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Author Topic: Building the Horror/Thriller 1000  (Read 63108 times)

1SO

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Re: Horror: The Final Chapter
« Reply #110 on: December 23, 2016, 12:22:52 AM »
Blacula (1972)
* *
Blaxploitation films are overwhelmingly terrible with only about a half-dozen exceptions. Lacking studio resources, the end product is so shabby that anything artistic or technical that’s good is a miracle. There are some interesting ideas here regarding vampirism and racial tension, but there’s nothing in the film as clever as the title. Some of the songs are great. At least they never made Blackenstein:P


Endless Night (1972)
* ½
This Marathon has produced a lot of crap, but this is surprisingly bad because it’s from a novel by Agatha Christie and stars Hayley Mills and Britt Ekland, with George Sanders in a supporting role. Characters are stupid or terribly mean. Nothing develops until a person turns up dead in the last 15 minutes and then all the twists burst out in such a rapid succession it throws everything into confusion. Suspense scenes, often take on Horror imagery, but it’s all hokey and stupid.


Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)
* *
Hammer usually doesn’t make such a schlocky film. Aside from the unintentionally comedic presentation of hippie culture, there are groan-inducing puns in the dialogue and a blaring soul score undercutting the class of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. This also has the first example of the Marathon of one of Horror’s worst tropes, the obnoxious friend you wish would get killed early.


Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972)
aka. Night of the Dark Full Moon
Aka. Death House
* *
Early slasher shows sparks of being good but never catches fire. There’s a rather detailed mystery, with a family estate that was temporarily used as an insane asylum. Events aren’t discovered, but revealed through a series of journal entries. Still, it’s interesting backstory, and might’ve made a good film by itself. Biggest problem is the death scenes, terribly filmed with the camera never in a good spot. Worth noting, the cast includes John Carradine (who never speaks a word) and Holiday Inn’s Walter Abel as the town mayor.


The Asphyx (1972)
aka. Spirit of the Dead
aka. The Horror of Death
* *
Two scientists learn how to capture and lock up death, making a person immortal. When I was young, I enjoyed Flatliners. The idea was preposterous, but the filmmaking sold it. This doesn’t have the exciting filmmaking so it’s just the idea, which is intriguing, and the Asphyx is like a screeching version of Slimer from Ghostbusters, but they the film needed more imagination. It’s closer to a filmed play.
« Last Edit: July 21, 2021, 04:13:45 PM by 1SO »

1SO

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Re: Horror: The Final Chapter
« Reply #111 on: December 28, 2016, 10:27:06 AM »

The Last House on Dead End Street (1973)
aka. At The Hour Of Our Death
aka. The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell
aka. The Fun House
½ 
I understand people finding unusual films and declaring them art, but there has to be a line in the sand. A handful of artistic shots and meta touches doesn’t change the fact that this is absolute garbage. Large parts of it don’t make sense, leaving you with a laundry line of immoral imagery and a cast of repellent people. I read a review that calls it a masterpiece of “no-budget, underground, amateur gore films.” Let’s not be encouraging this.
 

Messiah of Evil (1973)
aka. Dead People
aka. Deep Swamp
aka. Night of the Damned
aka. Return of the Living Dead
aka. Revenge of the Screaming Dead
* * * - Okay
This is an unusual horror film I can get behind, though at first I thought it was pretty terrible. The weirdness is too on-the-nose, the first murder after the credits is needlessly bloody and the script wasn’t making any sense. (All those titles, I wouldn’t know what to call this film either.) There’s vampirism, zombie-like behavior, a possible cult and a dark figure that might be Satan. None of these are called by their name, they’re just thrown into the mix. Because characters never get a grasp of what’s going on, there’s an atmosphere of the unknown. It’s like trying to get across a floor that won’t stop shifting, and that’s good for horror. Also, some individual scenes are remarkable, including one inside a movie theater that shamelessly rips off the Birds, but is just as effective because the context is different.


The Death Wheelers (1973)
aka. Psychomania
* *
Biker gang learns that the secret to immortality is you just have to believe. This was a lot sillier than I expected, downright Groundhog Day in places. Too much biker footage and pandering to the youth market, and more of a fantasy than a horror film. George Sanders made over 100 films, and this was his final one. Still, better than Endless Night made right before.


The Creeping Flesh (1973)
* *
Peter Cushing plays a scientist who believes evil can be biologically removed (o – kay) by using a primitive skeleton that regrows flesh when wet (what the what?) I guess back then a studio would bankroll any excuse to put Cushing and Christopher Lee in a movie together. Both actors are great, especially Lee. It’s surprising to think I found his early performances lacking. He’s all legend here. Too bad the story’s such a preposterous mess.


The Baby (1973)
* ½
A recommendation from Matt Singer, who certainly makes it sound interesting. I was quickly turned off by the performance of a grown man acting like a hyper-emotional baby, which destroys any campy fun the film is going for by being deliberately annoying. Singer found it "supremely creepy" and "unsettling", but I just saw a feature film where the actors were performing at the level of a high school theater.

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Re: Horror: The Final Chapter
« Reply #112 on: December 28, 2016, 03:14:17 PM »
[The Last House on Dead End Street (1973)
aka. At The Hour Of Our Death
aka. The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell
aka. The Fun House
½ 
I understand people finding unusual films and declaring them art, but there has to be a line in the sand. A handful of artistic shots and meta touches doesn’t change the fact that this is absolute garbage. Large parts of it don’t make sense, leaving you with a laundry line of immoral imagery and a cast of repellent people. I read a review that calls it a masterpiece of “no-budget, underground, amateur gore films.” Let’s not be encouraging this.
Even worse than Cuadecuc, Vampir?
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1SO

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Re: Horror: The Final Chapter
« Reply #113 on: December 28, 2016, 11:26:12 PM »
No. Dead End Street has some good shots and at times there appears to be a plot. Cuadecuc, Vampir is my least favorite type of film, non-narrative. I'm a story person so non-narrative filmmaking, where you often have to open your mind to or make your own connections regarding the picture and the sound, which often aren't working together in any direct way, is the cancer of movies for me.

The next batch of films gives me 150 titles and I plan to do an progress report. I will try to remember to post all the ½ star films together and rank them if I can.

There's also Blood Freak where the guy becomes a turkey-headed monster, creeping people with his ominous *gobble*.

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Re: Horror: The Final Chapter
« Reply #114 on: December 28, 2016, 11:41:11 PM »
I am not into horror so much, except for vampires who are a soft spot, sort of. I too think Cuadecuc Vampir is an ordeal to sit through, so I got a little curious. Very much looking forward to the half star rank!
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Re: Horror: The Final Chapter
« Reply #115 on: December 30, 2016, 12:12:14 PM »
Spoiler Alert: I had a very difficult time writing honestly about Ganja & Hess. Not the worst film of the Marathon, but I actually stopped it to be sad about my cat for a while, which was a more preferable use of my time.

Finished it this morning after doing some reading, watching some videos and listening to the Filmspotting Podcast review. Adam nailed it really well.

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Re: Horror: The Final Chapter
« Reply #116 on: December 31, 2016, 01:16:17 AM »

Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell (1973 or 1974)
* * 
I read a comment about how Universal Frankenstein movies are about the monster while Hammer Frankenstein is about the Doctor. Having Peter Cushing play the doctor all these years is certainly a benefit to the series, but it’s a largely disappointing series. The horror doesn’t rise above anything more than some creepy atmosphere and the theatrical characters can only give melodramatic emotions.


The Iron Rose (1973)
* * ½
After having sex in a cemetery crypt, a couple cannot find their way out of the graveyard. My 3rd Jean Rollin film, and while I have yet to fully like one, I understand why his fans are so passionate. The grungy atmosphere casts a unique mood. Rollin is so much more than vampires (noticeably absent here) and graphic nudity (only two instances). I still have my fingers crossed for a good one that can be a gateway drug into his world.


Ganja & Hess (1973)
* ½
I’ve been aware of and afraid of this film for decades. Aware that it is a film like no other, with a singular vision that has created a rabid cult following. Afraid because it’s been described as “a jagged film with surreal flourishes, and long dialogue scenes that go nowhere.” You have to decide how much is the creation of the director’s vision and how much is an ambitious filmmaker with limited skill and an even more limited budget. I found the film inexplicable and pretty much unendurable, but I’ll admit that could be because of the binge-and-purge style of this marathon, which could be taken as me not having the patience to give the film a proper chance, and maybe one day I will read a passionate endorsement that will get me to try this film again.


Lemora: A Child’s Tale of the Supernatural (1973)
aka. Lady Dracula
* * ½
I’d never heard of this one, though it certainly deserves to be less obscure, much like the nutty Russian horror Viy. In look and tone, this also reminded me of those nutty New Zealand horrors where the production value is low, the camerawork is bold and it works as often as it doesn’t. Despite the aka, this also has a lot of elements from zombie and witchcraft films, and it’s one of the more properly scary titles in the Marathon so far.


Terror in the Wax Museum (1973)
* ½
A remarkable cast of stars from decades ago (Ray Milland, Broderick Crawford, Elsa Lanchester, Patric Knowles and John Carradine) in the most unremarkable film set in a wax museum film I’ve seen yet. So timid with the frights and so flat in the direction, I assumed this was a TV Movie. Bing Crosby was a Producer, which may explain everything.

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Horror: The Final Chapter - Progress Report
« Reply #117 on: December 31, 2016, 01:39:52 AM »
Another 50 titles down.

My Watchlist of 428 films is 38% complete.
Of the last 50 films, I recommend...
1. The Blood on Satan’s Claw
2. Blade of the Ripper
3. 10 Rillington Place
4. Messiah of Evil
5. Diabel/The Devil
6. Taste the Blood of Dracula
7. Robin Redbreast
8. The House That Dripped Blood


For the entire Marathon, the Top Five Ranked are...
1. Nightmare (1964)
2. The Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971)
3. Violated Angels (1967)
4. Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
5. Blade of the Ripper (1971)



Here is a look back at the worst of the Marathon so far...

The Giant Claw (1957)
*
This one really kicked off the night. From what I read, this was a major studio effort to get in on the giant monster movie craze. However, Ray Harryhausen was either busy or too expensive, so Columbia Pictures hired someone else and what they got was a ridiculous-looking buzzard marionette that looks like something from Jim Henson's Dark Crystal. The rest of the film might have been okay, but every time they show the creature - which you should Google - this becomes one of the All Time Laughably Bad Movies. Despite the low rating, I'd be interested in seeing this in a theater full of unsuspecting viewers.

The Day of the Triffids (1963)
*
Silly nonsense about most of the world going blind just in time for an invasion by killer plants. Cult film is most interesting for casting Howard Keel in a non-musical role. The effects are overall lousy, the story is obviously condensed from longer source material. In this case a book, which differs vastly from this film. I can see where this might work given more time to develop logic. (The story's been remade twice as a mini-series.) Abrupt ending is a joke here too, but there are many laughs to be found throughout. That said, this is much blander a good/bad time than The Giant Claw.

The Brain That Wouldn’t Die (1962)
*
A cheat. This contribution from the Bodmovies.org list is one of the few MST3K episodes I've never seen, and the first episode of Mike Nelson. So I didn't watch the pure cut, but I'm sure I had a much better time doing it this way. It's classic bad movie with a large dollop of female objectification that the MST crew relentlessly mocks for being creepy. One of their better efforts and one of this Marathon's worst movies.

Terror Beaneath the Sea (1966)
*
A cross between Creature From the Black Lagoon and a James Bond film as Sonny Chiba takes on a madman who is creating an army of Water Cyborgs. I’m starting to feel I should have been more picky in my selections. After making the list, I watch each one without reading an IMDB or Letterboxd summary. I don’t know if the film is supposed to be serious or camp or ‘so bad it’s good’. So there comes a point where I go “another one of these” and even I am starting to wonder why I venture through to the end.

Planet of the Vampires (1965)
*
Even for Bava - now 0 for 10 - this is amazingly bad. The costumes and cardboard sets are laughable, with colorful monitors and control panels that only add to the cheap-looking atmosphere. The plot is nonsensical and camp. I can’t tell if the comedy is deliberate cheese or if the straight-faced performances and amateur direction just came out that way. It’s like watching a youtube video by a director with ambitious vision and no idea how to express it. This has a cult reputation, but I imagine Gods of Egypt is about the same level of quality.

Satan’s Sadists (1969)
½
From The Deuce, which has a number of interesting Exploitation/Grindhouse titles, but this is just terrible. A biker flick with ugly scenes of violence and sexual aggression, oodles of filmmaking incompetence and one over-baked ham of a performance by Russ Tamblyn.

The Undertaker and His Pals (1966)
½
I hadn't realized we've moved into the Blood Feast type of ultra-gory horror, but this is a lesser-known example of one of those. A mixture of silly comedy and fake-looking graphic violence. The last scene is the best, an inspired idea to have all the murdered rise from their place of death to smile, wink and nod at the camera.

Terror in the Midnight Sun (1959)
aka. Invasion of the Animal people
aka. Space Invasion of Lapland
½
A number of films from this Marathon are courtesy of Badmovies.org Best B-Movies. Previous films have been mixed to bad, but I get why they’re interesting from a B-movie perspective. This one is just terrible. A meteor crashes in Northern Sweden. Scientists arrive and get caught up in skiing and romancing a local figure skater. It’s a couple of days before they even go near the crash site. There’s a ridiculous-looking giant creature and some Conehead/Devo aliens that show up for one scene. Mostly, this is a film about skiing.

Blood Freak (1972)
½ 
A guy does too much drugs and turns into a giant turkey monster. According to Letterboxd, there are 30 worse films in this Marathon, but that would surprise me. It surpasses Terror in the Midnight Sun, though still slightly better than Night of the Lepus, also released in 1972. This barely qualifies as a film with occasional cutaways to a guy sitting at a desk to fill in story gaps. Big laugh for the sound of a turkey gobble to attempt suspense.

The Last House on Dead End Street (1973)
aka. At The Hour Of Our Death
aka. The Cuckoo Clocks of Hell
aka. The Fun House
½ 
I understand people finding unusual films and declaring them art, but there has to be a line in the sand. A handful of artistic shots and meta touches doesn’t change the fact that this is absolute garbage. Large parts of it don’t make sense, leaving you with a laundry line of immoral imagery and a cast of repellent people. I read a review that calls it a masterpiece of “no-budget, underground, amateur gore films.” Let’s not be encouraging this.

Cuadecuc, Vampir (1971)
½
The problem with most any Watchlist is you’re usually not taking a list of titles from someone who knows you but more likely a general list of films considered worthy. That’s how a non-narrative, experimental film like this slips in. It makes me angry that there are genuine sleepers and buried treasure but people like Jonathan Rosenbaum would rather champion something that makes the deliberate choice to have a sound mix that only matches the picture at one point.
« Last Edit: February 11, 2017, 09:00:58 PM by 1SO »

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Re: Horror: The Final Chapter
« Reply #118 on: January 04, 2017, 01:30:23 AM »

Lisa and the Devil (1973)
* *
Mario Bava strikes(out) again with another story full of ideas and empty of explanation. I read a review that defends Bava as a master of Dream Logic, but I call B.S. on that because Dream Logic still requires logic, something symbolic or layered. This is incomprehensible and pretty damn boring until the more insane back half because there’s no style to wallpaper over the lack of substance.


The Cannibal Man (1973)
aka. Week of the Killer
* *
A young cattle butcher accidentally kills a cab driver, slowly descending into madness and more murders. Not a sleazy slasher, but a more thoughtful drama from an openly gay socialist filmmaker. So it’s a more respectable horror film in that regard, but the extreme violence and tepid direction ruin any good intentions.


Dying Room Only (1973)
aka. Where is My Husband?
aka. The Disappearance
* * * - Good
A wildcard pick from one of my favorite genre writers Richard Matheson (Duel, I Am Legend, The Night Stalker) with the wonderfully simple premise of a couple (Cloris Leachman and Dabney Colman) who stop at a roadside diner where the husband mysteriously vanishes. It plays out just fine and is a nice vehicle for Leachman, plus there’s Ned Beatty. Perhaps it’s all too simple, with a limited location, and TV Movie production values. Much as I like this, it had me wishing I was watching Breakdown (1997) instead. Not only is that a better film, it appears to have also fallen into obscurity, which is odd because who doesn’t love a good Kurt Russell film?


The Bell From Hell (1973)
aka. The Bell of Hell
* *
Railroaded by his family into a psychiatric hospital, a young man is released and sets out for revenge. Old story has a few wrinkles, including the lead’s love of make-up effects and some artistic juxtaposition of past and present, but the experimentation removes interest from the main story and characters. In an unusual real-life tragedy, the director fell from the bell tower on the last day of filming and died.


Isn’t It Shocking? (1973)
* *
TV Movie with an amazing cast: Alan Alda, Edmond O’Brien, Lloyd Nolan, Louise Lasser and Ruth Gordon. Directed by John Badham, story has Alda as a sheriff searching for a killer who uses a defibrillator. Too bad the film is sorely lacking in intensity or urgency (something you can’t say about Dying Room Only), with too much time spent on the townfolk and not enough on the manhunt. ”Myron’s dead. I don’t have time for the carrot cake,” sums up the movie really well.

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Re: Horror: The Final Chapter
« Reply #119 on: January 04, 2017, 07:04:09 AM »
”Myron’s dead. I don’t have time for the carrot cake,”
Quotes like these makes the day worthwhile.
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