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YES!!!! Horror movie Ironman time!!! I'm starting mine today. Aiming for two films a day, if I do more, great but at least knocking out two a day. This should put me at approximately 100 watched by Halloween. Since this is my first Horror Ironman, I'm going to be going in an approximate historical/chronological order starting with what I've got from the 1920s since anything I've got before that doesn't fit the 60 minute minimum length. Soft goal is aiming for around 6 films per decade minimum. I don't know how far I'll get but I'm looking forward to seeing how close I get. Next year I can play around with ideas like never seen before or themes. To give folks a taste of what I might be sitting through, here's my collection. https://letterboxd.com/m_sinistrari/list/my-movie-collection/ It's not complete, but it's a start of what I've bothered to catalog.
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Sep 14, 2018 22:53
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 1)Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (1920) We're all familiar with the story of Jekyll and Hyde especially since most of us were assigned to read the book in school at some point. This is my first time watching the 1920's movie after seeing tons of pictures of it in Famous Monsters. The 1920's movie isn't so much based on the book but the theatrical adaptation. In this take of the story, Dr. Jekyll is young and goodly to the point he's practically regarded as a saint in the flesh. He's kinda-sorta engaged to Millicent, the sheltered daughter of Sir George Carewe who pretty much partied it up in his youth and now rips on Jekyll for not living it up while he's young. This along with Jekyll getting all frisky when he meets Gina, the Italian dance hall girl is what motivates him to make the potion that turns him into Hyde because as much as a goodly person he is, he got horny and wants to party up without repercussions. Naturally, no good's going to come of this. Here's where the story tends to date itself which is expected as the book's from 1886. Nothing Hyde does aside from the trampling of the child really stands out as depraved debauchery by today's standards. Assholish, yeah. Dickish, yeah. But nothing I haven't seen going down Central Avenue on a Friday night. Jekyll comes across odd in that he runs the free clinic in the poor side of town and really has no personal life. Not sure what it says about our modern society in that we'd probably be more suspicious of someone like Dr. Jekyll than we would of a Mr. Hyde. Well, despite Jekyll remembering all the stuff Hyde gets up to, he still keeps on taking the potion until he's changing without it. Sir George witnesses this and gets killed for it. Eventually people finally start catching on there's something more between Jekyll and Hyde and go to confront Jekyll about it. When Millicent is close to discovering Jekyll is Hyde, he poisons himself and it's said that Hyde killed Dr. Jekyll. All in all, this was worth it to watch from a historical perspective. John Barrymore hams it up to such scene chewing glory the only other actor I've seen pull off this level is Avery Brooks. Also of note is this is Nita Naldi's first role. On a sad note is Martha Mansfield who plays Millicent passed away four years later while filming Warrens of Virginia when her elaborate period costume caught fire resulting in terminal 3rd degree burns.  2)The Golem: How He Came into the World (1920) The main plot of The Golem is fairly straightforward. Set in medieval Prague, the ghetto's Rabbi predicts a wave of persecution for his people, which back then was pretty much any day ending in 'y'. The Rabbi decides to craft the Golem to defend his people with the help of his assistant. There is a side plot of one of the Holy Roman Empire's knights, Florian getting involved with the Rabbi's daughter which we all know already that no good's going to come from this especially with the Rabbi's assistant already giving her the eye. The Golem's originally given simple tasks like helping around the Rabbi's house. My favorite part here is the Golem going into town armed with shopping basket and list just bulling into a store for some grocery shopping. I can only imagine how that sort of thing would play out Wal-Mart. Probably have them open up more than two registers. The Emperor invites the Rabbi to court during the Rose Festival to show off his magic and the Golem gets brought along and earns quite a few 'how you doin'?' gazes from the ladies at court. During this time, Florian arranges to go hook up with the Rabbi's daughter since no one's going to be around. Maybe it's me, but considering the Rabbi's known to be able to perform real magic, if I was Emperor I wouldn't be so quick to want to tick off anyone capable of this sort of thing much less give them reason to get upset at me. Anyway, it's during a display of magic where the court was advised to be silent which naturally they don't manage and the palace begins to fall apart around them. As the Golem manages to save them all, the Emperor grants protection to the people of the ghetto. While everyone's celebrating not getting evicted from the city, the Golem starts acting odd. Turns out during his creation process and invoking the spirit Astaroth, there's an eventual condition/clause that Astaroth will take control of the Golem and wreck havoc. As a precaution, the Golem's deactivated. Naturally this doesn't last as Florian is caught in the Rabbi's daughter's bed by the apprentice who activates the Golem with Astaroth Inside with the end result being Florian gets chucked off the topmost point of the Rabbi's house and the house set on fire. Astaroth gets dispelled out of the Golem who goes back to being chill, then later deactivated by a child he picks up. The deactivated Golem gets carried off by the people in the ghetto as the film ends. This is another film worth seeing for it's historic value. I've sat through it a few times and still can't stop staring at the big old gap in Florian's teeth. From the design of the Golem, it's obvious that it influenced later films such as Karloff's Frankenstein. While there were three Golem films, only the 1920 one remains with the other two, The Golem (1915) and The Golem and the Dancing Girl (1917) are considered lost with some rumors of copies potentially existing in an archive somewhere. For those who've never sat through a pre-Hayes Code film before, they might be surprised at seeing Florian and the Rabbi's daughter in bed together since before the code, all sorts of content we're used to seeing in modern films were happening way back then.
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Sep 15, 2018 05:04
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 3) Haxan: Witchcraft through the Ages 1922 This one's essentially Malleus Mallificarum: The Movie. The film's organized as a mix of documentary with some elements that could be argued as found footage. The beginning is enough to set any history major's teeth on edge with inaccuracies like saying the Egyptian Gods were demons and presuming all ancient cultures had the same concept of the universe. After that segment, the film's balls out wild with depictions of all the stereotypes we know so well including a Black Mass with the Devil presiding, nudity and ample butter churning euphemisms for masterbation and orgies. The film also touches on cases of mental illness that could've been presumed as demonic influence including mass hysteria at a nunnery which one could argue this being the earliest idea of nunsploitation. With the depiction of a witch risking torture and trial if caught along with punishment from the Devil for not being evil enough, it makes one wonder why would they even bother practicing witchcraft in the first place. All in all, definitely worth sitting through as an example of film history, especially with how many clips from this turn up elsewhere. It would probably pair well with VVitch if you're doing a double feature and not mind a lengthy silent film in the mix. I also think this is the only film where the Devil has a set of love handles.  4) Hands of Orlac 1924 This one's an early if not the first example of the body horror subgenre playing on the fears of surgical transplants. I hadn't seen this one before, but have sat through it's remake, Mad Love. The story here is an up and coming concert pianist is in a train accident and loses his hands. An executed killer's hands are transplanted and the pianist begins to wonder if he's inherited the killer's murderus instincts through the hands. I have some issues with some of the pacing in this one, but it's still worth a watch. Veidt really sells the idea of the hands seeming to have a mind of thier own. Interesting tidbit is the film did have some censoring controversy early on, not from the horror aspects but from law enforcement who were concerned with depictions of police procedure potentially educating criminals on how to commit better crimes.
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Sep 15, 2018 20:40
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 5) Phantom of the Opera 1925 God I loving LOVE this movie. In general, my biggest gripe I tend to have with silent films is the pacing which is understandable considering how much silent film is rooted in classic theater sensibilities and I've never really been a theater type person. With Phantom of the Opera, I found it engaging from the get go and it probably has ruined my attempts to read the LaRoux novel. We all know the storyline of the Phantom lives beneath the Opera, has a thing for Christine the singer, and will do anything to further her career and win her love. Of course, this will not go well. The film does awesome in conveying the size of the Opera House, making it believable that someone could get away with living in the depths. The big scenes we all expect from a telling of the story such as the chandelier crashing down and the Phantom's unmasking still pack punch. Knowing how much Chaney was in pain with his makeup to pull off the look just adds to the intensity. Even the tinted color segment at the ball when the Phantom shows up dressed as the Red Death is an eyecatcher. It's enough to make me want to pick up working on my Red Death costume. This film was reissued in 1929 to take advantage of the new sound technology and some editing tweaks, but Chaney was unable to contribute as he was terminally ill with cancer. Both editions are a must see and I loving love them both.  6) The Lodger 1926 This one's Hitchcock's 3rd film and his first thriller. While London is in fear of a serial killer, a suspicious young man rents some lodgings in the area. It's pretty much classic Hitch before such a thing could be said so anyone here can guess how the film's going to turn out. Many of the Hitchcock hallmarks are here for the first time such as editing choices, cinematography options and plot twists. One of the big scenes is watching the lodger pace his room from beneath him. It doesn't have the refinement we come to expect from a Hitchcock film especially with the ending, but it's easy to see the ideas he was kicking around and would develop as the years go on. Another observance I had which I'd love to know if anyone else sees it too, but there does seem a bit of jarring between Hitchcock's direction and the actors performance. They seem to be hamming it up a bit much for a silent film of the era. I wonder if as I mentioned in my previous review that with how much silent film's rooted in stage theater sensibilities that with Hitchcock's envisioning a new style of direction that just doesn't mesh too well and highlights the weaknesses in both?
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Sep 16, 2018 15:33
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Spatulater bro! posted:Did you happen to see it on Blu-ray? I've got the Masters of Cinema release and it looks gorgeous, especially the color scenes. That's on my list of purchases to make after I pay down some stuff. Part of why I love early films is some of the stuff they were experimenting with back then. A lot of things we're more familiar with in later era films were possible earlier but suffered from either being deemed too costly or just people fumbling with the learning curve of the new tech.
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Sep 16, 2018 20:52
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 7) Werewolf of London 1935 It feels like this one gets overlooked when it comes to the other werewolf films. Kinda sad since Werewolf of London brings some interesting angles to the concept. The story starts with Dr. Glendon, a botanist who's gone to Tibet to find a rare plant called the mariphasa which blooms only in moonlight. He gets attacked by a werewolf, but does snag a plant specimen for study. Back in London he meets a Dr. Yogami who claims to have met Glendon in Tibet and warns him about the dangers of being attacked by a werewolf and the mariphasa's effect on lycanthropy. Naturally Glendon doesn't believe him and he starts getting wolfy and we all know nothing good's going to come of this. Loads of nice touches with this one with the mariphasa essentially acting in place of the traditional wolfsbane, the change being effected by a moonlamp in addition to the standard moonlight, the killing bullet not having to be silver, the more balanced human/wolf makeup. I've heard multiple stories behind why Hull's makeup was so different from the style Chaney Jr. used and which ended up becoming the dominant style. One is Hull was too vain to be covered up more wolfy, another was he didn't want to sit in the chair for the hours required and another being that he felt according to the script, the werewolf still had to be somewhat recognizable as Glendon which ended up in a bickermatch with Jack Pierce that had to be settled by Carl Laemmle himself. And to share a personal story with this one, I'd seen Lon Chaney Jr.'s Wolfman before seeing this one and because of how different the werewolves were, my child self interpreted it as the werewolves of other nationalities had thier own differences. American werewolves were more shaggy while British werewolves made sure to put on a proper hat and coat with hair perfect before going out howling. All in all, this one is a favorite of mine. I like it just that skosh more than the later The Wolf Man.  8) Freaks 1932 Ah, what I wouldn't give to be able to see the original version of this one. Part of me just worries that if that ever happens it doesn't suffer from me building it up so much in anticipation. The story's what you would expect from a Tales from the Crypt episode. Hans is a member of a carnival's sideshow and is going to inherit a fortune and is seduced by an attractive trapeze artist who plans on murdering him for his money. His friends in the sideshow find out and well...payback is a bitch. Freaks is notorious for having real people from the sideshows in the movie such as conjoined twins Violet and Daisy Hilton and Prince Randian the Living Torso. The sideshow people are shown to be decent people no different than us while the 'normal' people like the Trapeze artist and her lover the Strongman are shown to be the real monsters. The controversy surrounding this movie practically killed Tod Browning's career, putting him on the studio's shitlist. His last film, Miracles for Sale was in 1939. It was also banned in the UK for 30 years. Reviews of the day were very negative insisting the sideshow people were too horrible to look at as well as it's impossible for a normal man or woman to sympathize with the sideshow people. There were even claims the film was so horrifying it induced miscarriages. It reminds me of all the kerfluffle surrounding The Exorcist. It also makes me wonder how all those critics from then would've handled someone like Peter Dinklage being a major Hollywood star. The original 90 min version is considered lost as the cut footage is believed missing, but then again they've also said that about part of Metropolis and other early films so I still have some hope. But in the end, the film got the last laugh. It's been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for it's significance and regularly ranks high on lists for it's cultural importance. Gooble gobble one of us indeed.
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Sep 17, 2018 04:42
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Random Stranger posted:I've got such mixed feelings on Freaks. On the one hand, I do think it was made in good faith with Browning wanting to show that they're just people. On the other, it's definitely exploitative. It's normal to have mixed feelings on this one. If I'm remembering rightly, Browning did run away to join the circus when he was younger so I do believe he wanted to show the sideshow people as people who just look very different. I also agree a film like this could never be made again. Between medical advancements and societal changes, the conditions that made the sideshow what it was, an avenue for some to make some sort of living and have a support group rather than be abandoned or worse just don't exist anymore. Of course now they also have the option of just getting a show on TLC with better money, better legal representation and investment options.
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Sep 17, 2018 14:57
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 9) Frankenstein 1931 It's hard to believe that people fainted in the aisles seeing this when we're so used to it being on the afternoon movie and usually seeing it when we're kids. I freely admit I prefer the story presented in the movie over the book which I feel is dryer and more dull than dessicated stale toast. To this day, I have yet to finish reading the Mary Shelley novel and even taking into account it's from 1881, I feel it sucks so hard it blows. I wish Ramsey Campbell had done an adaptation under his Carl Dreadstone pen name. I'd snap that up in a heartbeat. Watching Frankenstein when it was on Creature Features is what got me started with my horror movie love. Little me cried my eyes out because I felt so bad for the monster with no one giving him a chance. As with Freaks, there was some censorship issues with this too. Some states had issues with dialog that was cut for release there, Little Maria's death was another that was usually cut. Thankfully some of these cut scenes have been restored for modern prints when they've been found in archives. I know we've all seen this one to the point we probably could write out the script from memory, but I do want to talk about having seen it on the big screen when it was making the rounds as a special viewing some years ago with Bride of Frankenstein. As I've said before in the Horror thread, for as much as I thought I've seen every nuance in Frankenstein, seeing it on the big screen just showed how much I was still missing. Edward Van Sloan's open sometimes would get cut on TV or get used as that last call to grab a drink and snack before the movie proper starts. On the big screen, he's really looking down at you as he gives his cautionary monologe. Even the sets from the cemetary to the lab just pulls you in. Karloff completely sells the pathos of the monster. I got misty eyed in the theater when the monster was reaching for the sunbeam. Interesting tidbits with this one is the tesla coil shown in the lab might've been one made by Tesla himself, and Kenneth Strickfaden who designed the electrical effects doubled for Karloff during some scenes because he was concerned about getting electrocuted by accident. The film's become a cornerstone of how the Frankenstein Monster's depicted such as being shown green because what few color shots seen show him as green even though the color choice was because it was how you could show corpse pallor in black and white film. It's even made people reference the monster as Frankenstein instead of thinking of his creator. If you ever have the chance to see this one on the big screen, drop everything and go. You won't regret it.  10) Bride of Frankenstein 1935 Count me among those who recommend watching Bride right after watching Frankenstein since it picks up while the embers of the windmill are still smoldering from the end of the first movie. The concept of the Bride's creation is in the Mary Shelley book but in that, Henry Frankenstein backs out of finishing. In the movie, Henry goes ahead with it along with the help of his mentor, Dr. Pretorius. Again, little me cried my eyes out that all the monster wanted was a friend and he was getting a raw deal. I'd be happy to be his friend! Again Karloff completely rocks the monster's pathos, but drat if Ernest Thesiger blows it out of the water as Pretorius. Little me would've loved some of his homonculi. I've heard that Lugosi and Claude Rains were potentially considered for the role of Pretorius with varying degrees of credibility but I can't envision anyone pulling off Pretorius as amazing as Thesiger did. Interestingly, apparently Universal after seeing the numbers coming in for Frankenstein were already kicking around the idea for a sequel though Whale didn't think it was a good idea since he felt they told all the story in Frankenstein. Thank God he changed his mind and went ahead with it. As the Hayes code was in place by the time Bride was made, much like how the MPAA seems to use crackhead logic with what gets cut and doesn't, Joe Breen's cuts were focussed more on the amount of murders, dialog, showing too much of the Bride's ta-tas while having no problem with Thesiger's glorious camp or the cruciform imagery. Some countries had issues with the Monster looking at the Bride's unanimated form as necrophilia, and other countries right out rejected showing the film. Like with Frankenstein, Bride's been selected for film preservation due to it's cultural significance.
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Sep 17, 2018 16:23
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Franchescanado posted:
To add to this, sometimes let some time pass and give those movies another try. I sat through Season of the Witch and Martin as a teen and couldn't get into them. Sat through them again in my mid 20s and liked them.
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Sep 18, 2018 13:23
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 11) Dracula 1931 While the Stoker novel's not bad, the storyline for the movie mostly comes from the successful Broadway play with some inspiration from Nosferatu. It's pretty much become the template for most retellings of Dracula. Lugosi had been portraying Dracula on the stage and the role ended up being both blessing and curse for him since while he was propelled to stardom, he was typecast. The edits for Dracula are pretty minor compared to others. There was an epilogue like the intro monologue in Frankenstein which was cut for possibly offending religious groups for promoting a belief in vampires. As far as I go, it's a longtime personal fave to the point Dracula was one of my top costumes for Halloween, followed by Dr. Death from Madhouse and Elvira, when I had the shape to wear it right. Since my DVD is the 2004 Legacy release, I did also sit through the version with the Phillip Glass soundtrack. I'm kinda on the fence with it since in some areas, I do feel it works such as close ups on Dracula with the lighting enhanced stare, but in other areas it came across kinda obstructive such as when Dracula goes to tap the vein on Renfield for the first time. I don't so much hate it as I feel it could've used a better execution.  12) Drácula 1931 Mostly known for being filmed on the same sets as Lugosi's Dracula after the day crew went home, Drácula made the most of what they had from watching the English language dailies to see how they could improve or do differently. It also has a longer run time. Some of the footage used was from the Lugosi Dracula and if you watch carefully you can see it. Overall, I feel the differences between the two makes for a better film on this one. When this came out on video, I lost count how many times I'd recommend it to Spanish teachers coming into Blockbuster for films to show at class because of it's familiarity. I still highly recommend watching this one just to see the differences. I still chuckle at my reaction when Eva is describing Drácula visiting her at night and her saying she felt like she wasn't a virgin anymore. I did a doubletake since I'd never heard virgin get used in a 30s era picture before.
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Sep 18, 2018 19:01
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 13) Supernatural 1933 It figures after 12 good films, I was due to hit a clunker. The premise for Supernatural is Ruth Rogen who murders three of her former lovers after 'an orgy in her sensuous Greenwich Village Apartment' and ends up on death row. A Dr. Houston is convinced that Ruth's spirit will move on and continue killing so he wants to be able to experiment on her remains to I guess prevent this. Ruth's fourth lover who turned her in does scam seances and is looking to scam Roma, an heiress who's brother has passed on. Well, of course the seance goes wrong and Roma gets possessed by Ruth. By now Ruth knows her ex is the one who turned her in to the police and wants revenge. The concept's good but drat the execution fell flat. There's a variety of reasons as to why such as Carol Lombard really didn't want to make a 'horror' film and wanted to stick to comedies, and Randolph Scott felt he was miscast. If there's a film deserving of a remake, it's this one just to see what they can pull off. The elements of vengeful killer's spirit, possession, and seances are a solid combination for making something decent. However, I'm still wondering what makes an apartment sensuous.  14) The Mummy 1931 After that last one, I needed a palate cleanser. For as much as pictures from this one gives the expectation of seeing Karloff in the bandages, it's only a little bit in the beginning, with how smooth Ardath Bey is, you don't really feel like you got hit with a bait and switch. To my knowledge, this is one of the few classic Universal monster movies that isn't based off a book like Phantom or Dracula. I also liked that with the 'Mummy Franchise', Imhotep's story is just the first movie with the rest being centered on Kharis and the Tanna leaves angle rather than come up with a reason for Imhotep to be ressurrected again for another movie. One person I want to talk about is Noble Johnson who plays the Nubian. He was one of the actors who was pretty much a go to when you needed someone to play an 'exotic' type. He was in King Kong, Murders in the Rue Morgue, Most Dangerous Game and a ton of others. While most just think he was just a character actor or a bit player, he did start the first all African-American film studio-the Lincoln Motion Picture Company which was the first to make films that didn't show African-Americans as stereotypes as well as feature an all African-American cast. He did eventually resign as president of Lincoln, the reason varies between Universal had an issue with one of thier actors setting up a rival studio to because he was in such high demand as a character actor, he was burning out managing a double business life. All in all, one of my faves and to this day I can't hear Swan Lake without thinking of this one.
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Sep 19, 2018 13:06
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 15) King Kong 1933 I wouldn't say I dislike King Kong, but I've always been a bit 'meh' about it. I guess giant gorillas just don't quite click big with me. I will say after having sat through some youtubes of regular silverbacks feeling they've had enough dealing with human bs and dragging a full grown man around as if he's a rag doll, well, I'm going to give King Kong a fresh look. Skull Island with it's 'lost world' vibe still packs a punch with the concept. While the stop motion is janky by today's standards, having grown up with Rankin-Bass, I don't mind it at all. The story's a bit cheesy but then how much can one do in a giant gorilla movie. No mention of King Kong can go without the legendary spider pit scene. There's plenty of stories and rumors going around this one. Some say it never made it past the story boards, others say it was filmed then cut for either pacing issues or being too horrifying. Only potential evidence we have of perhaps something being comitted to film are some pics posted in Famous Monsters. If I had a dollar for each time I've had someone swear they had a copy of the footage and it turned out was from another movie like Black Scorpion, I'd be able to take the entire thread out for a round of drinks. And here's Peter Jackson's recreation of what the scene's believed to have been like. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOMKnhN7ABs  16) Invisible Man 1933 I admit I'm a little more partial to Invisible Man Returns since I'm a total Vincent Price fangirl. That's not to say Invisible Man's not worth sitting through. The effects are incredible for the time and the degeneration of Griffin's mind still packs a punch. The scene of him sending a woman running while skipping along singing the gathering nuts in May song still makes me laugh. I still have yet to pick up a 2004 Legacy copy of this one since from what I've read it has a longer version of the movie and I'm curious to see what's different.
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Sep 19, 2018 20:40
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 17) Mummy's Hand 1940 Pretty much the story to this one is a retelling of sorts of the '31 Mummy. Instead of a forbidden love between Imhotep and Anhk-es-en-amun, we have Prince Kharis who's in love with Princess Ananka, and when she dies he is overcome with grief to the point of stealing sacred tanna leaves to resurrect her. Naturally this doesn't go well and he's buried alive for his crime along with being packed in tanna leaves. Now we know this REALLY isn't going to end well. As horrifying as being buried alive is, Kharis gets the additional kick to the nuts in being kept semi-alive by the priests of Karnak sect that feeds him a tea from 3 tanna leaves with the warning of a brew of 9 leaves will have him walking. Much like every horror movie that has a forbidden book of evil that someone just has to read aloud, the archaeological group that finds Kharis' tomb has to go give him the 9 leaf brew to see what happens. For the most part, the priests of Karnak are pretty successful with picking off members of the expedition until the High Priest gets interested with the only woman on the expedition.  18) Mummy's Tomb 1942 Mummy's Tomb picks up 30 years after Hand with the remaining priests of Karnak sect who's been keeping Kharis kicking seeks revenge for Ananka's tomb despoiling by killing off who's left from the earlier expedition and their descendants. The current sect High Priest heads off with Kharis for Massachusetts. Again, the sect does pretty well towards its goal until the High Priest gets interested in Banning Jr.'s girlfriend.  19) Mummy's Ghost 1944 Not sure how long's elapsed storywise from Tomb, but story picks up again in Massachusetts with Kharis' rampage is somewhat known but that it was caused by a resurrected mummy is just sensationalism. Again, the priests of Karnak, though now called priests of Arkam for some reason are going on another attempt to avenge the pillaging of Ananka's tomb and bring back both mummies to Egypt. While again, things are mostly going well for the sect until Amina enters the picture. She's the reincarnation of Ananka and of course there's going to be trouble with the High Priest interested in her as well as Kharis' interest in her. The ending in the swamps was a good one in my opinion.  20) Mummy's Curse 1944 This one feels like a last pass money grab. It's not so much awful, but more slapdash thrown together. It's understandable with the War going on and tastes changing to more light hearted fare for escapism. It picks up some time after Ghost when the swamp is drained and the two mummies are discovered. While presumption would leave us to figure Curse is picking up after Ghost, unless Mapleton, Massachusetts has had an inrush of Cajun immigration, locations have been changed. Yet again, what's left of the sect tries to recover the mummies which does not go well for the usual reasons. All in all, having marathoned all four films, they're not bad. They're perfect afternoon fare. There is some sloppiness here and there such as the priests of Karnak becoming the priests of Arkam with no explanation. We're treated to more of the mummy as we're used to seeing in the depictions, all swaddled in bandages. It's also a good question to how much tanna leaves have been preserved since the plant's stated multiple times to be extinct and the priests have been keeping Kharis kicking over the centuries not to mention Kharis is pretty much a tanna leaves junkie. There's also wondering that at some point there would be some warning or cautioning of the priests of the sect about keeping celibate until the goals have been achieved. Because of how close together they were filmed, they do have a sameness about them, to the point of when I'd be catching these on Svengoolie, there were a few times where they'd start to show one and get mixed up during commercial break and resume showing another.
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Sep 20, 2018 13:15
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 21-Dracula's Daughter 1936 The story for this one centers around Countess Zaleska, Dracula's vampire daughter who's wishing to free herself from vampirism and be able to live as a human. She first tries by cremating Dracula's remains and when that doesn't work, she tries psychiatry. Of course, we all know none of this will go well. As an early example of a vampire trying to find a way to break free from vampirism, this one's pretty good. I've read that Gloria Holden thought Horror films were lowbrow and feared the typecasting Lugosi was dealing with so she was a bit snooty with taking the role. If that's the case, I think her disdain really added to her performance. While I've heard that Universal was fine with promoting the Countess' lesbianism in early advertising, I've yet to see any examples. So if anyone's got a scan or book reference, please let me know as I'm a total sucker for film history like this. I do feel this one works as a direct sequel to Dracula.  22-Son of Dracula 1943 I have to admit I'm a bit on the fence about this one. It doesn't seem to have as solid a connection like Dracula's Daughter has to Dracula, and if anything feels more like the later 'Dracula has a cameo here for...reasons' films like the 'House of...' entries. The story on it's own is fine, but one could easily substitute the name Alucard for Count BlahBLEHblah and it'd still work. Overall, this one felt like it was a 'we need to make sequels' entry to be on par with the other sequels they were doing with the other classic monster films. It's not so much bad but more..meh.
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Sep 21, 2018 04:36
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Hollismason posted:I'll have to search it out but the advertisements for the "lesbian" angle are not as overt as you think. Its basically stuff like "Look out she'll get your girl" and playing up that angle of it. Like it doesn't explicitly like say " Oh shes gay for gays". Also, if I am remembering correctly those advertisements were only in Europe so they're in French etc.. So I doubt that you'd be able to find them and if you do they're in French etc.. I figured they wouldn't be anything really overt, but still pretty shocking for that era.
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Sep 21, 2018 05:09
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Why yes, I did spend the entire day watching Universals. 23-Son of Frankenstein 1939 This one opens up the plot angle of several Frankenstein films to follow of it being members of the family dealing with Victor/Henry's actions and the legacy of the monster. Here we have Henry's son Wolf returning to the old village to redeem his father's reputation. Naturally the villagers aren't having any of this so of course the next thing to do is reanimate the monster. We all know no good's going to come of this. Interesting tidbit was the plan was for this film to be in Technicolor. Test footage was shot but for some reason, they ended up going black and white. Whether it was the footage didn't look good in the end or was too expensive is anyone's guess. The test footage is believed lost at this time. Also, this was Karloff's last go in the monster makeup until the 60s for an episode of Route 66. I like this one for starting to dip into the familial repercussions of Henry's actions. It's also kinda nice in that it looks like Wolf's son Peter is one of the few Frankenstein's who didn't get a burr up their rear end about the family name or the monster when they got older.  24-Ghost of Frankenstein 1942 In this one we have Wolf's brother Ludwig as the member of the family involved with dealing with his father's creation. The monster is reanimated from the previous film's demise when the villagers decide to destroy the Frankenstein castle to shake off what they feel is a curse on the village. Film does bring up some interesting angles such as the monster becoming blind due to blood incompatability issues but nothing really happens with it other than this movie. Sadly this film marks the shift from Universal Horror being A list pictures to B list, and yeah, it shows. I'm kinda meh on this one just because to my reasoning wouldn't it be obvious to just give up on redeeming the family name in this village and just move elsewhere to start fresh?  25-Frankenstein meets the Wolf Man 1943 This one's interesting as it's not only a Frankenstein sequel but also a Wolf Man sequel. Not sure if there's been many films where they're a sequel to more than one franchise. Being a dual franchise sequel, this one's a bit janky with where it's focus flows. Film starts off with graverobbers breaking into the Talbot family tomb to look whatever Larry was buried with. As we all know, graverobbing always bites people in the rear end. In this case it might be literal as the moonlight reanimates Larry. Of course no one believes Larry about his lycanthropy and it's on rumors heard by Maleva the Romani elder about a Dr. Frankenstein who has knowledge of strange science that the Frankenstein angle comes in. Here we have Ludwig's daughter Elsa. She mostly seems to want to put the monster business behind her but eventually she shows the family notes where it presents the possibility of ending both Larry and the Frankenstein monster's 'curses'. Of course, this does not go well. The actual fight between the Wolf Man and the monster's a bit of a let down considering the expectations. It comes way late and is short almost like they were nearing the end of filming and someone said 'maybe we should put the monster fight we named the movie about in the film?' With that said, I do like this one because Wolfman was one of my big faves as a kid. Interesting tidbits on this one is it's the last Universal film where we have a member of the Frankenstein family featured as well as the last time the monster's in a major role rather than a bit player.
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Sep 21, 2018 06:20
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 26- Quatermass Xperiment 1955 I saw this as The Creeping Unknown. To be honest, I'm not sure why Quatermass didn't have bigger appeal in the States as I don't see anything that would've put off the appeal. He's a fairly brusque scientist and Donlevy does the role well. I still have a soft spot for Andrew Keir's version because Quatermass and the Pit was the first Quatermass film for me. As much as you'd think the storyline's telegraphed from the start with the crashed space ship with it's sole survivor, we're left with knowing something's wrong with the survivor but we get to learn along with the rest exactly what's wrong. It's a nice build up to the punch. Richard Wordsworth really sells Carroon the survivor's slow deterioration. I like this one. The monster lurking in Westminster Abby's quite a something for the day with it being an amalgam of everthing and everyone it's eaten. Part of me's curious to see what would be possible with modern effects tech, but then the rest of me's sure they'd screw it up with crappy CGI somehow.  27- The Blob 1958 What is there not to love about The Blob? Burt Bacharach during the opening credits. Vibrant De Luxe color. Classic in the know teens vs the stuffy adults storyline. God I need to see this on the big screen before I die. I already have it in my last wishes to have my Criterion copy of this movie buried with me I love this movie so drat much. Someday I'll go to Blobfest though I know with my luck I'll probably roll an ankle or break a leg doing the run from the theater. Funny in that when I saw it as a child, it scared me shitless. You could hide behind a door from the usual monsters, the Blob could ooze right on underneath that door and get you. Equally, I also cried my eyes out when I thought the old guy's puppy got eaten. Seriously, if you haven't seen this movie yet, stop reading and go watch this movie dammit.  28- Spacemaster X-7 1958 I've been in many an argument whether this is more of a sci-fi film or a horror film. I think it ticks off enough boxes to be horror to count, but if the consensus is it's not, I'll strike it from my count. The core story's the standard 'sent something out into space and it brought back a thing'. An unmanned probe returns to earth with traces of alien spores. While a scientist is studying the samples at home (No good ever comes from this), he's visited by his ex, Laura. They fight, she hits him and he bleeds on the alien spores which start rapidly growing as they feed on his blood proteins. The 'blood rust' as it's named, is vulnerable to fire and the scientist's home is burned down to contain it. Of course as we all know, something's going to go wrong about the containment. In this case it's Laura as she's now contaminated by the spores and spreading them wherever she goes. Not helping either is she believes the authorities think she murdered her ex and is now on the run. Pretty much the big flaw I see with the movie is pacing. It spends a lot of time in the search for Laura at the expense of other story elements that should've had more time to shine. In my mind's eye, I see her spreading the alien fungus like the spreading of Captain Trips early on in The Stand. Seeing people she unknowingly infected start to itch or develop rashes would've gone a long way in stressing the race to find her. We're left with questions such as what else promotes the fungi's growth since it seemed to spread fast at the scientist's house and on a train the ex was on, but slower at the hotel she changes her appearance at. While some gripe at how lackluster the blood rust looks when it's spread, considering how some real world fungi look, it's not really something to pitch a fit over. The shots of the blood rust engulfing a plane were pretty decent I felt. Very pleasant surprise was seeing Moe of the Three Stooges as a cab driver in this one. For as much as Hollywood loves it's remakes, this is one I see as really needing one. With some tightening of the editing and a few adjustments, there's definitely potential here.  29- Caltiki, The Immortal Monster 1959 This one's a perfect storm of where it could very easily have been a forgettable monster film among many. The premise of an archaeological expedition uncovering something it shouldn't's been done to death by this point. Monster being a blob, as this post shows, happens a ton in the 50s. Throw Mario Bava into the mix and we've got magic. The story opens with a dig at some Mayan ruins where they find a shrine to Caltiki and while nosing around for artifacts, they awaken what the Mayans were throwing sacrifices to. Naturally after being dormant for so long, Caltiki's pretty hungry at this point so while its eating whoever's in reach, the scientists find fire will destroy it. Of course there's a surviving sample of Caltiki where they find it grows when exposed to radiation and naturally there's a comet approaching Earth emitting Caltiki growing radiation and the last time this comet was in our neck of the woods was when the Mayan Empire fell. Yeah, we know no good's going to happen next. The effects in the film are incredible for the era. I think if this had been shot in color, there would've been fainting in the aisles. As to Bava's participation in the film, now that's a subject for much speculation and debate. He's listed as the cinematographer, but there's ample interviews with Riccardo Freda and Bava as to Mario having more of a directorial hand in the film. It is known that Freda felt Bava had been treated lovely in previous films and wanted him in the director's chair on his next movie. Bava's said that Caltiki was his first film. Yet others said Bava only was involved in filming the deaths and some connecting shots. I guess it's one of those we'll never know things. In the end, if you haven't seen this movie, you seriously need to. Here's the trailer if you need convincing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h96G9u6g4Ps
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Sep 21, 2018 14:05
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Basebf555 posted:
I definitely am. Just waiting for later since I want my fiance to sit through it too as he's never sat through a Quatermass film.
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Sep 21, 2018 15:31
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Spatulater bro! posted:You hear that M_Sinistrari? Your dedication is being challenged. Prove 'em wrong. I'm rooting for you. Choco1980 posted:Yeah, it's killing me that she's moving this fast while I'm still waiting behind the starting line for 10 more days... Well as seen with my broken wrist saga and the current need surgery for the two whopper kidney stones I've got, I don't do anything halfassed. LOL As for why I'm able to tear rear end through so many films in a relatively short time is I regularly sit through a shitload of horror films. Even the times I've been near deathly sick, I blow through an easy 3-4 films a day. Only thing different with the Ironman is I'm imposing some structure with sticking by decades and writing something about them. Also helping is older films are relatively short, so blowing yesterday sitting through a ton of the Universals was easy. Still got some good sleep in and ate home cooked food. I do get the concerns about burning out on the film watching. Closest was I got a bit tired of the 40s era stuff and was jonesing for the 50s at this point. Considering the volume of stuff from the 60s and 70s I've got, it's going to be a challenge to not go wild with those.
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Sep 21, 2018 17:40
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 30-Blood of Dracula 1957 There is debate whether this one should be included along with Teenage Frankenstein and Teenage Werewolf as the classic monsters marketed to the bobby soxers set. As far as I'm concerned, it should. Story begins with Nancy getting sent off to the Sherwood School for Girls. The reason's obvious as her mother's only died six weeks ago, Dad's already remarried and siding with the new Mrs. so Nancy's getting the short end of the stick. I do have to credit this film for showing me that all girls schools weren't just something from the turn of the century. As expected, Nancy has trouble fitting in as her classmates are probably rejects from High School Hellcats. The teachers are as expected for this sort of thing, strict and out of touch save for Ms. Branding, the chemistry teacher who has her own issues. When we meet her, she's explaining to her favorite student about how men are destroying the world with things like experimenting on nuclear power. She's not particularly better as she's looking for a special someone to be able to do her own experiments. Yeah, Nancy's really getting the short end of the stick here. Ms. Branding hypnotizes Nancy with an amulet to always obey her and unlock the mysterious powers she believes can be woken in Nancy who can now change into a vampire by Branding's command. No good ends up coming from this. Nancy's vampire look is a change from the 'looks normal but pale' appearance vampires in film have during this time. It's more like a stylized bat and very distinctive. This one tends to get the cold shoulder compared to the other Teenage monster films. I've seen reasons stated such as it having Dracula in the title with no Dracula to 'it's a rip off of Teenage Wolfman' to complaints that there's no supernatural element to the vampire. It's an interesting watch and that's not even counting the musical number 'Puppy Love'.  31-I was a Teenage Frankenstein 1957 Here we have a member of the Frankenstein family crafting a new monster. However this time the doctor's using parts recovered from teen car crashes. He might be onto something as the monster looks normal save for his face. Overall, the depiction of the monster's a refreshing change from the usual. Other than looking like his face went through a mangle, he's talkative, hormonal and wants to go socialize like any teen. However as this is a Frankenstein film, we know this isn't going to end well. This one's another that's primarily in black and white with a switch to color at the end. Overall, it's a decent film for it's time.  32-I was a Teenage Werewolf 1957 In this one, we have Tony, a troubled teen with a habit of overreacting and having a temper. In other words, a normal teen. Because of the trouble he gets into, he ends up seeing Dr. Brandon, a psychologist who believes humanity's future is dependent on regressing our personalities to our primitive instincts who sees Tony as the perfect person to test his theories on. It pretty much reminds me of something my Human Sexuality professor said in that the reason why there's so many approval boards and oversight committees for testing stages now is because of the Psychology Department which manages to mess up people's heads just as much as helping fix them. In this case, Dr. Brandon manages to change Tony so in times of stress, he turns into a werewolf. Yeah, obviously no good's going to come from this. All in all, I've always loved the look of the werewolf in this one even if he is a bit overdrooly at times. It's even made me feel a bit let down by other teenaged werewolf depictions that followed. I love this movie so much that the only episode of Highway to Heaven I watched was the one where Michael Landon donned the Teenage Werewolf makeup again. The werewolf had aged well.  33-How to make a Monster 1958 Simply stated, this one's meta as gently caress. The story starts at American International Studios which has had a long storied reputation for making monster films. It's just been bought out by NBN Associates and they're thinking more of making musicals with dancing girls and comedies so they're on a clearing out spree to re-envision the studio so first on the list of layoffs is Pete, the head makeup artist who was responsible for creating the memorable monsters over the studio's history. Not accepting the pink slip civilly, he decides to get revenge through the monsters he created, including the Teenage Frankenstein and Teenage Werewolf. Going with what I know of Hollywood History, it's impossible to not see the parallel of the changing hierarchies of the studios and buy outs to perceived tastes and how Jack Pierce was treated by Universal. Pierce was sacked by Universal and replaced by Bud Westmore. The usual stated reason is Pierce refused to use the latex technology of the day. This reason falls apart with the fact Pierce would use foam latex when it was warranted. It makes far more sense that Universal at the time was looking to rebrand itself away from it's growing reputation for B-Movies and Horror to more glamorous films and the Westmores didn't have that Horror rep that Pierce did. It also probably didn't help that Pierce did have a reputation of being difficult at times even with everyone praising his makeup skills to the sky. Interesting tidbit with this one is Pete's gallery of monsters are the props created by Paul Blaisdell for other AIP pictures. The final scenes shot in color in the gallery are the only color film of these props as the films were in black and white.
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Sep 22, 2018 07:25
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 34- The Bad Seed 1956 It's surprising a film like this was even made back in the 50s. Based off the book by the same name written by William March, the movie's a very faithful adaptation. It's also a very quick read and there's not enough words available to stress how highly I recommend it. Here, we have little Rhoda Penmark. She's the sort of child a parent of the 50s would consider perfect. She's obedient, polite, and not at all like the average child tearassing around. We're introduced to her the day of the school picnic at the lake after Rhoda lost a penmanship competition to a classmate who ends up drowning in the lake that day. While everyone's naturally freaked out over the child's death, Rhoda's pretty chill about it. When her mother finds the penmanship award medal in Rhoda's room, we start realizing there's something more going on with Rhoda. Patty McCormack who plays Rhoda absolutely sells the concept of a child sociopath. Her recounting how she killed her classmate for the medal still gives me chills. The editing really ratchets up the tension and suspense as Rhoda's mother starts realizing what's going on with her daughter. The only way the movie differs from the book is with the ending, which is understandable. With the Hayes Code mandate of Crime Must Pay, normally I'd be calling bullshit but with how skillfully we're brought in to see how Rhoda's mind rationalizes her actions and seeing what she does, having the ending change would've been needed for how much of a sledgehammer this movie is and especially how freaked out it would've had audiences then. I did also see the '85 remake when it aired. I don't remember it as being particularly bad and it did go more into stuff from the book. I still would recommend the '56 movie over all other versions.
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Sep 22, 2018 15:11
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 35- Fiend without a Face 1958 Considering that I first saw this on on Svengoolie's show on TV, it was a bit of a surprise to learn this one was considered so gory it was a miracle it got released. In the UK it earned an X certificate and it was still fussed in Parliament that it was released with even that. Story's pretty basic with mysterious deaths happening around a radar station and a connection turns up during the investigation to a retired scientist's telekinesis/thought projection experiments. I'm pretty sure this film's the winner for most distinctive monster. Soon as I saw the brain monsters with those adorable antenna, little me wanted one for a pet. I was going to name him 'smartybutt'. Amusing tidbit for this was during it's release in New York, they had a display with a moving brain monster prop which drew such a crowd it disrupted traffic and the cops got involved so it had to be removed. And yeah, I still would love a brain monster pet.  36- I Married a Monster from Outer Space 1958 I freely admit I sympathized hard with the monster in this one. The storyline here is after being married to Bill for a year, he doesn't seem like the same man Marge dated. Turns out for good reason as it's an alien impersonating Bill. The planet Space Bill's from is dying and the women of thier species are extinct so it's out of desperation they've come to Earth hoping to keep thier species alive. I really didn't like Marge all that much since she comes across dickish when she confronts Space Bill with what she knows. But then if I was in her place with a husband that looked as hot as Tom Tryon, I'd let a hell of a lot slide.
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Sep 23, 2018 13:02
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 37- Invasion of the Saucer Men 1957 To me, this one's the quintessential Drive In B-movie film. We have the teenagers who are in the know about the alien invaders, the adults who refuse to believe them, story is an engaging blend of serious and silly, and the day is saved at the end. This one was remade by Larry Buchanan in 1965 as Attack of the Eye Creatures. It's okay and does have being in color going for it, but the '57 original's much better.
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Sep 23, 2018 20:07
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 38- Curse of Frankenstein 1957 Not sure what to say on this one that's not already been said. It's the start out the gate on the Hammer Horror we all know and love. The storyline as well as makeup differs a fair amount from the Universal versions which makes sense since to my understanding, Hammer was treading very cautiously to not face the wrath of Universal's lawyers. To my understanding, the Hammer films were VERY divisive in the Horror community of the time, splitting between those who found them a breath of fresh air to the genre and others who were absolutely disgusted by all this gore and skin getting shown. It reminds me of when slashers started becoming the trend and people pitching a fit about that. One thing I really liked with the Hammer films were they stuck with Dr. Frankenstein continuing to try and craft a creation that's not going to go the 'raar' killer route. It fits for the Dr. to be that frikkin' stubborn. As I said with my review on the later Universal Frankenstien films was it just felt ridiculous after a while of members of the family trying to redeem the name for generations.  39- Horror of Dracula 1957 This one's the one that got me thinking on my Dracula portrayal theory of each actor portraying him highlights one element of Dracula. Lugosi brought the Old World nobility angle, Carradine the authoritarianism, Lee the savagery...etc. Lee's Dracula has no problem getting brutal if that's what it comes down to. He also oozes sex appeal at the blink of an eye. Again, people were making GBS threads bricks on this one since they were more used to a Lugosi style portrayal. Me, we all know I'm biased on this one. I love this one.  40- The Mummy 1959 As was said before, the Hammer's Mummy is as different as can be from the Universal one, and I feel it was a good call. This version actually brings the fear of the Mummy coming at you like the Terminator. Not to mention, to me the Mummy just gives that feeling like he's disdainfully looking down at you like you're reducing property values by just breathing. Again, I'm biased here too, love this one.
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Sep 24, 2018 00:37
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 41- The Monolith Monsters 1957 I'll be the first to admit, it takes skill to make a slab of glorified granite seem a threat. This film manages to pull it off for the most part. A meteorite crashes to Earth, shattering into fragments of black mineral. Locals collect pieces as souvenirs thinking nothing of it until the mineral comes in contact with water. Turns out it's a form of silicon life that when a chemical reaction's set off by exposure to water, drains any silicon it comes in contact with to grow unweidly tall, collapsing to break into fragments and repeat the process. I'd say this film brings dread a skosh more than scares as the slow steady progress of the monoliths towards population centers is shown and knowing all it takes is rain to set off the growth process unless a way's found to stop them. Overall, I liked it even if it's not as well known as other horror from this era.  42- From Hell it Came 1957 This one's an odd one in how some ways it's as cliche as can be to the point of forgettable and creative in others. Movie opens to a random island in the South Seas where Kimo is facing judgement for the death of his Chieftain father. We quickly learn that the Chieftain and his son were ruffling some feathers by being friendly to the American scientists who are on the island. They're there because of the atomic testing going on and the wind blowing fallout where it wasn't expected. There's also an obnoxious as gently caress drunk lady who runs a trading post on the island but the less said about her, the better. Kimo's sentenced to death, is stabbed and buried upright. We also find out that Kimo's dad was murdered but not by the scientists or Kimo, but by a plot between the tribal witch doctor, Kimo's wife and the new Chief.Not long after Kimo's buried, a strange plant's seen growing out of his grave. The scientists who were expecting to study the fallout and treat any locals with radiation sickness naturally dig up the plant for study. Of course, part of the study is exposing the plant to radiation which makes it speed grow. We end up with the Tabanga, a walking tree spirit of vengeance. I'll be the first to admit, the Tabanga stiff walking around is ridiculous as all hell, but his design's pretty interesting. He's like a scowling ent with a revenge agenda and the only reason to really sit through the movie or even clips on youtube. The dialog's janky and the trading post lady's enough to put anyone's teeth on edge with her nasal voice and clumsy comic relief. First time I saw this I kept wishing for the Tabanga to get her.  43- Night of the Demon 1957 I've seen this under this title and the Curse of the Demon one. I also credit this movie with introducing me to M.R. James and compelling me to read everything he's written. What is there not to love about this one. The cinematography and editing's excellent. That underlying tension of whether Karswell is really a spell caster or just an incredibly skilled manipulator, the not being sure whether what we're seeing is real or manipulated delusions. The demon's appearance is one of my faves even though those appearances are fairly quick.
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Sep 24, 2018 12:34
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Random Stranger posted:Day -7 - It Happened at Lakewood Manner (aka ANTS!) Every time I walked past that coverbox at Blockbuster, I'd think the title really should've been TITS!
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Sep 25, 2018 04:25
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 44- Them! 1954 I admit to having a bit of a soft spot for giant bug films, and since moving out to New Mexico and having been to places like Alamogordo just boosts my loving this movie that extra bit more. I do have to admit that sometimes during the summer at night and I hear some noise in the distance that sounds like the giant ants, a little part of me wonders if I'm going to see them tramping down San Mateo Boulevard.  45- The Deadly Mantis 1957 This was the first not-Godzilla/not-Gamera giant monster film I saw as a kid so I'm partial. As far as the story goes, it's standard b-movie drive in fare. Funny enough ever since I sat through It Came from Hollywood, each time I see a clip from this movie I still hear Cheech Marin calling this 'Attack of the 50ft Chicken Wing'.
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Sep 25, 2018 05:01
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 46- Day the World Ended 1955 This is another one I've always liked to the point when I was taking a class on atomic history in America, I did a paper on this movie. The film starts with a bang, literally. We don't know why but the atomic bombs have been launched. One of the few safe areas is a canyon owned by a retired Navy commander who's worked in the atomic program and prepared for this. The canyon walls/hills are naturally lead bearing and it has it's own fresh water spring. The commander's stocked up on enough supplies for him, his daughter Louise and her fiance to hold out until the fallout dissipates if it does. Due to the suddenness of the attack, Louise's fiance hasn't made it to the canyon yet. They're hoping he's just en route, but hope's dwindling as the movie goes on and some nearby survivors show up. We know this isn't going to end well with the commander not having planned for the possibility of people showing up, one of the survivors being a gangster type out for himself and so on. That we pick up that there's a mutant lurking around from outside the canyon, well, that's to be expected. In a facts sense, there's a lot the movie gets wrong even with what was known about atomics then, but I'll cut Corman slack for cranking out a movie in his usual timeframe. Interestingly, when I was researching the movie for my paper, the press kits made a big deal of the movie having the co-operation of the Atomic Energy Commission. Knowing what we know of Corman, it was probably more along the lines of call and ask for an info packet. I think my favorite part of the movie is when they're looking at sketches of the animals that were mutated by fallout. I wouldn't mind some of those as art prints.  47-Day of the Triffids 1962 I keep meaning to eventually read the book this is based on. What I liked about this one is showing a worldwide catastrophe from elsewhere in the world than the usual. I did like the Triffid design. While they do move fairly slow, they're fast with their whipsting so they're still pretty threatening. Overall, a nice one to sit through.  48- Kwaidan 1965 When people describe films as art, I always think of Kwaidan. The cinematography's a feast for the eyes and the stories are enthralling. At times I forget it's an anthology because it's so smoothly put together. Because of this film, any time see there needing to cover someone head to toe in any protective writing I always think 'don't forget the ears'.
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Sep 25, 2018 14:39
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Franchescanado posted:When was the last time you've contacted your family and friends? In order: My fiance's been watching a fair amount of the movies with me and I talked with one of my cousins earlier who when I told her about this thinks I'm slacking with how many I've sat through so far. She thought I'd be at 100 by now. I have gone outside while it's been daylight. And I am not only eating but also taking time to cook.
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Sep 25, 2018 16:58
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 49- Quatermass and the Pit 1967 This one was my introduction into the Quatermass films. I first saw it under the Five Million Years to Earth title. The story for this is solid. During an extending of the Underground, skeletal remains and strange metal turn up during the tunnel dig. As this is a Quatermass film, we know this is going to turn into something way more than just found some bones and junk. Only clinker to the story is the premise of finding five million year old artifacts at the level a subway system's being dug, seriously, I can believe Roman coins or Celtic pottery sherds, not prehistoric bones. Everything else here is practically flawless in the pacing and story events. Definitely worth several watches it's that good. Franchescanado posted:
 50- Queen of blood 1966 Everyone I show this to sums it up as 'A First Contact gone really wrong.'. We start with an Earth where 20 years after the first manned flights, spaceflight is a common thing. We've got bases all over the moon. The future's looking like we're going to take a new first step with having radio contact with an alien species. They're interested in meeting us to the degree they're sending an Ambassador to Earth to see about establishing relations. Of course, everything that can go wrong, does. Ambassador's ship gets damaged en route and crashes on Mars. Rescue mission sent to Mars finds a dead alien on the ship and a lifepod jettisoned. They track down the pod to Phobos and find the ambassador only to have their rescue ship only able to carry two people so one of the astronauts has to stay behind until a later ship can be sent for him.The poo poo keeps happening from here until by the end you're left wondering when the eventual intergalactic incident mushrooms out. Out of all the films from the 60s I've sat through, this is the one I've most wished there was a sequel to just for the factor of what happened next. Edit to add: I was already going to be watching this, but it does count for the challenge because of it's director/writer was gay. When I looked him up on IMDB, turns out he's done a shitload of films I liked. Any themes he might've put in Queen of Blood, I'm not big on digging into a film and analyzing it until it's the film equivalent of a tasteless well done steak. I do think he did a phenomenal job presenting the Alien Ambassador as enough of an other that can be unsettling to some. M_Sinistrari fucked around with this message at 03:21 on Sep 26, 2018 |
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Sep 26, 2018 02:14
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FRAN CHALLENGE #2: Queer Horror
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Choco1980 posted:Which movie are you counting as the queer horror one Sini? And why? I completely brainfarted on that, thanks for catching it.
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Sep 26, 2018 03:21
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 51- Comedy of Terrors 1963 This one's a favorite with my family. All I have to do is quote a line from it and my Dad's laughing his rear end off. In short, it's a morbid rendition of Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors. We have a cost cutting undertaker trying to turn a profit while drinking away what he makes, the wife who's his business partner's daughter who thinks she's got a future in opera but can't sing to save her rear end, his business partner who's pretty much senile, and his assistant who's in love with his wife. Vincent Price really pulls it off in this one with his reactions to everything around him. This one's definitely a fave just for all the memories of watching this with family.  52- Island of Terror 1966 Here we have a true rarity, not only is it an older film I've never seen before, it's also from a Hammer clone studio I've never heard of before. I swear, this is the sort of rare that makes one want to buy a Lotto ticket. If it wasn't for the Planet Film Productions mention in the opening credits, I would've sworn this was one of Hammer's horror/sci-fi entries. We have Terence Fisher directing and Peter Cushing starring in this! I want to kick myself for not knowing about this film sooner. Movie's set on Petrie's Island, a remote spot east of Ireland. It's so remote they have no phones and only a boat making it out once a week. Right off the bat we're shown something's majorly wrong when a farmer goes to investigate a cave only to get grabbed by a something. We hear his screams followed by a slow, thick, slurping sound. When his body's found, it's intact but his bones have been completely dissolved. The local constables and doctor know right off whatever happened is way out of thier league and send in for experts. When they arrive they go visit with some oncologists conducting cancer research only to find them dead and boneless too. God I want to tell more of the plot but I don't want to spoil it for anyone else who's never heard of this one before. It's pretty good and a shame it doesn't seem too well known.
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Sep 26, 2018 12:06
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 53- Whatever Happened to Baby Jane 1962 I love this one for a variety of reasons. It invokes the messed up nature of Old Hollywood, gives a glimpse into the legendary rivalry between Bette and Joan, and is an all around well put together psychological horror film. Someday I really need to pick up the book this is based on. As I've admitted that I'm a total sucker for Hollywood history, this one consistently hits the mark invoking the lives of stars who've faded to obscurity and desperately clinging to anything of their glory days even when it bites them in the rear end. I do feel that the rivalry between Bette and Joan really contributed to the movie. No matter how skilled an actor/actress is, there's no way they could replicate that degree of simmering seething hate. In the book, Bette & Joan: The Divine Feud, it devotes a good segment to everything that went on behind the scenes and if you watch carefully when Jane's dragging Blanche's limp body, you can see the outline and cloth pull of the rocks Joan put in her robe for Bette to throw her back out. While this one might seem a bit on the slow and draggy side for some, it is very much worth a watch.  54- The Blancheville Monster 1963 Here's another first time watch for me and, well, while I don't regret sitting through it, I have to admit I was really expecting something better for an Italy/Spain collaboration. About the only thing standout in this one is some of the sets and scenery. I'm pretty sure the ruined abbey ended up making an appearance in the Tombs of the Blind Dead films. So I consider this one skippable unless you really like some nice scenery.
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Sep 27, 2018 06:46
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 55- The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies 1964 I swear, I think the only reason most people sit through this one is because of the title. It's pretty much everything you'd expect from a bottom of the barrel budget movie, but it does have heart. It's definitely worth it for a bad movie night with friends and ample beer.  56- Dr. Terror's House of Horrors 1965 For disclosure purposes, I freely admit that anthology films are like crack to me. I believe this is the first of the Amicus anthologies as well as the one which pretty much established the comfortable format of wraparound story with the smaller stories dropped in. Each of the stories in this one are pretty solid. For a while I wasn't too big on the Voodoo one but it's grown on me over the years.
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Sep 27, 2018 16:46
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 57- Matango 1963 Each time I sit through this one, I always notice something new. Film begins with a man in a psychatric hospital recounting what happened to the others on the yacht excursion they'd been on. The yacht got caught in a storm and they ended up stranded on an island. While there and foraging for supplies, they find a shipwreck where the captain's log advices to not eat the mushrooms. We know where this is going to go. There's lot of lovely nuances in this one. When the mushrooms are growing in the rain, there's a tittery laughter which you're never quite sure are the mushrooms actually making the sound or is this part of the hallucinogenic properties from them and we're hearing what someone who's eaten the mushrooms are hearing. Thing I noticed this time is the makeup of the people on the yacht's pretty close to the castaways on Gilligan's Island with the Skipper, crewman, rich guy, professor, movie star and good girl. Now I want to see a cross between Gilligan's Island and Matango.  58- Curse of the Werewolf 1961 Hammer's touching on the Wolfman franchise, and Oliver Reed's first film. The film's definitely good, just didn't click with me to the same degree the Frankenstein and Dracula entries did. I liked that they explored the other avenues of contracting lycanthropy and the idea of love keeping the beast at bay. Another nice touch was Reed's werewolf makeup is a bit reminiscent of Henry Hull's. I've also wondered why Hammer never branched into additional werewolf movies like they did with the Frankenstein and Dracula franchises.
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Sep 28, 2018 04:15
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 59- The Green Slime 1968 This one's pure cheesy goodness along with a catchy theme song. It's a pretty standard sci-fi horror but it's a fun one as far as I'm concerned.  60-It! 1967 This is a usually overlooked gem that's bizzare enough to be worth a watch. A museum's warehouse burns down and only a statue survives. The museum's curator's killed while examining the statue and he's just the first death with more to follow. I'd say more about the plot but this one's so unusual that you'll just have to watch it to see. Roddy McDowall really sells it as the murdered curator's assistant especially with where the plot goes with this one.
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Sep 28, 2018 12:23
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ketchup vs catsup posted:One request: can you post with your blurb where you found the movie? Netflix, prime, shudder, YouTube, dvd, etc? I really wouldn't be surprised if the VHS transferred ones I've got aren't already uploaded somewhere like YouTube or Vimeo. The Golem - VHS Transfer Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde - VHS Transfer Hands of Orlac - VHS Transfer Haxan - DVD Phantom of the Opera - VHS Transfer The Lodger - VHS Transfer Werewolf of London - DVD Freaks - DVD Frankenstein - DVD Bride of Frankenstein - DVD Dracula - DVD Dracula (Spanish) - DVD Supernatural - VHS Transfer The Mummy - DVD King Kong - DVD Invisible Man - DVD Mummy's Hand - DVD Mummy's Tomb - DVD Mummy's Curse - DVD Mummy's Ghost - DVD Dracula's Daughter - DVD Son of Dracula - DVD Son of Frankenstien - DVD Ghost of Frankenstein - DVD Frankenstein meets the wolf man - DVD Caltiki - VHS Transfer The Blob - DVD Quatermass Experiment - VHS Transfer Spacemaster x-7 - VHS Transfer Blood of Dracula - DVD I was a teenage frankenstein - DVD I was a teenage werewolf - DVD How to make a monster - DVD The Bad Seed - DVD Fiend without a Face - DVD I Married a Monster from Outer Space - DVD Invasion of the Saucer Men - VHS Transfer Curse of Frankenstein - DVD Horror of Dracula - DVD Mummy - DVD The Monolith Monsters - VHS Transfer From Hell it Came - VHS Transfer Night of the Demon - DVD Them! - DVD The Deadly Mantis - VHS Transfer Day the World Ended - DVD Day of the Triffids - DVD Kwaidan - DVD Quatermass and the Pit - DVD Queen of blood - DVD Comedy of Terrors - DVD Island of Terror - VHS Transfer Whatever Happened to Baby Jane - DVD The Blancheville Monster - VHS Transfer The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies - DVD Dr. Terror's House of Horrors - DVD Matango - VHS Transfer Curse of the Werewolf - DVD The Green Slime - DVD It! - VHS Transfer
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Sep 28, 2018 18:18
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 61- Blood Feast 1963 - DVD Considered the first gore movie and was banned in the UK as a video nasty for 40 years, this one's a classic. By today's standards it's more silly than shocking, but it's worth watching just for how over the top it is.  62- The Flesh Eaters 1964 - DVD This one's another surprising amount gore for a movie of the era. A pilot's chartered to fly a going downhill actress and her assistant from New York to Providence. A storm brews up and they're forced to land on an island where the only other person is a marine biologist. While they're there, skeletons of both fish and people start washing up. Before they can leave the island, they lose their plane. While we don't see landmasses from the island, it's apparently a doable enough distance for a beatnik/hippy type on a homemade raft to paddle on over and a supply boat to make the rounds. We learn very fast the Flesh Eaters are silvery microscopic organisms in the water and they're voracious little buggers. In the time for someone to get a splash of water on the face, they're already reduced to shreds of muscle on bone. There is a deleted scene showing Nazi experiments with the Flesh Eaters. It's included as an extra on the Dark Sky DVD. Best I've been able to find is it was an addition by the distributor as it clearly stands out by not being of the same quality/standard of the rest of the film. Frankly the film's fine without the scene and it doesn't really add anything to the story. In the liner notes of my copy, Arnold Drake said it was a news article about the dead fish washing up in red waves on the East Coast which inspired him to write The Flesh Eaters. He also says he's often asked what makes a cult classic which is only fair in his being responsible for the Doom Patrol and Deadman comics, the only answer he can give is he doesn't know. I don't know either but I recognize horror classic gold when I see it.
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Sep 29, 2018 01:28
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 63- Horror of Party Beach 1964 - DVD Mention drive-ins, old beach movies, catchy songs that only existed for the movie, and monsters, this movie's likely the one everyone's going to think of. I was always partial to the title credits since it shows the creation of the monsters. Storyline's the standard b-movie fare. The day gets saved by Eulabelle. Her portrayal is eyetwitchingly bad, not to mention unthinkable by today's sensibilities, but she's the one who cuts through everyone's theories to go straight to use salt against zombies. Would've been a shorter movie if they listened to her first. Overall, this one's not bad for an entry in a b-movie marathon.  64- Eye of the Devil 1966 - DVD Best summation I've heard of this one is 'It's The Wicker Man before there's a Wicker Man.' It begins with the Marquis de Montfauçon being notified that the vinyards back home in Belenac have failed and 'It's time'. While not as overtly pagan as Wicker Man, we still catch that Belenac is of the Old Faith. Donald Pleasence does a great job as Father Dominic who's also the pagan High Priest. This one's also Sharon Tate's first role. Very much worth a watch especially if you're doing a double feature with The Wicker Man.
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Sep 29, 2018 05:12
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 65- The Undertaker and his Pals 1966 - SHUDDER This one's a bit of an oddball. It's a horror/comedy that just doesn't seem sure about it's ratio of horror to comedy. Here we have a struggling undertaker in a partnership with a shifty greasy spoon diner to help solve their financial problems. It's not quite H.G. Lewis degree of gore and it should be worth a watch with a few beers and friends.  66- Tales of Terror 1962 - HULU This is an anthology of three of Poe's stories. Overall it's okay, I just think M. Valdemar's story at the end was the better handled of the stories.
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Sep 29, 2018 09:15
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