Museo del horror

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

The Witches

The Witches

Directed by: Cyril Frankel

UK, 1966

Horror/ Occult, 90min
Hammer Horror

Missionary schoolteacher Gwen Mayfield [Joan Fonatine] escapes from a terrifying and traumatizing attack during her time in Africa. Back from Africa, and following something of a breakdown, she moves to the small rural English village, Heddaby when Alan Bax [Alec McCowen] and his wife Stephanie [Kay Walsh] invite her to come take a position as head teacher in the village’s school. At first all is fine and Gwen quickly settles in, despite the fact that Bax wore a priests collar when they first met even though he’s not a man of the clergy, and the fact that the village still hasn’t rebuilt the burned down church ruin that stands on the hill above the village.

During her fist class she goes through the names of the pupils and reacts to the fact that young Linda Rigg [Ingrid Boulting] has her doll with her to school, something that she feels Linda is way to old for. The next day, Linda is absent and Gwen finds a note in one of the children’s textbooks claiming that Linda’s Granny treats her cruel. Here comes the first sign of odd behaviour in the village as Gwen learns about Linda’s Granny forcing her hand into the mangle! Not to worry says the chuckling old Granny Rigg [Gwen Ffrangcon Davies, who also starred in Terrence Fisher’s magnificent The Devil Rides Out two years later], she’s given Linda a nice brew of herbs to ease the pain.

Although Linda’s hand-in-mangle isn’t the thing that is worrying Granny Rigg the most, it’s her concern over young Ronnie Dowset [Martin Stephens] running after Linda, especially as they are at “That” age. If one was to be prejudice, Gran and her cat – who just happens to trail Gwen after Granny Rigg whispers into it’s ear to follow her and the talk of herbal medicine, home made sherry and chutneys – it would be easy to think that the old woman may just be a witch!

Ronnie suddenly falls into a coma, an effigy of him is found in a tree with pins stuck in it and the head missing, Gwen awakens from a sleeping pill slumber and screams in terror as she mistakes a feather duster for one of the Voodoo statues from her terrifying encounter in Africa. With the strange events occurring all around her, Gwen comes to the conclusion that Granny Rigg must be planning to use Linda as a virgin sacrifice in an occult ritual!

Slowly, slowly devilish things start happening to villagers, a man is found drowned, sheep attack Gwen and the African effigies start to turn up in dreams – or is it real? Guess the confusion and shock as Gwen awakens after fainting only to be in a nursing home and not Heddaby and under the supervision of the odd Dr. Wallis [Leonard Rossiter]. Is Gwen going insane or is there a conspiracy lead by Granny Rigg and the witches of Heddaby? Prepare yourself, because as the movie shifts into the third act, suspicions are overthrown, truths are exposed and the real constellation of the Heddaby coven is revealed!

This is classic Hammer occultism, gradually building the presence of the unnatural elements, letting paranoia grow, exposing our leading lady to the horrors of Heddaby, voodoo dolls, creepy cats, mystic happenings, Sabbaths and virgin sacrifices!

 

No stranger to the world of the weird, screenplay writer Nigel Kneale delivers the creeps and eeriness perfectly with his adaptation of Nora Lofts’ (under the pseudonym Peter Curtis)  The Devil’s Own, and Cyril Frankel dispenses it well. The Witches was the final big screen performance for Jean Fontaine, which she also co-produced as she’d bought the rights to the Loft story. Fantastic Hammer Horror creepiness and low key shocker filled with wonderful paganism and occult dabbling make this a movie I feel can be classed as something of a underestimated Hammer gem well worth seeking out!

Tales from the Crypt

Tales from the Crypt

Directed by: Freddie Francis

UK/USA, 1972

Horror Anthology, 92min

I’m still watching a lot of anthology flicks, and before the Crypt Keeper was a rotted corpse puppet on HBO (as played by John Kassir), he was Ralph Richardson. Legendary, majestic Ralph Richardson, or God from Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits if you love that flick as much as I do.

Deep down underneath the gothic atmosphere of the British equivalent of Jean Rollin’s beloved Pere Lachaise, Highgate Cemetery (where amongst others Douglas Adams and Karl Marx rest) the Crypt Keeper hosts a series of gruesome fates told to his blissfully unaware visitors. Five short stories and the interweaving wraparound with Richardson and leading cast are shared with us and I’ll be damned if this isn’t amongst the finest ever of Amicus anthology films. British anthology horror at its finest, and nobody did it better than Amicus.

Just like the successful TV series fifteen years later, this Amicus production takes its inspiration and stories from a bunch of Tales from the Crypt and Vault of Horror short form horror comics.  Five stories kick this racket, five stories right out of the pages of the EC comics Tales from the Crypt and Vault of Horror and it shows. These stories are everything that made those comics so damned controversial and amazing to start with. You know exactly what you are going to get with this fare, short and to the point horror with creepy atmosphere and ironic twists!

After walking astray in the vaults of the cemetery a bunch of people on the guided tour end up in an underground lair where the Crypt Keeper welcomes them. He starts to show them visions; visions that we pretty soon understand are their untimely demises. This is where the chills start to run down your spine.

The first story out sees Joan Collins once again reminding the audience why she was the hotness of the hot at the time this movie was made telling the tale of violent death and the way fate settles the score. And All Through The House starts with a murder and Collins panicking as she tries to rid all the evidence so that her young daughter doesn’t see what has happened… only to hear over the radio that an escaped maniac [Oliver MacGreevy] dressed as Santa Claus has escaped from the mental institute. Moments later she hears her daughter scream and guess who’s rapping at the window! Tense, fast and ferocious, what a splendid opener!

The second story Reflections of Death sees a scenario not to unlike H.P. Lovecraft’s The Outsider when Ian Hendry tries to find his way home after a fiery car crash. Short and to the point this is effective storytelling and it delivers a great climax!

The third story and undoubtedly the finest moment of this collection, is Poetic Justice starring Robin Phillips, David Markham and the majestic Peter Cushing. This tells the tale of predjudice and how two fancypants snobs go to extreme measures to rid themselves of the neighbor they presume is a dirty smelly old man. Cushing is  Arthur  Edward Grimsdyke, who still talks to his passed wife, is friendly to the neighbourhood kids and has a few dogs to many. Hence the neighbors, the Elliots presuming that his house is filthy and stinking of dog shit. Wnating to rid themselves of him as to up the value of their own property they scheme a diabolical plan to push the old man over the edge. A series of nasty valentines day cards are sent and realixing that the messages inside are not ones of love, Grimsdyke takes his own life… But one year later to the day, he arises from his grave to take his revenge. This entry is stunning, Cushing is fantastic and this is the epitome of EC horror. A masterpiece in it’s own right and comes with some fantastic moments of shock and awe.

W.W. Jacobs old classic The Monkeys Paw serves as inspiration and is even referenced in the fourth tale of horror, Wish You Where Here as Ralph Jason [Richard Greene] finds himself with a roublesome economy. Taking something of a last look at their many trophies purchased overseas on their many journeys abroad his wife Enid [Barbara Murray] notices an inscripture on one of their many statues… remember the wise words Carefull what you wish for? Well never did they ring more true than here as the economical problems become the least of their worries and a very shocking climax that for many years was cut from the movie startled the audience, has finally found it’s way back into the film. Blood and guts galore!

The final grim tale is all about the new boss in town. Nigel Patrick is Major William Rogers, a vile bastard with a sadistic streak and a passion for sicking his Alsatian dog on the inhabitants of the all male, blind ward he’s just become head of. Although George Carter [Patrick Magee] won’t have it, and after rallying his fellow inmates, the insane, or rather the blind, take over the asylum and Major Rogers get’s to taste his own medicine. If you have a phobia for razorblades, they you’ll probably faint when you see the razorblade infested walls of the tight corridors the callous Major is forced to walk.

With an all star cast, yes I think we can call it an all star cast as it houses many great British actors and actresses, Tales from the Crypt is something of a who’s who of UK low budget horror fare. Upon it’s release, Tales from the Crypt became one of the most successful films of the year in the US. Hence leading Amicus to continu with the great string of anthology anthology horrors that beaome something of a signature style of Amicus.  Another few years later a remake was planned by George A. Romero and Stephen King. Luckily they decided against it and instead came up with Creepshow another example of anthology movies that pay homage to both Amicus and the EC horror comic universe. 

Body Bags

Body Bags

Directed by: John Carpenter & Tobe Hooper

USA, 1993

Horror/Sci-Fi

So while we are on about portmanteau films (see previous post on Pánico), why not dive into a fun, fearsome but somewhat underrated little gem that might have slipped away due to the simple fact that it was released as a TV movie. Never the less, I recall seeing Body Bags on VHS and actually experiencing that “Oh shit a new John Carpenter flick” giddiness, and already liking this little chunk of fun already then. Initially a pilot with the intention of branching off into it’s own anthology series much like Tales from the Darkside or more recent Masters of Horror, Body Bags hits the nail right on, or as one may say, through the head.

Just like Tales from the Crypt, Body Bags sees a morbidly ironic and eerie host, guide us through the episodes, all three of them. Carpenter himself takes the role of the Coroner in the Morgue (makeup effects by Rick Baker!) hosting us through the wraparounds. He does it perfectly and despite being more of a package than a story, the segments do have their own narrative and classical corny death and horror themed jokes are delivered en masse.

The first short is Carpenter’s The Gas Station, which tells a story of tense fear, as there is a killer on the loose. Anne [Alex Datcher] spends her first night as night attendant at gas station and is put through a series of encounters with guests and nightwalkers, of which one might just be the killer. Robert Carradine, Wes Craven, David Naughton and George ‘Buck’ Flower are found amongst the cast, which is one of the really cool things about Body Bags; there are so many damned cool actors in this movie that it should be watched just for that fact alone. Set in “Haddonfield”, giving a lovely tie in to that other classic string of serial killer flicks set in Haddonfield, The Gas Station is classic horror. A by the book, tension twister that builds during the course of the 30 minute run before landing in the grim ending.

The second tale is another Carpenter directed episode. This one all about male vanity, and Stacey Keach giving a great performance as the balding Richard Coberts struggling and doing just about anything to hang onto his manliness in Hair… even If it means contacting the Roswell Hair Growth Foundation run by the aptly named Dr. Lock [David Warner]. This entry is fun, quirky and is actually a smart and cunning Sci-Fi entry! It also has a hilarious montage of Keach admiring fluffy various hairdos and Greg Nicotero walking by with his then trademark lion mane of fluff, that’s comedy. But despite being fun and quirky, this is horror and the dark reveal will leave a sinister smirk on your face at the climax. One could say that this entry is the classic “careful what you wish” for scenario.

The final entry sees Tobe Hooper step up to the directors’ chair for the grimmest episode of the three, Eye. Eye sees Mark Hamill as Brent Matthews, enjoying a major league baseball career and living he life of his dreams. His wife Cathy [Twiggy] is expecting their first child and even though everything seems hunky dory, Brent’s life is about to change forever… No, it’s not the unborn child that changes his life; it’s the eye he has transplanted after loosing his in a serious car accident. This is almost a phantom hand syndrome… but Brent is seeing stuff instead… such as a zombie version of his wife buried in the back yard! He takes to scripture and seeks comfort in the lord, but to no success. Brent’s personality changes completely from nice guy to ominous creep. Where the previous two entries are kind of fun and have a certain light heartedness about them, Tobe Hooper brings it all to the game here. It’s fiendish, violent, has a completely unexpected moment of nudity and Hamill giving a performance that would be right at home in the Sawyer family.

From the Albertus MT font of the opening credits to the low key synthesizer music that plays out over the final scene and, you know what you are going to get. And you are right, you get just what you want, John Carpenter creep-o-rama, with a dash of Hooper cruelty… all served up with a delightful dark comedic grimness. Not forgetting the magnificent list of cameos and genre and music personalities Wes Craven, Roger Corman, Sam Raimi, Debbie Harry, Sheena Easton, John Agar, Charles Napier, and others. It’s a fascinating cast, the stories are great, the shock value of both violence and nudity is high, and one only dares to imagine how great a full serial run could have been.