople at one point, the woman hides in a school bus (with the troop of boy scouts) and continually toots the horn to lure the bees towards the bus, saying that loud noises attract them. Then, after the bus is driven out of town, nobody can figure out how to lure the bees away from the bus. Why didn’t they just plant a boom box a distance away from the bus, crank up the volume, and lure them away? This is the type of sloppy plotting that I have little use for.

SECRET BEYOND THE DOOR (1948)
Article #1245 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-11-2004
Posting Date: 1-8-2005
Directed by Fritz Lang
Featuring Joan Bennett, Michael Redgrave, Anne Revere

A woman with a large inheritance is wooed by a mysterious man who is in desperate financial straits. After she marries him, she begins to suspect that he may have murdered his first wife for her money.

For a man who contributed so much to the fantastic genres during the silent and early sound eras, I’ve had little call to cover any of Fritz Lang’s later work as he really didn’t work in those genres much afterwards. This one gets by on the skin of its teeth; though it’s not a horror movie, the theme of madness and the presence of considerable ground fog in one scene do tip it in the direction of marginalia. I was initially excited to be catching another of his movies, and the movie starts off well enough. However, there came a point where my attention began to flag. The constant self-conscious narration, the psychological babble, and the protracted buildup—instead of nudging me to the end of my seat, it had the opposite effect of annoying and distracting me. By the time the big ending came, I had lost interest, and the big psychological revelation scene almost made me laugh, and that’s not a good sign. Fritz Lang has given us a lot of fine movies, but this isn’t one of them. Now, if only FURY or THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW were within my chosen genres…

TELEVISION SPY (1939)
Article #1241 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-7-2004
Posting Date: 1-4-2005
Directed by Edward Dmytryk
Featuring William Collier Sr., William Henry, Judith Barrett

A cantankerous industrialist decides to give financial backing to an inventor intent on developing long-distance television, but has to deal with spies, both industrial and political.

This is my favorite movie of the thirties with the word “television” in the title. This in itself really isn’t saying much; TRAPPED BY TELEVISION was fairly humdrum, and MURDER BY TELEVISION was a sore waste of celluloid. This one is a lot of fun, though. Part of the fun is the hilarious performance by William Collier Sr., whose barking, opinionated, and cantankerous industrialist is highly entertaining. They also make a lot of use of the science fiction elements on this one; much of the plot revolves around unexpected transmissions from the television sets in use. The movie also includes early performances by Richard Denning and Anthony Quinn. It’s exciting and efficient, running just under an hour. It’s just a b-movie, but it shows how entertaining they can be when done right.

TARZAN THE TIGER (1929)
(Serial)
Article #1202 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 6-29-2004
Posting Date: 11-26-2004
Directed by Henry MacRae
Featuring Frank Merrill, Natalie Kingston, Al Ferguson

Tarzan loses his memory while trying to gather jewels from the temple of Opar to pay for his estate, and then finds himself battling for his life against a false friend intent on betraying him.

Now, this is a relief; a silent serial that is not only in good condition, but has an excellent musical soundtrack and fine sound effects to round out the experience. It’s also another one based directly on one of Burrough’s novels, in this case “Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar”. Frank Merrill is quite effective as Tarzan; in fact, he even exhibits a few moments of Herculean strength that pushes this one even more into the realms of fantasy. It even has a few effective lyrical moments that you rarely find in serials, especially during the first episode. Once again, we have a whole slew of villains, and they’re as apt to betray each other as to join forces against Tarzan. I would have to say at this point of time that this one is far and away my favorite Tarzan serial, and certainly one of the better serials I’ve seen of any kind. Incidentally, the Weissmuller Tarzans were not the first ones to feature nude swimming from Jane, as Natalie Kingston demonstrates here at one point. One-time Dr. Jekyll Sheldon Lewis is also on hand as a villainous Arab.

THEIR BIG MOMENT (1934)
Article #1161 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 5-19-2001
Posting Date: 10-16-2004
Directed by James Cruze
Featuring Zasu Pitts, Slim Summerville, Julie Haydon

A magician with a fake spiritualist act is hired to save a woman from the clutches of a fake medium intent on bilking her of her money.

This slight comedy/mystery never hits a comic peak, but it has a somewhat novel plot (I like the “dueling fake psychics” story) and remains pleasant viewing throughout. Part of what makes it work is the nice chemistry between the magician (William Gaxton) and his assistants (Zasu Pitts and Slim Summerville); they work quite well together. I could see one major plot twist coming a mile away (if you’ve got a comic actress reluctantly taking on the role of a fake medium, what’s the first comic twist you can think of?), but that’s a minor quibble, and there is still a surprising development or two ahead. Incidentally, the mediums provide the fantastic content, though it’s not quite as marginal as it may seem at first.

TOWER OF TERROR (1941)
Article #1119 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 4-7-2004
Posting Date: 9-4-2001
Directed by Lawrence Huntington
Featuring Wilfrid Lawson, Michael Rennie, Movita

A mentally unstable hook-armed lighthouse keeper, an escapee from a concentration camp, and a British spy find themselves thrown together on an island just off the coast of Germany.

This British spy drama starts off with an intriguing premise, as the three central characters are such an interesting combination that one truly wonders where the story will lead. Unfortunately, the story becomes less interesting and a little far-fetched as it progresses, with certain revelations that feel unnecessary (the true fate of the lighthouse keeper’s wife would have worked better in another story), and certain events make no sense to me (in particular, I can’t really understand why the Germans find it necessary to bomb their own lighthouse). As it is, the movie is mostly notable for providing us with an early performance from Michael Rennie. For the most part, the movie is a spy melodrama, though it steers into horror in the final moments when one character goes completely mad.