Cushing's worst performance, 5 February 2005
I, Monster is Amicus' take on the Jekyl and Hyde story. I won't go into details on the plot as most everyone is familiar with the story. From a couple different sources I've read that I, Monster may be the most faithful adaptation of Stevenson's book ever put to film. I don't know about that, I've never read the book. The biggest change from the book seems to be the names - instead of Jekyl and Hyde, we have Marlowe and Blake.
I had been looking forward to seeing this movie for a while. Any movie with both Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing is high on my "to see" list. To say that I was disappointed would be an understatement. Usually, no matter how bad the material may be, you can usually count on Lee and Cushing to at least provide some degree of entertainment. Not here. This is the first movie I've ever seen with Cushing that I did not enjoy his performance. He acted as if he knew how bad things were. Much of the movie is an utter bore with everyone just sitting around spouting inane dialogue. I don't mind a slow moving story (for example, The Mummy (1933) is one of my favorites) but this is torture.
In I, Monster, Marlowe is allowed to slowly progress with each injection into a hideous monster. It is a progression into evil. It's a nice touch that I think improves on past versions of the story. But it brings up one of my major complaints about the movie. I do not understand how some of Marlowe's friends failed to realize he was Blake the first time they ran into him. Just ridiculous. The only physical change that Marlowe experienced at first was a grin on his face and messed up hair.
Next time I have a desire to see Lee and Cushing together, I'll pick something like Horror of Dracula or The Curse of Frankenstein.
4/10
Fantastic, 5 February 2005
A lot has happened to Susy Hendrix in the past year - she lost her sight in an auto accident, she got married, and now her husband has unknowingly brought home a doll full of heroin. Three men will do whatever it takes to get the doll. At first they try to trick her. When this doesn't work, they resort to violence.
The con the three men attempt to work on Susy is amazing to watch unfold. They come to her one at a time with a story that slowly unfolds. They force Susy to believe that her husband was involved with a murder of a woman and that finding the doll is the only way to save him. The con reaches a point where Susy would do anything to get rid of the doll. But they push their luck a little too far and Susy starts to suspect that something is wrong. The con men believe they could pull one over on her because she is blind, but that doesn't mean she is stupid. Wait Until Dark may not be a traditional horror movie, but the final fifteen minutes or so with Susy and Roat alone in the darkened apartment are as gut-wrenching as I've ever seen. The horror comes from the situation Susy is faced with, the fact that we already know what Roat is capable of, and Susy's fragility and blindness. Together, these factors make for a very exhilarating ending.
The acting in Wait Until Dark is phenomenal. I cannot tell you how impressed I was with Audrey Hepburn playing the blind Susy Hendrix. I bought her "blind act" from the first moment she appeared on screen. I'm not surprised that Hepburn was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance. And Alan Arkin is so deliciously psychotic as Roat. You really get the feeling he is capable of anything. Richard Crenna and Jack Watson are also quite good as the ther two con men.
9/10
