Tag Archives: Horrorthon

October Hacks: Out of the Dark (dir by Michael Schroeder)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In 1989’s Out of the Dark, a man dressed in a clown costume is killing phone sex operators.  He lurks in the darkness and jumps out of the shadows to commit his dastardly crimes.  Especially during the first hour or so, the film has its share of both suspense and gruesome moments.  In the style of Italian giallo and pre-Halloween American slasher pics, the film actually tries to create some mystery about who the killer could be.  Lt. Frank Meyers (Tracey Walter) suspects that the killer might photographer Kevin Silvers (Cameron Dye).  Kevin and his girlfriend, Kristi (Lynn Danielson-Rosenthal), think that the police should be taking a closer look at David Stringer (Bud Cort), an accountant who has an office in the same building as the phone sex company.  Meanwhile, Detective Langella (Divine) thinks that the murders might be linked to a serial killer who is targeting prostitutes.

The main problem with Out of the Dark is that it’s pretty obvious from the start who the killer is and it’s hard not to judge the people who can’t figure it out for themselves.  The movie doesn’t really offer up enough viable suspects to keep you guessing and than it spends so much time trying to make it look like one of the suspects is guilty that any experienced film watcher will automatically know that he isn’t.  The viewers are supposed to be shocked by the killer’s identity but there’s nothing shocking about it.  It’s pretty obvious.

On the plus side, Out of the Dark does have a one-of-a-kind cast.  Divine and Tracy Walter play detectives.  Bud Cort is intense and nerdy as the bitter accountant.  Cameron Dye is vacuously handsome as the photographer.  Geoffrey Lewis shows up as an alcoholic.  Lainie Kazan plays an aging prostitute.  Tab Hunter drives a car.  Paul Bartel manages a motel and gets upset when he sees the blood pooling in one of his rooms.  And finally, Karen Black plays the owner of the phone sex company and gives a far better performance than the material actually deserves.  Black brings some much needed emotional reality to the film.

As I said at the start of this review, Out of the Dark has its moments.  The clown costume is truly creepy and the opening murder is all the more disturbing because it happen outside and in a public park.  (You do have to wonder how no one noticed a weirdo dressed like a clown wandering around.)  A scene in which the clown attacks a phone sex operator who has agreed to serve as bait is also well-done and genuinely frightening.  The story moves at a quick and steady pace and it deserves some credit for ending on a definitive note as opposed to trying to copy the ambiguity that was so popular with other slasher films of the era.

If only the identity of the killer had actually been a surprise, Out of the Dark would probably be considered a classic.  As it is, it’s just another well-made slasher film.

Doctor Who — Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974, directed by Paddy Russell)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Fresh from defeating an attempt by a Sontaran to disrupt British history, the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) and his newest companion, reporter Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen), return to present-day London and discover that it has been transformed into a ghost town.  Dinosaurs are roaming the streets.  The Doctor teams up with UNIT to try to figure out who has been monkeying with time but what he doesn’t know is that the trusted Captain Yates (Richard Franklin) is working with the people responsible for the dinosaur invasion.

Invasion of the Dinosaurs was the second serial of the 11th season.  Like The Sea Devils, this was another case where I read the novelization long before I got a chance to see the actual serial.  Well-written by Malcolm Hulke, the novelization really got me excited to watch Invasion of the Dinosaurs.  It did not prepare me for how fake the dinosaurs would look.

It was to be expected, though.  Classic Doctor Who was never known for its wonderful special effects.  Instead, it was known for rubber monsters, torn costumes, and alien landscapes that were often made out of cardboard.  For many of us, that was a part of its charm.  The dinosaurs in this serial look like toys that have been unleashed on a still photo of London.  I’ve read that the serial was criticized for its bad dinosaur effects when it originally aired 1974 and that was long before Jurassic Park made everyone take the idea of seeing a realistic dinosaur for granted.

 

Despite the very fake dinosaurs, Invasion of the Dinosaurs still has one of the better scripts of the Pertwee era.  The villains aren’t the typical evildoers who usually showed up on Doctor Who.  Instead, they are people who have convinced themselves that the only way to save humanity is to dial back time to what they consider to be the “Golden Age,” before technology and industry blighted what they believe to be the ideal landscape.  Of course, they plan to take only the very best among the population to their golden age with them.  The villains are elitist environmentalists, convinced that they and only they know what is best.  This may be the first episode of Doctor Who where the main antagonist, Sir Charles Grover (Noel Johnson), is a member of Parliament.

Captain Yates’s betrayal of UNIT and the Doctor adds some emotional depth to this story.  While Yates was never as important a character as the Brigadier or Sgt. Benton, he was still present for almost all of the Third Doctor’s adventures and the small scenes where he would flirt with Jo Grant were some of the most awkward moments of the Pertwee era.  Captain Yates was a loyal member of the Third Doctor’s entourage and his betrayal was motivated not by greed or resentment but instead by a desire to make the world a better place.  The novelization made it clear that it was actually the terrible things that Yates saw as a member of UNIT that convinced him that time needed to be turned back.

This was the final Jon Pertwee story to be set entirely on Earth and, though Yates and the Brigadier would return for Pertwee’s final serial, it was the last true UNIT story of the Pertwee years.  Jon Pertwee had already decided that the 11th season would be his last.  The 12 season would feature a new Doctor.  And while the BBC considered actors like Graham Crowden, Bernard Cribbins, and Jim Dale for the role, the Fourth Doctor was ultimately be played by Tom Baker, an actor who was working as a construction worker when Invasion of the Dinosaurs first aired.

Doctor Who would never the same.

Clash of the Titans (1981, directed by Desmond Davis)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

High atop Mt. Olympus, Zeus (Laurence Olivier) and his fellow Gods look down on Earth and jealously manipulate its citizens.  When Zeus impregnates Danae (Vida Taylor), the daughter of the King of Argos, she and her son Perseus (Harry Hamlin) are banished to sea.  Zeus responds by ordering Poseidon (Jack Gwillim) to release the Kraken.

Years later, when Callibos (Neil McCarthy), the son of the Goddess Thetis (Maggie Smith), destroys all but one of Zeus’s flying horses, Zeus transformer Callibos into a tailed monster.  Thetis tries to get her revenge by having Callibos kill Perseus but instead, Perseus chops off Callibos’s hand, comes to possess Pegasus, the last of the flying horses, and also wins the right to marry Andromeda (Judi Bowker).

At the wedding, Cassiopeia (Sian Phillips) declares Andromeda to be even more beautiful than Aphrodite (Ursula Andress).  Big mistake.  Aphrodite demands that Andromeda by sacrificed to the Kraken.  Along with Pegasus, Ammon (Burgess Meredith), Thallo (Tom Pigott-Smith), and robot owl, Perseus goes on a quest to get the snake-haired head of Medusa so he can turn the Kraken into stone.

There’s a lot that I love about Clash of the Titans, from the Ray Harryhausen’s stop-motion special effects to the blind witches who pass one eyepiece among them to Burgess Meredith’s performance as Ammon.  I even like the robot owl.  But the thing that has always made the biggest impression on me is that Mt. Olympus is portrayed as having a shelf that holds a figurine for every human in the world.  The Gods casually move the pieces around and transform them on whims.  Of all the films that have been based on Greek mythology, Clash of the Titans is one of the few that really captures the idea of the Gods essentially being a bunch of petty and jealous libertines who view humans are just being their playthings.

Let’s not overthink Clash of the Titans, though.  The main appeal of Clash of the Titans is that it’s just a good, old-fashioned adventure movie.  In this age of CGI and humorless heroes, it’s hard not love the film’s mix of old-fashion stop-motion animation, strong characters, and occasional moments of humor.  (I like the owl and I won’t apologize for it.)  Also, Medusa has appeared in a lot of movie but she’s never been scarier than in this movie.  Who can forget the yellow glow of her eyes, followed by men turning to stone?  Who can forget the hiss of her tail or the moment when Perseus waits to strike while trying not to look into her eyes?  Beyond Medusa, who can forget the Kraken rising from the sea or the blood of Callibos giving birth to giant scorpions?  Without CGI, Clash of the Titans still captures the feel of living in a different time and a different land.  Clash of the Titans brings mythology to life in a way that few other films have been able to,

I loved the original Clash of Titans when I was a kid.  I rewatched it last month and I happy to say that I love it still.

Horror Scenes That I Love: Crimson Peak

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Since it’s Guillermo Del Toro’s birthday, it just seems appropriate that today’s horror scene that I love should be one of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite Del Toro movies.

Here’s the opening of 2015’s haunting (and, in my opinion, underrated) Crimson Peak!

October True Crime: Guilty Until Proven Innocent (dir by Paul Wendkos)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

This 1991 made-for-TV movie opens with a murder in a Brooklyn park.  The year is 1979 and a group of teenagers are accosted by two men carrying guns.  The men rob the teenagers of their drugs and guns.  One person is killed.  When the police arrive, almost everyone says that it was too dark to see anything.  However, a 15 year-old named Jimmy O’Neill (Tristan Tait) says that he saw the faces of the men.

At the police station, the detective (Mark Metcalf) shows him a picture of a man named Billy Ferro (Zachary Mott) and Jimmy identifies him as one of the gunmen.  The detective then produces a picture of a 19 year-old named Bobby McLaughlin (Brendan Fraser) and asks if Bobby was the other man.  When Jimmy hesitates, the detective says that McLaughlin has been arrested with Billy in the past.

Of course, the truth of the matter is that, while Bobby has been arrested in the past, he’s never been arrested for anything as serious as murder and he’s never met Billy Ferro.  The man who had been arrested in the past with Ferro was named Harold McLaughlin.  The detective accidentally grabbed the wrong picture.

Bobby, a high school drop-out who lives with his foster parents (played by Martin Sheen and Caroline Kava), is arrested and charged with second degree murder.  It doesn’t matter that Bobby passes a polygraph because the results are not admissible in court.  It doesn’t matter what Bobby has an alibi because the prosecutor portrays all of his friends as being a collection of stoners and losers.  It doesn’t matter what Bobby has never even met Billy Ferro because Ferro isn’t going to help anyone out, even someone who he knows is being falsely convicted.  Bobby is convicted of second degree murder and sent to prison.

For the next seven years, while Bobby tries to survive prison, his foster father attempts to prove his son’s innocence.  With the police refusing to help, Bobby’s father is forced to launch his own investigation but it seems like no matter what he discovers, it’s not enough to get Bobby out of prison.  Still, neither he nor Bobby gives up.  Neither one will accept a system in which you’re guilty until proven innocent….

For most people who choose to watch this film, I imagine it will be because of that “Introducing Brendan Fraser” credit.  Fraser gives a very good performance in this film, playing Bobby as basically well-meaning but directionless teenager who finds himself trapped in a nightmare.  Of course, the majority of this film is Martin Sheen yelling about the injustice of it all.  This is the type of crusader role that Sheen has played often.  As was often the case when he was cast in films like this, there’s nothing subtle about Sheen’s performance but it’s not really a role that needs or demands subtlety.

Though this was made-for-television and, as such, is never quite as critical of the system as perhaps it should be (if anything, the film argues that one should trust the system to eventually do the right thing, even if it does so seven years too late), it still shows how one cop’s mistake can ruin an innocent’s man life.  It’s all the more effective because it’s based on a true story.  Of course, I immediately knew the cop shouldn’t be trusted because he was played by Mark Metcalf.  Niedermeyer as a cop?  That’s definitely not going to end well.

4 Shots From 4 Horror Films: 1940s Part One

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

This October, I’m going to be doing something a little bit different with my contribution to 4 Shots From 4 Films.  I’m going to be taking a little chronological tour of the history of horror cinema, moving from decade to decade.

Today, we take a look at the first few years of 1940s.

4 Shots From 4 Horror Films

Dr. Cyclops (1940, dir by Ernest B. Schoedsack)

Dr. Cyclops (1940, dir by Ernest B. Schoedsack)

The Wolf Man (1941, dir by George Waggner)

The Wolf Man (1941, dir by George Waggner)

Cat People (1943, dir by Jacques Tourneur)

Cat People (1942, dir by Jacques Tourneur)

I Walked With A Zombie (1943, dir by Jacques Tourneur)

I Walked With A Zombie (1943, dir by Jacques Tourneur)

Horror Film Review: Trilogy of Terror (dir by Dan Curtis)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

1975’s Trilogy of Terror is a true classic, a rare made-for-television horror film that could have just as easily and effectively been released in theaters.

As one can surmise from the title, it features three stories.  Each story is directed by Dan Curtis and written by Richard Matheson.  Each story also features Karen Black in the lead role, giving Black a chance to play not just one but four very different characters over the course of one film.  One of the things that makes this film work so well is Karen Black’s totally committed performance.  Sadly, Karen Black later expressed some regret about having appeared in the film because it led to her being typecast as a horror actress, which she definitely hadn’t been before.  (One need only watch Karen Black in Five Easy Pieces, Nashville, or Family Plot to see what a good actress she was.  Even in something like Easy Rider, where she had only a small role and very few lines, her talent is obvious.)  As a result, Black was no longer considered for the big studio films that she had appeared in previously and instead, she spent the remained of her career appearing in low-budget horror films.  That’s a shame because Trilogy of Terror really does show what a strong actress Black was.

The first segment features Black as Julie, a seemingly uptight teacher who somewhat surprisingly agrees to go out on a date with Chad (Robert Burton), a sleazy college student.  Chad drugs Julie’s drink during their date and later undresses her and takes pictures which he then uses in an attempt to blackmail Julie into basically being his sex slave.  Julie, however, turns out to have a big secret of her own and Chad discovers too late that he was the one who was being manipulated.  This segment was the least interesting of the three stories but the ending was very satisfying.  Anyone who has ever dated a “nice guy” who turned out to actually be a jerk will enjoy Julie’s revenge.

The second segment is enjoyably sordid, an over-the-top soap opera that I can’t talk too much about without spoiling the plot.  Black plays Millicent, a repressed brunette, who is hatefully obsessed with her twin sister, blonde Theresa (Black again).  Millicent fears that Therese is planning to corrupt and destroy her boyfriend, Thomas (John Karlen).  Millicent explains to her therapist (George Gaynes) all of the terrible things that Therese has done.  Of course, the truth turns out to be much more complicated.  This story was entertaining and featured a surprisingly effective twist.

The third segment is the one that everyone remembers.  Amelia (Karen Black) lives alone in a high-rise apartment and has recently purchased, as a present for her anthropologist boyfriend, a wooden fetish doll in the form of a misshapen aboriginal warrior with pointed teeth and a spear.  The doll comes with a scroll that explains that the doll is inhabited by the spirit of a Zuni hunter and that the only thing keeping the doll from coming to life is the gold chain adorning the doll.  Of course, the chain eventually falls off and Amelia finds herself being pursued through her apartment by a viscous doll that is obsessed with killing her.  This is the simplest and the scariest of the Trilogy of Terror’s three stories.  It’s easy to say that it’s just a doll until it pops out of nowhere and stabs Amelia in the ankle.  This story ends on a properly dark note and that final image of Karen Black is haunting.

For a fifty year-old film, Trilogy of Terror holds up remarkably well.  Watch it and witness just how good an actress Karen Black truly was.

Trilogy of Terror (1975, dir by Dan Curtis. DP: Paul Lohmann)

Horror Film Review: The Creation of the Humanoids (dir by Wesley Barry)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Oh, how I love this oddity from 1962.

The Creation of the Humanoids takes place in the 23rd Century.  A nuclear war has wiped out 92% of the human population.  The radiation has caused many of the survivors to become sterile.  The birth rate has plummeted to 1.4% and humanity is at risk of slowly dying out.  The majority of the remaining humans have dealt with this news by becoming lazy and decadent.  They live in luxurious apartments and they basically refuse to do anything themselves.  Instead, all of the work is done by blue-skinned androids, the Humanoids that some dismissively refer to as being “clickers.”  The Humanoids were not designed to have human emotions or thoughts but some appear to be developing them.  The Order of Flesh and Blood want to destroy the Humanoids, especially when they hear rumors that a Humanoid has been created who is indistinguishable from an actual human.  The Order of Flesh and Blood fears that the Humanoids are plotting to take over the world and replace humanity and …. they’re right!

Of course, the film suggests that might not be such a bad thing.  The majority of the humans that we meet in The Creation of the Humanoids don’t seem to have much interest in continuing on with their lives.  Having destroyed most of their civilization with a pointless nuclear war and now being unable to conceive, they seem to be content to laze about and wait for the end to come.  Ironically, the only humans that seem to care about the future of their race are a bunch of fanatics.  The Humanoids may move and speak stiffly but at least they’re making plans for the future and seem to actually care about the world in which they exist.

The Creation of the Humanoids was made for a very low-budget and with only the most rudimentary of sets.  The luxury apartments all look very similar and very simple and yet that adds to the sense of ennui that runs through the entire film.  The same can be said of the costumes, which are largely made up of jumpsuits and Confederate army caps that were reportedly rented from a local costume store.  The drab costumes capture the feel of a society where being creative or imaginative is no longer rewarded and any sign of free thought is considered to be a threat.  It’s the type of society that always seems to follow as a result of the empty promises of Marx and Coca-Cola.  Fortunately, the film’s producers did pay extra so that the film could be shot in color, the better to highlight the blue tint of the Humanoids and the darkness outside of the city. They also wisely hired veteran cinematography Hal Mohr, who brings some visual flair to the project.  Realizing that the film was extremely talky and that it featured characters who didn’t move around a lot, Mohr used creative camera angles and old-fashioned “glamour” lighting to give the film an interesting look.  The film ultimately becomes a work of pop art and it’s not a surprise that Andy Warhol described Creation of the Humanoids as being his favorite film.

I like the film too.  The stilted but philosophical dialogue, the atmosphere of ennui, the casting of Plane Nine From Outer Space’s Dudley Manlove as a Humanoid, and the moment when Dr. Raven (Don Doolittle) breaks the fourth wall to speak directly the audience, it all adds up to something that is wonderfully bizarre and thoroughly unforgettable.

The Creation of the Humanoids (1962, dir by Wesley Barry)

Horror On The Lens: Dementia 13 (dir by Francis Ford Coppola)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

1963’s Dementia 13 is a significant film for another reasons.

For one, it’s the mainstream feature film debut of Francis Ford Coppola.  (Coppola has said that he directed two softcore films before Dementia 13 but they’ve been lost to history.)  Both Coppola’s screenplay and his direction were heavily influenced by the early giallo films that were coming out of Italy.  One could argue that this is the first American film to pay homage to Mario Bava.

Dementia 13 is also the first film on which Coppola ever went overbudget.  This film is literally the start of an era.

Coppola himself has been critical of Dementia 13.  Producer Roger Corman was not happy with the first cut of the film and added a few scenes that took away from Coppola’s pacing.  That said, it’s still an atmospheric and creepy forerunner to the American slasher film.  The scene in which Launa Anders goes for a swim has been duplicated in numerous other films and it’s still effective in the way that it chops away at the audience’s sense of security.  It certainly freaks me out.  Of course, I’m not much of a swimmer.  I’m a good drowner, though.

Here is today’s Horror on The Lens, Dementia 13!