BY ERNIE MAGNOTTA

Fans of legendary director Brian De Palma lovingly recall how the auteur’s early thrillers contained at least one sequence which employed the split-screen technique (a device by which two moving images are projected simultaneously onto separate parts of the screen). This technique, when used properly, is capable of generating extreme suspense and involvement in an already enthralled audience. De Palma masterfully used the split-screen in his still-underrated, 1973 debut thriller, Sisters (as well as in many of his later cinematic masterpieces such as Carrie and Dressed to Kill), milking certain scenes for every bit of tension and suspense possible. Now, if the split-screen was that effective in just a few sequences, wouldn’t using it throughout an entire film cause maximum suspense and entertainment? That’s the question the filmmakers of Wicked, Wicked not only asked, but bravely attempted to answer.

Writer-director Richard L. Bare came up with the idea of filming an entire movie in split-screen (here dubbed Duo-Vision) while simply driving home one day. Bare, who is best known for directing most episodes of the 1960s sitcom Green Acres, saw the line that divided the road and realized that he was viewing one side of the freeway and the other simultaneously. He immediately decided to shoot an entire movie this way. The idea proved to be quite a Herculean undertaking as Bare had to first write a script which constantly contained two separate scenes side by side where, normally, there would be only one. More than up for the challenge, Bare came up with a story involving a disturbed, young man (Randolph Roberts from Happy Days) with a mommy fixation who murders any blonde-haired women that happen to be staying at the old hotel where he’s currently employed. (The young madman also lives inside the walls of the hotel where he can easily spy on all the guests, making the plot a fun combination of The Phantom of the Opera and Psycho.) The hotel detective (Another World’s David Bailey) races against time while desperately trying to find and stop the masked lunatic before he can reach his next target: the beautiful hotel lounge singer (played by the always welcome Tiffany Bolling from Kingdom of the Spiders who belts out all of this film’s many tunes herself). The unique movie also features several highly recognizable faces from 1960s/70s cinema and television such as Scott Brady (The Night Strangler), Edd Byrnes (Grease), Madeleine Sherwood (The Flying Nun), Diane McBain (Spinout), Roger Bowen (M.A.S.H., 1970) and Arthur O’Connell (Fantastic Voyage). Due to the split-screen process, the actual filming took double the time it normally would have and the film’s budget doubled as well. It also took a whopping 32 weeks to edit Wicked, Wicked which is about five times the amount it would have taken to edit a standard film.

So, was Duo-Vision worth it? Overall, I have to say no. I think the film would have worked just fine without it (as well as saved a lot of time and money) because the split-screen really doesn’t accomplish all it should in terms of suspense here. Also, seeing two actions simultaneously may be interesting at first, but, after about ten minutes, you get used to it and it feels just like any other movie. This process really only works when it heightens the suspense, a la De Palma, and, unfortunately, Richard Bare, although more than competent, is not in the same league as the master filmmaker. That being said, I enjoyed the film itself. Sure, the story is derivative and a bit (intentionally) silly in spots, but it’s still an entertaining enough psychofilm with a solid, likeable cast and a fun hotel setting. I also recommend checking it out in order to see the results of the time and effort the filmmakers put into this extremely ambitious project.

Wicked, Wicked has been released as a DVD-R from Warner Archive. The film is presented in its original 2:35:1 aspect ratio and, although the colors seem a bit washed out, the movie is more than watchable. It’s also the only way you may be able to see this film at the moment due to the fact that Warner most likely has no plans to release it in a re-mastered version. (Most titles released in the DVD-R format aren’t really in high enough demand, so money won’t be spent to re-master them properly.) The audio is terrific and the disc also contains the original theatrical trailer (which isn’t in Duo-Vision, but, color-wise, is actually much more vibrant than the film itself) as well as the eye-catching, original poster artwork which is featured on the DVD’s sleeve, menu and disc itself.

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BY ADRIAN SMITH

When Dr. Mark Davidson (John Neville) comes back to the Space research lab with a new wife, his government superiors want to know more about her. And why are scientists all over the world who are also working on the same equation as his collegues - the ability to use mental projection to travel to the other side of the galaxy - dying in the exact same way? Could the fact that his wife appears impervious to pain and unable to blink be a clue as to her potential extra-terrestrial origins? These are the questions Unearthly Stranger raises and then sets out to answer in a fairly breathless fashion. Although a considerable amount of time is spent on men in suits talking to each other in offices, the film represents the power of a good idea. As Dr. Davidson gradually comes to learn the truth about his wife it is truly heartbreaking. Great performances and excellent black and white cinematography give the film a power it may have lacked in the hands of a more pedestrian filmmaker.

Director John Krish was best known for his work on 1960s British television including The Saint and The Avengers, and he packs a lot of plot into the film's brief running time. Unearthly Stranger most closely resembles an episode of The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits, if it was scripted by John Wyndham (author of 'The Midwich Cuckoos' and 'Day of the Triffids'). In actual fact the film was written by Rex Carlton, whose best known credit is the infamous The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962). Where that film fails on virtually every level, Unearthly Stranger was produced by Albert Fennel who was also responsible for The Innocents (1961), Night of the Eagle (1962), and later on Legend of Hell House (1973), all now considered classics of British horror cinema. His experience, also honed in television, helped Unearthly Stranger share a similar level of quality.

Like many other black and white British science fiction films of the period, this film depicts a 'cosy apocalypse'. The world could potentially come to an end, but we can be damned civilized about it. As such it would make a good companion film to The Earth Dies Screaming (1964) or Invasion (1965), the latter also shortly receiving a DVD release from Network.

'The British Film' collection was launched by Network Distributing last year and they plan to release over 450 vintage films on blu ray or DVD over a five-year period. From classics such as Victim (1961) and Countess Dracula (1971) to long-unavailable shockers like Baby Love (1968) and The Nightcomers (1971), and with plenty of other rarities in-between, it is a project for retro movie fans to keep a close eye on.

Unearthly Stranger can be ordered from Network Distributing here.

Merchants of Menace: The Business of Horror Cinema

Edited by Richard Nowell

Bloomsbury Publishing

264 pages. Illustrated

229 x 152 mm

ISBN: 9781623564209

REVIEW BY ADRIAN SMITH 

Many books have been written about the horror genre, from almost every conceivable perspective. Here however, is a somewhat different approach: the horror industry as an economy. Films, after all, require finance, and whilst artistic decisions are usually at the forefront of analysis, without the money men in the background cinema as we know it would not exist today.

Merchants of Menace, with a tribute to William Castle on its cover, attempts to give the reader a history of the horror genre from the 1930s Universal cycle through to the American remakes of today. A collection of essays on the horror genre, one will also find an in-depth look at the re-launch of Hammer as a brand and business entity, the zombies of Poverty Row and many more. It is a fascinating approach to the subject and causes the reader to ponder issues in a way they were probably not thought of before, such as the economic power of atmosphere; what exactly is atmosphere and how is it defined and turned into a commodity by filmmakers? Using the unsettling British horror City of the Dead (1960, U.S. title Horror Hotel) as an example, Robert Spadoni discusses how the film foregrounds atmosphere over narrative and how the two are often in conflict with each other.

This collection helps redress the balance between an understanding of the horror film as an entertainment medium and as a business. This will be of great interest to fans of the genre, but also points out wider issues that go beyond horror into the film industry as a whole. It is often said that you will always make money in the film business from horror and sex. Perhaps this suggests an obvious direction for Nowell's future research.

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SECOND TIME GONE GIRL

By Raymond Benson

A few weeks ago, I posted a review of The Criterion Collection’s excellent Blu-ray release of George Sluizer’s 1988 Franco-Danish film, The Vanishing. This excellent thriller was well-received by critics and the public alike, prompting Hollywood to step forward and produce an American remake in 1993. The screenplay, based on Tim Krabbé’s novel Het Gouden Ei (as was the original), was written by actor/screenwriter Todd Graff. Sluizer returned to direct the remake, which in many cases is practically a shot-by-shot repetition. However, there are differences.

I’m not sure who at the conference table decided that the American remake of The Vanishing should have a happy ending, as opposed to the more-terrifying, bleak finale of the original, but it happened. Perhaps the studio figured that U.S. audiences would not accept the earlier culmination, in which the villain triumphs and we realize that the movie was about him all along. This time around, the bad guy gets his comeuppance and our heroes win the cat-and-mouse game that was set in motion at the picture’s beginning.

Well, if you’ve seen the original 1988 version, then you’ll most likely be disappointed with the 1993 edition. However, if you haven’t, then you may very well enjoy the remake for what it is, and especially for the extremely bizarre performance by Jeff Bridges as the creep. And creepy he is. Speaking with a strange accent (or is it merely an odd elocution?—hard to say), Bridges steals the movie (as did Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu in the original role). A young Kiefer Sutherland is our hero this time, and his vanishing girlfriend is played by Sandra Bullock (pre-Speed) when she was relatively unknown. That said, the real heroine of the remake is Nancy Travis, as Sutherland’s new girlfriend, and this is where the new movie differs the most from its predecessor.

Travis takes charge of the story in the last act and, without providing too much of a spoiler, brings a more feminist take to the tale. Is the new ending satisfying? Sure, from a Hollywood by-the-book standpoint. The problem is that the picture loses what may have been the point of the original story—that evil can lurk where you least expect it, and it can, more often than not, win.

Twilight Time’s limited edition (to 3,000 copies) high definition Blu-ray looks fine and dandy; the only extra is the theatrical trailer. Fans of the film may want to pick this up; but in my book, the 1988 original is still the more effective nail-biter.

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(Photos copyright Mark Cerulli. All rights reserved.)

By Mark Cerulli

Last Wednesday, the red carpet was rolled out on Hollywood Boulevard, the paparazzi were out in force and the Spiderman and Wonder Woman impersonators had been pushed aside, at least momentarily, for American Film Institute’s annual film festival.

Cinema Retro was in da house for writer/director J.C. Chandor’s new crime drama, A Most Violent Year, this year’s opening night selection. The director introduced his third film onstage at the Dolby Theater, joined by his distinguished cast and crew, including Jessica Chastain and DP Bradford Young. Chandor also pointed out where he was sitting when his screenplay for “Margin Call” (which he also directed) lost out to Woody Allen’s “Midnight In Paris” in the 2012 Oscar race.

Although the film’s setting – the cutthroat world of home heating oil doesn’t sound exciting, it provides the backdrop for Abel Morales, a principled young businessman (the excellent Oscar Issac) to reach for the American dream – if his competitors don’t ruin him first! Chandor, a NJ native, perfectly captured the bone-chilling winter of 1981 as well as the underbelly of this unglamorous but essential trade. Jessica Chastain was a scene-stealer as Abel’s beautiful but hard-edged wife, willing to reach into her mob past to protect their business. Screen veteran Albert Brooks gives a steady, understated performance as their business partner, totally unfazed by the industry’s corruption even as the violence starts to spiral out of control.

A bit drawn out at times, the film’s strong performances and meticulously crafted early 80s look more than make up for the slow pace. One stunning shot occurs early on when the main character looks out over a grimy industrial property he’s desperately trying to acquire and across the East River is the 1981 New York skyline complete with the Twin Towers; a sight many a New Yorker took for granted until they were gone.

After the credits it was on to the famous Roosevelt Hotel – where Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford used to down cocktails - for an after-party complete with open bar and unlimited schmoozing but curiously no food. It was a headache-inducing combination that sent this CR scribe heading off to see another acclaimed Hollywood star, In & Out Burger!

“If a movie makes you happy, for whatever reason, then it’s a good movie.”

—Big E

*******WARNING: REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS*******

BY ERNIE MAGNOTTA  

If there’s one thing I love, it’s 1970s made-for-TV horror films. I remember sitting in front of the television as a kid and watching a plethora of films such as Gargoyles, Bad Ronald, Satan’s School for Girls, Horror at 37,000 Feet, Devil Dog: Hound of Hell, Scream Pretty Peggy, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, Moon of the Wolf and The Initiation of Sarah just to name a few. Some of those are better than others, but all were fun.

When I think back, there have been some legendary names associated with small screen horrors. Genre masters John Carpenter (Halloween), Steven Spielberg (Jaws), Wes Craven (Nightmare on Elm Street), Tobe Hooper (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and Joseph Stefano (Psycho) all took shots at television horror and created the amazing films Someone’s Watching Me!, Duel, Summer of Fear, Salem’s Lot and Home for the Holidays respectively.

However, there was one man whose name became synonymous with 1970s made-for-TV horrors. When it came to scaring the living daylights out of people in the privacy of their own homes, producer/director Dan Curtis was king.

Curtis’ first foray into television horror was as a producer of the 1960s classic, gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, which ran successfully from 1966-1971. Then, in 1968, he produced his first TV horror movie The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde which starred the late, great Jack Palance (Shane, Torture Garden, Alone in the Dark, City Slickers) in the title role.

In 1972, Curtis would team with legendary author Richard Matheson (I Am Legend, Twilight Zone, Incredible Shrinking Man, Duel) and, over the next five years, they would create a series of unforgettable made-for-TV horror films. Their first collaboration is, arguably, their best. The two genre masters would bring author Jeff Rice’s original novel The Kolchak Papers to the small screen. Curtis would produce while Matheson adapted Rice’s story. The film, now retitled The Night Stalker, was directed by John Llewellyn Moxey (City of the Dead aka Horror Hotel) and starred the great Darren McGavin (Mike Hammer, Airport ’77, A Christmas Story) as intrepid reporter Carl Kolchak hot on the trail of a nightmarish modern day vampire who’s stalking the back alleys of Las Vegas.

Released to ABC-TV on January 11^th, 1972, The Night Stalker became the highest rated television film at that time and it would hold that title for many years. The film’s enormous success led to an immediate sequel titled The Night Strangler. This time, Curtis would not only produce, but also direct from an original script by Matheson. The film was another huge hit, so, naturally, ABC wanted a third Kolchak adventure. Matheson wrote a script entitled The Night Killers, but unfortunately the movie was never made. The Night Stalker instead became a weekly television series.

Unconvinced that Kolchak could be done properly on a weekly basis, Dan Curtis decided to bow out of the series. Instead, in 1973, he produced and directed another great made-for-TV horror film titled The Norliss Tapes. This ABC Movie of the Week was very similar to The Night Stalker in that it involved a writer investing the occult. The movie, which was set in California, also served as the pilot to a series that, unfortunately, was never produced. Written by William F. Nolan (Logan’s Run, Burnt Offerings), the film starred Roy Thinnes (The Invaders) and Angie Dickinson (Rio Bravo, Police Woman, Dressed to Kill).

1973 would see three more TV horrors from busy producer/director Curtis. The Invasion of Carol Enders which starred Meredith Baxter (All the President’s Men, Family Ties, Ben), The Picture of Dorian Gray starring Shane Briant (Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell, Captain Kronos – Vampire Hunter, Demons of the Mind) and Frankenstein starring Robert Foxworth (Death Moon, Damien: Omen 2, Prophecy, Falcon Crest, Transformers), Bo Svenson (Walking Tall, Snowbeast, Inglorious Bastards, Night Warning, Heartbreak Ridge, Kill Bill Vol. 2) and Susan Strasberg (Picnic, Scream of Fear, Rollercoaster, The Manitou, Bloody Birthday, Sweet Sixteen, Delta Force).

In 1974, Curtis and Matheson would reunite for two more made-for-TV films which Curtis would once again produce and direct. Scream of the Wolf, starring Peter Graves (It Conquered the World, Mission: Impossible, Airplane), Clint Walker (The Dirty Dozen, Killdozer, Snowbeast) and Jo Ann Pflug (M.A.S.H., The Night Strangler, The Fall Guy), and the excellent Bram Stoker’s Dracula starring Jack Palance, Simon Ward (Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, The Monster Club), Nigel Davenport (Chariots of Fire, A Man for all Seasons) and Fiona Lewis (Fearless Vampire Killers, Dr. Phibes Rises Again, Dead Kids, The Fury). Curtis’ last television horror film of 1974 would be Turn of the Screw. William F. Nolan adapted the classic Henry James novel which Curtis produced and directed.

In 1975, Curtis scored big once again by producing and directing an amazing made-for-TV anthology film titled Trilogy of Terror. The movie, again written by William Nolan from a collection of short stories by Richard Matheson, starred the always wonderful Karen Black (Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, Airport 1975, Family Plot, Burnt Offerings, House of 1000 Corpses) who headlined all three tales. The final segment, entitled Amelia, is the most remembered due to Black’s horrifying battle with the now iconic Zuni fetish doll. Curtis would produce and direct another made-for-TV horror anthology called Dead of Night. Released in 1977, the film was once again scripted by Richard Matheson.

Although 1977 would see the last of Dan Curtis’ 70s horror creations, there was still one more film to go. Curtis’ 1970s horror swan song would be the ABC made-for-TV chiller Curse of the Black Widow.