Posts

Happy Birthday, Ingrid Pitt! Hammer Time and an Amicus Brief

-
Image
Countess Dracula (1971) was the film that introduced me to Elizabet Bathory. I remember being disappointed as young teen that there was no Dracula to be found, but that disappointment changed when I laid eyes on Ingrid Pitt (and Nike Arrighi and Lesley-Anne Down). I also remember the “Hammer atmosphere” and its subtle web of a kind of dreaminess that both undermined and underscored the horrors in the film. The first Hammer film I saw was a rerelease of The Horror of Dracula somewhere around 1966 or 1967. There were heaving bosoms, a riveting Count Dracula who said nothing because he didn’t need to, and his demise at the end that left me speechless. It would be a few years and then I’d catch Hammer’s The Curse of Frankenstein , The Mummy , Count Dracula , and The Brides of Dracula .  Hammer films were fascinating in a different way from Universal’s horror films. They were sexier, sure, but it was the pacing, the acting, and that general state of some kind of dream logic at work, even
Post a Comment
Read more

Slumming - Devil Girl from Mars (1954)

-
Image
“The movie was called “Devil Girl from Mars” and I saw it when I was about twelve years old, and it changed my life.”  - Octavia Butler, “Devil Girl from Mars”: Why I Write Science Fiction” It’s difficult to make the case that the Danzigers’ Devil Girl form Mars is a good film. They rarely produced movies that are considered more than middling and some that are just plain bad, as in our current selection. However, I happen to love this movie! Supposedly a U.K. response to the science fiction works coining out of Hollywood, Devil Girl from Mars boasted special effects a little better than Ed Wood’s Plan 9 from Outer Space , acting by genuine pros from the British stage (and HAZEL COURT!!!) but some of the most preposterous characterizations and completely silly attempt as sci-fi exposition ever committed to screen. Michael Carter: Mrs. Jamieson, may I introduce your latest guest. Miss Nyah. She comes from Mars. Mrs. Jamieson: Oh, well, that’ll mean another bed. Our masterpiece has one
Post a Comment
Read more

How my film addiction started - and no, I'm not seeking help

-
Image
When did you start getting into film seriously? I think I was practically born a movie nerd. My mother introduced me to James Whale’s   Frankenstein   when I was five. Before that, among my earliest memories was the rerelease of   Pinocchio ,   Jason and the Argonauts   (both at the Village Theater in Houston). And I remember the utter terror of those goddamn flying monkeys in   The Wizard of Oz   as it played on a small black and white set on our enclosed back porch. As a kidding the single digits, I came to be in awe of these giant dreams projected on screens or in the little box where I’d also see   Johnny Quest ,   The Flinstones ,   I Love Lucy   and the   Ed Sullivan Show . But movies were special. They were long-form stories and far more engaging. I had to pay attention. Cartoons were usually short and to the point. Variety shows allowed for zoning out or dialing in as the situation merited. But movies? This was a different world, a different way of telling stories. Horror, or r
Post a Comment
Read more

Last Call for Lovecraft Halloween! The Call of Cthulhu (2005)

-
Image
Okay, one last quick recommendation. From the H.P. Lovecraft Society comes this gem. It’s a short feature at 45 minutes, but so worth it. You can purchase it directly from the HPLHS or watch it on Tubi. There is more information and trailers here . It follows Lovecraft’s story to a T and uses silent film as the medium to excellent effect. This might be not only the most accurate adaptation of a Lovecraft piece but also, frankly, one of the best. Please do check out the  HPLHS  if you’re not familiar with their fine work. And do check out this wonderful little film!
Post a Comment
Read more

It’s a Lovecraft Halloween! From Beyond (1986)

-
Image
Not quite as highly regarded as his adaptation of Herbert West, Re-Animator , Gordon’s next Lovecraft work is still pretty solid. The fact is, it’s still pretty damned good! Gordon and his team took a reasonably representative short work by HPL, fleshed it out (so to speak), and updated it to the 1980s to stunning effect. Along with his producing partner Brian Yuzna and screenplay writer Dennis Paoli, Gordon gives us a directly unsettling, funny, and occasionally gross story. Crawford Tillinghast (Jeffrey Combs) is second banana in the lab to Dr. Pretorius (Ted Sorel having a field day hamming it up!) as opposed to being the primary and sole investigator/scientist. That’s a cast expansion of the source material right off the bat (and the first cheeky character name). Crawford is assisting Pretorius in an experiment to expand the capacity of the pineal gland to expand the mind and sensory possibilities. Of course, this being Lovecraft-based, this has to go tits up, but quick. And does i
Post a Comment
Read more