Horror on the Lens: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (dir by Robert Wiene)

Posted on October 12, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a film that I’ve shared four times previously on the Shattered Lens. The first time was in 2011 and then I shared it again in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020! Well, you know what? I’m sharing it again because it’s a classic, it’s Halloween, and everyone should see it! (And let’s face it — it’s entirely possible that some of the people reading this post right now didn’t even know this site existed in any of those previous years. Why should they be deprived of Caligari just because they only now arrived?)

Released in 1920, the German film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is one of those films that we’ve all heard about but far too few of us have actually seen. Like most silent films, it requires some patience and a willingess to adapt to the narrative convictions of an earlier time. However, for those of us who love horror cinema, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari remains required viewing. Not only did it introduce the concept of the twist ending (M. Night Shyamalan owes his career to this film) but it also helped to introduce German expressionism to the cinematic world.

My initial reaction to The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was that it simply wasn’t that scary. It was certainly interesting to watch and I was happy that I was finally experiencing this film that I had previously only read about. However, the film itself was obviously primitive and it was difficult for my mind (which takes CGI for granted) to adjust to watching a silent film. I didn’t regret watching the film but I’d be lying (much like a first-year film student) if I said that I truly appreciated it after my first viewing.

But you know what? Despite my dismissive initial reaction, the film stayed with me. Whereas most modern films fade from the memory about 30 minutes after the end credits,The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari has stuck with me and the night after I watched it, I even had a nightmare in which Dr. Caligari was trying to break into my apartment. Yes, Dr. Caligari looked a little bit silly staring through my bedroom window but it still caused me to wake up with my heart about to explode out of my chest.

In short, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari passes the most important test that a horror film can pass. It sticks with you even after it’s over.

For the curious with an open mind to watch with, here is Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari!

Enjoy!

Horror TV Review: The Walking Dead 11.8 “For Blood” (dir by Sharat Raju)

Posted on October 11, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The first third of The Walking Dead‘s final season came to a conclusion on Sunday night with For Blood. With the Alexandrians trying to figure out how to protect their community from a combination of bad weather, shoddy craftsmanship, and walkers gathering at the wall, Maggie launched her assault on Meridian.

Considering that it was the first finale of the final season, it was a surprisingly low-key episode. The majority of the running time was taken up with Darryl, Leah, and Pope watching Maggie, Negan, and the walkers they had culled approaching Meridian. When Pope revealed a willingness to sacrifice Reaper lives, Leah killed him and then took over the Reapers herself. Darryl revealed to her that he was a double agent. Leah proceeded to start shooting fireworks at the invaders and, as the episode ended, it looked like a rocket was heading straight for Maggie.

It was simple but it was effective. I liked it. In the past, talky episodes like this one have driven me crazy but, in this episode, all of the talking actually advanced the story. We learned more about Pope. We learned more about Leah. We even learned a little bit more about Darryl, a testament to the fact that Norman Reedus has managed to keep the character fresh for 11 seasons.

The highpoint of the episode, not surprisingly, was the death of Pope. Personally, I’m happy to have Pope out of there. Pope always came across as being a less effective but somehow even more longwinded version of Negan and it was hard to take the Reapers seriously as long as he was in charge. It was like finding out that a town’s most fearsome gang was led by someone who played Dungeons and Dragons every weekend. I was seriously dreading the prospect of having to spend this entire season with Pope as the main villain. But now, Pope is dead and Leah is in charge and Leah seems as if she’ll be a much more worthy adversary. Certainly, her relationship with Daryl adds a new element to her battle with the Alexandrians.

Darryl tried to convince Leah to join the Alexandrians. Leah, instead, starting shooting fireworks at Maggie. My hope is that Maggie will duck out of the way but still, this episode dealt with something that I think is too often ignored on The Walking Dead. Not everyone wants to be a member of Alexandria. That was something that Rick Grimes never quite understood and I think it’s also something that Maggie needs to learn. Just because the world has changed, that doesn’t mean that people don’t want to find their own community. Some people just aren’t going to want to embrace the Alexandrian way of life, which is something Rick, in his attempts to nation build, often missed

It was a good episode. I look forward to seeing what happens when the show returns next year. I’m looking forward to seeing what else is going to happen with the Commonwealth. I’m definitely looking forward to the moment when Maggie and Negan realize that they’re in love. (Sorry, Glenn. But, that’s just the way of the world.) I’m looking forward to Gabriel’s inevitable sacrifice. (Seriously, Gabriel is so obviously doomed.) I’m looking forward to Darryl and Carol going off to have adventures in their own spin-off. And I’m looking forward to seeing what Leah can do with The Reapers.

If you have told me last year, at this time, that I’d be looking forward to the return of The Walking Dead, I would have given you one of my epic eye rolls. But these past few episodes have won me over. Here’s hoping the rest of the season lives up to the potential of the first third.

The TSL’s Grindhouse: Amityville: The Awakening (dir by Franck Khalfoun)

Posted on October 11, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

You have to feel bad for the DeFeo family.

Not only where they murdered in their sleep by a junkie loser who also happened to be a member of the family but, for the past five decades, their names have been slandered in a countless number of Amityville books and films. The house’s subsequent owner, George Lutz, realized that he could make a fortune by claiming that the murder house was haunted by a demon and, working with an author named Jay Anson, he did just that. Anson’s book, The Amityville Horror, was published in 1977. The first film version was released in 1979. Since then, there have been over 20 Amityville films, the majority of which feature reenactments of the DeFeo murders and all of which let Ronald DeFeo, Jr. off the hook by suggesting that it was the supernatural that led to the murders as opposed to a raging heroin habit.

With so many different films having been made by so many different directors and companies, it’s next to impossible to maintain any sort of consistent continuity from film to film. 2017’s Amityville: The Awakening acknowledges this in the most meta way possible by having the film’s lead character, Belle (played by Bella Thorne), watch the original film with two of her friends while discussing all of the sequels. In the world of Amityville: The Awakening, the films exist and the house is both famous and infamous. And yet, people still voluntarily live there.

The latest inhabitants are Joan (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and her three children, Belle, Juliet (McKenna Grace), and James (Cameron Monaghan). James is on life support after having been paralyzed in an accident and Joan is fanatically devoted to him. Though Dr. Milton (Kurtwood Smith) says that there’s no chance of James ever recovering and that he’s probably brain dead, Joan remains convinced that James will someday come back again. As she explains at one point, she’s abandoned her faith in God but she still has faith that there will be a way for James to recover.

No sooner has the family moved in then all of the typical Amityville stuff starts happening. Flies start buzzing around. The dog doesn’t want to be in the house. Juliet starts talking to people who aren’t there. One night, James flatlines but, after being dead for several minutes, his heart suddenly starts to beat again. Suddenly, James is showing indications that, though paralyzed and unable to speak, he is aware of his surroundings. Joan is convinced that James is recovering but is it possible that something else is happening?

If I may take the risk of damning with faint praise, Amityville: The Awakening is not bad for an Amityville film. Yes, you do have to wonder why the house has never been torn down and yes, I’m as bored with the big Amityville flies as anyone else. And the scenes where the characters discuss the DeFeo murders are icky and unethical as Hell. But, with all that in mind, this is actually one of the better-made Amityville films. Director Franck Khalfoun was also responsible for the better-than-it-had-any-right-to-be remake of Maniac and he brings a lot of energy to his direction here. He’s smart enough to realize that the audience is going to automatically roll their eyes at yet another Amityville film and he often rolls his eyes with them. As a result, we get some deserved digs at the shoddiness of the other films. Khalfoun is also smart enough to understand that Bella Thorne is more effective as a personality than an actress and, as such, the character of Belle is carefully developed to fit with Thorne’s public image. Jennifer Jason Leigh, on the other hand, is such a good actress that she actually brings some unexpected depth to the role of Joan and the film as a whole.

Amityville: The Awakening is one of the better Amityville films. You still have to wonder why that house is still standing, though. Seriously, tear it down already.

Horror On the Lens: Creation of the Humanoids (dir by Wesley E. Barry)

Posted on October 11, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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

What makes us human? What does it mean to have free will? What is love? What is freedom? The questions and more are asked in the low-budget (and rather odd) science fiction epic The Creation of the Humanoids, which you can view below!

Now, I should warn that Creation of the Humanoids is an extremely talky film. And the plot is occasionally difficult to follow. There’s a lot of ennui to be found in this particular film, both from the humans and those who have been built to serve them However, I find it impossible not to love this one because it’s just such a strange movie. I love it for the colorful set design, the contrast between the resentful robots and the paranoid humans, and the fact that the film — despite being made for next to nothing — actually has more ambition than anything ever made by several of the more successful directors working today. And, while it may not really be a horror film in the way that some of our other October films are, it still feels appropriate for the Halloween season. It just has the perfect holiday atmosphere.

First released in 1962, Creation of the Humanoids was reportedly one of Andy Warhol’s favorite films. Keep an eye out for Plan 9 From Outer Space‘s Dudley Manlove.

Book Review: The Mind Reader by R.L. Stine

Posted on October 10, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In this YA thriller from 1994, R.L. Stine tells the story of Ellie. Ellie and her father have just moved back to Shadyside after being gone for 14 years. Ellie was only two when they left town due to the trauma of her mother’s death. Though Ellie doesn’t remember, her father says that her mom died of appendicitis.

Her father’s not totally happy about returning to Shadyside but Ellie could really use a change of pace. Ellie recently broke up with her boyfriend because she discovered that he was cheating on her. How did she discover this? She has psychic powers, of course! It’s interesting how anyone who leaves Shadyside and then returns a few years later manages to develop psychic powers. It turns out that Ellie’s psychic powers aren’t just helpful when it comes to busting cheating boyfriends! They’re also good for discovering the dead body of Melinda, her best friend’s sister! And, not only that, but Ellie’s powers also offer up some clues about what really happened to her mother! Ellie has some mysteries to solve, whether she wants to or not. Who killed Melinda? What happened to her mother? And why is that cute but weird guy Brian stalking her?

The Mind Reader actually tells a pretty sad story. Every family in this book has some deep, terrible secret and it’s almost entirely due to terrible parenting. This is one of the few Stine books that left me worried as to just how the main character was going to be able to go on with her life after experiencing all of this. Still, I had to respect the fact that Stine stayed true to the book’s premise. There was no sudden amnesia. It didn’t turn out to be a dream. Ellie had psychic powers and they told her a lot of really big things at the worst possible time. That’s the way psychic powers work on Fear Street.

Anyway, I enjoyed The Mind Reader. It’s a quick read and some of Ellie’s vision are really macabre! I’m glad I’m not psychic.

Book Review: True Indie: Life and Death in Filmmaking by Don Coscarelli

Posted on October 10, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Don Coscarelli just might be the nicest guy to ever make a horror movie.

Okay, obviously, I don’t know that for sure. A lot of people make horror movies and a lot of them are actually pretty nice and I don’t want to short change anyone. Still, if you read his 2018 memoir True Indie, the main impression that you come away with is that Don Coscarelli is a nice, down-to-Earth guy who truly loves to make movies.

In the book, Coscarelli tells how he went from making making his first two films when he was still a teenager to directing Phantasm, an indie film that was a surprise hit and ensured that Don Coscarelli would be forever beloved by horror fans everywhere. Not only does he discuss how he came up with the film but he also discusses what it was like to work with people like Angus Scrimm and Reggie Bannister. He follows-up by discussing the production of Beastmaster, which was considerably more troubled than the production of Phantasm. (At one point, Beastmaster star Marc Singer throws a tantrum because he feels that Coscarelli has “abandoned” him on location.) From Beastmaster, it’s back to doing sequels to Phantasm, some of which are better than others and some of which, sad to say, are screwed by the executives. Some of the book’s best parts are when Coscarelli discusses what he had to put up with while dealing with studio execs who didn’t necessarily understand what Phantasm or horror in general was all about. Seriously, you think as you read those passages, just let Don and Reggie do whatever they want! Eventually, Coscarelli directs Bubba Ho-Tep and gets to work with Bruce Campbell, which is definitely a happy ending.

True Indie is a likable book. Coscarelli is an entertaining storyteller and his love of movies is obvious on every single page of the book. He comes across as the ideal indie director, a passionate artist who simply wants to entertain his audience while staying true to his vision. It’s an inspiring book, to be honest. You read it and you’re happy that Don Coscarelli is still out there and that he’s still doing it his way.

The TSL’s Grindhouse: The Final Terror (dir by Andrew Davis)

Posted on October 10, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

“Marco!?”

“Melanie!?”

“Margaret!?”

“Dennis!?”

“Eggar!?”

“Windy!?”

If you watch the 1983’s The Final Terror, be prepared to frequently hear the names of the film’s characters. For a slasher film about a bunch of campers wandering through the forest, The Final Terror has a surprisingly large cast and they all spend a good deal of time walking around and yelling out each other’s names. Somehow, people keep getting lost even though they know that there’s a killer out there and they all really should be sticking together.

Interestingly enough, for a slasher film, there aren’t that many deaths. The majority of the cast survives. Even the most obnoxious of the campers, the one who seems like an obvious victim, manages to make it through to the finale. I guess we should be happy that most of them survived and this was apparently their final terror. The majority of the campers were teenagers and if you’re having your surviving your final terror when you’re not even old enough to drink yet …. well, consider yourself lucky.

The Final Terror is set up like an entry in the Friday the 13th franchise but it’s never anywhere close to being as sleazy as those films. Whether that’s a good or a bad thing depends on what you, as a viewer, want in terms of a wilderness slasher film. If you want lots of sex, blood, and people making stupid decisions, The Final Terror will probably bore you to death, despite the fact that it includes all three. If you want a relatively realistic film about being lost in the wilderness while being stalked by an unseen killer, you’ll probably appreciate The Final Terror. This film was directed Andrew Davis, who went on to direct several big budget Hollywood action films. Before he became an action director, though, he worked as an assistant to cinematographer Haskell Wexler on the semi-documentary Medium Cool. Davis brings that realistic style to The Final Terror. Even though the film does feature some familiar faces, it’s easy to believe that you’re just watching a bunch of campers trying to survive for the weekend.

As for the cast, Rachel Ward plays one of the leaders of the campers. Joe Pantoliano makes an early appearance as the creepy Eggar. Daryl Hannah plays Windy. Mark Metcalf plays another camper named Mike. The entire ensemble actually does a pretty good job. As I said, you really do believe that the majority of the cast are delinquent teenagers who have been sent on a camping trip. When they work together to keep someone from bleeding to death, it almost feels like an educational film. “Because the campers worked together,” you can imagine a narrator saying, “they might survive The Final Terror.”

The Final Terror is not bad, though I have to admit that I like my 80s slashers to be a little bit more sordid. But for what it is — an attempt to take a realistic approach to a genre that is regularly held in dismissive disdain — The Final Terror works surprisingly well. As captured by Andrew Davis, the wilderness is both beautiful and terrifying. You’ll never catch me camping!

International Horror Review: Robo Vampire (dir by Godfrey Ho)

Posted on October 10, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Oh, hey, Robo Vampire!

Yeah, Robo Vampire.

Robo. Vampire.

It gets less exciting every time you say or think it. The first time you see a title like Robo Vampire, you’re all excited but then you think about it and you realize that there’s no reason for a robot to turn into a vampire because robots don’t need blood. And the idea of a vampire becoming a robot …. I mean, how the Hell would that even work?

I watched Robo Vampire and I’m still not really sure how it all worked. This film came out in 1988 and it was directed by Godfrey Ho, who is apparently known in some circles as being the Ed Wood of Hong Kong action cinema. The film …. listen, I watched this thing and I don’t have the slightest idea what was actually happening for the majority of it. The friends with whom I watched the film explained to me that Robo Vampire was actually a compilation film, compiled of scenes that were shot for several different Godfrey Ho movies. That would explain why there was next to no continuity for scene to scene and why the plot was the most random hodgepodge of concepts that I’ve ever some across.

What little plot that there was in this mess dealt with Tom Wilde, a narcotics cop who gets blown away in the line of duty. However, Tom’s superiors decided that they can salvage him by turning him into a robot with no memories of his past. Before you can say “Wait a minute, what about Robocop?,” that’s exactly what they do. Tom is now a cyborg. For his first mission, he’s sent to the Golden Triangle to take down a drug lord who is holding another agent hostage.

So far, we’ve got a robot. But where are the vampires?

The vampires show up once the drug lord realizes that he’s going to need some help defeating a robot. So, he has his people cast come magic and soon, there’s a bunch of zombie/vampires hopping around. And when I say hopping, I mean that they literally hop around. I noticed the same thing about the zombies in Kung Fu Zombie. In the defense of that film, though, Kung Fu Zombie was kind of meant to be a comedy. Robo Vampire seems to take itself pretty seriously. (Watching the film, I thought I recognized a few shots that had apparently been lifted from Kung Fu Zombie but I haven’t been able to independently verify whether that’s really the case. Some day, when I think I can handle the punishment, I’ll sit down and watch Kung Fu Zombie and then Robo Vampire and compare the two for myself.)

Eventually, Tom gets around to launching his rescue operation. There’s a lot of shooting. There’s a lot of scenes of Robot Tom wandering around robotically. There’s a lot of hopping vampires or zombies or whatever they’re supposed to be. But, as far as I can tell, there were no robot vampires. Now, I say as far as I can tell because the film was edited so haphazardly that it wouldn’t surprise me to discover that there was like a hundred different versions of Robo Vampire floating around. Who knows what have happened in the director’s cut?

Anyway, Robo Vampire is petty much impossible to follow and the film does itself no favors by inviting you to compare it to the original Robocop. That said, the hopping vampires were kind of cute and this is truly a one of a kind movie. You should watch it just so you can say that you did.

Horror Film Review: Mr. Sardonicus (dir by William Castle)

Posted on October 10, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

The next time that someone gives me a hard time for not being compassionate enough (and believe it or not, it does occasionally happen now that 90% of twitter has gone down the woke rabbit hole), I’m going to point out that I voted to show mercy to Mr. Sardonicus.

Played in villainous fashion by Guy Rolfe, Mr. Sardonicus was the title character of a 1961 film that was produced and directed by William Castle. Castle was known for being the king of the gimmick. His gimmick for Mr. Sardonicus was that, upon entering the theater, members of the audience were given two cards. One card had a thumbs up. One card had a thumbs down. Towards the end of the film, the avuncular Mr. Castle appeared onscreen and announced that it was time for the audience to vote. Should Mr. Sardonicus be punished for his sins or should he be shown mercy? Thumbs up for mercy. Thumbs down for punishment. After taking the vote, Castle said, “Projectionist, play the reel.”

Now, of course, Castle only shot one ending and that was the ending where Mr. Sardonicus was punished. To make sure the audience would vote the right way, Castle made Sardonicus into one of the most loathsome villains around. Mr. Sardonicus — or Baron Sardonicus, as he preferred to be called — lived in a castle in the 1880s. Not only did he torture his servants with leeches but he was also responsible for death of several dogs, all of which were killed as a part of his dastardly experiments. To make it even worse, he wasn’t even a member of the nobility! He stole his title! It turned out that Mr. Sardonicus has once been a simple farmer who allowed his greed to get the better of him. When his father was buried with a lottery ticket, Mr. Sardonicus dug up the old man to retrieve the ticket. The shock of seeing his father’s skull caused Mr. Sardonicus’s face to freeze into a twisted grimace. When the film begins, Mr. Sardonicus wears a mask and desperately wants to be cured of his affliction.

To try to convince Sir Robert Cargrave (Ronald Lewis) to cure his condition, Mr. Sardonicus is holding the woman that Sir Robert loves, Maude (Audrey Dalton), prisoner in a loveless marriage. With the help of his evil servant, Krull (Oskar Homolka), Mr. Sardonicus torments the villagers and anyone else unlucky enough to come near the castle.

And yet, when I watched this movie last night with the Late Night Movie Gang, I voted to show compassion to Mr. Sardonicus because I’m a firm believer both in criminal justice reform and that almost anyone can be rehabilitated. Perhaps Mr. Sardonicus just needed someone to say that they believed he could be a better man. I was willing to do that. However, the rest of the Late Night Movie Gang voted to punish him. I think it was the dead dogs that sealed the deal. So, sorry, Mr. Sardonicus. I tried.

Even before William Castle tells everyone to vote, Mr. Sardonicus is enjoyably over-the-top and silly horror film. It plays out like an extended episode of Twilight Zone, with every action that Mr. Sardonicus takes bringing him closer to karma’s judgment. Guy Rolfe is properly evil and arrogant Sardonicus and Oskar Homolka gets many of the best lines as the servant who may not be as loyal as he seems.

Mr. Sardonicus is currently on YouTube. Watch and vote for yourself!

Horror on the Lens: Plan 9 From Outer Space (dir by Edward D. Wood, Jr.)

Posted on October 10, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Viewing Plan 9 From Outer Space during October is a bit of a tradition around these parts and here at the Shattered Lens, we’re all about tradition. And since today is the 97th anniversary of the birth of Ed Wood, Jr., it just seems appropriate to watch his best-known film.

Speaking of tradition, this 1959 sci-fi/horror flick is traditionally cited as the worst film ever made but I don’t quite agree. For one thing, the film is way too low-budget to be fairly judged against other big budget fiascoes. If I have to watch a bad movie, I’ll always go for the low budget, independent feature as opposed to the big studio production. To attack Ed Wood for making a bad film is to let every other bad filmmaker off the hook. Ed Wood had his problems but he also had a lot of ambition and a lot of determination and, eventually, a lot of addictions. One thing that is often forgotten by those who mock Ed Wood is that he drank himself to death and died living in squalor. The least we can do is cut the tragic figure some slack.

Plan 9 From Outer Space is a ludicrous film but it’s also a surprisingly ambitious one and it’s got an anti-war, anti-military message so all of you folks who have hopped down the progressive rabbit hole over the past few years should have a new appreciation for this film. I mean, do you want the government to blow up a Solarnite bomb? DO YOU!?

Also, Gregory Walcott actually did a pretty good job in the lead role. He was one of the few members of the cast to have a mainstream film career after Plan 9.

Finally, Plan 9 is a tribute to one man’s determination to bring his vision to life. Ed Wood tried and refused to surrender and made a film with a message that he believed in and, for that, he deserves to be remembered.

Now, sit back, and enjoy a little Halloween tradition. Take it away, Criswell!