Beyond Naschy #33 - THE NIGHT OF THE SORCERERS (1974)

The Naschycast returns to the films of Amando De Ossorio for a romp through the jungle!

THE NIGHT OF THE SORCERERS (1974) a.k.a. The Night of the Witches follows a small group of researchers seeking to document the endangered species of a fictional country in Africa. They make camp near a (miniature) village and then learn from a native about the supernatural history of the area. Of course, we have been made aware of the odd rituals of ‘Bumbasa’ in a 1910 prologue showing the kidnapping, rape and beheading of a British lady on an altar that seemingly transforms her into a leopard demon! Or, at least, a fanged disembodied head that can turn and snarl at the camera! It’s a wild ride.

Troy and I hack our way through the jungle foliage to get a good look at this strange little film. As he had done with his Blind Dead movies Ossorio is clearly trying to create a new monster of his own design. But the leopard demons offer some technical hurdles that the writer/director’s usual low budget is often unable to jump. We discuss the various forms in which we see the creatures onscreen trying to decide which of them is most effective. Since these three forms are simply leopard stock footage, fake leopard heads partially hidden by leaves and female members of the cast running in slow motion through the jungle night it can be difficult to make a conclusive choice. And Ossorio throws in enough sex and blood to keep an exploitation audience distracted from the inherent silliness of the pieces of his narrative that don’t always work. But where does this film fall in the legacy of this legendary Spanish horror filmmaker? We share our opinions and hope to hear yours.

The podcast can be reached at naschycast@gmail.com where you can send your thoughts on this episode’s film or Amando De Ossorio’s career as a whole. We’d love to hear from you! And we end the show with a song from Nashville band Peachy - check them out! Thank you for listening and we’ll be back soon with more from the Golden Age of Spanish Horror.

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THE WOMAN EATER (1958) - Killer Tree Movie!

I don't remember exactly when I bought the DVD of British horror film THE WOMAN EATER (1958) but surely it was almost 20 years ago. That means that, for some reason or another, I have seen this movie at least three times. Indeed, I think I'm fated to watch this movie once every 10 years. I guess that's the length of time it takes me to forget the details of the story enough to be curious about this particular and peculiar movie. It's a part of what I consider to be one of my strangest obsessive genre compulsions - Killer Plant Films! And I have the terrible desire to watch any and all killer tree movies, especially. I can only think of two or three others that fit this rather tiny sub-genre (FROM HELL IT CAME, THE GUARDIAN), but this one easily has the most interesting deadly tree.

This film's tree sports several hairy tentacles with chomping mouths on the end of them!  It doesn't get much more interesting in the killer tree category than that! Of course, I can see someone arguing that the creature in this film isn't actually a tree, but I think it really kind of has to be called one. In the dialog it's referred to repeatedly as a specific native tribe's totem and is really referred to only as a plant. But come on - this thing is an evil tree monster. Right?

The film is only an OK chiller with not much going on. I enjoy it for what small thrills it provides and the sight of the supremely lovely Vera Day. Of course, for me this movie could be a lot worse as long as it has that crazy killer tree! One of a kind!

Here's the film on YouTube! 

And here it is on Amazon Prime Streaming! 

Brief Thoughts - VOODOO MAN (1944)

Because I could get it for a dirt cheap price I own the Bela Lugosi film VOODOO MAN (1944) on Blu-Ray. There is no good reason to own VOODOO MAN on Blu-Ray and there is no good reason for it to exist in a high definition format. That it does exist in HD boggles the mind of even me and I regularly moan about wanting all films of every type to be made available in the best possible form. Even major Lugosi fans (and I am one) would suggest about a dozen of his other horror films as better choices for this kind of treatment before eventually getting around to this one. But....... I am glad to have it. It's not one of Bela's best and I even prefer several of his other Poverty Row pictures to this one but it's certainly entertaining enough in a slapdash, crazed way. What other film boasts George Zucco running a rural gas station and conducting voodoo ceremonies? Or has John Carradine playing an idiot servant with the strangest jogging gait of all time? Or has the obviously evil Lugosi called in to medically treat his own victim? It's insane!

This movie is silly and it's story truly does not bear much (any?) scrutiny but it is an entertaining watch for fans of these low budget creepers. It is not great but in an odd way it is a form of comfort viewing for me. But I still can't believe it's on Blu-Ray! 

VOODOO ISLAND (1957)

Voodoo Island is best known (if at all) as one of many programmers made by Boris Karloff in the 1950s. It's not one of King Karloff's best moments.

Howard Carlton (Owen Cunningham) is a very wealthy man who has finally decided to look into developing a Pacific island he purchased some time ago. Supposedly uninhabited, the island has a bad reputation with the natives in the area and it is said that no one who goes there ever returns. Unconcerned about superstition plus seeing potential gold on them thar shores, Carlton recently sent a team of land surveyors to look over the place with an eye to building a hotel and resort in this tropical paradise. But the only member of the group to return was Mitchell (Glenn Dixon) who washed up on another island in a small boat. Alive but in a catatonic, zombie-like state Mitchell can offer no information on what happened. Carlton calls in Phillip Knight (Karloff), a professional skeptic and debunker of supernatural claims, asking him to visit the island to discover what happened to the surveyors. Knight openly doubts Carlton's tale with not even Mitchell’s odd state convincing him this isn't an elaborate Voodoo publicity stunt. He agrees to go but insists on complete autonomy and the right to publish his findings his own way. Carlton agrees and allows Knight to take a small group with him sending his right hand man Finch (Murvyn Vye) along to smooth any money problems. Also making the journey is Carlton's head architect Clair Winter (Jean Engstrom), Knight’s assistant Sarah Adams (Beverly Tyler) and Mitchell is taken along just because Knight wants him to go. 

En route by plane the group begins to experience strange things such as malfunctioning radios and odd disappearing storms. These phenomenon are topped by the strange death of Mitchell just as they are about to board a boat to the dreaded isle. Once on the island the intrepid crew slashes their way into the jungle looking for the previous team's trail but find only tree markers and abandoned surveying equipment. The group fight off pesky insects and pad out the film with some grade C romance between the very attractive Miss Adams and the macho boozehound boat captain Mr. Gunn (Rhodes Reason). Luckily for those of us who know the argue/fight/bond/kiss routine of such subplots we finally get to business when the fetching Miss Winter goes skinny-dipping alone in a lake. Craning our necks for a glimpse of skin instead we're given a carnivorous (and apparently inflatable) plant that attacks and kills the lady, depositing her corpse on the shore. Soon after this, another type of plant resembling a creepy, pulsing suction cup lampreys itself onto Adams' right breast! The men quickly free her (and just as I began to think all the plant life had a taste for human females) the island's natives take everyone prisoner. The native chief explains they have lived in this taboo place for years and wish to be left alone. After witnessing another of his companions die unexplainably after seeing his likeness on a voodoo doll Knight agrees, and the rest of the party are allowed to go home. The End.

Voodoo Island is a bore, pure and simple. A dull story, pedestrian acting, silly dialog and a complete lack of explanation for anything that occurs puts this on the list of the worst Karloff movies I've ever seen. I can't blame poor Boris too much — he tries hard to sell his lines, but he's asked to spout some very stupid things. Humorously, some of his most memorable lines are when he is trying to convince the group not to return to their boat and leave. His incredible argument for staying in the obviously deadly jungle is hysterical and actually had me laughing out loud. If the film had maintained this level of nuttiness I think we'd have had a cheese classic. But unfortunately this scene, the inflatable plant monster attacks and the silly romance are the only things that inject any life into this thing. I thought things were going to improve when character actor Elisha Cook Jr. showed up as the money-hungry owner of a nearby island, but even his efforts can't raise much interest. The bad script just can't be overcome.