tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34787376096452062102024-03-13T03:05:51.786-07:00Plan 9 Crunch: All About Cult FilmsPlan9Crunchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04818205539289836323noreply@blogger.comBlogger1025125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478737609645206210.post-57637904683504346942024-03-05T10:40:00.000-08:002024-03-05T23:32:09.635-08:00Vampires in Silent Cinema provides a timeline to Dracula<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAucbYQEbSmRii50NzeHouJyuu_J4vTXF_2rkeVPYU-UgIbSsOvmoZ2lQPGemmoHHL2qoQ2MNN1YS-xWvos4vI-MZ3sW9HqSXbOE-CUzs8ZS-CKZZo3qEx2wFP1fllJ3pVOOBN0JdigjiVDuYn5NV0Rgum9eXPRtMkyeRBF8fCc41jEDQC9SZWbhGfuVc/s630/Vampires%20in%20Silent%20Cinema.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="396" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAucbYQEbSmRii50NzeHouJyuu_J4vTXF_2rkeVPYU-UgIbSsOvmoZ2lQPGemmoHHL2qoQ2MNN1YS-xWvos4vI-MZ3sW9HqSXbOE-CUzs8ZS-CKZZo3qEx2wFP1fllJ3pVOOBN0JdigjiVDuYn5NV0Rgum9eXPRtMkyeRBF8fCc41jEDQC9SZWbhGfuVc/w251-h400/Vampires%20in%20Silent%20Cinema.jpg" width="251" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><b>Reviewed by Doug Gibson</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p>In Gary Rhodes' new book, "<a href="https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-vampires-in-silent-cinema.html">Vampires in Silent Cinema," (Edinburgh University Press, 2023</a>), the author cites a "non-fiction" article in the June 15, 1732 issue of The American Weekly Mercury periodical. In Hungary, it was claimed, "certain Dead Bodies (called here Vampyres) killed several persons by sucking out all their blood." </p><p><br /></p><p>As Rhodes notes, more than sensationalistic press caused the public to be intrigued by vampires. There were novels such as "The Vampyre: A Tale," and plays like "The Phantom." Both involved bloodsuckers menacing the innocent. They were among the preludes to Bram Stoker's classic novel, "Dracula," which arrived just before the twentieth century.</p><p><br /></p><p>It took a while for silent cinema to embrace what we consider the traditional vampire today, Max Schreck, Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee. Rhodes writes, "... vampire-hunting historians have at times perceived the undead in films where they do not reside ..." </p><p><br /></p><p>The average film viewer may regard "Dracula" as the first vampire film. A more sophisticated viewer may tab "Nosferatu" as the first. It was actually a very obscure, lost 1915 Russian film called "<a href="The Afterlife Wanderer.">The Afterlife Wanderer.</a>" Olga Baclanova, who kind of played a "vamp" in "Freaks," starred in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0006238/?ref_=nm_flmg_t_32_act">the film</a>. The film was banned in one city. What percentage of the population knows this; a tenth of a tenth of a percent? </p><p><br /></p><p>Silent cinema remains a very fertile ground for unearthing original scholarship. Recently, Rhodes and co-author Bill Kaffenberger, with the "Becoming Dracula" books, unearthed original information on Bela Lugosi. There's much of the same original research in "Vampires in Silent Cinema."</p><p><br /></p><p>The earliest "vampire" silent films weren't really vampire films. Characters in films might dance in a gothic, mysterious way, arousing interest and suggestions of the undead. But only the obscure "Loie Fuller," 1905, has what is described as a "vampire dance," says Rhodes. In the early years of the 20th century, "vampire dances" were popular attractions. As Rhodes notes, a 1912 film, "The Vampire Dancer," (English title), shows the title character mimicking biting an unfortunate suitor's neck.</p><p><br /></p><p>The next wave of silent "vampire" films involved "vamps," a term still in existence. An extension of the vampire dancer, a vamp is an evil woman who, through her passion and charms, manages to destroy the soul and physical health of an unwise, unwary man. Theda Bara personified a vamp during the silent era with films such as, "A Fool There Was." The vamp's genesis derived in part from Rudyard Kipling's poem, "The Vampire," and artist Philip Burne-Jones oft-revised painting, The Vampire," which shows a beautiful, dark-haired woman, pale white, ravishing a defenseless man. Films and stages boasted healthy, voluptious woman feasting on men's souls. As Rhodes writes, the woman vamp, or vampire had been a staple of 19th century literature, including in a Sherlock Holmes novel. And some vamps loved blood. Rhodes includes a snippet from the 1833 poem, "The Vampire Bride," by Henry Liddell:</p><p><br /></p><p><i>He lay like a corse (sic) 'neath the Demon's force,</i></p><p><i>And she wrapp'd him in a shroud;</i></p><p><i>And she fixed her teeth his heart beneath,</i></p><p><i>And she drank of the warm life-blood.</i></p><p><br /></p><p>Eventually, Rhodes writes, there were films of "He-vamps," or men destroying the souls and virtue of women. The vamp persona remains today, but by the 1920s it was more often used in comedy or satire. Bara herself made some films where she spoofed her vamp image.</p><p><br /></p><p>The word vampire was also used to depict a criminal. Rhodes devotes a chapter to films that advertised the vampire as mesmerizer who leads others to crime. Examples include an early Universal film, "Vasco the Vampire," 1914, with a Svengali-like villain leading children to crime. The 1915 serial "The Exploits of Elaine," has a chapter called "The Vampire," in which the villain tries to drain the blood of the heroine to save a confederate," notes Rhodes.</p><p><br /></p><p>Rhodes describes a 1916 serial, "The Mysteries of Myra," as a precursor to bringing the supernatural to film screens. It is a virtual monster rally, with chapters devoted to battling supernatural adversaries every week. Chapter titles include The Mystic Mirrors, The Hypnotic Clue, Invisible Destroyer, Witchcraft, and Suspended Animation. In "The Mysteries of Myra," notes Rhodes, there is a character called "The Vampire Woman." (But) "she drinks no blood. She is not undead, but is very much alive," writes Rhodes. He adds that she is a vamp-type character, but surrounded by supernatutural events. However, in 1919's "Lilith and Ly," a woman materializes from a statue. She later seeks blood, Rhodes adds.</p><p><br /></p><p>With relationship to Bram Stoker's "Dracula," Rhodes devotes chapters to the lost Hungarian film, "<a href="https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2016/12/drakula-halala-first-filmed-draculamary.html">Drakula Halala," 1921</a>, and the classic "Nosferatu," 1922. The former is likely the first film adaptation of "Dracula," but with a lot of artistic license. The character is not a vampire, but a patient in a mental asylum. It appears a surreal blend of a vampire film with '"Cabinet of Caligari," and I desperately hope a print is located some day. The film played in the early '20s, and as late as 1927, then disappeared, Rhodes notes. A real treat of "Vampires of Silent Cinema" is that Rhodes includes the complete published novella of "Drakula Halala," published in conjunction with the film.</p><p><br /></p><p>So much has been written about "Nosferatu" that Rhodes provides a fun, original take on the chapter. As narrator, he has readers experience the film's premiere in Germany at a weekend festival as if the reader was there. Besides an experience of the festival's happenings, Rhodes includes newspaper columns of the event and reviews of the film. "Vampires in Silent Cinema" is an academic publication, but this more lighthearted chapter is still full of information and does not detract from the seriousness of the subject.</p><p><br /></p><p>In the chapter on "London After Midnight," Rhodes explores star Lon Chaney's iconic portrayal of the fake vampire, and how it has been used in popular culture, including cartoons. He talks about efforts to find the long sought-after lost film and the various hoaxes anouncing its "rediscovery." I have seen the attempt to recreate "London After Midnight" via stills, that Rhodes writes about. It has shown on Turner Classic Movies. As Rhodes notes, without the facial expressions and physical movements, it cannot really capture the film's impact. He includes in the chapter observations from individuals who saw the film.</p><p><br /></p><p>There's another chapter on the arrival, from stage to film, of "Dracula," 1931, the most iconic one, with Bela Lugosi. Before that is an interesting chapter that discusses two 1920s untitled silent amateur-produced vampire films, preserved as "F-0343" and "F-0332." Stills in the books show efforts to create a vampire-type movie. These are quirky facts that I enjoyed learning about. Apparently they are included in a Something Weird 2001 DVD of "Monsters Crash the Pajama Party Spook Show Spectacular." The film was a low-budget theater offering in the 1960s, and I have seen it. I'm looking forward to watching that DVD again.</p><p><br /></p><p>Rhodes' book is only slightly more than 200 pages, but it's full of original information, presented affably. It entertains as well as informs. It moves through the 18th through 21st centuries, providing a history of vampire culture, and how it was presented through press, books, the stage and screen. The hardcover book is very pricy, but Rhodes has noted that a paperback version will be priced more reasonably. </p><p><br /></p><p>Rhodes has been a prolific writer and researcher. "Vampires in Silent Cinema" meets his high standards, and I'm sure more genre books will follow.</p>Plan9Crunchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04818205539289836323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478737609645206210.post-28328245024984991732024-02-10T23:05:00.000-08:002024-02-11T09:09:45.132-08:00Bela Lugosi adds some class to average comedy-horror The Gorilla<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirHkz6ibSDYXCcZG6Hy_xA9VCgOdo2ez1l0r21XqqP-J21nkogebXy45kbm8Jq1CR9tulgWgN9seWEYMiUP9WSwZFLTs-5HWhrEEpNEH8hMiMmqG21VaKDHRHCioEvbxBfuDt7oyfrDzWc3IqQh20Lj4QTaYPZ1dgat_GdPBJAZYdedD5NNUpedyxhO2Y/s1000/The_Gorilla_(1939)_1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="822" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirHkz6ibSDYXCcZG6Hy_xA9VCgOdo2ez1l0r21XqqP-J21nkogebXy45kbm8Jq1CR9tulgWgN9seWEYMiUP9WSwZFLTs-5HWhrEEpNEH8hMiMmqG21VaKDHRHCioEvbxBfuDt7oyfrDzWc3IqQh20Lj4QTaYPZ1dgat_GdPBJAZYdedD5NNUpedyxhO2Y/s320/The_Gorilla_(1939)_1.jpg" width="263" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRpbI5VqC9SfxBwWZ5PtVPs2DtJlmrMP_PChPvPouSFKF9KI771YTD68alD3tkri-ajF67crx-KaIz_iJ02SoRZpkxYCqMD0HHnCuucTQVb8GHASe5YCa6FZqwPNHWR8knyF1s6Zki8-3NURt2wwdz-S3uuZz8_IfiBq46_QI6F4qe5FeFfnwotykoX_A/s650/Gorilla%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="195" data-original-width="650" height="96" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRpbI5VqC9SfxBwWZ5PtVPs2DtJlmrMP_PChPvPouSFKF9KI771YTD68alD3tkri-ajF67crx-KaIz_iJ02SoRZpkxYCqMD0HHnCuucTQVb8GHASe5YCa6FZqwPNHWR8knyF1s6Zki8-3NURt2wwdz-S3uuZz8_IfiBq46_QI6F4qe5FeFfnwotykoX_A/s320/Gorilla%202.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></p><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Review by Doug Gibson</span></b></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">"<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031387/">The Gorilla</a>," 1939, from 20th Century Fox, is another one of those "old dark house" horror comedies of the '30s. The plot involves a serial killer, nicknamed "The Gorilla," threatening to kill a wealthy man, Walter Stevens (Lionel Atwill). He hires three bufoonish, slow-witted detectives (played by The Ritz Brothers) to protect those in the mansion-like home. Besides Atwill's character, other main cast include his niece and her fiance, a maid, Kitty, (Patsy Kelly) and the butler, Peters, played by Bela Lugosi. A nervous night is spent trying to both elude and capture the killer.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">This is not close to one of the must-see films of Bela's career. For years I've avoided finishing it for two reasons. The Ritz Brothers, in my opinion, barely elicit a chuckle. And Patsy Kelly, while possessing good comedy timing, screams and screeches so much in this film that it grates on the nerves. Kelly is no Una O'Connor, who genre films will recognize. Atwill gives a good -- although subdued -- performance.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Recently TCM aired The Gorilla and I decided to give it a try and watch the film in one take. I was pleasantly surprised. Bela Lugosi, despite being several notches below in the cast, livens this film up. He's by far the chief reason to watch The Gorilla. He's able to allow his comedy talents to shine. He plays the sinister servant who always seems to show up just after the others in the cast have been frightened. Lugosi relished roles like this, in which he could play his menacing character with his tongue in his cheek and almost a smile. His elegant, reassuring cadence preserves the dignity of his character yet never quite completely triumphs the fears of his castmates.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Although there are stretches where we don't see Lugosi's butler (we have to endure comedy hijinks of those Ritz fellows) I particularly enjoyed two scenes with Bela. One is where a Ritz brother tries to muscle Bela's Peters and gets flipped for his impudence. It's clumsily shot and I'm sure that's a stuntman, but I loved it. Another great Bela scene occurs at the climax, but I won't give that away.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Anita Louise and Edward Norris play the love interests, Norma and Jack. See them in the top photo with Bela. They are both pretty bland. An actor named Joseph Calleia is not too bad as a forbidding character listed as "The Stranger." The film, directed by Alan Dwan, is based on a then-popular play. Lugosi was a year away from a comeback role as Ygor in Son of Frankenstein. Struggling at the time, he was fortunate to get the role after Peter Lorre was unavailable. The 66-minute B film cost $175,000. With that budget I assume it made a profit. The Ritz Brothers (Jimmy, Harry and Al) remind me of milder versions of the Three Stooges without big laughs. They get off jokes a lot but many deserve groans. I wonder if they ad-libbed some. The Gorilla can be watched online for free in several websites and streaming services.</span></p><p><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-size: medium;">The second top photo shows a listing of The Gorilla in Los Angeles. It's from The Tuesday, Aug. 8, 1939 LA Times. Below is an article from the Thursday, May 18, 1939 Hollywood Citizen- News. It includes a review of The Gorilla. They liked it. I preserved the entire article so readers many need to squint or try a magnifying glass. Both of these clips were provided by my friend, David Grudt, who lives in Long Beach, Calif. </span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEwNLloPyyiGxwUQREUhjK8B0OXvwCTQAwqizRpPy-7U7TBVGUwSXGGWgDYfyrFcuH9ca2vvEosG4yHVv0Q0aLCznHm9uR_it_UXRtClCZsEA3FeXHYJl71HFAkjYMR-movCy0GpSrlMA6iFvz8Vu5vBbv06SCKDtpvoV3mvLiSW7AYb239yulzdk5Rqk/s2744/Gorilla%20one.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2744" data-original-width="819" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEwNLloPyyiGxwUQREUhjK8B0OXvwCTQAwqizRpPy-7U7TBVGUwSXGGWgDYfyrFcuH9ca2vvEosG4yHVv0Q0aLCznHm9uR_it_UXRtClCZsEA3FeXHYJl71HFAkjYMR-movCy0GpSrlMA6iFvz8Vu5vBbv06SCKDtpvoV3mvLiSW7AYb239yulzdk5Rqk/w192-h640/Gorilla%20one.jpeg" width="192" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Plan9Crunchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04818205539289836323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478737609645206210.post-23004558904594762642024-01-21T07:57:00.000-08:002024-01-21T17:21:56.205-08:00The Phynx is a uniquely bizarre film from 1970 with a tiny cult<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqjn_D4GWJuTxIb6zupFsvyl-xzg3ZfXcS26-amafd7s4fcTSqs10iAzvmGx1Cj9SegjTMatZOd0ao1ju8iYLlLYeO1ys_8CfzXsmV4exl02QSt4LNo-5xAo98l1Z_oLSsAqmu25uNxVbpzo7yDwf2QB56OnLi7LbvNsPiwe05jn1updck1N3In11QOKQ/s1087/Phynx%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1087" data-original-width="819" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqjn_D4GWJuTxIb6zupFsvyl-xzg3ZfXcS26-amafd7s4fcTSqs10iAzvmGx1Cj9SegjTMatZOd0ao1ju8iYLlLYeO1ys_8CfzXsmV4exl02QSt4LNo-5xAo98l1Z_oLSsAqmu25uNxVbpzo7yDwf2QB56OnLi7LbvNsPiwe05jn1updck1N3In11QOKQ/w301-h400/Phynx%201.jpeg" width="301" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Review by Doug Gibson</b></span></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066221/">The Phynx</a>, 1970, from Warner Brothers, is a cult film, albeit with a very tiny cult. It is both jaw-droppingly bad and completely-bizarre unique. I've watched it five times and it's progressed from a total disaster to hey, there's a little bit of fun here. This film had a smidgen of potential to be an extended Laugh In-type gem parody. But it was made by big-studio executives, who had their own idea of how to interpret and capture the youth enthusiasm of the '60s. It was fated to bomb.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Super secret United States intelligence professionals are trying to rescue a lot of aging celebrities and stars who have been kidnapped by Albania. Their efforts, helmed by a Waylon Smithers-type agent named Corrigan, have been failures.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">So, Corrigan's superior, named Bogey, played by Michael Kellin, who has the worst Humphrey Bogart accent you'll ever hear, gathers a confab of all the U.S. secret agents. There are Boy Scout agents, prostitute agents, Ku Klux Klan agents, you get the idea. There's also the big leader, the president, who wears a box over his head. He's played by Rich Little. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Eventually it's decided to consult a machine called MOTHA. It is, forced laughter, shaped like a woman. Asked for a solution, its computer mind bubbles in her two metallic breasts and the answer, on a slip of paper, shoots out of MOTHA's ... ahem ... middle section. This is not a subtle movie.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The answer is to form a rock group called The Phynx, and both prepare these four band mates to be the most popular singing group in the world and highly trained agents able to rescue the hostages in Albania.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">So four ordinary 60s young guys are kidnapped and taken to a military base where Bogey tells them the situation. One of their trainers is a young Richard Pryor.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">To mercifully move this ahead, the Phynx become the number one rock group in the world, despite really terrible songs. I don't think the filmmakers intended for the band to stink, they just do. Some of the ways the Phynx get to the top involve infiltrating record stores, putting a gun to Milton Berle's head (another cameo) and having the president change Thanksgiving to Phynxsgiving (I'm not making that up). Through mass marketing and publicity, they've also made the four singers sex symbols. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPpOX7JMSn3YPFxVNwHKPV2wq2Yky8xBcY7y-Nodm2gjon_pczlVgI5b4cjy6iqlRSZ8JkbYHYPojXpWHPIfWII7-Jdkz8uvXgqvFNysoQMaoxKqARpbb0b5pC2MQEgqGBjryGSH3XRd1PDk9Q1PIpMWmybtDTak4T64ZnARi9jGGlHKUNJHbG1Xq8rS8/s819/Phynx%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="633" data-original-width="819" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPpOX7JMSn3YPFxVNwHKPV2wq2Yky8xBcY7y-Nodm2gjon_pczlVgI5b4cjy6iqlRSZ8JkbYHYPojXpWHPIfWII7-Jdkz8uvXgqvFNysoQMaoxKqARpbb0b5pC2MQEgqGBjryGSH3XRd1PDk9Q1PIpMWmybtDTak4T64ZnARi9jGGlHKUNJHbG1Xq8rS8/w400-h309/Phynx%202.jpeg" width="400" /></a></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The captives cum secret agents also get military training. In one unfunny sequence, a military instructor blows himself up.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The boys start to grumble about lack of female intimacy. So they are allowed an orgy, with Bogey uttering these unforgettable words, "Gentlemen, the United States government is pleased to announce an orgy!" ... It's pretty tame, lots of flesh covered by bikinis, somewhere between PG and PG-13. The Phynx was rated GP. I remember GP. It was below R, an ugly malformed cousin to what would morph into PG a decade-plus later.</span></p><p><br /></p><p>There is a creepy, not-good scene after the "orgy" where Corrigan (who plays the sexually frustrated one in this film) picking up the orgy women with a --- I am not making this up -- forklift and dumping them outside the orgy warehouse. The women appear to be sleeping or unconscious. </p><p><br /></p><p>Meanwhile, there are still more celebrity kidnapping to Albania, with news reports. The Phynx is big on news reports, and montages with dippy doo-dwop music inappropriate for the late 1960s. Finally, the four members of The Phynx are ready for their mission. But they do not exactly know where to go in Albania.</p><p><br /></p><p>In a staggeringly unfunny scene, a female secret agent (played by Martha Raye) arrives to provide the information. But Bogey stupidly shoots her through a hotel door, mortally wounding her. Before she dies, she informs the quartet that a map -- in three parts -- is tattoed on the tummies of three girls.</p><p><br /></p><p>So, through London and Copenhagen, the Phynx embarks of thousands of sexual (PG remember) encounters with women searching for the tatooed tummies. They find two, one tummy belongs to Russ Meyer starlet Susan Bernard. In France, the tired overcopulating Phynx are allowed to wear glasses that can see through exterior clothes. This leads to a few unfunny scenes with The Phynx leering, putting on glasses ... However, the glasses don't work when one tries to peek at a nun. But they find all three tummies, put the map together and head to Albania.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Phynx are so globally popular they're actually welcomed to perform. Once there, they discover the communist dictator is not really the culprit. It's a military officer (played by Michael Ansara) who has gone a bit crazy. He has the only military tank, so he can assert his will and keep the hostages, and the president, his wife, and their very weird son at bay. The Phynx have dinner with the powerless first family. The first lady is played by Joan Blondell, a pre-code sexy star in the '30s. She had a long career beyond the '30s. Blondell is the only non-cameo star of this film who gives a good performance. She's bubbly, witty, and has good comic timing.</p><p><br /></p><p>So, the Phynx are introduced to all the hostages taken by Albania. They enter a ballroom like it's the Academy Awards. You can read all of the names at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phynx">Wikipedia page</a>. They include Dorothy Lamour, Xavier Cugar, Colonel Sanders, Rona Barrett (I remember her), Johnny Weismuller, Maureen O'Hara, Pat O'Brien, Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, former boxing champ Joe Louis, Dick Clark, Guy Lombardo, Busby Berkeley, Andy Devine, Butterfly McQueen (Prissy in Gone With the Wind), Ruby Keeler, Patsy Kelly, George Jessell, and more. It's almost like if Hollywood Squares multiplied 25 or so times.</p><p><br /></p><p>The plot is mostly out the window, and The Phynx and captives think of ways to escape. I won't give it away, but they follow Huntz Hall's suggestion. Seeing Gorcey and Hall together is bittersweet, given their long association. Gorcey died before The Phynx was released.</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiovqc9KzV6IB4hhyphenhyphenntXuSwISBhAj8ElY-UCAoSjwuYcSszLLfIU7hCpzGtL8QTD0Eo2pZj5dVSGWtiSzkwkyn2-n8UQBw_8FvH3iC_UjCzmOOO6P-tZIin1kIiUn_IMv8mf9RylK0w-_fHjqDzDgQ2_klauz11q_R3cJBEaV7OB1p8HjEDC8LEB2jyNnc/s560/Phynx%203.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="376" data-original-width="560" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiovqc9KzV6IB4hhyphenhyphenntXuSwISBhAj8ElY-UCAoSjwuYcSszLLfIU7hCpzGtL8QTD0Eo2pZj5dVSGWtiSzkwkyn2-n8UQBw_8FvH3iC_UjCzmOOO6P-tZIin1kIiUn_IMv8mf9RylK0w-_fHjqDzDgQ2_klauz11q_R3cJBEaV7OB1p8HjEDC8LEB2jyNnc/s320/Phynx%203.jpeg" width="320" /></a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>The next morning the film's climax occurs. Watch it to see the end. It's a $2.99 rental at YouTube. It occasionally shows up on TCM, I believe first as a now-defunct TCM Underground offering. Warner Brothers finally released a DVD roughly a decade ago. Evidence of the film's tiny cult is that for decades fans/collectors would haunt trade shows or more shadowy sellers trying to buy bootleg copies of the film. For a long time, Warner Brothers just wanted to forget about this monetary disaster.</p><p><br /></p><p>There was a small effort to promote The Phynx, although executives, who could watch dailies, rough cuts and previews, must have been aware the film was a turkey. My friend, David Grudt combed though newspaper archives and found the clips you see on this post, originally published in 1970 in the Indianapolis Star. The top clip promises a "world premiere" and mentions a "Rock and Roll Phynx contest." That must have been a big hit. (sarcasm intended) The second clip shows many of the guest stars and cameos in The Phynx. Poor Joe Louis gets his name misspelled.</p><p><br /></p><p>So there was publicity for the film, an effort was made. It was all for naught. As then-UPI columnist Vernon notes in our final clip, "The Phynx was released in Indianapolis for two weeks and not seen again."</p><p><br /></p><p>Despite its many faults, The Phynx, like any cult film, gets better the more you watch it. Despite being far more like Skidoo than Head, the film can bring the occasional smile.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>NOTES</b>: The best part of the film is when the has-been celebrities appear and we get to hear their banter. Some is witty. Pat O'Brien observes that if he had played the Gipper in Knute Rockne All-American, the 1940 classic, he'd be in Sacramento. That's a dated but funny gag as Ronald Reagan, who played The Gipper, was governor of California at the time. Reagan, of course, later became U.S. president. O'Brien played Rockne in the film. Another bittersweet funny gag is Joe Louis pointing out one advantage of being in Albania was there's no income tax. The joke has time-era relevance as Louis was hounded by tax authorities after his career for not paying taxes. Finally, maybe the best line is former Tarzan Johnny Weismuller turning to former Jane Maureen O'Sullivan, and saying, "Me Tarzan. You Jane." Despite the popularity of the quote, Weismuller never said that in a Tarzan film. The Phynx were played by A "Michael" Miller, Ray Chippeway, Dennis Larden, and Lonny Stevens. They are forgotten today. Only Larden had any marginal success singing, and it was before The Phynx. He was part of a group called Every Mother's Son that scored a hit with "Come on Down to My Boat." The group disbanded in 1968.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p>Plan9Crunchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04818205539289836323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478737609645206210.post-31746470574163593922024-01-08T15:39:00.000-08:002024-01-08T15:39:51.684-08:00Ismail and Abdel Meet Frankenstein a bizarre take on Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein<p><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IzJcjyDvT7U/VbRyHYb5bCI/AAAAAAAACUg/Ee2uVkmrzFY/s1600/ismail%2Band%2Babdel%2Bmeet%2Bfrankenstein.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="256" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IzJcjyDvT7U/VbRyHYb5bCI/AAAAAAAACUg/Ee2uVkmrzFY/s320/ismail%2Band%2Babdel%2Bmeet%2Bfrankenstein.png" width="320" /></a> <b style="text-align: center;">By Doug Gibson</b></p>A while back on Plan9Crunch, we reviewed a very obscure, but out there for sale, likely illegal 1962 <a href="http://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2013/05/a-mexican-remake-of-abbott-and-costello.html" target="_blank">Mexican remake of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein</a>. We now bring you an even more obscure Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein likely illegal remake, from Egypt in 1954, called "<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317630/" target="_blank">Abdel and Ismail Meet Frankenstein</a>," (although it was titled "Have Mercy" in Egypt). I actually think this film is a little superior to the Mexican ripoff, but that's not really a compliment. This film is sold via <a href="http://www.sinistercinema.com/product.asp?specific=33070" target="_blank">Sinister Cinema</a>.<br /><br />The film is really cheap, mostly unfunny and has a musical score that makes the score for Ed Wood's "Jail Bait" seem like Beethoven. But, to its threadbare credit, it sticks stubbornly close to the plot of Bud, Lou and Bela's film; even to the point of re-creating, with its character, the most shocking scene of the Universal classic, where Glenn Strange's monster picks up beautiful mad scientist Sandra and throws her through a window to her death. Of course, everything's cheap in this version, the window looks phony, and so on, but I was impressed they included that scene.<br /><br />Anyway, Egyptian comics, and apparently stars, Ismail Yasseen and Abdel Fatah al Kasri play silly clerks in an antique store. The "Lou" type, Ismail, is romanced by a woman, Samya, who is in cahoots with a mad scientist. (Guess what, Samya wants Ismail's brain!) One night, our boys receive a delivery of a big coffin that contains a mummy that looks just like a dime store traditional Frankenstein monster. Ismail keeps seeing it, Abdel never does and eventually the mad scientist, who looks just like a dime store version of the traditional Dracula, steals the Frankenstein-like mummy.<br /><br />I digress to mention that Dracula and Frankenstein monster are never mentioned, perhaps to avoid any copyright legalities? There is a wolfman, but he is the assistant to the mad scientist, and he romances the mad scientist's niece; hence the Bud and Lou film characters of Dracula's unknowing assistant, the insurance investigator, and Lon Chaney Jr,'s wolfman are covered in two characters.<br /><br />To get the boys in a situation where the mad scientist and Samya can get Ismail's brain into the "mummy," the comic pair are engaged as help at a party for the mad scientist's niece. Eventually, everything moves to the same climax scenario that was so funny in Bud and Lou's version. It isn't nearly as funny in this version, and arguably not funny at all 90 percent of the time, but it's fascinating to watch this virtually nil-budget production try so hard to mimic the experts.<br /><br />At the end, the mummy survives and loses his curse, so he and the niece can live happily ever after. Ismail and Abdel do their version of the Invisible Man blackout that Bud and Lou did so well. There's no lake or boat, and their last-minute visitor is the "angel of death," which sends them running wildly away as the credits start.<br /><br />This is a fascinating oddity for genre fans, just as the Mexican version is, but don't watch them both in one night; no one needs the torture ... but one can survive 90 minutes of bizarre kitsch.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i5QB_9FxQZQ/VbR6ScmrXDI/AAAAAAAACUw/Ew4q0_mmTYQ/s1600/have%2Bmercy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i5QB_9FxQZQ/VbR6ScmrXDI/AAAAAAAACUw/Ew4q0_mmTYQ/s320/have%2Bmercy.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>Plan9Crunchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04818205539289836323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478737609645206210.post-50806586669437806732023-12-24T10:41:00.000-08:002023-12-24T10:57:58.790-08:00The Miracle on 34th Street was a TV special in 1955<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKaXZ4HAc9e9gHH-Jn4FWmVsV7HqY5smqZblLRsTSziKVvR0kiCu9tE332Yv1HNUlZSaGwgS83Zw8N_7AvYrKWMxnz4XpsLiKsrlX_3iQBcWyEqCoMXhYf6WrhL9Znafj6L96y9gZkDuALLNO_YSanKQBgUZ-WdCL7s8CWvEQvx1WlQOliAr0osYxgD4E/s1573/Miracle34th1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1573" data-original-width="819" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKaXZ4HAc9e9gHH-Jn4FWmVsV7HqY5smqZblLRsTSziKVvR0kiCu9tE332Yv1HNUlZSaGwgS83Zw8N_7AvYrKWMxnz4XpsLiKsrlX_3iQBcWyEqCoMXhYf6WrhL9Znafj6L96y9gZkDuALLNO_YSanKQBgUZ-WdCL7s8CWvEQvx1WlQOliAr0osYxgD4E/w334-h640/Miracle34th1.jpeg" width="334" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">---</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The 1947 Miracle on 34th Street is iconic, a holiday classic. And deservedly so. It's witty, heartwarming, with superb performances by Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle, with supporting actors that include Natalie Wood, Maureen O'Hara, John Payne, Gene Lockhart, William Frawley, and Jack Albertson.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">But there are others, and I want to discuss a 1955 TV version titled <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048378/?ref_=fn_al_tt_3">The Miracle on 34th Street</a>. It's obscure but easily available. It's worth a viewing. It stars Thomas Mitchell as Kris Kringle and the cast includes Teresa Wright, Macdonald Carey, Sandy Descher, Hans Conreid, John Abbott, Whit Bissell and Dick Foran.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The Miracle on 34th Street would likely be forgotten today if not the archive of YouTube and other streaming websites. It's a brisk, lean 46-minute show, over before you know it. But it's a enjoyable near hour, a sort of homage cum remake of the 1947 classic.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Here are some key changes: Kris Kingle, played by Thomas Mitchell, does not get hired for the Macy's Parade because the other Santa is drunk. He's already the Macy's Santa. There is no character of Alfred, the teen janitor who Kris becomes a mentor to in the '47 film. Also, the very touching '47 film scene of Kris speaking Dutch to a young European orphan girl is omitted. However, Kris does advise shoppers to go to other stores, including Gimbels, if the deal is better there. And he has Descher's young Susan pull at his beard.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The omission of Alfred leads the plot with Mr. Sawyer, the unhappy Macy's psychologist, and his clash with Kris, in a different direction. Sawyer does interview Kris as part of his job, hates him and wants him fired. However, the episode where Kris knocks Sawyer over the head with his cane occurs at an assembly at Susan's' school, where Sawyer congratulates the students for not buying into supersition. During this scene, Kris, dressed in Santa garb, is -- unbeknownst to Sawyer -- behind him on the stage, mocking him.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The children can't help laughing and it's amusing for a while. Then, a flustered Sawyer berates adults who dress up as Santa. At this point, the scene takes a turn that today would seem very dark. Kris Kringle lifts his cane high and savagely brings it down on the unsuspecting Sawyer. This is a very harsh contrast to the '47 version, where a frustrated Kris sort of "pops" Sawyer on the head with his cane in his office. In the '47 version, it's clear Sawyer is maliciously feigning injury afterward.</span></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisNETNn4HJPC3G45g6GAxc3H3U1Qwa9QnF9gDmBGZFwMl6o9by7ptk9IwT9-T78IAqLi5W3eLwcUCZ4HQFVeLIm1CDGAAzQNgNHto8XbIRIeSPZshTT0VKRTNy5mhv2bu9WpZFIpi4i1CXcsEpevUlWyLQbu4MKZGVgw4LCEcSMcDAezq0vMhWsSfV7P0/s818/Miracle34th2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="371" data-original-width="818" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisNETNn4HJPC3G45g6GAxc3H3U1Qwa9QnF9gDmBGZFwMl6o9by7ptk9IwT9-T78IAqLi5W3eLwcUCZ4HQFVeLIm1CDGAAzQNgNHto8XbIRIeSPZshTT0VKRTNy5mhv2bu9WpZFIpi4i1CXcsEpevUlWyLQbu4MKZGVgw4LCEcSMcDAezq0vMhWsSfV7P0/w400-h181/Miracle34th2.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">However, this Kris Kringle really hits him hard, and frankly I think a month or two in the jail for assault might have been merited. This leads to a second point: Although Thomas Mitchell is not a bad Kris Kringle, unlike the more gentle Edmund Gwenn in the '47 version, the '54 version Kris Kingle is a bit of a looney. Mitchell's Kris Kringle occasionally has a mad look in his eyes, and he really gets angry. When Teresa Wright's Doris rushes after him to say he's not fired earlier in the film, the audience can see the deranged anger in Mitchell's eyes.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Neverthless, and happily I guess, Kris Kringle is of course exonorated by the judge. In another change from the '47 film, Doris calls the U.S. Post Office, suggesting they forward letters to Santa Claus to the court where Kris is being tried for his sanity.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">One other little twist is a scene where MacDonald Carey's Fred Gailey has brought venison to a dinner with Kris, Doris, and little Susan. Doris suggests to Susan if she doesn't like venison, she'll make her eggs. Kris interjects, with a long face, that he would prefer eggs too, because well, venison being deer, he just couldn't eat that. It's a mildly amusing scene, worth a smile. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The Miracle on 34th Street was an episode of The 20th Century Fox Hour. It's' not the only other version of Miracle on 34th Street. There was a radio version, another TV version in 1959, and two mediocre conventional movie remakes. One, a TV film, is from 1974 with Sebastian Cablot as Kris Kingle. A theatrical version in 1994 had Sir Richard Attenborough as Kris.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">But none approach the classic 1947 version, which remains the version to see first and often. However, I think this 1955 TV show version is the second-best offering. And it fits within an hour, for quick viewing with the family. You can watch it <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raUJEeQqYPw&ab_channel=ARF">here</a>. The two clippings from The Los Angeles Times were unearthed by my friend, David Grudt.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>-- Doug Gibson</i></span></p>Plan9Crunchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04818205539289836323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478737609645206210.post-89627448956772763862023-12-14T15:16:00.000-08:002023-12-14T16:52:11.035-08:00Two anthologies that provide a history of classic Christmas stories<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUfeljlwlxY1l3h3LIZs8oudJzPLKXj0YPiS9WOad7R0TQMzrNs6MO6ssxfNgiFDDJtld-rfYJ28yH7Lab7aU4hLKR9ocXGAiNfUx2I1vG98l8llTbou_53oLmWFLca0J0Gpf57nqYtkASZQF9u_nmfP_6jssnROp9ECHb6pO3-wEjS8EHPjTtaC_X_i0/s1394/Treasury.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1394" data-original-width="942" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUfeljlwlxY1l3h3LIZs8oudJzPLKXj0YPiS9WOad7R0TQMzrNs6MO6ssxfNgiFDDJtld-rfYJ28yH7Lab7aU4hLKR9ocXGAiNfUx2I1vG98l8llTbou_53oLmWFLca0J0Gpf57nqYtkASZQF9u_nmfP_6jssnROp9ECHb6pO3-wEjS8EHPjTtaC_X_i0/s320/Treasury.jpg" width="216" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJz0IYhrqfbuxsPDC1lUDhlJheZArT8CSh7_cVccXbBZ5_rPKZkqNlOOkTdkUbdjb4-yyGRm0uIaFJ2GoC6x_Yi95ajWXeKKxetA6RpYSzLCpDoPVBDQO35qIry6fpM7lgq9J4tM-fZ_1P3uP7CLYFaz9SLiyq0hpgdGxP9QRqpPQDHHrdeejqF_nHQMg/s1499/Ghost.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1499" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJz0IYhrqfbuxsPDC1lUDhlJheZArT8CSh7_cVccXbBZ5_rPKZkqNlOOkTdkUbdjb4-yyGRm0uIaFJ2GoC6x_Yi95ajWXeKKxetA6RpYSzLCpDoPVBDQO35qIry6fpM7lgq9J4tM-fZ_1P3uP7CLYFaz9SLiyq0hpgdGxP9QRqpPQDHHrdeejqF_nHQMg/s320/Ghost.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><div><br /></div><br /><p><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Reviews by Doug Gibson</span></b></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Readers of our blog know the name of author Andi Brooks. This year he has edited and compiled two fantastic anthologies of classic Christmas Tales. One is A Treasury of Christmas Stories: Classic Tales for the Festive Season. The other anthology is Ghost Stories for Christmas: Volume Two. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">They provide superb reads, preferably on a comfortable relaxing weekend afternoon, or around the late hours passing through midnight into the early mornings. Brooks has also included in some of the two books' stories original drawings. Both books provide the provenance of the stories, with date, name of author, and the periodical that published the tale.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Here is a <a href="https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/search?q=Andi+Brooks">Plan9Crunch link</a> to blogs that are about and/or mention Brooks.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">You can purchase these books, and other books from Brooks, via Amazon <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Books-Andi-Brooks/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AAndi+Brooks">here</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Let me briefly delve into a Treasury of Christmas Stories. I've read about three-quarters of the stories. I am saving the rest for the long Christmas weekend this year. I had not read, or heard of, "The Beggar Boy at Christ's Christmas Tree, by Dostoevsky, before this year, but its imprinted in my heart. It tells the story of a boy, 6, on Christmas Eve, desperately searching for food. He's starving, and it's freezing cold. Unable to satisfy his hunger, he curls up in a virtually alley, by a woodstack. He suddenly encounters a wonderful Christmas Tree, with warmth, food and love. His recently dead mother, resurrected, is there with him. It's Christ's Christmas Tree, provided to children who perish due to humanity's neglect. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">One can't resist tears when Dostoevsky writes, "And down below in the morning the porter found the little dead body of the frozen child on the woodstack ..."</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Another story compiled by Brooks is an abridged A Christmas Carol, the (not much) shorter version that Charles Dickens provided live to audiences with his eloquent voice. Dickens earned well for this, and continued the recitations until his death at 58. The plot and spirit of the hallowed story is not harmed by this shorter version. All the important points are retained. Passages excluded include the Lord High Mayor dinner in Stave 1, the discussion between the Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Present on Sunday closure laws, and the scene in the Final Stave where Scrooge manages to make a donation to the portly businessmen on a charitable mission.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Other stories that stood out to me included Babouscka, a tale of a Russian woman, who with sad countenance, visits homes on Christmas Eve. She loves the babies, and caresses them. Her visits are tinged with regret, a sort of atonement. You see, she failed to accompany the Three Kings when they requested she join them on their visit to the new-born Christ. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">A poem by Robert Louis Stevenson, Christmas at Sea, draws a beautiful contrast between Christmas day on a ship, with warm homes visible on land.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">---</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Ghost Stories for Christmas: Volume Two is -- like Volume One -- a gem. Because I'm a former full-time journalist, I enjoyed "The Wicked Editor's Christmas Dream," 1893, by Alice Mary Vince. The tale -- sort of a very short A Christmas Carol take -- involves a spirit showing a loosly ethical journalists the consequences of preferring tabloid reporting over more virtuous stories.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The Ghost Summons, 1868, by Ada Buisson, is a deliciously creepy tale of a young doctor provided $1,000 pounds to be with a patient convinced he will die that night. The doctor considers the patient delusional, but learns otherwise.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">I particularly enjoyed the story Bone to Bone, 1912, by E.G. Swain, in which the spirit of a man who died 150 years ago in a vicarage subtly provides clues to the current owner on how to locate and return his now scattered bones to their proper resting place.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Long or short, these stories are well edited by Brooks, and satisfying. Readers do not have to be like me, and read most of them in a month. Read a few to several this Christmas season, and repeat every next Christmas season. The reading pleasure will last through the years, and longer as you re-read the tales</span></p>Plan9Crunchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04818205539289836323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478737609645206210.post-45680200046151324472023-11-14T12:13:00.000-08:002023-11-14T15:26:51.691-08:00The Afterlife Wanderer, 1915, is cinema's first vampire film<p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLO4UPnBXaZUxPbufJitIwzm0FzU-a_bMlwo5fKCPWz8mR9Og9smWuV5Elwpo0Y0N1G2FJJlIvpR8CCnlW1rcPEIYFO6z0wOK-T4smllmZv65mj6RrwoGtQx8kK7RxElq5hzF7i3Pw9JlGB3ja6TC6lslEnMRqr6zdaKRxuTJUrAnTkUV5atUtwsJwJbc/s1400/AW%202.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1052" data-original-width="1400" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLO4UPnBXaZUxPbufJitIwzm0FzU-a_bMlwo5fKCPWz8mR9Og9smWuV5Elwpo0Y0N1G2FJJlIvpR8CCnlW1rcPEIYFO6z0wOK-T4smllmZv65mj6RrwoGtQx8kK7RxElq5hzF7i3Pw9JlGB3ja6TC6lslEnMRqr6zdaKRxuTJUrAnTkUV5atUtwsJwJbc/s320/AW%202.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ef9iK_kOSm4N_MNkdlzcPxH-0C4s3M23DZJHOhc5j9irvBZgZdnG5VsLwSc_vd4s6B04G0ojtYSCEJGGEAaldxvl1bIwSIdOTwlG0dv29Pzz0uAKd0pIm4a605I6WiRRGLa2VLzoS3fAZx5Pn2zpq5Qh0D5jekQX0fIKd5041t5SeA9HqlJuaCMPIg8/s1804/AW%201.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1327" data-original-width="1804" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ef9iK_kOSm4N_MNkdlzcPxH-0C4s3M23DZJHOhc5j9irvBZgZdnG5VsLwSc_vd4s6B04G0ojtYSCEJGGEAaldxvl1bIwSIdOTwlG0dv29Pzz0uAKd0pIm4a605I6WiRRGLa2VLzoS3fAZx5Pn2zpq5Qh0D5jekQX0fIKd5041t5SeA9HqlJuaCMPIg8/s320/AW%201.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-small;">(Both photos from The Afterlife Wanderer are courtesy of Daydreams Database: Cinema of the Russian Empire and Beyond, edited by Anna Kovalova and developed by Alexander Grebenkov.)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">It seems the very first vampire film has been discovered. It's from 1915, titled The Afterlife Wanderer. (See stills from the film above). More below:</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">Film scholar <a href="https://www.amazon.com/s?k=gary+d+rhodes&crid=1WJIRRRRDDWPH&sprefix=Gary+D+Rhodes%2Caps%2C188&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_13">Gary D. Rhodes</a> is </span><a href="https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/search?q=Gary+Rhodes" style="font-family: times; font-size: large;">found in many of the pages</a><span style="font-family: times; font-size: large;"> of Plan9Crunch blog. He's written extensively about Bela Lugosi, and recently -- along with co-author Bill Kaffenberger, unearthed new information about Bela Lugosi's pre-Dracula years in the two-part <a href="https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/search?q=Becoming+Dracula">Becoming Dracula</a> series. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">A few years ago he also unearthed information on the lost Hungarian silent film, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0240464/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">Drakula Halala</a>, regarded as the first film to use Bram Stoker's tale as provenance, albeit loosely. However, as Rhodes notes, there's really no vampire in <a href="https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2016/12/drakula-halala-first-filmed-draculamary.html">Drakula Halala</a>. Just like there's no real vampire in Tod Browning's lost 1927 silent film, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018097/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_London%2520After">London After Midnight</a> (see star Lon Chaney in a still from the film below).</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Often the 1922 classic <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0013442/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1_tt_5_nm_3_q_Nosfea">Nosferatu</a> is regarded as the first vampire -- of the blood-sucking variety -- film (see star Max Schreck, who really resembles a rat, in a still below). But Rhodes has unearthed a 1915 Russian film, unfortunately lost, as likely the first film to feature a blood-seeking vampire.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">As mentioned, it's called The Afterlife Wanderer, and it stars a young <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0045754/?ref_=tt_ov_st">Olga Baclanova</a>, who would later see her career surge in Hollywood. She's in a lot of films, but is perhaps best known for playing the evil, ill-fated circus vamp in Browning's "Freaks." </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">On the Medium website, Rhodes writes in detail about the film, its history and how it earns the distinction of being cinema's first vampire film. Here is one paragraph from Rhodes' article:</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i>"One review described The Afterlife Wanderer's title character as 'vampire who sucks the blood of the living people at night.' Another called her a 'vampire woman sucking blood from loved ones.' No doubt about it: she was a real vampire and a reel vampire."</i></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">According to Rhodes, reviews were mixed -- to be kind -- for The Afterlife Wanderer. It was banned by the mayor in one city. Baclanova's performance was subtly mocked by one reviewer. The Afterlife Wanderer will be discussed in detail in a book by Rhodes slated for publication next year, Vampires in Silent Cinema.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">But there's lots of information on The Afterlife Wanderer, and other similar silent films, in the Medium piece. It can be <a href="https://gdrhodes.medium.com/the-first-feature-length-vampire-film-c30ac6516685">read in its entirety at the Medium website</a>. Rhodes forthcoming book, available next year, Vampires in Silent Cinema, can be pre-ordered <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Vampires-Silent-Cinema-Gary-Rhodes/dp/1399525743/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1GH88AVWP1LLK&keywords=vampires+in+silent+cinema&qid=1699836910&s=books&sprefix=Vampires+in+Silent%2Cstripbooks%2C172&sr=1-1">here</a>.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2KaAbXhFG3i7xvtOpCBYOrhgTqm9U4jiRgzc1NrOGm0W8m_Ho-CyVcXh7-sbUHBKgE5RLNSmmSFVXOT1HAT_tixyQQED0H7-oArKLTTK0t7iPp3X-4rHmcicMzAvZiI2pgGNo5aaSrXHuN27btOWyxgj2JYjWYhyphenhyphentPfygVhE394SQI0gIN0swNNhmfuA/s2100/VSC.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="1400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2KaAbXhFG3i7xvtOpCBYOrhgTqm9U4jiRgzc1NrOGm0W8m_Ho-CyVcXh7-sbUHBKgE5RLNSmmSFVXOT1HAT_tixyQQED0H7-oArKLTTK0t7iPp3X-4rHmcicMzAvZiI2pgGNo5aaSrXHuN27btOWyxgj2JYjWYhyphenhyphentPfygVhE394SQI0gIN0swNNhmfuA/s320/VSC.webp" width="213" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWIEU-I4GG2gxgZYtCh57txQ7Cpx5S2xrkjzqnP6flFUeJRCC8TUmTUTeGhS2gHw1usRRURoYzIF-ZpwemQFPkD6vDSlNKTlcxva-tx9-6Gwopiffnuf7EBbi-KJchZ4SHLFpDMQvg3uZ4KinlDyH5lxlsxqqXMsCtAjZdQ_96eWvWBY1mZUdPY4LtYkg/s2842/LAM.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2842" data-original-width="2184" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWIEU-I4GG2gxgZYtCh57txQ7Cpx5S2xrkjzqnP6flFUeJRCC8TUmTUTeGhS2gHw1usRRURoYzIF-ZpwemQFPkD6vDSlNKTlcxva-tx9-6Gwopiffnuf7EBbi-KJchZ4SHLFpDMQvg3uZ4KinlDyH5lxlsxqqXMsCtAjZdQ_96eWvWBY1mZUdPY4LtYkg/s320/LAM.webp" width="246" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc_RWfIbhOeLjGX1eIgjRlKmYfFxly52ax6oCyfeTqW8nL5jb6rw6FqmtMg0oOhbQHmv8V8saS1s5Ok0t_kuQAXxoSY9fBkWCQfu5QTVKvfb82AMQAJLBR5ms7BZ9pqgCNULaGVGz-N_7EcVe729CbmzAdZAw8p_TXTK6w3BtiG1Vbj8DSA0HEQMQogso/s2065/Nos.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2065" data-original-width="1400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc_RWfIbhOeLjGX1eIgjRlKmYfFxly52ax6oCyfeTqW8nL5jb6rw6FqmtMg0oOhbQHmv8V8saS1s5Ok0t_kuQAXxoSY9fBkWCQfu5QTVKvfb82AMQAJLBR5ms7BZ9pqgCNULaGVGz-N_7EcVe729CbmzAdZAw8p_TXTK6w3BtiG1Vbj8DSA0HEQMQogso/s320/Nos.webp" width="217" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p>Plan9Crunchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04818205539289836323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478737609645206210.post-78989666079897456532023-11-06T12:26:00.002-08:002023-11-06T20:02:36.706-08:00'40 Cult Movies' offers a perceptive, interesting new look at the genre<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPcaXb1Nnqs6bv6C36Kdmzk-Cl9YuCMvfW92xw58_JFzXJI_7mXKsXbtNNVKZzePmdFOJbhIwjARBOgW6pNluXdwh09CNmITsF13typbiPmxqTYs_JEMRgD3OxWjKWKUyWGgNdAXD-7RYRqxx8cWGWHeaMsLqSJYruhvJfHHZfviCkPF3SUfkTz3EVWYk/s1200/40%20cult%20films.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="900" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPcaXb1Nnqs6bv6C36Kdmzk-Cl9YuCMvfW92xw58_JFzXJI_7mXKsXbtNNVKZzePmdFOJbhIwjARBOgW6pNluXdwh09CNmITsF13typbiPmxqTYs_JEMRgD3OxWjKWKUyWGgNdAXD-7RYRqxx8cWGWHeaMsLqSJYruhvJfHHZfviCkPF3SUfkTz3EVWYk/w300-h400/40%20cult%20films.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"><b><br /></b></span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"><b>Review by Doug Gibson</b></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jon-Towlson/author/B00HXHO0FY?ref=ap_rdr&store_ref=ap_rdr&isDramIntegrated=true&shoppingPortalEnabled=true">Jon Towlson</a> is pretty
well known and respected as a genre writer. On the Plan9Crunch blog, we have
read and enjoyed his book on pre-code horror films, “<a href="https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-turn-to-gruesomeness-in-american.html">The Turn to Gruesomeness in American Horror Films: 1931 to 1936</a>.” But he’s written several books and many
articles. The guy’s a legit expert on films.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">In “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/40-Cult-Movies-Alice-Zombies/dp/B0CKLR41KW">40 Cult Movies: 40 Cult Movies from Alice, Sweet Alice to Zombies of Mora Tau</a>” (2023), he
reviews and comments on a wide variety of films, from Freaks to Shivers, from
Invasion of the Body Snatchers to Upgrade, to The Legend of Hell House to Drag
Me to Hell. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">It's a very diverse
selection. Some of the films are familiar to all, some familiar to genre fans,
and some are obscurities that Towlson notes have small cults. A Serial Killer's
Guide to Life and Redeemer: Son of Satan are examples of films with a following
in search of a sustained cult. I love that The Legend of Hell House is included. It’s a
fantastic horror film overshadowed by another great film, The Haunting. Towlson
aptly notes how the haunted house is perfect match for the plot and mood of ... Hell House.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">One strength of
Towlson’s writing is he can thoroughly discuss a film, its plot, cultural
impact, its director's history, its relation to other films, and leave the
reader satisfied with what has been read. That is a rare quality in writing. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">In his introduction,
Towlson makes it clear that if you don’t agree with everything, “that’s OK.” I love
that in a writer. Towlson describes how many of his films underscore political
or cultural themes. I agree with him in many cases, notably films from Penelope
Spheeris, David Cronenberg, and George A. Romero, all with multiple films discussed
in this book. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I had a harder time
accepting that Invasion of the Body Snatchers represents 1950s conformity and
even the McCarthy era. I know director Don Spiegel thought so but to me it’s
solely a damn good science fiction piece. But Towlson presents excellent
arguments for his takes and I’d likely have a tough time debating him.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The book is full of
these types of interesting discussions on how films provoke the culture wars.
Cronenberg’s Shivers is an example. Is this tale of a parasite infecting
residents with sexual mania actually positive? Is it preferable to a stultified, consumerist life that decreases sexual interest? These, and other reviews of films such as Martin, Alice Sweet Alice, and others will keep us reading
through the night.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Also in his
introduction, Towlson hopes that the book prompts readers to seek out the films
he has covered. I have already started. In the past two weeks I have watched,
for the first time, Horror Hospital, Alice Sweet Alice, Audrey Rose, and
Shivers. I also re-watched, Redeemer: Son of Satan, a film I saw a long time
ago as Class Reunion Massacre. All have been rewarding views.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">This is the best book
on cult films since Danny Peary's 1980s series of books. I hope Towlson will do
this again with 40 more cult movies. He’s the writer to give us genre in-depth
looks at these unique films. I hope we have three or four volumes. 40 Cult
Movies would be a great companion buy with "TCM: Undergound: 50 Must-See Films",
which we also <a href="https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2022/09/tcm-features-its-must-see-underground.html">reviewed on Plan9Crunch</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">In his
acknowledgments, Towlson writes, “I dedicate this book to anyone who has ever
had a tape snarl up in his VCR.” Oh, that is apt. Reading about these films,
many I watched for the first time on VHS (I even saw a few in Beta) brings so
many great memories of heading to the VCR store and looking for a garishly
decorated clamshell VHS. In those days they sold the sizzle more than the
steak. I discovered that in films like Dr. Butcher M.D. …, Criminally Insane, Pranks,
Bloody Birthday, etc. But there was steak amidst the sizzle, such as Martin,
Evil Dead, and Torture <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dungeon, Andy
Milligan’s take on Shakespeare that I’d love to see explored in a future volume
of Cult Movies ...<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Plan9Crunchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04818205539289836323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478737609645206210.post-63290717119672402542023-10-28T11:32:00.000-07:002023-10-28T11:32:28.077-07:00Halloween III – Season of The Witch: An overlooked Halloween movie<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhloI7gXYl4hegVHeX0DTuj-4F3WxCBr9brkc2kAVRJfz0zDRY7rlDiFhGm3veDkm9XkkmAWGSsyIg69e-4HAzRSQmztSNuWj7PcOBPV0oLVJsU9d2vFSMGs4TcWioH0pGIckpvH7sE88HOc8Vwzs_Yi7_a5qY8vWmNpV-_wKI9DQn6BRNtfuFX848aVbQ/s2080/Halloween%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2080" data-original-width="1625" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhloI7gXYl4hegVHeX0DTuj-4F3WxCBr9brkc2kAVRJfz0zDRY7rlDiFhGm3veDkm9XkkmAWGSsyIg69e-4HAzRSQmztSNuWj7PcOBPV0oLVJsU9d2vFSMGs4TcWioH0pGIckpvH7sE88HOc8Vwzs_Yi7_a5qY8vWmNpV-_wKI9DQn6BRNtfuFX848aVbQ/s320/Halloween%203.jpg" width="250" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">I have a confession to make. Like many film critics in 1982, I
did not understand or take a liking to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_III:_Season_of_the_Witch">Halloween III – Season of The Witch</a> the
first time I viewed the film. As the decades have rolled on, I have developed a
greater appreciation for the film with multiple viewings. The film is not
considered canon in the Halloween series because Michael Myers is nowhere to
be found in the film. Director John Carpenter and producer Debra Hill agreed to
participate in the film only if it was not going to be a direct sequel to
Halloween II. Carpenter's chilling music adds some greater credit to this often
overlooked horror film.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">It's Saturday October 23<sup>rd</sup> – eight days before
Halloween. A tall middle-aged man named Harry Grimbridge, who runs a costume
shop business, is being chased by a car in the opening of the film. He appears
to be out of breath as he runs with a pumpkin mask tucked in his pants. He finds
his way in the pouring rain to a gas station where he tells the station
attendant “they're coming!” The gas station attendant takes the man to a local
hospital. The man is treated by Dr. Daniel Challis, played by Tom Atkins.
Challis is in the middle of a break up with his wife and is never home due to
the demands of his job.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Grimbridge is later killed in his hospital bed by a man dressed
in a suit. His eye sockets and skull are crushed. Dr. Challis follows the man
in the suit out to the hospital parking lot as the man drenches himself with
gasoline in his car and sets himself on fire. Grimbridge's daughter Ellie,
played by Stacey Nelkin, arrives the following morning to identify the body of
her father. Ellie finds Challis in a bar and asks for his assistance in
uncovering the motif behind her father's death.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyxHSrVmOdMWGL5crRp4i96ELfWZLFE2ZpN4iicOwpFrx62ezrBYeNCSuyEloU200KVJLa_0E2qL9xV0rFeN4FMWdMsUj7ztQoPimrD1lvQKFV5wSV0uiywzsw6MarOMerFmbO4MCuCY4SCz95-Go5fplBdfcOgbBpNEsVt-aLdQvs1M35hSyR0aPVDF4/s1920/Halloween%203%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyxHSrVmOdMWGL5crRp4i96ELfWZLFE2ZpN4iicOwpFrx62ezrBYeNCSuyEloU200KVJLa_0E2qL9xV0rFeN4FMWdMsUj7ztQoPimrD1lvQKFV5wSV0uiywzsw6MarOMerFmbO4MCuCY4SCz95-Go5fplBdfcOgbBpNEsVt-aLdQvs1M35hSyR0aPVDF4/s320/Halloween%203%203.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Challis and Ellie travel to a small Irish community named Santa
Mira, where Silver Shamrock Novelities manufactures Halloween masks. Ellie's
father had picked up some masks from Silver Shamrock a few days before his
murder. When the couple arrive, they discover the entire town to be under heavy
video surveillance and a strict 6pm curfew. The two uncover a plot by the
Silver Shamrock owner Conal Cochran (Dan O'Herlihy) to use the masks in an
ancient Celtic ritual involving a stolen boulder from Stonehenge and a
triggering device inside Silver Shamrock masks to kill children when a
commercial airs on TV.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Although Michael Myers is never seen, the film still has a
number of brutal killings. A homeless man has his head torn off by one of
Cochran's robot henchmen. Dr. Challis' lab assistant is killed with a drill in
the head by another robot henchman. A child wearing a Silver Shamrock mask
watches a TV commercial as his head cracks open to reveal snakes, worms and
cockroaches. A business woman in a motel has her head explode from the chip
placed in a Silver Shamrock mask.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">Halloween III suggests that Cochran's desire to kill millions of
children is like a harvest sacrifice during samhain to help provide greater crops
during the next harvest season. Children being glued to their televisions as
Silver Shamrock commercials air is a metaphor for the consumerist attitudes of
Americans being controlled and influenced by messages we see and hear on TV.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTLCI7KWGJnszH8xwTWqEA0oEZy7QrXtAu6f0rvPqaKwzXddFa_H2c5jSd9iJM3STLrSDPwZgdhCLAgMy-I8UW4r5qC26r8-sgJvZnGtB3hmHz-P76Z5MYKcr0KnWiCigMz2vgw_xucEnPnqSR13FK9JJfPG24NgcfL7cvqs93Xng4YxtdE0i0PaCxzZY/s2000/Halloween%203%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="2000" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTLCI7KWGJnszH8xwTWqEA0oEZy7QrXtAu6f0rvPqaKwzXddFa_H2c5jSd9iJM3STLrSDPwZgdhCLAgMy-I8UW4r5qC26r8-sgJvZnGtB3hmHz-P76Z5MYKcr0KnWiCigMz2vgw_xucEnPnqSR13FK9JJfPG24NgcfL7cvqs93Xng4YxtdE0i0PaCxzZY/s320/Halloween%203%202.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">In a recent social media post I saw about the 41<sup>st</sup> anniversary
of Halloween III, many comments were offered about the film in the comments
section. Most of the comments were negative reviews of the film. Some of the
negative comments were directed at Dr. Challis, who jumps into bed with Ellie,
a woman 20 years younger, and Challis abandons his wife and children in the
film. Other comments suggested that the film has bad acting.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">The main reason that many critics may not like Halloween III is
because of the obvious reason – the absence of Michael Myers. In Halloween
III, the solution to the mass killings is very simple – remove the Silver
Shamrock mask and live. In any Halloween movie with Michael Myers, the
solution is not that simple. Myers is a killing machine who stops at nothing
to murder his victims. The problem is not solved simply by removing a mask.
Even when Myers appears to be wounded or killed, he still gets back up and
goes after his victims. The viewer never really feels this kind of horror and
doom in Halloween III.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;">If you consider Halloween III – Season of The Witch as a stand
alone film that has nothing to do with Michael Myers, you may still find it
entertaining and worth your time. If you are looking for a film which connects
well with the Michael Myers story, you may want to skip Halloween III and see
Halloween IV instead. Happy Halloween and happy viewing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: white; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><i>Steve D. Stones</i><o:p></o:p></span></p>Plan9Crunchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04818205539289836323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478737609645206210.post-40487172867636174812023-10-22T13:57:00.007-07:002023-10-22T17:28:50.794-07:00Boris Karloff provides subtle chills in The Walking Dead, 1936<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsu08vLUuiOyWvVF-ZIo0qTWyGuhHhJ3j1VWZnIUYPsv7evfDU94PXQueaHC5hHe2v-QHJMTDfMWozwQff3_xwKb2lWTnFOz5VffuuTSxRMVAFX_mCqOi3-xX_jjtR7QOeZpYt1ZnKm554GK81FjnrBvV34p2ubtmSnfjeVN8cIdXgSnoVA_2hE0kyUSw/s894/walking%20dead.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="894" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsu08vLUuiOyWvVF-ZIo0qTWyGuhHhJ3j1VWZnIUYPsv7evfDU94PXQueaHC5hHe2v-QHJMTDfMWozwQff3_xwKb2lWTnFOz5VffuuTSxRMVAFX_mCqOi3-xX_jjtR7QOeZpYt1ZnKm554GK81FjnrBvV34p2ubtmSnfjeVN8cIdXgSnoVA_2hE0kyUSw/w400-h316/walking%20dead.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">An excellent horror film to watch for Halloween season that more casual genre fans may not be familiar with is Warner Bros' 1936 chiller, "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walking_Dead_(1936_film)">The Walking Dead</a>," starring <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Karloff">Boris Karloff</a>. It was helmed by famed Hungarian director <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Curtiz">Michael Curtiz</a>. Other chief cast members include <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardo_Cortez">Ricardo Cortez</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Gwenn">Edmund Gwenn</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marguerite_Churchill">Marguerite Churchill</a> and Warren Hull.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">There are no mindless zombies consuming human flesh in the lean mean 60-plus minute film. Karloff plays a down-on-his-luck musician ex-con in bad need of a job. He spent time in prison after being sentenced harshly by a stern judge.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">This stern judge has just sentenced a corrupt politician to 10 years in prison. Gangsters who control most of the crime in the city have decided the judge needs to be murdered. Since Elmann was sentenced by the judge they want to kill him. The gangsters set Elmann up to take the fall for the judge's murder. Elmann is in a car with one of the gangster when the judge is murdered. He's there thinking he'll get a job, but he winds up charged with the murder.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Ellman's lawyer turns out to be a Mr, Nolan (Cortez) who is part of the criminal gang. Cortez gives a feeble effort at trial, resulting in Elmann's conviction and death sentence.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Ellman claimed during trial that a man and a woman were at the scene the night of the murder and can be his alibi that he did not kill the judge. That's true. They are Nancy (Churchill) and Jimmy (Hull). They work as medical assistants to Dr. Evan Beaumont (Gwenn), who is working on efforts to revive the dead. Threatened by gangsters the night the judge was murdered, Nancy and Jimmy attend the trial, but rather disgracefully never corroborate Ellman's claims.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Just before his appointed time of the execution, the pair finally reveal what they know to lawyer Nolan. However, he intentionally slowwalks getting the information to authorities and Elmann is executed.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">At this point, Dr. Beaumont requests that he be allowed to try go revive Elmann's body, restoring life. Through a type of electricity procedure and a mechanized "heart," Elmann is revived. This is not done in secret. The resuscitation is big news as is the late-breaking news that Ellman is innocent. In fact, Nolan procures a $500,000 settlement for Elmann.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDzSFenJhxJoMQj4OM7SsEA_AFdUod6HUK6xvzAQvDfUo99gsl5uVDSE8qfQ-0oL-HMfMIFqRBKcEWn_lFkSLUUGZu35ml_BsE_D8EoftBmoq2Z6t6rUW6i4qvdgwqKHEtdmS986BrZsONlamIwnEdzs4YjkpQvX-o18f3Ss7DGJc0-wM474GxO4ImkYo/s3500/walking%20dead%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2280" data-original-width="3500" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDzSFenJhxJoMQj4OM7SsEA_AFdUod6HUK6xvzAQvDfUo99gsl5uVDSE8qfQ-0oL-HMfMIFqRBKcEWn_lFkSLUUGZu35ml_BsE_D8EoftBmoq2Z6t6rUW6i4qvdgwqKHEtdmS986BrZsONlamIwnEdzs4YjkpQvX-o18f3Ss7DGJc0-wM474GxO4ImkYo/s320/walking%20dead%202.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Karloff's Ellman is very weak and still being treated. However, he expresses disgust and anger when he sees Nolan, ordering him out of the hospital. At a larger gathering, Karloff displays disgust at Elmann's accomplices, all of whom are gang members, including the actual killer. This prompts the district attorney, (Henry O'Neill) to lay groundwork to investigate Nolan and his confederates.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">At this point Karloff begins to make nocturnal visits to the gangsters, escaping the hospital. He is clearly getting weaker, and his hair has white streaks in it. He comes as a type of avenging angel, asking each gangster why they did what they did, telling them they cannot avoid responsibility.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">The gangsters' reactions are a mixture of fear and panic. Most seem unable to actually shoot the unarmed Ellman, and they eventually die through a panicked accident while backing up, or through a heart attack. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Nolan and the remaining gangsters eventually try to kill off Karloff. There is a satisfatory conclusion, set in large part at a cemetery that Elmann feels comfortable in.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">This film has supernatural elements. It's strongly hinted that Karloff learned who the guilty persons were in death, during the period before he returned to life. Karloff gives a strong, understated performance, of a man full of outrage but not intending to kill his past tormenters. In fact, Elmann looks perplexed and concerned when he sees his tormenters' panicked, surprising deaths.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Cortez is an excellent actor, who was a big star then. His resume includes an early series of Perry Mason films. Gwenn, who gained iconic fame as Kris Kingle in "Miracle on 34th Street," plays a kindly "mad doctor" well. Churchill was very good in "Dracula's Daughter" but both she and Hull are kind of bland in this movie.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">Curtiz's direction is strong. He moves the plot smoothly and keeps the horror from going over the top. There's no need to be gory. The creepy parts, the ones viewers remember, are the scenes of a forbidding, aging Karloff walking slowly to those who betrayed him, and observing the antagonists' panicked reactions.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">This was Curtiz's third and final Warner Bros' horror film. Others were "Mystery of the Wax Museum" and "Doctor X," both superb pre-code films. "The Walking Dead" is early non-precode, and I suspect a lot of explicit scenes were cut. But I think in this case, a more subtle touch likely improved the film. Its success was solely in Karloff's hands, and he delivers a great performance.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">- Doug Gibson</span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><i>I want to give cult film expert Buddy Barnett credit for this paragraph. Interested persons can read a (short) "novelization" of "The Walking Dead" in the June 1936 edition of Movie Action Magazine. It's a fascinating time-capsule read. The link is <a href="https://archive.org/details/movieactionmagaz01stre/mode/2up">here</a> at the Internet Archive. You have to scroll to that month's issue.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8AR72U3sw-b2Pq9gK1faSmp8zqv2P-cGz8gXeM3UXo3i3-GIqzulf7hBXerTYGmdkNNLX4d7TQeUFK_fGP6hfyjpMQ_zoL87-T4cy7du4ft5GzhFdboAFMH2lZ6BPe3eaVGCrIdhD9kdedWKvV2m8OkOFqZFT4AcV0gUdTYNmWRTgyRjUWJBy4hT8Gic/s832/walking%20dead%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="832" data-original-width="552" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8AR72U3sw-b2Pq9gK1faSmp8zqv2P-cGz8gXeM3UXo3i3-GIqzulf7hBXerTYGmdkNNLX4d7TQeUFK_fGP6hfyjpMQ_zoL87-T4cy7du4ft5GzhFdboAFMH2lZ6BPe3eaVGCrIdhD9kdedWKvV2m8OkOFqZFT4AcV0gUdTYNmWRTgyRjUWJBy4hT8Gic/w424-h640/walking%20dead%203.jpg" width="424" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Plan9Crunchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04818205539289836323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478737609645206210.post-23414290958840366562023-10-17T10:16:00.005-07:002023-10-22T14:01:57.156-07:00Enjoy Bela Lugosi's poverty-row gem The Corpse Vanishes<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDIb7OGg-lm6nHgCXQRGtVMKnefunofjD36YKVx6RYdf34y8rWnV5JpD0q-uEPjNtWSst6XGcFOs6sVd1FvFG33lWE7Rftin87ujpLrnz_kOp9jMeQLPv2LGms17JSOBmtcjLQHpM_t2MDj_cP64QQHDKsmK-LAN5Iq0riIf29soEIuJxV45PKwlX0eiI/s308/Corpse%20Vanishes%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="163" data-original-width="308" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDIb7OGg-lm6nHgCXQRGtVMKnefunofjD36YKVx6RYdf34y8rWnV5JpD0q-uEPjNtWSst6XGcFOs6sVd1FvFG33lWE7Rftin87ujpLrnz_kOp9jMeQLPv2LGms17JSOBmtcjLQHpM_t2MDj_cP64QQHDKsmK-LAN5Iq0riIf29soEIuJxV45PKwlX0eiI/w400-h212/Corpse%20Vanishes%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;"><b>By
Steve Stones</b></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034613/">The Corpse Vanishes</a> is my favorite Bela Lugosi Monogram film. It is also the
first</span> Monogram film I ever remember seeing on TV as a child sometime in
the late 1970s. The scene of police opening a coffin in the back of
Lugosi’s car is priceless. The look on Lugosi’s face as they open the
coffin is unintentionally hilarious.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none;">Speaking of coffins, the film also stars Tristram Coffin as
Dr. Foster.</span> Coffin starred in many serials of the 1940s and 50s. Angelo
Rossitto, star of Freaks and countless other Monogram cheapies, plays
Lugosi’s midget assistant Toby. He is billed in the opening credits as
simply Angelo. It’s interesting to note that Rossitto would go on to
star in the Mel Gibson film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome some forty years
later. He also starred in Al Adamson’s cult classic Dracula vs.
Frankenstein.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq6eRU9G6UiGtPZ9thhGhvtAWLPvtIKa6WKNcznR4V2VNn5S1Cwof6ICR8a2kn2UlNJoqlLLOfVdEEraWsiDgxoA6UMNOi6OupzqlCciEbyIZwI5tewpOzo3u6trG42Amj392lP4onHrrKThU6Num1eqtM6HwSe_bvnIYC122wdQZ-P_N6XmJnjwDVVX4/s2850/Corpse%20Vanishes%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2086" data-original-width="2850" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq6eRU9G6UiGtPZ9thhGhvtAWLPvtIKa6WKNcznR4V2VNn5S1Cwof6ICR8a2kn2UlNJoqlLLOfVdEEraWsiDgxoA6UMNOi6OupzqlCciEbyIZwI5tewpOzo3u6trG42Amj392lP4onHrrKThU6Num1eqtM6HwSe_bvnIYC122wdQZ-P_N6XmJnjwDVVX4/s320/Corpse%20Vanishes%202.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Young brides are dying at the altar and Dr. Lorenz, played by
Lugosi, is</span> kidnapping their bodies for scientific experiments to
rejuvenate his countess wife’s youth and beauty. She is played by Elizabeth Russell, best known in RKO's Cat People and Curse of the Cat People. Newspaper reporter Patricia
Hunter, played by Luana Walters, discovers that all the kidnapped brides
were wearing a rare wild orchid. Her investigation leads her to Dr.
Lorenz, who raised the rare orchids. Apparently the smell of the orchid
caused the brides to collapse at the altar.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK6nWo_j0OSPI95vZrt8ttcV-X5e9RxpPHT7yY8psPTKU52pOzX-nch_cOrd3Sf1JzCs0ooZ6qrh15NbAc0R7pKX3vMZwkASJ3bsAwTYBcfdxcr-ssLeJt4NsR2YbsKKOjV80qkbzGbqfMKr-DTwgOzFerALbRbdVkFmclqsWoqARNIOC_O_oxlF7iinU/s690/Corpse%20Vanishes%204.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="690" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK6nWo_j0OSPI95vZrt8ttcV-X5e9RxpPHT7yY8psPTKU52pOzX-nch_cOrd3Sf1JzCs0ooZ6qrh15NbAc0R7pKX3vMZwkASJ3bsAwTYBcfdxcr-ssLeJt4NsR2YbsKKOjV80qkbzGbqfMKr-DTwgOzFerALbRbdVkFmclqsWoqARNIOC_O_oxlF7iinU/s320/Corpse%20Vanishes%204.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>On route to Dr. Lorenz’s home for an interview, Hunter meets
Dr. Foster,</span><span> who warns her of Lorenz’s eccentric and weird ways. Arriving
at the Lorenz home, the Countess Lorenz expresses her unwelcoming nature
to Hunter by slapping her in the face. Lorenz convinces Foster and Hunter
to stay the night because of the pouring rain outside.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">During the night, Hunter discovers a passage to an
underground mausoleum</span> and sees some of the kidnapped brides being held
there. She also witnesses Lorenz and his wife sleeping in separate
coffins. Lorenz explains to Hunter the next morning that sleeping in a
coffin is much more comfortable than sleeping in a normal bed. Lorenz
also suggests that Hunter was having a bad dream when she thought she
witnessed seeing the kidnapped brides in the mausoleum.<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Hunter decides to return to her newspaper headquarters and
comes up with</span> a plan to trap Lorenz in the act of kidnapping a bride by
staging a fake wedding. The wedding day is set, and Lorenz does not fall
for the trap, but instead kidnaps Hunter at the scene of the wedding.
Foster and the local police catch up to Lorenz just as he is about to
conduct an experiment on Hunter. The film ends with Hunter and Foster
getting married. This time Lorenz cannot kidnap the bride.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIYd9BMvSl9OTg9JEeBT-5rnDezJ0hONqN09A6k8cTo5OYunGg5JHkRsjlSw08h2rVK69IvyZ4U5adbm_4huzvyZA2siiJIjHmJaD09UnVADxuzK_4VNO1_dG1NO2Yc0W4KMbSOF_rlaNANGCcoZWmE0J4vcJP-HiNm4up7zZrH7du9PUQcVXy4EKMlUU/s1280/Corpse%20Vanishes%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIYd9BMvSl9OTg9JEeBT-5rnDezJ0hONqN09A6k8cTo5OYunGg5JHkRsjlSw08h2rVK69IvyZ4U5adbm_4huzvyZA2siiJIjHmJaD09UnVADxuzK_4VNO1_dG1NO2Yc0W4KMbSOF_rlaNANGCcoZWmE0J4vcJP-HiNm4up7zZrH7du9PUQcVXy4EKMlUU/s320/Corpse%20Vanishes%203.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">It’s also interesting to note that Barney A. Sarecky was the
associate</span> producer of this film. Sarecky was one of the screenwriters
for the Flash Gordon serials of the 1930s, starring Buster Crabbe as
Flash.<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">Any fan of Bela Lugosi cannot afford to miss The Corpse
Vanishes. All of</span> Lugosi’s Monogram films are an absolute delight to
watch. I particularly love this one because of the simple plot. Watch
for the scene of Lugosi whipping his laboratory assistant named Angel.
It’s a precursor to Lugosi’s famous scene of whipping Tor Johnson in Ed
Wood’s classic The Bride of The Monster. Enjoy watching the film <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz140zol-eQ&ab_channel=TheFilmDetective">here</a>. Also, more photos from film and a newspaper ad.</span><o:p></o:p><p></p><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkauDlRQYFyCIurvf8rUEPw3vHVMfnIgBqmYV8ycEzCzl8_aRMnivCyWWQXEk1I-cL_eZrh4whVthioQH_3arWxq4evERZf20pJ38GHR048AClT5zL5ptXvlTfMw4OXi_ZQ26vx67OJk7Oj_-s-eXJ0tCBZNlU8IcwjlTypvDsgvhnJTSA06MLjhcTZWE/s273/Vanishes%201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="184" data-original-width="273" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkauDlRQYFyCIurvf8rUEPw3vHVMfnIgBqmYV8ycEzCzl8_aRMnivCyWWQXEk1I-cL_eZrh4whVthioQH_3arWxq4evERZf20pJ38GHR048AClT5zL5ptXvlTfMw4OXi_ZQ26vx67OJk7Oj_-s-eXJ0tCBZNlU8IcwjlTypvDsgvhnJTSA06MLjhcTZWE/s1600/Vanishes%201.jpg" width="273" /></a></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHIr0kmO0ZBm3PTwp0xkR-srtaaUR18e8C9iwz2ow_07WGkVG_Nc0A-eAA2Fqx_A2B0qcgDno_ZGnXab6BPhyphenhyphen-zdq3LiZhCvZf_mhzPzBqOvPj7LNtwMfYNaIyeaufvSwCLc6zDFS4iKlEp8jEH-ynbNTuzKkAnoA5_x7-FFe6NyMcmkico6Q5QzSQ0Qo/s793/vanishes%203.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="793" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHIr0kmO0ZBm3PTwp0xkR-srtaaUR18e8C9iwz2ow_07WGkVG_Nc0A-eAA2Fqx_A2B0qcgDno_ZGnXab6BPhyphenhyphen-zdq3LiZhCvZf_mhzPzBqOvPj7LNtwMfYNaIyeaufvSwCLc6zDFS4iKlEp8jEH-ynbNTuzKkAnoA5_x7-FFe6NyMcmkico6Q5QzSQ0Qo/s320/vanishes%203.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeDA0uRudBQBVWakKUMt30vvrrnA3Uao-Kdpa_G5KU0JD79OWrmW4aEYGvcNCDQH8aRJf8OjAnuxZ3UzqmiObpUWtMLa_0BokX8fl7k_9m_mYl_UgW0HWQNL6FkBH5GPuwqmpMnPycK2D5bNHCnpwTTUkkBtC5wu6J3hFVzhyqs-0i7Q1Hi3wyhHElMtk/s950/vanishes%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="354" data-original-width="950" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeDA0uRudBQBVWakKUMt30vvrrnA3Uao-Kdpa_G5KU0JD79OWrmW4aEYGvcNCDQH8aRJf8OjAnuxZ3UzqmiObpUWtMLa_0BokX8fl7k_9m_mYl_UgW0HWQNL6FkBH5GPuwqmpMnPycK2D5bNHCnpwTTUkkBtC5wu6J3hFVzhyqs-0i7Q1Hi3wyhHElMtk/s320/vanishes%202.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>Plan9Crunchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04818205539289836323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478737609645206210.post-55927141116027663972023-09-30T17:24:00.003-07:002023-09-30T17:30:30.323-07:00Quick reviews of two films: a classic and an amusing time-waster<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="background: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">At Plan9Crunch blog, we note two vintage films
we recently enjoyed. One a classic I’ve seen and loved 20 times. The other a low-budget
comedy from an RKO ‘40s team I like.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="background: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">--Doug Gibson<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="background: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMGjD6vXu1r6GXJzH9nAOLvnI2gVT0VISH03iqFhtkH2jbNK1Sla6dukgZ7XvdIgfwRqI3ZJSI6mkW_JM4ocYGSYN-ozyaw97av1eIcLgqePJGqyMM5qazaXs9DUmQfuL06VWEDOE9LMJu10R-uvd17sHxI1RMSSG3GBgwssUvt3C4hU3E6o5MfRwQqoc/s720/Night%20of%20Hunter.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="436" data-original-width="720" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMGjD6vXu1r6GXJzH9nAOLvnI2gVT0VISH03iqFhtkH2jbNK1Sla6dukgZ7XvdIgfwRqI3ZJSI6mkW_JM4ocYGSYN-ozyaw97av1eIcLgqePJGqyMM5qazaXs9DUmQfuL06VWEDOE9LMJu10R-uvd17sHxI1RMSSG3GBgwssUvt3C4hU3E6o5MfRwQqoc/s320/Night%20of%20Hunter.jpg" width="320" /></a></i></div><i><br /><span style="background: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></i><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_of_the_Hunter_(film)">THE NIGHT OF THE </a></b></span><b style="color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_of_the_Hunter_(film)">HUNTER</a></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">, 1955</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The above is an
iconic scene from Night of the Hunter. I recently watched it again via TCM.
Although opinions are subjective, I consider this the finest film ever made.
Charles Laughton helmed an allegorical tale - based on the Davis Grubb novel -
of Good and Evil battling over the welfare of two innocents. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYy_l-P6MXAkHzoimdYa0kaXIWb4AKmlv0Isx-oS7SsZ7_XOhKFMEes2867mbmCjcPzynQApcsBaUNX_ivgqA5l3PlXx3y1IxHZm9ukGey4mq2wyq_PUT3Bmm1HscKpV5mlEy6OUJ_hpG5XuhZ6wc7Ol4kTQYKhwbejmfRLReCVsT2thKblSgEgde-gq8/s2050/Night%20of%20the%20Hunter%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1274" data-original-width="2050" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYy_l-P6MXAkHzoimdYa0kaXIWb4AKmlv0Isx-oS7SsZ7_XOhKFMEes2867mbmCjcPzynQApcsBaUNX_ivgqA5l3PlXx3y1IxHZm9ukGey4mq2wyq_PUT3Bmm1HscKpV5mlEy6OUJ_hpG5XuhZ6wc7Ol4kTQYKhwbejmfRLReCVsT2thKblSgEgde-gq8/s320/Night%20of%20the%20Hunter%202.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="background: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Robert Mitchum is
fantastic as the murderous, coveting faux preacher. But Lillian Gish, as the
elderly, flawed but pure, protector of children ... wow, the finest performance
I've witnessed in a film.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">---<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9_N2OOelvlgXMyhvXZKIkxrjDq7mFnki41oa_64aj2oNuUFqtC0BvP-BhGZWmpkauA8X6CTNq3pGAyy6gUQUV6CPgtPt4yUT9qL-pfI1AmifgMzCCaZ7xHftpl05N8MzDbdqgpa-qd_ZfUdGDKqUAKDnW2e8QtSaazcAyKPl6GUdIOedQbDy_RR7xvJg/s531/Girl%20Rush%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="408" data-original-width="531" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9_N2OOelvlgXMyhvXZKIkxrjDq7mFnki41oa_64aj2oNuUFqtC0BvP-BhGZWmpkauA8X6CTNq3pGAyy6gUQUV6CPgtPt4yUT9qL-pfI1AmifgMzCCaZ7xHftpl05N8MzDbdqgpa-qd_ZfUdGDKqUAKDnW2e8QtSaazcAyKPl6GUdIOedQbDy_RR7xvJg/s320/Girl%20Rush%201.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girl_Rush">GIRL RUSH</a>, 1944</b></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">This Carney & Brown
comedy B film recently aired early morning on TCM. I look for the RKO comedy
team's other films because I enjoy the team with Bela Lugosi in two films.
"Girl Rush" was pretty amusing, an entertaining 65 minutes. One of
the co-stars is comedienne Vera Vague. She's considered blowsey and
unattractive in film, but she's actually gorgeous. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvSt3fJhX-B4EZbs0UzUrw0Rt0ueRNZjFfAgqgDRQ708jTucRgs65jrkSvEnIfHYYaLx7GSv3PjwRm7ApYmSeoj93f9MCybQ4CV-7Su5o7_soa1XEyu_b8iG-jChuiaHMTfwIn2-mP-NewlxM_sSGNNWLsWAZo4iHJIgZZ8lDE4ZBnmzfNGa_gEUzqpPI/s1359/Girl%20Rush%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1243" data-original-width="1359" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvSt3fJhX-B4EZbs0UzUrw0Rt0ueRNZjFfAgqgDRQ708jTucRgs65jrkSvEnIfHYYaLx7GSv3PjwRm7ApYmSeoj93f9MCybQ4CV-7Su5o7_soa1XEyu_b8iG-jChuiaHMTfwIn2-mP-NewlxM_sSGNNWLsWAZo4iHJIgZZ8lDE4ZBnmzfNGa_gEUzqpPI/s320/Girl%20Rush%202.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="background: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background: white; color: #050505; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Also in the 1944 film
is a young, just-signed-to-a-contract Robert Mitchum. It's surreal to see
Mitchum in drag in the comedy film's climax, Yet the star power is there. Mitchum dominates every scene he is in. Wally Brown and Alan Carney were no competition to Abbott and Costello but they provided fun films in a similar comedy vein. </span></p>Plan9Crunchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04818205539289836323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478737609645206210.post-75904817267867401882023-09-24T11:49:00.001-07:002023-09-24T11:58:07.596-07:00 The Magic Sword – A fantasy adventure from director Bert I. Gordon<p><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXFZjQtXfJ-q1EBWOOYrn5sPQD_6y7S6LsPdm0MQzCpqLD_wJmqZWFWo0i6Lyvd0xMVSrAZyFGqaONGCTLDSpFQiwOcj9fJlxU1RSWCmu0NPEwEQM8x4Pfy4uTQj3RpkUjy7D5aZYKnVf_SpHvvZKh9GbwjMRFjNaLU0H4OVp31_b88OsRTbRUy8jNgzg/s1920/Magic%20sword%204.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXFZjQtXfJ-q1EBWOOYrn5sPQD_6y7S6LsPdm0MQzCpqLD_wJmqZWFWo0i6Lyvd0xMVSrAZyFGqaONGCTLDSpFQiwOcj9fJlxU1RSWCmu0NPEwEQM8x4Pfy4uTQj3RpkUjy7D5aZYKnVf_SpHvvZKh9GbwjMRFjNaLU0H4OVp31_b88OsRTbRUy8jNgzg/w400-h225/Magic%20sword%204.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">At a time in the 1960s when Italian sword and sandal action films dominated the drive-in movie screens, American director Bert I. Gordon created this medieval fantasy adventure epic – <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056211/">The Magic Sword (1962)</a>. Gordon was known for films depicting giants, usually as a result of atomic radiation, such as a giant spider, giant grasshoppers, giant ants, a giant man in diapers, and even giant teenagers. The Magic Sword is considered by many of Gordon's fans as his best and most ambitious film. From a technical filmmaking and storytelling perspective, The Magic Sword is Gordon's best film.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Princess Helene (Anne Helm) has disappeared without a trace. Lodac the wizard, played brilliantly by Basil Rathbone, has kidnapped the princess. He appears before Helene's father, the king (Merritt Stone), and demands revenge for the king's father executing his sister at the age of 18 for witchcraft. Lodac releases seven curses on the land and threatens to feed the princess to his dragon in seven days. One of the king's knights – Sir Branton (Liam Sullivan), sets out to rescue the princess so he can marry her. Lodac warns that it will not be easy for Branton and his men to find his castle where the princess is being held in a cell.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPyNSLvt9FvRmB-xfIerP72XKZ9IeG7_oh2KQhGKJwUBT4xHas25XnUsDv9T-38PPIKz2jxruotiGMWTYttiJm9PtHfkXNTmVvRhl2Dat3eoi8DiDsWE0KBPx5UOUdFbenoAGEoZjwxq3v0H1qjkzNzBu6E45hKwy20XPItX_xfwzI-ledPvXrgAcpTnU/s1841/Magic%20sword.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1841" data-original-width="1514" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPyNSLvt9FvRmB-xfIerP72XKZ9IeG7_oh2KQhGKJwUBT4xHas25XnUsDv9T-38PPIKz2jxruotiGMWTYttiJm9PtHfkXNTmVvRhl2Dat3eoi8DiDsWE0KBPx5UOUdFbenoAGEoZjwxq3v0H1qjkzNzBu6E45hKwy20XPItX_xfwzI-ledPvXrgAcpTnU/s320/Magic%20sword.jpg" width="263" /></a></div><br /><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Meanwhile, sorceress Sybil, played by Estelle Winwood, is foster mother to Sir George (Gary Lockwood), who will not allow George to leave their home until he is twenty-one and in the possession of a magic sword and a strong white horse. George wants to leave their home so he can rescue princess Helena first, and win her love. George tricks Sybil into getting trapped in an underground cavern so he can leave with the magic sword and white horse to find the princess. George assembles six brave knights to follow him on his journey to find the princess.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Sir George and his six knights appear before the king at his castle. George tells the king that he wants to save the princess, but sir Branton insists that he will be the one to rescue the princess and marry her. Branton challenges George to a duel, but his sword is broken across George's chest as he strikes him.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTpUApFPojLGtYJIdwWxiYjjhKt6H7rzoz2qFv_7HVJnZ0Eyi4YvshOEe9AJP3j-Sv4Z-w0hm4uMqukJRX0iyKrOOqY1mgpoq5_DStdkZiWO6P2dV8M_eMnAO_FuaTXbZ5fgSoC_Yg7MaE-bYbw3ztl0dgmE6AMbvsBpetyPNewf-3UMDRSXKpojycqYY/s1065/Magic%20sword%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="829" data-original-width="1065" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTpUApFPojLGtYJIdwWxiYjjhKt6H7rzoz2qFv_7HVJnZ0Eyi4YvshOEe9AJP3j-Sv4Z-w0hm4uMqukJRX0iyKrOOqY1mgpoq5_DStdkZiWO6P2dV8M_eMnAO_FuaTXbZ5fgSoC_Yg7MaE-bYbw3ztl0dgmE6AMbvsBpetyPNewf-3UMDRSXKpojycqYY/w323-h251/Magic%20sword%202.jpg" width="323" /></a></div><br /><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">The Magic Sword is filled with many interesting set pieces and well done special effects for 1962. Brandon, George and their knights encounter a forest of dead trees and a giant man eating ogre. The forest is filled with bubbling lava pits. The knights battle the giant with spears. George attempts to rescue a knight who has fallen into a hot lava pit. While rescuing the knight, George is pushed into the pit by Branton.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Another set piece shows cone headed humans in a castle feasting at a table while the eyes of stone gargoyles move back and forth near a fireplace mantle. The princess encounters a hanging cage of midgets when she wanders away from her cell. An uncredited appearance by midget actor Angelo Rossitto happens during a scene in princess Helene's cell. Cult actress Maila Nurmi, known for her iconic role of Vampira on TV in the 1950s and Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959), appears in the film as a hag. Another cult actor, Richard Kiel, plays a pinhead character.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7QT4BoyPGGXKBl6C1fFmbqBr-dbOCNnwFi49x-HO6meWv3KFWwDbwqBGOybPWtFHp7dP96Y-lD3CZek4enaZb8eBZxOmV1jKg6IvxTlcR1Bmi5tlKrqxLKXV6HkeFNzqsY75e07cn25dH5ikkBXQPup5OpufzwMm7sfzzfn9_OEA09hBM0lr6rTuM1qA/s728/Magic%20sword%203.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="728" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7QT4BoyPGGXKBl6C1fFmbqBr-dbOCNnwFi49x-HO6meWv3KFWwDbwqBGOybPWtFHp7dP96Y-lD3CZek4enaZb8eBZxOmV1jKg6IvxTlcR1Bmi5tlKrqxLKXV6HkeFNzqsY75e07cn25dH5ikkBXQPup5OpufzwMm7sfzzfn9_OEA09hBM0lr6rTuM1qA/s320/Magic%20sword%203.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Director Gordon saves his best set piece and special effect for the ending of the film when Sir George frees Princess Helene from a two headed fire breathing dragon. George battles the dragon with his magic sword. This final scene shows the connection of the Magic Sword to the story of St. George and The Dragon. Helene and George are married and everyone lives happily ever after, just like in a fairytale story. The film was also marketed as La Espada Magica, St. George and The Dragon, St. George and The Seven Curses, The Seven Curses of Lodac, Happy viewing. </p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">(<i>The Magic Sword is available at many online locations. A great print is at Tubi. It is also on Amazon Prime. And <a href="https://youtu.be/Uozmpw6KnGw?si=IX0C_p_4qfnyQ-aW">here's a link to a You Tube print.</a></i>)</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>Reviewed by Steve D. Stones</i></p>Plan9Crunchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04818205539289836323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478737609645206210.post-12654011675585023972023-09-17T20:14:00.001-07:002023-09-17T20:14:13.315-07:00Zenobia a comedy that matched Oliver Hardy and ... Harry Langdon<div style="text-align: center;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf2UTB9R5Ty1Tb89XZKk8M9zroPkoONBV9qp-vkZDoqnFAcrX1yXo85T2ZjTKawkXfMRLaNTJiTiwg9Yh9PZzoDykMfPSR0RmXoyNYwj9nQZpPz1z9RkNPhUGCkhCpQn3bI3BLo1ql-YD6Hmbfbp5aLajWcF5GZP6LHf0WMXRf7aElKc8YqubbQeiT9TI/s1280/Zenobia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf2UTB9R5Ty1Tb89XZKk8M9zroPkoONBV9qp-vkZDoqnFAcrX1yXo85T2ZjTKawkXfMRLaNTJiTiwg9Yh9PZzoDykMfPSR0RmXoyNYwj9nQZpPz1z9RkNPhUGCkhCpQn3bI3BLo1ql-YD6Hmbfbp5aLajWcF5GZP6LHf0WMXRf7aElKc8YqubbQeiT9TI/w400-h225/Zenobia.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: medium;">By Doug Gibson</span></b></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />"<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenobia_(film)">Zenobia</a>," a 1939 Hal Roach comedy feature is an charming film, albeit one that failed to attract audiences. It's mostly forgotten today, except for routine once-a-year airings on Turner Classic Movies. (It did, however, recently <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Zenobia-Blu-ray-Harry-Langdon/dp/B08FS3NLDQ/ref=asc_df_B08FS3NLDQ?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80745500161008&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584345028881044&psc=1">get a Blu-Ray release</a>.) The film, from Hal Roach, pairs rotund Oliver Hardy with silent- and early-talkies era comedian Harry Langdon. This was because Hardy's iconic partner, Stan Laurel, was engaged in a contract dispute with Roach. Langdon, a close friend of both Laurel and Hardy, stepped in to film "Zenobia," with no real intention of taking Stan Laurel's place, although there was talk of a second Hardy/Langdon feature, that ended after "Zenobia" failed at the box office. Laurel eventually returned to Hal Roach, but soon after the pair left for good, moving to 20th Century Fox.<br /><br />But let's talk about "Zenobia." It takes place in Carterville, Mississippi, in the post-Civil War deep South, although to be honest the residents there appear to have been spared the recent horrors of war. Hardy plays -- way out of character -- Dr. Henry Tibbett, a mild-mannered country doctor whose finances are a bit shaky because long ago he decided not to use his medical skills to get wealthy. Nevertheless, he lives in a rented mansion with Mrs. Tibbett (Billie Burke), his daughter Mary (Jean Parker) and their three servants, Zero (Stepin Fetchit) Dehlia (Hattie McDaniel) and their child Zeke (Phillip Hurlic). Daughter Mary is engaged to marry a rich young man, Jeff Carter, played by James Ellison. Jeff's snobbish mother, Mrs. Carter (Alice Brady) loathes the match is working to get back with a former girlfriend, Virginia, played by June Lang.</span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZrVLmyxYQgSThd2JEl4Y7X_zhpEGgqtYUsx_PRk-a4ZZFsx8kSwMryEEz9iWCKwWNpDISd3JPsGQ08xbxgjiJ9HRPRKVkBnKzmTCkTQlV-Ng9DebEORIQn1SetDaxJs1jwqgJxLkwYkv8VfVFAhu_JshSuWpudRdFFnJJmh7EgR5f3ZbaRpki6BdZZU/s599/zenobia%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="472" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZrVLmyxYQgSThd2JEl4Y7X_zhpEGgqtYUsx_PRk-a4ZZFsx8kSwMryEEz9iWCKwWNpDISd3JPsGQ08xbxgjiJ9HRPRKVkBnKzmTCkTQlV-Ng9DebEORIQn1SetDaxJs1jwqgJxLkwYkv8VfVFAhu_JshSuWpudRdFFnJJmh7EgR5f3ZbaRpki6BdZZU/s320/zenobia%202.jpg" width="252" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br />Despite this subplot, this is a gentle film, and no matter how dastardly the machination of Mrs. Carter and Virginia to dash Jeff and Mary's love, there's never any danger of the pair being split up. All ends well and even mean Mrs. Carter apologizes at the end. What's most interesting is that Burke -- who was Glinda the Good Witch in Wizard of Oz -- provides most of the comedy, and not Hardy. Burke proves herself adept at comedy, playing a scatterbrained but quick-witted, and loyal spouse to Hardy's gentle, good-natured Dr. Tibbetts.<br /><br />This domestic set up is damaged by the performance of Fetch-it as the servant, Zero, who perpetuates a racist stereotype that unfortunately was a part of Hollywood in that era. "Zero" mumbles, whines, cowers and cringes throughout the film. However, the contrast between his performance and that of McDaniel is interesting. McDaniel, who won an Oscar as Mammy in Gone With the Wind, delivers a strong performance, in which she never surrenders her dignity or self-respect.<br /><br />Now, time to mention the main plot and Harry Langdon's excellent contribution to "Zenobia." Langdon plays Professor McCrackle, a traveling tonic salesman who also has an elephant, named "Zenobia," who travels with him. One day, when Zenobia is feeling poorly, McCrackle begs Dr. Tibbetts to treat his elephant. Because he's such a nice man, Tibbetts treats Zenobia. His treatment works so well that the elephant becomes enamored of the doctor and won't leave him alone, following poor Hardy's doctor and occasionally picking him up. Upset that he's no longer number one with his elephant, Langdon's McCrackle is convinced, with some help by the scheming Mrs. Carter, to file an alienation of affection lawsuit against Dr. Tibbetts.<br /><br />It's an amusing plot, and Langdon is excellent in scenes with Hardy. He's too good a comedian and actor to try to imitate Laurel. Instead, Langdon utilizes his understated comedic talents and blend of timidity, deadpan blank face and "Little Elf" voice to generate a fair share of laughs. His best scenes with Hardy are when Zenobia is being treated by the doctor, as well as his efforts to keep the elephant away from Hardy's Tibbetts. In the final courtroom scene, which is the strongest point of the film, Langdon is hilarious as he is constantly interrupted while trying to testify using a memorized script.<br /><br />So why did the film fail? It cost $637,000 and grossed only $351,000 worldwide, according to the Langdon biography "Little Elf. " It's not Langdon's fault. One reason may be that audiences were so used to Laurel and Hardy comedies that they couldn't accept Oliver Hardy in a role that was mostly non-comedy. In fact, when he's treating Zenobia is the closest he gets to traditional "Hardy comedy" and audiences probably wanted more. Also, while Burke is very good in comedy, and witty, it must have seemed strange to audiences to see her, and not Oliver Hardy, getting the laughs. Another reason may be that there is very little drama in this comedy. As mean as Mrs. Carter, Virginia, and others are, you don't really feel that there's any tension in the film. The New York Times described Zenobia as "Gone With the Wind" as devised by Hal Roach, and there's truth to that. Carterville seems like somewhere in NeverLand, an alternative multiverse. Finally the biggest reason Zenobia failed so badly was that the public didn't want to see Hardy with anyone else other than Stan Laurel.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6OlvsW5oP8NdfP2MVsCUf6egzEtcsLRxWe_m5g_SIbi0xkIgYNrbjddq1XVSL8AhGgNKNZtXd__CSJdGbO-tiJMUM_n_97OMAxe8xDLmWrHQHiZp2M1cVdP4N2rRkwcFUlgvk8tJnS9Ov2ia4YDkxGPDJKpZXkRqc0Vk6VJFuxsQSRnQbRLQVbacOyCk/s1024/zenobia%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="693" data-original-width="1024" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6OlvsW5oP8NdfP2MVsCUf6egzEtcsLRxWe_m5g_SIbi0xkIgYNrbjddq1XVSL8AhGgNKNZtXd__CSJdGbO-tiJMUM_n_97OMAxe8xDLmWrHQHiZp2M1cVdP4N2rRkwcFUlgvk8tJnS9Ov2ia4YDkxGPDJKpZXkRqc0Vk6VJFuxsQSRnQbRLQVbacOyCk/s320/zenobia%203.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br />The New York Times also gave props to Langdon, writing (from Wikipedia) "<span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">.<i>..Harry Langdon has adopted the partnership prerequistes formerly reserved for Stan Laurel...Harry Langdon's pale and beautifuly [</i></span><i><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sic" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Sic">sic</a>?</span><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">] blank countenance...has probably already excited the professional jealousy of Mr. Laurel..."</span></i><br /><i><span face="sans-serif" style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;"><br /></span></i>However, Langdon never intended to attempt to supplant Laurel, a man who went out of his way to help Langdon through tough stretches in the 1930s, and is due a lot of credit for providing momentum that insured the last several years of Langdon's career was fairly busy, and prosperous. Scenes in the otherwise excellent film, "Stan and Ollie," that purport to show that Hardy was upset at Laurel for briefly leaving Hal Roach and saddling him with Langdon are fictional.<br /></span><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Zenobia is worth watching, and I'm glad it's frequently on TCM, as it provides both a glimpse at the versitility of Oliver Hardy and the comic talents of Harry Langdon. </span></p></div></div>Plan9Crunchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04818205539289836323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478737609645206210.post-2084428452587063932023-08-15T13:15:00.003-07:002023-08-15T14:22:30.304-07:00The Last Voyage of the Demeter is an above-average current Universal horror<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlco95Jq9HYwzPuM1cqo5tZg3cN1AAj8EVXssBQman8S_M2eI5l0ZPmNd2o8j5QoH0IK6nNlBh0_kc5mg0zBD_1qiCXAhpkNAJlImciUf8-PoGK2V34IsGxMo-qVN0ZzW5Hrl_lw5tcwg0TNl_N-q4WYnydo_DWbEqfjaZJFv9uozo3KARkXD40frVXpA/s1080/Demeter.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="745" data-original-width="1080" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlco95Jq9HYwzPuM1cqo5tZg3cN1AAj8EVXssBQman8S_M2eI5l0ZPmNd2o8j5QoH0IK6nNlBh0_kc5mg0zBD_1qiCXAhpkNAJlImciUf8-PoGK2V34IsGxMo-qVN0ZzW5Hrl_lw5tcwg0TNl_N-q4WYnydo_DWbEqfjaZJFv9uozo3KARkXD40frVXpA/w400-h276/Demeter.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></p><p><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-size: 18.6667px;"><b>Review by Doug Gibson</b></span></p><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="background: rgb(240, 242, 245); color: #050505; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="background: rgb(240, 242, 245); color: #050505; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">"<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1001520/">The Last Voyage of the Demeter</a>" is a superb Gothic-type horror film. It's atmospheric, creepy with
frightening scenes. I don't know if it will be a money-maker because it's a
bleak tale. But it has an engrossing, suspenseful, and hopeful climax/ending.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="background: rgb(240, 242, 245); color: #050505; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="background: rgb(240, 242, 245); color: #050505; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">“The Last Voyage of the
Demeter” comprises chapter 7 of Bram Stoker’s Dracula novel, in which the vampire travels
to London. When the ship drifts into Whitby harbor, it’s deserted and the crew
is dead. The depiction of the ship is realistic. The cinematography is
gorgeous, and the musical score from Bear McCreary adds to the gothic dread and
drama.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="background: rgb(240, 242, 245); color: #050505; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="background: rgb(240, 242, 245); color: #050505; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s a good cast. Of
particular note is Aisling Franciosi, as Anna, a Roma woman stowed away on the
ship to be essentially a chew toy for Dracula. Her character slowly gains
resolve as her strength returns. Apparently the Anna character was a late
addition by producers. It was a smart move. She’s a protagonist who provides
courage and sacrifice in the life and death battle.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="background: rgb(240, 242, 245); color: #050505; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="background: rgb(240, 242, 245); color: #050505; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Also strong are Liam
Cunningham as Captain Eliot, and Corey Hawkins as Clemens, a member of the
crew. Clemens is a black doctor who cannot find employment in his profession
due to racism. He saves Anna from death and eventually becomes the leader in
the struggle to survive the vampire.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="background: rgb(240, 242, 245); color: #050505; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="background: rgb(240, 242, 245); color: #050505; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">If there is a weakness, it is how Dracula is portrayed. I don’t mind the Nosferatu-like appearance, but
having Dracula appear as a human-oid bat is a bit off. He looks like an outcast
from the Island of Dr. Moreau. However, Javier Botet as Conde Dracula is creepy
and savage and I am happy the producers resisted the urge to go all computer on
the character.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="background: rgb(240, 242, 245); color: #050505; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="background: rgb(240, 242, 245); color: #050505; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The secret to a good
horror film is that it provides character depth to the victims of evil. You, as
the viewer, care about – and grieve the deaths of well-developed characters.
This is what separates a classic horror film, such as “Halloween,” from slasher
dreck like “Friday the 13<sup>th</sup>.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="background: rgb(240, 242, 245); color: #050505; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="background: rgb(240, 242, 245); color: #050505; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">In “… Demeter,” there is
a well-developed, likable character that we sympathize with. This character is
ultimately doomed. We grieve for this character’s fate. It adds to the
horror because the filmmakers took the time for audiences to get to know this
character.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="background: white; color: #050505; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="background: white; color: #050505; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">This is an above-average
film. It reminds me of a cross between Universal expressionism and the Hammer
genre, with its savage, Nosferatu-like vampire. However, watching it I knew this would lose money. It's suspenseful but not often scary. It doesn't have the jump scares,
head explosions and torture porn that many contemporary viewers want. I do
think its reputation will increase with time.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="background: white; color: #050505; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="background: white; color: #050505; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">A final note: As
mentioned, the film seems to be underperforming at the box office.
Nevertheless, it’s an excellent effort. I wonder today why $45 million would be spent on “…Demeter,”
which is a solid B movie. If this film had cost $15 million it might have ended in the black and we’d be able to one day watch what the filmmakers appear to
have set up as a potential sequel.</span><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>Plan9Crunchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04818205539289836323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478737609645206210.post-80429924394754114242023-07-31T09:40:00.001-07:002023-07-31T14:29:12.723-07:00Ed Wood pens a screenplay about a football hero; new book a fun read for the Wood minutiae fans<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggnsuIv0OjGv3Y0bnm-4fZaMS9KsmCwmH4dVbK-_5kYA-ztXWKksuNeVPQDnSKX46O0lbyHxLj7iaGRLrGlcPq4JKNsiNr_wLgTh5S4nupsK7dD7D53rPIyCNC0DOJior8hER4T1MH-xYr1xIYActp_aIffaVVXHUAU49Wov7oZsPWqwVMCCAfO8QZdTI/s1000/football%20early.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="625" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggnsuIv0OjGv3Y0bnm-4fZaMS9KsmCwmH4dVbK-_5kYA-ztXWKksuNeVPQDnSKX46O0lbyHxLj7iaGRLrGlcPq4JKNsiNr_wLgTh5S4nupsK7dD7D53rPIyCNC0DOJior8hER4T1MH-xYr1xIYActp_aIffaVVXHUAU49Wov7oZsPWqwVMCCAfO8QZdTI/w250-h400/football%20early.jpg" width="250" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><b>Review by Doug Gibson</b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I admit it. I’m an Ed Wood fan-atic. There are
probably a few thousand of us in the world. We’ve watched Plan 9 From Outer
Space, and/or Glen or Glenda 100-plus times. Our 30-plus year copy of Nightmare
of Ecstasy is read to tatters. We own a Wood novel or two, or more. We’ve
purchased Bob Blackburn’s three volumes of Wood’s fiction and non-fiction
writing. The Ed Wood Jr. Faceback page and <a href="https://d2rights.blogspot.com/2013/09/you-know-what-this-weekend-would-be.html">Dead2Rights Ed Wood Wednesday blog</a>, are
both near-daily needs.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">In short, we love the minutiae of Ed Wood’s’ life
and career. We can’t get enough of it. Any breaking new news about our idol of unfeigned
kitsch, Mr. Wood, we consume.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">W. Paul Apel, a writer who lives in the Pacific
Northwest. has authored a book that is fun for Wood minutiae fans, “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Watched-Football-Early-Day-Died/dp/B0C87Q1TTM">I WatchedFootball Early the Day I Died: The Lost Ed Wood Frank Leahy Screenplay</a>,” Bear Manor
Media, 2023, is an insider-joke title. It’s a riff on a Wood screenplay, “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0125211/">I Woke Up Early the Day I Died</a>,” a film made long after Wood’s 1978 death. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">The backstory on the book is interesting. In issue
11 of the magazine Cult Movies, published a generation-plus ago, a screenplay
is attributed to Wood titled “The Frank Leahy Legend.” Fast forward many years
later and Ed Wood writer/fan Greg Javer writes more about the screenplay on Joe
Blevins’ Dead2Rights blog. It mentions that the screenplay is archived at
Loyola Marymount University. Apel reads that and is motivated to contact Loyola
Marymount, which provides him access to the “Frank Leahy Legend.” (<i>Both Javer and Apel provide introductions to
the book, and there is a forward by Blackburn on the years he and Kathy Woods,
Ed’s wife, were friends.</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">So who is Frank Leahy? (see his photo below) I’m a football fan. Frank
Leahy was a Notre Dame football coach. He is arguably one of the greatest
coaches of all time, as successful as legendary Notre Dame coaching peer, Knute
Rockne, whom Frank Leahy played for. Rockne was charismatic, and filled
newspaper headlines. He died in a plane crash heading to Hollywood to negotiate
picture deals. That tragedy added to his mystique. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsUMLn3CUZ_XFELfKO66ym5Wo90MLaiv9hrIs8UILqEFu3YnYXgHbyFSr_dVaC06Stg-vLj3YP6M-2yFySgRaVmsAi_89BvF4qXBFA9zDIqCLm_K9ihR9ULbFr7E1ut7XRK29qacwjbYYS5MNPVx-moEN6-EMzratIoLz-VB4HJ-JBKaY0yE3b817iGUo/s250/frank-leahy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="250" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsUMLn3CUZ_XFELfKO66ym5Wo90MLaiv9hrIs8UILqEFu3YnYXgHbyFSr_dVaC06Stg-vLj3YP6M-2yFySgRaVmsAi_89BvF4qXBFA9zDIqCLm_K9ihR9ULbFr7E1ut7XRK29qacwjbYYS5MNPVx-moEN6-EMzratIoLz-VB4HJ-JBKaY0yE3b817iGUo/s1600/frank-leahy.jpg" width="250" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Leahy was not nearly as charismatic. He’s best known
for utilizing the T formation strategy for Notre Dame football. He eventually
retired from football as his health declined, was briefly involved
administratively in professional football, then was a businessman until he died
in 1973.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">So how did Ed Wood, who was busy writing, assistant
directing, even acting in soft- and hard-core pornography in the mid ‘70s, get
a gig writing a screenplay for an “inspirational” biography of Frank Leahy? <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">No one knows for sure but one can guess. Earlier a
Leahy super-fan named Bernard J. Williams had written a sort of biography of
Leahy. Much of it is interviews with Leahy before his death. Apel has read it.
It’s been published in two versions, and it can even be purchased on Amazon as
“Iron Desire: The Legacy of Notre Dame Football Coach Frank Leahy.” <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Iron-Desire-Legacy-Notre-Football-ebook/dp/B002OSXNK0/ref=sr_1_1?crid=PAJSPEGJV6HQ&keywords=iron+desire+frank+leahy&qid=1690821285&s=digital-text&sprefix=iron+desire+frank+lleahy%2Cdigital-text%2C145&sr=1-1">Kindle version is only $2.99</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Williams may have been involved as associate
publisher of an early ‘70s science fiction magazine. Forrest J. Ackerman was an
iconic genre figure who represented science fiction writers. He knew Ed Wood,
even was his agent once. Apel wonders if Williams and Ackerman crossed paths?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Who knows, but it sounds nice to think that Ackerman
mentioned Wood for the Leahy job hoping to get his down-on-his-luck friend a
nice screenplay gig. What may be just as likely is that a budget-conscious
Williams was looking for a cheap first draft and Ackerman said this Wood fellow
would be cheap.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Ed Wood was in his final years. He’d long lost the
battle with alcoholism by 1975. It would destroy his career, his body, and
eventually his life. Wood was still working for filmmaker Stephen Apostolof,
but his tenure with the more stable porn house Pendulum Publishing was about
played out. He and wife Kathy needed money. Life for Wood was a race against
bill collectors; a race Ed’s body could not take much longer.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I hope Wood got a decent four-figure payment for the
script he turned in, “The Frank Leahy Legend.” The man needed a break.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Apel presents a copy of the entire screenplay, which
is manna for us Wood fan-atics. The author has crafted an interesting book,
with the screenplay interrupted often for observations from Apel. They are
insightful comments, pointing out where in the script Ed utilizes scenes and
verbiage that are unique to his previous work. Apel also describes where Wood
has done his homework, independently researching his subject to include
screenplay events that are not in the book hagiography.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">So how is “The Frank Leahy Legend” screenplay? Well,
it’s very long, close to what would translate as a near three-hour movie. It
desperately needs at least 80 pages trimmed. This is a story that cries out for
the 72-minute 1970s’ TV Movie of the Week treatment.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">However, Wood was enough of a professional to not
turn in a hatchet job that just follows the book. “He actually created his own structure …,”
writes Apel. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Wood changes events in the book into sequences that translate better into a movie. Examples include Wood having a young
Leahy taking his long first journey to Notre Dame on horse. Another example is
Wood portraying Leahy’s father’s violent death more dramatically. Wood also did
extensive research on the vast amount of characters in the non-fiction
screenplay, a tedious task in a pre-Internet world.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">But the screenplay has flaws. Apel notes Wood
includes scenes that do not move the story forward, thereby bogging the
narrative down. Major events, such as getting a scholarship to Notre Dame, have
no real set up. Also, other important portions, such as Leahy’s wife’s struggle
with alcoholism, are only touched on the surface, with little narrative depth. There
is the (endearing) odd Woodian syntax, such a Leahy saying, “I’m out only to win.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">In what becomes farcical, Wood’s screenplay about a
football player and coach does not even depict a football game until roughly
half the script is completed. Just like a low-budget, ineptly produced horror
cheapie provides more talk than action, Wood’s script talks football without
offering much game action.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Still, as I read the script, I started to enjoy it,
as a Wood fan. It is tedious but it’s
the work of a veteran writer who plugged on. There are scenes that Wood goes
into autopilot a bit (perhaps the alcoholism was bad that day) but there’s
enough to understand why Wood was able to make a living for decades as a
writer. He knew his craft until the end. He provides a life story.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Readers are fortunate, though, that Apel provides
commentary from time to time. It provides respite from the overly long story structure.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">There are “Ed Wood moments” for minutiae lovers,
which Apel includes in his comments. An illicit paramour of a married Leahy is
wearing angora. There is a scene of a young Leahy about to bed down with a girl
that reads like a mild version of a scene from one of Ed’s hundreds of adult
short stories. There’s a father who does not approve of his son (think “Glen or
Glenda). There lots of drinking in the screenplay, and descriptions of women’s
clothing, such as garters.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Wood creates a conflicted character in Leahy, a man
willing to be deceitful to win. Some call him a cheater. I would not go that
far. It’s more unethical sports chicanery, like having players fake an injury
to get more time to stop action and plan strategy.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Besides his marital infidelity, there’s a tasteless
early scene where high school athlete Frank Leahy, and his much older coach,
discuss plans to go out tomcatting for teenage girls. I was waiting for a cop
to enter the page and arrest the coach.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">These “adult” subjects in the screenplay seem a bit
muddled because the screenplay starts with narrator (Bernard Williams) talking
about Leahy to his young son. That opening narration seems to go off the charts
early as the film moves into narrative style and includes topics a father would
not mention to a young son. Nevertheless, the narrator makes infrequent returns
to the screenplay and Williams actually becomes a character late in the script
that interacts with Leahy.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I have read reviews where it’s claimed Wood just did
this for the money. True, but this was an assignment so different from the
usual porn writing that I think Wood might have hoped this would lead to a
credit on a respectable film, perhaps a 90-minute TV movie. That might have had
a chance given that Leahy – legitimately famous -- had only recently passed
away. But the script probably disappointed Williams, and we know it was
shelved, eventually stored at a Hollywood Catholic church before being donated
to Loyola Marymount.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></p><p>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">So “The Frank Leahy
Legend” ends up as an interesting footnote to the Ed Wood life story, which of
course has been made as a feature film; something Frank Leahy never accomplished.</span></p>Plan9Crunchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04818205539289836323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478737609645206210.post-27211651963170030172023-07-08T10:20:00.004-07:002023-07-08T20:36:52.782-07:00Patron Saints of the Living Dead weaves a tale of voodoo, zombies through time and cinema<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjegZw-umnEqsRIb8addnz6atWwgfv3tO7_DW-4YwAkQZmxxI8Rdi8xDXcaJsK4XcDWVfXvaBjgAJg5PeRmiL1RvogCmIF4TbzHnJV5o-K6OiBMz1FPaQOIrKWX_ktSAmRoUoRA1oXRd0h25mTU5N_HN_T8As_POZTEkdD06Wrwf4Osz7vGIU_jm5731uQ/s1080/Patron%20Saints%20of%20the%20Living%20Dead.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjegZw-umnEqsRIb8addnz6atWwgfv3tO7_DW-4YwAkQZmxxI8Rdi8xDXcaJsK4XcDWVfXvaBjgAJg5PeRmiL1RvogCmIF4TbzHnJV5o-K6OiBMz1FPaQOIrKWX_ktSAmRoUoRA1oXRd0h25mTU5N_HN_T8As_POZTEkdD06Wrwf4Osz7vGIU_jm5731uQ/s320/Patron%20Saints%20of%20the%20Living%20Dead.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><p><br /></p>---<p></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Review by Doug Gibson</b></p><p><br /></p><p>There's a passage in Frank Dello Stritto's new novel, "<a href="https://cultmoviespress.com/patron-saints/">Patron Saints of the Living Dead</a>," (Cult Movies Press, 2023), where our protagonist, Brent Marassas, dining with friends and acquaintances, begins to chat with an elderly lady, Madeline Short Parker.</p><p><br /></p><p>Brett is on a quest his father sent him on shortly before dad, whom he calls "Papa," died. His father, raised without a traditional family, wants to know who his father was. A private investigator has uncovered some answers, and they lead toward the supernatural. Voodoo, zombies, living death, regeneration of life, raising of the dead, attempts to subjugate or control others via zombie-like efforts. </p><p><br /></p><p>Based on what Brent has learned, his father's origin likely derives from one of 13 scientists who were involved in research that mixed science with supernatural, life with death, and power with subjugation. </p><p><br /></p><p>One of those scientists was Assante "Murder" Legendre, the villain of the classic 1931 horror film,"White Zombie." And Brent soon learns that Madeline Short Parker is the bride Legendre turned into a zombie for a short while.</p><p><br /></p><p>The now-elderly Madeline (the book is set more than a generation ago) recounts her horrifying experience as a virtual slave to Legendre, and the atrocities inflicted on her.</p><p><br /></p><p>Through more than 500 pages, "Patron Saints ..." takes us through a journey of history, culture, books, newspapers and several score of genre films to weave a compelling tale of a man meandering his way through zombie, voodoo, crime, death, murder, mad scientists, and more, to find his roots. Dello Stritto has <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Books-Frank-J-Dello-Stritto/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AFrank+J.+Dello+Stritto">done this before, with novels about the traditional Universal monsters</a> (Frankenstein's, Dracula, The Wolf Man), Carl Denham's "legacy" of giant apes, and the Mummy film genre. </p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>(I digress to note that I have helped proofread for style and grammar, nearly all of Dello Stritto's books. However, proofing is not the same as reading for pleasure, and I have read a second time all of these books prior to review</i>.)</p><p><br /></p><p>"Patron Saints ..." shows the maturity of the author's skills, as it weaves the coincidences a protagonist needs to encounter-by-chance (or fate?) dozens of surviving characters of films. From New York to New Orleans, to the Carribbean, back to the East Coast, through the United States, into the Intermountain West, to California and back to the Carribbean, every plot twist and scene sequence seems natural. The narrative flow works.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is important because "Patron Saints ..." is a novel that readers unfamiliar with the voodoo/zombies' films genre can easily get into and enjoy. That's not to say his other works are lacking, but this one impressed me as a very enthusiastic recommendation to my family members and friends who -- unlike me -- haven't watched 1,0001-plus genre films.</p><p><br /></p><p>However, genre fans will revel in how the plot moves from film to film and to characters we've enjoyed watching in theater or on screen. There are so many. They even include Carl Kolchak, the Night Stalker reporter. Readers in the know can spend time guessing the films that enter the plot; or the film producers: Monogram, Producers Releasing Corporation, '50s low-budget studios, the Halperin Bros zombies films, the film "Freaks," TV show episodes boomers loved, blaxploitation chillers from the '70s, and so on. </p><p><br /></p><p>Even Indiana Jones is mentioned in the novel, as research for Brent, who peruses an old academic journal of Henry Jones Jr.'s adventures in northern India -- in the "Temple of Doom" -- with the Cult of Kali Ma. Dr. Jones narrowly escaped a fate that put him in a "black sleep," ... Alive but like a nightmare," ... only able to follow the commands of high priest Mola Ram. (1)</p><p><br /></p><p>There is one passage where Brent and his lady companion visit the decrepit home of the <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0723103/">Incredible Doctor Markesan</a> (from TV's "Thriller.") Our protagonist meets a survivor of that episode, who seems barely alive. He claims the house empty and that those sounds on the second floor are just the house being old. This was a passage that gave your reviewer goose bumps while reading.</p><p><br /></p><p>Also, as in his other books, "Patron Saints ..." is full of film stills presented as historical artifacts -- either press or found -- that provide readers glimpses of the characters in the pages. Also, film scholar Dello Stritto has done impeccable research, providing art of practices described in the book, such as dissection, the work of grave robbers Burke and Hare, and even a 16th century print of a plague of uncontrollable dancing.</p><p><br /></p><p>Although Dello Stritto's topic is zombies, he makes it clear that there are no "Romero-inspired" flesh-eating zombies in the novel. The book is an attempt to reclaim the zombie genre to its roots, in films such as "White Zombie." From Dello Stritto's Notes to Readers:</p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>"Like Voodoo, zombie (or "zombi") is more complex than portrayed in popular culture. The original meaning was a spirit or ghost, but in the Caribbean and in popular culture a zombie is the living dead, an animated corpse. Before the mid 1960s, western popular culture portrayed zombies in their traditional role, as toiling in plantation fields or sugar mills, as the mindless slaves of their overseers. For the past half century, zombies in popular culture have been portrayed as hordes of carnivorous, infectious fiends. That recasting perhaps, is the unkindest cut of all.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>"But zombies do exist."</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p>I end this review with a fun, memorable anecdote. I re-read this novel recently on vacation in Hungary, where our family owns a Soviet-style condo.</p><p><br /></p><p>One day we visited the city of Pecs, which is only about 36 miles from the Croatian border. It was a hot day, and I took a brief time out under trees in a park. While reading, I came to page 363, where it tells more about the history of the three "Legendre" scientist brothers.</p><p><br /></p><p>It reads: <i>'Richard Marlowe and Paul Renault, the younger two of the Legendre brothers, both attended the University of Pecs in Hungary</i>."</p><p><br /></p><p>Indulge me, but it just seemed really cool, and unique, to be reading that passage in a park in Pecs Hungary. I think I can easily claim to be the sole reader with that experience ... so far.</p><p><br /></p><p>1) <i>In the 2023 film, "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," Dr. Jones says he was previously "tortured by voodoo," forced to drink the blood of Kali.</i></p>Plan9Crunchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04818205539289836323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478737609645206210.post-38606483850841791132023-06-03T12:08:00.001-07:002023-09-16T09:01:08.634-07:00Review: Godzilla versus Kong, the 2021 remake<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_da4tt1ZLLDUm5-NBdsZcPax6GdM4TeG-TVhHoyJvhoXszKXf1CMr_te7cwasCOOs0rYfmVgTAHGkSuuCJ8zpvIsHcb-m8_ozdIQ6KUzx7UDLZtR5qknE1iguRzcztHjH-62S9xIkO2w5pqkcdKrj_zX-pkjvgppfulh5Ls_MlNAsUopjx_CPhizq/s2223/GvK%20poster.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2223" data-original-width="1500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_da4tt1ZLLDUm5-NBdsZcPax6GdM4TeG-TVhHoyJvhoXszKXf1CMr_te7cwasCOOs0rYfmVgTAHGkSuuCJ8zpvIsHcb-m8_ozdIQ6KUzx7UDLZtR5qknE1iguRzcztHjH-62S9xIkO2w5pqkcdKrj_zX-pkjvgppfulh5Ls_MlNAsUopjx_CPhizq/w270-h400/GvK%20poster.jpeg" width="270" /></a></div><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><p><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">--</span></p><b>Review and analysis by Joe Gibson</b></span><p></p><p><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On March 31st, 2021, Godzilla vs Kong opened
jointly in theaters and on streaming in an admittedly uphill struggle. It
was late in the pandemic, and even though the trailer two months prior had
garnered great interest, the earlier failure of Christopher Nolan's Tenet to
"save movie theaters" threatened GvK's chances in theaters.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">At the
same time, HBO Max had not spread internationally, so the film would depend on
its theatrical gross. And of course the previous film in Legendary's
Monsterverse, Godzilla King Of The Monsters, had underperformed, both critically
and financially. Even against those odds, Godzilla vs Kong opened to $32
million, a record in the pandemic, beating out Wonder Woman 1984's
opening weekend of $16.7 million and going on to gross $470.1 million total.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Positive word of mouth and initial positive critical reception
indeed helped to find this movie its audience, but even as the ever-present
critiques of kaiju eiga, plot and characters, trickled into reviews, it did not
hinder the film's historic theatrical run. The message seemed clear: in
the shaky and uncertain world, people wanted escapism. The world wanted
something less complicated than Tenet, more inoffensive than Wonder Woman
1984. Millions of people lined up to see "big monkey punch big
lizard" and so (debatably) saved the movie theater. As its sequel Godzilla
x Kong: The New Empire is going to release next year, it is worth revisiting
Godzilla Vs Kong to see how well it holds up two years later.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><b>TWO OPEN PLOTLINES</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><b><br /></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Godzilla Vs Kong has two open plotlines that
intersect at various points in the film before converging at the end.
Kong acts out a version of his classic story, where opportunistic humans remove
him from his home and he defends a girl with whom he shares a special bond from
monsters, with the added twists of the looming threat of Godzilla and lingering
hope that he might find a new home with others like him. Meanwhile,
Godzilla has seemingly turned against humanity, attacking a suspicious
cybernetics company, which inspires an intrepid trio to investigate the company
and vindicate the King of The Monsters.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It turns out that said
cybernetics company has resurrected Godzilla's archenemy King Ghidorah into
Mechagodzilla, which stresses him out. It might seem from this description
that the film does not justify the title, but that is not one of the problems
with the plot. The movie plays up Godzilla's territoriality and Kong's
stubbornness to a believable degree with their first ocean battle.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After
their plotlines diverge, they coincide through the harvesting of Hollow Earth
energy perturbing Godzilla, causing him to drill into the Hollow Earth throne
room, destroying Kong's new home. Godzilla destroying all the progress of
Kong's arc is fascinating, and it leaves Kong with only one option: to fight
Godzilla with an old axe, the last remnant of his lost family. The issue
with this structure is that the Godzilla and Kong sides of the story are not
exactly equal in quality.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><b>AN EXPRESSIVE KONG</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><b><br /></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">Kong's supporting cast consists of Alexander
Skarsgard's Nathan Lind, Rebecca Hall's Ilene Andrews, Kaylee Hottle's Jia, and
Eiza Gonzalez's Maia Simmons. Demian Bichir as Walter Simmons and Shun
Oguri as Ren Serizawa appear in both the Kong and Godzilla halves to serve as
connective tissue across the movie. It is easily apparent how much the
focus of this plotline is to pay homage to past King Kong films, but this part
of the movie is also very innovative for the character of Kong: he is even more
expressive than in Son of Kong or Kong: Skull Island, he continues to use
improvised tools but also can find or build actual weapons now, and his human
companion is a deaf girl with whom he can speak sign language.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">The deaf
girl Jia makes Kong's story even more tragic for being the last remaining of
the Iwi people, the civilization that this Kong used to protect in order to
find meaning and quell loneliness. Ilene Andrews also cares for Jia as a
surrogate mother, a subversion of the Jack and Ann dynamic. Maia Simmons
is a very interesting character, being a mostly unlikeable and unpleasant
addition to the party that betrays the group and suffers a karmic death for
it. In that regard, she seems similar to Captain Helstrom from Son of
Kong; she is slightly more humanized by her concern for Jia early on in the
movie and her professionalism in order to run a sizable part of the
company. However, by far, the most interesting of these human characters
is Nathan Lind, who is the lead specialist on the mission to bring Kong to
Hollow Earth.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">In one of the film's many "Easter Eggs," we first
see Nathan Lind in the basement of "Denham University" in
Philadelphia. Of course, Carl Denham was the principal character of the
original King Kong as well as its sequel Son of Kong, the person most
responsible for stripping Kong of his home and his life. It is a great
nod to the audience that this is in fact a King Kong film, but the movie also
takes on new depth with the interpretation that this "Easter Egg" is a clue that
Lind is functionally the Denham of this movie.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">Carl Denham or a stand-in of him is generally
present in every King Kong story one way or another, but the original is still
the most morally complex. He is a showman manipulating an animal to his
own ends, but he is still a good person who shows remorse for his actions in
the end. One layer of subtext deeper, and he is the colonizing white man
invading a foreign land, taking away the indigenous people's king to put on
stage, the king that is shot down when he tries to escape servitude. But
Carl Denham does not actually have malice in carrying out this role and is left
to witness the consequences of his horrible mistakes. Meanwhile, Mr. Tako
from the original King Kong vs Godzilla is a parody of a corrupt company
executive, and Fred Wilson from King Kong 1976 is merely a corrupt company
executive. Jack Black's version of Denham in King Kong 2005 is more
obsessive and self destructive and less sympathetic but still carries the same
plot role.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">Son Of Kong and King Kong 1976 represent the two
extremes of the spectrum that this character exists on: one where he is
fundamentally good and redeemable and one where he is fundamentally bad and
irredeemable. Son Of Kong follows Denham evading the numerous lawsuits
and other legal consequences after bringing King Kong to America, where he
joins Captain Englehorn's crew again, eventually returning to Skull Island
looking for buried treasure with Captain Helstrom, the man who gave him the
original map to Skull Island and Hilda Peterson, a kindhearted circus girl who
has compassion towards monkeys. Hilda, Englehorn, the cook Charlie and
even Little Kong are all good influences on Denham that motivate him to improve
over the course of the movie.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">Meanwhile, in King Kong 1976, Fred Wilson is
seeking oil from the newly discovered Skull Island. He is framed as a
quite stupid man, who despite becoming fast friends with the environmentalist
crusader Jack Prescott, descends into villainy by kidnapping Kong after being
separated from Prescott for a while. Wilson traps Kong to put up a show
as an advertisement for his company Petrox, but Kong escapes and crushes Wilson
underfoot. He does not even get to witness Kong's fall from the
towers.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><b>FALLING FROM GRACE</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><b><br /></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">I say all this because Lind falls more on the
Son Of Kong side of this scale. Both are sympathetic from having fallen
from grace prior. In Son Of Kong, Denham faces lawsuits for the Kong
situation. Meanwhile, Lind is a discredited scientist, following his own
brother's death trying to enter the Hollow Earth. Lind is actually very
opportunistic and puts Kong in danger selfishly to vindicate his own
discredited scientific hypotheses, but over the course of the movie,
circumstance gradually forces him into situations where he has to protect Kong
until he ultimately risks his life to take responsibility for his role in
Kong's defeat against Godzilla.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">At first, Lind does not allow himself to
empathize with Kong, because he sees Kong as a tool, evident with his
suggestion to ease up on the sedative so that Kong will be able to carry out
his task upon arriving in Antarctica. He has no good answer for what will
happen if Kong does not want to serve them until one presents itself in the
form of Jia's communication with Kong, at which point Lind constantly presses
Andrews to force Jia to tell Kong to do what they need. By that point, it
is too late to oppose Lind's quick solutions, because he has put the team in
perilous enough positions to justify his quick solutions.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">Actually, that is another important facet of
Lind's character. Both he and Walter Simmons do not stick to a plan and
instead think on their feet, thriving on crazy ideas. Until of course
their luck runs out, at which point Lind takes responsibility for his mistakes
and Simmons does not, narratively leading to the redemption of one and downfall
of the other.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">Interestingly for Lind's character arc, there
are also instances where the tough circumstances necessitate that he do
something to protect Kong. Starting with the Tasman sea set piece, Kong
is sedated and chained, while Godzilla swims over to them and capsizes the
vessel. Lind has previously been resistant to releasing Kong's restraints
under any conditions but swims through the now submerged vessel to unchain
Kong. It is certainly a start for protecting Kong, but he had literally no
other option. With no one in Godzilla's way, he would destroy both of
them and for the first time in the movie, Lind and Kong's fates are
intertwined.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">The film’s commentary track clarifies the intent of the
scene as such by showing Lind and Kong screaming underwater at the same
time. Later on, after the team makes it through the Hollow Earth gravity
inversion, Kong falls right past him, and their eyes meet. Lind is once
again aware of the risks he is putting Kong through and seems uncomfortable.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">The next major step in Lind's character arc is
when the pair of snakelike Warbats attack. Kong kills one but the other
ensnares him. Lind has more options here. If Kong dies, then the
mission is over, but Lind is no longer in direct danger. And there is even
the chance Kong could win this fight on his own, but Lind does not wait to see,
instead firing on the Warbat to give Kong the upper hand. Once the exploration
team reaches the Throne Room, Lind takes in the sights with the others and also
does not protest the Apex droid harvesting a sample of the Hollow Earth
energy. That is why he is there, after all.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">The attack of the Hellhawks progresses matters
however. Maia Simmons makes it away, but one Hellhawk menaces Andrews and
Jia. They have derided him as a coward, but they have also trusted him,
and, going along with Son Of Kong's Denham redemption story, they are his good
influences to redeem him from his mistakes. So, Lind distracts the
Hellhawk. Once they escape and watch Kong fight against Godzilla, Lind
also sees the disappointment in Jia upon Kong's defeat.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><b>A NEW SPIN ON THE DENHAM ROLE</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><b><br /></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Just as Denham before him, Lind witnesses a
collapsed dying Kong but this time has the maturity and quick thinking to take
responsibility for removing Kong from his island and moving him into
confrontations with Godzilla. But Lind's maneuver here is of the highest
risk and lowest benefit to himself yet. He has to detonate the HEAV's
engine manually on Kong's chest to restart his heart. The mission is
finished, and Kong is already dying, but Lind has to make things right even if
he cannot get away from the defibrillating HEAV explosion fast enough.
Luckily, he can, and he finds purpose monitoring Kong in the Hollow Earth at
the very end of the movie. This is a very interesting new spin on the
Denham role in Kong's story that I believe has been underappreciated.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">Kong's expressive nature and agency in this
story grants him a lot of memorable scenes, but arguably the most impactful
part of Kong's story in this movie is his final battle against Godzilla.
It actually adapts the end of Kong's original story very cleverly to a story
where he is fighting Godzilla. First of all, whereas Kong wound up in New
York originally because humans stripped him away from his home, he climbs to
Hong Kong because Godzilla has just taken his new home, the last thing he had
left, away from him. The ebb and flow of his battle against Godzilla is
compelling; Kong is perpetually the underdog but has a chance up until he
knocks Godzilla out and loses the axe. From that point on their conflict,
it plays out surprisingly close to Kong's confrontation with the
biplanes.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">A MASSIVE MISTAKE</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">Kong climbs high up onto a building that even
resembles the Empire State Building to jump down on Godzilla, which turns out
to be a massive mistake. The destination is the same but with a slightly
different journey to get there. The next few seconds are an onslaught of
attacks by Godzilla that thoroughly trounce Kong, beating him near to
death. After an effort to get back up, he falls in roughly the same
position he does in the original story. I have seen criticism of this
movie and the Monsterverse as a whole for never bringing King Kong to New York
or even America, but that is a superficial way to pay homage to the original
compared to what the filmmakers went with.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">Director Adam Wingard was
definitely aware of the similarities he was invoking; by his admission, the
slowing heartbeats of Kong that Jia feels moments later is an homage to the
ending of the 1976 King Kong. Here, it actually makes more sense, given
that Jia has felt vibrations previously in the movie. According to other
statements by Wingard, he still heavily opposed killing off Kong permanently
here, and this seems to explain why the film redeemed its "Denham" as
it did.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><b>ON TO GODZILLA</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><b><br /></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">The segments pertaining to investigating
Godzilla's rampage are less inspired but also include some interesting
stuff. Wingard has stated that while the Team Kong segments are meant to
explore the past, the bright neon colors and technological advancement present
in Team Godzilla's scenes are supposed to represent the future. Millie
Bobby Brown headlines these scenes as the returning character Madison Russell,
uncovering the secrets of the sinister Apex Cybernetics with the help of her
friend Josh Valentine (Julian Dennison) and a paranoid conspiracy podcaster
Bernie Hayes (Brian Tyree Henry). Walter Simmons, as the larger scope
villain of the movie, slowly reveals his plot and the true purpose of his
underling Ren Serizawa: to create and pilot Mechagodzilla in order to provoke,
destroy and replace Godzilla.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">Despite being a fun subplot evocative of a
similar set-up in the original Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla, this part of the film
incurs more substantial criticism. For one, most reviews indicate these
characters to be bland, with Madison specifically labeled a weak protagonist
and Ren Serizawa specifically singled out as being very underdeveloped and
wasted. The erratic rampages of Godzilla at the occurrence of
Mechagodzilla's inexplicable blinking eyeball is also a very difficult puzzle
to solve in regards to this film's plot. Upon a rewatch, however, there
is slightly more nuance to these issues.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">Madison is indeed rather uninspired as the lead,
and the uselessness of Josh does not improve matters, but Bernie is a rather
compelling addition to the series. He takes after comedic characters in
the Godzilla series, especially Kazuma Aoki from Godzilla Vs Mechagodzilla II,
whose bizarre interests annoyed his more straitlaced coworkers and who also
broke away from his occupational responsibilities to investigate Godzilla's
motives for attacking. However in this film, Bernie has a concrete motive
for his undercover research into Apex Cybernetics, that being the death of his
wife (expanded in the novelization to be likely at the hands of Apex
themselves). Because of Bernie's personal stake in the arc and equal
screen presence to Madison, he is debatably the actual protagonist of this arc
instead. What is interesting about Bernie and Madison's dynamic is that
regardless of which one is the protagonist, the other is structurally their mentor.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">Madison upholds Bernie as a valuable source of
wisdom and information, as we see through her subscription to his podcast, and
Bernie, after an initial "refusal to the call" accepts Madison's
mission by virtue of her connection to Emma Russell (a controversial eco
terrorist and Titan advocate from the previous movie). Bernie also ends
up learning how to move on from his wife through bringing down Apex with
Madison's help as well as moving on to his next lead, asking Madison's father
about the Monarch base near Roswell, because of their forged
friendship.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">There are certain scenes where the movie seems
to be deliberately making it ambiguous who the focus is between Madison and
Bernie. When they first enter the Skull Crawler sacrifice pit, Bernie
explains the situation and leads the children through, but the large Skull
Crawler chases Madison. Likewise, when Walter Simmons confronts them
towards the end, the scene begins with Bernie stating his purpose but ends with
Simmons identifying Madison as the important figure. Conversely, when
they discover Ghidorah's skull, Bernie relays the relevant information, and
Madison's contributions to the scene are as minimal as identifying that there
is a pilot and not who that pilot is.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">That is only significant for this
analysis, because she should know the pilot, Ren Serizawa, and that would have
increased her emotional stake in the story. Godzilla King Of The Monsters
established that the Russells and the Serizawas were close family friends, to
the point where Ishiro Serizawa, Ren's father, often repeated the same joke to
Andrew Russell, Madison's brother. Madison would definitely recognize
Ren, and the only reason the movie would ignore that fact is so as to not
overshadow Bernie's development. Of course, that leads naturally into the
problem of Ren Serizawa's wasted potential in this movie.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">To understand exactly how much potential Ren
Serizawa had as a character in this franchise, it is important to note how much
the Monsterverse has borrowed from the 90s Gamera trilogy.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In both Gamera: Guardian Of The Universe and
Godzilla 2014, the title monster awakens and fights multiple of an ancient and
natural enemy (the birdlike Gyaos for Gamera the turtle and the insectoid MUTOs
for Godzilla). In Gamera 2: Advent of Legion and Godzilla King Of The
Monsters, the title character goes through a cycle of death and rebirth and
gains new powers to defeat an extraterrestrial menace. In so doing,
Gamera had to break his connection to humanity, and, at the end of Godzilla King
Of The Monsters, one of the characters hypothesizes that Godzilla is only on
their side "for now." This is because the final installment of the
Gamera trilogy did a very similar thing to Godzilla vs Kong, in teasing the
audience that Gamera could have been the bad guy; Gamera 3: The Incomplete
Struggle leaned into it far more heavily. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnhf-WbxTuMZYh7lxhTLfrroVIYISIETtEL_s4Ytkbn3ucoqTp1UQw5ElIpVeSUG0TSH1W6yYW499B4R1x9-DI3_XsY4gDyQuCxao88FFbtVo7Lg-p5T1RJqRRB3PKXBEhyQGdhJf97fhjg3Yi7z3hhQV2qORD8o7WNM5OJIZFjmGltkncxkREhIlq/s1920/GvK%20review%20-%20ayana.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1031" data-original-width="1920" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnhf-WbxTuMZYh7lxhTLfrroVIYISIETtEL_s4Ytkbn3ucoqTp1UQw5ElIpVeSUG0TSH1W6yYW499B4R1x9-DI3_XsY4gDyQuCxao88FFbtVo7Lg-p5T1RJqRRB3PKXBEhyQGdhJf97fhjg3Yi7z3hhQV2qORD8o7WNM5OJIZFjmGltkncxkREhIlq/s320/GvK%20review%20-%20ayana.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There was a new protagonist, a bitter young girl
named Ayana (above) who lost her parents as collateral damage all the way back in the
final battle of Gamera: Guardian Of The Universe. The film entrenches the
viewer in Ayana's perspective as she nurtures a new monster named Irys that has
the potential to destroy Gamera. Gamera himself looks much meaner and
cares less about preventing collateral damage with the reemergence of the Gyaos
as a worldwide swarm. Irys grows in power as well as from Ayana's hatred
of Gamera, and even though he tries to consume her, and ancient art indicates
Irys and Gamera to be enemies, it is not really clear until the end which is
the hero and which is the villain.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is where fans feel that Ren
Serizawa's potential is squandered. The novelization for Godzilla King Of
The Monsters introduced through Ishiro Serizawa's dying thoughts that he had an
estranged son that he would be leaving by sacrificing himself for
Godzilla. Every other change in that film's novelization was to tie it
into the tie-in comics and tighten or clarify continuity, so this was clearly
setting up the next film.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">At the same time, allegedly, Mechagodzilla was a
part of Godzilla vs Kong before Legendary even hired Wingard. From
putting all these pieces together, it is likely that Ren had a more central
role (in fact in some of Wingard's previous drafts, Ren had a larger role and
even survived at the end). A film exploring the grief of a son who blames
Godzilla for the loss of his father as he creates an even worse mechanical
monster to replace him sounds very compelling and, compared to the version of
Ren Serizawa that we got, better. Even so, it is unfair to examine a character
based on a movie that did not happen. In the finished version of Godzilla vs
Kong, Ren Serizawa has roughly four scenes, juxtaposing different aspects of
his nature in an interesting way, and I can analyze those.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><b>Serizawa intelligent, cautious, insecure, sadistic</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><b><br /></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">Ren Serizawa is intelligent, cautious, insecure
and sadistic. From his first scene moodily watching Godzilla, it would
initially seem that he is remembering his father, but, given that the film
deleted any reference to his familial relations, there is another
explanation. Towards the end of the movie, he and Walter argue about the
risks of piloting Mechagodzilla and attracting a rampaging Godzilla.
Walter states that Godzilla has been coming for them ever since they first
built Mechagodzilla, indicating that they are not framing him or intentionally
provoking him; he just knows about the robot somehow and is trying to destroy
it.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">Ren is clearly cognizant of risks and demonstrates a certain level of
problem solving by coming to correct inferences from Lind's vague statements in
their recruitment of the scientist. It is very likely then that, in the
theatrical version of this movie, Ren was just trying to figure out why
Godzilla was attacking them, because, in that version of the film, they were
not intentionally provoking him to do so. Walter merely wants to escape
in the helicopter, but Ren takes a moment to try and satisfy his curiosity and
mitigate the risks.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">Another important moment as to discerning Ren's
motivations comes from the scene when Mechagodzilla fails from low power.
Walter states confidently that his daughter will find the Hollow Earth energy
signal, that he has faith in her, and Ren lowers his eyes as he hears it.
That shot communicates that Ren still is affected by his estrangement from his
father and that he seeks the kind of family Walter and Maia have at Apex.
Perhaps, that is even why Ren is there in the first place and even a way that
Simmons had manipulated him. Walter has a distinct hold on Ren in this
version. Whereas, in an earlier draft, Ren hired a hitman to kill Simmons
so he could take full control of Mechagodzilla, Ren listens to Simmons and
pilots Mechagodzilla after the energy upgrade despite the immense risks he lays
out moments before. That loyalty even as blindingly dangerous hints to
deeper motivations; admittedly the movie did not explore that enough in regards
to this character.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">In the Godzilla vs Kong commentary track, the
director, Adam Wingard, explains that he felt the Ren Serizawa character ended
up underwritten and so, he decided to cut certain scenes and keep a sort of
mystery surrounding him. That is why in the finished film, we get a very
simple image of a sickeningly wicked grin on his face as he uses Mechagodzilla
to kill the Skull Crawler and nothing more. Still, that is more than
enough to get a good view of this character. Smiling as he tortures an
animal to death is such a visceral image that communicates so much about his
character's sadism and contempt for Titans. Despite any other misgivings
about this character, that is such efficient imagery. Up to this point in
the movie, there was a sufficient mystery surrounding the character's actual
role, so when it turns out he is there to pilot Mechagodzilla, and the same
scene shows his sadistic intentions, it is a very powerful image.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcczvRLKwbE68B5kB9V5ZMHW3lqN7yb1oIVyO147A1khirKqp6cOBnErVOpo5El5Zy3EC230nEdmr1Vy16MvTR0-BnOtTp7-nG9h8XTLIYntSNBJtpG_GCILc6_LG1iidA-yVNUMCmXv1vlF8VIp89flfLfvsHUNmxmRrvzwM65e-wdqpqTlkf2nPk/s636/GvK%20review%20-%20Ren%20Skull%20Crawler.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="411" data-original-width="636" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcczvRLKwbE68B5kB9V5ZMHW3lqN7yb1oIVyO147A1khirKqp6cOBnErVOpo5El5Zy3EC230nEdmr1Vy16MvTR0-BnOtTp7-nG9h8XTLIYntSNBJtpG_GCILc6_LG1iidA-yVNUMCmXv1vlF8VIp89flfLfvsHUNmxmRrvzwM65e-wdqpqTlkf2nPk/s320/GvK%20review%20-%20Ren%20Skull%20Crawler.png" width="320" /></a></div><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><br /></span></p>Kong:
Skull Island established the Skull Crawlers to be utterly detestable monsters,
and so having Ren take so much glee in destroying them transfers some of that
depravity to him. In that light, his other traits flesh him out, since
his sadism seldom overpowers his cautiousness in the version we have. I
feel I have to relay all of this because the few reviewers that appreciate Ren
refer to him as a misunderstood "hero" for constructing Mechagodzilla
that just went about it poorly. The Skull Crawler scene seems to prove
otherwise.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">Another thing I appreciate about Godzilla vs
Kong is its soundtrack. It is not as impressive as Bear McCreary's use of
the Ifukube tracks in the previous film, but Tom Holkenborg crafted a familiar
yet distinct Godzilla theme, and the tracks corresponding to Kong's Throne Room
and the Hong Kong battle are very memorable.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><br /></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">Certain aspects of the plot are contrived, but
the film actually makes a lot more sense upon a rewatch. With certain
details in mind, it is clear that Mechagodzilla's eyeball alerting Godzilla to
its existence is not a part of Simmons' plan, nor Ren's nor Maia's.
Because Apex is harnessing the psionic capabilities of King Ghidorah's skulls,
and the mech is not online during the Pensacola sequence to connect to the
satellite, only Ghidorah could have called Godzilla there, and that is quite
interesting. The consciousness of Ghidorah has waited until most of its
new mechanical body has been shipped from Pensacola to activate and taunt
Godzilla with its existence. Godzilla, quite exhaustively, hunted down
and killed Ghidorah in the previous film, so for him to sense the creature
returning and be unable to find it is the most stressful situation
possible. Consequently, he is vicious against Kong, not having the time
to deal with a potential challenge in the Tasman sea battle and misconstruing
Kong for an additional threat when he charges his axe.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">Godzilla seems to
enjoy fighting Kong, from his laugh after hitting Kong with his atomic breath,
justifying why he lets it go on for so long when the stakes are high as they
are. Further evidence that it is in fact Ghidorah controlling
Mechagodzilla's eye in Pensacola comes when the Hollow Earth energy overrides
Ren's control and switches consciousnesses to Ghidorah's; the eyes flicker with
energy. In light of that, there do not seem to be any outright holes in the
plot of this movie; just contrivances.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">For instance, it is very lucky
that Apex has a transcontinental shipping system, and it is also very lucky
that the Throne Room is directly beneath Hong Kong so that Godzilla can drill
there. It is forgivable because this luck is leveraged as something
Simmons depends on, and it is a luck that eventually runs out for the
character. There is also nothing that strictly prevents any of these
scenes from being possible in the universe of the film, except Godzilla and
Kong fighting on an aircraft carrier that would weigh less than either of them
individually.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><b>TECHNICAL ASPECTS IN FILM</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""><b><br /></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">There are also technical issues from the movie's
production. After Godzilla King Of The Monsters underperformed, Wingard
changed the story several times, essentially stitching the movie together from
different takes. It is mostly smooth because he had shot five hours of
footage to work with, but because of the scene shuffling, Bernie and Josh are
wearing different shirts in some shots than they should be. Some of the
dialogue also sounds slightly off, as if from two different takes, and Kong's
cgi model infamously clips through a couple of buildings in the final fight.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif""> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="Arial, "sans-serif"">There do not seem to be any noticeable cg issues
in the Tasman Sea fight, though that is likely because, as Wingard explains on
the commentary track, the crew built the ship set twice (once right side up and
once capsized to fill with water) in order to more convincingly integrate the
action. Overall, from the creativity of the Hong Kong battle sequences,
and the mixture of practical and computer generated effects in the Tasman Sea
fight, this movie gives the sense of being choreographed the way that Willis
O'Brien, Eiji Tsuburaya, and Koichi Kawakita would have done it in their Kong
and Godzilla films if they had access to the same technology.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLfRabYfm-HKh1ZuofoHDZoDFRLplPiF1HVpve9gB0NsM3-wkVb-hOIufFEfha45fj-c55vOLr8AiIy_5V2MB5_4TFDCUIAMztBw-s7AjNayFQw5QzSO6p9h-od0XrIPGC6_v-FdHVjaNkQYbJ7GENEPqUPaHZQGjSD1BBA3_2BL-uDJXOwnFmrxL8/s500/GvK%20review%20tsuburaya.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="379" data-original-width="500" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLfRabYfm-HKh1ZuofoHDZoDFRLplPiF1HVpve9gB0NsM3-wkVb-hOIufFEfha45fj-c55vOLr8AiIy_5V2MB5_4TFDCUIAMztBw-s7AjNayFQw5QzSO6p9h-od0XrIPGC6_v-FdHVjaNkQYbJ7GENEPqUPaHZQGjSD1BBA3_2BL-uDJXOwnFmrxL8/s320/GvK%20review%20tsuburaya.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In conclusion, Godzilla Vs Kong is a very
enjoyable movie that respects the history of both characters and constructs a
simple plot around them with engaging characters and a decent soundtrack.
The fights are the main draw, and for good reason given how impressive they
really are, but it is unfair to discount the deeper elements present in the
film. All that said, I hesitate to call it one of the very best Godzilla
or Kong movies ever made, even if it is a personal favorite. There are
preceding films with stronger thematic messages, more poignant conflict
resolutions and stronger characters, but this film's strengths are still unique
to it. The film has made enough innovations for Kong to elevate him into
new stories, and Godzilla remains a great interpretation of himself, but I look
forward primarily to the ways that Godzilla X Kong: The New Empire can use what
this movie set up to progress the story, characters and universe of these films
next year.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face=""Arial","sans-serif"" style="color: black; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></p>Plan9Crunchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04818205539289836323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478737609645206210.post-44477266795698442922023-05-27T11:13:00.004-07:002023-05-27T11:14:56.871-07:00Review: Warner Bros. 100 Years of Storytelling<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRxMNGcVbFehuGqLH-84d8H_Z7AON4aYXj-JBMSFRQdnWUqGD5pycSLXZnQVNuy6hhQ55DXgB7qmvrmmub60PNHzR3xWy4eXzL8_kGUOS9gKPhpfMbTgcsndS2sd46lFTLR6CVfOERVxjHUM6mmQ6T4432E3Qrn0ca5ROe-XtawfeeyvzRG2xEG4pI/s382/warner%20bros.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="382" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRxMNGcVbFehuGqLH-84d8H_Z7AON4aYXj-JBMSFRQdnWUqGD5pycSLXZnQVNuy6hhQ55DXgB7qmvrmmub60PNHzR3xWy4eXzL8_kGUOS9gKPhpfMbTgcsndS2sd46lFTLR6CVfOERVxjHUM6mmQ6T4432E3Qrn0ca5ROe-XtawfeeyvzRG2xEG4pI/s320/warner%20bros.jpg" width="251" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Readers of the Plan9Crunch blog may have realized that TCM has of late been showing a lot of Warner Bros. films. It's because the iconic film studio is realizing its centennial.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">On May 30, 2023, the volume <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Warner-Bros-100-Years-Storytelling/dp/0762482370/ref=asc_df_0762482370/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=598354936952&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12264580760038749297&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1026969&hvtargid=pla-1770229672281&psc=1">Warner Bros. 100 Years of Storytelling</a> (2023, Running Press, NYC), will be for sale. Written by Mark A. Viera, it's mostly a compendium of photos and awards Warner Bros. appropriately boasts of each year of the century. Although a Kindle version is available for reading on the go, this 360-page, exhaustively researched tome is at its heart a "coffee-table" book. It's best suited for interested parties to glance at the many illustrations, or for a film buff to sit in his or her easy chair and read a chapter on the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and so on. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Viera does a good, pithy job recapping the changes and evolving styles of the decades and how the studio reacted to the mores. I particularly liked his essay on the '70s, described as "The Era of the Auteur,." It talks of the young directors, inspired and emboldened to explore through film sexuality, race relations, politics and other controversial issues.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Although it's brief, TCM's Ben Mankiewicz provides an interesting forward in which he discusses being regarded as part of "Hollywood royalty" by virtue of his name. He notes that long ago, beginning in the pre-code era, Warner Bros, explored controversial topics, such as the plight of veterans in the film "Gold Diggers of 1933," and prison conditions in the film "I am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang." </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The book is moderately pricey but worth a buy, particularly for film buffs. You can leaf through it for hours, enjoying Viera's recaps, the photos of the films produced, and the Oscars tally sheets for each year.</span></p><p><i><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></i></p><p><i><span style="font-size: medium;">-- Doug Gibson</span></i></p>Plan9Crunchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04818205539289836323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478737609645206210.post-10924839464450834212023-05-24T13:08:00.002-07:002023-05-24T13:08:56.434-07:00 Three O'clock High - Don't Mess with the New Kid In School<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2pu-JPnhMHEMS0T9A0TvdgPkYMSubuVSNxcF0MHZupOIvV1q74F_146Kd8ede-BjVAuXECFrhbc2_LfG0rds-9RFDDx6R7HiP0r2N16MkHVxr3VLDnjxYHtSR64R__Mm9Aw6zrGfJR47Ox2KyQiZrq2Do8dEUNpB0u8nPBTu-JVguRVsCpKm7Mq-c/s475/3%20a%20clock%20high.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2pu-JPnhMHEMS0T9A0TvdgPkYMSubuVSNxcF0MHZupOIvV1q74F_146Kd8ede-BjVAuXECFrhbc2_LfG0rds-9RFDDx6R7HiP0r2N16MkHVxr3VLDnjxYHtSR64R__Mm9Aw6zrGfJR47Ox2KyQiZrq2Do8dEUNpB0u8nPBTu-JVguRVsCpKm7Mq-c/s320/3%20a%20clock%20high.jpg" width="224" /></a></div><p>---</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">The year is 1986, and I've just started my Freshman year at Ben Lomond High School in Ogden, Utah. During my third period gym class, a person claiming to be a casting agent for a movie being filmed at our rival school, Ogden High, is looking for stand-in actors to be used in crowd scenes. Being the young and naive 14 year old I was at the time, I assumed that I had to have actual acting capabilities and previous acting experience, so I did not sign up to be a stand in actor. What a great mistake I made that day. The movie turned out to be <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094138/">Three O'clock High</a>, released in 1987. Watching this movie today, it's fun for me to see many people I know in the movie, including a cousin.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">High School reporter and bookstore clerk Jerry Mitchell (Casey Siemaszko) is assigned to write a story about a tough new kid in school named Buddy Revell (Richard Tyson), who is seen as a bully and does not get along with anyone. Mitchell tries to call off the story when he confronts Revell in the school restroom, but then angers Revell who challenges Mitchell to a fight after school. Mitchell spends the rest of the film trying to figure out how to get out of the fight.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJhWZDZf4uDRFMFwknQG7EdPQBMb5iXV10AkuMobDPGtwr-QsiyZBilYUHJW5hubJZdaKfYHXW4yJxNLTJYYe9xvEHSU2yRSoZ2SZqKRqGmYG6DWeAzcBX0CCwx4IB02mfIs6ah_wsPKuuDICPkLccTuWoLt01_hi9nhgG2TzoNyluB-pwQykNs5yb/s2194/3%20a%20clock%20high%20still.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1249" data-original-width="2194" height="182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJhWZDZf4uDRFMFwknQG7EdPQBMb5iXV10AkuMobDPGtwr-QsiyZBilYUHJW5hubJZdaKfYHXW4yJxNLTJYYe9xvEHSU2yRSoZ2SZqKRqGmYG6DWeAzcBX0CCwx4IB02mfIs6ah_wsPKuuDICPkLccTuWoLt01_hi9nhgG2TzoNyluB-pwQykNs5yb/s320/3%20a%20clock%20high%20still.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Mitchell has a knife planted in Revell's locker to try and get him suspended from school. He even steals money from the school bookstore cash register to pay off another student to threaten Revell. When that fails, Mitchell's last attempt is to try and pay off Revell to leave him alone. When Revell accuses Mitchell of being a coward, Mitchell decides to go through with the fight in the parking lot after school.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">The 1980s was a time when teenagers became an important and marketable subject in film. By the mid-1980s, filmmaker John Hughes had cornered the market on the teen romantic comedy genre of films of teenagers in High School. His great classics include Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985), Ferris Buehler's Day Off (1986), and Pretty In Pink (1986). Not only did these films resonate with teenagers of the 1980s, but they all included iconic soundtrack music that defines the 80s decade.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;">Three O'clock High director Phil Joanou perhaps saw his film as an opportunity to cash in on the success of Hughes' teenage romantic comedy films that were so popular in the 1980s. Three O'clock High focuses less on any romantic aspect and more on the conflict of teenagers just trying to make it through high sSchool, or even just trying to make it through the day. We all know what it's like to have to deal with bullies in school. Three O'clock High taps into this problem, but does it in a way that is entertaining and fun. Happy viewing.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b>-- Steve D. Stones</b></p>Plan9Crunchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04818205539289836323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478737609645206210.post-78444168942420615192023-05-20T06:13:00.001-07:002023-05-20T06:13:24.048-07:00A chat with Dean Patrick, author of the Terra Drake dark horror novels<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy5l3J88tmDReN4VxhFvkZj0mwmPdXfbayPxWbV4F0eTbRrzRchTF6dg2Bp2IEgGtUtJ6w-hYdAndoSvzqwf5YFyyOgozTApPxL9qAyispv_DaqFemZ-LkPagmVgKyML-lpp3HDr6NyZOiyQU5c1PffvzDuvK_ddM1SfgWRoKNBTmIMb7bX1ml10Db/s500/lady.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy5l3J88tmDReN4VxhFvkZj0mwmPdXfbayPxWbV4F0eTbRrzRchTF6dg2Bp2IEgGtUtJ6w-hYdAndoSvzqwf5YFyyOgozTApPxL9qAyispv_DaqFemZ-LkPagmVgKyML-lpp3HDr6NyZOiyQU5c1PffvzDuvK_ddM1SfgWRoKNBTmIMb7bX1ml10Db/s320/lady.jpg" width="213" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">--</span><p></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>This is Doug Gibson, of Plan9Crunch blog. We are fortunate to have an in-depth interview with Dean Patrick, author of the dark horror novels, "The Lady Mephistopheles," (reviewed <a href="https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-lady-mephistopheles-is-compelling.html">here</a>) and "Terra's Sabbath," (reviewed <a href="https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2023/05/terras-sabbath-part-2-of-planned.html">here</a>). These are great novels with unforgettable characters and a uniquely evil antagonist, Terra Drake. A trilogy is planned, with the final likely in about a year. Below is our interview: The novels are published by <a href="http://www.twbpress.com/">TWB Press</a>, Centennial, Colo.</i></span></span></p><p><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial;"><span style="background-color: white; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i><br /></i></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Who is Terra Drake? What does she represent in history, mythology and theology? What is her purpose for being on the earth at this time?</b></span></p><span id="docs-internal-guid-0c8fc4a4-7fff-f3b9-ad58-dab9d17efd58"><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DEAN PATRICK -- Terra Drake is the living Satan on earth for the modern times. But her literal presence is Lilith, the mythological character who is believed by many religions to be Adam’s first wife in the Garden of Eden, a woman who slept with Satan. Her purpose on earth is to destroy the children. In her quest in doing so she finds different specific characters who she lures into her world of witchery and Satanism. Terra specifically uses confusion to lure in her victims. She gives her victims inner thoughts of what could be, then when in her grasp, the deal is sealed with something completely different than what they thought. She also, of course, hits her victims at their weakest points. If it is sex, she owns you. If it is drugs or alcohol, she controls you. It goes from those character faults to the very worst of us via rape, murder, betrayal and chaos within religions and political power to that of the serial killer. </span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>The same questions for Adrian Kane. You might want to expound on how easily their demonic influence overwhelms other minor characters.</b></span></p><br /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DEAN PATRICK - Adrian Kane aka Cain aka Adramelech is the literal Cain from Genesis, the first murderer. His goal on earth is the same as Terra’s. He is the rightful overlord of evil - even over Satan. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Terra and Kane work together as a team that is an overwhelming force to anyone they lure into their lair. These are transformative figures, meaning they shape shift to what is needed with who can be tempted with what. Kane can be seen as a pervert or a gunslinger or a high priest. Terra’s power initially comes with a sexuality that can overtake any man or woman. From there, she has the power to present power itself if that is what is needed. This duo represents the core nature of our humanity when tempted with what hits us the most deeply. Whether it is sex or drugs or pure chaos, this duo has the power to take a person to levels never experienced so that an inner destruction takes place that is almost guaranteed. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDA2EwA8cLNU4aWMemZO12CEO5ZO9CqUJ8HJkeBMD7ZLBgYuf6kgItUzeXL5FJIdHVPYV5dSoFFVtxrLq8hyHvy6NDj9Z_jl_6JDzOlUJmURHJi6tMAot7clm4b67Pl5CR-XwQcuOjSs8rJ_k5izKrdqbsOX4Vuj8fEi-abisJmZS1Ex7mkcySHKb2/s630/terras%20sabbath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="408" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDA2EwA8cLNU4aWMemZO12CEO5ZO9CqUJ8HJkeBMD7ZLBgYuf6kgItUzeXL5FJIdHVPYV5dSoFFVtxrLq8hyHvy6NDj9Z_jl_6JDzOlUJmURHJi6tMAot7clm4b67Pl5CR-XwQcuOjSs8rJ_k5izKrdqbsOX4Vuj8fEi-abisJmZS1Ex7mkcySHKb2/s320/terras%20sabbath.jpg" width="207" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">What does Marion, as an adversary of the above, represent, both in history and theology, and currently?</b></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DEAN PATRICK - Marion is the representation of humanity as a whole who is trying to overcome sin and evil. He is a cop with fabulous instincts about the entire world of evil with all he has seen. But more than that, Marion is able to use his skills to a different level because of an unshakeable moral compass. He is the Christ figure in</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Terra’s Sabbath</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. He was first seen in </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Lady Mephistopheles</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> as Steven Paul’s brother (younger brother). Marion ended up going to Duncan to help save his brother but ended up in the hospital, which sets the opening scene in </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Terra’s Sabbath</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b> Who and what does John (the cowboy type) represent?</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DEAN PATRICK - John is the literal figure of John the Beloved from the New Testament. Blessed with the power of immortality from Christ Himself, John has certain powers on earth. For one, Terra and Kane must listen to him and even obey his word. They have no influence over him in any way. But John does not ever use his power to completely save or take over a scene or person. He appears to those who need him when at a place where only an angel or a John can make a true difference. John always appears as as well-dressed gentleman of grace, but with enormous physical power and mental strength. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Dean Patrick, you have overcome personal demons, such as alcoholism? How have your life experiences helped shape these trilogy novels?</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DEAN PATRICK - I am a fierce alcoholic. Only by going through what I have overcome in addiction have I been able to write these books. No way I could have delved so deeply and so personally in these works’ creation had I not experienced first hand how bad things can get in life. They can get extremely bad, and as Terra would say, “They can always get much worse." Prisons. Rehabs. Death. Violence. Betrayal on every level. Ruining everything in any path and now living a life of sobriety has given me the ability to write such stories and create such characters. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the first book, </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Lady Mephistopheles</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, Steven Paul is me. Almost in every way his character represents who I am at my core when spiraling out of control in alcoholism. But unlike Steve, I never allowed it to kill me. In this book, I am part of Marion Paul. But just a part. Marion is a representation of my brother, Josh Nielsen, a man of incredible integrity and moral fiber as well as physical strength. He has all the traits needed to combat the force of Terra and Kane. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">However, in my sobriety, and those parts of me as a sober man with my own strength and skills, those, too, are pieces of Marion to stand ground against and Terra and Kane. I have faced women in my life who are far too close to Terra in reality. I have faced men like Kane in prisons. Only by facing such people in real life have I been able to create such characters in horror fiction whom I hope are characters who will scare and haunt readers and leave them with unforgettable moments. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">(<i>Dean Patrick's photo is below</i>)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWxKqhljvFe4_c62B4rvNpqlL2emeJ7G_g7ltK9SJKiySBziEsH3NHTchkgkEfM4k8HWw-L-69Q1kYZkd6aIpS7laDDjsEqZgymjtBkgoi2-YD-Laze7QLgWokduI3v_Wfm5qcjvnrTu0k-SvtlWEQ--MAzCCuCNoyVE7CWlZl19q2CYYFE4SxsFUq/s197/Dean%20Patrick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="160" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWxKqhljvFe4_c62B4rvNpqlL2emeJ7G_g7ltK9SJKiySBziEsH3NHTchkgkEfM4k8HWw-L-69Q1kYZkd6aIpS7laDDjsEqZgymjtBkgoi2-YD-Laze7QLgWokduI3v_Wfm5qcjvnrTu0k-SvtlWEQ--MAzCCuCNoyVE7CWlZl19q2CYYFE4SxsFUq/s1600/Dean%20Patrick.jpg" width="160" /></a></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">What impact do current political, social, religious and moral issues, have on the narrative you present?</b></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DEAN PATRICK - In </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Terra’s Sabbath</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, much more than the first book, I wanted to use a backdrop of the current sickness in modern culture. Terra Drake exposes this in the opening chapter in a dream sequence where she is the pure representation of how modern culture is doing everything possible to destroy our youth. From a trans movement that seeks out to force children to confuse their identity and sexuality, to a modern-day far left agenda that has declared war on every one of our personal freedoms, this is the complete package of Terra Drake. She represents anything this is confusing, anything that is contradictory, anything that is luring and tempting - all of it hangs around her waste and neck as a full armament to destroy us individually and collectively. She is written and created to offend everything and everyone regardless of consequence. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>What feedback are you getting from the Terra Drake trilogy? Share what you are doing to boost your profile?</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DEAN PATRICK - So far the feedback I’ve received from almost every reader has been incredible. From being terrified and truly disturbed, to feeling they have been on a hell ride they will never forget, these works have really affected people. Especially with Terra Drake. She’s become an unforgettable villain who has the power to hit everyone’s nerve in some way. An interesting story about finding an image or graphic to portray her took place just before publishing the first book. It was my wife, Lisa, who actually found a photo from a gothic website of a model who looks exactly how I have created the character. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I ended up needing to get permission, of course, to use her photography. The model’s name is Alfiia Mankin, and she lives in Moscow, Russia. I first received the permission needed from her husband, Sergey, who I ended up contacting through Russia’s social media platform equivalent to Facebook, called VK (Vkontakte). Alfiia herself was more than happy to give permission to use her artwork and photography, and both she and her husband have remained in contact with me from time to time over the past few years. It’s an incredible story, really, especially considering the war now going with their country and Ukraine. The photographs on both books and my website are her. I am also working this Russian story into the third book, but won’t give that away. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In conclusion, it is my hope that </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Terra’s Sabbath</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a novel that will take a reader on a near-biblical journey that we all face. Whether you believe in a God or not, this is a work that shows a battle that’s raging around us everywhere. We live in a world where our senses are assaulted every day, all day. This assault comes from an evil force, regardless if one believes it’s Satan or The Devil, there is an evil force our world faces that we have never seen before in history. It is completely different because it comes so fast and so overwhelming through technology. This kind of evil force, in my belief, can only be faced with an equal force of good. For me, that is God. Period. I knew early on in my sobriety that only such a force could overcome something as seemingly impossible as alcoholism. This is a God thing, and that’s what this book is about. The only way to stand our ground against such a force as a Terra Drake is to match it with something God-like.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thanks Dean for taking the time to talk with us.</span></p></span>Plan9Crunchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04818205539289836323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478737609645206210.post-69777500639844608052023-05-14T12:43:00.001-07:002023-05-14T12:43:21.013-07:00Terra's Sabbath, part 2 of a planned trilogy, is a superb dark horror novel<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7qpXXWS3xJAMEafBZWYLDcM_fa2ukcR_w-5mEr1qY_Ln1NEH1DhHbLNcMS1GK3UGDe71zYHUL3RHH-IuUtHbxINAWG3BLxxAwZxKf2gVEHYHtg3OVUKVvo48o1Emvq_4N5GAgAL8IzDztxtnc9Bl0RvYB8hX_93cKCT7Wvi655GwL9jTMiwtrS3aA/s630/terras%20sabbath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="408" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7qpXXWS3xJAMEafBZWYLDcM_fa2ukcR_w-5mEr1qY_Ln1NEH1DhHbLNcMS1GK3UGDe71zYHUL3RHH-IuUtHbxINAWG3BLxxAwZxKf2gVEHYHtg3OVUKVvo48o1Emvq_4N5GAgAL8IzDztxtnc9Bl0RvYB8hX_93cKCT7Wvi655GwL9jTMiwtrS3aA/w414-h640/terras%20sabbath.jpg" width="414" /></a></b></div><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">--</span></b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Review
by Doug Gibson<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I previously reviewed author Dean Patrick's novel,
"<a href="https://planninecrunch.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-lady-mephistopheles-is-compelling.html">The Lady Mephistopheles</a>." It introduced Terra Drake, a beautiful
demon for the 21st Century. The protagonist -- her prey -- Steve Paul fought a
valiant but doomed effort against her, hampered by personal, destructive vices
that Terra Drake exploited.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The sequel -- part 2 of a planned trilogy -- has
been released, and "<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Terras-Sabbath-Dean-Patrick-ebook/dp/B0C4HYRBJ9">Terra's Sabbath</a>", 2023, TWB Press, Centennial, CO, is a superb dark horror literary
work.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Terra's main opponent in this novel is cop/detective
Marion Paul, and yes, he's Steve's brother. Marion Paul is a tougher adversary
for Terra, but what he encounters in battling demons more than once has him
struggling to retain his sanity. The opening passages in the novel provide a
bizarre frightening, very descriptive ritual that includes a child sacrifice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Readers learn more background on Terra Drake,
her past, her original name, and exactly why she is in the 21st century
gathering followers. She and her allies destroy both souls and contemporary
civilization.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Author Patrick has a strong knowledge of metal rock
and cultural, social, and religious debates. He weaves contemporary issues,
biblical themes, and the misery of addiction to create a demon-fueled rising
that possesses ordinary people and leaves them devoid of humanity. I enjoy the
settings in the novel, small towns, bustling cities, hospital rooms, a small
"gas n'gulp" convenience store, a prison, horrific scenes in ordinary
homes; slaughter in a nightclub. There's also a 7-foot tall confederate of Terra's,
named Adrian Kane, who can become a werewolf. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Paul's prose has Marion both using face-to-face
interviews and researching past horrific crimes, including the recent Idaho
college student murders, to better understand his adversaries. Patrick crafts
an effective scene in which Marion visits a prison seeks answers from an unrepentant,
utterly evil killer.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Protagonists who are not superheroes, but
ordinary flawed people trying to be heroic are realistic heroes. That is Marion Paul. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As the novel progresses, Marion's efforts against
this evil include protecting a woman he's falling in love with, and protecting
his estranged daughter. It seems a very difficult task. Marion is, after all,
just human.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I mentioned
that author Patrick has the talent to inspire dread and horror in typical
situations. At a convenience store, he encounters a human-like “demon” named
Bridget Magnus. She physically embodies the deterioration and rot that evil
provides. She is one creepy character, and makes other appearances in “Terra’s
Sabbath.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">There’s also a homeless, addict war veteran whom Terra snares into her service. He simply has too many problem and too little
will to resist. Marion is a clear contrast to this character. He’s in the fight
of his life, and soul, against Terra, Adrian, Bridget, and others. But he’s
capable of fighting back, although as mentioned it’s an uneven match. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But Marion does have one ally that makes Terra
nervous. This ally, who had a cameo in “The Lady Mephistopheles,” steps in late
in the novel. His appearance may change the odds. We’ll certainly learn more in
Part 3 of the Terra Drake trilogy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The climax of "Terra's Sabbath" sets up an
eagerly anticipated battle for the souls of characters readers will care about,
with well-developed antagonists on both sides of good and evil. (<i>Author Dean Patrick's photo is below</i>).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2dWBrccOEHc6KirO33CbEJjwWmg9DeXt86OOfau8DKjBTlhnGfr8IST8Bl-Xg7jn67NJD43Ts1pqxZL9giBj_QBujkJVTYTNFscPO0SuuBME6Jk-8deq2IxUAB1AySlY401NfUltvoxERqup2oLkxJFxY9bei38yDzVM0HH28ncC5rsnX8e9DdAqD/s197/Dean%20Patrick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="197" data-original-width="160" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2dWBrccOEHc6KirO33CbEJjwWmg9DeXt86OOfau8DKjBTlhnGfr8IST8Bl-Xg7jn67NJD43Ts1pqxZL9giBj_QBujkJVTYTNFscPO0SuuBME6Jk-8deq2IxUAB1AySlY401NfUltvoxERqup2oLkxJFxY9bei38yDzVM0HH28ncC5rsnX8e9DdAqD/s1600/Dean%20Patrick.jpg" width="160" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><p></p>Plan9Crunchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04818205539289836323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478737609645206210.post-42018248221603889502023-04-30T14:54:00.001-07:002023-04-30T14:54:28.203-07:00John Fante's The Road to Los Angeles is a chaotic masterpiece novel<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgroIH8oRsQn7l03ezBTP5T5ciJBgLaKGqIdyF1H9lMFlbdKF92YhUpXcos03qVHq-sAXBMTd3TEbHamtt1Yd8uB8X0fGYMEBLXnvs8kLVmBk7EXYz-6IdELySpaE8sJLdWZjvet1ltdjuFU0CgwbJaufdYojxeSB8TIVXCElIij7_tqedGAwc2Bz67/s1000/Los%20Angeles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="661" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgroIH8oRsQn7l03ezBTP5T5ciJBgLaKGqIdyF1H9lMFlbdKF92YhUpXcos03qVHq-sAXBMTd3TEbHamtt1Yd8uB8X0fGYMEBLXnvs8kLVmBk7EXYz-6IdELySpaE8sJLdWZjvet1ltdjuFU0CgwbJaufdYojxeSB8TIVXCElIij7_tqedGAwc2Bz67/s320/Los%20Angeles.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><p>---</p><p><br /></p><p></p><p align="center" style="font-style: italic;">The Road to Los Angeles, by John Fante, Black Sparrow Press and Ecco, 164 pages, 1985. Originally written in the 1930s.</p><hr /><p><br /></p><p>John Fante's first novel, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Road-Los-Angeles-John-Fante/dp/0876856490">The Road to Los Angeles</a>, sat in the trunk for more than 50 years, finally to be published after his death. It's a brilliant, manic, energetic, wild at times almost incoherent novel of a pretentious well-read 18 year old, Arturo Bandini, trying to sow his oats in Depression-era Southern California. If Holden Caulfield had been on drugs, he might have resembled Arturo Bandini.</p><p><br /></p><p>The subject matter might have scared away 1930s publishers. Arturo, is to put it mildly, quite eccentric. He masturbates to photos of women who he develops fantasy relationships with, then executes them by tearing the pages apart. He scorns religion, mercilessly teasing his devout mother and sister. He's a thief, a vandal, and he delights in killing crabs and other small critters. He has a vivid imagination, and manages to write a novel in a week. He also has ups and downs, and frequently maims himself and thinks of suicide.</p><p><br /></p><p>What keeps The Road to Los Angeles at a fast pace is the vivid imagination of the author Fante. At times the novel seems written in a stream of consciousness, so quickly do ideas, mad, cruel or otherwise, flow from the mind of the character Bandini. One of the high points of the novel is Fante's description of fish canneries, where Bandini works. They are putrid, choking, grotesque factories where employees are paid 25 cents an hour and rewarded with a smell that no bath can wash away.</p><p><br /></p><p>Fante's spare, fast-paced prose, with short sentences, was an inspiration for Charles Bukowski, who regarded Fante as his idol. Fante eventually gravitated to Hollywood and wrote mostly screenplays. One Full of Life, was also made into a movie. However, hard living and untreated diabetes left him lame and blind. He was living in obscurity in the mid 1970s when Bukowski sought out his idol, and eventually stirred re-interest in Fante's work. The Road to Los Angeles is a must-read, a chaotic masterpiece. (<i>A photo of John Fante is below</i>.)</p><p style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-style: italic;">-- Doug Gibson</span></p><p style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifg_a4Vk9P8264uqGH6NE3OYkAHJ-OA8ydNzxmYcL5NvCYKvLJntq1MKucGo35toUL7OAJcLCGwHumfyrHHMh1d1ibDHNQ7acZp1sD47eBw2jB0LEFsX9DGq65wgV8963IIbMSGvbM0rIAboh3IXzgV7dqQF8tqQqAjV-iRxPyKGCmrMLQRJ1lUEWG/s679/John%20Fante.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="679" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifg_a4Vk9P8264uqGH6NE3OYkAHJ-OA8ydNzxmYcL5NvCYKvLJntq1MKucGo35toUL7OAJcLCGwHumfyrHHMh1d1ibDHNQ7acZp1sD47eBw2jB0LEFsX9DGq65wgV8963IIbMSGvbM0rIAboh3IXzgV7dqQF8tqQqAjV-iRxPyKGCmrMLQRJ1lUEWG/s320/John%20Fante.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></blockquote><p> </p>Plan9Crunchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04818205539289836323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478737609645206210.post-60176886581717658672023-04-08T22:43:00.003-07:002023-04-09T06:50:08.320-07:00Gamera versus Guiron was fun fare for kiddie monster movies<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvBhcT9KHGXNxSDVtRjaOe8P9Er3FAVXsfq2wtCw2G1_fRv5vvo0h9ILxDouCXese1GofnwnDa7JpMw6ToR6eplwZfglE1MX8tonn15qxt2uZvBFmsbvD2B4RAtlCw3caPBWIbheFqVQ8K3r6e07wuCW-Y7VdeBoPewjfyoAP25tt4qfcMmh5VBu_2/s1024/gamera%201024px-Ga05035.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="632" data-original-width="1024" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvBhcT9KHGXNxSDVtRjaOe8P9Er3FAVXsfq2wtCw2G1_fRv5vvo0h9ILxDouCXese1GofnwnDa7JpMw6ToR6eplwZfglE1MX8tonn15qxt2uZvBFmsbvD2B4RAtlCw3caPBWIbheFqVQ8K3r6e07wuCW-Y7VdeBoPewjfyoAP25tt4qfcMmh5VBu_2/s320/gamera%201024px-Ga05035.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPPS19PkkJDc1nb00ke7exHyLwUAZIgDZT0cnFTUwquKqFtuXwaqyM2VFXr5VY4O50ZTHCCRBKvgCPo0C2F3zdGPPx64bpYbqcnRGGWl8I8ccdo3ffUFwevttQgooCZUU6285_TFIl8d_Yu471usy95bJooPufVSPhH8UYQcArKG2RYV8KoZXWqnXT/s800/gamera%20800px-Gamera_and_Guiron_Anatomy_Promo_Picture.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="558" data-original-width="800" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPPS19PkkJDc1nb00ke7exHyLwUAZIgDZT0cnFTUwquKqFtuXwaqyM2VFXr5VY4O50ZTHCCRBKvgCPo0C2F3zdGPPx64bpYbqcnRGGWl8I8ccdo3ffUFwevttQgooCZUU6285_TFIl8d_Yu471usy95bJooPufVSPhH8UYQcArKG2RYV8KoZXWqnXT/s320/gamera%20800px-Gamera_and_Guiron_Anatomy_Promo_Picture.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I watched this film, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064360/">Gamera versus Guiron</a>, on Prime, in Japanese with subtitles. It was charmingly hysterical. Two little boys team with Gamera to make the world safer (and decrease "traffic accidents.") Guiron sort of resembles a deranged "Barney." This must have filled kiddie Saturday matinees.</span></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The plot involves two little boys who somehow find their way into outer space, traveling with, and held hostage by, two beautiful space woman who are the sole remaining members of their destroyed planet. The women are not nice. They want to eat the brains of the boys to enhance themselves. The use Guiron, which has a sharp mega blade for a knife, as a weapon.</span></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Eventually, Gamera, described as a friend of children, flies out to help the children, and there's the requisite battle. </span></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The film is oddly, goofily entertaining. Despite what I wrote in the first paragraph, I'm not sure it played kiddie matinees (they were dying out by 1970). I'm not sure it even had a theatrical release here. But by 1971, 1972, it was ubiquitous on TV, airing under the title, <a href="https://wikizilla.org/wiki/Gamera_vs._Guiron#Alternate_titles">Attack of the Monsters</a>. Enjoy some more stills from film below.</span></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>-- Doug Gibson</i></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVu1DGTcIhW5bHYfqW5WO7zSjX1N8Yo7ZAC_w9k-nFTGz9MkICQtcRRAd7LUOhHU07XSIBpdxp4f6n_9RgZgZyXoSXmDQCpYpXQ0oo8iuCF2H5c9eU6Roewm4uuxHbXGXfStzfJOxsYGUtWBKn0Yd1CQe2aUwViakoQJrGpsTXK8d-zvLjCxTng-oq/s800/gamera%20800px-Ga05013.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="653" data-original-width="800" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVu1DGTcIhW5bHYfqW5WO7zSjX1N8Yo7ZAC_w9k-nFTGz9MkICQtcRRAd7LUOhHU07XSIBpdxp4f6n_9RgZgZyXoSXmDQCpYpXQ0oo8iuCF2H5c9eU6Roewm4uuxHbXGXfStzfJOxsYGUtWBKn0Yd1CQe2aUwViakoQJrGpsTXK8d-zvLjCxTng-oq/s320/gamera%20800px-Ga05013.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCia0mfXMihOLIIrf-crtqNa8YiC1O9Td69vE3C-S4O5DGkDqleRyQnVe6ICCtLBjKcslM6hj7Tx2032A5eLUDlGvF8Zf_3jgz5qAmKgbXQq0eoDe8lA9Wid01xvHFJbn_gJFV_XNGl_S4VTtzkKZExl2c0isGRyfJRdRvWF9qsTFTuf3m4raKWd64/s744/gamera%20Ga05015.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="744" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCia0mfXMihOLIIrf-crtqNa8YiC1O9Td69vE3C-S4O5DGkDqleRyQnVe6ICCtLBjKcslM6hj7Tx2032A5eLUDlGvF8Zf_3jgz5qAmKgbXQq0eoDe8lA9Wid01xvHFJbn_gJFV_XNGl_S4VTtzkKZExl2c0isGRyfJRdRvWF9qsTFTuf3m4raKWd64/s320/gamera%20Ga05015.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgENR5F5XOXDkVVbsHesuMUoSzxhQk3sb3npP1IoQ6VlFuBYJv6OehdOVVQOyYpTjgd3mVl7dN2cxXxl26vs8M5qBohuw4xxlp73snJQF-0SeTJKutmf2rJ3YOi4od6RMc55IPZhfA9hweYNNFfGINzVc1SoxG3nJ6fvFGaSHq-QNsWHWVYsTHZQpgY/s700/gamera%20Hiroki_Kai_and_Reiko_Kasahara_as_the_Terrans.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="488" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgENR5F5XOXDkVVbsHesuMUoSzxhQk3sb3npP1IoQ6VlFuBYJv6OehdOVVQOyYpTjgd3mVl7dN2cxXxl26vs8M5qBohuw4xxlp73snJQF-0SeTJKutmf2rJ3YOi4od6RMc55IPZhfA9hweYNNFfGINzVc1SoxG3nJ6fvFGaSHq-QNsWHWVYsTHZQpgY/s320/gamera%20Hiroki_Kai_and_Reiko_Kasahara_as_the_Terrans.jpg" width="223" /></a></div><br /><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><p></p>Plan9Crunchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04818205539289836323noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3478737609645206210.post-85058433866725204012023-03-25T15:49:00.001-07:002023-03-25T15:51:50.922-07:00A Bucket of Blood -- Roger Corman's beatnik horror a low-budget gem<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9BUnH26d_cGz08SiJCcBatiW7zuPGGMbXtIWPO5Vx_Xx759QrrdBcIqaDcdtzimKCRsiUcZIr01u6jEG0KVzPt6kRaX_t6q0DdZOjAT7JOyLltu7HRw4OP6FL0B3JW8_rWtUL5LyX-YaorYD5wHjryr82ThqSpa_EwxtGMt-AOyyM9OIszzJ2Qxoe/s2438/Wilson-Daily-Times-February,13-1960-p-9%20(1).jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2438" data-original-width="1500" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9BUnH26d_cGz08SiJCcBatiW7zuPGGMbXtIWPO5Vx_Xx759QrrdBcIqaDcdtzimKCRsiUcZIr01u6jEG0KVzPt6kRaX_t6q0DdZOjAT7JOyLltu7HRw4OP6FL0B3JW8_rWtUL5LyX-YaorYD5wHjryr82ThqSpa_EwxtGMt-AOyyM9OIszzJ2Qxoe/w394-h640/Wilson-Daily-Times-February,13-1960-p-9%20(1).jpeg" width="394" /></a></div><br /><p><b>By Steve D. Stones</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p>Director Roger Corman has a reputation for creating quickie exploitation themed films made on a shoe-string budget and filmed in a matter of a few days. His 1959 film – <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Bucket_of_Blood">A Bucket of Blood</a> is no exception. Bucket of Blood is often referred to as the precursor to another Corman masterpiece – Little Shop of Horrors. Both films star Dick Miller.<br /><br />A lonely coffee house waiter named Walter Paisley, played by Miller, can’t seem to fit in at The Yellow Door – a swanky beatnik hangout that displays local art, music and poetry. One day he accidentally stabs the land lady’s cat while trying to cut a hole in his apartment wall. He discovers a way to grab attention at The Yellow Door by molding clay around the corpse of the cat to create realistic sculptures. His next victim is an undercover narcotics cop who follows Paisley to his apartment to bust him for heroin. Patrons of The Yellow Door praise Paisley for his artistic genius and hail him as a great sculptor.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqWRECa4e-fLybisGDvjeXBGXumoJV9o4jPsX4butejuBUU6xsfcmrKo1xrUBcVduGZr5h_36_q6WyeRkpvuCmIqY9eo6ZmfWNI9YLTmfgTPgY3aNT3hYXK3UPGmtJS9kvKIPn0Yl2YPVuZl0BsqQDxxbg9g6wnRC_7NCZoBF3HyO3aBTq3--zG8vF/s1280/bucket%20of%20blood.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqWRECa4e-fLybisGDvjeXBGXumoJV9o4jPsX4butejuBUU6xsfcmrKo1xrUBcVduGZr5h_36_q6WyeRkpvuCmIqY9eo6ZmfWNI9YLTmfgTPgY3aNT3hYXK3UPGmtJS9kvKIPn0Yl2YPVuZl0BsqQDxxbg9g6wnRC_7NCZoBF3HyO3aBTq3--zG8vF/s320/bucket%20of%20blood.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br />One sassy patron however is not convinced of Paisley’s talents. Paisley follows her home to ask for a nude posing session to sculpt her figure. Paisley murders the beautiful woman, then his next clay masterpiece and first nude is set in motion. Beatniks at the coffee house arrange for an exhibition of Paisley’s sculptures and invite art critics and collectors.<br /><br />At the exhibit, a patron discovers the flesh of the murdered woman showing through the molded clay. The patrons realize that Paisley’s work is a fraud and chase after him for the murders of the victims used in his sculptures. He completes his greatest masterpiece by smearing himself in wet clay and then hangs by a noose from a rafter in his apartment.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRUwGbX46YrRpcoS7i7MSfIzT1hQx0U6JxOOKMh22_Jgnn8QRK7XwNCr7ZkMfhoA5k7DMFfP25WE2e0BtucnFJUxZSkPj-CXlR8qc88gfo7BokFurawNAnCjZMHtiyBHO8NYMWi7l2UTGkAh5yGC8_S6earudNo_vg0D8WWTE1VikPkQYGOcYIYSpX/s1665/Wilson-Daily-Times-February,13-1960-p-9.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1665" data-original-width="1500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRUwGbX46YrRpcoS7i7MSfIzT1hQx0U6JxOOKMh22_Jgnn8QRK7XwNCr7ZkMfhoA5k7DMFfP25WE2e0BtucnFJUxZSkPj-CXlR8qc88gfo7BokFurawNAnCjZMHtiyBHO8NYMWi7l2UTGkAh5yGC8_S6earudNo_vg0D8WWTE1VikPkQYGOcYIYSpX/w360-h400/Wilson-Daily-Times-February,13-1960-p-9.jpeg" width="360" /></a></div><br /><div><br />Actor Dick Miller played the character Walter Paisley in at least five films. His cult status was further solidified when James Cameron cast him as a gun store clerk in The Terminator. His character of Walter Paisley is seen as a janitor in the 1988 horror classic – Chopping Mall. He played a flower shop patron in Little Shop of Horrors who eats flowers sprinkled with salt. Happy Viewing!!<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Both the newspaper advertisement and review are from the February 13, 1960 edition of the Wilson, North Carolina, Daily Times. The still from the film features Miller and includes co-star Barboura Morris.</i></div>Plan9Crunchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04818205539289836323noreply@blogger.com0