Movie Reviews: More Vincent Price Films

I guess I just can't resist a good Vincent Price film, or even a mediocre one! I watched these through a combination of library DVD loans and streaming services like Kanopy and Hoopla. 

House of Wax (1953) directed by Andre de Toth

The great sculptor Henry Jarrod (Vincent Price) is a bit of a prima donna. He creates beautiful, historical works. They are truly exquisite but they do not draw crowds like neighboring waxworks displays in New York City that focus on the lurid and shocking. Jarrod's financial partner Matthew Burke (Roy Roberts) is very unhappy with the trickle of money coming in and wants things to change. Jarrod has invited a wealthy art critic to visit his displays. The critic is interested in investing but has to travel to Egypt for an archeological dig before he can commit. He'll be gone for three months. Burke is upset with the delay since he has other investment prospects. Burke offers a different plan--they can burn down the building and split the twenty-five thousand dollars in insurance money. Jarrod is horrified because he loves his works and refuses to harm them. Burke insists, starting the fire and a brawl with Jarrod. Jarrod is knocked out and Burke leaves the flaming building. In the aftermath, everyone assumes Jarrod died. Burke winds up not having to split the money.

Not long after, a series of bodies disappear from the streets of New York. A cloaked figure stalks the streets and the morgues. It's a scarred Jarrod, who is planning both for revenge on Burke and to open a new house of wax. To speed up the production process, he uses a new and gruesome method for producing the figures.

The movie is legendary, one of the big 3D movies that came out as a gimmick to compete with the television. Some of the scenes are blatantly 3D. The two most notable are the paddleball performer who shoots his ball out over the audience and the can-can dancers who kick their legs out into the audience. Both scenes are mostly gratuitous and are less impressive at home on a 2D television. They are a bit cheesy, but so are some other elements that add comedy to balance out the horror. The spirit of entertainment is woven throughout the film. Price is his usual smooth and effective self, transitioning from the metaphorically-tortured artist who loves his work more than anything into the physically-tortured and deformed man who now has more sinister motives. The rest of the cast is good but do not shine as much as Price. The plot moves at a good pace and the lavish sets and technicolor set the right mood for the film.

Recommended--this is classic Price horror entertainment, with lots of silly theatricality.

The Fly (1958) directed by Kurt Neumann

A young woman, Helene (Patricia Owens), flees a factory where she has just killed a man. The man is her husband Andre (David Al Hedison), an obsessed scientist. She calls her brother-in-law Francois (Vincent Price) to have him call the police and come over to her home. Francois comes and finds her acting like a mad woman. Francois takes her son Phillipe (Charles Herbert) home with him as the investigation into the murder commences. The police cannot get anything out of Helene at first. She admits she did the deed but claims it was the wishes of her husband. Eventually she breaks down and tells the story to the inspector (Herbert Marshall) and Francois of what happened. Her husband was working on a teleportation device, somewhat obsessively, and a horrible accident made the situation extremely stressful.

In case you haven't seen the film or known the twist about what happened, I won't spoil it here. I saw this as a kid and watching it now is a much different experience. The movie is much more dramatic and serious than I remember. The feeling of dread pervades the film with no real relief, comic or otherwise, as the story moves forward. The ending is famous and not always taken seriously but it sure looks like the filmmakers were playing it straight. I found it more effecting and less silly than I did as a kid. The movie does a great job telling the story with restraint except for the occasional shock moments and has the typical 1950s bit of moralizing at the end.

Recommended, though this has not aged as well as other films.

Why not follow The Fly with...

The Web (1947) directed by Michael Gordon

Lawyer Bob Regan (Edmund O'Brien) is hired by industrialist Andrew Colby (Vincent Price) as a bodyguard to protect him from a partner who just got out of a five-year prison stint for embezzling their company. Colby is paranoid and Regan is desperate. Both are enamored of Colby's secretary, Noel Faraday (Ella Raines), who seems to be deep in Colby's pockets. Regan is just as interested in her as in protecting Colby. The ex-con shows up the next night and Regan shoots him when he discovers Colby and the ex-con wrestling over a gun. What seems like an open-and-shut case of self defense gets spun out into a more intriguing situation by Lieutenant Damico (William Bendix), who doesn't quite buy into what Colby and company are selling.

This has all the characters of a typical noir--the femme fatale, the sucker, the criminal mastermind, the relentless cop. Raines's character is a bit ambiguous. Is she scheming with Colby or is she really interested in Regan? The performances are good, especially Bendix, giving the proceedings an edge. The plot has some nice complications and an extremely tough situation that Regan has fallen into. Viewers are kept guessing how things will turn out.

Recommended--a solid film noir I hadn't heard of before.

The Tomb of Ligeia (1964) directed by Roger Corman

A late entry into the Corman/Price Edgar Allan Poe cycle. Price is Verden Fell, recently widowed. He buries his wife Ligeia (Elizabeth Shepherd) in the ruins of an abbey next to his mansion. The local minister objects as they are digging the grave, claiming she was a very evil woman, but Verden will have nothing of it. After that's done, the story skips a few years ahead. Verden has become a recluse. A local fox hunt brings Lady Rowena (also Elizabeth Shepherd) onto the grounds where she is thrown from her horse. The horse was spooked by a black cat hanging out on Ligeia's tombstone. Verden comes out, brings Rowena into the house, and tends to her sprained ankle. They fall in love but that cat keeps showing up and causing problems for Rowena. And Verden is not as forthcoming as he could be about how he spends his nights.

The story has a great set-up but the energy flags in the middle. The show goes through the motions, often with style, but it does not hit the viewers like earlier works in the Poe cycle. On the plus side, there's a lot of outdoor scenes that look great, including the fox hunt. It's good enough but average by comparison to other outings.

Mildly recommended.

Leave Her to Heaven (1945) directed by John Stahl

Writer Richard Harland (Cornell Wilde) meets Ellen Berent (Gene Tierney) on a train ride. She's reading his latest book and they have a little flirty conversation. They are both going to her parents' home though they had never met before. She's there to scatter the ashes of her beloved father. He's just visiting the parents. He instantly falls for her and she plays along. She's so interested that she jilts her fiance, District Attorney Russ Quinton (Vincent Price). He flies across the country to confront her but she remains firm, claiming she's already engaged to Harland. After Quinton leaves, she proposes to Harland. They are happy for a bit, though she gets frustrated with the extended family on both sides. Harland has a crippled brother Danny (Darryl Hickman) who they take care of, but most of the care falls on her shoulders. She wants to be the ideal wife, cooking and cleaning herself. The situation gets worse when the trio moves to Harland's remote fishing cabin where another guy, the caretaker, provides another fifth wheel to their marriage. And her mom and sister show up for a visit, increasing the tension for Ellen, and thereby everyone around them. Terrible things happen from there.

The movie at first seems like a romantic melodrama with its lush Technicolor and the sweeping vistas. But it quickly shifts into film noir as Ellen gets more manipulative and does horrible things to people. Rather than an urban crime drama, this noir is more upper class and isolated from the larger world. Tierney gives a great performance, never over-performing or getting melodramatic. Her control is amazing and horrifying to see. Price has a relatively minor role, showing up for one short scene at the beginning and then for an extended court scene at the end. He does a great job with the little he has. The rest of the cast is good and the story is riveting. 

Recommended.

Movie Reviews: Vincent Price Collection Vol. 3

Having thoroughly enjoyed Volume 1, and saddened to see that Volume 2 is not available, I have moved on to Volume 3 of The Vincent Price Collection. The films in this set are much less famous than on the other volumes but still enjoyable. Who doesn't love Vincent Price? He makes a good villain. He makes a tortured hero. He makes a good time for everyone!

Master of the World (1961) directed by William Witney

Post-American-Civil-War society (in the North at least) is full of a spirit of adventure. A balloonist club is dominated by a design debate between club president Prudent (Henry Hull) and Philip Evans (David Frankham), the man in love with Prudent's daughter Dorothy (Mary Webster). As the meeting wraps up, John Strock (Charles Bronson), a representative of the U. S. Government, wants to hire their experimental balloon to investigate a dormant volcano in Pennsylvania that has had a lot of noise and lights coming from it. The four go to explore the mountain only to be shot down by rockets. Landing inside, they are quickly whisked onto the Albatross, a highly advanced flying machine that is the home of the eccentric Robur (Vincent Price). Robur has built the Albatross to end the scourge of war on the Earth. He will threaten and/or destroy every military he comes near, causing peace through a reign of terror. The foursome do not agree with this plan, so Robur keeps them imprisoned on the ship. They plot to escape, though Strock is more interested in stopping Robur than in getting away. If that was not enough of a complication, Strock and Evans start vying for Dorothy's affection. 

This story is based on two Jules Verne novels, Robur the Conqueror and Master of the World, so it has a lot of science and science-adjacent elements. Robur is the sort of calm, calculating villain with disdain for the larger world that Verne uses a lot (think Captain Nemo) and Price gives a fine performance in the role. The crew are fanatical idealists like Robur, though the French cook is strictly comic relief. The situation is interesting and well set-up, with plenty of complications to cause conflict between the characters. Dorothy is no damsel in distress and criticizes both Strock and Evans for their flaws, even as she takes care of them. The special effects are dated and less impressive than they could be, but they get the job done. The movie is more about working out the relationships and solving the problem of Robur's maniacal plan. This is just the sort of B-movie Price is often associated with. It has interesting ideas, doesn't have a top-tier budget and shows it, and will throw in stuff (like the comic cook) to cover all the bases whether they need covering or not.

I saw on wikipedia that this movie was an inspiration to Gene Roddenberry, who had his own tales of an international crew traveling on a ship and righting wrongs across their world.

Mildly recommended.

Tower of London (1962) directed by Roger Corman

Corman reunites with Vincent Price for a historical picture that's more of a Gothic horror than a factual retelling. This film presents a haunted Richard III (Vincent Price), literally haunted by the ghosts of everyone he murders on his way to the English throne in the 1480s. He sees them on the battlements and in his rooms. They even trick him into murdering his own wife Anne (Joan Camden)! Even such a heinous act does not deter Richard's ambitions. The plot follows the path laid out by Shakespeare, though the tone and action is more reminiscent of Macbeth. 

The film doesn't stint on the horror, with Richard using some elaborate physical tortures on victims while he deals with the mental torments of his plagued mind (mostly ghosts taunting him, or is it his conscience?). Price is very good in the role, giving his performance just enough to keep the character intriguing while also being repulsive. Surprisingly, the movie is in black and white, so not completely like the Poe pictures from Corman and Price. The novel take on the historic plot works to their strengths and makes an entertaining film even if it is not historically (or even Shakespeareanly) accurate.

Mildly recommended--a surprising mashup of Shakespeare, Poe, and Corman that is entertaining in a Saturday Afternoon way.

Diary of a Madman (1963) directed by Reginald Le Borg

Magistrate Simon Cordier (Vincent Price) is an upright judge in 19th century France. He's called to the cell of a murderer who claims he did not commit the killings. The murderer says he had no free will and was under the control of another when he attacked his victims. In the cell, he attacks Cordier who accidentally kills him in self defense. Back home, Cordier hears a voice that calls itself a Horla and tells Cordier that he is a killer. Cordier denies it, but the voice insists on Cordier committing more crimes. Cordier goes to an alienist who advises Cordier to take a break from work and pursue some creative work. In his youth, Codier was a sculptor. After visiting an art gallery and running into a young model named Odette (Nancy Kovack), he hires her to pose for him. Odette is all too ready, though her husband Paul (Chris Warfield) objects. Odette is interested in Cordier and is also something of a gold digger. She gets involved with Cordier, leading to more killings inspired by the Horla. Or is Cordier just crazy?

The movie opens with the burial of Cordier. Many of the involved characters come to a reading of his diary, which chronicles what happened to him. It's a nice narrative device, setting up a lot of suspense that gets paid off well. The story is based on Guy de Maupassant and translates the words to film quite well. Price does a good job flipping between the good magistrate and the mind-controlled killer. Some of the special effects don't hold up sixty years later but a lot of the chilling moments do (which is what you watch this for, right?). 

Recommended.

An Evening of Edgar Allen Poe (1970) co-written and directed by Kenneth Johnson

This hour-long television special features solo performances of Edgar Allen Poe tales by Vincent Price. The show has The Tell-Tale Heart, The Sphinx, The Cask of Amontillado, and The Pit and the Pendulum. All the tales feature first-person narration, so they are a natural fit. Even though Price is alone, his performance is captivating. The characters are all different as are the stories. The visuals are okay, though I imagine you could just listen to the audio and get ninety percent of the performance. The visuals aren't bad but they do require a little indulgence (it was filmed on video and some of the editing looks like TV editing from back then).

Recommended for Poe/Price fans. This isn't as good as the Corman-Poe cycle films, but is worth just hearing Price deliver the goods.

Cry of the Banshee (1970) directed by Gordon Hessler

Magistrate Whitman (Vincent Price) ruthlessly persecutes locals, especially those accused of witchcraft, in his rural 1500s English town. If he wasn't bad enough, he has several sons who are happy to terrorize the locals, especially women. Whitman leads an attack on a coven of witches led by Oona (Elisabeth Bergner). Inexplicably he leaves Oona alive after killing about half her followers. They enact a curse of Whitman and his family, begging Satan for an avenger. Meanwhile, son Harry (Carl Rigg) comes from Cambridge where he has been studying. Harry is joined by a new priest who tries to put some barriers on Whitman's behavior but is ineffectual. Whitman's daughter Maureen (Hilary Dwyer) is having an affair with a stable hand (Patrick Mower), who was an orphan found by their mother many years ago. He has a strange amulet and a way of calming brute animals and Whitman's distraught wife. He becomes the target of Oona's request for an avenger, leading to several bloody attacks on the Whitman family.

Price gives his usual performance in the role of a wicked witch hunter, a character he's played before. The story is not that good, with a bunch of unbelievable decisions throughout. Worse, the violence on women is unrelenting and unpleasant. Even though it is depicted in a negative light, there's still far too much of it and it is far too explicit. This was easily the worst of this set.

Not recommended.

Movie Review: Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

Little Shop of Horrors (1986) directed by Frank Oz, based on the musical stage play based on the cult film

Mushnik (Vincent Gardenia) owns a flower shop that is not thriving since it is on Skid Row. He thinks about firing his two shop assistants, Audrey (Ellen Greene) and Seymour (Rick Moranis). Audrey tells his co-worker though she is dating a brutal and abusive boyfriend (Steve Martin). They put the plant in the window hoping to attract customers (something that Mushnik scoffs at) but people do start streaming in to look at it and to buy something while they are there. The plant makes Seymour famous, even though he doesn't know exactly what it is. He was shopping in the flower district during a total eclipse of the sun when the plant showed up at a Chinese flower merchant's street side table (viewers see a green lightening bolt strike the table). The plant is fascinating and a bit horrifying, as Seymour discovers that it needs blood to survive and thrive. 

The movie is based on a musical comedy play that was an off-Broadway hit. The play is based on the cult film I reviewed in my Corman-ia post a little while ago. The original movie is a black and white black comedy that famously was filmed in two days and one night, with a rushed script because the sets (from another movie) were about to be torn down. The micro-budget and schedule show a bit but the movie is still an entertaining surreal narrative. The musical obviously had a lot more time devoted to its crafting and they've made a lot of improvements while keeping stuff from the original. Martin is great in his role as a sadistic dentist (with Bill Murray subbing in for the Jack Nicholson role of a masochistic patient). Seymour is more heroic (though he still does some questionable things) and Audrey's character has more personality. Moranis and Greene are great in their roles, selling the pathos and the romance. The story is set in the 1960s with doo wop music that fits the period well and provides some lightness during the dark proceedings. The songs are catchy and fun. The comedy works very well, with over-the-top characters inhabiting an over-the-top world. The Audrey II puppets (it grows several times, from a five-inch plant to twelve feet tall) are amazing, even forty years later. Director Frank Oz came from The Muppets, so he had plenty of experience with puppet craft and it shows here. The movie is delightful, hitting just the right tone of satire and homage of Corman's B-movie tradition.

Recommended.

Movie Reviews: Corman-ia

With the death of famed filmmaker Roger Corman in May, 2024, I decided to catch up on some of his famous and less famous works. He made a lot of B-movies in the 1950s and 1960s and helped to develop a lot of up-and-coming Hollywood talent, including people like Jack Nicholson, Francis Ford Coppola, James Cameron, and numerous others. Here's a chronological rundown of quite a few (most available on Kanopy streaming service as I write this in August 2024)...

Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957) produced and directed by Roger Corman

A group of scientists land on a Pacific island to do research. A previous expedition has disappeared completely. The island was downwind of a hydrogen bomb experiment, so there has been lots of radiation exposure. The land is eerily quiet. No insects or animals have survived on the island other than land crabs. The scientists (and two Naval grunts) offload supplies from a navy airplane which takes off from the ocean. The plane bursts into flames as it ascends. The scientists race back to their one building where they try to radio the navy. A sudden storm has cut off communication to the outside world. And a sudden earthquake has opened a huge pit on the trail to the beach. Thing are not going to go well for this scientific research mission since you can guess by the title what's inside the pit.

The premise is fairly basic and the storyline follows a typical path. The monsters are only suggested by menacing scenes and maybe a gigantic claw here and there before the full display in the final third. Any caution about the problems of using nuclear weapons takes a backseat to the unfolding horror as the island starts falling apart and the scientists are picked off one by one. The story gets the job done and the giant crab puppet looks pretty decent for something from this era--there's no shots of a real crab superimposed on another image to make it look huge. The movie isn't particularly scary or outstanding in any way.

Mildly recommended--this is a very B-level B-movie.

A Bucket of Blood (1959) produced and directed by Roger Corman

Walter (Dick Miller) is busboy at a beatnik bar/coffee shop, the sort of place that artistes hang out at. The in-house poet Maxwell (Julian Burton) spouts a lot of profound-sounding non-sense on the stage while the patrons listen. Walter absorbs it quite well, repeating Maxwell's words back to him. Maxwell doesn't recognize it because "repetition is death." Carla (Barboura Morris) is impressed with Walter, even though he's a bit klutzy and dimwitted. Walter lives in a walkup apartment with a mildly intrusive landlady who is always losing her cat. Walter wants to be part of the art scene and tries to sculpt Carla's head from a picture but he can't concentrate. Besides not having talent, the cat is meowing pathetically. It's stuck in Walter's wall, so he decides to get the cat out. He stabs a knife into the wall and hits the cat. Distraught at the accident, he decides to cover it up by covering the cat up with clay. He brings the "sculpture" to bar where the patrons go gaga over it. He starts to build a reputation as an artist, but his skill as an artist is dependent on an increasing body count.

The movie works as a satire of the beatnik art scene. A lot of self-important people show that they are more or less self-centered. Walter is ignored at first as a busboy with impossible dreams. Then the "in crowd" gets in to his work. The owner suspects Walter's source material, but when he's offered five hundred dollars for the "cat with a knife" statue, he forgets about calling the police. The nagging of conscience does not quite leave him. Walter is delighted with his new-found fame and friends, though even he can't quite escape from his conscience. The ending is melancholy but suits the story, even with its strong comedic elements. And it makes a nice twist on the "Wax Museum" horror sub-genre.

Recommended as a fun satire.

The Wasp Woman (1959) produced and directed by Roger Corman

Janice Starlin (Susan Cabot) is the head of her own cosmetics company. More than the head, she is also the only model, the very face of the company. But the company has been in business for nearly twenty years and Janice can't stop the changes that come with age. Business is starting to go down but she puts her hope in Eric Zinthrop (Michael Mark), an eccentric insect scientist who thinks he has a secret formula based on queen wasp jelly. He's just been fired from a beekeeping outfit and is looking for someone to fund his research. Janice jumps at the chance for and age-defying or age-reversing product...maybe not just for her company. But what will the cost be?

The movie stays as a straightforward drama for a long time. Zinthrop is a bit batty but his formula works on guinea pigs and other small animals. He's not ready for human testing but Janice can't wait. Her ambition is balanced by the other members of her company, who want what's best for the corporate bottom line, but also what's best for her. They try to stop the situation or at least get information out on the table so it can be discussed. The story showcases a lot of side conversations about beauty and youth, especially how they are used in our culture. One of the secretaries always puts on a sultry voice when she answers the phone, even though she is married with a boring (according to her) husband. People play a lot of superficial games, but what is the cost in interpersonal relationships? By the last third of the film, Janice is transforming (temporarily) into an insectoid predator, just like the movie's title promises. The bigger issue underneath the horror drama is surprisingly well-developed and an interesting commentary.

Recommended.

The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) produced, co-written, and directed by Roger Corman

Klutzy Seymour Krelborn (Jonathan Haze) is on the verge of being fired from his florist assistant job at Mushnick's Flowers when he brings in a plant he's cross-bred at home. The plant is very unusual and starts to draw business. Mushnik (Mel Welles) is excited for the profits. The situation becomes problematic because the plant is crossed with a venus fly trap and has an insatiable appetite for blood. At first, Seymour just pricks his fingers to feed it but he runs low pretty quickly. The plant starts talking, demanding to be fed. After an accidental death provides nourishment, Seymour starts going down a dark road to keep his fame (a horitcultural society wants to give him an award) and his new-found love with co-worker Audry (Jackie Joseph).

The movie is a famous low-budget cult film made over a weekend. The story is very outlandish as is almost every character in it. The movie starts with a "Dragnet" style voiceover by a local cop describing the situation. The cops are played for laughs with deadpan patter and flat-footed investigations that don't really get anywhere. Mushnik is a stereotype of the overbearing boss who lets the sound of sales drown out the deeper problems. There's even a sadistic local dentist who, naturally, gets fed to the plant, but not before some comedy horror drilling and a cameo by Jack Nicholson as a masochistic patient. The story wanders a bit, seemingly to fill the time to get a full length picture. But it is entertaining in a B-movie style. Considering its micro-budget and two-day film shoot, the picture is an amazing accomplishment. I'm glad I watched it but don't feel the need to ever watch it again.

Mildly recommended, though the musical version that came out in the 1980s was much better.

The Pit and the Pendulum (1961) directed by Roger Corman

See my previous review here.

The Raven (1963) produced and directed by Roger Corman

Country wizard Craven (Vincent Price) lives a quiet life with his daughter, still mourning over the death of his wife Lenore two years before. A raven shows up at his house, but this is not just any raven. This one talks (voiced by Peter Lorre) and begs to be returned to his rightful form. Craven only practices magic by gesture and does not know how to restore the bird to manhood. The raven knows a formula that requires several magical ingredients. Craven's father was master of the Brotherhood of Wizards and had a laboratory in the basement. Craven and the raven go to the basement and come up with a cure. The raven is actually Bedlo, a member of the Brotherhood who was turned into a raven by Scarabus (Boris Karloff) during a magical combat earlier in the evening. Scarabus and Craven's father were bitter enemies twenty years before. Bedlo wants Craven to come help him get revenge at Scarabus's castle. Craven demurs until Bedlo spots a portrait of Lenore and claims he saw her in Scarabus's home. Craven suspects her soul was captured by Craven (since her body is entombed in Craven's house). He wants to free his beloved wife and agrees to help Bedlo deal with Scarabus. When they get to the evil wizard's castle, not everything is as it seems.

Obviously, Edgar Allen Poe's poem The Raven is too short to fill an entire movie plot. Script writer Richard Matheson crafts an interesting story that encompasses most of the poem with plenty of extras attached. Corman gives the film his usual sense of whimsy and horror. The horror is never too gruesome and is often played for laughs. The magic is fun and I am mostly sure the visual effects were state-of-the-art back in the day. The whole thing is a fun romp with some classic horror actors.

Recommended.

The Haunted Palace (1963) produced and directed by Roger Corman

In the 1700s, Joseph Curwen (Vincent Price) is burned to death in the New England town of Arkham. One hundred and ten years later, his great grandson Charles Dexter Ward (also Vincent Price) comes to town because he has inherited Curwen's property, a creepy old castle overlooking the town. The locals don't want to tell Ward where the place is and are very hostile. Their ancestors were cursed by Curwen, who promised to have revenge on the generations to come. The town is plagued with birth deformities, which is blamed on the curse. Ward and his wife Ann (Debra Paget) try to move in, only to find a caretaker (Lon Chaney, Jr.) getting the palace ready again for Curwen's descendant. Once Ward gets a look at a painting of Curwen, he recognizes the uncanny resemblance and starts to behave very differently.

Though the title is taken from and Edgar Allan Poe poem, the story is from an H. P. Lovecraft novel. The producers didn't want to step away from the successful combination of Corman and Poe, so they marketed this film as another Poe flick. Lovecraft isn't so dramatically different from Poe. The movie has a lot of the same atmosphere, with foggy streets and the castle in ruins. Price does his usual fine job in the dual role and horror fans will delight in the small role Lon Chaney is given. The movie is another fun horror outing for Corman and crew.

Recommended.

X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963) produced and directed by Roger Corman

See my previous review here.

The Terror (1963) produced and directed by Roger Corman

See my previous review here.

Check out a more thorough review of Roger Corman's life and works in podcast form at Hypnogoria!

Movie Review: The Terror (1963)

The Terror (1963) produced and directed by Roger Corman

Lieutenant Andre (Jack Nicholson) is separated from his regiment in 1800s coastal France. He sees a strange young woman (Sandra Knight) who lures him to a castle owned by Baron von Von Leppe (Boris Karloff).  The baron is a recluse who is not very welcoming to visitors and denies that there is a young woman living at the castle. He shows Andre a portrait of his late wife and the woman is so similar that Andre is convinced she is the same woman, though the wife died twenty years earlier. A slow game of revelation plays out as Andre tries to find the truth and the baron struggles with his grasp on reality.

The story moves along at a slow pace as Andre wanders through a few adventures that seem haphazard. As the twists start coming, what appear to be random elements start fitting together. One big twist is revealed at the end. Unfortunately, this twist does not make immediate sense. Upon reflection, it is more plausible but still not convincing, which takes a lot of the drama and horror out of the story in the moment and in subsequent pondering. Karloff as always is dependable to provide a solid character. This performance is one of Nicholson's earliest works and he does not have the polish and precision of his later work. The story and pacing do not hold together, even with the modest 80-minute run time. The movie does have a lot of atmosphere but does not have the visual flair of Corman's Poe films.

Mildly recommended--if you a fan of Karloff or Corman, it's okay.

Movie Review: X: The Man with X-Ray Eyes (1963)

X: The Man with X-Ray Eyes (1963) produced and directed by Roger Corman

Ray Milland stars as James Xavier, a medical doctor and researcher who wants to expand human vision beyond the visible spectrum. Visible light is only a tenth of the light available, he claims. Increasing vision would increase understanding and capabilities. He's experimented on animals using eyedrops and is ready to move to human trials. The company funding the research is concerned about his lack of reports for several months and has sent Diana (Diana van der Vlis), herself a doctor, to find out what is going on. She's concerned about the lack of other trials. Xavier's medical friend Dr. Grant (Harold J. Stone) is okay with human trials but wants to experiment on someone less valuable than Xavier. Xavier scoffs at the possibility of a student or an inmate giving good feedback on how the eye drops effect vision and overall well being. He tries the drops on himself. The initial effects are successful, feeding his ego a little bit and leading him to make mistakes that put him on the run. With all his speechifying about his increased abilities, can he become a greater, if not a better, person?

The film works through various possibilities and interpretations of Xavier's condition. It never quite settles on which way the viewer should think of him, as crazy or a hero. Milland gets a lot of sympathy for his character as he struggles with the situation. Since it's a product of the 1960s American cinema, there is a groovy party scene where Xavier can't see clothes on anyone, though viewers see no explicit nudity (it's not 1980s American horror cinema). The scene is more fan service than plot or character development. The larger story plays out like an extended Twilight Zone episode, though not as sharp as Rod Serling's master work. The plot is haphazard and the ending is an abrupt shock more than a satisfying conclusion. Still, the show has a lot of interesting ideas packed into it.

Mildly recommended.

Movie Review: Dementia 13 (1963)

Dementia 13 (1963) written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola

Conniving blonde Louise (Luana Anders) wants her husband John's mother (Eithne Dunn) to change her will so that her children get the inheritance rather than some charity. She eggs him on, causing him to have a heart attack while they are out rowing. Rather than report the accident (because then she couldn't inherit anything), she covers up the death, tossing his body overboard with an anchor attached. She's already at the family castle in Ireland, so she gets rid of John's things and fakes a letter saying he's gone to New York on urgent business. The other two brothers arrive to be part of the family's annual ritual mourning their dead sister. The ritual is a bit weird and the mother is a bit superstitious. Louise attempts to capitalize on Mother's vulnerability only to be horribly ax-murdered when she sets up a spooky occurrence in the lake. More deaths ensue as the family's madness runs its course.

B-movie empresario Roger Corman produced this film and it does have that low-budget, semi-exploitation feel to it. The tense scenes are ratcheted up with harpsichord music, which sounds more quaint that terrifying. One or two scenes drag out too long. The story is a little underdone and some things that happen don't make sense. At one point, they drain the pond and discover, not the husband's dead body or his sunken luggage, but a submerged monument to the dead daughter. Things get wrapped up in the end but I can't say I found it satisfying.

Recommended only if you are a Corman or Coppola completist; otherwise there's not much to see here. Move along.

Movie Review: Pit and the Pendulum (1961)

Pit and the Pendulum (1961) directed by Roger Corman

Vincent Price stars in this classic story by Edgar Allan Poe adapted for the screen by B-movie horror icon Roger Corman. Price is Nicholas Medina, a Spaniard living in the 1500s. His home is a castle by the seaside, though it is the creepy sort of shoreline. He's visited by his brother-in-law Francis Barnard (John Kerr) who wants to find out about the death of his sister. She married Nicholas many years ago and died a few months ago. Nicholas didn't give much detail on the death in his letter to Francis, hence the visit. Nicholas is borderline crazy with good reason. His dad was part of the legendary Spanish Inquisition and the torture chamber is still in the basement of the castle. The father conducted a lot of business at home, including the torture of his wife and brother (i.e. Nicholas's mom and uncle) because they had been having an affair. Young Nicholas witnessed the torture and is naturally super-sensitive. With Francis's arrival and his suspicion, Nicholas starts to hear his dead wife calling and even her playing the harpsichord. The problem is other people in the castle can hear her too. Something more nefarious is going on.

The movie is an interesting blend of Poe themes. There's the fear of being buried alive, the doomed house, the lost wife/lover who still haunts the living, etc. They make a nice, natural, cohesive, and disturbing whole. The movie has good atmosphere and some chilling moments. The actors are all good with Price doing what he came to be known best for (he plays the dad in flashbacks). Overall, it's a satisfying old-school horror film.

Recommended.