Untamed Women (1952)

UNTAMED WOMEN (1952)
Article #631 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 12-6-2002
Posting date: 5-1-2003

Survivors of a downed military plane find themselves on an uncharted island with a tribe of beautiful women without men.

It may well be that the above description will make the movie sound delectable to those with a taste for such things, especially if I mention that it throws in a slurpasaur for good measure. Think of it as something like CAT WOMEN OF THE MOON or FIRE MAIDENS FROM OUTER SPACE in a lost world rather than another planet, and you get the picture. Unfortunately, this movie is just as lively as those are, and that is not a recommendation. Still, the movie is worth watching to hear one of the great howler lines of all time, namely: “Shoot anything with hair on it that moves!” It also features Lyle Talbot, a wisecracking kid from Brooklyn, a volcano, and one of those phantom hairdressers hidden in a cave somewhere to keep the women looking their best. It’s a little better than WILD WOMEN OF WONGO. You take it from there.

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Return of the Fly (1959)

RETURN OF THE FLY (1959)
Article #630 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 12-5-2002
Posting date: 4-30-2003

The son of a scientist who was transformed into a half man/half-fly follows in the footprints of his father by continuing his experiments.

I’ve always had a fondness for the original THE FLY; the movie had strong characters, a compelling sense of mystery, and an emotionally resonant story. This immediate sequel retains some of the basic plot elements, but throws out the above qualities and replaces them with stock situations; there is no mystery, the characters are ordinary, and the story is routine. Vincent Price is the only actor returning from the original, but he’s consigned to a fairly uninteresting role. The acting and the effects aren’t bad, there are some memorable images, and those who prefer more conventional and predictable stories may even prefer this one to the original. Me, I miss the inner conflicts that fleshed out the character of the monster from the first movie; this one is just a typical marauding monster once it cuts loose. It’s not a bad movie by any means, but it is several steps down from the original.

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Reptilicus (1961)

REPTILICUS (1961)
Article #629 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 12-4-2002
Posting date: 4-29-2003

A reptilian monster with the ability to regenerate itself attacks the beautiful city of Copenhagen in Denmark, where tourists can hear beautiful songs like “Tivoli Nights” and enjoy the nightlife and…sorry, I seem to have gotten off the track.

Some thoughts on Reptilicus.

1. Big, bulky monsters are scarier than weedy stringbeans with tiny arms.

2. There is a point in this movie where people are urged not to panic. This is followed by a succession of montages in which giant guns are pointed straight at the viewer’s eyes. This is not the best way to quell panic.

3. The janitor in this movie is proof positive that every country has its own Jim Varney.

4. The most impressive scene in the movie involves a huge crowd of people (every extra in Denmark?) running across a drawbridge.

5. The least impressive scene is any scene with special effects.

6. Most enduring lesson to be learned from this movie; never give in to the temptation to observe your lunch under a microscope.

7. The Danish speak a lot slower than the Japanese, which makes dubbing them a little clunkier. Also, you would have been able to tell this movie was dubbed even if the words had matched the movement of the mouths; it just never sounds like the words were being spoken in the place where you see them being said.

8. Despite a long travelogue sequence, I still have no real desire to see the beautiful city of Copenhagen.

9. AIP removed all scenes of Reptilicus flying because they weren’t convincing. Instead, they added animation of green acid slime spewing out the mouth of Reptilicus. If this is more convincing than the flying sequences, then I want to see those flying sequences. They also cut a scene of the Janitor singing a song with a bunch of children.

10. Reptilicus dies at the end of this movie, though the janitor and that idiot who runs the drawbridge are left alive and breathing. Is there no justice?

And finally, despite a plot element that promises otherwise, there was no sequel.

Yet.

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Atom Man Vs. Superman (1950)

ATOM MAN VS. SUPERMAN (1950)
(Serial)
Article #628 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 12-3-2002
Posting date: 4-28-2003

Superman faces the threat of a technological genius named Atom Man, who is, of course, none other than Lex Luthor in disguise.

One advantage of basing a serial on a well-known comic book is that you have an instantly recognizable cast of characters from square one; I have no trouble with confusing characters in this one (a common problem I’ve encountered with serials). Most of the flying effects are done via cartoon animation, which is somewhat jarring, but you get used to it well enough. It’s loaded with cheating cliffhangers, but at least they aren’t just the “man sees the car is going over a cliff and bails out at the last moment” type; in fact, some of them are quite clever. It’s well acted all around, with Kirk Alyn a very appealing Superman, and Lyle Talbot having a fun time as Lex Luthor. I found it very good for a serial from the fifties.

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The Raven (1963)

THE RAVEN (1963)
Article #627 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 12/2/2002
Posting date: 4/27/2003

A meek magician finds himself drawn into a battle with an evil sorcerer.

This is the third movie I’ve covered supposedly based on this Edgar Allan Poe poem. Three more different movies you couldn’t find; the first was a partial biography of Poe himself, the second a nasty horror movie with Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, and this one, a fantasy/comedy (with horror elements) with Vincent Price, Peter Lorre and (again) Boris Karloff. This is one of Corman’s Poe movies that I quite like; not only is it great to see three masters at work together like this, but by being more of a work of fantasy than one of horror, it doesn’t borrow overly much from Corman’s other Poe movies (there’s not a single premature burial subplot to be found). The nice thing is that all three stars have roles of equal weight and interest, and they are all excellent. In fact, it’s hard to pick a favorite; I lean towards Karloff, but Lorre is great, too, and Price (in the atypical role of the hero) equally so. The special effects aren’t quite up to the ambitions of the story, especially during the final sorcerer’s duel sequence (though a sequence involving a spear is quite effective), and the comedy isn’t quite as funny as it could have been, but the charm of the movie overrides these problems. Hazel Court also looks quite stunning here, and Jack Nicholson is also here, giving a much better performance than he would in THE TERROR. If this movie were in public domain and in release by cheapie video companies, I’ll leave it to you to guess who would be given top billing on the package.

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Paranoiac (1963)

PARANOIAC (1963)
Article #626 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 12/1/2002
Posting date: 4/26/2003

A woman thinks she is going crazy because she keeps seeing her dead brother. Then when a man who resembles her brother shows up, her mother and other brother become suspicious.

This is another variation on PSYCHO, and though it’s hardly terrible, it is very disappointing. One of the most striking things about PSYCHO is the performance of Anthony Perkins, who plays a character with a full range of human emotions; an equivalent character here is played by Oliver Reed, but the only emotion he seems to give his character is one of violent intensity, and though he is quite good at displaying this emotion, it becomes tedious over the full length of the movie. It’s also problematic in that it leaves the character with no real surprises, and that’s a problem that extends to almost everyone in this movie; you can pick out the people who are really mad, the one who only thinks they’re mad, and the one who is kind-hearted and compassionate easily, and though this would not be a problem in many movies, it short-circuits one that is trying to rely on unexpected plot twists and surprising developments. As it is, nothing in this movie surprises me, which is certainly something I could never say about PSYCHO. It’s also why I like PSYCHO so much better.

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Circus of Horrors (1960)

CIRCUS OF HORRORS (1960)
Article #625 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11/30/2002
Posting date: 4/25/2003

A plastic surgeon on the run from the law uses a circus as a front to continue his research.

Having endured at least one similarly themed movie in the past (BERSERK), I didn’t really expect a lot from this one. I was pleasantly surprised; what a world of difference a good script can make in this type of movie. The characters have a lot more dimension than I usually expect from a movie like this, and there are unexpected touches that are, if not totally necessary, at least indicative of a certain complexity in the conception of the story (my favorite: a poignant moment involving a clown after one of the murders). The movie feels a little like a cross between Hammer and Italian horror; it’s British origin and its blood recall the former, and the sadism of the story recalls the latter. I enjoyed this much more than I expected, though a few of the special effects aren’t quite up to par.

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The Penalty (1920)

THE PENALTY (1920)
Article #624 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11/29/2002
Posting date: 4/24/2003

A double amputee known as Blizzard seeks revenge on the doctor who crippled him for life.

I’m always a little amazed at how well Lon Chaney could act when he was hampered by costumes that must have been incredibly painful. He is such a malicious, malevolent, evil man here that he takes your focus away from the fact that he hobbles around on crutches for the length of the movie. The story itself is only slightly a horror story (basically, the fact that the villain is a double amputee and a certain air of degeneracy in the proceedings) and offers only the slightest whiff of science fiction (basically, part of the plot deals with transplants), so it remains largely marginal. It starts out with a Mabuse-like setup, but it ends up not really delivering in this regard; the ending seems doctored, artificial and pat, and is not very satisfying. This one is primarily of interest for Chaney’s performance.

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Project X (1968)

PROJECT X (1968)
Article #623 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11/28/2002
Posting date: 4/23/2003

In the future, a spy in possession of important information for national security has had his mind erased by a drug. Scientists are called in to try and help him recover the information.

The only other time I know of that William Castle flirted with science fiction was in THE TINGLER, a movie which was primarily horror. This one is closer to a pure work of science fiction, with an interesting premise and some great ideas, and though it has a couple of horror elements, it is not a horror movie. Unfortunately, Castle seems a little lost at what to do with it all; there are some moments that are poorly handled from a dramatic perspective, and the movie comes across as somewhat vague and incomplete, but the ideas and the concepts are actually intriguing enough to hold your interest. It’s worth a viewing, but I’m left wondering how much better the movie could have been, and I’m a little disappointed that it didn’t quite gel as well as it could have. It’s something of a failure, but it’s more interesting than some successes.

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The Premature Burial (1962)

THE PREMATURE BURIAL (1962)
Article #622 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing date: 11/27/2002
Posting date: 4/22/2003

A man is haunted by visions of himself being buried alive.

This is a rather dullish entry in Roger Corman’s series of movies based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe. One of the problems with this one is that the premature burial theme had been used in both HOUSE OF USHER and THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM before them, so it wasn’t particularly novel. The absence of Vincent Price is also sorely felt; not that Ray Milland isn’t a good actor, but the role seemed tailor-made for Price, and at the end, when the character flips out, Milland is simply not as much fun as Price would have been. Actually, there’s a nice revelation at the ending, but it just doesn’t seem worth going through the whole movie to see it. Hazel Court is also in the movie, as well as Dick Miller and John Dierkes as the gravediggers.

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