- Taste of Fear
Excellent B&W Hammer, 4 February 2005
Scream of Fear aka Taste of Fear (1961) is a marvelous, unknown (at least to me) Hammer film. The story concerns a girl in a wheelchair going to live with her Dad whom she hasn't seen in years. Upon arrival, she meets her stepmother for the first time and is informed that her Dad is away on business. That night, she investigates a strange light in the summer house and discovers here dead father. In her horrified state, she falls into the pool. After she's revived, an investigation of the summer house reveals nothing. As the strange events continue to occur, the local doctor begins to doubt her sanity. But, with the help of the chauffeur, she's determined to get to the bottom of the mystery before she is either killed or driven insane. Anymore of the story would ruin it for anyone who hasn't seen the movie.
I've seen some call Scream of Fear "predictable". While I agree to a certain extent, there are enough twists and turns in the plot to keep most anyone guessing. While I may have seen some of the events coming, I could have never guessed the ending. To me, it was an "edge of the seat" movie from start to finish.
The acting is first rate. All four of the major characters are brilliantly played. Susan Strasberg is convincingly fragile as the wheelchair-bound Penny Appleby. Ronald Lewis and Ann Todd are perfect as the chauffeur and stepmother, respectively. And, although all he does is come to dinner and talk psycho mumbo jumbo, Christopher Lee is mysterious and convincing as Dr. Gerrard.
Everything else about this film, from the beautiful black & white photography to the creepy score, is perfect. I've really got nothing bad to say.
8/10
- Le lac des morts vivants
What was that?, 4 February 2005
A group of Nazi soldiers are gunned down by the locals in a small French village. Deciding they must hide the bodies as quickly as possible, the dead Nazis are thrown into the local lake. Twelve years later, several young females either go missing or turn up dead. Could it be the legend the locals call "The Ghost of the Lake"? The Nazis have come back as zombies to seek their revenge on the people of the village.
There are a lot of bad movies, but Zombie Lake must surely be near the top of the heap. To start with, the pacing is non-existent. The movie gets off to a snails pace and goes downhill from there. By the time the flashback sequence rolls around, things come to a grinding halt. The acting is just as bad. I would be amazed to learn that anyone other than Howard Vernon ever had much of a career in acting.
There are scenes in Zombie Lake that will amaze and astound. Some of the more memorable moments include:
- Zombies with ever changing skin color. When the zombies first emerge from the lake, the skin color is almost normal. Within a matter of minutes, the zombies are a fluorescent green. In some scenes, the whole head and neck are green. In the blink of an eye, only the face is green.
- Zombies have feelings too. The sight of the love sick zombie staring hopefully at the house of his former lover is almost too much to take.
- Zombies make good fathers. As if the love sick zombie wasn't enough, imagine a green faced zombie walking down the street holding his little girl's hand.
- Boots are fascinating. The movie gives us several minutes of shots of zombie boots stumbling along a path. At first, they go left. Next, they go right. The excitement was almost more than I could take.
- 12 year old girls are the best defense against zombies. Of course no one in the village except the little girl has the slightest idea of how to kill the zombies.
- Zombies pull knives on each other. Watching two zombies roll around on the ground as they try to stab each other is one of the most amazingly ridiculous sights I've ever seen. They should have asked the 12 year old girl about how to fight a zombie.
- There's so much more, but you get the idea.
The ineptitude on display is amazing. But, then again, the movie was directed by Jean Rollin and co-written by Jesus Franco. I don't know why anyone would expect any better.
Even though I've rated Zobmie Lake a 1/10, I still recommend the movie to anyone with a stomach for bad cinema. This movie really must be seen to be believed.
1/10
It might be good, 4 February 2005
The Black Raven is another movie that IMDb has incorrectly listed as a "Horror/Mystery". "Mystery" - I'll give you. "Horror" - None that I saw.
The basic story: Several varied travelers are forced to stay at an inn by a thunderstorm that has washed out the roads and bridges. One of the guests has $50,000 that he stole from the bank where he worked. When one of the guests is murdered, it seems that everybody had a motive. And to complicate matters, the $50,000 is missing. Who did it? You'll have to watch to find out.
The movie stars George Zucco and Glenn Strange. Both were veterans of both B-pictures and mainstream horror. The performances of Zucco and Strange, as well as most of the rest of the cast, is superior to what you normally find in a PRC production.
The film has tons of atmosphere. The big, dark inn, the thunderstorm, the hiding places, and the characters' motivations create a terrific atmosphere for a mystery thriller. The inn, with it's many guest rooms and cellar makes a great setting for a murder.
The problem I had while watching The Black Raven wasn't so much with the movie, but with the DVD I have. The Alpha DVD is VERY dark in some places. It's all but impossible to tell what is going on. The worst is that one of the dark spots occurs during the final events of the movie leading up to the killer being revealed. What a shame, because otherwise this would have been a highly enjoyable little murder mystery.
For what it's worth, I'll give the movie a 5/10. It would probably be a point higher if I had been able to see exactly what was happening. Also, I'll give the Alpha DVD a 2/10. I know this is an old film that has probably been given very little care, but the transfer was unacceptable even by Alpha's standards.
5/10
"It all sounds like a lot of superstitious baloney to me.", 4 February 2005
The Black Cat is, quite simply, a horror masterpiece. Almost everything about this film is perfect. I'm not going to go into detail on the story, because if you haven't seen it, you should.
The acting is some of the best you'll ever see in a horror film. Lugosi is at the top of his game. His portrayal of Ygor in Son of Frankenstein may be Lugosi's only better performance. Karloff is wonderfully creepy and mysterious (and has some of the most bizarre hair I've ever seen). Seeing the two work together in The Black Cat is a real pleasure. Although Karloff gets top billing, this is Lugosi's film and he makes the most of it. David Manners and the rest of the cast are more than adequate.
The futuristic house in which the film is set is a departure from the more Gothic, Victorian settings of most of the Universal films. And it works. Thanks to some terrific set design, lighting, and cinematography, the modern house exudes as much atmosphere as any old castle, dungeon, tower, etc.
The Black Cat contains some of the most unsettling scenes of any classic Universal horror film. It is, IMO, the darkest of any of these films. I just wonder how it was viewed by audiences in 1934. Two scenes that immediately come to mind are the black mass performed by Karloff and the torture scene at the end of the film. These scenes are not typical of the Universal classics. They have the power to stick with you long after the movie is over.
But what I really like is the way the story unfolds. At the beginning, you know nothing of what's really going on. Bit by bit, the story unfolds. Many of the plot points are revealed by Lugosi. In fact, if it weren't for Lugosi's monologues, I wonder if anyone would have any idea of what was taking place.
10/10
- Gli orrori del castello di Norimberga
Underrated Bava, 4 February 2005
While I prefer Bava's Black Sunday and Kill Baby...Kill, this is a good movie that I would highly recommend. Baron Blood combines the best elements of a good old-time ghost/haunted house story with a modern day slasher film.
All of Bava's trademarks are here - imaginative lighting, wonderful sets, and dramatic locations. Combined, they create the perfect horror movie atmosphere. Unfortunately, another Bava trademark is here as well - a weak script. There are some plot holes big enough the drive the Baron's castle through. But with Bava's style and skill as a director, the plot problems seem very minor.
The film concerns the evil Baron Otto von Kleist. After having been brought back to life, he continues the murderous ways of the past. There are some truly frightening moments in the film. (I'm not talking just creepy, I mean downright scary.) Examples would include the scenes involving the summoning of the Baron or Elke Sommer running from the Baron through the dark streets.
Speaking of the chase scene, films like Halloween or Friday the 13th were obviously heavily influenced by this movie. One could easily envision either Michael or Jason chasing Elke through the foggy streets.
7/10
Considering it's Beaudine and Monogram - it's not that bad, 4 February 2005
While The Face of Marble will never be confused with a great horror film, it is a decent little movie from the infamously cheap Monogram Pictures and director William Beaudine. John Carradine plays a doctor intent on discovering the secret to bringing the dead back to life. In most scenes, he rises above the material given and delivers a first class performance. The less said about the rest of the cast the better. They can generously be described as wooden and unemotional.
The movie begins with Carradine and his assistant attempting to bring a dead man back to life. After this fails, he tries the procedure on his wife's dog (Carradine's character kills the dog with little or no remorse or care for his wife's feelings). And finally, his wife gets the opportunity to experience the whizzing and sparking machines in his lab. There's also a housekeeper who practices voodoo and has some sort of control over the dog and wife. The housekeeper uses her power to have the dog and wife do her bidding. Under the housekeeper's control, the wife kills Carradine and attempts to kill everyone else in the cast.
For the limited budget, there are actually some good special effects. Some of the scenes where the dog walks through the walls are especially effective. Also, much of the budget appears to have been spent on fancy lab equipment. Carradine has a room full of electronic gadgets similar to those in Frankenstein. The marble effect (from which the movies title comes) is, however, not especially good or memorable.
If you can get past the lackluster supporting performances and the obvious budget constraints, The Face of Marble can be a somewhat fun little film. Not the best, but watchable.
5/10
Where's Hyde?, 4 February 2005
What a lovely movie to look at. Wonderful costumes and sets make this movie a real treat to the eye. Some of the best I've seen in a period horror film. The acting is also quite good. It's just too bad that this is all The Son of Dr. Jekyll has to offer.
It's easy to see why this film was titled The Son of Dr. Jekyll and not The Son of Mr. Hyde. Other than the opening scene where Hyde (I'm not entirely sure it was Hyde) has about five minutes of screen time, we see him for less than 10 seconds in the rest of the film. Very disappointing. Without Hyde, Dr. Jekyll has a tough time carrying a movie by himself.
The movie is really more of a crime mystery than a horror regardless of how it is listed on IMDb. The "son" spends the majority of the movie tying to figure out who is framing him as mad killer. While it is a decent enough idea for a movie, the killer's true identity is given away so early that there are few dramatic or tense moments later on.
4/10
Lugosi, Karloff, and Lorre, 4 February 2005
IMDb lists this film as a Comedy / Horror / Musical / Mystery. While it does have elements of all four genres, none are portrayed very well. The comedy is weak. The horror is almost non-existent. While there are musical numbers, none is very memorable. And the mystery could be solved by a first grader. Sounds pretty bad, huh?
With all this having been said, I still enjoy this movie. Why? Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and Peter Lorre make their only joint appearance in a film (that I'm aware of). Each provides a level of excitement and enjoyment to what would otherwise be a very forgettable movie. In the film, they are plotting together to scheme a rich heiress out of her fortune. It's up to Kay Kyser and his band to save the day. The plot involves psychics, poison darts, ghosts, trap doors, and hidden passageways. If you're a fan of Lugosi, Karloff, and Lorre, You'll Find Out can be fun.
5/10
Dr. X meets the Moon Killer, 4 February 2005
I just love these old, dark house style horror/mystery/thrillers from the 30s. In this one, Lionel Atwill plays Dr. Xavier, the head of a surgical research institute. A series of brutal killings committed by a gruesome figure, nicknamed the 'Moon Killer', points to someone within the institute. The police allow Dr. X the chance to perform an experiment to uncover the killer. Dr. X decides to move the experiment to an old, dark house in order to avoid the prying eyes of the press. The 'press' is played by Lee Tracy in that 30s wise-cracking, fast-talking way that all newspaper men were portrayed. (I was immediately reminded of Glenda Farrell from The Mystery of the Wax Museum, only in this case Lee Tracy is even more annoying.) As the experiment begins, it soon become apparent that the police were right. Someone within the house is a killer, but who? Any more of the story would be too much.
Although the movie is not without flaws, I found Doctor X very enjoyable. The supporting cast includes Fay Wray as Dr. X's daughter. She does her best to prove she was the original 'scream queen'. Also, the staff members/suspects are all wonderfully played in eccentric fashion.
Other things I enjoyed and found to be above average were the set design and the makeup. The set design is impressive. The manor house has everything one comes to expect in this kind of movie. It only adds to the wonderful atmosphere. Also, I felt the makeup (done by Max Factor) was ahead of its time. I found it far more frightening than most movies from this period.
The director, Michael Curtiz, does a wonderful job of building the tension in the final scenes. Very impressive. I really can't say enough about how well he pulled this together with the seemingly limited budget he was working with. (BTW, Curtiz went on to direct such a variety of movies that it really boggles the mind. Included on his resume are the previously mention Mystery of the Wax Museum, The Walking Dead with Boris Karloff, Casablanca, and Elvis in King Creole.)
7/10
