WHIRLPOOL (1949)
Article #1667 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 10-7-2005
Posting Date: 3-6-2006
Directed by Otto Preminger
Featuring Gene Tierney, Richard Conte, Jose Ferrer

When the wife of a noted psychoanalyst is caught shoplifting, she is saved from scandal by the intervention of a man who uses hypnotism to help his patients. Afraid of telling her husband of her problems with kleptomania, she turns to the hypnotist for help with her problem, only to discover that his intentions are suspect.

This is more film noir than horror, but the presence of hypnotism as a plot element pushes the movie into marginal horror, and the role that hypnotism plays in the proceedings is very prominent. The story itself is very interesting; it is based on a novel by Guy Endore (who has a wealth of horror credits to him), and the screenplay is written by the great Ben Hecht. The first half of the movie is a little slow, but it remains interesting and sets up the events in the second half of the movie. Perhaps the most intriguing element in the movie is the puzzle that pops up at this time; the woman finds herself arrested for murder, and the most likely other suspect has an alibi; he is in the hospital recovering from a gall bladder operation. How could he have committed the murder under these conditions? The answer to that question is a real humdinger; in fact, it’s near unbelievable, and it’s a tribute to the direction of Otto Preminger and the superb performance from Jose Ferrer that the movie pulls it off. The movie is solid and worthwhile, and I recommend it in particular to anyone interested in the various ways that hypnotism is portrayed in the movies.

WATCHED! (1974)
Article #1652 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-22-2005
Posting Date: 2-19-2006
Directed by John Parsons
Featuring Stacy Keach, Harris Yulin, Turid Aarstad

When a district attorney becomes disenchanted with the methods used by law enforcement officers to catch drug users, he turns to the other side and begins defending the ones he used to prosecute. He then finds himself being set up by his former partner.

If the above plot description fails to reveal the fantastic content of this movie, it’s because the fantastic content is fairly marginal. Nonetheless, it is present, and it’s rather strange. The John Stanley book lists the surreal cocaine sequences as the fantastic element, and though these sequences are certainly odd, I find them not quite bizarre enough to push it into the realm of the fantastic. But there are other elements as well; for one thing, at least part of the movie takes place a full decade after it was made, and even though the only reason it does this is to give the movie a point from which it can flash back to scenes that take place in the present, it still nudges the movie into the realm of science fiction. Furthermore, the movie touches on the theme of madness at various points, which gives a touch of horror to the proceedings as well. Still, the fantastic elements remain marginal, and the movie is largely a crime drama.

However, it is a very weird crime drama, and it just gets weirder as it goes along. Historically, it’s interesting to consider in light of the fact that Stacy Keach did serve time in England for smuggling cocaine. On its own terms, it’s a bit of a mess, it’s hard to follow, and it gets rather dull at times. Still, it has a strong and very bizarre ending that makes me want to give the movie another watch some time. And it gives a very interesting glimpse of the drug culture of Haight-Ashbury long after the trendiness of the area during the sixties had dissipated. It’s probably of most interest to those who find the subject matter fascinating, and it is well-acted throughout. Chalk it up as another curio.

WAR BETWEEN THE PLANETS (1966)
(a.k.a. PLANET ON THE PROWL / IL PIANETA ERRANTE)
Article #1651 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-21-2005
Posting Date: 2-18-2006
Directed by Antonio Margheriti
Featuring Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, Ombretta Colli, Enzo Fiermonte

Members of a space station investigate a wandering planet that is threatening the Earth.

There’s a part of me that really wants to like some of these Italian space operas from the sixties, because there’s something rather charming about their attempts to tell rather complicated genre stories while lacking the financial wherewithal to pull them off. Unfortunately, the movie fights me every step of the way. For one thing, the dubbing is horrible, not so much in the manner of syncing the words up with the lips, but rather due to the poor acting abilities of those supplying the voices and the sometimes ludicrous translation of the dialogue (“Prepare for weight gain!” should obviously mean something else than a move to imbibe in a heavy dinner.) It’s also hampered by an overdose of science-fictionese (you know, all that techy dialogue that you can’t understand but sounds suitably scientific) and crippled by some phenomenally bad storytelling; with so much of the dialogue sounding like gobbledygook and poor exposition making scenes follow each other in seemingly random fashion, I become frustrated in my attempts to follow the story and end up finally throwing in the towel, watching the rest of the movie with a kind of sullen petulance. The only parts I can follow easily enough are the character interactions, and when these involve such cliches as the love triangle and the second-in-command who is in constant conflict with the commander until he sacrifices himself to save the others, you wonder why you bother. And the soundtrack (which jettisons any attempt to underline the emotional tenor of the scenes in lieu of reminding you that you’re watching science fiction) is no help. Maybe I’ll be able to follow this thing the fourth or fifth time around, but since I suspect the story could have been told clearly in one shot, I think it’s unfair to ask that of me. This one will probably most satisfy those who just get off on all the science fiction paraphernalia.

WOMANEATER (1957)
Article #1631 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 9-1-2005
Posting Date: 1-29-2006
Directed by Charles Saunders
Featuring George Coulouris, Vera Day, Peter Wayn

A scientist experiments with a plant that produces a serum that can revive life. Unfortunately, the plant only produces the serum if it is fed a steady supply of nubile young women.

This movie was made in England, land of Shakespeare and Quatermass. It features a truly provocative title. The main character is played by an actor who made a memorable appearance in CITIZEN KANE. And it features a killer plant. Now, with all of these elements, you’d think this movie would have something going for it, wouldn’t you?

Well, truth be told, the most interesting thing about this movie is Vera Day. In particular, the most interesting thing about this movie is Vera Day’s Mamie Van Dorenesque figure. It’s not only the most physically interesting thing in the movie, it’s also the most intellectually interesting thing in it, and that’s not a good sign. The script itself feels like an outline of a science fiction / horror movie; it has about fifteen minutes worth of plot, and the rest of the time seems padded out with shots of people looking at things. It isn’t even much fun on a campy level. Plotwise, it reminded me alternately of KONGA and THE LEECH WOMAN, neither of which I care much for and both of which are much better than this one. Director Saunders and actor Coulouris had previously joined forces with MAN WITHOUT A BODY, another awful movie which at least has a certain amount of unintentional humor going for it.

THE WITCHMAKER (1969)
Article #1630 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-31-2005
Posting Date: 1-28-2006
Directed by Anthony Eisley, Thordis Brandt, Alvy Moore

Psychic investigators go into the bayou where several murders have been committed. They find themselves in peril from a coven of witches headed by a man called Luther the Berserk.

This one is definitely a mixed bag. At its worst, it is muddled and tedious, and whenever it tries to play up the exploitation elements it just gets silly. At its best, however, it is moody, suspenseful and surprisingly soulful; in particular, some of the speeches given to Alvy Moore’s character are rather touching, in particular one in which he talks about how certain students stand out in his memory. Moore, who also served as an associate producer for this movie, also gives a strong performance; his presence is unusual for a horror movie, and this gives the movie some of its offbeat feel. The movie gets better as it goes along and builds up to a strong ending. All in all, I found the positive qualities of this one to outweigh its weaknesses. Incidentally, Moore and Executive Producer L. Q. Jones would join forces several years later to bring make A BOY AND HIS DOG, one of the few adaptations of a Harlan Ellison story to make it to the big screen.

THE WILD WORLD OF BATWOMAN (1966)
Article #1629 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-30-2005
Posting Date: 1-27-2006
Directed by Jerry Warren
Featuring Katherine Victor, George Mitchell, Steve Brodie

Batwoman tries to prevent the evil Rat Fink from stealing an atomic-powered hearing aid.

Given the comments I’ve made heretofore about Jerry Warren’s directorial style, one would think that the man’s work was of a piece, with no marked difference to distinguish one of his movies from another. That’s not strictly true; Jerry Warren did on occasion learn from his mistakes, and not all of his movies are snoozefests. That isn’t to say that his work evolved (which implies a step up, a deceptive statement if ever there was one); nor did it devolve (which implies a step down, which was impossible). Rather, let’s say it mutated, and not into something pretty.

Let’s take this movie. It manages to accomplish something that none of his other movies to date (with the possible exception of MAN BEAST) have achieved —it maintains a rudimentary interest level throughout; in short, it doesn’t put you right to sleep. But how did he accomplish this? I’m guessing that he realized that the only original footage he shot for ATTACK OF THE MAYAN MUMMY (in opposition to the footage he took from THE AZTEC MUMMY) that held any sort of interest level was the scene in the malt shop, where the distracting sight of a girl’s wiggling derriere provided the only reason not to nod off during a tedious dialogue sequence. What did he learn from this? He learned that if you want to keep people awake, throw in distracting action during the dialogue sequences. As a result, every time this movie hits an expositional scene or one where important information is imparted, he throws in background distractions such as mugging comic relief characters, wiggling derrieres (of course) and horseshoe tugs-of-war (huh?). Yes, it manages to hold your interest, but just try to keep track of the story. Granted, the story is such a mess that trying to follow it was probably a lost cause anyway, and the fact that this was Warren’s attempt to make a really sixties movie (designed to recall, among other thing, spy movies, horror movies, beach party movies and TV’s “Batman”) that is fun-filled and campy only magnifies the confusion. As a result, Warren does manage to avoid a snoozefest here, but at a price; instead of a refreshing sleep, you’ll have migraines.

So what was Jerry Warren’s reward for this undertaking? A lawsuit for his use of the Batwoman name. This, with the exception of an early eighties movie called FRANKENSTEIN ISLAND, brought Warren’s directorial career to an end.

THE WHITE GORILLA (1945)
Article #1628 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 8-29-2005
Posting Date: 1-26-2006
Directed by Harry L. Fraser
Featuring Ray Corrigan, Lorraine Miller, George J. Lewis

A safari guide stumbles into a trading post and tells the people there a “story” about his encounter with a white gorilla.

If there’s any other jungle movie out there that gives FORBIDDEN JUNGLE a run for its money as the worst of the jungle genre, this is the leading contender. Sometimes, I can’t decide which one is worse. Sure, FJ is absurdly bizarre, has laughable special effects at time, and features dialogue that sounds as if it were written by Ed Wood. Still, it does tell a coherent story and actually seems rather sincere. This one is a piece of cynical hackwork from the moment of conception; it’s an attempt to cobble together a feature made of about thirty minutes of new footage and thirty minutes of footage from an old serial. This would have resulted in a poor movie in the best of circumstances; however, the serial that provided the rest of the footage was a silent serial, and that makes things even worse. I’m not sure there’s even a story, but if there is one, the story told by the silent footage (which involves jungle explorers and a white boy with supernatural powers over animals) and the one told by the new footage (about an angry white gorilla and an angry black gorilla) never intersect; in fact, when it comes time to wind up the silent footage, an expedition is sent out to rescue the characters from that footage, but comes back only to say they couldn’t find anything but some bones in a tiger pit. To tie it all together, we have Ray Corrigan spending a lot of time in a tree watching things from a distance and pondering as to how he can help out, which of course he can’t, because he’s only in the new footage. Perhaps the funniest scenes here are the gorilla attacks, which, despite the fact that they’re supposed to be brutal, are anything but. The opening credits give the stars as “Ray Corrigan, Lorraine Miller, and An All-Star Cast”, the latter of which they never mention by name; I guess they must have felt that since they were all stars, no introduction was necessary. And no, I didn’t recognize a single one of them.

WAR OF THE SATELLITES (1958)
Article #1449 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-3-2005
Posting Date: 7-31-2005
Directed by Roger Corman
Featuring Richard Devon, Dick Miller, Susan Cabot

An impenetrable barrier erected by hostile aliens continually prevents a scientific project from sending rockets into deep space. The scientific leader of the project comes up with a scheme to get past the barrier, but dies in an auto accident and is replaced by an alien intent on sabotage.

It’s movies like this that make me really appreciate Roger Corman. Had anybody else tried to make an outer space epic like this on an Allied Artists budget, it would have probably been dull and laughable. Corman doesn’t turn it into a classic, but he manages to keep it from being a waste of time, and except for the fact that the middle of the movie sags a little, he keeps the interest level up. He’s helped by a likable and familiar cast; in particular, it’s really a lot of fun seeing Dick Miller in a rare leading role. The special effects are primitive, but not embarrassing, and it’s well acted throughout. All in all, it makes for decent low-budget science fiction adventure.

THE WONDERS OF ALADDIN (1961)
(a.k.a. LE MERAVIGLIE DI ALADINO)
Article #1431 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 2-13-2005
Posting Date: 7-13-2005
Directed by Henry Levin
Featuring Donold O’Connor, Noelle Adam, Vittorio De Sica

Aladdin is given a magic lamp by his mother, and uses it to save the prince from an assassination attempt.

I’ve seen several versions of the Aladdin story by now, and though I haven’t read the original Arabian Nights version of it, I think I have a basic idea of how it goes. This comic take on it makes several changes to the tale, none of them good. For one thing, Aladdin has been split into two different characters, as has the princess. As an adventure epic, it’s tepid, and the action scenes are pretty lame. As a comedy it’s only sporadically funny. What it really lacks is exactly what it promises in the title; it’s singularly short on the sense of wonder.

Actually, I find the credits a lot more interesting than the movie itself. Donald O’Connor plays the part of Aladdin. The Genie is played by noted Italian Neo-Realist director Vittorio De Sica. Omar is played by familiar character actor Milton Reid; if you’ve seen CAPTAIN CLEGG, DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN, or THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, you should recognize him. Much of the second unit direction was handled by Mario Bava. And the part of the prince was played by Mario Girotti, who would later on in life be billed as Terence Hill and appear in several spaghetti western comedies as Trinity.

THE WITCH’S CURSE (1962)
(a.k.a. MACISTE ALL’INFERNO)
Article #1430 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 2-12-2005
Posting Date: 7-12-2005
Directed by Riccardo Freda
Featuring Kirk Morris, Helene Chanel, Vira Silenti

A witch places a curse on a Scottish village, and only Maciste can rid the village of the curse.

I went into this movie knowing it was supposed to be a Sword and Sandal movie. However, the first eighteen minutes consist entirely of the witch-hunting antics of a seventeenth century Scottish village, and I began to really wonder if the movie had been wrongly classified. Well, I shouldn’t have doubted; at the twenty-minute mark, Maciste (clad in his traditional loincloth) rides into the village on his trusty horse, runs into a building, goes to the bars of a cage, and immediately goes into the patented Sword and Sandal bending-the-bars-back routine. Still, if you’re wondering what Maciste is doing in seventeenth-century Scotland, you’re asking the same question I asked about him in another movie when he appeared in 13th century China. You also may wonder why it is that when Maciste has to go to hell to defeat the witch who left the curse, he ends up in the Hades of Greek mythology (he meets that guy who was strapped to a rock so an eagle could eat his entrails every day) rather than the Hell of Christian mythology, but this will just give you a headache.

I have figured out one issue, though; it’s obvious that Maciste is a time traveler. When he loses his memory in Hades, he looks into a pool to recover it and sees scenes from ATLAS AGAINST THE CYCLOPS and the aforementioned foray into thirteenth-century China (the title of this one eludes me at the moment), so I can only assume that all three are the same Maciste. Now how else can this one man appear in three separate eras other than time travel? He can’t fool me; he may lead you to believe that he rides a horse around, but I’ll bet he has his Tardis just over the hill. He’s probably on first name terms with the Doctor, as well.

Yes, you heard me right. Maciste is a timelord. You heard it here first, folks.

Can I have my medicine now?