The Evil Of Frankenstein

DECEMBER 6, 2007

GENRE: BRITISH, MAD SCIENTIST, MONSTER
SOURCE: DVD (OWN COLLECTION)

You just can’t go wrong with Peter Cushing, as far as I’m concerned. Here we have what has to be the 90th Frankenstein movie I’ve watched this year, The Evil Of Frankenstein, and yet I was entertained throughout, never once bored even though nothing in the plot occurred that I hadn’t seen before.

I also now see where The Bride got the idea to combine shady circus folk with the Frankenstein story. The synopsis on the Hammer collection DVD sort of gives away the fact that a circus magician named Zoltan is the villain of the story (he only appears once in the first two acts of the film), so don’t read it, or this review, if you want to be surprised by the development. Oh, wait. Never mind. I should also point out that the title is misleading, Frankenstein is pretty much neutral in the film.

And the actor playing the monster is named Kiwi.

One thing that kind of bummed me out is that they recycled the Universal/Karloff makeup rather than come up with their own. It’s modified, obviously, but in wide shots, it’s kind of hard to tell the difference. Still, the early science lab scene is fantastic, with Cushing pumping a heart by hand while the usual sparks and electricity shower down around him (like a lot of Hammer films, the film is damn pretty to look at).

And, I know I mentioned it before, but I’ll say it again: I LOVE how Hammer films end. They end almost immediately once the bad guy has been dispatched. No need for a silly epilogue or set up for a sequel. This one in particular – with 1:10 left to go in the film; the monster is killed, leaving just enough time for the end credits. Yeah! Plague of the Zombies remains the best example, as the credits begin rolling literally one second after the explosion that kills all the zombies goes off. Love it.

This makes the 2nd Hammer sequel I have watched (after The Brides Of Dracula) to a film I had never seen, but it’s not exactly hard to follow. I assume that since Cushing is in both films, he didn’t die at the end of the first Hammer Frankenstein (called The Curse Of Frankenstein), so I guess it’s not entirely faithful to the book, but that’s fine. If it keeps Cushing around, all the better! I wish Hammer would release a box set of all their originals, instead of sequels and lesser known efforts. I think there’s a Region 2 one, maybe I’ll pick that up.

What say you?

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British, Hammer, Mad Scientist, Monster,

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Nightmare (1964)

OCTOBER 28, 2007

GENRE: BRITISH, PSYCHOLOGICAL
SOURCE: DVD (OWN COLLECTION)

Gee, another movie about folks pretending to be dead folks in order to freak someone out enough that they’ll do something so drastic that they’ll lose their inheritance/home/ job/collection of cookie jars. Exciting. Christ, even the title (Nightmare), is generic.

Now, is it a bad movie? No. It’s actually kind of fun, especially in the last 20 minutes, when the villain begins going crazy herself and over pronounciates words at random. “She was HEYEYEYEYRE!” and “I’ll FIYIYIYIYIYIYIND you!” are some highlights. I wish I knew how to pull audio off a DVD. Also, this doll is pretty goddamn creepy:

But I’m just tired of this plotline. I called out what was happening almost before the opening credits were finished. Just once, I’d like to see this plot devolve into an ACTUAL ghost haunting. You gotta assume that even the people in these movies are starting to suspect that maybe it’s just their bitchy in-laws pulling off a hoax to fuck with them, because they had to have seen some of the other movies in which the same goddamn thing was happening. If I ever see the “ghost” of my Dad or grandfather wandering around my house, first thing I will do is ask my sister what the hell she wants.

I should note that the brevity of this review is due to the release of Guitar Hero III distracting me away from my true love of rambling about horror movies. Plus, having written 3 reviews in the past 2 months for what is essentially the same movie, I have sort of run out of things to say about them.

What say you?

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British, Hammer, Psychological,

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Paranoiac

OCTOBER 8, 2007

GENRE: BRITISH, PSYCHOLOGICAL
SOURCE: DVD (OWN COLLECTION)

One of the Scotts recommended Paranoiac the other day, specifying that it’s a film that one should watch knowing little about it. Well, I knew absolutely nothing about it, other than the fact that I owned it. Which is more than I can say for some other movies (the other day I was surprised to discover The Cave in my collection. Where the hell did that come from?)

Anyway, the film stars Oliver Reed, and would it surprise you to learn he plays a drunk? I should certainly hope not. In fact, one of his first lines in the film is a response to his aunt’s inquiry as to where he was: “I’ve been drinking!” Wow, really? YOU? Rumor has it that he died on a Monday and sobered up on a Thursday. Also, and it’s tough to tell if it’s because he’s a drunk or not, but either way, he’s pretty much a total dick in the film. At one point, he leads a girl on, and once she gets into bed with him, he gets out of bed and heads off to the bar, but not before making sure his aunt sees the girl in his bed. Hahah, what an ass.

It’s a good flick though, but like some others, it’s sort of been “spoiled” by all the films that were influenced by it that I have already seen. There are a lot of good twists, but to say I didn’t see most of them coming would be a damnable lie. When I have kids, I am going to make sure they watch films chronologically, to prevent such things. “Dad, I want to watch Scream!” “Well first you gotta watch Psycho. Then Halloween. And then, maybe Deadly Friend and Vampire in Brooklyn, so you can appreciate what it was like to see a good Wes Craven movie again.”

As far as the horror elements, they are pretty light, especially for a Hammer film. But there’s a damn creepy scene late in the film, where the masked “killer” is just standing behind Reed as he plays the piano. The mask the “killer” wears is pretty freaky too (considering the period the film was made – 1960):

There’s a bizarre problem with a lot of the film exposure in this movie. A lot of shots are darkened on the sides, leaving a rounded image in the light. I’ve seen this in much older films, but here it seems out of place. And during the climax, instead of just darker, the sides of the frame are smeared. Very weird. Was this an intentional effect back in the day? If so, it’s pretty ugly/distracting.

Still, you gotta love a movie that finds a guy saying “Get some sleep. And no dreaming!”

What say you?

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British, Hammer, Psychological,

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The Brides Of Dracula

OCTOBER 5, 2007

GENRE: BRITISH, VAMPIRE
SOURCE: DVD (OWN COLLECTION)

You gotta love a movie called The Brides of Dracula that features as many references to Dracula in the film as it does in the title (for you math wizards, that’s ONE). Now I know where Soisson and Lussier got the nerve for their idiotic, almost entirely Dracula-less Dracula 2000 sequels.

Not a bad flick though. I haven’t seen too many Hammer films (not even their Christopher Lee-starring Dracula, which this film is technically a sequel to), but the ones I have are all pretty similarly paced: not a lot happens for 80 minutes, then there’s a big finale with a fire or explosion, and then the film ends immediately once the villain is dead, without a single word uttered from the heroes to wrap things up. I love that. If I am watching a horror movie, I want to see horror. Once the vampire is dead, there won’t be any more horror, so why drag on? Ever see the show Smallville? The villain of the story always dies/is captured with like 15 minutes to spare, and then the rest of the episode continues in Return of the King-style fashion, with ending upon ending delivered without any of the excitement we tuned in for. Plus the show sucks.

One thing I liked about this movie is that there were a lot of female roles. Even in the standard scene of someone ending up at a spooky castle, there is no Count, only a Countess (who delivers the unintentional howler “We had gay times... balls...”) and some female servants, one of whom looks like what I suspect Sandra Bullock will look like when she’s like 60 or so:

Would still smash.

Peter Cushing, as Helsing, is his usual dry self, but since he’s a lot younger here than most of the movies I am familiar with him from (such as Star Wars), it’s nice to see him actually doing some physical action. The finale has him jumping off ledges and such, and it’s totally him most of the time. Also, gotta give the movie props for two ideas I haven’t seen before: One, Van Helsing being bitten and cauterizing the wound himself with a hot poker and holy water (more physicality on display from Cushing here), and also using a windmill’s blades to make a giant cross that kills the vampire guy. Sweet!

Like many of the Hammer movies, the film is quite colorful, and the lavish sets are still impressive. It’s nice to know that there was a time when the people who made horror movies actually took the time to make their film look GOOD. This year’s Dead Silence was one of an increasingly rare number of modern horror films that were actually worth watching again simply to marvel at the aesthetics (all the more impressive when you consider Dead Silence was from the same guy who made Saw, a film that one may be tempted to take into the shower with them).

This movie is on a set with seven other Hammer films, though none of the big titles are on it. Anchor Bay has (or at least had) the rights to several others, but as far as I know there is no collection available. Still, 20 bucks for eight films (all of which have widescreen transfers – take THAT, Mill Creek!) is a hell of a deal, especially if the others turn out to be as well done as this.

What say you?

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British, Hammer, Vampire,

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