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Reviews
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
Fun Monster Rally with Bud & Lou
ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948) - To many this represented the end of the Universal Classic Monster Movies. In some ways it was, but, in retrospect it's such an affectionate film that it's fondly remembered today. It's also one of the comic pair's best films.
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, taking a cue from Uni's 'monster rallies' (HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN/DRACULA) gathered the brood together for this comic monster bash. Bela Lugosi returns as Dracula, along with Glenn Strange as Frankenstein's monster and Lon Cheney Jr. As Lawrence Talbot/The Wolfman. Vincent Price's cameo is the cherry on top. Earlier drafts of the screenplay included The Mummy and Count Alucard (Robert Lees, Frederic Rinaldo and John Grant are the credited writers). The supporting cast includes Jane Randolph and Frank Ferguson.
Ironically, A & C didn't really want to do the film and acted up on set much to Director Charles Barton's displeasure. Fortunately, everyone soldiered on and it ended up being a sizable hit. Supposedly, Boris Karloff reluctantly agreed to help promote the film even though he didn't appear it; But, on the condition that he didn't actually have to watch it! It's much better looked upon today, even garnering status on the National Film Registry. It's often part of Universal's boxed sets.
Blitz (2024)
A superb nightmarish dream
Steve McQueen's WWII drama is a superbly conceived nightmarish dream. The film plunges directly into a German blitzkrieg of London in 1940. Rita, a single mother (Saoirse Ronan) and her young mixed race son George (Elliot Hefferman) are riding it out with her father (Paul Weller; yes the musician). George has never met his own father. The British government is evacuating children from the city and George is sent away very much against his will. He hops from the train and escapes. McQueen sets his tale over only a few days, constructing it with mother and son apart for much of it. The bet pays off with Rita working as a 'Rosie the riveter' type in a government factory, while George goes on a harrowing adventure. Their separation is a key motif.
Ronan is superb as always, bringing determination to her scenes. Even when off-screen, her presence never leaves the film. George's travels mix childhood innocence with hardened realities. He encounters both the best and the worst of humanity along the way including a proud black soldier, Ife (Benjamin Clementine), who takes the boy under his wing while he can. In a Dickens touch, George ends up for a spell with a gang of looting thieves, but this is no mere Oliver Twist nod - it's all part of the wayward son's journey. Hefferman is quite good in a quiet intense manner. Both mother and son encounter government authority figures who too often put 'proper' protocol above their own citizenry.
BLITZ is visually astonishing. Adam Stockhausen's production design is stunning, as is Yorick Le Saux's 35mm cinematography and Hans Zimmer's gorgeous score. McQueen's vision of the horrible beauty of war is staggeringly rendered with balletic montages of bombs floating towards their targets and the bombed out, otherworldly landscapes of rubble and smoke. No matter how impressive the visuals are, McQueen (who also wrote) never forgets the humanity of the situation. George's odyssey of self-discovery, identity and will is clearly personal for the filmmaker, but he truly succeeds in making it so for the viewer as well.
Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972)
Underrated sequel provides ghoulish fun
DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN (1972) It doesn't have the reputation of the original, but, this is a worthy follow-up again re-teaming Vincent Price and Director Robert Fuest. Virginia North wasn't available so Valli Kemp plays Vulvania this time 'round. Caroline Munro repeats as Phibes' wife, Victoria.
Phibes travels to Egypt to search for the secret of eternal life. He dispatches, in very creative Phibean ways anyone who gets in his way including eagles, scorpions and sausage! Phibes' main enemy is Biederbeck played by Robert Quarry, who AIP was grooming to be the new Price.
Fuest and his team have another field day with the sets, costumes and mordant humor. Again, the supporting cast sports a number of interesting performers including Peter Cushing, Fiona Lewis, Terry-Thomas, Hugh Griffith and Beryl Reid. It may not have the ghoulish kick of the original, but, it's still fun and you'll never hear 'Over The Rainbow' quite the same way again!
Revival69: The Concert That Rocked the World (2022)
Solid documentary on Canada's most famous rock festival
1969's Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival is mostly known as the venue where John Lennon's album 'Live Peace In Toronto 1969' was recorded (often cited as Lennon's goodbye to The Beatles). REVIVAL69: THE CONCERT THAT ROCKED THE WORLD by Ron Chapman is a documentary about how the entire concert was put together.
Chapman was able to get on camera interviews with several of the participants including the show's organizers. Originally, it was mainly conceived as an oldies show bringing together Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley and Gene Vincent. The then little known Alice Cooper band was recruited to be both a 'new' act as well as serving as Vincent's backup band. When ticket sales flagged, they paid The Doors to be the headliners. When that didn't move the needle much, they hatched a last minute scheme to get John Lennon to be an MC. Seemingly on a whim, Lennon not only agreed to appear but brought along his wife Yoko and friends (including Eric Clapton) to debut The Plastic Ono Band. It was such a hurried plan that Lennon and his entourage didn't land in Canada until after the show had already begun. The promoters hired a local Biker gang to escort Lennon from the airport and help with the logistics at the venue (fortunately, it worked out better than the Rolling Stones and Altamont!).
Director D. A. Pennebaker (MONTEREY POP) filmed the show and Chapman uses that footage generously throughout. Pennebaker released his own short documentary as SWEET TORONTO* in 1971. The footage shows that it was more than just the John Lennon show. The other artists put on lively sets, in particular Cooper. This is the show where the legend that Cooper bit the head off a chicken was spawned (the reality was more along the lines of the 'Turkey Drop' episode of WKRP In Cincinnati!). L. A. Scenesters Kim Fowley and Rodney Bingenheimer were hired to be the hosts and Fowley is partly credited helping with create the cigarette lighter encore tradition at rock concerts. Unfortunately, The Doors refused to be filmed so there is only scattered footage of the band.
It's a well put together Documentary with some interesting interviews with performers Cooper, Klaus Voorman and Robby Kreiger as well as attendees Geddy Lee and critic Robert Christgau. As usual, one wishes to have seen and heard more music. Fortunately, in addition to SWEET TORONTO, more of Pennebaker's footage exists online and on various home video releases. REVIVAL69 is a fascinating tale of Canada's most famous rock fest.
On DVD the Doc is better known as JOHN LENNON AND THE PLASTIC ONO BAND: LIVE IN TORONTO.
Freebie and the Bean (1974)
Frenetic buddy cop film
Frenetic comedic crime drama which stars James Caan and Alan Arkin respectively as the two lead cops. It's more silly than genuinely funny and takes an oddly serious tone towards the end. Fine stunt work with an interesting supporting cast (Alex Rocco, Valerie Harper*, Jack Kruschen, Loretta Swit and a startling turn by Christopher Morley). The plot doesn't really matter here as its more about the mayhem and very un-PC jokes. Worth seeing for Caan and Arkin.
FREEBIE AND THE BEAN is sometimes attributed to be the first buddy cop film (LETHAL WEAPON, 48 HOURS etc.). Rush would do much better with his next - THE STUNT MAN.
* Another example of how shallow The Golden Globes are is that Valerie Harper was nominated for Best Newcommer despite having already won Three Emmys as well as having being in the business since the early 60s!
Emilia Pérez (2024)
On operatic ride from Jacques Audiard
EMILIA PEREZ (2024) Jacques Audiard's operatic EMILIA PEREZ is a wild ride that combines Neo-Noir, Telenovelas and Musicals in adapting his own Libretto (which in turn was inspired by the book Ecoute by Boris Razon). The title character is a Mexican Drug Cartel kingpin known as Manitas ('Handyman') who wants to transition into a woman (played by Karla Sofia Gascon). He pays handsomely for an up and coming lawyer, Rita Mora Castro (Zoe Saldana) to handle the details clandestintely. Manitas is married with two kids to Jessi (Selena Gomez). Rita soon learns that this isn't a temporary assignment.
To say things get complicated for Emilia, Rita and Jessi is an understatement. Audiard and his writing collaborators bounce from emotion to emotion. The characters burst out in song and dance with the lively soundtrack by Camille and Clement Ducol. Saldana performs multiple numbers with exuberance if not the technical skill of Gomez (naturally). Gascon is a strong presence throughout. Paul Guilhaume's Cinematography is excellent.
The shifting dramatics aren't always smoothly aligned but Audiard and his cast give it all a compassionate gravitas. The theme of never being able to fully escape one's past is effectively delivered. EMILIA PEREZ is that rarity where a movie combines familiar, bordering on cliché, elements, while still feeling fresh.
The Substance (2024)
Body Horror satire with fine lead perfomrances
Fountain of Youth tales go back centuries, as do stories of Hollywood valuing physical attractiveness and vigor. French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat goes at those themes with a vengeance in THE SUBSTANCE (which she also wrote).
Elizabeth Sparkle is an Oscar winning actress who's had a second career as an Exercise and Fitness guru on a long-running TV show (shades of Jane Fonda). When she hits the big 5-0, her piggish Producer (Dennis Quaid) named Harvey (wink, wink) decides it's time to put her out to pasture. After a medical procedure, a handsome Nurse (Robin Greer) slips her a note with a phone number about a mysterious potion that will change her life - The Substance. Desperate, Elizabeth contacts the clandestine outfit and goes through the process. Shazam! Elizabeth spawns a gorgeous doppelganger dubbed Sue (Margaret Qualley). The catch is that the two halves can't co-exist: Elizabeth must be dormant while Sue is dominant, and vice-versa. They are self-vampires.
Fargeat and her team have made a sharp looking picture. Stanislas Reydellet's production design emphasizes the isolation of the Elizabeth/Sue hybrid. It's all long corridors and large, mostly empty, stark spaces. A huge Picture of Dorian Grey-like portrait of a youthful Elizabeth looms over the main living area. Benjamin's Kracun's cinematography is appropriately cold and sleek, while Raffertie's music booms and bounces (quoting Bernard Herrmann's VERTIGO and Strauss' "Thus Spake Zarathustra"- is not entirely successful). The book-ended prologue and epilogue are spot on.
Fargeat's screenplay has a number of darkly witty moments and certainly hits its satirical targets concerning beauty, fame and vanity. It's a stroke of genius to cast Moore as the lead here as she has certainly been the object of much discussion about aging in Tinseltown, wearing her own plastic surgery as visible reminders of the pressures of maintaining those impossible standards. She's excellent, but it would be remiss to not mention that Qualley more than holds her own. Unfortunately, the movie mostly runs out of steam halfway through. It's few observations aren't so much expanded upon as repeated over and over.
Part of the issue here is the symbiotic Jekyll and Hyde nature is split into two distinct bodies. The mechanics of The Substance inherently work against the psychological possibilities here. The covert entity behind the product keeps insisting that Elizabeth and Sue "are one", but they rarely share the screen, instead opting for the pair to mutter under their breath about how the other is ruining their individual life. Further, Fargeat further isolates the pair by having so few supporting characters. Neither Elizabeth nor Sue seem to have any friends, relatives or work confidantes. They literally have "no life" (clearly part of the script's plan, but not very edifying nor dramatic). Harvey is a garish cartoon figure as are the other all male authority figures - they make the Mattel execs in BARBIE seem like well rounded gentlemen by comparison. Having even one female person in charge (or as an enabler) would have added some much needed layering to the satire. Fargeat instead opts for base parody.
By the time Fargeat tries to top Norma Desmond's fall from sanity, the movie has exhausted itself - and, yet lingers on for another 20 minutes or so. The makeup effects (by Olivier Afonso and team) are very well done and there's nothing inherently wrong with extreme body horror but it all overstays its welcome. David Cronenberg has long been looked upon as the master of this sub-genre and for good reason - he understands that pulp should be swift and to the point (there are several specific allusions to his version of THE FLY here). A more recent example is the Cannes Award winning TITANE by Julia Ducourneau. THE SUBSTANCE is a fascinating and entertaining film. It's also hard to dislike a movie too much that depicts snow in Los Angeles!
Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger (2024)
Scorsese tells the story of Powell & Pressburger
The more accurate title is: The Films of Powell and Pressburger: As Told By Martin Scorsese (the credited Director is David Hinton).
Be that as it may, MADE IN ENGLAND is a fairly thorough overview of filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger who collaborated on a series of films spanning from the late 1930s to the early 1970s (their company was called The Archers). The most famous are THE RED SHOES, BLACK NARCISSUS, A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH and THE LIFE AND DEATH OF COLONEL BLIMP. There are generous clips from the movies put into context by the ever-present Scorsese. Old filmed interviews as well as personal photos and home movies illustrate their lives and careers - both together and separately. Powell's most known work outside the collaboration were 1940's THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (co-Director) and, most infamously, PEEPING TOM. Many of the excerpts from their films are recently restored, and look smashing.
Scorsese admired their work from afar from an early age, and got to know Powell on a personal level over the Englishman's last two decades of his life (Scorsese's longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker is Powell's widow). Occasionally, Scorsese stretches the influence of Powell and Pressburger to on his own work with motifs that are cinema staples in general. It's a minor quibble, but it just adds to the impression that this is Martin Scorsese's story as much as it is Powell and Pressburger's.
MADE IN ENGLAND is a solid introduction to Powell and Pressberger's work - now, go see their films!
My Old Ass (2024)
Witty and wise coming of age film with a sci-fi twist
Set aside the rather impudent title and Megan Park's MY OLD ASS reveals itself as an enjoyable and very touching coming of age tale. Park's screenplay certainly earns it's 'R' Rating with its cheeky explicit language, but at its heart, it's a heartfelt portrait of 18 year old Elliott (Maisy Stella) during the waning days with her family on a rural farm before heading off to college. She messes around with her friends and experiments with sex and drugs.
During a chemically induced high she comes face to face with....herself. Her twenty years older self, that is. Played by Aubrey Plaza (and dubbed "My Old Ass"), her doppelganger drops some cryptic wisdom before disappearing. To Park's credit, she doesn't rely on the movie's gimmick too heavily. This 'ghost of Christmas future' character doesn't overstay her welcome. The focus remains on Elliot and her own development. She has the usual love-hate relationship with her parents and siblings. A young man, Chad (Percy Hynes White) enters the picture. Elliot has a girlfriend Ro (Kerrice Brooks) and quite reluctantly finds herself drawn to Chad. Their relationship takes on a nice arc despite the obstacles. The humor and romance flow naturally, without seeming forced. Stella and White have welcome screen presences.
While stories of young women maturing are plentiful, Park's handling is especially adroit. When the story reaches its turning point, it's genuinely poignant. It's Plaza's moment to truly shine, and she delivers - as does Stella. It's, perhaps, the movie's singular true surprise, but it works. Both versions of Both 'Elliots' take away something deep and determinative from their encounters - as will attuned viewers.
From Beyond the Grave (1974)
Last and one of the best Amicus Horror Anthology films
FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE (1974) The last of the Amicus Horror Anthology films, and one of their best. The wraparound is pretty simple with Peter Cushing playing the proprietor of an Antiques shop full of oddities and curiosities - "Each purchase comes with a novelty surprise", he says. Each of the four chapters is based on stories by R. Chetwynd-Hayes.
The Gatecrasher: A man (David Warner) buys a mirrow which comes to haunt him. It's somewhat similar to a segment of 1945's classic anthology DEAD OF NIGHT, but this is much nastier and grislier. Warner preps for playing Jack The Ripper in TIME AFTER TIME by carrying out a series of murders
An Act Of Kindness: A perverse tale about a man (Ian Bannen) who claims stolen valor to an ex-military man (Donald Pleasence). Pleasence's daughter is a black widow character. She's played by the actor's actual child Angela who casts an eerie pall that is just note perfect here.
The Elemental: A lighter chapter about a couple (Ian Campbell and Nyree Dawn Porter) whose marriage is haunted by the title creature. Margaret Leighton is a clairvoyant who conducts an amusingly over the top exorcism scene. Still, there's a dark denouement.
The Door: A very eerie story about a man (Ian Oglivy) who buys an enormous ornate door that magically transports him and his wife (the lovely Lesley-Ann Down) into the deep past where the door originally came from. The climax is effective even if the fearsome ghost comes off as a bit of a clumsy old man. There's a neat double twist of sorts.
FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE works in the way the best portmanteau movies do - all of a piece. Cushing is very good showing both sides of the charcter - a slightly doddering older gentlemen while providing a delicious taste of menace.
The Stone Tape (1972)
Intriguing Nigel Kneale BBC production
THE STONE TAPE (1972) A BBC production that is notable for a quite fascinating teleplay by Nigel Kneale. Expanding upon themes Kneale explored in Quatermass And The Pit and You Must Listen, The Stone Tape explores the connection between science and the supernatural. An electronics firm purchases an abandoned old building to use as a research facility. The workers soon learn of its history of hauntings and exorcisms going back centuries. The site was also occupied by the American military during WWII.
Michael Bryant plays Peter Brock, the leader of the team who takes it upon himself to discover the secrets of the ghosts using the company's array of technical equipment - and finding an angle to use that knowledge for profit. Jane Asher (DEEP END) is Jill Greeley, a computer expert who immediately senses of the presence of the phantoms.
Kneale ingeniously ties it all together. In many ways, The Stone Tape is the forefather of all the Ghost hunting investigation shows and films that have proliferated ever since. Amusingly, the script also mentions an early form of Virtual Reality which includes the prescient line: "Not even a visor in front of the eyes."
On the downside, Director Peter Sasdy (TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA) has the cast shout too many of their lines. Bryant bellows from the get go, and Asher is too wired even as the opening credits roll. Add in the loud machinery and the cacophony of noises and yelling, and it dampens one's appreciation of Kneale's words. The quiet moments still work, and the finale is both genuinely chilling and carefully crafted. One can see why the telefilm was such a sensation in England.
Oddity (2024)
Effective shocker that doesn't quite stick the landing
Damian McCarthy's Irish shocker centers on Dr. Timmins (Gwilym Lee) who works at a mental institute. A year to the day after his wife's mysterious passing, her twin sister Darcy (Carolyn Bracken - who plays both) insists on staying over in the isolated country home where the death occurred. Darcy is a blind psychic.
Much of the movie takes place on that one long fateful night. Timmins is working late and his new girlfriend Yana (Caroline Melton) is tasked with having to babysit Darcy - much against her will. McCarthy, who also wrote, ratchets up the tension very well with an atmosphere of dread, ominous camera movements and a very active soundtrack. There are a couple of very well timed shock cuts that break up the brooding pace. The title entity is a macabre life-sized wooden doll which Darcy insists on propping up in plain view. It's genuinely gripping.
Unfortunately, once the tale behind the tale is revealed, it comes off as a bit of disappointment. McCarthy leans too much on misdirection and shifting POV. It's one of those movies where everyone has to act in a certain specific way for it to 'work'. It feels more of an unnecessary cheat here because the set up is done in such as smart and sober manner. Still, Bracken is very good in the dual role. The bonding of the twins is effective and palpable (although more should have been made of it). And, the epilogue is delicious.
Ôdishon (1999)
Creepily effective psycho-thriller
AUDITION (1999/2001 U. S.) - Takashi Miike's creepily effective psycho-thriller lulls the viewer in by having the first two acts function as mostly a light drama. Widower Shigeharu (Ryo Ishibashi) buys into a ruse by a Producer friend to set up Auditions for young actresses for a new film - which may or may not even be made. Lots of women apply and try out, but Shigeharu is immediately drawn to an ex-dancer, Asami (Eihi Shiina). Of course, it doesn't hurt that Asami is a long-legged model type with bewitching eyes (Shiina began as a model).
The courtship begins awkwardly, but amicably. Before long it's not clear who is the pursuer and who is the pursued. When Asami suddenly disappears, Shigeharu's obsession becomes compulsive despite a number of warning signs. Miike's film is deliberately paced. Save for a couple of quick flashes, there is little to prepare the viewer for the maximal violence to come. And, it most certainly does.
What's interesting here is that Miike disavows the notion that this is a Feminist tale. Further, he notes that in Asia it's seen more as pure rage and revenge, compared to views in the West. It's an interesting contrast. Either way, AUDITION is sturdy stuff. No matter one's personal interpretation, it forces the viewer to sit up and pay attention - whether they may be the auditioner or auditionee.
Strangler of the Swamp (1945)
Atmospheric Poverty Row Horror
Atmospheric Poverty Row (PRC) thriller about a wrongly executed man (Charles Middleton - Ming from Flash Gordon) who returns to avenge those who put him away. When one of the men dies, his granddaughter (Rosemary LaPlanche) takes over as the village's ferryman across the fog-laden swamp. Future Pink Panther filmmaker Blake Edwards plays La Planche's love interest. Director Frank Wisbar remakes a German film he had made, outfitting it with the more exploitative PRC style. It's effective even at barely an hour long.
For some reason, this has fallen into obscurity even more so than most of the other low budget films of the era. It's not legally streaming (although if you search hard enough, you'll find it). The Image DVD from 25 years ago is fetching $30 or more. It's worth seeing as an example of a creepy B movie.
Asylum (1972)
One of the best Amicus Horror anthologies
ASYLUM (1973) One of the best of the Amicus anthology films. The wraparound story is integral to the movie which keeps it percolating from start to finish. The classical music by Mussogorsky hints right away that they are taking things more seriously here.
"FROZEN FEAR" begins as a standard marital murder case, but the climax is truly chilling. The effects and propmaker technicians really do a bang up job with the body parts. It's even more effective than CGI would because you know they are "real".
"WEIRD TAILOR" is a creepy little tale with Peter Cushing and Barry Morse playing off well opposite each other. The demonic suit is effectively chilling.
"LUCY COMES TO STAY" is the most ordinary of the episodes about an imaginary friend. Charlotte Rampling and Britt Ekland do make for a fetching dual pair.
"MANNEQUINS OF HORROR" again show very good attention to detail in the propmaking with Herbert Lom's demonic dolls, even if they are a bit wobbly when they move.
The wrapup may be somewhat predictable, but Roy Ward Baker's direction is very solid throughout. Robert Bloch's screenplay smartly adapts his own short stories into the portmanteau format.
ASYLUM is worth visiting - maybe, not to stay....but....you never know!
The Kiss of the Vampire (1963)
Very good Hammer Vampire film
KISS OF THE VAMPIRE (1963) - Like a number of Hammer fans, this is one I hadn't seen probably because it didn't have Christopher Lee nor Peter Cushing. It's quite good.
Don Sharp's film begins with a gruesome burial. From there, John Elder's screenplay lulls the viewer in with a somewhat typical - lost couple breaks down and forced to take shelter - narrative. The pair, Gerald (Edward de Souza) and Marianne (Jennifer Daniel), are immediately befriended by the local nobleman, Dr. Ravna (Noel Willman) and his family.
Unlike most of the Lee-Cushing Dracula pictures, KISS sports not only an entire family of Vampires - but, a whole coven. The 'Van Helsing' character, Professor Zimmer (Clifford Evans), isn't the staid upright version that Cushing portrayed, but a beaten down drunken old sod. Dr. Ravna isn't skulking around in cobwebbed old abbeys and graveyards, but in a well appointed, brightly lit mansion. He and his family are cultured and suitably attired. The introduction of Satanism expands the notion of 'evil' that Vampirism represents. In some ways, KISS looks forward to the superb DEVIL RIDES OUT from five years later.
The acting may not have the charisma and panache of the Lee-Cushing films, but KISS' writing and direction more than make up for any small deficiencies there. Indeed, the irony of Hammer may be that the two best "Dracula sequels" may very well be KISS OF THE VAMPIRE and BRIDES OF DRACULA (which had Cushing but not Lee).
Enys Men (2022)
Haunting ambiguous Folk Horror
Writer-Director Mark Jenkins' compellingly odd metaphysical tale set on a foreboding isle (the title translates as Stone Island). It's 1973. A lone Woman (Mary Woodvine) gets up every day, closely examines a half dozen flowers, takes the temperature of the soil they are planted in and drops a rock down a well to measure its water depth. She dutifully writes it all down in a diary. Her only contact with the outside world is through a ham radio which works sporadically due to an unsteady power source. She also receives some music and bits of news from a standard desktop radio.
As time goes on, the Woman (unnamed) wanders around the island. Fragments and pieces of the place's history are strewn about or in a state of disrepair: a church, a mine and the remains of ship wreckage. There's a large standing stone looming over her small home that has taken on an almost human appearance. A few times, The Woman passes behind the rock and disappears from view, as if she were absorbed into it. The isle has seen boats and seamen come and go - and sometimes never pass by intact. The Woman also sees phantoms - a young girl, a Priest, male workers, a baby, a group of maidens etc.. Are they real? Is the Woman one or more of them? Jenkins isn't interested in answers, as much as evoking mysteries.
Soon the flowers begin to show symptoms of lichen - a combination of fungus and algae that is consuming much of the habitat. ENYS MEN has its roots in folklore and there are even bits of body horror.
Jenkins and his very small team create their own world. The physical movie itself is like an artifact from the 70s. It's shot on purposely grainy 16mm in the old school 1:33 aspect ratio. Jenkins also did the Cinematography, Editing and Score. Further, it's as if the whole film itself is an heirloom - a physical print with scratches, splices and even hairs in the gate. Is the print actually a movie or does it represent the woman's consciousness? Has it preserved actual events or just her memories and those of the villagers and seamen who have passed?
ENYS MEN is a film to be experienced and contemplated. It won't satisfy those who want clear explanations, but, it's the kind of film that haunts the soul.
MaXXXine (2024)
Very watchable if somewhat disappointing end to the Trilogy
Ti West's wrap up to the Maxine/Pearl trilogy is an eminently watchable, if disappointing thriller, set in the mid-80s. Mia Goth again plays the main character, now a Porn Star who wants to go 'legit' by doing a horror film with the hopes that it will make her a real star.
West (who also wrote) does a decent job evoking the era. He ups the stakes by setting it against the back drop of the Night Stalker case and the decade's Satanic Panic. The Los Angeles locations are authentic including scenes at Universal and Warner Brothers studios. The supporting cast includes Kevin Bacon as a sort of Southern fried Jake Gittes, Elizabeth Debicki as an up and coming film director who aspires to being an artist with a capital "A", Giancarlo Esposito as a very hands on Agent, and Michelle Monaghan and Bobby Cannavale as detectives. They all are good, with Bacon and Cannavale having the juiciest roles. A couple of the lines about Hollywood are amusing throwaways. Still, without Goth, none of it works. She's clearly channeled this character, and you sense it on screen.
On the downside, West insists on including incredibly graphic violence in close-up that once would have earned it an NC-17 (or, at least a trip back to the MPAA). Sure, it's a "horror film", but it feels over the top even in that context. West's experiments in this trilogy over three distinct time periods is more interesting in concept and design than results. MAXXXINE intentionally looks like some modern update on 80s revenge pictures from the likes of Cannon and New World. West seems to think that aping those films but with a "smart" 21st century perspective is enough; But, for all of Goth's fine work (and, to be fair, West's technical skill) it can't help but feel like an empty exercise. For all its attitude it still ends up being just a grindhouse exploitation movie itself. There aren't any true insights nor commentary, just a juiced up modern version of the same old. West has talent (and, for now, Goth), but, his retro obsession is becoming a dead end.
The Amusement Park (1975)
A remarkable creative document from Romero
THE AMUSEMENT PARK (1975/2019) Shot in 1973 and shelved after a couple of showings in 1975, this George Romero public service film about elder abuse has been rediscovered and remastered.
In many ways, this is a pretty remarkable document. It's a one hour semi-surrealist nightmare about an elderly man (Lincoln Manzel, who also does the introduction) who goes to an Amusement Park. There, he experiences the nightmare rides of his life: Driving, health care, indifferent and even hostile youth, poverty and just general neglect. Not having to adhere to a set 'plot', frees Romero to create some of his most striking scenarios. One bit about the man being shooed away while he's eating crackers and peanut butter and then having rats descend upon his food is as horrifying as anything in his Living Dead pictures. Romero understood that 'reality' is as frightening as anything one could conjure. It's clear why the film was just too odd, too real, for its intended purpose of being a PSA (it was financed by the Lutheran Service Society).
It's not perfect, but THE AMUSEMENT PARK is a glimpse at what Romero could have achieved if he hadn't been pigeonholed. He often played with other styles when making his commercials and industrial films (a Calgon commercial done as a parody of FANTASTIC VOYAGE etc.). This film was shot just before THE CRAZIES and one will notice several of Romero's past and future collaborators in the credits such as Richard R. Rubenstein, the Hinzmans and Michael Gornick. It's a fascinating film that is worthy of reappraisal.
Trivia: Manzel (who was also ion Romero's MARTIN) was 70 when he shot the film. He lived another 36 years! The location, West View Park in Pennsylvania, closed just four years after this movie was made.
The Monster Club (1981)
Fun to see Price & Carradine together; It has its moments
MONSTER CLUB (1981) - Always wanted to see this anthology film which matched up Vincent Price and John Carradine*. The pair are the linking device to three tales. Carradine is a horror writer, Price a vampire who introduces the scribe to real monsters at an underground club. The joint looks like a cheap knockoff of the Cantina scene in Star Wars with extras in dime store Halloween masks cavorting to mediocre BritPop performed on the tiny stage (the one notable group is The Pretty Things). The stripper routine where she takes it ALL off is amusing (of course, a remake would be completed by CGI).
"Shadmock" is about the title creature, Raven (James Laurelson), who has cloistered himself in a mansion. He hires a young woman, Angela (Barbara Kellerman), to inventory his collection of valuable antiques. As a Shadmock, Raven has the power to destroy a living being with his demonic whistle. It's a decent segment propelled by Laurelson's sympathetic performance.
"Vampires" is fully tongue in...er...cheek, with the nocturnal Count (Richard Johnson) and his family (his wife is played by Britt Eklund) being hunted down by a latter-day Van Helsing, Pickering (Donald Pleasance). It's fitfully amusing. Beware musical instrument cases!
"The Ghouls" should have been the big full scale horror finale, but simply doesn't work. Stuart Whitman plays a horror film director who, on a location scout, stumbles into a hidden village full of grave robbing ghouls. It plays out as a kind of a precursor to M. Night Shyamalan's THE VILLAGE with a clan living in a secluded area in plain sight as it were - but, this is even less convincing than that film (the fog machine works overtime, but is defeated by shooting in bright daylight). Lesley Dunlop is good as a half-human, but Whitman is very hammy when he's not just plain flat.
Amicus had a lot of the same issues as Hammer Films in adapting their horror formula to the then modern world (Price's character quips about how it's "cheaper" to shoot present day, not period). Real locations such as the Shadmock's estate are a lot better than the bargain budgeted sets. THE MONSTER CLUB is worth wading through once to see Price and Carradine - and for a few moments here and there. It was to be Roy Ward Baker's (QUATERMASS AND THE PIT) final film.
*Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee were also given offers. A couple of years later, all four would appear in HOUSE OF LONG SHADOWS.
Mark of the Vampire (1935)
Well made Horror mystery with an uncanny Caroll Borland
MARK OF THE VAMPIRE (1935) Tod Browning's thriller is still an enjoyable mystery, even despite allegedly being shorn of some 20 minutes of footage. You get both Lionels - Barrymore and Atwill - plus, Bela Lugosi as Count Mora and Caroll Borland as Luna. The ending remains controversial among horror fans, but this is a well mounted film beautifully shot by the master of light, James Wong Howe. MGM could afford production values that Universal could only aspire to back in the 30s. It's amazing that Borland has remained a horror icon for decades despite this being only one of a handful of screen appearances.
Octaman (1971)
Goofy fun Creature From The Black Lagoon knockoff by the same writer
Writer-Director Harry Essex tried to recreate the basic template from THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON which he wrote the screenplay. A mutant half-man sea creature (this time an Octopus hybrid) wrecks havoc on a scientific expedition, grabbing the lone female, attacks their boat, baits and traps them, gets caught in a net etc. Etc.. No underwater ballet between Pier Angeli and stuntman Read Morgan as the title beast (Morgan was no Ricou Browning!). Actor Jeff Morrow has a small role (he was in a BLACK LAGOON sequel) to extend the connections.
Future seven time Oscar winner Rick Baker got his first credit as a monster designer working with effects veteran Doug Beswick. The creature design is good (particularly in the closeups of the head), unfortunately, Essex insists on shooting the beast in broad daylight and on all kinds of terrain which does the costume no favors.
Essex' script is middling at best. Sure, it teases out some of the elements which made BLACK LAGOON such a memorable production (he also wrote the screenplay for IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE), but it mostly falls flat here. In particular, the middle act gets extremely slow. Kerwin Matthews (7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD) is decent, as is Angeli, but the acting doesn't rise about the material. It's decent enough matinee material with a tad more gore than expected, and, for once in a low budget film, they show the monster early and often!
La bête (2023)
Henry James meets A.I.
THE BEAST (2024) - Henry James meets AI. Bertrand Bonello's very loose adaptation of James' novella "Beast In The Jungle" takes the kernel of the author's 80 page work and expands it into an 145 minute epic spanning three time frames some 130 years apart (Guillaume Bread and Benjamin Charbit co-wrote).
Lea Seydoux plays Gabrielle across all three periods of the story. Her suitor is Louis (George McKay). For the first half of the movie, the screenplay mainly focuses on two time eras: 1910, in which Gabrielle is a married pianist who is drawn to Louis. 2044, which posits Gabrielle in a future where she recognizes him, but not vice-versa. Later, a third epoch, 2014, takes center stage. In this era, Louis is a misogynist and Gabrielle a model-actress who becomes the target of his target of attention (this portion is said to based on a true crime case).
Bonello cuts back and forth freely between the years, using aspect ratios and media (film and digital) to signal the shifts in time. It's an adventurous concept which, occasionally, evokes Resnais' LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD as much as James. The notion of a relationship spanning across time is an inherently fascinating one even if it doesn't all quite work.
Seydoux is on camera for virtually the entire film. She brilliantly evokes her Gabrielle at all three phases/versions of her life. She makes each of them distinct, while also capturing the characters' enduring essence. McKay is also quite good, even if his Louis isn't as singular (by design). There are other characters, but none are all too significant.
In addition to the themes of love and commitment, Bonello also uses dolls as a common symbol, with the most significant being a very human android named Poupee Kelly (Guslagie Malanga) in the future. The lead character being apprehensive about their future which is a theme in James's book is magnified exponentially by Bonello.
Unfortunately, the modern (2014) story is so divergent in tone from the others, that it seriously harms the flow of the film. Thematically, one could stretch and pull in order to force it into the carefully laid out past and future sections to make it "fit", but it never comes together. Further, it's the longest (and largely unbroken) segment to boot - not to mention distasteful. The James roots were already tenuous, but this portion renders any connection almost moot.
THE BEAST is a sharp looking film. The Beatles-like Nehru Jacket is a nice touch in the disco. The central ideas are powerful, and Seydoux is superb. It's a movie worth exploring as much for noting it's flaws as admiring its moxie.
The Shout (1978)
Arthouse horror with stellar cast
An arty psychological horror film adapted from Robert Graves' short story by Polish Director Jerzy Skolimowsksi (DEEP END, EO) and writer Michael Austin. It begins at a mental hospital and is told largely in a deliberate flashback by Charles Crossley (Alan Bates), who relates a tale of how one of the patients, Anthony Fielding (John Hurt), was institutionalized after losing his wife, Rachel (Susannah York).
It's a wild story of Crossley returning to Devon, England after years spent in Australia. He invites himself into Anthony and Rachel's lives. Crossley claims to have acquired magical powers from the Aborigines he lived with, including having the ability to kill all living beings within earshot when he produces: "The Shout".
Sound plays a crucial role throughout, not only by the title emitence, but, with all the pastoral sounds in the countryside - wind, animals and seascape. Anthony is an avant-garde composer who manipulates audio into music. The score, by Genesis members Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford, is also experimental (the electronics are by Robert Hine). The film was notable for being released in Dolby Stereo, which was rare for an arthouse release at the time.
The acting of the lead trio is exemplary. Bates is quite commanding and York pulls off the trickiest of the roles here. Tim Curry has an important supporting role, and future Oscar winner Jim Broadbent appears as one of the patients in his first credited role. As with many films dealing with mental illness going back to CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI, the question becomes: "Who is really sane?". Skolimowski pulls it off fairly well, even if parts of the storyline may disappoint in retrospect. There are some genuinely chilling moments along the way, and the film does have a certain haunting quality.
Aku wa sonzai shinai (2023)
devastating tale of the clashing of values
Ryusuke Hamaguchi's followup to his masterful DRIVE MY CAR confronts the audience with its title but eases the viewer in with a long pastoral credit sequence. Then, an abrupt cut. Hamacuchi and cinematographer Yoshio Kitagawa do this a few times during the movie, as if jarring the viewer to pay attention.
Takumi (Hitoshi Omika) is a local jack of all trades in a small secluded Japanese mountain village. He lives his daughter, Hana (Ryo Nishikawa). Takumi and his circle of friends are happy with their quiet life, but their tranquility is threatened when a large firm decides to build a glamping (glamour camping) development in the area. The company is so large that when they hold a town meeting, they outsource the task to a pair of publicists (Ryuji Kosaka and Ayaka Shibutani) - further alienating the residents.
Writer-Director Hamaguchi isn't so much interested in the nuts and bolts aspects (although that meeting amusingly delves deeply into such details as sewerage), as setting up a parable about man and nature. Hamaguchi meticulously reveals how even one small change to the Eco system can upset the natural order and balance of life.
This isn't to say that Hamaguchi completely abandons the fine tuned dialogue that made DRIVE MY CAR so indelible. There's an extended sequence when the two corporate flacks have a lengthy and fascinating personal discussion as they drive out to try and offer Takumi a role in the glamping scheme. The one significant critique here is that the movie does strain a bit in trying to make its argument. Hamaguchi has said that he began the project as a half hour dialogue free short subject. The seams do show. Still, the filmmaking is top notch and the mostly amateur cast gives it a grounded reality no matter how high-minded the themes get. The finale is devastating and will stay with you long after the fade-out.