Adrian Smith
Cinema Retro
BY ADRIAN SMITH
Somewhere
in the north-German countryside is a POW camp for Naval officers and assorted
other servicemen. The camp kommandant claims that it is completely escape
proof, but this does not deter the camp escape committee, lead by Captain
Maddox (Jack Warner, best remembered as the titular copper in Dixon of Dock
Green). They've tried tunnelling and going over the wire, but they always get
caught, or worse luck the tunnel collapses. Thankfully the kommandant is a
reasonable man who understands their duty to try to escape, unlike the sadistic
guard Captain Schultz (Anton Diffring, an actor who escaped Nazi Germany
himself in 1939, only to be typecast as Nazi thugs for most of his forty-year
career), who would happily shoot prisoners if he could get away with it.
Lt.
Ainsworth (Anthony Steel) has an ingenious idea. An accomplished artist, he
creates a papier-mâché head which can be assembled into a convincing dummy that
the men refer to as Albert. This way someone can escape whilst the prisoners
are being escorted outside the camp to the shower block, and when a headcount
is taken, the German guards will not notice that anyone is missing. This is a
plan so daring, and frankly quite bonkers, that it can only be based on a true
story, which it is. Albert was built by John Worsley in the camp Marlag O, and
it was used twice to allow men to escape. It is an amazing story and Albert
R.N. belongs alongside other true POW escape films like The Colditz
Story (1955) or The Great Escape (1963).
The
film was directed by Lewis Gilbert, who was responsible for an incredible
forty-one films between 1944 and 2002. In 1953 alone he was working on Johnny
on the Run (for the Children's Film Foundation), Albert R.N. and The
Sea Shall Not Have Them, which may explain why this particular film does
not get mentioned in his recent autobiography "All My Flashbacks: Sixty
Years a Film Director". There were just too many films to cover. Gilbert
is one of the most prolific yet largely-ignored British film directors, with
most perhaps mainly remembering his 1966 hit Alfie and contributions to the James Bond canon; You Only Live
Twice (1966), The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) and Moonraker
(1979).
Albert R.N. has recently been
restored for this new DVD release from Renown Pictures. It both looks and
sounds superb. Sadly there are no other extras included. A commentary track
from Lewis Gilbert would have been fantastic, or failing that a historian who
can give details of the actual true story would have given the package some
more weight. Despite this Albert R.N. comes highly recommended. The kind
of black-and-white movie which you used to find on TV on a rainy afternoon, its
depictions of wartime heroism, sacrifice, honour and above all, the stiff upper
lip, will make you proud to be British.
DVD
review by Adrian Smith
Loving
and sexy housewife Ellen (Gigi Darlene) likes nothing more than taking out the
trash in her neglige. Unfortunately this turns the janitor into a rapist, who
gets his comeuppance when she kills him in self-defence. Instead of telling her
husband what happened, Ellen goes on the run and finds that the world is a
cruel place to sexy outlaws. Ellen moves from abusive situation to abusive
situation before coming perilously close to being caught by a detective. Is
Ellen a victim, or does her penchant for nudity mean she really is a "Bad
Girl"?
Doris
Wishman is a somewhat fascinating character. Almost fifty by the time she
directed her first film, she started out with "nudie cuties"; tame,
often comical films mainly shot in nudist camps. These films, including Nude
on the Moon (1961) and Gentlemen Prefer Nature Girls (1963) feature
the kind of corny plot-lines and creaky acting that would have seemed dated in
1940s B features. However, working outside the studio system and therefore not
worried about the Hollywood Production Code, what Wishman could do was shoot
boobs. Lots of boobs. The nudist camp film had grown in popularity in both the
US and Europe during the late 1950s and no matter how bad these were, they
would always make money. As her films became more violent and exploitative they
became known as "roughies". Women were generally the victims of male
aggression and subjugation, and there was a focus on rape and violence. Bad
Girls Go to Hell (1965) falls into this latter category, and it is often
hailed as one of the sleaziest films ever made. What was perhaps unusual was
the fact that Wishman was a female director working in a very male-dominated
genre. Her films can be seen as more than just sexploitation, and Wishman gives
her female characters a sense of power and freedom. Despite the degradation
they go through, the women in her films often win out over the men. Sadly, in
this particular film, the ending suggests that women will always be victims, and
it could even be their own fault. Doris Wishman was a controversial filmmaker,
and this film is unlikely to win her many feminist admirers. She went on to
achieve permanent infamy with the pair of films Double Agent 73 and Deadly
Weapons (both 1974), featuring the uniquely-endowed Chesty Morgan killing
men with her enormous assets.
This
DVD of Bad Girls Go to Hell has been put out by Apprehensive Films, and
the print is the same found on Something Weird's earlier release. It is a
surprisingly good picture for such a low budget grindhouse film. It is a real
slice of the greasy underbelly of 1960s American life. The soundtrack is also
fun, featuring some great 1960s instrumental pop. This DVD features an awful
short film which has nothing to do with Doris Wishman, and left this reviewer
confused as to it's inclusion. Also featured are some trailers for other
Apprehensive Films DVDs, mostly of the obscure exploitation variety and again,
not related to this film at all.
You
can order this DVD over at www.thegrindhouse.net.
RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST FROM CINEMA RETRO'S ARCHIVES
(The following article was originally run in November, 2014)
BY ADRIAN SMITH
With
around sixty special guests in attendance, the Westminster Central Hall on
Saturday the 7th of November was packed to its domed roof with excited Hammer
film fans.
Familiar
faces including Caroline Munro, Valerie Leon, Madeline Smith and Martine
Beswick were providing some glamour, but the organisers managed to make the
event extra-memorable by securing the presence of Edina Ronay, George Cole,
Freddie Jones and others who had not signed autographs at a fan event before.
At times queues to meet them ran out of the building and down the street! Other
rare UK appearances were made from Veronica Carlson and Linda Hayden, flown in
from the US to meet their fans. It was an incredible opportunity to meet an
amazing selection of Hammer stars, directors and producers.
A
huge selection of original Hammer film memorabilia was also available courtesy
of the brilliantly eclectic stalls around the hall. Prices ranged from the
eye-watering (£250 for an original poster!) to the affordable, with
hard-to-find DVDs, magazines, novels, t-shirts and more on offer. Between
browsing fascinating lobby-card sets and collecting autographed photos, I'm
sure several fans had to make more than one trip to the nearest cash machine.
As
if this alone did not make this a must-see event, there was also a busy
schedule of events throughout the day overseen by genre scholars Jonathon Rigby
and Sir Christopher Frayling. Peter Cushing's personal secretary Joyce
Broughton tearfully shared her feelings of this much-loved actor (who was
praised throughout the day by many who knew him). Joyce said that she would
never reveal the location of Cushing's ashes, as he requested that his last
resting place not become a shrine.
Lalla
Ward and Robert Tayman, the latter also attending a fan event for the first
time, discussed their experiences making Vampire Circus (1972). For
Lalla it was her first film role following acting school. Robert's sense of humour
was the driest and most sardonic of the day and he was clearly enjoying the
opportunity to talk about his role as Count Mitterhaus.
Barbara
Shelley made a lot of films for Hammer, from their WWII prison-camp dramas to Quatermass
and the Pit (1967). She revealed that she had swallowed one of her vampire
teeth during a scene on Dracula - Prince of Darkness (1965)! She also
expressed her gratitude to Hammer film fans for making her feel so good, and
revealed that co-star Julian Glover referred to the film as "Quater-piss
on the Mat" because of the smell of rank clay on the set!
A
Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell (1974) reunion saw Dave Prowse
meeting up with Shane Briant, Madeline Smith and Philip Voss. Although in poor
health, and beginning with an admission that his memory is causing him
problems, Prowse was in good form and enjoyed talking about his playing
Frankenstein's monster for the second time in a Hammer film.
Hungarian
director Peter Sasdy made three films for Hammer including Taste the Blood
of Dracula (1970) and was very detailed in his discussion of the directing
process. Beginning his career in television, he had brought a new look to the
Hammer gothics with his take on Dracula, and continued that with Countess
Dracula and Hands of the Ripper (both 1971), all rather unique
entries in Hammer's late horror films.
Finally
event organiser Thomas Bowington was joined onstage by Caroline Munro, Veronica
Carlson and Martine Beswick, all three of whom were entertaining and honest in
discussing their time with Hammer. Martine shared the problems she had
experienced on Dr Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971) when demands came
through for her to appear completely nude, Veronica praised Freddie Francis,
her director on Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1868), and Caroline
never has a bad word to say about anyone, even when she was left buried in a
hole in the ground during a rain storm whilst everyone else took a tea break
during the shooting of Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972).
As the distance between classic Hammer and the 21st century continues to increase, eventsof this scale are unlikely to happen again. The good news however is
that The London Film Convention holds six events a year in Westminster!
For information on
forthcoming events go to http://www.londonfilmconvention.co.uk/index.html
(This review pertains to the UK Region 2 video releases).
BY ADRIAN SMITH
Michael
Armstrong, the writer and star of Eskimo Nell,once said, "It's hard
to wank and laugh at the same time". In the 1970s filmmakers gave it a
very good try however, and the British sex comedy was virtually the only kind
of film being funded. The problem is
that the majority of them were neither funny or sexy. They were generally
grubby and embarrassing for the actors and the audience. One of the pioneers of
the British sex film was director and producer Stanley Long, responsible for The
Wife Swappers (1969) and Adventures of a Taxi Driver (1975) and many
others. An occasional cinematographer on prestigious films like Roman
Polanski's Repulsion (1965), Long often recognised and nurtured new
talent, particularly if he could see a financial reward.
Michael
Armstrong had written The Sex Thief for Martin Campbell (1975), a film that
Stanley Long admired, so he approached the two of them with an idea for making
a film based on the pornographic poem Eskimo Nell. Realising that the concept
was so pornographic it was unfilmable, Armstrong decided to pen a tale of
young, idealistic filmmakers trying to make a film in 1970s Britain. Armstrong
wrote himself in as the director, fresh out of film school. After being
rejected by the major studios, he finds himself hired by Benny U. Murdoch (Roy
Kinnear), a sleazy producer who is obsessed with making a sex film based on the
poem Eskimo Nell. In an attempt to raise the finance, they end up agreeing to
make various different versions: a pornographic film, a kung-fu musical, a gay
cowboy epic and a wholesome family film, each with a different star. Inevitably
chaos ensues, along the way spoofing virtually the entire British film
industry, Mary Whitehouse and the Legion of Decency, and the very establishment
itself.
Eskimo Nell is a fantastic
snapshot of Britain in the 1970s, and also manages to be utterly hilarious. The
cast includes porn pin-up Mary Millington and TV stars Christopher Biggins, Doctor
Who's Katy Manning and Christopher Timothy, best known as the vet from All
Creatures Great and Small. Some of the comedy is dated, it often manages to
be tasteless, and is probably offensive in its use of camp gay stereotypes, but
the film gets away with it all thanks to the filmmakers' irreverent attitude. Eskimo
Nell is not only Britain's best sex comedy, but also one of the finest
satires of the film industry ever made. Michael Armstrong was an experienced
film director himself, having made horror films including Mark of the Devil
(1970) under very difficult circumstances. Martin Campbell went on to achieve
fame as director of two Bond Films, GoldenEye (1995) and Casino
Royale (2006), putting his sex film history far behind him.
88
Films have released the film in both DVD and Blu-ray versions, utilising a new
transfer of a 35mm print from the BFI archive. A booklet about the film is
included, written by genre historian Simon Sheridan, who also discusses the
film with Michael Armstrong on an entertaining commentary track. Eskimo Nell
is a terrific film and this new release is a reminder that it was indeed
possible to laugh at a sex film.
CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM AMAZON UK
BY ADRIAN SMITH
Review
by Adrian Smith
When
American Andrew Jessel (Tony Randall arrives in Marrakesh on a business trip,
he checks into the hotel and discovers a corpse in his wardrobe. This is the
beginning of a "wrong man" style adventure involving international
espionage and criminal gangs, but thankfully on his side is sexy super-spy Kyra
Stanovy (Senta Berger). The two set off to clear his name and solve the
mystery, and spend large parts of the film having to rescue each other from
assorted dangers, mainly involving local kingpin Casimir (Herbert Lom) and his
psychotic henchman Jonquil (Klaus Kinski). Also thrown into the mix are British
character actors Wilfrid Hyde-White, John Le Mesurier and Terry-Thomas,
providing a combination of plot exposition and comic relief, and the entire
plot builds to an inevitably happy conclusion where wrongs are made right, the
guilty are punished and the innocent get to ride off into the sunset.
Our Man in Marrakesh (known in the
States as Bang! Bang! You're Dead!) is a typical mid-Sixties Harry Alan
Towers production. An independent British producer who had made a name for
himself in radio and television before moving into feature films, he
specialised in European co-productions, pulling in A-list names and finance
from several different countries. His budgets were low, and his scripts were
often second-rate, but he seemed to have a no trouble persuading bankable stars
to take off around the world with him. He always preferred to shoot on
location, and Our Man in Marrakesh is no exception. Aside from some
rear-projection driving shots in a studio, most of the film is shot in
Marrakesh itself, giving it a seedy authenticity which gives puts it on a par
with the Bond films of the time. This film was one of hundreds of Bond-style
films produced during the 1960s. They became known as Eurospy films, although
other countries and continents got in on the act, too. Our Man in Marrakesh
mixes elements of Bond with Hitchcock's thrillers fairly successfully, and Tony
Randall makes a likeable comedic leading man. More fun, however, are the
various characters that rotate around him, most notably Klaus Kinski, who once
again looks unhinged and slightly dangerous. His piercing eyes and ease with
violent outbursts would of course be put to use in better films later on,
particularity in his collaborations with Werner Herzog.
The
Tasmanian director Don Sharp is best known for his Hammer films Rasputin the
Mad Monk (1966), The Kiss of the Vampire (1963) and The
Devil-Ship Pirates (1964), but his cult credentials include films like Curse
of the Fly (1965), two Fu-Manchu films with Christopher Lee (both produced
by Harry Alan Towers) and bizarre zombie-biker thriller Psychomania
(1973), a film that caused such despondency in star George Sanders that he
committed suicide shortly after its release. His direction is uncomplicated and
efficient. Although he rarely displays what could be called creative flair, he
gets the job done, and he was clearly reliable enough to be regularly employed
by producers for whom schedules and budgets were tight.
Our Man in Marrakesh, complete with
James Bond-style marketing materials, is a fun and exciting film with bullets,
car chases, corpses, bikini-clad babes, spies and gangsters, all wrapped up in
an exotic locale. It won't change your life, but it is fun and features more
entertainment value than many other Eurospy movies of the period. This has been
released by Network on R2 DVD as part of their 'The British Film' collection.
This is an exciting five-year plan, launched in 2013 with Studiocanal, to
release over 450 vintage British films. Sadly most of these DVDs have so far
featured very little in the way of extras, with just a theatrical trailer and
an image gallery to accompany the movie. However when films like these have not
been seen in any sort of decent print for decades the DVDs are well worth your time.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW CLIPS AND TRAILER AND TO PURCHASE THIS TITLE.
BY ADRIAN SMITH
75
Years of Marvel Comics. From the Golden Age to the Silver Screen
Roy Thomas, Josh Baker
Hardcover with fold-out, ribbon bookmark, and four-foot accordion-fold timeline
11.4 x 15.6 in.
712 pages
Published 2014
ISBN: 9783836548458
$200/
£135
75
Years of DC Comics. The Art of Modern Mythmaking
Paul
Levitz
Hardcover
with fold-out, ribbon bookmark
11.4 x 15.6 in.
720 pages
Published 2010
ISBN: 9783836519816
$200/ £135
If you take a look at the top 100 all-time highest worldwide
grossing movies, fifteen of them are either Marvel or DC comic adaptations.
According to Box Office Mojo the third highest grossing film of all time is The
Avengers (2012) at over a billion and a half dollars. Comics, it would
seem, are major players in the world of entertainment.
Seventy-five years ago it was all very different. Comics were
for children and were disregarded as both an entertainment medium and as an art
form. Comics were disposable. Because of their ephemeral nature surviving early
copies now trade hands for vast sums. Buying the first appearance of Superman
or Batman will set you back a cool $1-2 million. Thankfully, if you want to
hold the history of these comics in your hands without having to cash in your
life insurance, Taschen have released huge and lavish tributes that, once
opened, will send you whirling back through time to your own childhood and
beyond.
Four years ago Taschen published 75
Years of DC Comics. The Art of Modern Mythmaking, and
it was one of the biggest books this writer had ever seen. So heavy it comes in
a cardboard carrying case with handle, it is crammed with fantastic full-size
reproductions and blown up panels from classic comics and long-forgotten
strips. The dating used here suggests that DC began in 1935, with a comic
called New Fun. DC's most famous sons, Superman and Batman, did not make their
first appearances until 1938 and 1939 respectively. The book is divided into
sections; The Stone Age, The Golden Age, The Silver Age, The Bronze Age, The
Dark Age and The Modern Age, and each begins with shiny toughened pages. By
discussing some of the things that were going on in the comic industry outside
of DC, one can look at their development in context. There are also fold-out detailed
timelines in each section with a year-by-year breakdown including major world
events.
The book is also a reminder that DC weren't always about
superheroes. Alongside our spandex-wearing favourites were western comics,
science fiction, military comics, funny animals, exotic adventurers, gangsters
and detectives. There are other big names which have been somewhat forgotten by
now, such as Captain Marvel, Will Eisner's The Spirit (despite an ill-advised
attempt to being him back in a 2008 movie), Plastic Man, Starman and The
Spectre. Even supporting characters occasionally got their own comics, such as Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen
("See Jimmy turn into The Giant Turtle Man!") and Superman's Girl Friend Lois
Lane, the latter demonstrating that comics could appeal to both boys and
girls.
Also honoured are the many writers and artists who have built up
the world of DC comics over the years, from Jerry Seigel and Joe Schuster, the
creators of Superman, through to more modern writers like Alan Moore, who with Watchmen
in 1986 changed the perception of what the comic book could achieve.
Of course DC has made a major impact beyond the comics, something
which is included here. It is fun to see some of the toys and games kids would
be desperate to collect, as well as imagery from the many movies and TV shows
they inspired, including serials The Adventures of Superman (1948) and Batman
and Robin (1949) as well as perhaps the greatest example of 1960s pop
culture, the televised Batman series starring Adam West and Burt Ward (recently
released on DVD and Blu-ray by Warner Brothers); a comic strip brought to life
in full technicolour.
75 Years of DC Comics. The Art of Modern Mythmaking is a book that will most-likely take you the rest of your life to
read and enjoy. For those who prefer something a little smaller to read,
Taschen has also released separate volumes titled The Golden Age of DC
Comics and The Silver Age of DC Comics.
It was only a matter of time before Taschen would give Marvel the
same treatment, and 2014 marks their seventy-fifth anniversary. In 1939 Marvel
really hit the ground running, publishing a comic featuring a collection of
tales featuring amongst others The Human Torch (in this version an android) and
Sub-mariner, both of whom are still popular today. Coinciding with the
beginnings of war in Europe, a conflict which would eventually spread around
the globe, Marvel's comics reflected the fears and ambitions of military
conflict. Sub-mariner became the first superhero to fight Nazis in 1940, and in
1941 Captain America leapt into the fight, literally. On the front cover of his
first issue he is proudly punching Hitler in the face, star-spangled shield to
the fore. This was so controversial at the time that protestors marched on the
Marvel headquarters in New York!
That same year Stanley Leiber was hired at Marvel as a general
assistant and gofer whilst still a teenager. Within two weeks he was
commissioned to write a Captain America story. Signing the story "Stan
Lee", within eight months he was an editor and he went on to become one of
the most important figures in the comic book world. Stan Lee is responsible for
the creation of dozens of classic comic characters including The Fantastic
Four, Spider-Man, Iron Man, The X-Men and many more. It is mostly his creations
that now dominate Hollywood, particularly since the creation of the Marvel film
studios in 1996 and their subsequent purchase by Disney in 2009 for a mere $4
billion.
Stan Lee was not the only genius working at Marvel, and the book covers
work by many of the fantastic writers and artists employed over the last
seventy-five years including Jack Kirby, John Romita and Steve Ditko. The
author of this Marvel history himself, Roy Thomas, served as a Marvel editor
from 1965-80 and had runs on The Avengers, The Incredible Hulk, Conan
the Barbarian and many more.
75 Years of Marvel Comics. From the Golden Age to the Silver
Screen gives us a thorough history of the company and their comics.
There is a detachable four-foot long double-sided timeline giving a
year-by-year history not only of Marvel but comic book development in general.
Obviously a lot of space in the book is devoted to their most beloved
characters, including Thor, Hulk, Silver Surfer, Daredevil and The Avengers
alongside those already mentioned. Like the DC book before it, it is also fun
to discover many other characters and stories that one may have missed, with
names like Werewolf By Night, Captain
Britain, Sgt. Fury and His Howling
Commandoes, Dr. Strange (recently announced as another Marvel movie) and
Luke Cage, the first black superhero. Marvel also published "girls
comics" such as My Love and Our Love Story and created female
superheroes like The Cat, Black Widow and Elektra.
In the
late 1960s some of their comics went psychedelic, and in the 1970s Marvel began
to experiment with some fairly edgy material, such as the sleazy Howard the
Duck, the horror-enthused Tomb of Dracula
or the violent adventures of Conan the Barbarian. The artwork was always
excellent and is beautifully reproduced here.
Despite
an early Captain America movie serial
in 1944, Marvel's comics were not used as material for a theatrical movie again
until 1986, with the disastrous George Lucas-produced Howard the Duck. It was not until the movie version of Blade (1998) and X-Men (2000) that the real movie boom began. Perhaps
special-effects technology had finally caught up with the imaginations of
Marvel's writers and artists. However some of their characters had found
success on American television, most memorably with the Bill Bixby/ Lou
Ferrigno-starring The Incredible Hulk
(1978). This was produced by CBS who were also responsible for the TV movies of
Captain America (1979) and The Amazing Spider-Man (1977), imagery
from which can also be found in this book.
Spider-Man
first appeared in a Marvel comic in 1962. Whether posing on the White House
lawn with First Lady Rosalynn Carter in 1980 or appearing alongside Barack
Obama in a 2009 issue of The Amazing
Spider-Man, the web-slinger has become closely associated with the real
world, and in particular the city of New York. His youth and quips have made
him one of Marvel's most popular heroes, and in a moving December 2001 issue he
was forced to confront the horrors of 9/11. Unlike DC characters who mainly live
in fictional cities or worlds, the Marvel universe exists amidst our own.
Taschen's
books are a fitting tribute to the worlds of DC and Marvel and the people who
brought these incredible worlds to life week after week. One can only hope that
both companies will continue producing comics and stories for at least another
seventy-five years each.
CLICK HERE TO ORDER MARVEL BOOK FROM AMAZON USA
CLICK HERE TO ORDER MARVEL BOOK FROM AMAZON UK
CLICK HERE TO ORDER DC BOOK FROM AMAZON USA
CLICK HERE TO ORDER DC BOOK FROM AMAZON UK
BFI - Palgrave MacMillan
ISBN: 9781844577910
Paperback
Published October 2014
£12.99
REVIEW BY ADRIAN SMITH
The British Film Institute recently sponsored a major science fiction festival entitled
Sci-Fi: Days of Fear and Wonder. Alongside the many film screenings and DVD
releases they have also published several new volumes in their Film Classics
series. These are smaller volumes, around 100 pages in length, with each
focused on one specific film. Included are books on The War of the Worlds
(the 1953 version), Solaris (concentrating mainly on the 1972 Russian
classic, but also touching on Steven Soderbergh's 2002 adaptation), Silent
Running, Alien, Dr. Strangelove, Quatermass and the Pit
and more.
Quatermass and the Pit (1967) is seen as the high watermark of Hammer's science fiction
output. A belated follow-up to their two 1950s Quatermass films, themselves
based on a hugely successful BBC TV series penned by Nigel Kneale, the film
works better as a standalone story than as a direct sequel. Unlike those stark
monochrome films, which were shot mostly on location, Quatermass and the Pit
is colourful, studio-bound and uses a completely different cast. Brian Donlevy
had previously played the eponymous Professor Quatermass as a gruff,
no-nonsense American who had stepped straight from the pages of a Raymond
Chandler novel, the total opposite of Andrew Keir's bearded Scotsman. In this
film what appears to be an unexploded WWII bomb is uncovered during tube-tunnel
digging under London. Quatermass soon realises that this "bomb" is
actually a Martian spacecraft, crashed to Earth millions of years ago. These
aliens had come here to interfere with human evolution, meaning, as Barbara
Shelley's character puts it, "We are the Martians now."
Kim Newman is one of Britain's finest genre commentators, and his
writing here is illuminating as he discusses all incarnations of Quatermass,
from the first BBC series in 1953 through to the John Mills-starring The
Quatermass Conclusion in 1979. Even the ill-conceived 2005 remake gets a
mention. He goes into great depth on Pit itself, discussing the production and
the themes of the movie. The book is crammed with footnotes, each of which is
worth reading as they often contain more tidbits of information or humorous
asides. Newman may be a genre fan but he is not above sarcasm where it is
warranted.
This book demonstrates that although Hammer films must have more
books written about them than any other British studio's output, there is still
room for indepth analysis and commentary on individual significant titles. This
BFI Classics entry is a shrewd and penetrating introduction to Quatermass for
the uninitiated, and a must-have for those who think they already know
everything there is to know about Quatermass and his infernal pit.
You can order from the BFI Classics sci-fi range here:
http://shop.bfi.org.uk/sci-fi/sci-fi-books.html
DVD
Review: Out of the Unknown
7-disc Region 2 DVD box set from the BFI
By Adrian Smith
Famously,
or rather, infamously, the BBC took a rather cavalier approach to the
preservation of its television output in the 1950s and 1960s. Due to the cost
of videotape, once pre-recorded programmes had been broadcast,the tape was
wiped and used again. For programmes to be kept for repeat use or to be sold to
other territories around the world, the episode would be transferred to film,
and it this process we have to thank that any television from this period has
survived at all.
Out of the Unknown was an attempt to
present serious, adult science fiction on television, adapting well-known and
important authors like John Wyndham, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, J.G. Ballard and
E.M. Forster. The single play was a tradition by this point, with popular
series such as Armchair Theatre (1956-74) demonstrating the legacy of
television's theatrical origins in live drama. Although largely neglected as a
format today in favour of long-running series, both the BBC and independent
television in the 1950s through to the 1970s ran hundreds of single dramas. Out
of the Unknown presented a different adaptation every week. Commissioned by
Sidney Newman, the man responsible for both Armchair Theatre and Doctor
Who (1963-89; 2005-), the series took the BBCs remit to educate and inform
very seriously. Producer Irene Shubik, quoted in the booklet accompanying this
release, explained:
"Good
science fiction is a way of saying something you can't say in straightforward
terms... I tried to get [stories] that had some sort of message."
Like
any anthology, some of the episodes here work brilliantly, others less so, but
they are always interesting and prove the potential that science fiction has to
provide a commentary on the human condition; our fears, concerns and hopes.
From speculations on the potential of robotics to disastrous space missions and
mind-altering technology, Out of the Unknown provided ample food for
thought for its audience on a regular basis and is still fascinating.
The
series began in 1965 in black and white on the BBC, and ran for four series,
finally ending in colour in 1971. Twenty-eight episodes are completely missing
from the archive. This new box set contains the remaining twenty-four complete
episodes and five incomplete or reconstructed episodes, using a mix of clips,
still images and sound. Fans and amateur archivists have played a major role in
assisting the BFI to gather every remaining element so that this set represents
the entire sum of what has survived. Along with this Herculean effort a wealth
of extra features have been created including audio commentaries with
historians, experts and cast members, filmed interviews and a forty-minute
documentary. The accompanying booklet features in-depth essays and a complete
episode guide with cast and crew listings.
Out of the Unknown is a compelling
glimpse into the television production of the past, when commissioning editors
like Sidney Newman were prepared to take risks and assume a higher level of
intelligence in the audience than one feels is assumed by TV executives today.
Out
of the Unknown is released on 24 November 2014 and can be pre-ordered by clicking here.
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.
CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM AMAZON
CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM AMAZON
BY ADRIAN SMITH
(The following pertains to the UK, Region 2 releases)
Like
Walt Disney before him, Gerry Anderson's name became a brand identifier in
itself, a mark of quality. It is impossible to hear his name without automatically
thinking of puppets on strings, whizzing spaceships and secret island hideouts.
In tribute to Anderson, who sadly passed away two years ago before the
completion of this documentary, Filmed in Supermarionation presents a
brilliantly detailed history of his working life. The film is full of archival
material detailing just how difficult it was bringing life to those puppets,
along with interviews with many of those who worked alongside Anderson, most
notably his wife and long-standing collaborator Sylvia who also provided the
voice of Lady Penelope.
The
documentary revisits some of the original studios that Anderson and his crew
used and new footage is shot in Supermarionation (Gerry Anderson's term to
describe his use of marionettes) to demonstrate the filmmaking process. Some of
it is surprisingly low-tech but always ingenious. Alongside Gerry Anderson's
son Jamie, Lady Penelope and her chauffeur Parker themselves act as presenters
for the film, and whole sets are rebuilt and then blown up in slow motion. The
documentary also reveals some of the tensions between Gerry Anderson and Lew
Grade, the ITC producer who first bought their shows and then the whole company
itself. It was under Grade that they made the move into colour and produced
their most popular and well-loved show, Thunderbirds. Following the
relative failure of the Thunderbirds Are GO movie in 1966 Anderson went
slightly darker with his follow-up TV show Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons.
Even another Thunderbirds movie two years later did not do well, perhaps
because potential audiences felt they had seen it already on television.
Anderson
continued to improve the process and develop technology that made his shows of
such a high quality, including early use of video assist, which meant that his
puppeteers could view the action live on monitors instead of just looking down
at the puppets heads. Thankfully, unlike a lot of television production at the
time which was shot on primitive video tape, Anderson's shows were shot on
film, meaning they have been preserved and all look great today.
Despite
often claiming to hate the puppets (he reveals that early on he hoped to become
a director like Steven Spielberg) Gerry Anderson nevertheless worked with them
throughout the 1960s before finally having the opportunity to work with real
actors; first producing the theatrical film Journey to the Far Side of the
Sun, and then the successful TV series' UFO and Space: 1999.
Staying within science fiction, all of these shows still made extensive use of
miniatures and the effects that he had developed in his earlier puppet shows.
Network
Distributing have produced this documentary and are releasing it in both DVD
and Blu-ray formats. For
real fans and collectors there is a limited edition box set featuring books,
comics and bonus original Gerry Anderson episodes of early shows like Four
Feathers Fall, Fireball XL5 and Supercar, all restored and in
HD. (This can be ordered by clicking here.)
You
can order Filmed in Supermarionation here
BY ADRIAN SMITH
Although
by the late 1970s Richard Burton's reputation was based more on his
hard-drinking and turbulent marriages, he was still capable of demonstrating
his powers as a dangerous and magnetic performer. Arguably by this time he had
lost some of his former box-office draw and was taking roles in horror films
like Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) and The Medusa Touch to pay the bills, yet he was still a
mesmerising screen presence and in this film can even command the attention of
the audience whilst lying on a hospital bed in a coma.
The Medusa Touch is set in London
and begins with a murder. In the opening scene we see renowned author John
Morlar (Richard Burton) watching news of a space shuttle disaster on TV. Within
seconds he is being bludgeoned to death by a blunt instrument. It is something
of a shock to see the lead actor of a movie being killed before the credits
have even rolled, however, all is not lost. When the police arrive, led by
Inspector Brunel (Lino Ventura), a French detective on some kind of exchange
visit to Scotland Yard, they realise that he is still alive. Just. He is
whisked to hospital where he is put under the charge of Dr. Johnson (Gordon
Jackson) and wired up to several monitors and machines in an effort to keep him
alive. It is then up to Brunel to find out who tried to kill him and why.
So
despite initially appearing that Burton is merely in this film as a cameo role,
he does actually show up in several lengthy flashbacks as Brunel tries to track
down anyone who knew him. One person who may be able to help is his
psychiatrist, played by Lee Remick. She discloses that Morlar believed he had
the power to cause disasters by willing them in his mind; the so-called
"Medusa Touch". Initially believing this to be a curse, he gradually
comes to the realisation that he can use this power to change the world.
The Medusa Touch features some
spectacular special effects as Morlar's disasters grow and grow in scale and
magnitude, from a horrific plane crash into a large apartment building to an a
royal assassination attempt by demolishing a major London landmark. It does not
take Brunel long to turn from being sceptical of these powers to being in a
race against time to stop Morlar in his diabolical quest.
Briskly
directed by Jack Gold, The Medusa Touch is pure entertainment throughout
and plays like a cross between The Omen (1976) and an episode of Columbo.
This new Blu-ray features an excellent transfer and some fascinating behind the
scenes footage of the film's climax in Westminster Abbey. Jack Gold is
accompanied on a commentary track by genre authorities Kim Newman (who has also
written a booklet for this release) and Stephen Jones, where Gold is enthusiastic
and full of praise for all those who worked on the film.
Click here to order and view original trailer. (This is for the UK, region 2 release.)
(This review pertains to the British Blu-ray release by Network)
BY ADRIAN SMITH
A mysterious Englishman with mystical
powers, a sexy wife, a game of cricket and an insane asylum. In different hands
these elements could have been combined to make an Amicus portmanteau film in
the style of Tales From the Crypt or Asylum. In the hands of I,
Claudius author Robert Graves and Palme d'Or-winning Polish director Jerzy
Skolimowski it becomes a strange, hypnotic and fragmented tale that unsettles
and confuses in equal measure.
Alan Bates, who could give Richard Burton a
run for his money in the "brooding intensity" stakes, plays Crossley,
a disheveled yet charismatic wanderer who bursts uninvited into the lives of
Anthony and Rachel with devastating consequences. Anthony (John Hurt) is a
Radiophonic Workshop-style musician who spends most of his time recording
unusual noises and manipulating tape decks. Despite his apparent affair with
the wife of the village cobbler, he is happily married, if somewhat distracted
from her needs by his own sound obsessions. Rachel (Susannah York) is initially
upset by the presence of Crossley, who invited himself in for Sunday lunch
whilst Anthony was too polite to say no. Crossley claims to have spent the last
eighteen years in the Australian outback married to an aboriginal woman, where
he legally killed his children. He explains to Anthony that he also learned
shamanic abilities, including a form of shout that when uttered can kill anyone
and anything within earshot. Anthony is sceptical, yet with his interests in
sound, he cannot resist a demonstration.
This plot setup could lead to a
conventional thriller or horror film, but Skolimowski has created something
entirely unconventional. Crossley is relating this tale to a young Tim Curry at
a novelty cricket match being played between inmates and local villagers, which
in itself seems a highly unlikely scenario. The Shout uses collage-style
editing and an increasingly schizophrenic narrative until we are not entirely
sure what is going on or whose version of events to believe.
The soundtrack is particularly inventive
and unusual, making the most of the opportunity it was given in 1978 of being
one of the first films distributed in Dolby Stereo. When Alan Bates does shout
the audience must have all felt close to death. The cinematography is also
spectacular, making the Devon landscape look both beautiful and dangerous. The
Shout features a terrific cast who really embrace the concept without
hamming it up, something which could easily have happened if a "killer
shout" movie was being directed by anyone else. And if you have ever
wanted to see Oscar-winner Jim Broadbent strip almost naked and smear himself
in excrement then look no further.
This new Blu-ray features a new HD transfer
from the original film elements, an interview with the film's producer Jeremy
Thomas, an audio commentary from Stephen Jones and Kim Newman and a booklet
featuring new writing from Newman and Karen Oughton.
CLICK HERE TO ORDER AND SEE FILM CLIPS
BY ADRIAN SMITH
Have
you ever wondered what M*A*S*H would have been like if, instead of
rebelling in a Korean field hospital and taking a satirical swipe at the
Vietnam war, Elliott Gould and Donald Sutherland had actually been CIA
operatives in contemporary Paris? Probably not, but somebody in 1974 did and commissioned
a film that would be marketed solely on the chemistry of its two leads. Sadly
no one else involved with movie seemed to think it worthwhile to write a decent
script or throw any money into the project. This film looks so cheap that,
during a scene where Sutherland is washing up, you suspect that he was doing
this between takes as well.
Gould
and Sutherland play agents Griff and Bruland, who are both working separately
in Paris until an accidental assassination attempt by their own agency brings them
together. Incidentally this bombing takes place in a pissoire (urinal), which
gives an early indication of how grubby this film will get. Martinson, played
by British actor Joss Ackland, is the Chief of the Paris branch of the CIA, and
to make amends for nearly killing them, he puts them together on a new case.
Their task is to smuggle a defector from the Russian Olympic team back to New
York. However, when rival British agents get involved, it all goes horribly
wrong, and once again Griff and Bruland narrowly escape a CIA bomb. So now they
are rogue ex-agents out to survive attempts on their lives whilst earning money
through shady deals involving French revolutionaries, the Russian ambassador
and the Chinese secret service. Much farce ensues.
The
film, shot in the UK and on location in Paris, plays more like a Bob Hope and
Bing Crosby Road to... movie, or, with the heavy British influence, the
Morecambe and Wise film The Magnificent Two. Ackland is like a poor
man's Herbert Lom from the Pink Panther films, and Sutherland and Gould
play the film like they used to have fun together a few years ago, but not so
much any more. A lot of the film feels like the director is time filling. A
return trip from Paris to London serves no other purpose than to allow for
stock travel footage. This is perhaps a surprise when you learn that the
director is none other than Irvin Kershner, who started out in film noir but is
best known for saving the Star Wars
franchise with The Empire Strikes Back. S*P*Y*S represents
something of a low in his CV.
For
reasons most likely forgotten, the film had a score by Jerry Goldsmith on its
US release, but in Europe a new score was recorded by John Scott, a jazz
musician whose career now spans more than fifty years, covering everything from
horror and sexploitation to TV themes and epics. His score for S*P*Y*S,
found on this new DVD release, is fairly conventional, and in all likelihood
the audience will be too busy straining to hear anything funny from the cast to
notice it.
One
point of interest here is that the film offers an appearance of Zouzou, who
plays a sexy revolutionary. In the 1960s, through her involvement with Brian
Jones of The Rolling Stones, she became a celebrity and French icon before
trying singing and acting. Addicted to heroin she dropped out of acting shortly
after S*P*Y*S, presumably because she watched it.
Fans
of Elliott Gould or Donald Sutherland will no doubt want to pick this up, but
for everyone else it is a less than essential release. With a plot that can be
found in countless Euro-spy and Bond rip-offs, and unable to compensate for
this with sparkling wit or charm, S*P*Y*S has little to offer. Watch M*A*S*H
again instead.
This
new DVD release from Network Releasing features a decent print. The colours are
rather drab, but one suspects that is how the film has always looked. As
mentioned, the soundtrack features the European rather than the original Jerry
Goldsmith score. The only extras are a rather brief stills gallery and the
original theatrical trailer, which really hammers home just how great it will
be to see Gould and Sutherland do their thing again. If only it proved to be true...
CLICK HERE TO ORDER DVD FROM AMAZON UK
(This film is out of print on American DVD)
Cultographies
Reviews by Adrian Smith
Frankenstein by Robert Horton
Wallflower
Press
ISBN:
9780231167437
Paperback
Price
$15/ £10.50
120
pages
Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! by Dean De Fino
Wallflower
Press
ISBN:
9780231167390
Paperback
Price
$15/ £10.50
108
pages
Use
of the term "cult film" has been around for some time now, but it
still seems difficult to ascertain a true definition. Cult, it would seem, is
in the eye of the beholder; it is not easily described, but you know a cult
film when you see it. This series of slim volumes (around 100 pages each) from
Wallflower Press sees a variety of writers and academics wrestle their own
personal cult film demons as they give analysis, behind-the-scenes tidbits and
biographical details of all the major players concerned.
Two
of their latest books are on Frankenstein (1931) and Faster,
Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965). Robert Horton successfully argues that
although the original Frankenstein was such a mainstream hit that one
may not consider that it qualifies as part of a cult series, it has become a
cult in the manner of a religion, through its hundreds of sequels and the
iconography that has arisen. The face of Frankenstein's monster, as played by
Boris Karloff, is one of the most recognisable images of the twentieth century.
From model kits to sweets dispensers, thanks to endless sequels and the repeats
of Universal horrors on TV throughout the fifties and sixties, Frankenstein
provided the monster that kids most empathised with. Boris Karloff became an
elder statesman of horror and was hugely loved and respected in the sixties,
because despite his many other roles over the years, it was the monster
stitched from reclaimed corpses that people remembered with the most fondness.
Horton
manages to avoid this book simply being a rehash of the same old material we
have read elsewhere, and he points out in great detail Frankenstein's
ability to still shock today, thanks not only to Karloff's performance but also
to James Whale's inventive and mischievous direction. The film may be over
eighty years old but this does not mean it cannot still be frightening.
Whereas
Horton is tackling a series of films, and as he argues, a "cult" in
itself, Dean De Fino is taking on what could initially seem an easier task: one
single film by noted smut-peddler Russ Meyer. However Faster Pussycat! Kill!
Kill! is no ordinary film. Made relatively early in Meyer's career, it
marks his move away from "nudie-cuties" and "roughies" into
something new. Although the film borrows freely from other genres (beach party,
biker flick, drag race, juvenile delinquent), he seems to create something
entirely different. From the jazz-infused opening sequence to the improbably
large bosoms of his female cast, Meyer's film is a fever dream that grind-house
fans and art-house enthusiasts can both appreciate.
The
book is again a mixture of biographical information, behind-the-scenes gossip
and analysis, and each element is equally fascinating to read. Using such
sources as Russ Meyer's own autobiography and other reminiscences the story
behind the making of the scene makes for as entertaining a tale as what ended
up on the screen. He allegedly allowed for no fraternisation between cast and
crew members in order to ensure that all the sexual tension was up on screen (this
was later used as a plot device in Meyer-fan John Waters' Cecil B. DeMented
(2000)). Russ Meyer allegedly allowed this rule to be broken only once in his
entire career, and that was to allow Tura Satana secret trysts with a crew
member. Even he could not say no to her. Satana plays Varla, the leader of a
vicious gang of go-go dancers, and her performance is terrifying. Men are not
safe when she is around. Tura Satana's own history is incredible, and sadly her
recent death has left her memoirs so far unpublished. According to De Fino she
was gang-raped and sent to reform school at 10 and married off to a 17-year old
at 13. She ran away and was posing nude for Harold Lloyd and working as a
stripper by the age of 15, and by 25 she was teaching Shirley MacLaine
burlesque and had slept with Elvis. And then she met Russ Meyer. If ever two
people were destined to work together and form a life-long friendship, it was
them.
De
Fino makes connections from the film to the cultural and political unrest in
1965. He posits that Meyer was playing out issues from the civil rights and
sexual revolution right there in the dust Mojave Desert. This interpretation
backs up the argument that Meyer infused his films with political relevance,
and explains why his films have survived to be hailed as worthy of serious
attention whilst many of his erotic contemporaries have been forgotten.
With
books on other cult titles such as This is Spinal Tap (1984), Bring
Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) and Quadraphenia (1979), the
Cultographies series is an excellent way to become conversant in the cult film
of your choice.
For
more information and to order copies go to www.cultographies.com.
By Adrian Smith
Released
on region 2 DVD by Arrow Video
I
have to admit I was not familiar with Lust in the Dust, but as soon as I
saw the names Paul Bartel and Divine on the box, I knew I was in safe hands.
The
film begins with Rosie Velez (Divine) struggling through the desert on the
world's smallest donkey. About to die from thirst and exhaustion, she is saved
by the timely appearance of a waterhole. The audience is then treated to a
glimpse of his/ her naked behind whilst she bathes, which appears to have a
very unusual birthmark. Also taking in this unsavoury view is Tab Hunter as
Abel Wood, a cowboy of very few words. He is headed for Chili Verde and
reluctantly agrees for Rosie to tag along. When he arrives at this tiny, clichéd
western town he discovers that they don't take too kindly to strangers. Rosie
gets manages to get a job in the bar, which is also a brothel, and Abel learns
that there is a legend regarding hidden gold somewhere in the town. Being the
strong silent type he soon attracts the affections of Marguerita (Lainie
Kazan), bar owner and chief whore, and soon a jealous rivalry erupts between
her and Rosie. Throw into the mix Cesar Romero as the local priest and Geoffrey
Lewis and Henry Silva as bad guys and you have all the makings of a fast-paced,
mischievous comedy western. The plot is nothing new, but it is the
juxtaposition of Divine's constant chatter against Hunter's quiet, thoughtful
delivery that makes this so enjoyable. This is not the first film to use the
"secret clues tattooed on women's behinds" gag, but who cares when it
is this funny? Many of the jokes are borderline offensive, and certainly
tasteless. One would expect nothing less from the director of Eating Raoul
(1982), a dark comedy about cannibalism, and let's not forget that in Pink
Flamingoes (1972), Divine eats real dog faeces on camera.
Tab
Hunter had plenty of previous experience in westerns, and had also starred with
Divine before in Polyester (1981) and was able to use his influence in
Hollywood to get Lust in the Dust made, acting as one of the film's
producers. His character is part Clint Eastwood's Man with No Name and part
Franco Nero's Django and as such he has terrific screen presence. All of the
cast are excellent and Paul Bartel manages to hold together what could have
been a mess in the wrong hands.
The
new DVD release is on Arrow's Arrowdrome label, which presents cult film titles
at low prices but with a minimum of extras. It does feature the original
trailer, a reversible DVD sleeve and a booklet with more information on the
film. Lust in the Dust is hugely entertaining and deserves to become a
new favourite film for anyone who likes their entertainment a little
subversive.
You
can order the DVD by clicking here
(This book was recently reviewed by Lee Pfeiffer. Here is columnist Adrian Smith's take on this volume.)
Crab
Monsters, Teenage Cavemen and Candy Stripe Nurses - Roger Corman: King of the B
Movie
by
Chris Nashawaty Introduction by John Landis
ISBN: 1-4197-0669-1
Hardback
272
pages
As
part of the Gothic season at the British Film Institute recently, Roger Corman
sat and signed autographs for well over an hour as the line of fans and
admirers snaked its way around the building. At least 50% of those fans were
clutching copies of this new coffee-table book, a visual delight from Chris
Nashawaty, writer for Entertainment Weekly.
Several
books have been published on the Corman phenomenon, most notably his own
autobiography How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a
Dime. Since that was published in 1990 he has made at least a hundred more.
Until he gets around to updating that volume, which given his continuing
workload in film production seems unlikely, we are lucky that so many other
writers and filmmakers are constantly willing dive into his career.
Whilst
not as revealing or personal as Bevery Gray's excellent Roger Corman: An
Unauthorised Life, Nashawaty's book is a real joy. He has selected over 150
images, many of which are previously unpublished. Artwork, photos and movie
stills are presented in full colour alongside an oral history of the life and
career of Roger Corman, from his childhood right up to the present day.
Corman's contribution to the movie business is immense, and, as covered in the
book, his honorary Academy Award in 2009 was well deserved. Those lined up to
congratulate him on that night included Jonathan Demme, Ron Howard, Jack
Nicholson and Peter Bogdanovich. The list of those filmmakers who have
graduated from the "Corman School" is almost endless, and the fact
that he is still making films today means that yet another generation are
learning from the master.
As
evidenced by a photograph of him on the Hawaiian set of Piranhaconda
(2012), Corman is very much a hands-on producer. He has an almost preternatural
sense of what is going to become the next big thing in the business; providing
teenage movies for the drive-ins in the 1950s, using VHS before the major
studios in the late 1970s or bringing monster mash-up movies to the Syfy
channel (as well as Piranhaconda, Corman has been responsible for Sharktopus
(2010), Dinocroc vs. Supergator (2010) and Dinoshark (2010), the
latter as both producer and star).
As
well as dozens of new interviews, the book also critically examines some of the
key titles from Corman's back-catalogue, either as director or producer. Attack
of the Crab Monsters (1957), The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), The
Intruder (1962), The Big Doll House (1971), Boxcar Bertha
(1972, an early film from Martin Scorsese) and even The Slumber Party
Massacre (1982) are all touched on, amongst many more. One can use Nashawaty's
selections as a list for beginners keen to gain an understanding of Corman as a
filmmaker.
With
Christmas just around the corner, this book is well worth considering sending
to the movie lover in your life. It makes the perfect introduction to Roger
Corman and his work, and contains new stories and anecdotes as well as a few
that will be familiar to aficionados. And as he is showing no sign of slowing
down, the Corman story is not over yet.
Click here to order from Amazon
Click here to order from Amazon UK
By Adrian Smith
Note: This review pertains to the Region 2 (PAL) format UK release.
This
Cinema Retro writer would love to be able to explain to you in detail what just
what The Final Programme is
about, but I have absolutely no idea. The plot revolves around Jerry
Cornelius (Jon Finch), a swaggering millionaire scientist who seems to think he
is the second coming in this futuristic, possibly post-WWIII Britain. His
father, also a scientist, died when he was on the brink of some kind of amazing
discovery, and it is up to Cornelius to find out what it was. Along the way he
meets a variety of bizarre characters who drift in and out of the plot with
nothing particular to contribute. Amongst these are many familiar faces from
film and TV, such as George Coulouris, Sterling Hayden, Patrick Magee and
Graham Crowden, the latter seemingly channelling Quentin Crisp. The film has
flashes of visual inspiration spread throughout its running time, including
colourful filters and multiple layers, but these alone do not make up for a
story that makes no sense whatsoever. At one point Cornelius finds himself in a
nightclub which is built like a giant pinball machine, complete with
scantily-clad go-go dancers in giant hamster balls. It's colourful and exciting,
and you can almost imagine this film taking place in the same Britain as A
Clockwork Orange (1971).
Robert
Fuest is probably best known for directing the Vincent Price camp comedy-horror
classics The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) and Dr. Phibes Rises Again
(1972), films with plenty of visual style to compensate for the slightly flimsy
plots, themselves a derivation from the much-imitated Agatha Christie story And
Then There Were None (also known as Ten Little Indians). The film is
based on a much-respected science fiction novel by prolific author Michael
Moorcock. He has not been particularly complimentary about the film in the
past, and neither have ardent fans of the book, who have complained that too
much was removed from the story. This may help explain why the film makes no
sense, with Jerry moving from unusual experience to unusual experience for no
reason. It is a movie that is less than the sum of its parts, which is a pity
as individual parts are intriguing and entertaining, and suggest that there could
have been something very special here. Instead it is like trying to watch a
film through the fog of a room full of stoners. Originally an X certificate in
the UK, the film is now rated 15 for the occasional swearing, drug-taking and
nudity, all very much of its time.
This
is a film which has been greatly anticipated on UK DVD, and it is a pity that
Network did not take the opportunity to create materials that may help the
audience to put the film in some sort of context. Sadly both Robert Fuest and
Jon Finch died last year, too late to have their final reflections on the film
recorded. Michael Moorcock is still around but would not necessarily want to
contribute, but some kind of short documentary or commentary track from a
historian would definitely help if you are new to the film. As it is you get a
couple of trailers and the choice to watch the opening titles in Italian. Not
exactly mind-blowing extras, which are precisely what this DVD release needs.
Saturday
9th November 2013
Report
by Adrian Smith
On
Saturday in the shadow of Westminster Abbey, amidst the power-hungry elite of
Whitehall and Downing Street, gathered an even more sinister and corrupting
influence. Darth Vader rubbed shoulders with evil twins, corrupted children,
vampires, zombies and even Jack the Ripper. Overseeing this evil conclave were
directors whose films were so depraved that sometimes sick bags were supplied
to the audience.
Horror
film buffs were of course overjoyed at the fantastic selection of stars at this
Hammer and Horror Film event. Representing the Bond girls were Caroline Munro,
Caron Gardner, Martine Beswick and Madeline Smith. They were alongside horror
queens Barbara Shelley, Kate O'Mara, Judy Matheson, Janina Faye and Emily
Booth. Barbara Shelley sat with some of the alien children from her classic
British sci-fi Village of the Damned, Teri and Lesley Scoble and Martin
Stephens (also star of The Innocents). David Warner (Tron), Dave Prowse (Star Wars) and John Carson (Plague
of the Zombies) were all very friendly and accommodating of the multitude
of demanding fans, and writer-directors Michael Armstong (Mark of the Devil),
Norman J. Warren (Satan's Slave) and Brian Clemens (The Avengers)
were also there discussing their work and meeting old friends.
The
focus of the day was the recent restoration of Hammer's Twins of Evil. To
celebrate the director John Hough met up with Damien Thomas, who played Count
Karnstein, Judy Matheson, burnt at the stake by Peter Cushing, and good twin
Mary Collinson, who had travelled to the event from Milan. Sir Christopher
Frayling, one of the UK’s leading authorities on vampire fiction, lead the
onstage discussion. He provided a fascinating history of the Karnstein story
from its origins in the work of Sheridan Le Fanu to Hammer’s lesbian vampire
trilogy. They all clearly enjoyed the reunion, and Hough did his best to
convince the audience that the Collinson girls' voices were not dubbed, despite
what all the film history books say. Mary explained that they both received
elocution lessons, as neither of them were trained actors. Twins of Evil was
to be their last film, released when they were only nineteen, and they returned
to modelling.
Other
guests were also interviewed throughout the day. Brian Clemens, Caroline Munro
and John Carson got together to discuss the magnificent Captain Kronos:
Vampire Hunter, agreed by one and all to be the last good film Hammer made
in the 1970s. Norman J. Warren described the difficulties of making Satan's
Slave with money raised by your producer re-mortgaging his house. They had
such small funds that star Michael Gough had to supply his own wardrobe and
sleep on a friend's sofa for three weeks, all for the grand sum of £300.
David
Warner was especially mischievous during his interview, reacting with horror
every time a clip was shown from his extensive back-catalogue (including Tom
Jones, The Omen, Time
After Time and Star Trek). He had the room in gales of
laughter and explained that as an actor without any ambition he is very happy
to have never been a star, something that many in the room disagreed with.
What
makes one of these conventions so enjoyable is that alongside the guests are
dozens of stalls weighed down with rare DVDs, obscure film posters, original
James Bond toys, vinyl, novelisations; virtually every kind of film memorabilia
and ephemera that you can think of (and many you can't) from all over the
world. From Thai Evil Dead posters to original Hammer Quads it was a
collectors dream, even though you may also need to re-mortgage your home
yourself in order to pay for everything you want. Cinema Retro came home laden with
press books, lobby cards, old magazines, books and rare Spanish 1960s superhero
movies, and could easily have gone around the hall several more times.
They
hold the London Film Memorabilia Convention several times a year in
Westminster, and often feature special guests. You can find out what is coming
up on their website at http://www.londonfilmmemorabiliaconvention.co.uk.
(For Cinema Retro's review of the U.S. special Blu-ray edition of Twins of Evil, click here)
By Adrian Smith
(The following review pertains to the UK-Region 2 DVD release)
This film is a true oddity, and one
that will most likely escaped the attention of even the most avid Orson Welles
fans. Three Cases of Murder is an anthology film featuring three short
stories, each by a different director, linked by British television personality
Eamon Andrews, who appears to have just got home from a night at the theatre.
The only loose connection is that each is about, well, murder, and each segment
also features Alan Badel. a British character actor who was better known at the
time for his theatre work, but is superb here.
"The Picture" is set in an
art gallery, where the glass over a painting has been mysteriously smashed, and
several items have been stolen. Despite these nefarious goings on no culprit
has ever been caught. The museum tour guide meets an oddly dressed gentleman
(Badel) who engages him in conversation about this painting, a large portrait
of a gothic, fog-enshrouded manor house. Before he knows quite what has
happened to him, our tour guide finds himself actually inside the house itself.
This strange man reveals himself to have been the artist who painted the
picture. He had died before it was completed. It transpires that all the
pictures in the gallery act as a form of afterlife limbo, where the dead are
forced to live inside the paintings, stealing whatever they can from the
gallery. Also living in the house are a sinister, attractive young woman and a
truculent old taxidermist, obsessed with collecting butterflies.
This first story is by far the best of
the bunch, and plays out like a missing Twilight Zone episode, with its
stark lighting, fantastical story, weird camera angles and sickening twist
ending. Of particular interest is that
this segment was directed by Wendy Toye, who was that most rarest of people: a
female director in the 1950s British film industry. She had begun her career as
a dancer and actress, before moving into theatre and then film direction. At that
time there was only one other female director in the country, Muriel Box,
showing just what a difficult industry it was for women to rise beyond the
traditional production jobs on offer; script girl, wardrobe or makeup. The fact
that "The Picture" is the best, most inventive part of Three Cases
of Murder is testament to what a great talent she had, a talent that was
greatly underused in British cinema.
The second story, "You Killed
Elizabeth", is a mini-Hitchcock thriller regarding two best friends who
fall out over a girl. Murder and drink-fuelled amnesia lead to another surprise
twist where we learn the true cost of betrayal. Compared to the inventiveness
of the first segment, this story comes across a little flat. It was directed by
David Eady, his first contribution to a feature film. He went on to have a
minor directing career in British television and B pictures.
The final story is "Lord
Mountdrago", and casts Orson Welles as a pompous foreign secretary in the
old boys network of British politics. Although the story was directed by George
More O'Ferrall, who had a long career in television, it is claimed Welles
himself took over most of the directing. This is only a rumour, but it is not
hard to believe given his reputation.
Welles plays the titular Lord
Mountdrago, who after publicly humiliating a rival politician (Alan Badel
again) begins to suffer from nightmares, where he is himself repeatedly
humiliated by this same politician. After receiving psychiatric counselling he
refuses to acknowledge that a simple apology to the man he had wronged would
solve the problem. Instead he begins to believe that murder is the only way to
restore his sanity.
This story shares a similar Twilight
Zone feel to "The Picture", but is largely played for laughs. Welles,
who was appearing here whilst working in theatre, throws himself into the role
with gusto, unafraid of making Lord Mountdrago look increasingly ridiculous,
including an appearance at a party where he has forgotten to put on his
trousers!
Three Cases of Murder is an odd little film, but is
certainly worth revisiting in this new release. It deserves to be given some
attention, and serves a reminder of just how creative even low budget B films
could be. This DVD from Odeon Entertainment includes a booklet which mostly
focuses on Orson Welles. The most significant extra is the inclusion of the
short film Return to Glennascaul, an Irish ghost story also featuring
Welles which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1953. It is a creepy warning
on the perils of picking up hitchhikers, and is worth the purchase of this DVD
alone.
You can order Three Cases of Muder from Odeon
Entertainment by clicking here
TV
Horror:Investigating the Dark Side of the Small Screen
by
Lorna Jowett and Stacey Abbott
I.B.
Taurus
270
pages
Paperback
ISBN:
978148856189
By
Adrian Smith
Television
can easily be dismissed as being an unsuitable medium for the horror genre,
having to please the moral majority and unable to be as red in tooth and claw
as those horrific offerings on the silver screen. Jowett and Abbott's new book
does its best to prove this argument wrong, demonstrating that in many ways
television has been able to explore the darker recesses of horror in far more
depth than can be done in a single two hour movie. Shows such as The
Twilight Zone and Buffy the Vampire Slayer have embraced the
limitations of the small screen to present some truly chilling, unsettling moments.
Long-running shows like The X-Files were able to have story arcs that
lasted several seasons, building complex characters and even more complicated
plots.
Jowett
and Abbott draw on examples from both American and British television, looking
at the grotesque excesses of comedy shows like The League of Gentlemen
and Psychoville, both of which draw heavily on a tradition of film
horror. We seem to be in something of a golden age of television horror right
now, from the gothic influences evident in Doctor Who to the extreme
violence and gore of Dexter or Hemlock Grove. The authors are
able to identify a recent shift in production practise which has to some extent
fragmented audiences, such as the advent of cable television production in the
States, or internet streaming services like Netflix who now produce original
programming. This means that more shows can be available, but are perhaps seen
by smaller numbers of people.
Although
the tone is a little dry, the book is a fascinating and indepth look at TV horror,
a genre often considered inferior to it's cinematic older sibling in most
writing, and it has been fairly neglected in academic evaluation until now.
Some of the examples here will bring joy to fans of television as well as
chilling reminders of some of the more difficult and nostalgic shows, with Dark
Shadows, Twin Peaks, Stephen King's It, Kingdom Hospital,
The Outer Limits, Boris Karloff's Thriller, Night Gallery,
The Quatermass Experiment and Blood Ties all getting a thorough
analysis.
Ultimately
books such as this offer the reader two things: an insight into the minds of
the authors, and an attempt to tell us something about the audiences who
consume all this material. Unless it is an encyclopedia, a single investigation
into TV horror is not going to cover everything. As such TV Horror:
Investigating the Dark Side of the Small Screen could potentially leave
some readers disappointed that their favourite show does not get a mention, but
Jowett and Abbott have covered considerable ground here, proving that the genre
is ready for reassessment. The small screen has offered up some seriously scary
programmes over the last sixty years, putting the forbidden and the frightening
right in your living room as an assault on all that we hold dear. This book
will help to explain why we need it there.
CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM AMAZON
By Adrian Smith
Offbeat:
British Cinema's Curiosities, Obscurities and Forgotten Gems
Edited
by Julian Upton
Headpress
ISBN:
9781900486835
440
pages
Every
so often a book comes my way that I wish I had written. 'Offbeat' is one such
title, the byline of which succinctly describes a large proportion of my film
viewing since childhood. The book is a collection of film reviews, with titles
ranging from 1954 (the animated adaptation of George Orwell's Animal Farm) to 1985 (sci-fi dud Lifeforce). With a cover illustration
taken from Kenneth Rowles' infamous hitchhiking shocker Take an Easy Ride (1977), the book is clearly aiming for cult
credentials, which may explain why the hundreds of forgotten gems before 1954
have been totally ignored. To be fair to the editor, a book which attempted to
cover the entirety of Britain's lost and maligned movies would be the length of
several encyclopaedias. Indeed, this book does not claim to be definitive. In
many ways it perhaps tells us more about the predilections of the various contributors
than it does about the decades it covers.
'Offbeat'
does raise one fairly depressing point, which is that although there are
literally thousands of films at our fingertips these days, there are still
titles which are tantalisingly out of reach. Whole swathes of homegrown movies
have been shoved to the back of dusty shelves in forgotten archives never to be
seen again except in grainy, third generation VHS copies dating from the one
terrestrial broadcast thirty years ago. It's a pity that so many of the films
in here suffer from a lack of availability, as I guarantee that you will be
reading this book in one hand whilst browsing online for DVDs with the other.
Although
the book contains dozens of fascinating, occasionally outlandish titles, if you
have any experience in the obscurities of British cinema you will still be able
to argue about the final selection. Donovan Winter is notable by his absence,
and having given the world incestuous lesbian twins in Some Like It Sexy (1969), he surely deserves a nod. There is
perhaps the inevitable focus on Hammer, who get several mentions and one begins
to wonder whether anyone else was actually making films in the 1960s. There are
however plenty of titles in here which even I, a seasoned British cinema fan,
was not familiar with. The director whose name seems to arise the most often is
Val Guest, one of the unsung heroes of British cinema. Perhaps the time is now
right for a full reevaluation of his work. In a career covering sci-fi, horror,
social realism and sex comedies, his filmography IS the British film industry
from the mid-1950s through to the 1970s in microcosm.
Alongside
the reviews are scattered several essays covering various aspects of British
cinema, including the swashbuckler, the pop musical, underage sex and the
demise of the industry in the 1970s; as scattershot an approach to film history
as one could hope for, with the emphasis firmly placed on the psychotronic.
Amongst the film titles jostling for attention are classics such as Horrors From the Black Museum (1959), The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961), The Birthday Party (1968), a rare
excursion into British filmmaking from The
Exorcist's William Friedkin, and Eskimo
Nell (1975), the finest sex comedy this country has ever produced. The
BFI's current Flipside range of DVDs and blu rays gets good coverage also, with
Herostratus, Privilege (both 1967), Permissive,
Bronco Bullfrog, Deep End, (all 1970) and The
Black Panther (1977) all coming highly recommended. At least some of the
films discussed in 'Offbeat' are not as obscure as they once were.
As
with all recent Headpress books the imagery is reproduced in black and white,
which is a pity as so many of these films feature wildly colourful, bordering
on psychedelic, imagery. The poster art for long-forgotten musical mega-flop Toomorrow (1970) is far more exciting
than the film itself! This complaint is quickly forgiven once you discover that
'Offbeat' has a thorough index, something often ignored in similar books. This
means you can use this as a great reference book, and each film title includes
production details and credits alongside a thorough analysis and review. One
may not agree with every opinion shared (Sarah Morgan's dismissal of Hammer's Captain Clegg as "a decent
potboiler" is woefully off the mark), but the book does serve its purpose
which is to encourage the reader to discover the hidden gems of British cinema.
If you can find them that is.
CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM AMAZON
By Adrian Smith
There
has been a gradual yet inevitable demise of analogue formats over the last
decade or so, with wax cylinders, eight track and the chrome cassette tape all
now relegated to the scrap heap. Yet vinyl is making a comeback. Despite the
supposed superiority of the CD and the mp3, there is nothing as satisfying as
sliding your 12†LP out of it's card sleeve, carefully placing it on the
turntable, and the slight crackle when the needle first makes contact. And many
argue that the sound quality remains superior to digital reproduction,
particularly when listening to older recordings that were made using analogue
equipment in the first place.
One
company to truly embrace the vinyl collector culture is Death Waltz Records,
founded by Spencer Hickman of Rough Trade in London. They produce exclusive
vinyl reproductions of a massive array of cult film soundtracks and accompany
them with sleeve notes, newly commissioned artwork and coloured vinyl, and most
come with screen prints and posters too. They have recently put out the bizarre
electronic scores of Halloween II and Halloween III: Season of the
Witch, both limited to 300 copies. This release coincides nicely with the
recent rerelease of both films on Blu-ray and DVD from Shout Factory.
Halloween III in particular has
been much maligned over the years, thanks in no small part to screenwriter
Nigel Kneale's much publicised dislike of the film. However you feel about it,
the soundtrack is superb. Both of these Halloween releases have
splendidly eerie scores which should on no account be listened to in the dark.
Both were composed by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth and build on the tones
and style that Carpenter developed on the first Halloween movie. Halloween
II also delivers a surprise when The Chordettes burst through the
synthesised shivers with “Mr Sandmanâ€, an incongruity which fits well with the
ending of the movie. Halloween III contains the horrifyingly catchy
“Silver Shamrock†jingle, reminding children to make sure they are wearing
their new Halloween masks when the 'Horrorthon' starts later that night. Of
course, if you have seen the film you will know those are no ordinary Halloween
masks, and it is a night that will not end well.
If
you are a collector who wants everything in mint condition, the dilemma as to
whether you can actually play your vinyl once it arrives is a difficult one.
Even if you decide not to play it, each Death Waltz release makes a unique
piece of memorabilia.
One
recent development at Death Waltz Records will be of particular interest to
fans of British horror. They have gone into partnership with Hammer Films and
are intending to release several soundtracks on vinyl, some of which have never
been released before. Amongst the first will be Twins of Evil (1971) and
The Devil Rides Out (1968), Hammer's most successful Dennis Wheatley adaptation. The latter will
feature extensive sleeve-notes by James Bernard and all new exclusive
artwork. The package will come as a limited edition coloured vinyl with an A2
poster and 12 x 12 lithograph print . It will also contain a download link for
an interview with Christopher Lee and two unreleased cues. If you are a vinyl
collector, or a fan of Hammer horror, you had better start saving up now!
You can find out more at www.deathwaltzrecordingcompany.com
Review by Adrian Smith
'Star Trek' has been with
us now for almost fifty years. It has spawned five different incarnations on
television, ten official movies and soon the sequel to J.J. Abram's successful
reboot of the franchise will be in cinemas, titled Star Trek Into Darkness.
Gene Roddenberry's vision of an international, interstellar crew aboard a
gigantic spacecraft whose mission was simply to explore the universe has
touched millions of people and generated some almost alarming levels of
devotion and influence. One only has to look at the campaign to build a real
Starship Enterprise to see that this show is taken very seriously by many
(www.buildtheenterprise.org).
But not everybody is well
versed in 'Star Trek' lore. Over the decades of boldly going through the galaxies
a massive amount of alien races, mythologies and technology has been devised to
keep the shows and movies interesting. Some of these are well known even
amongst non-Trekkies, with most people knowing the difference, say, between a
Klingon and a Vulcan. What what about the Jem'Hadar? Or the Yridians? Could you
name the home planet of the Xindi? Or explain how the Suliban Cabal became
genetically enhanced? Thankfully these questions and more can now be answered
without needing to trawl back through all those old 'Star Trek' tapes. If you
want to be more familiar with the 'Star Trek' universe in time for the new
movie, or just want to take a warp speed trip down memory lane, this new book
from D.K. guides you through each incarnation of the television series, from
the original 'Star Trek' through to 'The Next Generation', 'Voyager', 'Deep
Space Nine' and 'Enterprise'. Also included is information from the first ten
movies.
Aside from the
introduction by John De Lancie, who played the mysterious extra-dimensional Q
in 'Star Trek: The Next Generation', there is no acknowledgement in here that
this is all fictional. The book acts as a glossary providing imagery and
information as though it was all real. This is fun for fans who may want to
check how to distinguish a Type-1 Phaser from a Type-2 Phaser, but a little
frustrating if you are more interested in the history and development of the
production from its inception. However, there are plenty of other books out
there which cover that side of the story. Where Star Trek: The Visual
Dictionary stands out is in its wealth of imagery, plenty of which is quite
rare, having only just been released from the CBS archives. The book is well
laid out and is something you can quite easily dip in and out of. You can
marvel at the intricacies of the designs and the imaginations of the show's
creators even if you can't find out who any of them were.
Hemlock
Books
ISBN:
9780955777479
Paperback
Price:
£17.95
295
pages
Review
by Adrian Smith
To
paraphrase Jonathan Rigby in his book English Gothic, horror is the one
genre that Britain can truly claim as its own. And whilst British horror cinema
is inextricably connected to gothic-tinged memories of Christopher Lee,
cobweb-strewn castles and buxom scream queens, M.J. Simpson points out in this
excellently researched tome that the face of British horror today offers far
more.
Simpson
appears to have taken on the Herculean task of watching every film that could
fit the broad definition of being British (not always easy to tell, with
funding and production often involving multiple countries), and being horror,
again something of a broad church. A lot of the films he describes, giving not
only plot synopses but reviews, production information and interview extracts,
sound utterly terrible. He seems to have sat through a staggering amount of punishingly
bad films so that we, the readers, don't have to. But along the way he has
stumbled across a significant number of excellent films, too, many of which
have escaped either critical or commercial attention.
Using
the term British Horror Revival, Simpson offers a complete breakdown of the
twelve years covered, digging up each film and presenting them in the order
they received any kind of release. It is fascinating to see just how difficult
some filmmakers have getting distribution, often producing a film in the UK but
finding it only coming out on DVD in Japan or Australia. Many films manage a
few festival screenings before disappearing into obscurity, so Simpson is to be
praised for finding them again. Of course, some of them sound so terrible that
it does not seem that much of a pity, but others sound like genuine lost gems.
If horror is your thing, this book will have you scouring the internet looking
for DVD or download copies.
Amongst
the filmmakers discussed are genuine talents like Jake West (Evil Aliens,
2006), Shane Meadows (Dead Man's Shoes, 2006), Neil Marshall (The
Descent, 2005) and Danny Boyle, whose brilliant and devastating 28 Days
Later (2002) did much to raise the profile of the British Horror Revival
around the world. Amongst the more obscure entries you can find Beyond the
Rave (2008), a cheap teen-themed vampire horror co-produced by the newly
revived Hammer Films, which Cinema Retro covered extensively (and even appeared
in briefly!) here: http://www.cinemaretro.com/index.php/archives/387-EXCLUSIVE-REPORT-FROM-THE-SET-OF-NEW-HAMMER-HORROR-FILM%21.html
This
is an extremely well-researched book, and M.J. Simpson's occasionally sarcastic
and exasperated tone is entertaining, even if it does give the impression that
he had regrets about this project once he had embarked on it. He has uncovered
some gems and revealed that there is a very active, mostly micro-budget British
film industry which gets frequently overshadowed by the Bonds, Harry Potters
and Richard Curtis rom-coms. It is a pity that aside from a few pages of colour
stills the majority of the imagery in the book is black and white. This is a
genre that is frequently soaked in the red stuff. The main gripe however has to
be the lack of an index or references. It is impossible to search for a
specific title unless you know the year it was released, and even then you have
to wade through the chapter concerned. The book could have served as a useful
reference guide, but instead it appears to have been designed to be read from cover
to cover. However, this is only a minor reservation. If you are interested in
the horror genre, or want to find out just how active dozens of British
filmmakers have are, this is a great read.
(Click here for on-line index of people mentioned in the book)
(Click here for on-line index of titles mentioned in the book)
(Note: This review pertains to the UK Region 2 PAL format release available on www.amazon.co.uk)
By Adrian Smith
Cecil B. DeMille will always be remembered for his
lavish historical epics like The Ten Commandments (1923 and again in
1956), Sign of the Cross (1932) and Samson and Delilah (1949).
However, with over one hundred and sixty credits as either director or
producer, he also worked in plenty of other genres. Following two flops, This
Day and Age (1933) and Four Frightened People (1934), Paramount head
Adolph Zukor insisted he try to replicate the success of Sign of the Cross
with another visual spectacle. DeMille agreed and cast Claudette Colbert in the
lead role of Cleopatra (she had already starred in both Sign of the
Cross and Four Frightened People and was about to win the Oscar for It
Happened one Night (1934)).
The plot focuses on Cleopatra's relationship with
Julius Caesar (Warren William), who initially wishes to conquer Egypt, but
having been seduced by the Queen of the Nile, he instead pledges Rome's support
and protection. This ultimately leads to his downfall and assassination in the
Senate, and his right-hand man Marc Anthony (Henry Wilcoxon) takes joint power
with Caesar's heir Octavian (Ian Keith). Determined to once again subjugate
Egypt, Marc Anthony heads to the Nile and meets with Cleopatra aboard her
incredibly extravagant barge. He is in turn seduced and takes Caesar's place as
protectorate of Egypt, something which severely displeases Octavian and the
Senate back home. This is a piece of history which, thanks to the movies, is
very well known. The pleasure here comes not from wondering how it will turn
out, but the visual spectacle we are treated to on the journey.
Former United States Postmaster General Will Hays
had been tasked with cleaning up the motion picture industry following the
great tide of scandal and public outcry over Hollywood decadence during the
1920s. This had in part been prompted by the death of actress Virginia Rappe
following her attendance at an orgy with Fatty Arbuckle in 1921. In 1930 Hays
published a set of industry rules which became known as the Hays Code or
Production Code, and whilst official censorship was not in force, any movie
which did not comply would find it extremely difficult to get distribution. The
rules particularly clamped down on any form of sexual activity, with the first
rule "No picture shall
be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it,"
ensuring audiences were to get as little thrills as possible in the movie
theatre. Incredibly the studios remained in voluntary subscription to the Hays
code until the late 1960s. Fortunately in the early 1930s the code was only
just developing its power over Hollywood and some productions did manage to
escape, Cleopatra being one of them. DeMille had flirted with erotic
imagery before, most notoriously with Claudette Colbert's nude bathing scene in
Sign of the Cross. Cleopatra is filled with the kind of steamy,
sexually-charged atmosphere that Hollywood would struggle to depict again for
many years. Colbert's costumes in particular are eye-popping in every sense.
The sets of the
movie also live up to DeMille's reputation, and must have filled every sound
stage on the Paramount lot. He had an eye for spectacle and Cleopatra is
brimming with it, whether it's the opulent palaces or the climactic sea battle,
surprisingly graphic for 1934. The pacing is good, with plenty of story covered
in its one hundred minutes. The makers of the Elizabeth Taylor-starring remake
in 1963 could have learned a lot from this one. Claudette Colbert's performance
is perfect as the sexually alluring queen willing to do whatever it takes to
protect Egypt, even if her suitors, Caesar and Marc Anthony, are rather boorish
and ham-fisted. This is a film where the cast appear to hail from New York
rather than the ancient world, but this does not matter when the gorgeous
imagery arrests your senses all the way through.
This new dual
format (Blu-ray and DVD) release from Eureka features a tremendous HD transfer
authorised by Universal, and some nice documentaries covering DeMille,
Claudette Colbert and the background to the Production Code. A commentary by
film historian F.X. Feeney and forty page booklet crammed with essays and
imagery is also included. This is a highly recommended release.
By Adrian Smith
BFI
Flipside Dual Format Edition
(Note: this review pertains to the UK Region 2 release.)
New
York underground filmmaker and avante-garde theatre director Andy Milligan is
perhaps best known for his sleazy exploitation movies that ran in 42nd
St theatres for years throughout the 1970s. Memorable titles include The
Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here! (1972) and The Ghastly Ones
(1968), the latter banned in the UK during the 1980s as a “video nasty.†A
meeting in 1968 in New York with Leslie Elliot, a British distributor, lead to
several of his films being distributed in the UK. Even better for Milligan was
the opportunity to shoot five new films under Elliot's production arm Cinemedia
Films. Finding himself a flat in Soho and becoming acquainted with the British
by hanging out with male prostitutes on Piccadilly Circus, Milligan developed a
study of poverty, sexual frankness and sadomasochism that would have caused
quite a stir at the British Board of Film Censors, had the film ever been
released. After shooting Nightbirds and it's companion piece, the
vampire horror The Body Beneath, Milligan had an irreparable falling out
with Leslie Elliot's father and business partner Curtis Elliot, and was forced
to sever ties with the family before the films could be distributed. He was
allowed to keep the films, and somehow managed to raise the money to shoot a
further three films here before returning to New York, where he had varying
success in getting the films seen. Nightbirds received a limited
screening before disappearing into obscurity.
Unlike
the horror films he is better known for, Nightbirds is a small
character-driven piece following Dink (Berwick Kaler), a young man recently
made homeless in swinging London. He meets Dee (Julie Shaw), an enigmatic,
sexually playful blonde who invites him to move into her tawdry attic bedsit.
They become obsessed with each other to the point where they begin to fear
facing the outside world, preferring the insular, psychologically troubling
world they have built for themselves. Dee seems reluctant to share anything
about her own past, preferring instead to make Dink do the talking. She flirts
with the landlord and slowly cuts Dink off from the only friends he has left.
The relationship is difficult at best, and emotionally abusive at worst. Milligan
has often been accused of being a misogynist, and his depiction of the female
character being as rotten as her flat could feed in to that. The film is more
nuanced than that however, and as her motivations as slowly revealed, the
audience is left to make up their own minds.
Berwick
Kaler went on to star in a further four Milligan films before carving an
eclectic career for himself in British film and television, and is now the
creative force behind the annual York pantomime. Julie Shaw first appeared in
Pete Walker's The Big Switch aka Strip Poker (1968), and after
her starring role here virtually disappeared. Nobody knows what happened to her
following Nightbirds, which is a pity as she found an interesting,
emotionally detached performance in what must have been a rushed, occasionally
difficult shoot.
Andy
Milligan has an undeserved reputation as one of the worst film directors since
Ed Wood. One hopes that the release of Nightbirds will help to restore
him to a more favourable level of respectability. It is an interesting and well
made film, pushing the boundaries of what was acceptable in the late 1960s,
particularly in regards to depictions of and discussions about sex. It compares
well with similar films from that period, some of which are also available on
the Flipside label, such as Private Road (1971) or Duffer (1971).
It also compares favourably to Andy Warhol's Trash (1970) or Flesh
(1968), films which also put people on the fringes of society in the full glare
of the camera.
As
a bonus feature here, alongside trailers, an excellent booklet and a commentary
track from Berwick Kaler (the first Flipside release to feature a commentary
incidentally), Milligan's other completed Cinemedia film has been restored and
included; The Body Beneath. This film was more familiar territory for
the director. Vampires, ghouls, a hunchbacked assistant (played by Berwick
Kaler) and occasional graphic gore are thrown together in a fairly nonsensical,
almost slapdash effort, in an attempt to create something which is halfway
between a late Hammer horror and a dreary daytime soap opera. Unlike Nightbirds,
The Body Beneath merely reinforces Milligan's Ed Wood comparisons,
although it does have moments of interest, particularly a grand meeting between
vampires which turns into a tirade of anti-American abuse.
Once
again the BFI are to be congratulated for putting a package like this together.
With the assistance of award-winning director Nicolas Winding-Refn (Drive,
2011), who had the only surviving film materials, the BFI have proven that film
matters, no matter how obscure. Cinema Retro eagerly await the Flipside
releases for 2013.
For
a fascinating in-depth look at how the film was restored for this release click
here: http://film.thedigitalfix.com/tag/anatomy%20of%20a%20flipside
To buy this dual format release click here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nightbirds-DVD-Blu-ray-Berwick-Kaler/dp/B006C1M4R8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1351628105&sr=8-1
(The following review pertains to the Region 2/British DVD release)
By
Adrian Smith
By
the end of the 1970s Pete Walker was one of the UK's most successful horror
film directors, with titles like House of Whipcord (1974), Frightmare
(1974) and The Flesh and Blood Show (1972) securing his reputation for
originality and controversy. It was perhaps surprising to many when, in 1983,
what turned out to be his last film was a throw-back to the old dark
house-style gothic horrors of the 1930s. His producers, Menahem Golen and Yorum
Globus, wanted a horror film with Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, not the
“aborted foetus on the rampage†film he was trying to raise funding for.
Undeterred, and working with long-time script-writing collaborator Michael
Armstrong, he devised a film that could cast the old guard and be both an
homage to the genre as well as a spoof of its creaky conventions. Thankfully
Peter Cushing, Vincent Price, Christopher Lee and John Carradine signed up
providing the kind of dream team not seen since the heyday of Amicus or AIP in
the 1960s. Sheila Keith, in her fifth film for Pete Walker, was a replacement
for Elsa Lanchester, the original bride
of Frankenstein, who at that point was too ill to make the journey to the UK.
Despite her late casting, Keith's association with Walker's horror films
ensured she fitted in perfectly with the rest of the cast.
The
story revolves around rich young American author Ken (Desi Arnaz Jr., son of
Desi and Lucille Ball) on a book-signing tour of the UK. A bet is made with his
publisher (played with relish by Richard Todd, himself no stranger to the
horror film) that Ken cannot write a gothic romance novel in twenty-four hours.
Taking the bet, he is given the key to a deserted manor house in Wales to
provide inspiration, only it soon transpires that the house is anything but.
Before he can settle down with his typewriter he has to deal with mysterious
caretakers, long-lost relatives, a sexy secretary, cobweb-strewn corridors, a
locked room and several grisly murders. The old cast play their parts with
obvious glee, these pantheons of terror clearly relishing the chance to play on
their horror images. Even Christopher Lee seems to be having a good time! Desi
Arnaz Jr. has come in for some criticism in the past for his performance in
this film, and whilst he is a little bland, he does provide a useful anchor for
the increasing insanity around him.
When
released theatrically House of the Long Shadows disappointed at the box
office, in part due to the fact that Cannon Films could not decide whether to
market the movie as a comedy or a horror, and it has become something of a lost
film since. There was a brief VHS release in the mid-1980s and a poor quality
burn on demand DVD from the MGM archive, but this release from Final Cut
Entertainment represents the first official DVD release, and it is long
overdue. Featuring a good quality widescreen print, we finally have an
opportunity to appreciate the superb lighting and cinematography by Norman G.
Langley, who was working under the difficulties of shooting in a real manor
house, not a studio set. The DVD cover is unfortunately cheap and bland,
essentially reproducing the original VHS artwork, but do not be fooled. A lot
of work has been put into this release, mainly by author, theatre director and
super-fan Derek Pykett. He accompanies director Pete Walker on a full
commentary track discussing all aspects of the production in great detail. What
is more unexpected is the feature length documentary House of the Long
Shadows... Revisited, produced and presented by Pykett. It is clearly an
amateur production, and somebody needs to teach him how to conduct interviews
without constantly giggling in the background, but we should be grateful for
his enthusiasm. It is doubtful anyone else would have gone to so much trouble.
He reunites Walker and Langley with Julie Peasgood, one of the film's younger
stars, at the original location, actually Rotherfield park in Hampshire. He has
also secured interviews with several other of the movie's participants from
both in front of and behind the camera, the most surprising of all being a
fascinating chat with Desi Arnaz. Jr himself. He has fond memories of the film,
particularly working with such a terrific cast.
Hopefully
this release will allow people the chance to reassess this gleefully playful
movie, which is deeply undeserving of the negative reputation it has. Far from
the disappointment it was perceived to be at the time, House of the Long
Shadows is both a tribute and a swansong to the gothic horror movie,
riffing on the clichés and sending up the over the top performances. It is a
joy to spend an hour and a half in the company of Vincent Price, Peter Cushing,
Christopher Lee, John Carradine and Sheila Keith doing what they did best, in a
lineup the likes of which we will most likely never see again.
By Adrian Smith
Creepy
Images/ Kessler & Benzel GbR ISBN 978-3-00-03941-9
Binding:
hardback
Price
€39.50
392
pages
size:
210 x 270 mm
Paul
Naschy has often been described as the Spanish Lon Chaney due to the variety of
different roles he has played within the horror genre. It would perhaps be more
accurate to liken him to Lon Chaney Jr. however, given his short stocky build
and propensity for playing werewolves, vampires and mummies in often second-rate
movies. His real name was Jacinto Molina, and in a career spanning almost sixty
years in Spanish cinema he progressed from acting through to writing and
eventually directing as well. He also dabbled in euro-crime thrillers and
giallo-style murder mysteries, but it was the gothic horror film in which he
seemed to feel most at home.
Spanish
cinema under the Franco regime was quite strictly controlled, but horror tended
to have more freedom, which perhaps explains why it was the only genre at the
time to really flourish, with many of the films being shown worldwide. This new
book, featuring over 1200 images, all in full colour, helps to chart the
distribution history of Naschy films around the world by gathering together
posters, lobby cards, front-of-house stills and press kits from over twenty
countries. It is an entertaining and fascinating wealth of materials, many of
which have not been published before. The films are presented chronologically,
focusing primarily on those in which Naschy starred. An additional chapter has
been added for non-horror movies, or those where he was more of a supporting
player. The author has provided plenty of additional information, printed here
in both English and German, which sheds light on the production history as well
as details on the availability and collectible nature of some of these
advertising materials.
Even
if you have not seen a Paul Naschy film before, this is a book filled with
brilliant images that you will want to pour over for hours before going on line
to seek some of these titles out. How about pairing Shadow of the Werewolf
aka The Werewolf vs. Vampire Woman (1971) with The Werewolf and the
Yeti (1975) for hairy double-bill? Naschy also scripted and starred in Exorcist-style shocker Exorcismo
(1974), worked with Hammer's John Gilling on La Cruz del Diablo (1974)
and even went to swinging London in Jack the Ripper in London, aka Seven
Murders for Scotland Yard (1971). Whether his films were cashing in on the
late 1960s cinematic fixation on witch burning, or if he was playing a
hunchback in a morgue, Paul Naschy clearly threw himself fully into his work.
The publicity images generally put his monstrous visage to the fore, but still
find plenty of room for boobs, blood and screaming women. It comes as something
of a surprise to see just how explicit some of these front-of-house stills
could be, and is an interesting reminder of how relaxed and liberal some
countries were at the time.
The
book is huge fun, and clearly represents an impressive personal collection from
the author. An introduction from Naschy's son Sergio Molina provides some
background information on the beginnings of his father's career, and the author
has included a memorabilia glossary which is particularly helpful for
collectors. This book is a must-have for horror and Euro-cine fans, potentially
introducing Spanish horror cinema to a whole new audience.
To
order this book go to www.creepy-images.com.
By Adrian Smith
Jules Verne's Fabulous Journey to the Centre of the
Earth (1977)
Directed
by Juan Piquer Simón
Region
2, released by Odeon Entertainment (This is the UK DVD release.)
Destined
to be picked up by people mistaking it for the 1959 version starring James
Mason, this release was directed in Spain and Lanzarote by a man often referred
to as the Spanish Ed Wood. Taking his cast on location, shooting in spectacular
caves and volcanic wastes, the film has a far greater sense of realism than its
Hollywood counterpart. Sadly the budgetary constraints meant that a lot of the
cave scenes are so darkly lit we are as much in the dark as the candle-bearing
explorers.
Following
Verne's novel quite closely, the story concerns Victorian Professor Otto
Lindenbrock (Kenneth More) who in the inquisitive spirit of the age decides to
prove his “crackpot†theories concerning a hollow earth. Armed with an ancient
map and accompanied by his assistant, his daughter and stoic guide Hans, they
climb down inside a volcano and discover an ocean, dinosaurs, giant mushrooms,
man-eating tortoises and even King Kong. Alright, so it doesn't follow the
novel that closely, but the film is
all the more fun because of it. There are even some intriguing time-travel and
cloning elements thrown in, possibly referencing Verne's closest rival in
sci-fi literature, H.G. Wells.
Kenneth
More stars as Lindenbrock in what turned out to be one of his last roles. It
was a physically demanding role, and More plays it all straight, despite the
opportunities for camping it up. He was acting alongside a mostly Spanish cast
and filmed in some very difficult locations, particularly the caves where the
temperature was a constant 99 degrees humidity. More was a well- respected
player in the British film industry, perhaps best remembered for playing World
War II fighter pilot Douglas Bader in Reach For the Sky (1956). Sadly he
developed Parkinson's Disease in his early sixties, and died just a few years
after this film was released.
There
is a lot going on in Jules Verne's Fabulous Journey to the Centre of the
Earth, which is reflected in the title, where it was sometimes abbreviated
to just Journey to the Centre of the Earth, or changed completely to Where
Time Began. It was the Juan Piquer Simón's first feature as director. He
seemed determined to throw in every possible idea, even those which did not
really make sense. Thankfully the pace rarely sags and the film is never
boring. Simón went to to have quite an interesting career in Spain, making the
best of the low budgets and dubious scripts he was offered.
It
is an enchanting, undemanding film that provides genuine entertainment through
the strength of the performances, and unintended laughs through the rubber
monsters. One puzzling aspect of this release is its inclusion in Odeon Entertainment's
Best of British range, as with the exception of More and the American actor
Jack Taylor and co-writer John Melson, the entire production is Spanish.The
print quality is fine, and the DVD includes the original theatrical trailer,
which gives away all the best moments of the film, and a short stills gallery.
A detailed booklet which lends some much needed production history and a nice
summary of the life and work of Jules Verne is also included.
By Adrian Smith
(This review pertains to the UK DVD release. It has not been released in the USA as of this time)
The Uninvited (1944) directed by
Lewis Allen
One
of the most eagerly anticipated DVD releases of recent times, The Uninvited
is considered a classic ghost story, listed by both Martin Scorsese and current
genre favourite Guillermo Del Toro as one of the scariest films of all times.
Bearing some similarities in tone to Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940), the
film takes wind-swept coastlines and adds menacing spectral activity to the
potentially doomed love affair. The Uninvited was one of the first Hollywood
productions to present the idea of ghosts being real, and the special optical
effects used remain convincing and chilling to this day.
The
film is based on a popular novel by Dorothy Macardle, and the screenplay was
written by Dodie Smith, who went on to pen the original novel for 101
Dalmatians several years later. In the film Ray Milland plays Roderick, a
composer persuaded by his sister Pamela (Ruth Hussey) to buy a deserted house
atop a Cornish cliff. For reasons not explained, other than they both appear to
be single, they live together in this spacious abode despite the fact that a
woman died in mysterious circumstances twenty years earlier. Her daughter
Stella (Gail Russell) is strangely drawn to the house, ignoring the demands of
her over-bearing father to stay away. As if this was not enough, the sound of
weeping echoing around the house keeps them awake at night. To complicate
matters even further, Roderick falls in love with this young ingenue, and with
the help of his sister he is determined to get to the bottom of the haunting.
It
is nice to see Ray Milland in his younger 'leading man' years, shortly before
he won his Oscar for The Lost Weekend (1945), and well before he was
wallowing in the exploitation world of films like Frogs
and The Thing With Two Heads (both 1972, the latter with the immortal
tagline “They share the same body... but hate each other's guts!â€) The
Uninvited is beautifully shot, using light and shadow to great
effect. Presented in the original Academy ratio of 1.33:1, it is crisp and
clear image. A Blu-ray release of this film would have been ideal, but this DVD
is more than welcome, and is better looking than any previous release bar its
original cinematic run.
Considering
its importance in the development of horror cinema, The Uninvited has
been difficult to see for many years, with only a VHS and laserdisc release to
speak of, and the occasional late-night TV airing. Although produced by
Paramount, the film is now owned by Universal along with the rest of their
pre-1948 library. The film has been licensed to independent distributor
Exposure Cinema, who also have three Fritz Lang film noir titles scheduled for
release. It is a pity that there are not more in-depth extras here, a
commentary track from a film historian for example, but it is still a good
package. Both radio adaptations of The Uninvited are included, from 1944
and 1949 respectively, which run for around thirty minutes each and star
Milland. They are fun to listen to as they follow the film very closely, but do
not manage to achieve the same level of fear in the audience. The most
significant additional extra is a substantial booklet featuring essays and
biographies. It is very well put together, featuring a lot of original artwork
and publicity material. Most of these images are also available in the stills
gallery section on the DVD.
By Adrian Smith
Valentina
(Isabelle De Funès) is a
marxist fashion photographer in Milan. She is intelligent, talented and sexy,
so it's no wonder that the leftist intellectuals all want to sleep with her. On
her way home from a totally swinging party, the kind where alcohol and topless
chicks are readily available, Valentina is almost run down by a car. Whilst sitting
dazed at the side of the road, the driver emerges to check if she is okay. This
is none other than the bizarrely-named Baba Yaga (former Hollywood sex symbol
Carroll Baker). She tells Valentina that fate has brought them together. Baba
Yaga gives her a lift home and explains that they will become firm friends. To
ensure this she steals a clip from the top of one of Valentina's stockings and
touches it to her lips suggestively. Baba Yaga is a witch, and clearly has
sapphic feelings towards her. Valentina, who as far as we know is not a
lesbian, does not seem to mind this unwarranted attention. Later that night she
dreams about stripping naked in front of Nazi guards. When she visits Baba
Yaga's house, Valentina gets horny and touches herself in the spare room. Is
she already under the lesbian witch's spell?
Baba
Yaga owns an unnervingly realistic doll which is dressed as some sort of
bondage queen. Valentina accepts this doll as a gift, with murderous
consequences. Luckily Valentina has a boyfriend (played by genre favourite
George Eastman, star of the notorious Anthropophagus, 1981). He may not
believe that Baba Yaga really is a witch, but he's so desperate to get
Valentina in the sack that he'll go along with it.
This
is a very weird movie. Everything described here occurs quite early in the
film, and it makes less and less sense as it goes on. Based on the black and
white Italian erotic fumetti (comics) of Guido Crepax, this Italian/ French
co-production is a mixture of pop art, eroticism, dazzling colour,
psycho-analysis, dreams and the supernatural. Other fumetti had been
successfully adapted into movies previous to this one, including Danger:
Diabolik and Barbarella, (both 1968), but in Baba Yaga
director Corrada Farina specifically tries to mimic the comic style, using
panels and black and white still photography to replicate Crepax's stark line
drawings. It is very effective and adds to the “arthouse meets Eurotrash†feel
of the movie. This is certainly no Danger: Diabolik though. The pace is
slow and ponderous to the point of irritation at times, but you soon forgive
it. Valentina likes to do semi-naked photo shoots in her flat, which she
somehow hopes will influence the forthcoming left-wing revolution. She also
discovers that her unsettling bondage doll comes to life, in the shapely,
almost naked form of Ely Galleani, who was an Italian actress and Playboy
centrefold. Galleani has no dialogue in this movie but leaves a lasting
impression, particularly when wielding a whip in a lesbian S & M torture
dungeon.
Carroll
Baker was an unusual choice for the movie, and in his interview on the blu ray
Farina explains that she was a last minute replacement for his original Baba
Yaga, the British actress Anne Heywood. Three days before shooting was to begin
Heywood left to star in the Rod Taylor adventure film Trader Horn
(1973), a move which lead to her being sued by the studio. Baker was in Italy
working on the giallo thriller The Flower With Petals of Steel (1973),
and had a name which would look good on the posters. Farina was disappointed
that she had a face “like she had been raised on a farm on a diet of popcorn,â€
rather than the pinched, angular face of Baba Yaga in Crepax's drawings.
Carroll was willing to do the film, and with such a tight schedule he was left
with no other choice. In the end Farina was very pleased with her performance.
Legendarily she appeared completely naked (a moment that was cut by censors and
is missing from the restored print on this Blu-ray, but is available in the
extras). This was a bold move for a mainstream Hollywood actress in 1973 and
Farina insists that it was not in the script but was all her own idea.
Incidentally the only other moment of full frontal nudity was courtesy of Isabelle De Funès, a scene that
was also cut by the censors but is also available in the extra scenes here.
In
some ways Baba Yaga feels like Quentin Tarantino has had a pass at the
script. Early in the film various characters discuss the problems of getting
political messages into movies, and Valentina remarks that influential French
director Jean Luc Godard's last good film was Pierrot le Fou (1965). Another
character is an underground comic book artist, and is often talking about the
art form and his concerns about becoming commercially successful. Baba Yaga
is almost post-modern before the term was invented.
If
your main experience of Italian 1970s movies is the “gialloâ€, you will enjoy
most of what this film has to offer. It does have longueurs, some of which can
lead you to look impatiently at your watch, wondering when anything is going to
happen again. Stick with it and Baba Yaga is a rewarding viewing
experience. The far out and groovy soundtrack is supplied by composer Piero
Umilani, who is perhaps best known for creating 'Mah Na Mah Na', the song
covered by The Muppets! There is no original soundtrack of Baba Yaga
available, but the attention-grabbing theme song is available on his 1971
lounge album 'To-Day's Sound'.
This
Blu-ray from Blue Underground features the same extras as their DVD release
from 2003. The print, howeve,r is a massive improvement from the earlier
release. The most interesting bonus feature is the in-depth interview with the
director, where he discusses the problems he had with the producers, who made
changes in the edit against his wishes. It is also worth sitting through the
deleted scenes, if only to catch a glimpse of Carroll Baker as you have never
seen her before. There is also a short documentary in Italian about the artist
Guido Crepax. Sadly many of his graphic novels have not yet been translated
into English, but after watching this film you will want to try and track them
all down.
Click here to order from Amazon
BY ADRIAN SMITH
Retro Screams: Terror in the New
Millennium by Christopher T. Koetting
(Hemlock
Books, Paperback, £18,95)
392
Pages, ISBN#978-0955777462
When Texas
Chainsaw 3D is released early next year it will simply be another film in a
long line of remakes, re-imaginings, sequels or prequels that Hollywood appears
to be churning out non-stop these days. For many this production line of
remakes represents a dearth of originality in the mainstream studios. Hollywood
has become a corporate entity afraid of anything but the safest possible bet,
turning in on itself and it's back-catalogue of recognisable titles which still
have some form of cultural recognition amongst potential audiences today.
In his new book
Christopher T. Koetting catalogues many of this recent spate of remakes,
comparing their origins and productions to those of the originals. It is
somewhat alarming to be be reminded in print form just how many remakes there
have been. Retro Screams covers eighteen different films in detail
dating back to 2003, when the first Texas Chainsaw Massacre was
released, which seemingly opened the remake floodgates. Since then we have had
classics like The Fog and Halloween (both 2005) revisited, along
with lesser-known slasher titles like Prom Night (2008) and Black
Christmas (2006).
Whole chapters
are dedicated to John Carpenter, Wes Craven and George A. Romero respectively,
whose works have been ruthlessly plundered with varying degrees of success.
Koetting documents how little or how much involvement these original directors
had this time around (Craven has acted as producer on The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
and The Last House on the Left (2009) for example). The author proposes
to demonstrate whether these new versions are justified by comparing plot
details and development information, along with extensive quotes from writers
and directors. Due to a lack of footnotes or references it is difficult to
ascertain how many of these were from interviews he conducted himself, or
whether they are simply cribbed from articles and press releases. This lack of
referencing is one of the book's most serious commissions, as it makes it
difficult to judge for oneself how seriously to take some of these quotations.
The book makes
interesting reading if you have seen either the originals or the remakes being
discussed. However, if you are a fan of these films the chances are that you
will already know most of the stories surrounding the productions, particularly
as Koetting appears to have mostly gathered this information from sources
already easily available. He also appears to sit on the fence regarding the
need for remakes, and this lack of a satisfying conclusion leaves the reader
wondering just exactly what the point of this book is.
Although the idea
of the horror film remake is not a recent phenomenon (let's not forget that the
best of the Hammer horrors were all remakes of Universal), Retro Screams
reminds us that for better or worse, Hollywood is going to keep plundering
titles with any sort of recognition, and it is a minor miracle when ideas with
any originality make it into production.
To buy this book CLICK HERE
By Adrian Smith
Although we mainly stick to the golden
age of movies here at Cinema Retro, occasionally a new movie does grab our
attention. This summer saw the release of
The Expendables 2, a creaking collection of aging action stars desperate to
get one last gasp out of a tired genre. It could have at least been a comedy,
about the relevance of the muscular Eighties hero in the 21st century, but
sadly it failed on all levels. One look at The
Expendables 2 would lead you to believe that the action genre needs a
bullet in the head to put it out of its misery. Thankfully a film has come along that firmly blows away the cobwebs and
kicks those geriatrics back to the retirement home they belong in. The Raid (known as The Raid: Redemption in the US), is a film which so utterly
revitalises the action genre that you will feel like you have never actually
seen people fighting in a movie before.
Shot in Indonesia with mostly
non-professional actors, The Raid is
the first major release from Welsh director Gareth Evans. A thirty story
building is home to gangsters, murderers, drug dealers and thieves, with one
major crime lord overseeing it all. The police, armed to the teeth, are sent in
with the express purpose of clearing the building and taking him down.
Outnumbered, outgunned and double-crossed, they find themselves trapped and
almost certain no to make it out alive. The plot of the film is mainly an
excuse for some phenomenal martial arts fighting which is photographed in such
inventive, bone-crunching and frenetic style that each scene feels fresh and
exciting. At the heart of the film is Iko Uwais, playing a rookie cop desperate
to make it out alive to get back to his pregnant wife. Incredibly he has only
acted once before, and he has terrific screen presence, balancing charisma and
vulnerability with the absolute assurance in his own skills. Discovered by
Evans in a Silat martial arts class just five years ago, he is clearly going to
become a major star, and it is no exaggeration to compare him with Bruce Lee or
a young Jackie Chan.
The Raid
will make you look at action cinema with raised expectations from now on, and
many films are going to struggle to make an impact in its wake. It is now
available on both DVD and Blu-ray, and is certainly worth seeing as soon as
possible. There are plenty of features which take you further into the story
behind the film, which will make you want to jump up from your armchair and get
straight to your nearest self-defense class.
(Note: Smith's review is of the UK Blu-ray release)
Click here to order the American Blu-ray special edition
By Adrian Smith
(The following review refers to the UK region 2 release)
When
I was young I was given a local newspaper that had been printed the day I was
born. I grew up in Wolverhampton, and the big news a decade earlier had been the trial of Donald
Neilson, the self-styled Black Panther. He was a local who had had graduated
from house break-ins, through armed robbery and finally to kidnap and
multiple-murder. He was obsessed with the military (he had fought in Kenya as
part of the British suppression of the Mau-Mau uprising), and made his wife and
daughter act out scenes of warfare whilst he took photos. He was already a
wanted man following some botched post office robberies, but it was the
kidnapping of Lesley Whittle, a seventeen year old heiress, and the subsequent
ransom demands that really propelled him into the public eye. The Britain of
the 1970s was one of strikes, cutbacks and unemployment. Prospects were bleak,
and here was one man who had taken matters into his own hands. He was a meticulous
planner and he truly believed himself to be a master criminal. The reality was
very different. He was an inept bungler, incapable of making anything more than
a meagre haul from his robberies. If there hadn't been so much death at his
hands he would almost be a comic figure, more Pink Panther than Black Panther.
It was a devastating combination of Neilson's mishandling of events, press
interference and a West Midlands police force ill-equipped to deal with the
situation that culminated in his murdering the girl he had kidnapped and locked
up in a storm drain. Neilson was only caught two months later by coincidence
rather than a concerted effort on the part of the police.
These
tragic events were still very fresh in the public memory when Ian Merrick's film
The Black Panther was released in 1977. With a script by Michael
Armstrong (a director in his own right) based solely on police reports, written
statements, trial transcripts and other direct source material, the film sticks
to the facts of the case. It was shot in many of the actual locations used,
including Dudley Zoo and Bathpool Park in Kidsgrove, Stoke on Trent. This gives
the film a documentary feel, that it truly was ripped from the headlines.
Neilson was played by Donald Sumpter, known mainly for his TV work, but seen
most recently in the remake of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Long
sections of The Black Panther have no dialogue and it plays like a
silent film, with Sumpter communicating Neilson's emotions purely visually. It
is an incredible performance in what must have been a difficult role to embody
given his notoriety at that time. Sadly for those concerned, the public did not
take to the film. It's release was controversial and many cinemas around the UK
refused to screen it. Given the film's implicit accusation that the press were
partly to blame for Whittle's tragic death, it is perhaps unsurprising that
they took a particular dislike to it as well.
Thankfully,
due to the continuing efforts of the British Film Institute to rescue films from
obscurity, The Black Panther has been restored and made available on
both DVD and Blu- ray for a new audience to appraise. The picture and sound are
excellent, although the package is a little light on extras. The only feature
of note is Recluse (1978), a thirty minute film also based on a true
life murder case. It stars Maurice Denham and is accompanied by some location
scouting footage. As usual with these Flipside releases, the main information
comes in a booklet crammed with essays and notes from both Ian Merrick and
Michael Armstrong amongst others.
The Black Panther is another release
from the BFI Flipside Range that comes highly recommended, and demonstrates
once again that the label is currently one of the most interesting and eclectic
today and fully deserve your support!
By Adrian Smith
(Headpress,
Paperback, £13.99)
288
Pages, ISBN#139781900486811
by
Adrian Smith
Ever
since the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in Ford's Theatre, the world, and
Americans in particular, have had a fascination with conspiracy theories. One
of the earliest conspiracy films was The Man in the Barn by Jacques
Tourneur in 1937, which explores the possibility that John Wilkes Booth was not
working alone on that fateful night in 1865. The Lincoln Conspiracy from
1977 also explores similar plot lines, suggesting that Booth was not killed in
a barn ten days later but escaped, in part aided by certain men on Capitol
Hill. Some of the most explored and widely accepted conspiracy theories are
those surrounding the assassination of President John Kennedy in 1963. Most
people now accept the idea that there was no lone gunman, but theories vary
widely as to what exactly did happen on that November afternoon. The official
version of events were challenged almost immediately by horror schlock-meister
Larry Buchanan in 1964 with The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald. Burt
Lancaster starred in Executive Action in 1973, a film which suggests
that the killing was planned by the CIA and big industry, and most famously of
all, Oliver Stone became forever associated with conspiracies and paranoia when
he directed JFK in 1991, a film which ensured that nobody knew who they
could trust any more.
'Conspiracy
Cinema' does not merely focus its attention on Hollywood, however. David Ray
Carter has spent literally hundreds of hours scouring the internet for the best
and the worst conspiracy films available. There are a lot of filmmakers out
there using the web to distribute their films and promulgate their theories on
dozens of fascinating subjects, such as alien abductions, the moon landings and
assassinations, including those mentioned and Martin Luther King Jr, Robert
Kennedy and (allegedly) Princess Diana. There are many fascinating films out
there dedicated to the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001,
with proposals ranging from the plausible to the preposterous. However, these
subjects are relatively small fry when compared with those films that deal with
the bigger picture: The New World Order and The Illuminati. Do you think you
are in control of your own life? If these guys are to be believed, think again.
Carter
presents the films in themed chapters with a summary and some information on
the filmmakers concerned. He also summarises the “official†version of events
alongside the main conspiracies before going into the films themselves. This
means you get a great overview of all the main ideas, and the book makes an
excellent reference to this unknown cinematic corner of the internet. Most of
the films he refers to can be found online for free, although be warned: some
of them can be up to four hours in length. Filmmaking skills vary also, with
some being little more than someone talking to the camera from the comfort of
their front room (or bunker). As professional equipment has become more
affordable some of the films have become sophisticated, using all the latest
tools available to get their messages across.
'Conspiracy
Cinema' is a fascinating read, even if you remain sceptical as to the beliefs
presented. Carter himself is sceptical of a great deal of the films he's seen.
As such he makes an entertaining and authoritative guide through the murky and
contradictory world of the conspiracy theory.
You
can order the book here:
http://www.headpress.com/ShowProduct.aspx?ID=107
Note: this review pertains to the British Region 2 DVD edition
![The Legacy [DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51l%2Bjm3ydOL.<u>SL500_AA300</u>.jpg)
By Adrian Smith
Although
best known for his work as both a writer, director and producer with Hammer
Films, Jimmy Sangster actually relocated to Hollywood during the early 1970s,
where he worked very successfully in both film and television. Whilst there he
wrote a supernatural script set in a run- down hospital in downtown Detroit.
Much to his chagrin, the script was altered to more closely resemble the Hammer
movies that were, to him at least, ancient history. Although keeping the
American protagonists, events were manipulated to allow the story instead to
take place in an English country estate featuring a collection of stereotypical
butlers, chauffeurs and curtseying maids. The film is essentially Agatha
Christie meets Dennis Wheatley through the filter of Dario Argento.
Katharine
Ross is Maggie, a successful American designer who receives a mysterious
invitation to work in England. Accompanied by her handsome lover Pete (a
youthful and impressively moustachioed Sam Elliott), they jet off to a grey,
dull English world of narrow country lanes and chirpy market stall holders.
Following a minor motorcycle accident they find themselves guests of the
aristocratic Jason Mountolive, who conveniently lives in the kind of stately
home that Americans seem to think all the English live in. What they don't
realise until it becomes too late is that their arrival there was no accident.
When other guests begin to arrive, all successful in their respective fields,
it becomes clear that diabolical dealings are underway, and they may be lucky
to escape with their lives, or their souls.
The Legacy is perhaps best remembered now for
being the film that Ross and Elliott first met on, and subsequently married. It
is a peculiar film, mixing cosy drawing room talk with spectacularly violent
and gory deaths. Richard Marquand had to be influenced by Argento's Suspiria,
released just one year before. Maggie suspects she is descending into madness,
feeling that she is losing her grip on reality. And when people like The Who's
Roger Daltry and former Bond villain Charles Gray turn up only to suffer
spectacularly, she realises that she may be to blame. Could it be something to
do with a sixteenth-century witch, with whose portrait she bears an uncanny
resemblance?
Although
the plot makes very little sense, The Legacy is a very entertaining film.
Ross and Elliott show genuine chemistry (perhaps unsurprisingly) as the
innocent couple around whom the sinister events unfold. The house becomes a
character itself as the camera glides around its oak-panelled hallways,
revealing hidden doors, tapestries, archaic ornaments and an increasingly
anachronistic collection of 1970s furniture. Although mostly shot on location
at Loseley Park House in Surrey, parts of it were also shot at Bray Studios,
the spiritual home of Hammer films.
The Legacy in some ways represents the end of
an era. By the tail end of the 1970s the money to make films in Britain was
running out, and companies like Hammer had gasped their last breath, and
Marquand was courted by George Lucas to direct the last part of his Star
Wars trilogy. It is well worth taking a look at, and this new DVD from
Odeon Entertainment presents an excellent widescreen print. A booklet with background information is the only
significant extra, which is a pity. It would be good to hear how Katharine Ross
and Sam Elliott look back on the film now, and perhaps a word or two from Roger
Daltrey on his dramatic, fish-based demise.
(Published by
Taschen, £ 44.99) Hardcover, 10.6 x
12.8 in., 276 pages, ISBN
9783836530088
By Adrian Smith
Taken a mere six
weeks before her untimely death, the Bert Stein photos of Marilyn Monroe have
become legendary. With an estimated 2,500 shots taken over two weekends in a
converted Bel Air hotel room, Stein attempted successfully to capture the true
Marilyn, past the glamour and the Hollywood glitz. These photos were originally
printed in Vogue and have remained in popular circulation ever since. In
1973 Pullitzer-winning author and journalist Norman Mailer was invited to write
a introductory piece on Marilyn Monroe to accompany a book of photos, including
some of those taken by Stein. Mailer had never met Monroe, and took everyone by
surprise when he returned with over 100,000 words, having watched all of her
movies, conducted interviews and more essentially, fallen in love. In death, as
in life, Marilyn Monroe has a spellbinding effect on everyone.
Bert Stein's
photos are perhaps well known for Marilyn being naked, covering herself with
chiffon scarves. As he explains in his introduction: “Vogue wanted to
dress Marilyn up... I still thought the right thing to do was to take her
clothes off. The more they added, the more I tried to think of ways to reveal
her. All she had to do was show one toe and it got me excited...â€
This new book
from Taschen, previously only available as a collector's edition, has been
published to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of her death. Hundreds of
the photos from Stein's shoot are reproduced alongside Mailer's text, which is
ostensibly a biography but also serves as a commentary on her life. Mailer
attempts to get under the surface of Monroe, just like Stein was with his
photos. He covers her life from her difficult childhood, her marriages, her
depression and finally her death and the various theories around what really
happened. Mailer adroitly summarises her power when he states: “She emanated
sex, a simple street girl on still another back street, emanated sex like few
girls ever did... libido seemed to ooze through her, and out of her like a dew
through the cracks in a vase.â€
It is hard to
believe that it has been fifty years since Marilyn Monroe died, and in many
ways she is just as misunderstood now, an enigma, a puzzle that people still
want to solve. She was contradictory; emanating fragility and being difficult
to work with on set, yet representing a new kind of sexual confidence and
freedom that would in part pave the way towards the sexual revolution of the
1960s. This book offers a glimpse into the psyche of Marilyn. One can spend
hours simply pouring over the beautifully reproduced photos in this huge book,
or read Mailer's accompanying text and discover new insight through his unique
approach in constructing a biography. It is a book that can be dipped into
again and again for years to come.
Click here to order from Taschen
Leicester,
13th - 14th July 2012
By
Adrian Smith
An
impressive array of stars and an eclectic lineup of Hammer films at the Phoenix
Square cinema in Leicester marked the launch of a brand new innovative
collaboration between Hammer and the De Montfort University. Their Cinema and
Television History (CATH) Research Centre have become custodians of the Hammer
script archive, meaning they will curate and catalogue the collection and make
them available for research purposes. They have also received a collection of
Jimmy Sangster items donated by his widow Mary Peach, including written
materials and photographs covering not only his time with Hammer but as a
successful independent writer and director.
In
order to celebrate this new relationship the university hosted a two day Hammer
festival attended by fans and academics keen to explore the history and
fascinating output of this uniquely British film company. Hammer were in
production for fifty years and are now making an impressive comeback with films
such as Let Me In (2010) and The Woman in Black (2012). Of
particular interest was the section devoted to the early days of Hammer hosted
by official studio archivist Robert J. E. Simpson. Renée Glynne, now
impressively spry at 86, was interviewed onstage about her work as a script
supervisor. She joined Hammer in 1948 and worked on many important early
productions including The Quatermass Xperiment (1955). She spoke about
her great friendship with American actor Dane Clark and parties with Eva Bartok
during the making of Spaceways (1953) in the manor house at Bray
Studios. Accompanying this was a rare screening of crime thriller River
Patrol (1948), a delightfully quaint police procedural about the problems
with silk nylon smuggling in ration-era London. For those who thought Hammer
started with fangs and Kensington Gore, this helped to put the studio’s
development into a wider context.
Vera
Day was also interviewed on her roles in Quatermass II (1957) and the
comedy short A Clean Sweep (1958), both of which she also introduced.
She recalled that in those days all the filmmakers and producers were after the
girls, but luckily she had an aggressively protective boyfriend. She had fond
memories of the much maligned Brian Donlevy, whose performance as Professor
Quatermass is often dismissed as bullish and inappropriate. According to Day he
had a very dry sense of humour and was fun to work with.
Continue reading "HAMMER FILMS UK CELEBRATION: CINEMA RETRO'S ADRIAN SMITH TAKES YOU THERE"
By
Adrian Smith
The Cabin in the Woods takes its
inspiration from the endless number of horror movies that begin with the killings
of unsuspecting teenagers at summer camps, lakeside log cabins and other remote
locations. Joss Whedon is a writer, director and producer who will be familiar
to any fans of genre television from the last twenty years, having been
responsible for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dollhouse, Firefly and most
recently the box office smash Avengers Assemble. Whedon and his
co-writer Drew Goddard (who also directed the film) identified the main tropes
of the genre; teenagers go to cabin to take drugs and get laid, get killed off
by psychos, demons or zombies until one lone survivor (usually female) fights
back and destroys the evil forces. Whedon and Goddard questioned just why
audiences keep going back to this over and over again. What possible pleasure
do we get from seeing teenagers being butchered in ever more inventive and
outlandish ways? Are the films reactionary, punishing the kids for their
immoral behaviour? Thankfully Whedon and Goddard don't necessarily set out to
answer these questions. The Cabin in the Woods is not a treatise on the
evils of horror films, like that delivered by Michael Haneke in Funny Games
(1997). What they have done is to create a film which follows these conventions
whilst simultaneously presenting their own version of the truth behind why it
is all happening. To say any more at this point would be to give too much away.
This is a film best enjoyed when you know as little about it as possible.
'The
Cabin in the Woods: The Official Visual Companion' is a book that you should
only look at once you have seen the film, as no twist or turn is left
unspoiled. The book contains the complete original screenplay illustrated with
dozens of stills from the movie and also includes scenes that were not shot for
budgetary reasons. What the book does best, however, is cover the writing and
filming process in detail through an extensive interview with Whedon and
Goddard, accompanied by plenty of behind the scenes photos and design sketches.
They discuss the problems of trying to shoot a summer movie in Canada during
the winter (snow!) and how they divided up the writing between them, providing
fascinating insight for any budding screenwriters. A large section of the book
is given over to the design of the film, with interviews from key players and
hundreds of photos, models, sketches and on-set photographs. The filmmakers
insisted on using physical effects over CGI wherever possible, meaning that
almost one hundred craftsmen and technicians were involved in putting the film
together on a relatively low budget and tight schedule.
The Cabin in the Woods was completed in
2010 but sat gathering dust on a shelf owing to the financial problems of MGM,
and was finally distributed by Lionsgate earlier this year. It really is a must
see not only for horror film fans, but for anyone interested in genuinely
intelligent and original filmmaking. 'The Cabin in the Woods: The Official
Visual Companion' is an excellent opportunity to pour over the intricate design
process and enjoy every last detail that may have been missed in the breathless
rush towards the film's conclusion. Just don't look at the book first.
CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM AMAZON
By Adrian Smith
(This review pertains to the British Blu-ray release)
With a career spanning over fifty years,
from early British silent film to glossy Hollywood studio fare,Alfred Hitchcock
rarely faltered in presenting audiences with glamour, wit, excitement, scares
and thrills. To celebrate his achievements, the British Film Institute is
holding a four month long celebration in 2012 entitled The Genius of Hitchcock,
with screenings, events and major restorations of his early work. Eureka’s
release of the restored print of Lifeboat
is well timed.
One of Hitchcock’s more unusual film
experiments, Lifeboat was an attempt
to shoot an entire feature in one location, in this case a ragbag of survivors
adrift in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Their ocean liner, bound for
England, is torpedoed. Luckily, before it went down, they fired back and sank the
enemy vessel alongside their own. Newspaper reporter Connie Porter (Tallulah
Bankhead) is in the only remaining lifeboat, and is soon joined by several
other survivors, including crew members, a woman still clutching her drowned
baby, and in a shocking twist, a German, the only survivor from the Nazi U-Boat.
Tensions soon rise as they squabble over what to do with him, and how they are
going to survive as their food and water slowly runs out and they don’t know
which way to navigate to dry land.
The film is a technical triumph and deals
with Hitchcock’s familiar themes of mistrust, vengeance, betrayal and murder,
whilst still providing entertainment and moments of wry humour (including his
ingenious cameo appearance on the front of a newspaper). Bankhead is delightful as the socialite
reporter who desperately attempts to remain glamorous despite the hostile
conditions she is subjected to. At many points she is the voice of reason,
particularly as she is the only passenger able to speak to their captured Nazi
in his native tongue.
Imaginatively shot in Academy ratio 1:37:1,
Hitchcock explores every inch of the lifeboat from every conceivable angle, and
despite the close physical proximity of the passengers, he still demonstrates
the gulfs that lie between them, whether through class, politics, race or, in
the case of the Nazi, mistrust. The film features moments of humour to help
relieve the tension, something that Hitchcock was gifted at doing in all of his
films. Lifeboat is a tremendously
entertaining and exciting piece of filmmaking as it communicates the ultimate
futility of the conflict and the devastating effect it has on those who are
left behind. This new Blu-ray release includes two short films that Hitchcock
also directed, which may viewer may be unfamiliar with.. Bon Voyage and Aventure
Malgache were both shot in Elstree Studios in the UK in 1944 and deal
primarily with the French resistance. They can be seen as interesting
propaganda pieces and whilst not as timeless as Hitchcock’s more familiar work,
they are fascinating nonetheless and make terrific extras. The Blu-ray also
comes with a booklet featuring analytical essays for each of the three films.
By Adrian Smith
For
many people, having to do your college work is a chore. Assignments are dull
and all you really want is to be out partying with your friends. Not John
Carpenter and Dan O'Bannon. Their assignment was to make a movie, using
equipment provided by the University of Southern California film school, and
dragging their friends and fellow classmates in for good measure. The result
was a science fiction classic that would launch both of them into fully-fledged
Hollywood careers. The original movie ran a little short to qualify as a
feature, so a wily distributor encouraged them to shoot a further ten minutes.
Both versions of the film, the original and extended editions, are available
here.
Dark Star borrows heavily from such space-set
classics as 2001 and Solaris in its presentation of space as a
working environment. This is not the space of heroes like Buck Rodgers or Flash
Gordon. It is a place of work, where astronauts are just ordinary guys just
doing their jobs and counting the days, or years, until they can go home. Their
mission,which appears to have lasted some three years, involves identifying and
then destroying unstable planets with massive thermo-nuclear talking bombs. No
particular reason is given as to why they are unstable, or indeed why they need
to be destroyed, but it is something to do with the possible colonization of
space. When problems develop with one particularly stubborn bomb, the crew are
forced to take desperate measures if they want to survive.
Carpenter
and O'Bannon wrote the screenplay together, and O'Bannon ended up taking a
starring role as Sgt. Pinback, a member of the crew whose sole function appears
to be to annoy everyone else on board. The rest of the cast are made up of friends
from the film school, and they all sport impressive amounts of facial hair.
Given its incredibly low-budget origins, Dark Star stands up remarkably
well, thanks mostly to the wit of the script and the imaginative camera work.
Yes the miniatures look like miniatures, and the sets look like cardboard, but
the story and the performances are so enjoyably goofy and genuine that this
simply does not matter.
The
Blu-ray restoration gives the film a fresh look and the colours are remarkably
vivid. The film has looked rather murky in previous DVD releases, and this is a
significant improvement. The main extra available here is a new feature length
documentary Let There Be Light: The
Odyssey of Dark Star. It provides some fascinating background on the
movie, and features interviews with some of the cast including an interview
with Dan O'Bannon shot shortly before he died. Sadly the involvement of John
Carpenter is minimal. He appears to have been interviewed over the phone, on a
line so muffled that subtitles have to be displayed (including some spelling
mistakes which are unforgivable!). However, this small gripe aside, it is a
documentary with plenty to offer fans of the movie, and is probably the main
reason for picking up this new release.
CLICK HERE TO ORDER FROM AMAZON
By Adrian Smith
A sequel to The Wicker Man was first proposed in the mid-1980s by Anthony
Schaffer, writer of the original. Titled “The Loathsome Lambton Wormâ€, it began
as soon as the first film ended, as Sergeant Howie is rescued from his fiery
fate by police from the mainland. He seeks justice and revenge and goes back to
Summerisle, ostensibly to arrest those responsible for his near martyrdom, but
instead becomes embroiled in a series of challenges, pitting the old gods
against his own Christian faith. The film was to end with Howie fighting a fire-breathing
dragon and then plunging willingly to his death from a cliff whilst tied to two
large eagles. It would have been terrible.
However that film, with its witches on
broomsticks and reliance on magical special effects, would have probably been far
better than this extremely belated follow-up. Thirty-nine years is a long time
to wait for a sequel, in which time Anthony Schaffer has died and Christopher
Lee has aged beyond the point of being able to take a major starring role in a
movie. Robin Hardy, director of The
Wicker Man, proposed his own sequel several years ago, originally titled
“The Riding of the Laddieâ€. Unable to find funding he wrote it into a novel,
retitled “Cowboys for Christâ€. In 2008 a press release announced the imminent
filming of this official The Wicker Man
sequel, starring Christopher Lee and Joan Collins as leaders of a sinister
cult. Funding collapsed a mere two weeks before shooting began. Two years and
one major casting change later (due to Sir Christopher’s ill health and advanced
years), The Wicker Tree finally went
into production. It has taken a further two years for the film to find
distribution, which is always a worrying sign. Although Sir Christopher is
somewhat frail, he does play an unidentified old man who pops in for one flashback
scene to intone something about old religions. His reason for being there makes
no narrative sense, and is clearly just meant as a nod to fans of the first
film.
The plot follows the “Cowboys for Christâ€
novel fairly closely. A former US country pop star has seen the light and
become converted to evangelical Christianity. Along with her reformed gambler
boyfriend, she decides that the most effective way to spread the good news is
to spend two years knocking on the doors
of disinterested Scots. I would have thought it more likely that she would have
recorded gospel albums and performed to sell out gigs. In some convoluted way
that is never fully explained, the two of them end up as the guests of Sir
Lachlan Morrison (a possible relation to Rowan Morrison, the missing girl from
the original film?), in the distant Scottish village of Tressock. He runs his
own nuclear power station, and apparently an accident ten years previously has
rendered all the men in the village infertile. For this reason Morrison has
encouraged the villagers to get into paganism in a big way, with the main focus
being May Day, where they have a Laddie and a May Queen. He uses his vast
wealth to search the world for suitably virginal candidates, and it doesn’t
take a genius to guess the intended fate for his Texan guests. Why he doesn’t
just spend some money on fertility treatment I don’t know. It would be much
simpler.
Continue reading "REVIEW : "THE WICKER TREE" COMES TO DVD AND BLU-RAY"
Cinema Retro London columnist Adrian Smith recently took part in a Vincent Price tribute and contributed to a major discussion of Price's horror classic from 1971, The Abominable Dr. Phibes. Click here to listen - if you dare! (The tribute runs longer than the film!)
(For Caroline Munro's memories of working with Price on the Phibes movies, see Cinema Retro issue #2)
By Adrian Smith
The
Devils (1971) on DVD
2-disc
special edition
BFI,
2012, UK (This review pertains to the Region 2 DVD format)
When
Ken Russell passed away last November, he died with the knowledge that his most
infamous film was finally going to be unleashed to the public after laying
almost dormant for over forty years. Russell often described The Devils
as his only political film, and it features magnificent sets and costumes,
theatrical performances, dizzying camerawork and masterful use of music. And of
course, dozens of hysterical nuns.
The Devils is based on the true account
researched by Aldous Huxley of the trial and execution of Father Grandier
(Oliver Reed) in the French town of Loudun in 1634, following accusations of
possession and witchcraft involving a Mother Superior (Vanessa Redgrave) and
the nuns of her convent. It is a powerful depiction of what can happen when
Church and State become powerful and corrupt. Reed was never better than in
this film. He is masterful and perfectly in control as the lunacy around him
descends from farce to true horror. Vanessa Redgrave is incredible as the
twitchy, hunchbacked Sister Jeanne whose lustful repressed desires for Father
Grandier provide the catalyst for Cardinal Richelieu to move in with his
inquisitors and seize control of the town. In the process the nuns are
encouraged to act as if possessed by demons, leading to shocking scenes of
debauchery which are provided for the amusement of tourists, and even the King
himself.
Russell
insisted that everything in the film was based on historic fact, indeed Huxley
noted some things the nuns did that even he felt would be going too far.
Despite its claim tohistorical accuracy, and the quality of the performances,
the sets, the score and the direction, Warner Bros. were appalled by the
finished film. Russell expected some difficulties with the BBFC and other
censorship bodies around the world, but the studio demanded more cuts than the
censors did. The version that was released in the UK still retained a lot of
shocking material, but the US release
was so butchered that it barely made any sense. Russell was outraged by the way
his film was treated, but fortunately it did not prevent him from continuing to
make great films throughout the decade.
In
2004 with the assistance of film critic Mark Kermode some of the missing
material from The Devils was located and restored by the British Film
Institute. The most notable section has become known as “The Rape of Christâ€,
and depicts several naked nuns writhing on a massive crucifix in Loudun
Cathedral, in their eyes committing the ultimate blasphemy. It is powerful and
memorably disturbing. Warner Bros. have finally allowed the BFI to finally
release The Devils on DVD, but also withholding this previously missing
footage. The new DVD features the 1971 UK X-rated cut, which is the longest and
most complete version of the film released anywhere in the world. It is hoped
that at some point in the future Warner Bros. will finally allow the full
version to be released. This 1971 version is still an incredibly piece of
filmmaking, and the DVD restoration team have performed an amazing job. The
picture quality is phenomenal, and Derek Jarman's sets have never looked so
stark and foreboding.
There
are some excellent extras provided in this two disc set, including a new
commentary with Ken Russell and Mark Kermode, the 2002 documentary “Hell on
Earthâ€, a contemporary making of documentary, some on-set home-movie footage,
and a restoration of one of Russell's first films, Amelia and the Angel
(1958), which has similar themes of religion and redemption.
The Devils is a film with
notoriety, and this BFI release allows us at long last to see it and make up
our own minds. It is an astonishing piece of work on every level, and this
release will rightfully cement Ken Russell's reputation as a true visionary and
one of the finest directors the United Kingdom ever produced.
(See
Cinema Retro issue #21 for John Exshaw's detailed exploration of The Devils)
Audrey
Hepburn: Photographs 1953 – 1966
Bob
Willoughby
Published
by Taschen
Hardcover, 11.2 x
14.1 in., 280 pages, £ 44.99
ISBN 978-3-8365-2737-8
Multilingual Edition: English, French,
German
By Adrian Smith
Audrey Hepburn is iconic. Her image has
perhaps eclipsed her performances in the many movies she starred in before her
early retirement to focus on UNICEF. This new collection from Taschen
(previously available only in a limited art edition) demonstrates just why this
happened. The camera simply loved Audrey Hepburn. These photographs, taken by
Hollywood photographer Bob Willoughby, show that whether she was relaxing at
home, posing for stills or working on set, she was a radiant, mesmerising
presence. After first meeting at Paramount Studios in 1953 to promote Roman
Holiday, Willoughby and Hepburn became close friends. The way she was able
to relax in his presence clearly comes through in so many of these fabulous
photos.
Although the book does serve to reinforce Hepburn's visual impact, it
also reminds one that first and foremost she was an actress. Plenty of
commentary is provided on the films covered here; Green Mansions, The
Children's Hour, Paris When It Sizzles, My Fair Lady and Two
For the Road. One fascinating collection of pictures shows how Hepburn
developed a close relationship with Ip, a fawn that was to co-star with her in Green
Mansions. Ip lived with her for three months before shooting started. Mel
Ferrer, Hepburn's husband and director of Green Mansions, commented that
Ip treated her like it's mother, and professional animal trainers were amazed
at how it followed her around, even going shopping!
Some of the best photos show Audrey off
guard, showing her true character rather than posing for a publicity still. She
plays with her children, she exercises, in one touching photo she appears to be
upset and is being calmed down by Anthony Perkins. This is another beautifully
high-quality book from Taschen and any reader will want to spend hours
examining the detail in these photos before seeking out all of these movies
again.
Click here to order from Taschen
Eureka
Video: The Masters of Cinema Series
USA | 111 min.
1.37:1 + 1.85:1 ratios
By Adrian Smith
Orson Welles liked to relate the tale
of how one evening he headed home after a long day directing Touch of Evil,
whilst also playing corrupt cop Hank Quinlan, to find his wife was throwing a
dinner party. Still in his full costume and make-up, looking bloated, haggard
and on the point of collapse, guests who had not seen Welles for some time
remarked, “Orson, it's great to see you looking so well!†Hank Quinlan does not look like a
well man. He's an American trying to solve a bombing in a small Mexican border
town. He seems to be tired of police work. He just wants to get the job done,
and he is not above manipulating the truth or faking evidence. After all, the
guy is probably guilty anyway. Reluctantly he is aided in his investigation by
Mexican super-cop Mike Vargas, played by Charlton Heston, who knows that even
the police aren't above the law. He's taken down some of the worst gangsters
and mobsters in town, and now he has Quinlan firmly set in his sights. Throw in
a new bride (Janet Leigh) and a mysterious gypsy woman (the enigmatic Marlene
Deitrich), and you have the makings of one of the best thrillers ever made.
This is arguably Welles' finest film since Citizen Kane, and it was also
the last he made in Hollywood. He was cast as Quinlan before Charlton Heston
suggested to the studio that he ought to direct the picture too. Welles cast
aside the potboiler crime plot and focused on the corruption of the man at the
centre of the film. Who committed the bombing is not interesting or important.
The heart of the story is one style of policing against another, old versus
new, corrupt versus clean, and perhaps most shockingly for its time, American
versus Mexican.
The treatment of the film by a
confused Universal Studios is now legendary. Unhappy with the way Welles edited
the film they waited until he was out of the country (raising funds for his
next project, the unfilmed Don Quixote) before re-cutting and
re-shooting whole sections of the movie. In their eyes they made it easier for audiences to
understand. Universal wanted a simple crime story, not a treatise on the fall
of man. When Welles finally saw this new version, he was distraught. He
produced a lengthy memo detailing everything that needed to be changed, which
was duly ignored. When the film was released in 1958 it was a huge hit despite
Universal's butchery, and Welles went to Europe, unhappy but unable to do
anything about it. Sadly he died before the film was revisited with more
sympathetic eyes. In 1998 his memo was studied and followed as closely as possible
with the remaining film elements. The result was a film far closer to his
original vision and proved that he had been right all along. This new version
was a truly great experience, confirming Welles' status as one of the best
directors of all time.
This new Blu-ray release from Eureka
gives audiences the opportunity to see the film in its 1958 version, the 1998
“restoration†edit and a 1957 preview version, which is longer and contains
some differences from both other versions. The picture quality for each is
stunning. The option is also available to watch the film in either 1.85:1 or 1.37.1.
There is still some debate, as explained in the fifty-six page booklet, as to
which was Welles' preferred aspect ratio. Each version is accompanied by a
separate commentary track, featuring Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, a collection
of Welles scholars and the producer of the restoration edit. Also available are
documentaries on the making of the film and the restoration, which shed some
light on how Welles worked, and how challenging it was bringing the film back
to his vision (these documentaries have previously been screened on television,
and are not new productions). The booklet contains essays from Welles alongside
Francoise Truffaut and film theorist Andre Bazin. The most fascinating extra of
all is available to
download from Eureka's website: a
full copy of Welles' 1957 memo itself. http://eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/welles-memo.pdf
Touch of Evil deserves its
reputation as perhaps the last real film noir, and certainly one of the best.
This high definition release is a must have for anyone with an interest in
classic cinema.
Network
DVD
RRP:
£79.99
Discs:
8
Total
running time: 1300 (approx.)
Screen
ratio 4:3 Colour
Cat.
No.: 795036
Toward
the end of The Saint, Roger Moore was paired with an American playboy to
solve a mysterious crime in an exotic location. It was felt that this could
potentially spin off into another show, and so the end of The Saint became
an unofficial pilot for what was to become The Persuaders. The team-up
was so successful that Lew Grade, executive producer, sold the concept of the
new show in the US before he even had confirmation from Roger Moore that he
would do it. At the time Moore was planning to leave television behind
completely to work in films. Unable to say no to Grade, he postponed his plans,
whilst the producers began scouting for an actor suitable to play opposite him.
Originally they hoped for Rock Hudson, but it was felt he looked too much like
Roger Moore. Eventually Tony Curtis was courted and signed, and the adventure
began.
The Persuaders was shot in 1970
and only lasted for one series of 24 episodes,as Moore was then off for the
role he was born to play in Live and let Die. Originally titled The Friendly Persuaders, the story
revolved around two rival millionaires holidaying on the French Riviera, where
they meet a retired judge who for some reason thinks they can put their skills
in wine, women, wisecracks and fast cars to use as crime fighters. In some
ways, the show could have been more accurately titled The Persuaded. It was an unlikely assumption on the part of the
judge, yet somehow they rose to the challenge, and each week saw them in and
around a variety of European locations mainly helping attractive women in
distress. The Persuaders had a playful and comedic air, yet did not shy
away from occasional genuine danger and excitement. Shot on 35mm the show has
the feel of the Euro-crime and espionage thrillers that were so popular at that
time, ironically due to the influence of the James Bond films. The on-screen
relationship between the two leads was playfully antagonistic and appeared to
show the blossoming of a genuine friendship. The Persuaders represents a
different time and a different world, most probably one that never actually
existed outside of ITC's adventure series. What also makes the show really
stand out is the incredible roster of writers involved, including Brian Clemens
(The Avengers) and Terry Nation (Doctor Who), working alongside
such well-known film directors as Val Guest, Roy Ward Baker, Sidney Hayers,
Leslie Norman and Basil Dearden. Roger Moore himself also took on some
directing duties, just as he had in The Saint.
Although
previously available on DVD, the show has been meticulously restored in high
definition by Network DVD, one of the UK's finest exponents of both classic and
obscure television shows. Each episode looks brighter and clearer than it would
probably have looked on most television sets in 1970, and one can even see each
little detail on the suits that Roger Moore designed for himself. What will be
of even greater interest to fans and collectors is the extensive set of extras,
beginning with a 156 page book of viewing notes (unavailable for review, but is
written by Andrew Pixley who wrote the incredibly detailed book which
accompanied Network DVD's blu ray release of The Prisoner). Recently
discovered alternate title sequences, commentaries and unseen images can also
be found for most episodes. The hour-long documentary on the making of the
programme which was used on the previous DVD release is here as well, and is
fascinating. There is some very frank discussion on the relationship Tony
Curtis had with both Moore and the production team. Curtis is interviewed
extensively and was both unapologetic and frank about his shortcomings, including
the time he called Joan Collins a word we prefer not to print here at Cinema
Retro, and his arrest for marijuana possession when he first arrived in the UK.
He was clearly a difficult person to work with, which is totally at odds with
his character in the show itself.
Continue reading "ADRIAN SMITH REVIEWS "THE PERSUADERS" UK BLU-RAY RELEASE"
The web site B Movie Cast features a discussion of the Hammer Films version of One Million Years B.C. that made Raquel Welch a household name- and her prehistoric bikini an iconic part of movie lore. Click here to download to listen to the discussion that features Cinema Retro columnist Adrian Smith.
By Adrian Smith
Continuing
the inevitable rollout of classic (and not so classic) movies to the latest
home video format, Fox Studios have released Conan the Barbarian as a
region-free Blu-ray in the UK, just in time to help stir up interest in the
forthcoming remake in September (although that film is being distributed by
rival studios Lionsgate).
It
is hard to imagine now, given Schwarzenegger's legendary status in the film
industry, that in 1982 he was a relatively unknown actor. As a former Mr
Olympia he had achieved some level of fame through the body-building
documentary Pumping Iron in 1977, where he infamously smoked marijuana.
Several years before that, his first film role had seen him take the lead, under the name Arnold Strong, in Hercules
in New York (1969). One of the funniest bad movies of all time, it did
little for his career at the time, and until Conan the Barbarian, other
film and TV roles mainly consisted of bit parts, playing heavies and body
builders.
It
was his starring role in Pumping Iron that brought Schwarzenegger to the
attention of Hollywood, and a property was sought out that would suit his
particular screen presence, ideally a role that needed an imposing physique and
little in the way of dialogue. The Conan Marvel comic book series, based on the
fantasy novels by Robert E. Howard, with its highly stylish depictions of this
towering, muscle-bound hero, provided the inspiration and a script was
developed. That process took four years, and included a major rewrite by Oliver
Stone.
The
story, evidently based on Viking culture and mythology, depicts the evils
committed by a snake cult lead by the messianic Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones).
He makes the mistake of killing everyone in young Conan's village, including
his parents. Conan and the other children are put into a life of back-breaking
slavery. Young Conan grows up to be the hugely over-developed Arnold
Schwarzenegger. His muscles do not go unnoticed, as he's soon put to work as a
gladiator, stabbing, gouging and pummelling those brave or unlucky enough to be
put into the ring with him. Eventually he manages to secure his freedom, and
goes on a quest to find the cult that killed his parents. Along the way he has
sex with a witch, makes friends with foxy warrior Valeria (former dancer
Sandahl Bergman, who performed all her own stunts) and thief Subotai, and
learns that Thulsa Doom has taken the King's daughter. With the King financing
his quest, he sets off into the desert (Almeria, Spain, a location seen in
hundreds of films, but perhaps best known for The Good, The Bad and The Ugly)
to confront Doom and his bloodthirsty minions.
Continue reading "REVIEW: "CONAN THE BARBARIAN" ON BLU-RAY"
|
|
