When Masters of Horror Gather

 So... this week's viewing has again been eclectic. In no particular order and with capsule reviews:

The Ninth Configuration (1980) - William Peter Blatty's followup to the Exorcist is a weird, dreary little piece of melodrama involving military mental patients and a LOT of ruminating on the nature of god and salvation. While the acting is fine, if a bit over the top in places. Stacy Keach seems a bit miscast as a Marine pyschologist.

The Crystal Ball (1943) - A fun little romantic fantasy piece with Ray Milland and Paulette Goddard, in which a woman attempts to win the man of her dreams by posing as a Fortune Teller. Its about as inappropriate of film as you get from this era, but its still lightweight and endearing enough that it doesn't offend too much. 

Little Shop of Horrors (1960) - Roger Corman's low budget comic masterpiece, filmed in 2 whole days. I haven't seen this is years, but I was charmed by it all over again. There are some genuinely funny performances in this, and not a wasted moment. Particularly standout is Jonathan Haze as the hapless Seymour who manages to appear over his head in every single action he does, the late great Dick Miller as Fouch the flower eating dispenser of advice and wisdom, and of course, Jack Nicholson in what is probably the funniest role in his entire career. "Don't stop NOW!" 

Humanoids from the Deep (1980) - Another Corman piece, this one only produced by him, but its a grisly, gory sort of take on Creature from the Black Lagoon. Its an effective way to pass a couple hours, but not much else to say about it. 

The Fury of the Wolf Man (1972)  - Paul Naschy's third outing as Spain's answer to Lawrence Talbot, Waldemar Daninsky, which completely ignores Daninsky's origins in the PREVIOUS two films, making this something of a soft reboot of the series. Now his origin comes by way of a Yeti attack (mentioned but not shown, unfortunately.) The movie is disjointed and badly edited, but the performances, particularly Naschy's are solid.

Assignment: Terror (1970) - This Spanish film is Paul Naschy's second turn as werewolf Waldemar Daninsky. I have to confess, this is a WEIRD film, involving alien invaders (led by Michael Rennie in his penultimate film role) using monsters like Dracula, The Mummy, The Wolf Man, and Frankenstein's Monster to ... do... something. Take over the world, I presume. Naschy's Wolf Man becomes a hero in this, before being dispatched by the lovely Karin Dor, playing his love interest for the film, Maleva Kerstein. You MAY notice that there seems to be a lot of crossover going on in this film... and there is. And there would have been MORE had the budget allowed it. It doesn't quite reach the fun of the Universal "monster rally" films of the 40s, but its still oddly entertaining.

and  Finally, The Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968).

I want to spend some time on The Curse of the Crimson Altar or, as it was known in the United States, The Crimson Cult. 

The film stars 3 absolutely legendary horror stars in a film that borrows liberally from horror author H.P. Lovecraft. The stars are Christopher Lee, Boris Karloff, and Barbara Steele. 

The story is about antique dealer Robert Manning (played adequately by Mark Eden) who is searching for his missing brother in a rural English Village. He comes to stay in the local manor house of J.D. Morley (Christopher Lee) and his niece Eve (Virginia Wetherell) and creepy Butler (Michael Gough). It is, naturally, on the night of a local celebration re-enacting the execution of a witch in 1652. This witch, Lavinia Morley, appears in very odd dream sequences throughout the film, played by Barbara Steele in blue body paint. Also present is Boris Karloff as the elderly antiquarian named Marsh researching the history of Witchcraft in the area, and his mute manservant. 

If you identified the H P Lovecraft story as "Dreams in the Witch-House", give yourself a pat on the back, however don't get too excited...  Its like the writers jettisoned everything but the title and the idea of a 300 year old witch. 

This is one of Karloff's final performances. He filmed this after "Targets" and he developed pneumonia over the course of filming this. He recovered enough to film 4 additional features in Mexico, but this was the last of his roles to be released to the theaters while he was still alive. Most of the time, he is confined to a wheelchair for his role, although toward the climax, he DOES have one scene in which he is propped against a doorframe, and is clearly very weak and in a lot of pain, but STILL commands the scene. Christopher Lee apparently greatly admired his professionalism during the shooting. Whats more, even in the scenes when he is in the wheelchair, he proves a wonderful actor even without the physicality that you might expect. Its genuinely funny, for example, when he expresses utter horror at Manning's lack of appreciation for fine brandy in one scene, and you can actually see Virginia Wetherell hiding a laugh as Karloff gives him a withering look. 

Virginia Wetherell is lovely in her role, and there is a bit of tension, as you're never quite sure until the end who Lavinia's agent in the modern era is, and there is always a bit of uncertainty if Eve might not be the one. The unfortunate thing about her character is that she has to deal with Manning's rather rough and arrogant affections throughout the film. It was perhaps a sign of the times it was filmed in, but the love scenes between the two often made me cringe. In researching the film, Apparently Wetherell claims to have not done the nude scene in the movie, but that it was done by a body double.... a claim which seems peculiar given that not only did she appear nude in other films, but she is CLEARLY shown topless lying in bed in this film, meaning that if a body double was used, it was only for the scene where the is seen from behind as she gets out of bed and puts on a robe. Very odd.

Christopher Lee has said that this was one of the worst roles of his career... and watching the film, its easy to understand why. While he is in the film quite a bit, he is given almost nothing whatsoever to do. He is charming and amiable, but does little.... most of the backstory and occult information is provided by Karloff, while Wetherell becomes the chief love interest and investigative assistant to Manning. Lee is mainly there as a host, and to occasionally express regrets. While he gets more to do at the climax of the film, even that is cut short.

And if Lee is underused, so is Barbara Steele. Steele was one of horror's great leading ladies, but in this turn, she shows up only rarely, and on those occasions the blue paint and weird headdress give her an impressive presence that her dialog never manages to match. It also is weirdly distracting that they surround her with a bizarre assortment of supporting characters with no dialogue at all, but who they seem to also dress in ways that distract from Steele's impressive costume. They are dressed in animal masks, and some of the men are dressed in what appear to be skimpy black leather bondage costumes. 

There is enough happening in the Curse of the Crimson Altar that I find it intriguing, and the performance of Karloff is certainly a standout. There is a cheeky humor to it as well... at one point after Manning arrives at the manor house, Eve comments to him that the place sometimes reminds her of something from an old horror movie, and he responds with "Yes, I know what you mean. You think Boris Karloff is going to pop up any moment." A couple scenes later, Karloff does exactly that.

Its not a classic horror film, but its certainly not a horrible one. There is something about this film that I found oddly comforting. I think it was because it seemed a perfect blend of they styles of both Universal and Hammer, creating a new sort of atmosphere. This film, by the way, was from neither company, it was from Tigon. 

Well worth a look, maybe moreso for fans of Karloff or Lovecraft.

Zombies.... but not what you expect.

 

Zombies scare me... we know that. But. those are the Romero Flesh-eating variety. If you go back to their original concepts, they aren't that scary. BUT, they make for some fine, atmospheric early horror films. I've watched 2 early efforts this week.... Revolt of the Zombies from 1936, and King of the Zombies from 1941.

Revolt of the Zombies is a cheap film from Halperin Studios... starring really no one of note. But what IS interesting with it is that they attempted to do something a little different with it. It starts with a Cambodian Priest from Angkor Wat attempting to sell the idea of a regiment of Zombies to be used in the war that is currently raging in Europe (presumably WWI). While the Zombies are staggeringly effective, they horrify the Generals who decline to use them. However, an enemy agent kills the priest and attempts to steal the secret of the Zombies, which leads to an expedition to Angkor Wat to try and find the secret. It unfortunately devolves at that point into a a love triangle, with one of the lovers discovering the secret and using it to enslave practically everyone around his beloved...  and, it comes to abrupt end, when to prove that his love is genuine, releases control of all those he enslaved... with the results predicted in the title of the film.

Now, the other one, is a Monogram picture from 1941, and is more traditional zombie fare for the time, but with some definite points of interest. Chiefly, I'm going to point you to the amazingly charismatic performance of Mantan Moreland. Moreland was a comic relief actor for monogram, appearing, according to IMDB, in some 103 films in his career. Unlike many of the so-called "comic sidekicks" in these films, Moreland is actually funny, coming across as a cross between Lou Costello and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson. There are routines he does here as Jefferson "Jeff" Jackson which easily stand with some of the great performance of Lou Costello, or The Three Stooges, or the Bowery Boys, and his quips make the film, which is otherwise a rather standard horror/espionage story, into a really entertaining time. 

At one point he is caught by the villain and hypnotized into thinking he's a zombie. But as he's ordered to fall in with the other zombies, he tells them in a resigned tone:  "Move over boys, I'm one of the gang now." This then follows with a cute scene between him and Marguerite Whitten as Samantha the maid, where she wearily tries to prove to him he's not actually a zombie. There is real chemistry between them, and the comic timing is utterly perfect.

Samantha, the Maid: What you doing in that lineup?
Jefferson 'Jeff' Jackson: Don't bother me woman. Can't you see I is a has-been?
Samantha, the Maid: A zombie?
Jefferson 'Jeff' Jackson: Nothing else but. And don't ask me my name, 'cuz I don't know. I don't know nothing.
Samantha, the Maid: You ain't no zombie, 'cuz zombies can't talk.
Jefferson 'Jeff' Jackson: Can I help it 'cuz I'm loquacious?

The tragedy of Moreland is that he was a genuine talent, and had the unfortunate fortune to be a black actor at a time when black actors were primarily cast in rather demeaning and racially insensitive roles. As a result of this, he came to be cast less and less... causing him to return to touring in comedy acts.

 Despite the problematic nature of many of his roles, Mantan Moreland STILL stood out. In researching a bit about him, I discovered an amazing fact: He was ALMOST the third of the Three Stooges!

Apparently, Shemp Howard was a fan and pointed him out to Moe Howard. Moe followed his career closely, and when Shemp sadly passed away in 1955, Moe was ready to bring Mantan in to replace him! The deal was nixed by Columbia Pictures however, who insisted that Moe replace Shemp with someone already under contract to them.

Do you believe in Witchcraft?

 

Last night was a night for one of the single best horror films of all times, which is often overlooked in the modern era. Curse of the Demon (1957) is sometimes billed as 'Night of the Demon', is Jacque Tourneur's adaptation of the classic M.R. James story 'Casting the Runes'. 

Tourneur had done a lot of short features up until 1939, when Louis B. Mayer asked him to expand one of his shorts on the American Prison system into a full length film, which was released as 'They All Come Out'. This led to him being handed other assignments, including 'Nick Carter, Master Detective' later in 1939 and the second Nick Carter film 'Phantom Raiders' (1940), both with Walter Pigeon, and the largely forgotten 'Doctors Don't Tell' at Republic. However his real break came when he was hired by Val Lewton over at RKO, where he was give a free hand in their horror films 'Cat People',  'I Walked With a Zombie' and 'The Leopard Man'. His style is unmistakable... understated and atmospheric, and more suggestive than flashy. Its a perfect pair up with Lewton's features, but it serves him in 'Night of the Demon' as well.

The film itself stars Dana Andrews in the lead, as American psychologist Dr. John Holden, who is a skeptic of all things supernatural, except, apparently, hypnotism. His leading lady is Peggy Cummins as Joanna Harrington, the sister of a late colleague of Dr. Holden's. But really the movie is stolen by Niall MacGinnis as Julian Karswell, the villain of the piece. MacGinnis was often found in supporting roles and a wells respected character actor. This is likely his best known role, and for good reason.

Dana Andrews has to portray the skeptic who slowly becomes a believer over the course of the film... but frankly, you never get the idea he's fully convinced. Cummins plays the believer who is trying, unsuccessfully to convince Andrews of the reality of the curse, and comes across as rather bland and slightly excitable. But MacGinnis....

...MacGinnis gets to have a lot of fun with his role. He may be a Satanist, an evil magician, a summoner of demons, who curses his critics to die violent deaths, but you can't help but actually LIKE the guy. He's a polite man, who is willing to speak at length to anyone about the subject of the occult, he is nice to his mother, even when she works against him, he throws elaborate Halloween parties for the neighborhood children and clearly is very fond of them, giving them a stage magic show, making sure they are supplied with games, candy, entertainment, and homemade ice cream. 

Its a nuanced role, far more so than the other leads. He's so casual about it all, confident in his abilities, his his power, in his knowledge... and yet... he's also AFRAID of it, but rarely lets that fear show. It does sneak out now and then. There is a scene in which Karswell speaks to his mother about the cost of magic... the price that must be paid for the lifestyle they live. And you see a touch of the fear there. Just look at this exchange:

Dr. Julian Karswell: Listen, mother. You believe in the supernatural. I've shown you some of its power and some of its danger.
Mrs. Karswell: Yes, Julian.
Dr. Julian Karswell: Well, believe this also. You get nothing for nothing. This house, the land, the way we live. Nothing for nothing. My followers who pay for this do it out of fear. And I do what I do out of fear also. It's part of the price.
Mrs. Karswell: But if it makes you unhappy. Stop it. Give it back.
Dr. Julian Karswell: How can you give back life? I can't stop it. I can't give it back. I can't let anyone destroy this thing. I must protect myself. Because if it's not someone else's life, it'll be mine. Do you understand, mother? It'll be mine.

In the opening scene, between Karswell and his first victim, Dr. Harrington, you see it again... he's willing to remove the curse from Harrington, but as he realizes that the runes are now gone and there is no way to save Harrington, he is quickly overcome with fear and hurries the man out to his death... not out of maliciousness, but because HE doesn't want to be around when his curse comes to pass.

In the final scenes it is driven home, and unfortunately, called attention to, when Joanna tells Holden that Karswell is afraid of him. The scene otherwise is wonderful, as Karswell tries desperately to avoid having the curse turned back on him, in almost comical precision, refusing everything that Holden offers him... JUST IN CASE. As Karswell takes his hurried leave, he makes his fatal mistake though, as Holden slips the runes into Karswell's coat pocket, and then hands the coat to a policeman, who in turn passes it to Karswell, and just as he accepts the coat, the look of shocked realization that MacGinnis conveys is just magic. "You passed them!" he blurts out, and his panic then overtakes him. Its really a beautiful scene, and the fear he conveys is amazing.

Its a pity then that the scene that follows contains the most controversial part of the film, and the part which Jacques Tourneur has disavowed, and said he had nothing to do with; The appearance of the Demon. Tourneur DID film an earlier scene, in which Holden is pursued through the woods a menacing cloud, but in this later scene, the cloud manifests a.... rather sad looking excuse for a demon, which is rather more 'cute' than terrifying. It is a weird, snaggle-toothed thing, which you can see on the poster above, and which doesn't move in a fluid way at all. There are some slightly effective long shots of it, but every time they move in for a closeup, it just looks ridiculous. It would have been more effective as simply a cloud, and wind effects. (As a side note, this is what was done in a later film, 'The Dunwich Horror' when the unseen monster at the climax is stalking the land... there is a blast of localized wind which flattens the greenery in the scene, and its quite effective.) It is said that Ray Harryhausen was approached to provide a stop motion demon for 'Night of the Demon' but he was unavailable due to working on 'The 7th Voyage of Sinbad'... perhaps they should have asked him for advice on who could have done the demon justice, because what they got, does not.

Had the demon been left unseen, or semi-unseen at least, I think the movie would have been wonderfully understated and subtle, and a real homage to Val Lewton's RKO psychological horror films. It would have left a certain amount of uncertainty to the proceedings, and played with the idea that the unseen could be entirely supernatural OR entirely psychological... or somewhere in between. It would have made it, I think, more grounded, and more effective. 

And, I'm going to leave you with a favorite quote from the film that illustrates that final point of mine:

Dr. Julian Karswell: Do I believe in witchcraft? What kind of witchcraft? The legendary witch that rides on the imaginary broom? The hex that tortures the thoughts of the victim? The pin stuck in the image that wastes away the mind and the body?
Dr. John Holden: Also imaginary.
Dr. Julian Karswell: But where does imagination end and reality begin? What is this twilight, this half world of the mind that you profess to know so much about? How can we differentiate between the powers of darkness and the powers of the mind?