Category Archives: Movies

A Substandard Giallo: The Corruption of Chris Miller

The streaming services Shudder added a number of Giallos to their line-up in recent weeks and my sweetie-wife and I put several on the queue for watching. This week it was 1973’s The Corruption of Chris Miller starring Jean Seberg.

Two women, Ruth Miller (Jean Seberg) and her stepdaughter Chris, live in an isolated Spanish estate when a passing vagrant who had slept in their barn, and I’m not making this up, named Barney, is taken in as a handyman and live-in lover for Ruth. Chris suffers from some undefined terror that when it rains causes her to turn violent stabbing everything in sight. Halfway through the film’s running time we are told that there are unsolved vicious murders in a 100-kilometer radius around the village and Ruth and Chris apparently leap to the conclusion that it’s likely Barney that is the culprit.

The Corruption of Chris Miller is meant to be a taunt thriller filled with mystery and dread, but it fails on all fronts. The flashback sequences leading up to Chris’ violent outburst make clear why she reacts the way she does, the languid pace builds no tension and the discord between Ruth and Chris is never fully explained of explored. Frankly by the end of the film I could not tell you how Chris was ‘corrupted’ as she and Ruth both exit the story pretty much the same characters as they entered.

While many giallos fail logic tests they usually possess a strong sense of style to carry mood and atmosphere but this fails there as well and I cannot recommend it anyone.

Share

Quick Hit: A New Podcast Discovery

I discovered a new podcast a week or so ago Cult 45 is a podcast devoted to cult and exploitation cinema. The name is a play on name of the malt liquor Colt 45 which of course is a play on a firearm so just from its title the podcast is meta.

The podcast is hosted by and comments on from an American black perspective and it is highly entertaining. So far, I have listened to episodes about the films The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, Re-Animator, and a double episode on The Wicker Man commenting on both version of the movie. (And righteously they revere the original and mock the re-make.)

Here is their episode on the classic horror film that launched a franchise Night of the Living Dead.

Share

Revisiting: Planet of the Vampires

Italian Director and Cinematographer Mario Bava, best known for giallofilms such as Blood and Black Lace and horror movies like Black Sunday, in 1965 released the stylish is somewhat misnamed science-fiction horror film Planet of the Vampires.

A pair of spaceships, the Argos and the Galliott arrive at the planet Aura investigating signals that may signify intelligent life. When the ships, after being unable to observe the plant’s surface due to a constant impenetrable could layer, attempt to land they are subjected to a mysterious increased in gravity that renders all of the crew except for the Argos’ commander Mark (Barry Sullivan) unconscious. As quickly as it arrived the mysterious forces dissipates the Argos lands perfectly but when the crew awake, they are overtaken by violent impulses and nearly kill each other. With their wits gathered the Commander must locate and rescue the Galliott and discover the terrifying secret of planet Aura before everyone is killed by the planet’s mysterious force.

I first saw Planet of the Vampires, and there are no traditional vampires anywhere in the story, when I was a young teenager. A late night ‘creature feature’ broadcast the film, particularly its ending, stayed with me from the 70s through the 2000s when I obtained first a DVD and then later a Blu-ray release. While the characters are threadbare serving plot rather than dramatic functions the film is immensely stylish and unforgettable in its beautiful cinematography. All the more impressive when it’s known that the entire budget was less than that of two episodes the original Star Trek series. There are very few optical effects in the film with most of the ‘special effects’ captured in-camera and yet quite credible and lovely. Set design, though impractical for an actual starship, is modern, for the mid-60s, and immersive.

It’s difficult to accurately judge the acting of the movie. Planet of the Vampires was produced in the International Style used by many Italian productions of the period where the multinational cast all delivered their lines in their native languages, often without know what the other characters were actually saying, and then the rest of the cast would be dubbed into various language for other markets.

Based on an Italian SF short story One night of 21 hours the movie’s ending, which I will not spoil here, is one of the scenes that managed to stay stuck in my memory over the decades. Even during the years when the film’s title had faded from recall the ending remained.

This film is not to everyone’s taste, you must be able to accept style over plausibility, but if you do you will be rewarded.

Planet of the Vampires is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

Share

Documentary Review: Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist

This doc is exactly what it says on the tin, it is an hour and forty minutes of director William Friedkin speaking on The Exorcist the 1973 film he directed that terrified a nation and a world.

With supplemental footage from the movie and production documentarian Alexandre Philippe constructs an intimate discussion by Friedkin about one of his most well-known and iconic films. Friedkin’s voice, with the exception of one off-screen question from Phillippe, guides us through not only some of the production of The Exorcist including casting that was eventually discarded after Jason Miller convinced Friedkin to hire him as Father Karras, but also explores the artistic and musical influences that has motivated his long and controversial career.

Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist is an interesting, moving, and personal voyage into the artistic process. For people fascinated by art and artists and who consume Blu-ray bonus material by the hour this documentary currently streaming on Shudder is a can’t miss.

Share

Returning to Bond: Goldeneye

A few years ago I started re-watching, and in some cases watching for the first time, all of the canonical Bond Movies starting with Dr. No. This was done via the Netflix DVD in the mail program which allowed access to the bonus materials on the Blu-rays. When I canceled my DVD in the mail account the Bond re-watch fell by the wayside.

Last night my sweetie-wife, who had participated and enjoyed the series suggested we continue, and we streamed the next one from where we had left off queueing up Goldeneye, the debut of Pierce Brosnan as Bond.

After disappointing box office returns for the two previous films in the franchise which had attempted a grittier and darker tone for the series follow the lighted hearted turned brought by Roger Moore the producers opted to U-turn and bring a level of levity back to the films.

Dealing with a collapsed, corrupt, and capitalistic Russia Goldeneye has Bond chasing down a Soviet-era EMP weapon subverted by Russian and British traitors. The film boasts the usual array of gadgets and gals, plenty of action that is quite over the top, and serious attempts to be relevant with computers in a slightly pre-Internet period. I literally did laugh when the ‘good Bond girl,’ playing the part of someone about to spend serious coin o desktop computers listed the 500-megabyte hard drives and 14400 modems as requirements,

In the film Bond at one point steals a Russian tank and uses it in a chase which reminded me of the deranged man who the same year as this movie’s release stole a tank here in San Diego causing serious damage but luckily, other than himself, no loss of life.

Overall I found Goldeneye a tad too comical, too aware of the camera and still prefer the Current series, with all it faults, to the comedic Bonds.

Share

Streaming Review: Blood Vessel (2019)

With a cast as inauthentic as the movie’s painted prop gold bars Blood Vessel disappoints.

Hailing from the land down under, Blood Vessel is the story a small group that has survived the sinking of their ship during WWII and find themselves aboard a German warship, whose crew has met mysterious and gruesome deaths. An intriguing premise the film fails almost straight out of the gate. The survivors are a collection of cliched and cardboard caricatures instead of living breathing characters. At no point throughout the films 97-minute runtime does a single character present any sort of inner life, growth, or surprising turn. They are all exactly who they appeared to be when we met them floating in raft in the cold frigid waters of the North Atlantic, presumably in the winter of ’44-’45.

The lack of care or attention to detail in this film might be best typified by the scene where the greedy, brassy, and loud-mouthed character from New York discovers a cache of gold bars presumable looted by the NAZIs from their Romanian allies. Examining the gold, he lifts the bars easily even turning in the light while grasping it with just two fingers.

Had the characters been fleshed out and developed that film’s slow pace and attempts at building tension during the first half of its runtime may have worked. A derelict and deserted ship, particularly an enemy one, would make for a rich and atmospheric setting to explore characters and conflict but if you populate it with tired cliches then the lack of action becomes a drag and not a slow burn.

While watching Blood Vessel it was impossible not to think of similarly themed and flawed films such as 1980’s Death Ship. It isn’t until the third act that the monstrous cause for the carnage that befell the crew is revealed and released forcing the characters into a desperate fight for survival, but by this time it had become impossible to have any emotional stake in their escape or victory and the enjoyment comes from predicting which horror film tropes will rule the script and its ending.

I can’t but also feel that the cinematography also fails the film. While the sequences are well shot and atmospherically lit, there is something in the crispness of the images that works against the story’s period setting.

While some may enjoy the basic monster fight nature of the film, particularly its final act and resolution, I cannot recommend Blood Vessel as a movie worth your time.

Blood Vessel is currently streaming exclusively on Shudder.

Share

Review: Mildred Pierce (1945)

The Criterion Channel has a collection of Joan Crawford films and I decided to give Mildred Pierce, adapted from a James M. Cain novel, a spin.

Crawford plays Pierce, a role which won her an Oscar, a middle-class woman who’s forced to survive and flourish after her husband leaves her stranding her with two daughters to raise, one, Veda, with expensive tastes and a growing sense of snobbery. Navigating lecherous men, back-stabbing business deals, heartbreak, and the growing gulf between herself and Veda’s increasing obsession with money and status Mildred also find friendship, loyalty and a strong sense of self as she carves out success founding a small chain of restaurants.

Unlike the novel the film centers around a murder investigation hen Mildred’s second husband is shot dead at his beach house, providing a flashback framing device for the film’s script. This adaptation also eliminated several sub-plots from Cain’s novel due to the restrictive production code enforce on all Hollywood productions at the time.

Crawford delivers a compelling and powerful performance. I was pleasantly surprised to find Eve Arden, whom I had primarily known for her much later career work in the 70s, here as Mildred’s sharp toothed friend. Arden displays a talent for delivering a cutting the remark that would serve her well throughout her career.

Directed by Michal Curtiz the film is competently produced and never lacks for pacing or a strong sense of style despite being hampered with an overly melodramatic scrip and more than a few dry performances in addition to the, even for the period, overly racist caricature of Mildred’s servant girl Lottie, played by Gone with the Wind’s Butterfly McQueen.

While the tacked-on murder plot adds a criminal element Mildred Pierceunlike some of Cain’s other works can only be considered noir adjacent and not noir itself.

HBO has produced a limited series adaptation of the novel which hewed much closer to the original story and not shying away from elements of infidelity and incest.

Share

November’s Italian Genre: The Bird with the Crystal Plumage

Due to me running late and a minor migraine this will have to be quick.

Sunday my sweetie-wife and I watched, via Sd Film Geeks’ monthly festival of Italian Genre Cinema, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage one of the films, along with Blood and Black Lace that established and defined the giallo genre of movies that focused on lurid tales of sex and violence.

The film centers on Sam Dalmas an American author on an extended vacation in Italy. On the eve of his return to America Sam witnesses an attempted murder of a woman in an art gallery. Due to his intervention the woman survives, and Sam becomes part of the police’s hunt for the maniac who has already killed three times. Sam investigates on his own, but with surprising police assistance and acceptance, drawing the killer’s attention and becoming a target himself endangering his own life and that of his live-in girlfriend. Eventually the killer is discovered with the genre appropriate twists and order is restored.

This film was fun to watch. The twists in the plot and the eventual revelations are mor logical than last month The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, though as with all Giallo it is important to approach the film with prodigious suspension of disbelief. Luckily this edition was subtitled and not dubbed, preserving the actors’ portrayals and enhancing the experience/ The cinematography is lush and colorful displaying the tastes that would become the signature of director Dario Argento. As a cherry on top my sweetie-wife also spotted a connection to Star Trek the Original Series. So, if you get a chance to stream this one, do so.

 

Share

The Problem with Frankenstein Films

Being a universally beloved and known property that exits in the Public Domain there is rarely a shortage of adaptations, reinterpretations, and extension of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein.

The last really big elaborate adaptation came from producer Francis Ford Coppola and director/star Kenneth Branagh with 1994’s Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. I remember seeing this one in the theater and being, well, underwhelmed.

It has a fantastic cast, Branagh as Frankenstein, Robert De Niro as the Monster, Helena Bonham Carter as Elizabeth and a slew of other great actors of the period, but that couldn’t put the film over the top leaving it as just a couple of hours of entertainment.

I think there’s an element that James Whale and the four writers of the 1931 Universal classic Frankenstein got correct that many later editions failed at and that is getting straight to the point of the story.

The 1931 film opens with Frankenstein’s fiancé concerned because she hasn’t seen her love in sometime. After collecting a mutual friend and an old instructor they head to his lab and barge in on the night of creation. Bam! We’re off and running.

1994’s adaptation returns to the novel’s framing device of an arctic explorer coming across Frankenstein, near death, and hear the tale told as flashback. (A flashback that violates Point of View with Frankenstein recounting details of scenes he never witnessed, but the novel does this as well.) We sit though extended sequences of Frankenstein’s life, his loves, his slowly building obsessions until finally we get to him creating life.

The truth of the matter is we don’t care about the backstory. It holds no suspense. Ask nearly anyone what happens in Frankenstein and they’ll tell you a scientist makes a living monster from dead body parts. This exploration of growing obsession is pointless. We know where he ends up, we know what he is going to do, and unless you have invented a unique take wholly divorced from the source material, you’re just boring us while we wait for the subject matter that brought us to the theater.

 

Share

Seasonal Review: Death Line

Death Line (AKA Raw Meat) is a 1972 British thriller/horror film starring Donald Pleasance with a cameo from Christopher Lee and directed by Gary Sherman.

When an important member of the Ministry of Defense vanishes from a tube Station Inspector Calhoun (Pleasance) starts investigation discovering that the station in question has a history of missing persons. More people go missing and one turns up murdered after being impaled by a broom handle. With the assistance of a college couple the mystery is eventually solved and the threat ended.

Death Line is a slow film taking its time to unwind and even at an hour and half it feels a bit long and padded. The concept when revealed is better suited to an hour-long anthology than a full feature film. There is one very impressive single-take tracking shot but overall the film suffers from too slow of a pace.

Pleasance has been noted for giving one of his most eccentric performances and that is well deserved. He doesn’t chew the scenery, but the Calhoun’s characterization is quite unlike the sort of the role one would associate with Pleasance.

Death Line is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel as part of the collection 70s Horror.

Share