text:
BFI - Palgrave MacMillan
Published October 2014
The British Film Institute recently sponsored a major science fiction festival entitled Sci-Fi: Days of Fear and Wonder. Alongside the many film screenings and DVD releases they have also published several new volumes in their Film Classics series. These are smaller volumes, around 100 pages in length, with each focused on one specific film. Included are books on The War of the Worlds (the 1953 version), Solaris (concentrating mainly on the 1972 Russian classic, but also touching on Steven Soderbergh's 2002 adaptation), Silent Running, Alien, Dr. Strangelove, Quatermass and the Pit and more.
Quatermass and the Pit (1967) is seen as the high watermark of Hammer's science fiction output. A belated follow-up to their two 1950s Quatermass films, themselves based on a hugely successful BBC TV series penned by Nigel Kneale, the film works better as a standalone story than as a direct sequel. Unlike those stark monochrome films, which were shot mostly on location, Quatermass and the Pit is colourful, studio-bound and uses a completely different cast. Brian Donlevy had previously played the eponymous Professor Quatermass as a gruff, no-nonsense American who had stepped straight from the pages of a Raymond Chandler novel, the total opposite of Andrew Keir's bearded Scotsman. In this film what appears to be an unexploded WWII bomb is uncovered during tube-tunnel digging under London. Quatermass soon realises that this "bomb" is actually a Martian spacecraft, crashed to Earth millions of years ago. These aliens had come here to interfere with human evolution, meaning, as Barbara Shelley's character puts it, "We are the Martians now."
Kim Newman is one of Britain's finest genre commentators, and his writing here is illuminating as he discusses all incarnations of Quatermass, from the first BBC series in 1953 through to the John Mills-starring The Quatermass Conclusion in 1979. Even the ill-conceived 2005 remake gets a mention. He goes into great depth on Pit itself, discussing the production and the themes of the movie. The book is crammed with footnotes, each of which is worth reading as they often contain more tidbits of information or humorous asides. Newman may be a genre fan but he is not above sarcasm where it is warranted.
This book demonstrates that although Hammer films must have more books written about them than any other British studio's output, there is still room for indepth analysis and commentary on individual significant titles. This BFI Classics entry is a shrewd and penetrating introduction to Quatermass for the uninitiated, and a must-have for those who think they already know everything there is to know about Quatermass and his infernal pit.
You can order from the BFI Classics sci-fi range here: http://shop.bfi.org.uk/sci-fi/sci-fi-books.html
DVD Review: Out of the Unknown
7-disc Region 2 DVD box set from the BFI
By Adrian Smith
Famously, or rather, infamously, the BBC took a rather cavalier approach to the preservation of its television output in the 1950s and 1960s. Due to the cost of videotape, once pre-recorded programmes had been broadcast,the tape was wiped and used again. For programmes to be kept for repeat use or to be sold to other territories around the world, the episode would be transferred to film, and it this process we have to thank that any television from this period has survived at all.
Out of the Unknown was an attempt to present serious, adult science fiction on television, adapting well-known and important authors like John Wyndham, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, J.G. Ballard and E.M. Forster. The single play was a tradition by this point, with popular series such as Armchair Theatre (1956-74) demonstrating the legacy of television's theatrical origins in live drama. Although largely neglected as a format today in favour of long-running series, both the BBC and independent television in the 1950s through to the 1970s ran hundreds of single dramas. Out of the Unknown presented a different adaptation every week. Commissioned by Sidney Newman, the man responsible for both Armchair Theatre and Doctor Who (1963-89; 2005-), the series took the BBCs remit to educate and inform very seriously. Producer Irene Shubik, quoted in the booklet accompanying this release, explained:
"Good science fiction is a way of saying something you can't say in straightforward terms... I tried to get [stories] that had some sort of message."
Like any anthology, some of the episodes here work brilliantly, others less so, but they are always interesting and prove the potential that science fiction has to provide a commentary on the human condition; our fears, concerns and hopes. From speculations on the potential of robotics to disastrous space missions and mind-altering technology, Out of the Unknown provided ample food for thought for its audience on a regular basis and is still fascinating.
The series began in 1965 in black and white on the BBC, and ran for four series, finally ending in colour in 1971. Twenty-eight episodes are completely missing from the archive. This new box set contains the remaining twenty-four complete episodes and five incomplete or reconstructed episodes, using a mix of clips, still images and sound. Fans and amateur archivists have played a major role in assisting the BFI to gather every remaining element so that this set represents the entire sum of what has survived. Along with this Herculean effort a wealth of extra features have been created including audio commentaries with historians, experts and cast members, filmed interviews and a forty-minute documentary. The accompanying booklet features in-depth essays and a complete episode guide with cast and crew listings.
Out of the Unknown is a compelling glimpse into the television production of the past, when commissioning editors like Sidney Newman were prepared to take risks and assume a higher level of intelligence in the audience than one feels is assumed by TV executives today.
Out of the Unknown is released on 24 November 2014 and can be pre-ordered by clicking here.
When Dr. Mark Davidson (John Neville) comes back to the Space research lab with a new wife, his government superiors want to know more about her. And why are scientists all over the world who are also working on the same equation as his collegues - the ability to use mental projection to travel to the other side of the galaxy - dying in the exact same way? Could the fact that his wife appears impervious to pain and unable to blink be a clue as to her potential extra-terrestrial origins? These are the questions Unearthly Stranger raises and then sets out to answer in a fairly breathless fashion. Although a considerable amount of time is spent on men in suits talking to each other in offices, the film represents the power of a good idea. As Dr. Davidson gradually comes to learn the truth about his wife it is truly heartbreaking. Great performances and excellent black and white cinematography give the film a power it may have lacked in the hands of a more pedestrian filmmaker.
Director John Krish was best known for his work on 1960s British television including The Saint and The Avengers, and he packs a lot of plot into the film's brief running time. Unearthly Stranger most closely resembles an episode of The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits, if it was scripted by John Wyndham (author of 'The Midwich Cuckoos' and 'Day of the Triffids'). In actual fact the film was written by Rex Carlton, whose best known credit is the infamous The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962). Where that film fails on virtually every level, Unearthly Stranger was produced by Albert Fennel who was also responsible for The Innocents (1961), Night of the Eagle (1962), and later on Legend of Hell House (1973), all now considered classics of British horror cinema. His experience, also honed in television, helped Unearthly Stranger share a similar level of quality.
Like many other black and white British science fiction films of the period, this film depicts a 'cosy apocalypse'. The world could potentially come to an end, but we can be damned civilized about it. As such it would make a good companion film to The Earth Dies Screaming (1964) or Invasion (1965), the latter also shortly receiving a DVD release from Network.
'The British Film' collection was launched by Network Distributing last year and they plan to release over 450 vintage films on blu ray or DVD over a five-year period. From classics such as Victim (1961) and Countess Dracula (1971) to long-unavailable shockers like Baby Love (1968) and The Nightcomers (1971), and with plenty of other rarities in-between, it is a project for retro movie fans to keep a close eye on.
Unearthly Stranger can be ordered from Network Distributing here.
Merchants of Menace: The Business of Horror Cinema
Edited by Richard Nowell
Bloomsbury Publishing
264 pages. Illustrated
229 x 152 mm
Many books have been written about the horror genre, from almost every conceivable perspective. Here however, is a somewhat different approach: the horror industry as an economy. Films, after all, require finance, and whilst artistic decisions are usually at the forefront of analysis, without the money men in the background cinema as we know it would not exist today.
Merchants of Menace, with a tribute to William Castle on its cover, attempts to give the reader a history of the horror genre from the 1930s Universal cycle through to the American remakes of today. A collection of essays on the horror genre, one will also find an in-depth look at the re-launch of Hammer as a brand and business entity, the zombies of Poverty Row and many more. It is a fascinating approach to the subject and causes the reader to ponder issues in a way they were probably not thought of before, such as the economic power of atmosphere; what exactly is atmosphere and how is it defined and turned into a commodity by filmmakers? Using the unsettling British horror City of the Dead (1960, U.S. title Horror Hotel) as an example, Robert Spadoni discusses how the film foregrounds atmosphere over narrative and how the two are often in conflict with each other.
This collection helps redress the balance between an understanding of the horror film as an entertainment medium and as a business. This will be of great interest to fans of the genre, but also points out wider issues that go beyond horror into the film industry as a whole. It is often said that you will always make money in the film business from horror and sex. Perhaps this suggests an obvious direction for Nowell's future research.
(The following pertains to the UK, Region 2 releases)
Like Walt Disney before him, Gerry Anderson's name became a brand identifier in itself, a mark of quality. It is impossible to hear his name without automatically thinking of puppets on strings, whizzing spaceships and secret island hideouts. In tribute to Anderson, who sadly passed away two years ago before the completion of this documentary, Filmed in Supermarionation presents a brilliantly detailed history of his working life. The film is full of archival material detailing just how difficult it was bringing life to those puppets, along with interviews with many of those who worked alongside Anderson, most notably his wife and long-standing collaborator Sylvia who also provided the voice of Lady Penelope.
The documentary revisits some of the original studios that Anderson and his crew used and new footage is shot in Supermarionation (Gerry Anderson's term to describe his use of marionettes) to demonstrate the filmmaking process. Some of it is surprisingly low-tech but always ingenious. Alongside Gerry Anderson's son Jamie, Lady Penelope and her chauffeur Parker themselves act as presenters for the film, and whole sets are rebuilt and then blown up in slow motion. The documentary also reveals some of the tensions between Gerry Anderson and Lew Grade, the ITC producer who first bought their shows and then the whole company itself. It was under Grade that they made the move into colour and produced their most popular and well-loved show, Thunderbirds. Following the relative failure of the Thunderbirds Are GO movie in 1966 Anderson went slightly darker with his follow-up TV show Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons. Even another Thunderbirds movie two years later did not do well, perhaps because potential audiences felt they had seen it already on television.
Anderson continued to improve the process and develop technology that made his shows of such a high quality, including early use of video assist, which meant that his puppeteers could view the action live on monitors instead of just looking down at the puppets heads. Thankfully, unlike a lot of television production at the time which was shot on primitive video tape, Anderson's shows were shot on film, meaning they have been preserved and all look great today.
Despite often claiming to hate the puppets (he reveals that early on he hoped to become a director like Steven Spielberg) Gerry Anderson nevertheless worked with them throughout the 1960s before finally having the opportunity to work with real actors; first producing the theatrical film Journey to the Far Side of the Sun, and then the successful TV series' UFO and Space: 1999. Staying within science fiction, all of these shows still made extensive use of miniatures and the effects that he had developed in his earlier puppet shows.
Network Distributing have produced this documentary and are releasing it in both DVD and Blu-ray formats. For real fans and collectors there is a limited edition box set featuring books, comics and bonus original Gerry Anderson episodes of early shows like Four Feathers Fall, Fireball XL5 and Supercar, all restored and in HD. (This can be ordered by clicking here.)
You can order Filmed in Supermarionation here
Although by the late 1970s Richard Burton's reputation was based more on his hard-drinking and turbulent marriages, he was still capable of demonstrating his powers as a dangerous and magnetic performer. Arguably by this time he had lost some of his former box-office draw and was taking roles in horror films like Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) and The Medusa Touch to pay the bills, yet he was still a mesmerising screen presence and in this film can even command the attention of the audience whilst lying on a hospital bed in a coma.
The Medusa Touch is set in London and begins with a murder. In the opening scene we see renowned author John Morlar (Richard Burton) watching news of a space shuttle disaster on TV. Within seconds he is being bludgeoned to death by a blunt instrument. It is something of a shock to see the lead actor of a movie being killed before the credits have even rolled, however, all is not lost. When the police arrive, led by Inspector Brunel (Lino Ventura), a French detective on some kind of exchange visit to Scotland Yard, they realise that he is still alive. Just. He is whisked to hospital where he is put under the charge of Dr. Johnson (Gordon Jackson) and wired up to several monitors and machines in an effort to keep him alive. It is then up to Brunel to find out who tried to kill him and why.
So despite initially appearing that Burton is merely in this film as a cameo role, he does actually show up in several lengthy flashbacks as Brunel tries to track down anyone who knew him. One person who may be able to help is his psychiatrist, played by Lee Remick. She discloses that Morlar believed he had the power to cause disasters by willing them in his mind; the so-called "Medusa Touch". Initially believing this to be a curse, he gradually comes to the realisation that he can use this power to change the world.
The Medusa Touch features some spectacular special effects as Morlar's disasters grow and grow in scale and magnitude, from a horrific plane crash into a large apartment building to an a royal assassination attempt by demolishing a major London landmark. It does not take Brunel long to turn from being sceptical of these powers to being in a race against time to stop Morlar in his diabolical quest.
Briskly directed by Jack Gold, The Medusa Touch is pure entertainment throughout and plays like a cross between The Omen (1976) and an episode of Columbo. This new Blu-ray features an excellent transfer and some fascinating behind the scenes footage of the film's climax in Westminster Abbey. Jack Gold is accompanied on a commentary track by genre authorities Kim Newman (who has also written a booklet for this release) and Stephen Jones, where Gold is enthusiastic and full of praise for all those who worked on the film.
Click here to order and view original trailer. (This is for the UK, region 2 release.)
(This review pertains to the British Blu-ray release by Network)
A mysterious Englishman with mystical powers, a sexy wife, a game of cricket and an insane asylum. In different hands these elements could have been combined to make an Amicus portmanteau film in the style of Tales From the Crypt or Asylum. In the hands of I, Claudius author Robert Graves and Palme d'Or-winning Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski it becomes a strange, hypnotic and fragmented tale that unsettles and confuses in equal measure.
Alan Bates, who could give Richard Burton a run for his money in the "brooding intensity" stakes, plays Crossley, a disheveled yet charismatic wanderer who bursts uninvited into the lives of Anthony and Rachel with devastating consequences. Anthony (John Hurt) is a Radiophonic Workshop-style musician who spends most of his time recording unusual noises and manipulating tape decks. Despite his apparent affair with the wife of the village cobbler, he is happily married, if somewhat distracted from her needs by his own sound obsessions. Rachel (Susannah York) is initially upset by the presence of Crossley, who invited himself in for Sunday lunch whilst Anthony was too polite to say no. Crossley claims to have spent the last eighteen years in the Australian outback married to an aboriginal woman, where he legally killed his children. He explains to Anthony that he also learned shamanic abilities, including a form of shout that when uttered can kill anyone and anything within earshot. Anthony is sceptical, yet with his interests in sound, he cannot resist a demonstration.
This plot setup could lead to a conventional thriller or horror film, but Skolimowski has created something entirely unconventional. Crossley is relating this tale to a young Tim Curry at a novelty cricket match being played between inmates and local villagers, which in itself seems a highly unlikely scenario. The Shout uses collage-style editing and an increasingly schizophrenic narrative until we are not entirely sure what is going on or whose version of events to believe.
The soundtrack is particularly inventive and unusual, making the most of the opportunity it was given in 1978 of being one of the first films distributed in Dolby Stereo. When Alan Bates does shout the audience must have all felt close to death. The cinematography is also spectacular, making the Devon landscape look both beautiful and dangerous. The Shout features a terrific cast who really embrace the concept without hamming it up, something which could easily have happened if a "killer shout" movie was being directed by anyone else. And if you have ever wanted to see Oscar-winner Jim Broadbent strip almost naked and smear himself in excrement then look no further.
This new Blu-ray features a new HD transfer from the original film elements, an interview with the film's producer Jeremy Thomas, an audio commentary from Stephen Jones and Kim Newman and a booklet featuring new writing from Newman and Karen Oughton.
Have you ever wondered what M*A*S*H would have been like if, instead of rebelling in a Korean field hospital and taking a satirical swipe at the Vietnam war, Elliott Gould and Donald Sutherland had actually been CIA operatives in contemporary Paris? Probably not, but somebody in 1974 did and commissioned a film that would be marketed solely on the chemistry of its two leads. Sadly no one else involved with movie seemed to think it worthwhile to write a decent script or throw any money into the project. This film looks so cheap that, during a scene where Sutherland is washing up, you suspect that he was doing this between takes as well.
Gould and Sutherland play agents Griff and Bruland, who are both working separately in Paris until an accidental assassination attempt by their own agency brings them together. Incidentally this bombing takes place in a pissoire (urinal), which gives an early indication of how grubby this film will get. Martinson, played by British actor Joss Ackland, is the Chief of the Paris branch of the CIA, and to make amends for nearly killing them, he puts them together on a new case. Their task is to smuggle a defector from the Russian Olympic team back to New York. However, when rival British agents get involved, it all goes horribly wrong, and once again Griff and Bruland narrowly escape a CIA bomb. So now they are rogue ex-agents out to survive attempts on their lives whilst earning money through shady deals involving French revolutionaries, the Russian ambassador and the Chinese secret service. Much farce ensues.
The film, shot in the UK and on location in Paris, plays more like a Bob Hope and Bing Crosby Road to... movie, or, with the heavy British influence, the Morecambe and Wise film The Magnificent Two. Ackland is like a poor man's Herbert Lom from the Pink Panther films, and Sutherland and Gould play the film like they used to have fun together a few years ago, but not so much any more. A lot of the film feels like the director is time filling. A return trip from Paris to London serves no other purpose than to allow for stock travel footage. This is perhaps a surprise when you learn that the director is none other than Irvin Kershner, who started out in film noir but is best known for saving the Star Wars franchise with The Empire Strikes Back. S*P*Y*S represents something of a low in his CV.
For reasons most likely forgotten, the film had a score by Jerry Goldsmith on its US release, but in Europe a new score was recorded by John Scott, a jazz musician whose career now spans more than fifty years, covering everything from horror and sexploitation to TV themes and epics. His score for S*P*Y*S, found on this new DVD release, is fairly conventional, and in all likelihood the audience will be too busy straining to hear anything funny from the cast to notice it.
One point of interest here is that the film offers an appearance of Zouzou, who plays a sexy revolutionary. In the 1960s, through her involvement with Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones, she became a celebrity and French icon before trying singing and acting. Addicted to heroin she dropped out of acting shortly after S*P*Y*S, presumably because she watched it.
Fans of Elliott Gould or Donald Sutherland will no doubt want to pick this up, but for everyone else it is a less than essential release. With a plot that can be found in countless Euro-spy and Bond rip-offs, and unable to compensate for this with sparkling wit or charm, S*P*Y*S has little to offer. Watch M*A*S*H again instead.
This new DVD release from Network Releasing features a decent print. The colours are rather drab, but one suspects that is how the film has always looked. As mentioned, the soundtrack features the European rather than the original Jerry Goldsmith score. The only extras are a rather brief stills gallery and the original theatrical trailer, which really hammers home just how great it will be to see Gould and Sutherland do their thing again. If only it proved to be true...
(This film is out of print on American DVD)
Reviews by Adrian Smith
Frankenstein by Robert Horton
Wallflower Press
Price $15/ £10.50
120 pages
Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! by Dean De Fino
108 pages
Use of the term "cult film" has been around for some time now, but it still seems difficult to ascertain a true definition. Cult, it would seem, is in the eye of the beholder; it is not easily described, but you know a cult film when you see it. This series of slim volumes (around 100 pages each) from Wallflower Press sees a variety of writers and academics wrestle their own personal cult film demons as they give analysis, behind-the-scenes tidbits and biographical details of all the major players concerned.
Two of their latest books are on Frankenstein (1931) and Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965). Robert Horton successfully argues that although the original Frankenstein was such a mainstream hit that one may not consider that it qualifies as part of a cult series, it has become a cult in the manner of a religion, through its hundreds of sequels and the iconography that has arisen. The face of Frankenstein's monster, as played by Boris Karloff, is one of the most recognisable images of the twentieth century. From model kits to sweets dispensers, thanks to endless sequels and the repeats of Universal horrors on TV throughout the fifties and sixties, Frankenstein provided the monster that kids most empathised with. Boris Karloff became an elder statesman of horror and was hugely loved and respected in the sixties, because despite his many other roles over the years, it was the monster stitched from reclaimed corpses that people remembered with the most fondness.
Horton manages to avoid this book simply being a rehash of the same old material we have read elsewhere, and he points out in great detail Frankenstein's ability to still shock today, thanks not only to Karloff's performance but also to James Whale's inventive and mischievous direction. The film may be over eighty years old but this does not mean it cannot still be frightening.
Whereas Horton is tackling a series of films, and as he argues, a "cult" in itself, Dean De Fino is taking on what could initially seem an easier task: one single film by noted smut-peddler Russ Meyer. However Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! is no ordinary film. Made relatively early in Meyer's career, it marks his move away from "nudie-cuties" and "roughies" into something new. Although the film borrows freely from other genres (beach party, biker flick, drag race, juvenile delinquent), he seems to create something entirely different. From the jazz-infused opening sequence to the improbably large bosoms of his female cast, Meyer's film is a fever dream that grind-house fans and art-house enthusiasts can both appreciate.
The book is again a mixture of biographical information, behind-the-scenes gossip and analysis, and each element is equally fascinating to read. Using such sources as Russ Meyer's own autobiography and other reminiscences the story behind the making of the scene makes for as entertaining a tale as what ended up on the screen. He allegedly allowed for no fraternisation between cast and crew members in order to ensure that all the sexual tension was up on screen (this was later used as a plot device in Meyer-fan John Waters' Cecil B. DeMented (2000)). Russ Meyer allegedly allowed this rule to be broken only once in his entire career, and that was to allow Tura Satana secret trysts with a crew member. Even he could not say no to her. Satana plays Varla, the leader of a vicious gang of go-go dancers, and her performance is terrifying. Men are not safe when she is around. Tura Satana's own history is incredible, and sadly her recent death has left her memoirs so far unpublished. According to De Fino she was gang-raped and sent to reform school at 10 and married off to a 17-year old at 13. She ran away and was posing nude for Harold Lloyd and working as a stripper by the age of 15, and by 25 she was teaching Shirley MacLaine burlesque and had slept with Elvis. And then she met Russ Meyer. If ever two people were destined to work together and form a life-long friendship, it was them.
De Fino makes connections from the film to the cultural and political unrest in 1965. He posits that Meyer was playing out issues from the civil rights and sexual revolution right there in the dust Mojave Desert. This interpretation backs up the argument that Meyer infused his films with political relevance, and explains why his films have survived to be hailed as worthy of serious attention whilst many of his erotic contemporaries have been forgotten.
With books on other cult titles such as This is Spinal Tap (1984), Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) and Quadraphenia (1979), the Cultographies series is an excellent way to become conversant in the cult film of your choice.
For more information and to order copies go to www.cultographies.com.
Released on region 2 DVD by Arrow Video
I have to admit I was not familiar with Lust in the Dust, but as soon as I saw the names Paul Bartel and Divine on the box, I knew I was in safe hands.
The film begins with Rosie Velez (Divine) struggling through the desert on the world's smallest donkey. About to die from thirst and exhaustion, she is saved by the timely appearance of a waterhole. The audience is then treated to a glimpse of his/ her naked behind whilst she bathes, which appears to have a very unusual birthmark. Also taking in this unsavoury view is Tab Hunter as Abel Wood, a cowboy of very few words. He is headed for Chili Verde and reluctantly agrees for Rosie to tag along. When he arrives at this tiny, clichéd western town he discovers that they don't take too kindly to strangers. Rosie gets manages to get a job in the bar, which is also a brothel, and Abel learns that there is a legend regarding hidden gold somewhere in the town. Being the strong silent type he soon attracts the affections of Marguerita (Lainie Kazan), bar owner and chief whore, and soon a jealous rivalry erupts between her and Rosie. Throw into the mix Cesar Romero as the local priest and Geoffrey Lewis and Henry Silva as bad guys and you have all the makings of a fast-paced, mischievous comedy western. The plot is nothing new, but it is the juxtaposition of Divine's constant chatter against Hunter's quiet, thoughtful delivery that makes this so enjoyable. This is not the first film to use the "secret clues tattooed on women's behinds" gag, but who cares when it is this funny? Many of the jokes are borderline offensive, and certainly tasteless. One would expect nothing less from the director of Eating Raoul (1982), a dark comedy about cannibalism, and let's not forget that in Pink Flamingoes (1972), Divine eats real dog faeces on camera.
Tab Hunter had plenty of previous experience in westerns, and had also starred with Divine before in Polyester (1981) and was able to use his influence in Hollywood to get Lust in the Dust made, acting as one of the film's producers. His character is part Clint Eastwood's Man with No Name and part Franco Nero's Django and as such he has terrific screen presence. All of the cast are excellent and Paul Bartel manages to hold together what could have been a mess in the wrong hands.
The new DVD release is on Arrow's Arrowdrome label, which presents cult film titles at low prices but with a minimum of extras. It does feature the original trailer, a reversible DVD sleeve and a booklet with more information on the film. Lust in the Dust is hugely entertaining and deserves to become a new favourite film for anyone who likes their entertainment a little subversive.
You can order the DVD by clicking here
(This book was recently reviewed by Lee Pfeiffer. Here is columnist Adrian Smith's take on this volume.)
Crab Monsters, Teenage Cavemen and Candy Stripe Nurses - Roger Corman: King of the B Movie
by Chris Nashawaty Introduction by John Landis
272 pages
As part of the Gothic season at the British Film Institute recently, Roger Corman sat and signed autographs for well over an hour as the line of fans and admirers snaked its way around the building. At least 50% of those fans were clutching copies of this new coffee-table book, a visual delight from Chris Nashawaty, writer for Entertainment Weekly.
Several books have been published on the Corman phenomenon, most notably his own autobiography How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime. Since that was published in 1990 he has made at least a hundred more. Until he gets around to updating that volume, which given his continuing workload in film production seems unlikely, we are lucky that so many other writers and filmmakers are constantly willing dive into his career.
Whilst not as revealing or personal as Bevery Gray's excellent Roger Corman: An Unauthorised Life, Nashawaty's book is a real joy. He has selected over 150 images, many of which are previously unpublished. Artwork, photos and movie stills are presented in full colour alongside an oral history of the life and career of Roger Corman, from his childhood right up to the present day. Corman's contribution to the movie business is immense, and, as covered in the book, his honorary Academy Award in 2009 was well deserved. Those lined up to congratulate him on that night included Jonathan Demme, Ron Howard, Jack Nicholson and Peter Bogdanovich. The list of those filmmakers who have graduated from the "Corman School" is almost endless, and the fact that he is still making films today means that yet another generation are learning from the master.
As evidenced by a photograph of him on the Hawaiian set of Piranhaconda (2012), Corman is very much a hands-on producer. He has an almost preternatural sense of what is going to become the next big thing in the business; providing teenage movies for the drive-ins in the 1950s, using VHS before the major studios in the late 1970s or bringing monster mash-up movies to the Syfy channel (as well as Piranhaconda, Corman has been responsible for Sharktopus (2010), Dinocroc vs. Supergator (2010) and Dinoshark (2010), the latter as both producer and star).
As well as dozens of new interviews, the book also critically examines some of the key titles from Corman's back-catalogue, either as director or producer. Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957), The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), The Intruder (1962), The Big Doll House (1971), Boxcar Bertha (1972, an early film from Martin Scorsese) and even The Slumber Party Massacre (1982) are all touched on, amongst many more. One can use Nashawaty's selections as a list for beginners keen to gain an understanding of Corman as a filmmaker.
With Christmas just around the corner, this book is well worth considering sending to the movie lover in your life. It makes the perfect introduction to Roger Corman and his work, and contains new stories and anecdotes as well as a few that will be familiar to aficionados. And as he is showing no sign of slowing down, the Corman story is not over yet.
Click here to order from Amazon
Click here to order from Amazon UK
Note: This review pertains to the Region 2 (PAL) format UK release.
This Cinema Retro writer would love to be able to explain to you in detail what just what The Final Programme is about, but I have absolutely no idea. The plot revolves around Jerry Cornelius (Jon Finch), a swaggering millionaire scientist who seems to think he is the second coming in this futuristic, possibly post-WWIII Britain. His father, also a scientist, died when he was on the brink of some kind of amazing discovery, and it is up to Cornelius to find out what it was. Along the way he meets a variety of bizarre characters who drift in and out of the plot with nothing particular to contribute. Amongst these are many familiar faces from film and TV, such as George Coulouris, Sterling Hayden, Patrick Magee and Graham Crowden, the latter seemingly channelling Quentin Crisp. The film has flashes of visual inspiration spread throughout its running time, including colourful filters and multiple layers, but these alone do not make up for a story that makes no sense whatsoever. At one point Cornelius finds himself in a nightclub which is built like a giant pinball machine, complete with scantily-clad go-go dancers in giant hamster balls. It's colourful and exciting, and you can almost imagine this film taking place in the same Britain as A Clockwork Orange (1971).
Robert Fuest is probably best known for directing the Vincent Price camp comedy-horror classics The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) and Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972), films with plenty of visual style to compensate for the slightly flimsy plots, themselves a derivation from the much-imitated Agatha Christie story And Then There Were None (also known as Ten Little Indians). The film is based on a much-respected science fiction novel by prolific author Michael Moorcock. He has not been particularly complimentary about the film in the past, and neither have ardent fans of the book, who have complained that too much was removed from the story. This may help explain why the film makes no sense, with Jerry moving from unusual experience to unusual experience for no reason. It is a movie that is less than the sum of its parts, which is a pity as individual parts are intriguing and entertaining, and suggest that there could have been something very special here. Instead it is like trying to watch a film through the fog of a room full of stoners. Originally an X certificate in the UK, the film is now rated 15 for the occasional swearing, drug-taking and nudity, all very much of its time.
This is a film which has been greatly anticipated on UK DVD, and it is a pity that Network did not take the opportunity to create materials that may help the audience to put the film in some sort of context. Sadly both Robert Fuest and Jon Finch died last year, too late to have their final reflections on the film recorded. Michael Moorcock is still around but would not necessarily want to contribute, but some kind of short documentary or commentary track from a historian would definitely help if you are new to the film. As it is you get a couple of trailers and the choice to watch the opening titles in Italian. Not exactly mind-blowing extras, which are precisely what this DVD release needs.
Saturday 9th November 2013
Report by Adrian Smith
On Saturday in the shadow of Westminster Abbey, amidst the power-hungry elite of Whitehall and Downing Street, gathered an even more sinister and corrupting influence. Darth Vader rubbed shoulders with evil twins, corrupted children, vampires, zombies and even Jack the Ripper. Overseeing this evil conclave were directors whose films were so depraved that sometimes sick bags were supplied to the audience.
Horror film buffs were of course overjoyed at the fantastic selection of stars at this Hammer and Horror Film event. Representing the Bond girls were Caroline Munro, Caron Gardner, Martine Beswick and Madeline Smith. They were alongside horror queens Barbara Shelley, Kate O'Mara, Judy Matheson, Janina Faye and Emily Booth. Barbara Shelley sat with some of the alien children from her classic British sci-fi Village of the Damned, Teri and Lesley Scoble and Martin Stephens (also star of The Innocents). David Warner (Tron), Dave Prowse (Star Wars) and John Carson (Plague of the Zombies) were all very friendly and accommodating of the multitude of demanding fans, and writer-directors Michael Armstong (Mark of the Devil), Norman J. Warren (Satan's Slave) and Brian Clemens (The Avengers) were also there discussing their work and meeting old friends.
The focus of the day was the recent restoration of Hammer's Twins of Evil. To celebrate the director John Hough met up with Damien Thomas, who played Count Karnstein, Judy Matheson, burnt at the stake by Peter Cushing, and good twin Mary Collinson, who had travelled to the event from Milan. Sir Christopher Frayling, one of the UK's leading authorities on vampire fiction, lead the onstage discussion. He provided a fascinating history of the Karnstein story from its origins in the work of Sheridan Le Fanu to Hammer's lesbian vampire trilogy. They all clearly enjoyed the reunion, and Hough did his best to convince the audience that the Collinson girls' voices were not dubbed, despite what all the film history books say. Mary explained that they both received elocution lessons, as neither of them were trained actors. Twins of Evil was to be their last film, released when they were only nineteen, and they returned to modelling.
Other guests were also interviewed throughout the day. Brian Clemens, Caroline Munro and John Carson got together to discuss the magnificent Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter, agreed by one and all to be the last good film Hammer made in the 1970s. Norman J. Warren described the difficulties of making Satan's Slave with money raised by your producer re-mortgaging his house. They had such small funds that star Michael Gough had to supply his own wardrobe and sleep on a friend's sofa for three weeks, all for the grand sum of £300.
David Warner was especially mischievous during his interview, reacting with horror every time a clip was shown from his extensive back-catalogue (including Tom Jones, The Omen, Time After Time and Star Trek). He had the room in gales of laughter and explained that as an actor without any ambition he is very happy to have never been a star, something that many in the room disagreed with.
What makes one of these conventions so enjoyable is that alongside the guests are dozens of stalls weighed down with rare DVDs, obscure film posters, original James Bond toys, vinyl, novelisations; virtually every kind of film memorabilia and ephemera that you can think of (and many you can't) from all over the world. From Thai Evil Dead posters to original Hammer Quads it was a collectors dream, even though you may also need to re-mortgage your home yourself in order to pay for everything you want. Cinema Retro came home laden with press books, lobby cards, old magazines, books and rare Spanish 1960s superhero movies, and could easily have gone around the hall several more times.
They hold the London Film Memorabilia Convention several times a year in Westminster, and often feature special guests. You can find out what is coming up on their website at http://www.londonfilmmemorabiliaconvention.co.uk.
(For Cinema Retro's review of the U.S. special Blu-ray edition of Twins of Evil, click here)
(The following review pertains to the UK-Region 2 DVD release)
This film is a true oddity, and one that will most likely escaped the attention of even the most avid Orson Welles fans. Three Cases of Murder is an anthology film featuring three short stories, each by a different director, linked by British television personality Eamon Andrews, who appears to have just got home from a night at the theatre. The only loose connection is that each is about, well, murder, and each segment also features Alan Badel. a British character actor who was better known at the time for his theatre work, but is superb here.
"The Picture" is set in an art gallery, where the glass over a painting has been mysteriously smashed, and several items have been stolen. Despite these nefarious goings on no culprit has ever been caught. The museum tour guide meets an oddly dressed gentleman (Badel) who engages him in conversation about this painting, a large portrait of a gothic, fog-enshrouded manor house. Before he knows quite what has happened to him, our tour guide finds himself actually inside the house itself. This strange man reveals himself to have been the artist who painted the picture. He had died before it was completed. It transpires that all the pictures in the gallery act as a form of afterlife limbo, where the dead are forced to live inside the paintings, stealing whatever they can from the gallery. Also living in the house are a sinister, attractive young woman and a truculent old taxidermist, obsessed with collecting butterflies.
This first story is by far the best of the bunch, and plays out like a missing Twilight Zone episode, with its stark lighting, fantastical story, weird camera angles and sickening twist ending. Of particular interest is that this segment was directed by Wendy Toye, who was that most rarest of people: a female director in the 1950s British film industry. She had begun her career as a dancer and actress, before moving into theatre and then film direction. At that time there was only one other female director in the country, Muriel Box, showing just what a difficult industry it was for women to rise beyond the traditional production jobs on offer; script girl, wardrobe or makeup. The fact that "The Picture" is the best, most inventive part of Three Cases of Murder is testament to what a great talent she had, a talent that was greatly underused in British cinema.
The second story, "You Killed Elizabeth", is a mini-Hitchcock thriller regarding two best friends who fall out over a girl. Murder and drink-fuelled amnesia lead to another surprise twist where we learn the true cost of betrayal. Compared to the inventiveness of the first segment, this story comes across a little flat. It was directed by David Eady, his first contribution to a feature film. He went on to have a minor directing career in British television and B pictures.
The final story is "Lord Mountdrago", and casts Orson Welles as a pompous foreign secretary in the old boys network of British politics. Although the story was directed by George More O'Ferrall, who had a long career in television, it is claimed Welles himself took over most of the directing. This is only a rumour, but it is not hard to believe given his reputation.
Welles plays the titular Lord Mountdrago, who after publicly humiliating a rival politician (Alan Badel again) begins to suffer from nightmares, where he is himself repeatedly humiliated by this same politician. After receiving psychiatric counselling he refuses to acknowledge that a simple apology to the man he had wronged would solve the problem. Instead he begins to believe that murder is the only way to restore his sanity.
This story shares a similar Twilight Zone feel to "The Picture", but is largely played for laughs. Welles, who was appearing here whilst working in theatre, throws himself into the role with gusto, unafraid of making Lord Mountdrago look increasingly ridiculous, including an appearance at a party where he has forgotten to put on his trousers!
Three Cases of Murder is an odd little film, but is certainly worth revisiting in this new release. It deserves to be given some attention, and serves a reminder of just how creative even low budget B films could be. This DVD from Odeon Entertainment includes a booklet which mostly focuses on Orson Welles. The most significant extra is the inclusion of the short film Return to Glennascaul, an Irish ghost story also featuring Welles which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1953. It is a creepy warning on the perils of picking up hitchhikers, and is worth the purchase of this DVD alone.
TV Horror:Investigating the Dark Side of the Small Screen
by Lorna Jowett and Stacey Abbott
I.B. Taurus
270 pages
Television can easily be dismissed as being an unsuitable medium for the horror genre, having to please the moral majority and unable to be as red in tooth and claw as those horrific offerings on the silver screen. Jowett and Abbott's new book does its best to prove this argument wrong, demonstrating that in many ways television has been able to explore the darker recesses of horror in far more depth than can be done in a single two hour movie. Shows such as The Twilight Zone and Buffy the Vampire Slayer have embraced the limitations of the small screen to present some truly chilling, unsettling moments. Long-running shows like The X-Files were able to have story arcs that lasted several seasons, building complex characters and even more complicated plots.
Jowett and Abbott draw on examples from both American and British television, looking at the grotesque excesses of comedy shows like The League of Gentlemen and Psychoville, both of which draw heavily on a tradition of film horror. We seem to be in something of a golden age of television horror right now, from the gothic influences evident in Doctor Who to the extreme violence and gore of Dexter or Hemlock Grove. The authors are able to identify a recent shift in production practise which has to some extent fragmented audiences, such as the advent of cable television production in the States, or internet streaming services like Netflix who now produce original programming. This means that more shows can be available, but are perhaps seen by smaller numbers of people.
Although the tone is a little dry, the book is a fascinating and indepth look at TV horror, a genre often considered inferior to it's cinematic older sibling in most writing, and it has been fairly neglected in academic evaluation until now. Some of the examples here will bring joy to fans of television as well as chilling reminders of some of the more difficult and nostalgic shows, with Dark Shadows, Twin Peaks, Stephen King's It, Kingdom Hospital, The Outer Limits, Boris Karloff's Thriller, Night Gallery, The Quatermass Experiment and Blood Ties all getting a thorough analysis.
Ultimately books such as this offer the reader two things: an insight into the minds of the authors, and an attempt to tell us something about the audiences who consume all this material. Unless it is an encyclopedia, a single investigation into TV horror is not going to cover everything. As such TV Horror: Investigating the Dark Side of the Small Screen could potentially leave some readers disappointed that their favourite show does not get a mention, but Jowett and Abbott have covered considerable ground here, proving that the genre is ready for reassessment. The small screen has offered up some seriously scary programmes over the last sixty years, putting the forbidden and the frightening right in your living room as an assault on all that we hold dear. This book will help to explain why we need it there.
Offbeat: British Cinema's Curiosities, Obscurities and Forgotten Gems
Edited by Julian Upton
440 pages
Every so often a book comes my way that I wish I had written. 'Offbeat' is one such title, the byline of which succinctly describes a large proportion of my film viewing since childhood. The book is a collection of film reviews, with titles ranging from 1954 (the animated adaptation of George Orwell's Animal Farm) to 1985 (sci-fi dud Lifeforce). With a cover illustration taken from Kenneth Rowles' infamous hitchhiking shocker Take an Easy Ride (1977), the book is clearly aiming for cult credentials, which may explain why the hundreds of forgotten gems before 1954 have been totally ignored. To be fair to the editor, a book which attempted to cover the entirety of Britain's lost and maligned movies would be the length of several encyclopaedias. Indeed, this book does not claim to be definitive. In many ways it perhaps tells us more about the predilections of the various contributors than it does about the decades it covers.
'Offbeat' does raise one fairly depressing point, which is that although there are literally thousands of films at our fingertips these days, there are still titles which are tantalisingly out of reach. Whole swathes of homegrown movies have been shoved to the back of dusty shelves in forgotten archives never to be seen again except in grainy, third generation VHS copies dating from the one terrestrial broadcast thirty years ago. It's a pity that so many of the films in here suffer from a lack of availability, as I guarantee that you will be reading this book in one hand whilst browsing online for DVDs with the other.
Although the book contains dozens of fascinating, occasionally outlandish titles, if you have any experience in the obscurities of British cinema you will still be able to argue about the final selection. Donovan Winter is notable by his absence, and having given the world incestuous lesbian twins in Some Like It Sexy (1969), he surely deserves a nod. There is perhaps the inevitable focus on Hammer, who get several mentions and one begins to wonder whether anyone else was actually making films in the 1960s. There are however plenty of titles in here which even I, a seasoned British cinema fan, was not familiar with. The director whose name seems to arise the most often is Val Guest, one of the unsung heroes of British cinema. Perhaps the time is now right for a full reevaluation of his work. In a career covering sci-fi, horror, social realism and sex comedies, his filmography IS the British film industry from the mid-1950s through to the 1970s in microcosm.
Alongside the reviews are scattered several essays covering various aspects of British cinema, including the swashbuckler, the pop musical, underage sex and the demise of the industry in the 1970s; as scattershot an approach to film history as one could hope for, with the emphasis firmly placed on the psychotronic. Amongst the film titles jostling for attention are classics such as Horrors From the Black Museum (1959), The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961), The Birthday Party (1968), a rare excursion into British filmmaking from The Exorcist's William Friedkin, and Eskimo Nell (1975), the finest sex comedy this country has ever produced. The BFI's current Flipside range of DVDs and blu rays gets good coverage also, with Herostratus, Privilege (both 1967), Permissive, Bronco Bullfrog, Deep End, (all 1970) and The Black Panther (1977) all coming highly recommended. At least some of the films discussed in 'Offbeat' are not as obscure as they once were.
As with all recent Headpress books the imagery is reproduced in black and white, which is a pity as so many of these films feature wildly colourful, bordering on psychedelic, imagery. The poster art for long-forgotten musical mega-flop Toomorrow (1970) is far more exciting than the film itself! This complaint is quickly forgiven once you discover that 'Offbeat' has a thorough index, something often ignored in similar books. This means you can use this as a great reference book, and each film title includes production details and credits alongside a thorough analysis and review. One may not agree with every opinion shared (Sarah Morgan's dismissal of Hammer's Captain Clegg as "a decent potboiler" is woefully off the mark), but the book does serve its purpose which is to encourage the reader to discover the hidden gems of British cinema. If you can find them that is.
There has been a gradual yet inevitable demise of analogue formats over the last decade or so, with wax cylinders, eight track and the chrome cassette tape all now relegated to the scrap heap. Yet vinyl is making a comeback. Despite the supposed superiority of the CD and the mp3, there is nothing as satisfying as sliding your 12" LP out of it's card sleeve, carefully placing it on the turntable, and the slight crackle when the needle first makes contact. And many argue that the sound quality remains superior to digital reproduction, particularly when listening to older recordings that were made using analogue equipment in the first place.
One company to truly embrace the vinyl collector culture is Death Waltz Records, founded by Spencer Hickman of Rough Trade in London. They produce exclusive vinyl reproductions of a massive array of cult film soundtracks and accompany them with sleeve notes, newly commissioned artwork and coloured vinyl, and most come with screen prints and posters too. They have recently put out the bizarre electronic scores of Halloween II and Halloween III: Season of the Witch, both limited to 300 copies. This release coincides nicely with the recent rerelease of both films on Blu-ray and DVD from Shout Factory.
Halloween III in particular has been much maligned over the years, thanks in no small part to screenwriter Nigel Kneale's much publicised dislike of the film. However you feel about it, the soundtrack is superb. Both of these Halloween releases have splendidly eerie scores which should on no account be listened to in the dark. Both were composed by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth and build on the tones and style that Carpenter developed on the first Halloween movie. Halloween II also delivers a surprise when The Chordettes burst through the synthesised shivers with "Mr Sandman", an incongruity which fits well with the ending of the movie. Halloween III contains the horrifyingly catchy "Silver Shamrock" jingle, reminding children to make sure they are wearing their new Halloween masks when the 'Horrorthon' starts later that night. Of course, if you have seen the film you will know those are no ordinary Halloween masks, and it is a night that will not end well.
If you are a collector who wants everything in mint condition, the dilemma as to whether you can actually play your vinyl once it arrives is a difficult one. Even if you decide not to play it, each Death Waltz release makes a unique piece of memorabilia.
One recent development at Death Waltz Records will be of particular interest to fans of British horror. They have gone into partnership with Hammer Films and are intending to release several soundtracks on vinyl, some of which have never been released before. Amongst the first will be Twins of Evil (1971) and The Devil Rides Out (1968), Hammer's most successful Dennis Wheatley adaptation. The latter will feature extensive sleeve-notes by James Bernard and all new exclusive artwork. The package will come as a limited edition coloured vinyl with an A2 poster and 12 x 12 lithograph print . It will also contain a download link for an interview with Christopher Lee and two unreleased cues. If you are a vinyl collector, or a fan of Hammer horror, you had better start saving up now!
Review by Adrian Smith
'Star Trek' has been with us now for almost fifty years. It has spawned five different incarnations on television, ten official movies and soon the sequel to J.J. Abram's successful reboot of the franchise will be in cinemas, titled Star Trek Into Darkness. Gene Roddenberry's vision of an international, interstellar crew aboard a gigantic spacecraft whose mission was simply to explore the universe has touched millions of people and generated some almost alarming levels of devotion and influence. One only has to look at the campaign to build a real Starship Enterprise to see that this show is taken very seriously by many (www.buildtheenterprise.org).
But not everybody is well versed in 'Star Trek' lore. Over the decades of boldly going through the galaxies a massive amount of alien races, mythologies and technology has been devised to keep the shows and movies interesting. Some of these are well known even amongst non-Trekkies, with most people knowing the difference, say, between a Klingon and a Vulcan. What what about the Jem'Hadar? Or the Yridians? Could you name the home planet of the Xindi? Or explain how the Suliban Cabal became genetically enhanced? Thankfully these questions and more can now be answered without needing to trawl back through all those old 'Star Trek' tapes. If you want to be more familiar with the 'Star Trek' universe in time for the new movie, or just want to take a warp speed trip down memory lane, this new book from D.K. guides you through each incarnation of the television series, from the original 'Star Trek' through to 'The Next Generation', 'Voyager', 'Deep Space Nine' and 'Enterprise'. Also included is information from the first ten movies.
Aside from the introduction by John De Lancie, who played the mysterious extra-dimensional Q in 'Star Trek: The Next Generation', there is no acknowledgement in here that this is all fictional. The book acts as a glossary providing imagery and information as though it was all real. This is fun for fans who may want to check how to distinguish a Type-1 Phaser from a Type-2 Phaser, but a little frustrating if you are more interested in the history and development of the production from its inception. However, there are plenty of other books out there which cover that side of the story. Where Star Trek: The Visual Dictionary stands out is in its wealth of imagery, plenty of which is quite rare, having only just been released from the CBS archives. The book is well laid out and is something you can quite easily dip in and out of. You can marvel at the intricacies of the designs and the imaginations of the show's creators even if you can't find out who any of them were.
Hemlock Books
Price: £17.95
295 pages
To paraphrase Jonathan Rigby in his book English Gothic, horror is the one genre that Britain can truly claim as its own. And whilst British horror cinema is inextricably connected to gothic-tinged memories of Christopher Lee, cobweb-strewn castles and buxom scream queens, M.J. Simpson points out in this excellently researched tome that the face of British horror today offers far more.
Simpson appears to have taken on the Herculean task of watching every film that could fit the broad definition of being British (not always easy to tell, with funding and production often involving multiple countries), and being horror, again something of a broad church. A lot of the films he describes, giving not only plot synopses but reviews, production information and interview extracts, sound utterly terrible. He seems to have sat through a staggering amount of punishingly bad films so that we, the readers, don't have to. But along the way he has stumbled across a significant number of excellent films, too, many of which have escaped either critical or commercial attention.
Using the term British Horror Revival, Simpson offers a complete breakdown of the twelve years covered, digging up each film and presenting them in the order they received any kind of release. It is fascinating to see just how difficult some filmmakers have getting distribution, often producing a film in the UK but finding it only coming out on DVD in Japan or Australia. Many films manage a few festival screenings before disappearing into obscurity, so Simpson is to be praised for finding them again. Of course, some of them sound so terrible that it does not seem that much of a pity, but others sound like genuine lost gems. If horror is your thing, this book will have you scouring the internet looking for DVD or download copies.
Amongst the filmmakers discussed are genuine talents like Jake West (Evil Aliens, 2006), Shane Meadows (Dead Man's Shoes, 2006), Neil Marshall (The Descent, 2005) and Danny Boyle, whose brilliant and devastating 28 Days Later (2002) did much to raise the profile of the British Horror Revival around the world. Amongst the more obscure entries you can find Beyond the Rave (2008), a cheap teen-themed vampire horror co-produced by the newly revived Hammer Films, which Cinema Retro covered extensively (and even appeared in briefly!) here: http://www.cinemaretro.com/index.php/archives/387-EXCLUSIVE-REPORT-FROM-THE-SET-OF-NEW-HAMMER-HORROR-FILM%21.html
This is an extremely well-researched book, and M.J. Simpson's occasionally sarcastic and exasperated tone is entertaining, even if it does give the impression that he had regrets about this project once he had embarked on it. He has uncovered some gems and revealed that there is a very active, mostly micro-budget British film industry which gets frequently overshadowed by the Bonds, Harry Potters and Richard Curtis rom-coms. It is a pity that aside from a few pages of colour stills the majority of the imagery in the book is black and white. This is a genre that is frequently soaked in the red stuff. The main gripe however has to be the lack of an index or references. It is impossible to search for a specific title unless you know the year it was released, and even then you have to wade through the chapter concerned. The book could have served as a useful reference guide, but instead it appears to have been designed to be read from cover to cover. However, this is only a minor reservation. If you are interested in the horror genre, or want to find out just how active dozens of British filmmakers have are, this is a great read.
(Click here for on-line index of people mentioned in the book)
(Click here for on-line index of titles mentioned in the book)
(Note: This review pertains to the UK Region 2 PAL format release available on www.amazon.co.uk)
Cecil B. DeMille will always be remembered for his lavish historical epics like The Ten Commandments (1923 and again in 1956), Sign of the Cross (1932) and Samson and Delilah (1949). However, with over one hundred and sixty credits as either director or producer, he also worked in plenty of other genres. Following two flops, This Day and Age (1933) and Four Frightened People (1934), Paramount head Adolph Zukor insisted he try to replicate the success of Sign of the Cross with another visual spectacle. DeMille agreed and cast Claudette Colbert in the lead role of Cleopatra (she had already starred in both Sign of the Cross and Four Frightened People and was about to win the Oscar for It Happened one Night (1934)).
The plot focuses on Cleopatra's relationship with Julius Caesar (Warren William), who initially wishes to conquer Egypt, but having been seduced by the Queen of the Nile, he instead pledges Rome's support and protection. This ultimately leads to his downfall and assassination in the Senate, and his right-hand man Marc Anthony (Henry Wilcoxon) takes joint power with Caesar's heir Octavian (Ian Keith). Determined to once again subjugate Egypt, Marc Anthony heads to the Nile and meets with Cleopatra aboard her incredibly extravagant barge. He is in turn seduced and takes Caesar's place as protectorate of Egypt, something which severely displeases Octavian and the Senate back home. This is a piece of history which, thanks to the movies, is very well known. The pleasure here comes not from wondering how it will turn out, but the visual spectacle we are treated to on the journey.
Former United States Postmaster General Will Hays had been tasked with cleaning up the motion picture industry following the great tide of scandal and public outcry over Hollywood decadence during the 1920s. This had in part been prompted by the death of actress Virginia Rappe following her attendance at an orgy with Fatty Arbuckle in 1921. In 1930 Hays published a set of industry rules which became known as the Hays Code or Production Code, and whilst official censorship was not in force, any movie which did not comply would find it extremely difficult to get distribution. The rules particularly clamped down on any form of sexual activity, with the first rule "No picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it," ensuring audiences were to get as little thrills as possible in the movie theatre. Incredibly the studios remained in voluntary subscription to the Hays code until the late 1960s. Fortunately in the early 1930s the code was only just developing its power over Hollywood and some productions did manage to escape, Cleopatra being one of them. DeMille had flirted with erotic imagery before, most notoriously with Claudette Colbert's nude bathing scene in Sign of the Cross. Cleopatra is filled with the kind of steamy, sexually-charged atmosphere that Hollywood would struggle to depict again for many years. Colbert's costumes in particular are eye-popping in every sense.
The sets of the movie also live up to DeMille's reputation, and must have filled every sound stage on the Paramount lot. He had an eye for spectacle and Cleopatra is brimming with it, whether it's the opulent palaces or the climactic sea battle, surprisingly graphic for 1934. The pacing is good, with plenty of story covered in its one hundred minutes. The makers of the Elizabeth Taylor-starring remake in 1963 could have learned a lot from this one. Claudette Colbert's performance is perfect as the sexually alluring queen willing to do whatever it takes to protect Egypt, even if her suitors, Caesar and Marc Anthony, are rather boorish and ham-fisted. This is a film where the cast appear to hail from New York rather than the ancient world, but this does not matter when the gorgeous imagery arrests your senses all the way through.
This new dual format (Blu-ray and DVD) release from Eureka features a tremendous HD transfer authorised by Universal, and some nice documentaries covering DeMille, Claudette Colbert and the background to the Production Code. A commentary by film historian F.X. Feeney and forty page booklet crammed with essays and imagery is also included. This is a highly recommended release.
BFI Flipside Dual Format Edition
(Note: this review pertains to the UK Region 2 release.)
New York underground filmmaker and avante-garde theatre director Andy Milligan is perhaps best known for his sleazy exploitation movies that ran in 42nd St theatres for years throughout the 1970s. Memorable titles include The Rats Are Coming! The Werewolves Are Here! (1972) and The Ghastly Ones (1968), the latter banned in the UK during the 1980s as a "video nasty." A meeting in 1968 in New York with Leslie Elliot, a British distributor, lead to several of his films being distributed in the UK. Even better for Milligan was the opportunity to shoot five new films under Elliot's production arm Cinemedia Films. Finding himself a flat in Soho and becoming acquainted with the British by hanging out with male prostitutes on Piccadilly Circus, Milligan developed a study of poverty, sexual frankness and sadomasochism that would have caused quite a stir at the British Board of Film Censors, had the film ever been released. After shooting Nightbirds and it's companion piece, the vampire horror The Body Beneath, Milligan had an irreparable falling out with Leslie Elliot's father and business partner Curtis Elliot, and was forced to sever ties with the family before the films could be distributed. He was allowed to keep the films, and somehow managed to raise the money to shoot a further three films here before returning to New York, where he had varying success in getting the films seen. Nightbirds received a limited screening before disappearing into obscurity.
Unlike the horror films he is better known for, Nightbirds is a small character-driven piece following Dink (Berwick Kaler), a young man recently made homeless in swinging London. He meets Dee (Julie Shaw), an enigmatic, sexually playful blonde who invites him to move into her tawdry attic bedsit. They become obsessed with each other to the point where they begin to fear facing the outside world, preferring the insular, psychologically troubling world they have built for themselves. Dee seems reluctant to share anything about her own past, preferring instead to make Dink do the talking. She flirts with the landlord and slowly cuts Dink off from the only friends he has left. The relationship is difficult at best, and emotionally abusive at worst. Milligan has often been accused of being a misogynist, and his depiction of the female character being as rotten as her flat could feed in to that. The film is more nuanced than that however, and as her motivations as slowly revealed, the audience is left to make up their own minds.
Berwick Kaler went on to star in a further four Milligan films before carving an eclectic career for himself in British film and television, and is now the creative force behind the annual York pantomime. Julie Shaw first appeared in Pete Walker's The Big Switch aka Strip Poker (1968), and after her starring role here virtually disappeared. Nobody knows what happened to her following Nightbirds, which is a pity as she found an interesting, emotionally detached performance in what must have been a rushed, occasionally difficult shoot.
Andy Milligan has an undeserved reputation as one of the worst film directors since Ed Wood. One hopes that the release of Nightbirds will help to restore him to a more favourable level of respectability. It is an interesting and well made film, pushing the boundaries of what was acceptable in the late 1960s, particularly in regards to depictions of and discussions about sex. It compares well with similar films from that period, some of which are also available on the Flipside label, such as Private Road (1971) or Duffer (1971). It also compares favourably to Andy Warhol's Trash (1970) or Flesh (1968), films which also put people on the fringes of society in the full glare of the camera.
As a bonus feature here, alongside trailers, an excellent booklet and a commentary track from Berwick Kaler (the first Flipside release to feature a commentary incidentally), Milligan's other completed Cinemedia film has been restored and included; The Body Beneath. This film was more familiar territory for the director. Vampires, ghouls, a hunchbacked assistant (played by Berwick Kaler) and occasional graphic gore are thrown together in a fairly nonsensical, almost slapdash effort, in an attempt to create something which is halfway between a late Hammer horror and a dreary daytime soap opera. Unlike Nightbirds, The Body Beneath merely reinforces Milligan's Ed Wood comparisons, although it does have moments of interest, particularly a grand meeting between vampires which turns into a tirade of anti-American abuse.
Once again the BFI are to be congratulated for putting a package like this together. With the assistance of award-winning director Nicolas Winding-Refn (Drive, 2011), who had the only surviving film materials, the BFI have proven that film matters, no matter how obscure. Cinema Retro eagerly await the Flipside releases for 2013.
For a fascinating in-depth look at how the film was restored for this release click here: http://film.thedigitalfix.com/tag/anatomy%20of%20a%20flipside
(The following review pertains to the Region 2/British DVD release)
By the end of the 1970s Pete Walker was one of the UK's most successful horror film directors, with titles like House of Whipcord (1974), Frightmare (1974) and The Flesh and Blood Show (1972) securing his reputation for originality and controversy. It was perhaps surprising to many when, in 1983, what turned out to be his last film was a throw-back to the old dark house-style gothic horrors of the 1930s. His producers, Menahem Golen and Yorum Globus, wanted a horror film with Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, not the "aborted foetus on the rampage" film he was trying to raise funding for. Undeterred, and working with long-time script-writing collaborator Michael Armstrong, he devised a film that could cast the old guard and be both an homage to the genre as well as a spoof of its creaky conventions. Thankfully Peter Cushing, Vincent Price, Christopher Lee and John Carradine signed up providing the kind of dream team not seen since the heyday of Amicus or AIP in the 1960s. Sheila Keith, in her fifth film for Pete Walker, was a replacement for Elsa Lanchester, the original bride of Frankenstein, who at that point was too ill to make the journey to the UK. Despite her late casting, Keith's association with Walker's horror films ensured she fitted in perfectly with the rest of the cast.
The story revolves around rich young American author Ken (Desi Arnaz Jr., son of Desi and Lucille Ball) on a book-signing tour of the UK. A bet is made with his publisher (played with relish by Richard Todd, himself no stranger to the horror film) that Ken cannot write a gothic romance novel in twenty-four hours. Taking the bet, he is given the key to a deserted manor house in Wales to provide inspiration, only it soon transpires that the house is anything but. Before he can settle down with his typewriter he has to deal with mysterious caretakers, long-lost relatives, a sexy secretary, cobweb-strewn corridors, a locked room and several grisly murders. The old cast play their parts with obvious glee, these pantheons of terror clearly relishing the chance to play on their horror images. Even Christopher Lee seems to be having a good time! Desi Arnaz Jr. has come in for some criticism in the past for his performance in this film, and whilst he is a little bland, he does provide a useful anchor for the increasing insanity around him.
When released theatrically House of the Long Shadows disappointed at the box office, in part due to the fact that Cannon Films could not decide whether to market the movie as a comedy or a horror, and it has become something of a lost film since. There was a brief VHS release in the mid-1980s and a poor quality burn on demand DVD from the MGM archive, but this release from Final Cut Entertainment represents the first official DVD release, and it is long overdue. Featuring a good quality widescreen print, we finally have an opportunity to appreciate the superb lighting and cinematography by Norman G. Langley, who was working under the difficulties of shooting in a real manor house, not a studio set. The DVD cover is unfortunately cheap and bland, essentially reproducing the original VHS artwork, but do not be fooled. A lot of work has been put into this release, mainly by author, theatre director and super-fan Derek Pykett. He accompanies director Pete Walker on a full commentary track discussing all aspects of the production in great detail. What is more unexpected is the feature length documentary House of the Long Shadows... Revisited, produced and presented by Pykett. It is clearly an amateur production, and somebody needs to teach him how to conduct interviews without constantly giggling in the background, but we should be grateful for his enthusiasm. It is doubtful anyone else would have gone to so much trouble. He reunites Walker and Langley with Julie Peasgood, one of the film's younger stars, at the original location, actually Rotherfield park in Hampshire. He has also secured interviews with several other of the movie's participants from both in front of and behind the camera, the most surprising of all being a fascinating chat with Desi Arnaz. Jr himself. He has fond memories of the film, particularly working with such a terrific cast.
Hopefully this release will allow people the chance to reassess this gleefully playful movie, which is deeply undeserving of the negative reputation it has. Far from the disappointment it was perceived to be at the time, House of the Long Shadows is both a tribute and a swansong to the gothic horror movie, riffing on the clichés and sending up the over the top performances. It is a joy to spend an hour and a half in the company of Vincent Price, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, John Carradine and Sheila Keith doing what they did best, in a lineup the likes of which we will most likely never see again.
Creepy Images/ Kessler & Benzel GbR ISBN 978-3-00-03941-9
Binding: hardback
Price €39.50
392 pages
size: 210 x 270 mm
Paul Naschy has often been described as the Spanish Lon Chaney due to the variety of different roles he has played within the horror genre. It would perhaps be more accurate to liken him to Lon Chaney Jr. however, given his short stocky build and propensity for playing werewolves, vampires and mummies in often second-rate movies. His real name was Jacinto Molina, and in a career spanning almost sixty years in Spanish cinema he progressed from acting through to writing and eventually directing as well. He also dabbled in euro-crime thrillers and giallo-style murder mysteries, but it was the gothic horror film in which he seemed to feel most at home.
Spanish cinema under the Franco regime was quite strictly controlled, but horror tended to have more freedom, which perhaps explains why it was the only genre at the time to really flourish, with many of the films being shown worldwide. This new book, featuring over 1200 images, all in full colour, helps to chart the distribution history of Naschy films around the world by gathering together posters, lobby cards, front-of-house stills and press kits from over twenty countries. It is an entertaining and fascinating wealth of materials, many of which have not been published before. The films are presented chronologically, focusing primarily on those in which Naschy starred. An additional chapter has been added for non-horror movies, or those where he was more of a supporting player. The author has provided plenty of additional information, printed here in both English and German, which sheds light on the production history as well as details on the availability and collectible nature of some of these advertising materials.
Even if you have not seen a Paul Naschy film before, this is a book filled with brilliant images that you will want to pour over for hours before going on line to seek some of these titles out. How about pairing Shadow of the Werewolf aka The Werewolf vs. Vampire Woman (1971) with The Werewolf and the Yeti (1975) for hairy double-bill? Naschy also scripted and starred in Exorcist-style shocker Exorcismo (1974), worked with Hammer's John Gilling on La Cruz del Diablo (1974) and even went to swinging London in Jack the Ripper in London, aka Seven Murders for Scotland Yard (1971). Whether his films were cashing in on the late 1960s cinematic fixation on witch burning, or if he was playing a hunchback in a morgue, Paul Naschy clearly threw himself fully into his work. The publicity images generally put his monstrous visage to the fore, but still find plenty of room for boobs, blood and screaming women. It comes as something of a surprise to see just how explicit some of these front-of-house stills could be, and is an interesting reminder of how relaxed and liberal some countries were at the time.
The book is huge fun, and clearly represents an impressive personal collection from the author. An introduction from Naschy's son Sergio Molina provides some background information on the beginnings of his father's career, and the author has included a memorabilia glossary which is particularly helpful for collectors. This book is a must-have for horror and Euro-cine fans, potentially introducing Spanish horror cinema to a whole new audience.
To order this book go to www.creepy-images.com.
Jules Verne's Fabulous Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1977)
Directed by Juan Piquer Simón
Region 2, released by Odeon Entertainment (This is the UK DVD release.)
Destined to be picked up by people mistaking it for the 1959 version starring James Mason, this release was directed in Spain and Lanzarote by a man often referred to as the Spanish Ed Wood. Taking his cast on location, shooting in spectacular caves and volcanic wastes, the film has a far greater sense of realism than its Hollywood counterpart. Sadly the budgetary constraints meant that a lot of the cave scenes are so darkly lit we are as much in the dark as the candle-bearing explorers.
Following Verne's novel quite closely, the story concerns Victorian Professor Otto Lindenbrock (Kenneth More) who in the inquisitive spirit of the age decides to prove his "crackpot" theories concerning a hollow earth. Armed with an ancient map and accompanied by his assistant, his daughter and stoic guide Hans, they climb down inside a volcano and discover an ocean, dinosaurs, giant mushrooms, man-eating tortoises and even King Kong. Alright, so it doesn't follow the novel that closely, but the film is all the more fun because of it. There are even some intriguing time-travel and cloning elements thrown in, possibly referencing Verne's closest rival in sci-fi literature, H.G. Wells.
Kenneth More stars as Lindenbrock in what turned out to be one of his last roles. It was a physically demanding role, and More plays it all straight, despite the opportunities for camping it up. He was acting alongside a mostly Spanish cast and filmed in some very difficult locations, particularly the caves where the temperature was a constant 99 degrees humidity. More was a well- respected player in the British film industry, perhaps best remembered for playing World War II fighter pilot Douglas Bader in Reach For the Sky (1956). Sadly he developed Parkinson's Disease in his early sixties, and died just a few years after this film was released.
There is a lot going on in Jules Verne's Fabulous Journey to the Centre of the Earth, which is reflected in the title, where it was sometimes abbreviated to just Journey to the Centre of the Earth, or changed completely to Where Time Began. It was the Juan Piquer Simón's first feature as director. He seemed determined to throw in every possible idea, even those which did not really make sense. Thankfully the pace rarely sags and the film is never boring. Simón went to to have quite an interesting career in Spain, making the best of the low budgets and dubious scripts he was offered.
It is an enchanting, undemanding film that provides genuine entertainment through the strength of the performances, and unintended laughs through the rubber monsters. One puzzling aspect of this release is its inclusion in Odeon Entertainment's Best of British range, as with the exception of More and the American actor Jack Taylor and co-writer John Melson, the entire production is Spanish.The print quality is fine, and the DVD includes the original theatrical trailer, which gives away all the best moments of the film, and a short stills gallery. A detailed booklet which lends some much needed production history and a nice summary of the life and work of Jules Verne is also included.
(This review pertains to the UK DVD release. It has not been released in the USA as of this time)
The Uninvited (1944) directed by Lewis Allen
One of the most eagerly anticipated DVD releases of recent times, The Uninvited is considered a classic ghost story, listed by both Martin Scorsese and current genre favourite Guillermo Del Toro as one of the scariest films of all times. Bearing some similarities in tone to Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940), the film takes wind-swept coastlines and adds menacing spectral activity to the potentially doomed love affair. The Uninvited was one of the first Hollywood productions to present the idea of ghosts being real, and the special optical effects used remain convincing and chilling to this day.
The film is based on a popular novel by Dorothy Macardle, and the screenplay was written by Dodie Smith, who went on to pen the original novel for 101 Dalmatians several years later. In the film Ray Milland plays Roderick, a composer persuaded by his sister Pamela (Ruth Hussey) to buy a deserted house atop a Cornish cliff. For reasons not explained, other than they both appear to be single, they live together in this spacious abode despite the fact that a woman died in mysterious circumstances twenty years earlier. Her daughter Stella (Gail Russell) is strangely drawn to the house, ignoring the demands of her over-bearing father to stay away. As if this was not enough, the sound of weeping echoing around the house keeps them awake at night. To complicate matters even further, Roderick falls in love with this young ingenue, and with the help of his sister he is determined to get to the bottom of the haunting.
It is nice to see Ray Milland in his younger 'leading man' years, shortly before he won his Oscar for The Lost Weekend (1945), and well before he was wallowing in the exploitation world of films like Frogs and The Thing With Two Heads (both 1972, the latter with the immortal tagline "They share the same body... but hate each other's guts!") The Uninvited is beautifully shot, using light and shadow to great effect. Presented in the original Academy ratio of 1.33:1, it is crisp and clear image. A Blu-ray release of this film would have been ideal, but this DVD is more than welcome, and is better looking than any previous release bar its original cinematic run.
Considering its importance in the development of horror cinema, The Uninvited has been difficult to see for many years, with only a VHS and laserdisc release to speak of, and the occasional late-night TV airing. Although produced by Paramount, the film is now owned by Universal along with the rest of their pre-1948 library. The film has been licensed to independent distributor Exposure Cinema, who also have three Fritz Lang film noir titles scheduled for release. It is a pity that there are not more in-depth extras here, a commentary track from a film historian for example, but it is still a good package. Both radio adaptations of The Uninvited are included, from 1944 and 1949 respectively, which run for around thirty minutes each and star Milland. They are fun to listen to as they follow the film very closely, but do not manage to achieve the same level of fear in the audience. The most significant additional extra is a substantial booklet featuring essays and biographies. It is very well put together, featuring a lot of original artwork and publicity material. Most of these images are also available in the stills gallery section on the DVD.
Valentina (Isabelle De Funès) is a marxist fashion photographer in Milan. She is intelligent, talented and sexy, so it's no wonder that the leftist intellectuals all want to sleep with her. On her way home from a totally swinging party, the kind where alcohol and topless chicks are readily available, Valentina is almost run down by a car. Whilst sitting dazed at the side of the road, the driver emerges to check if she is okay. This is none other than the bizarrely-named Baba Yaga (former Hollywood sex symbol Carroll Baker). She tells Valentina that fate has brought them together. Baba Yaga gives her a lift home and explains that they will become firm friends. To ensure this she steals a clip from the top of one of Valentina's stockings and touches it to her lips suggestively. Baba Yaga is a witch, and clearly has sapphic feelings towards her. Valentina, who as far as we know is not a lesbian, does not seem to mind this unwarranted attention. Later that night she dreams about stripping naked in front of Nazi guards. When she visits Baba Yaga's house, Valentina gets horny and touches herself in the spare room. Is she already under the lesbian witch's spell?
Baba Yaga owns an unnervingly realistic doll which is dressed as some sort of bondage queen. Valentina accepts this doll as a gift, with murderous consequences. Luckily Valentina has a boyfriend (played by genre favourite George Eastman, star of the notorious Anthropophagus, 1981). He may not believe that Baba Yaga really is a witch, but he's so desperate to get Valentina in the sack that he'll go along with it.
This is a very weird movie. Everything described here occurs quite early in the film, and it makes less and less sense as it goes on. Based on the black and white Italian erotic fumetti (comics) of Guido Crepax, this Italian/ French co-production is a mixture of pop art, eroticism, dazzling colour, psycho-analysis, dreams and the supernatural. Other fumetti had been successfully adapted into movies previous to this one, including Danger: Diabolik and Barbarella, (both 1968), but in Baba Yaga director Corrada Farina specifically tries to mimic the comic style, using panels and black and white still photography to replicate Crepax's stark line drawings. It is very effective and adds to the "arthouse meets Eurotrash" feel of the movie. This is certainly no Danger: Diabolik though. The pace is slow and ponderous to the point of irritation at times, but you soon forgive it. Valentina likes to do semi-naked photo shoots in her flat, which she somehow hopes will influence the forthcoming left-wing revolution. She also discovers that her unsettling bondage doll comes to life, in the shapely, almost naked form of Ely Galleani, who was an Italian actress and Playboy centrefold. Galleani has no dialogue in this movie but leaves a lasting impression, particularly when wielding a whip in a lesbian S & M torture dungeon.
Carroll Baker was an unusual choice for the movie, and in his interview on the blu ray Farina explains that she was a last minute replacement for his original Baba Yaga, the British actress Anne Heywood. Three days before shooting was to begin Heywood left to star in the Rod Taylor adventure film Trader Horn (1973), a move which lead to her being sued by the studio. Baker was in Italy working on the giallo thriller The Flower With Petals of Steel (1973), and had a name which would look good on the posters. Farina was disappointed that she had a face "like she had been raised on a farm on a diet of popcorn," rather than the pinched, angular face of Baba Yaga in Crepax's drawings. Carroll was willing to do the film, and with such a tight schedule he was left with no other choice. In the end Farina was very pleased with her performance. Legendarily she appeared completely naked (a moment that was cut by censors and is missing from the restored print on this Blu-ray, but is available in the extras). This was a bold move for a mainstream Hollywood actress in 1973 and Farina insists that it was not in the script but was all her own idea. Incidentally the only other moment of full frontal nudity was courtesy of Isabelle De Funès, a scene that was also cut by the censors but is also available in the extra scenes here.
In some ways Baba Yaga feels like Quentin Tarantino has had a pass at the script. Early in the film various characters discuss the problems of getting political messages into movies, and Valentina remarks that influential French director Jean Luc Godard's last good film was Pierrot le Fou (1965). Another character is an underground comic book artist, and is often talking about the art form and his concerns about becoming commercially successful. Baba Yaga is almost post-modern before the term was invented.
If your main experience of Italian 1970s movies is the "giallo", you will enjoy most of what this film has to offer. It does have longueurs, some of which can lead you to look impatiently at your watch, wondering when anything is going to happen again. Stick with it and Baba Yaga is a rewarding viewing experience. The far out and groovy soundtrack is supplied by composer Piero Umilani, who is perhaps best known for creating 'Mah Na Mah Na', the song covered by The Muppets! There is no original soundtrack of Baba Yaga available, but the attention-grabbing theme song is available on his 1971 lounge album 'To-Day's Sound'.
This Blu-ray from Blue Underground features the same extras as their DVD release from 2003. The print, howeve,r is a massive improvement from the earlier release. The most interesting bonus feature is the in-depth interview with the director, where he discusses the problems he had with the producers, who made changes in the edit against his wishes. It is also worth sitting through the deleted scenes, if only to catch a glimpse of Carroll Baker as you have never seen her before. There is also a short documentary in Italian about the artist Guido Crepax. Sadly many of his graphic novels have not yet been translated into English, but after watching this film you will want to try and track them all down.
Retro Screams: Terror in the New Millennium by Christopher T. Koetting
(Hemlock Books, Paperback, £18,95)
392 Pages, ISBN#978-0955777462
When Texas Chainsaw 3D is released early next year it will simply be another film in a long line of remakes, re-imaginings, sequels or prequels that Hollywood appears to be churning out non-stop these days. For many this production line of remakes represents a dearth of originality in the mainstream studios. Hollywood has become a corporate entity afraid of anything but the safest possible bet, turning in on itself and it's back-catalogue of recognisable titles which still have some form of cultural recognition amongst potential audiences today.
In his new book Christopher T. Koetting catalogues many of this recent spate of remakes, comparing their origins and productions to those of the originals. It is somewhat alarming to be be reminded in print form just how many remakes there have been. Retro Screams covers eighteen different films in detail dating back to 2003, when the first Texas Chainsaw Massacre was released, which seemingly opened the remake floodgates. Since then we have had classics like The Fog and Halloween (both 2005) revisited, along with lesser-known slasher titles like Prom Night (2008) and Black Christmas (2006).
Whole chapters are dedicated to John Carpenter, Wes Craven and George A. Romero respectively, whose works have been ruthlessly plundered with varying degrees of success. Koetting documents how little or how much involvement these original directors had this time around (Craven has acted as producer on The Hills Have Eyes (2006) and The Last House on the Left (2009) for example). The author proposes to demonstrate whether these new versions are justified by comparing plot details and development information, along with extensive quotes from writers and directors. Due to a lack of footnotes or references it is difficult to ascertain how many of these were from interviews he conducted himself, or whether they are simply cribbed from articles and press releases. This lack of referencing is one of the book's most serious commissions, as it makes it difficult to judge for oneself how seriously to take some of these quotations.
The book makes interesting reading if you have seen either the originals or the remakes being discussed. However, if you are a fan of these films the chances are that you will already know most of the stories surrounding the productions, particularly as Koetting appears to have mostly gathered this information from sources already easily available. He also appears to sit on the fence regarding the need for remakes, and this lack of a satisfying conclusion leaves the reader wondering just exactly what the point of this book is.
Although the idea of the horror film remake is not a recent phenomenon (let's not forget that the best of the Hammer horrors were all remakes of Universal), Retro Screams reminds us that for better or worse, Hollywood is going to keep plundering titles with any sort of recognition, and it is a minor miracle when ideas with any originality make it into production.
To buy this book CLICK HERE
Although we mainly stick to the golden age of movies here at Cinema Retro, occasionally a new movie does grab our attention. This summer saw the release of The Expendables 2, a creaking collection of aging action stars desperate to get one last gasp out of a tired genre. It could have at least been a comedy, about the relevance of the muscular Eighties hero in the 21st century, but sadly it failed on all levels. One look at The Expendables 2 would lead you to believe that the action genre needs a bullet in the head to put it out of its misery. Thankfully a film has come along that firmly blows away the cobwebs and kicks those geriatrics back to the retirement home they belong in. The Raid (known as The Raid: Redemption in the US), is a film which so utterly revitalises the action genre that you will feel like you have never actually seen people fighting in a movie before.
Shot in Indonesia with mostly non-professional actors, The Raid is the first major release from Welsh director Gareth Evans. A thirty story building is home to gangsters, murderers, drug dealers and thieves, with one major crime lord overseeing it all. The police, armed to the teeth, are sent in with the express purpose of clearing the building and taking him down. Outnumbered, outgunned and double-crossed, they find themselves trapped and almost certain no to make it out alive. The plot of the film is mainly an excuse for some phenomenal martial arts fighting which is photographed in such inventive, bone-crunching and frenetic style that each scene feels fresh and exciting. At the heart of the film is Iko Uwais, playing a rookie cop desperate to make it out alive to get back to his pregnant wife. Incredibly he has only acted once before, and he has terrific screen presence, balancing charisma and vulnerability with the absolute assurance in his own skills. Discovered by Evans in a Silat martial arts class just five years ago, he is clearly going to become a major star, and it is no exaggeration to compare him with Bruce Lee or a young Jackie Chan.
The Raid will make you look at action cinema with raised expectations from now on, and many films are going to struggle to make an impact in its wake. It is now available on both DVD and Blu-ray, and is certainly worth seeing as soon as possible. There are plenty of features which take you further into the story behind the film, which will make you want to jump up from your armchair and get straight to your nearest self-defense class.
(Note: Smith's review is of the UK Blu-ray release)
Click here to order the American Blu-ray special edition
(The following review refers to the UK region 2 release)
When I was young I was given a local newspaper that had been printed the day I was born. I grew up in Wolverhampton, and the big news a decade earlier had been the trial of Donald Neilson, the self-styled Black Panther. He was a local who had had graduated from house break-ins, through armed robbery and finally to kidnap and multiple-murder. He was obsessed with the military (he had fought in Kenya as part of the British suppression of the Mau-Mau uprising), and made his wife and daughter act out scenes of warfare whilst he took photos. He was already a wanted man following some botched post office robberies, but it was the kidnapping of Lesley Whittle, a seventeen year old heiress, and the subsequent ransom demands that really propelled him into the public eye. The Britain of the 1970s was one of strikes, cutbacks and unemployment. Prospects were bleak, and here was one man who had taken matters into his own hands. He was a meticulous planner and he truly believed himself to be a master criminal. The reality was very different. He was an inept bungler, incapable of making anything more than a meagre haul from his robberies. If there hadn't been so much death at his hands he would almost be a comic figure, more Pink Panther than Black Panther. It was a devastating combination of Neilson's mishandling of events, press interference and a West Midlands police force ill-equipped to deal with the situation that culminated in his murdering the girl he had kidnapped and locked up in a storm drain. Neilson was only caught two months later by coincidence rather than a concerted effort on the part of the police.
These tragic events were still very fresh in the public memory when Ian Merrick's film The Black Panther was released in 1977. With a script by Michael Armstrong (a director in his own right) based solely on police reports, written statements, trial transcripts and other direct source material, the film sticks to the facts of the case. It was shot in many of the actual locations used, including Dudley Zoo and Bathpool Park in Kidsgrove, Stoke on Trent. This gives the film a documentary feel, that it truly was ripped from the headlines. Neilson was played by Donald Sumpter, known mainly for his TV work, but seen most recently in the remake of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Long sections of The Black Panther have no dialogue and it plays like a silent film, with Sumpter communicating Neilson's emotions purely visually. It is an incredible performance in what must have been a difficult role to embody given his notoriety at that time. Sadly for those concerned, the public did not take to the film. It's release was controversial and many cinemas around the UK refused to screen it. Given the film's implicit accusation that the press were partly to blame for Whittle's tragic death, it is perhaps unsurprising that they took a particular dislike to it as well.
Thankfully, due to the continuing efforts of the British Film Institute to rescue films from obscurity, The Black Panther has been restored and made available on both DVD and Blu- ray for a new audience to appraise. The picture and sound are excellent, although the package is a little light on extras. The only feature of note is Recluse (1978), a thirty minute film also based on a true life murder case. It stars Maurice Denham and is accompanied by some location scouting footage. As usual with these Flipside releases, the main information comes in a booklet crammed with essays and notes from both Ian Merrick and Michael Armstrong amongst others.
The Black Panther is another release from the BFI Flipside Range that comes highly recommended, and demonstrates once again that the label is currently one of the most interesting and eclectic today and fully deserve your support!
(Headpress, Paperback, £13.99)
288 Pages, ISBN#139781900486811
by Adrian Smith
Ever since the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in Ford's Theatre, the world, and Americans in particular, have had a fascination with conspiracy theories. One of the earliest conspiracy films was The Man in the Barn by Jacques Tourneur in 1937, which explores the possibility that John Wilkes Booth was not working alone on that fateful night in 1865. The Lincoln Conspiracy from 1977 also explores similar plot lines, suggesting that Booth was not killed in a barn ten days later but escaped, in part aided by certain men on Capitol Hill. Some of the most explored and widely accepted conspiracy theories are those surrounding the assassination of President John Kennedy in 1963. Most people now accept the idea that there was no lone gunman, but theories vary widely as to what exactly did happen on that November afternoon. The official version of events were challenged almost immediately by horror schlock-meister Larry Buchanan in 1964 with The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald. Burt Lancaster starred in Executive Action in 1973, a film which suggests that the killing was planned by the CIA and big industry, and most famously of all, Oliver Stone became forever associated with conspiracies and paranoia when he directed JFK in 1991, a film which ensured that nobody knew who they could trust any more.
'Conspiracy Cinema' does not merely focus its attention on Hollywood, however. David Ray Carter has spent literally hundreds of hours scouring the internet for the best and the worst conspiracy films available. There are a lot of filmmakers out there using the web to distribute their films and promulgate their theories on dozens of fascinating subjects, such as alien abductions, the moon landings and assassinations, including those mentioned and Martin Luther King Jr, Robert Kennedy and (allegedly) Princess Diana. There are many fascinating films out there dedicated to the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001, with proposals ranging from the plausible to the preposterous. However, these subjects are relatively small fry when compared with those films that deal with the bigger picture: The New World Order and The Illuminati. Do you think you are in control of your own life? If these guys are to be believed, think again.
Carter presents the films in themed chapters with a summary and some information on the filmmakers concerned. He also summarises the "official" version of events alongside the main conspiracies before going into the films themselves. This means you get a great overview of all the main ideas, and the book makes an excellent reference to this unknown cinematic corner of the internet. Most of the films he refers to can be found online for free, although be warned: some of them can be up to four hours in length. Filmmaking skills vary also, with some being little more than someone talking to the camera from the comfort of their front room (or bunker). As professional equipment has become more affordable some of the films have become sophisticated, using all the latest tools available to get their messages across.
'Conspiracy Cinema' is a fascinating read, even if you remain sceptical as to the beliefs presented. Carter himself is sceptical of a great deal of the films he's seen. As such he makes an entertaining and authoritative guide through the murky and contradictory world of the conspiracy theory.
You can order the book here:
Note: this review pertains to the British Region 2 DVD edition
Although best known for his work as both a writer, director and producer with Hammer Films, Jimmy Sangster actually relocated to Hollywood during the early 1970s, where he worked very successfully in both film and television. Whilst there he wrote a supernatural script set in a run- down hospital in downtown Detroit. Much to his chagrin, the script was altered to more closely resemble the Hammer movies that were, to him at least, ancient history. Although keeping the American protagonists, events were manipulated to allow the story instead to take place in an English country estate featuring a collection of stereotypical butlers, chauffeurs and curtseying maids. The film is essentially Agatha Christie meets Dennis Wheatley through the filter of Dario Argento.
Katharine Ross is Maggie, a successful American designer who receives a mysterious invitation to work in England. Accompanied by her handsome lover Pete (a youthful and impressively moustachioed Sam Elliott), they jet off to a grey, dull English world of narrow country lanes and chirpy market stall holders. Following a minor motorcycle accident they find themselves guests of the aristocratic Jason Mountolive, who conveniently lives in the kind of stately home that Americans seem to think all the English live in. What they don't realise until it becomes too late is that their arrival there was no accident. When other guests begin to arrive, all successful in their respective fields, it becomes clear that diabolical dealings are underway, and they may be lucky to escape with their lives, or their souls.
The Legacy is perhaps best remembered now for being the film that Ross and Elliott first met on, and subsequently married. It is a peculiar film, mixing cosy drawing room talk with spectacularly violent and gory deaths. Richard Marquand had to be influenced by Argento's Suspiria, released just one year before. Maggie suspects she is descending into madness, feeling that she is losing her grip on reality. And when people like The Who's Roger Daltry and former Bond villain Charles Gray turn up only to suffer spectacularly, she realises that she may be to blame. Could it be something to do with a sixteenth-century witch, with whose portrait she bears an uncanny resemblance?
Although the plot makes very little sense, The Legacy is a very entertaining film. Ross and Elliott show genuine chemistry (perhaps unsurprisingly) as the innocent couple around whom the sinister events unfold. The house becomes a character itself as the camera glides around its oak-panelled hallways, revealing hidden doors, tapestries, archaic ornaments and an increasingly anachronistic collection of 1970s furniture. Although mostly shot on location at Loseley Park House in Surrey, parts of it were also shot at Bray Studios, the spiritual home of Hammer films.
The Legacy in some ways represents the end of an era. By the tail end of the 1970s the money to make films in Britain was running out, and companies like Hammer had gasped their last breath, and Marquand was courted by George Lucas to direct the last part of his Star Wars trilogy. It is well worth taking a look at, and this new DVD from Odeon Entertainment presents an excellent widescreen print. A booklet with background information is the only significant extra, which is a pity. It would be good to hear how Katharine Ross and Sam Elliott look back on the film now, and perhaps a word or two from Roger Daltrey on his dramatic, fish-based demise.
(Published by Taschen, £ 44.99) Hardcover, 10.6 x 12.8 in., 276 pages, ISBN 9783836530088
Taken a mere six weeks before her untimely death, the Bert Stein photos of Marilyn Monroe have become legendary. With an estimated 2,500 shots taken over two weekends in a converted Bel Air hotel room, Stein attempted successfully to capture the true Marilyn, past the glamour and the Hollywood glitz. These photos were originally printed in Vogue and have remained in popular circulation ever since. In 1973 Pullitzer-winning author and journalist Norman Mailer was invited to write a introductory piece on Marilyn Monroe to accompany a book of photos, including some of those taken by Stein. Mailer had never met Monroe, and took everyone by surprise when he returned with over 100,000 words, having watched all of her movies, conducted interviews and more essentially, fallen in love. In death, as in life, Marilyn Monroe has a spellbinding effect on everyone.
Bert Stein's photos are perhaps well known for Marilyn being naked, covering herself with chiffon scarves. As he explains in his introduction: "Vogue wanted to dress Marilyn up... I still thought the right thing to do was to take her clothes off. The more they added, the more I tried to think of ways to reveal her. All she had to do was show one toe and it got me excited..."
This new book from Taschen, previously only available as a collector's edition, has been published to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of her death. Hundreds of the photos from Stein's shoot are reproduced alongside Mailer's text, which is ostensibly a biography but also serves as a commentary on her life. Mailer attempts to get under the surface of Monroe, just like Stein was with his photos. He covers her life from her difficult childhood, her marriages, her depression and finally her death and the various theories around what really happened. Mailer adroitly summarises her power when he states: "She emanated sex, a simple street girl on still another back street, emanated sex like few girls ever did... libido seemed to ooze through her, and out of her like a dew through the cracks in a vase."
It is hard to believe that it has been fifty years since Marilyn Monroe died, and in many ways she is just as misunderstood now, an enigma, a puzzle that people still want to solve. She was contradictory; emanating fragility and being difficult to work with on set, yet representing a new kind of sexual confidence and freedom that would in part pave the way towards the sexual revolution of the 1960s. This book offers a glimpse into the psyche of Marilyn. One can spend hours simply pouring over the beautifully reproduced photos in this huge book, or read Mailer's accompanying text and discover new insight through his unique approach in constructing a biography. It is a book that can be dipped into again and again for years to come.
Click here to order from Taschen
Leicester, 13th - 14th July 2012
An impressive array of stars and an eclectic lineup of Hammer films at the Phoenix Square cinema in Leicester marked the launch of a brand new innovative collaboration between Hammer and the De Montfort University. Their Cinema and Television History (CATH) Research Centre have become custodians of the Hammer script archive, meaning they will curate and catalogue the collection and make them available for research purposes. They have also received a collection of Jimmy Sangster items donated by his widow Mary Peach, including written materials and photographs covering not only his time with Hammer but as a successful independent writer and director.
In order to celebrate this new relationship the university hosted a two day Hammer festival attended by fans and academics keen to explore the history and fascinating output of this uniquely British film company. Hammer were in production for fifty years and are now making an impressive comeback with films such as Let Me In (2010) and The Woman in Black (2012). Of particular interest was the section devoted to the early days of Hammer hosted by official studio archivist Robert J. E. Simpson. Renée Glynne, now impressively spry at 86, was interviewed onstage about her work as a script supervisor. She joined Hammer in 1948 and worked on many important early productions including The Quatermass Xperiment (1955). She spoke about her great friendship with American actor Dane Clark and parties with Eva Bartok during the making of Spaceways (1953) in the manor house at Bray Studios. Accompanying this was a rare screening of crime thriller River Patrol (1948), a delightfully quaint police procedural about the problems with silk nylon smuggling in ration-era London. For those who thought Hammer started with fangs and Kensington Gore, this helped to put the studio's development into a wider context.
Vera Day was also interviewed on her roles in Quatermass II (1957) and the comedy short A Clean Sweep (1958), both of which she also introduced. She recalled that in those days all the filmmakers and producers were after the girls, but luckily she had an aggressively protective boyfriend. She had fond memories of the much maligned Brian Donlevy, whose performance as Professor Quatermass is often dismissed as bullish and inappropriate. According to Day he had a very dry sense of humour and was fun to work with.
Continue reading "HAMMER FILMS UK CELEBRATION: CINEMA RETRO'S ADRIAN SMITH TAKES YOU THERE"
The Cabin in the Woods takes its inspiration from the endless number of horror movies that begin with the killings of unsuspecting teenagers at summer camps, lakeside log cabins and other remote locations. Joss Whedon is a writer, director and producer who will be familiar to any fans of genre television from the last twenty years, having been responsible for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dollhouse, Firefly and most recently the box office smash Avengers Assemble. Whedon and his co-writer Drew Goddard (who also directed the film) identified the main tropes of the genre; teenagers go to cabin to take drugs and get laid, get killed off by psychos, demons or zombies until one lone survivor (usually female) fights back and destroys the evil forces. Whedon and Goddard questioned just why audiences keep going back to this over and over again. What possible pleasure do we get from seeing teenagers being butchered in ever more inventive and outlandish ways? Are the films reactionary, punishing the kids for their immoral behaviour? Thankfully Whedon and Goddard don't necessarily set out to answer these questions. The Cabin in the Woods is not a treatise on the evils of horror films, like that delivered by Michael Haneke in Funny Games (1997). What they have done is to create a film which follows these conventions whilst simultaneously presenting their own version of the truth behind why it is all happening. To say any more at this point would be to give too much away. This is a film best enjoyed when you know as little about it as possible.
'The Cabin in the Woods: The Official Visual Companion' is a book that you should only look at once you have seen the film, as no twist or turn is left unspoiled. The book contains the complete original screenplay illustrated with dozens of stills from the movie and also includes scenes that were not shot for budgetary reasons. What the book does best, however, is cover the writing and filming process in detail through an extensive interview with Whedon and Goddard, accompanied by plenty of behind the scenes photos and design sketches. They discuss the problems of trying to shoot a summer movie in Canada during the winter (snow!) and how they divided up the writing between them, providing fascinating insight for any budding screenwriters. A large section of the book is given over to the design of the film, with interviews from key players and hundreds of photos, models, sketches and on-set photographs. The filmmakers insisted on using physical effects over CGI wherever possible, meaning that almost one hundred craftsmen and technicians were involved in putting the film together on a relatively low budget and tight schedule.
The Cabin in the Woods was completed in 2010 but sat gathering dust on a shelf owing to the financial problems of MGM, and was finally distributed by Lionsgate earlier this year. It really is a must see not only for horror film fans, but for anyone interested in genuinely intelligent and original filmmaking. 'The Cabin in the Woods: The Official Visual Companion' is an excellent opportunity to pour over the intricate design process and enjoy every last detail that may have been missed in the breathless rush towards the film's conclusion. Just don't look at the book first.
(This review pertains to the British Blu-ray release)
With a career spanning over fifty years, from early British silent film to glossy Hollywood studio fare,Alfred Hitchcock rarely faltered in presenting audiences with glamour, wit, excitement, scares and thrills. To celebrate his achievements, the British Film Institute is holding a four month long celebration in 2012 entitled The Genius of Hitchcock, with screenings, events and major restorations of his early work. Eureka's release of the restored print of Lifeboat is well timed.
One of Hitchcock's more unusual film experiments, Lifeboat was an attempt to shoot an entire feature in one location, in this case a ragbag of survivors adrift in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Their ocean liner, bound for England, is torpedoed. Luckily, before it went down, they fired back and sank the enemy vessel alongside their own. Newspaper reporter Connie Porter (Tallulah Bankhead) is in the only remaining lifeboat, and is soon joined by several other survivors, including crew members, a woman still clutching her drowned baby, and in a shocking twist, a German, the only survivor from the Nazi U-Boat. Tensions soon rise as they squabble over what to do with him, and how they are going to survive as their food and water slowly runs out and they don't know which way to navigate to dry land.
The film is a technical triumph and deals with Hitchcock's familiar themes of mistrust, vengeance, betrayal and murder, whilst still providing entertainment and moments of wry humour (including his ingenious cameo appearance on the front of a newspaper). Bankhead is delightful as the socialite reporter who desperately attempts to remain glamorous despite the hostile conditions she is subjected to. At many points she is the voice of reason, particularly as she is the only passenger able to speak to their captured Nazi in his native tongue.
Imaginatively shot in Academy ratio 1:37:1, Hitchcock explores every inch of the lifeboat from every conceivable angle, and despite the close physical proximity of the passengers, he still demonstrates the gulfs that lie between them, whether through class, politics, race or, in the case of the Nazi, mistrust. The film features moments of humour to help relieve the tension, something that Hitchcock was gifted at doing in all of his films. Lifeboat is a tremendously entertaining and exciting piece of filmmaking as it communicates the ultimate futility of the conflict and the devastating effect it has on those who are left behind. This new Blu-ray release includes two short films that Hitchcock also directed, which may viewer may be unfamiliar with.. Bon Voyage and Aventure Malgache were both shot in Elstree Studios in the UK in 1944 and deal primarily with the French resistance. They can be seen as interesting propaganda pieces and whilst not as timeless as Hitchcock's more familiar work, they are fascinating nonetheless and make terrific extras. The Blu-ray also comes with a booklet featuring analytical essays for each of the three films.
For many people, having to do your college work is a chore. Assignments are dull and all you really want is to be out partying with your friends. Not John Carpenter and Dan O'Bannon. Their assignment was to make a movie, using equipment provided by the University of Southern California film school, and dragging their friends and fellow classmates in for good measure. The result was a science fiction classic that would launch both of them into fully-fledged Hollywood careers. The original movie ran a little short to qualify as a feature, so a wily distributor encouraged them to shoot a further ten minutes. Both versions of the film, the original and extended editions, are available here.
Dark Star borrows heavily from such space-set classics as 2001 and Solaris in its presentation of space as a working environment. This is not the space of heroes like Buck Rodgers or Flash Gordon. It is a place of work, where astronauts are just ordinary guys just doing their jobs and counting the days, or years, until they can go home. Their mission,which appears to have lasted some three years, involves identifying and then destroying unstable planets with massive thermo-nuclear talking bombs. No particular reason is given as to why they are unstable, or indeed why they need to be destroyed, but it is something to do with the possible colonization of space. When problems develop with one particularly stubborn bomb, the crew are forced to take desperate measures if they want to survive.
Carpenter and O'Bannon wrote the screenplay together, and O'Bannon ended up taking a starring role as Sgt. Pinback, a member of the crew whose sole function appears to be to annoy everyone else on board. The rest of the cast are made up of friends from the film school, and they all sport impressive amounts of facial hair. Given its incredibly low-budget origins, Dark Star stands up remarkably well, thanks mostly to the wit of the script and the imaginative camera work. Yes the miniatures look like miniatures, and the sets look like cardboard, but the story and the performances are so enjoyably goofy and genuine that this simply does not matter.
The Blu-ray restoration gives the film a fresh look and the colours are remarkably vivid. The film has looked rather murky in previous DVD releases, and this is a significant improvement. The main extra available here is a new feature length documentary Let There Be Light: The Odyssey of Dark Star. It provides some fascinating background on the movie, and features interviews with some of the cast including an interview with Dan O'Bannon shot shortly before he died. Sadly the involvement of John Carpenter is minimal. He appears to have been interviewed over the phone, on a line so muffled that subtitles have to be displayed (including some spelling mistakes which are unforgivable!). However, this small gripe aside, it is a documentary with plenty to offer fans of the movie, and is probably the main reason for picking up this new release.
A sequel to The Wicker Man was first proposed in the mid-1980s by Anthony Schaffer, writer of the original. Titled "The Loathsome Lambton Worm", it began as soon as the first film ended, as Sergeant Howie is rescued from his fiery fate by police from the mainland. He seeks justice and revenge and goes back to Summerisle, ostensibly to arrest those responsible for his near martyrdom, but instead becomes embroiled in a series of challenges, pitting the old gods against his own Christian faith. The film was to end with Howie fighting a fire-breathing dragon and then plunging willingly to his death from a cliff whilst tied to two large eagles. It would have been terrible.
However that film, with its witches on broomsticks and reliance on magical special effects, would have probably been far better than this extremely belated follow-up. Thirty-nine years is a long time to wait for a sequel, in which time Anthony Schaffer has died and Christopher Lee has aged beyond the point of being able to take a major starring role in a movie. Robin Hardy, director of The Wicker Man, proposed his own sequel several years ago, originally titled "The Riding of the Laddie". Unable to find funding he wrote it into a novel, retitled "Cowboys for Christ". In 2008 a press release announced the imminent filming of this official The Wicker Man sequel, starring Christopher Lee and Joan Collins as leaders of a sinister cult. Funding collapsed a mere two weeks before shooting began. Two years and one major casting change later (due to Sir Christopher's ill health and advanced years), The Wicker Tree finally went into production. It has taken a further two years for the film to find distribution, which is always a worrying sign. Although Sir Christopher is somewhat frail, he does play an unidentified old man who pops in for one flashback scene to intone something about old religions. His reason for being there makes no narrative sense, and is clearly just meant as a nod to fans of the first film.
The plot follows the "Cowboys for Christ" novel fairly closely. A former US country pop star has seen the light and become converted to evangelical Christianity. Along with her reformed gambler boyfriend, she decides that the most effective way to spread the good news is to spend two years knocking on the doors of disinterested Scots. I would have thought it more likely that she would have recorded gospel albums and performed to sell out gigs. In some convoluted way that is never fully explained, the two of them end up as the guests of Sir Lachlan Morrison (a possible relation to Rowan Morrison, the missing girl from the original film?), in the distant Scottish village of Tressock. He runs his own nuclear power station, and apparently an accident ten years previously has rendered all the men in the village infertile. For this reason Morrison has encouraged the villagers to get into paganism in a big way, with the main focus being May Day, where they have a Laddie and a May Queen. He uses his vast wealth to search the world for suitably virginal candidates, and it doesn't take a genius to guess the intended fate for his Texan guests. Why he doesn't just spend some money on fertility treatment I don't know. It would be much simpler.
Continue reading "REVIEW : "THE WICKER TREE" COMES TO DVD AND BLU-RAY"
Cinema Retro London columnist Adrian Smith recently took part in a Vincent Price tribute and contributed to a major discussion of Price's horror classic from 1971, The Abominable Dr. Phibes. Click here to listen - if you dare! (The tribute runs longer than the film!)
(For Caroline Munro's memories of working with Price on the Phibes movies, see Cinema Retro issue #2)
The Devils (1971) on DVD
2-disc special edition
BFI, 2012, UK (This review pertains to the Region 2 DVD format)
When Ken Russell passed away last November, he died with the knowledge that his most infamous film was finally going to be unleashed to the public after laying almost dormant for over forty years. Russell often described The Devils as his only political film, and it features magnificent sets and costumes, theatrical performances, dizzying camerawork and masterful use of music. And of course, dozens of hysterical nuns.
The Devils is based on the true account researched by Aldous Huxley of the trial and execution of Father Grandier (Oliver Reed) in the French town of Loudun in 1634, following accusations of possession and witchcraft involving a Mother Superior (Vanessa Redgrave) and the nuns of her convent. It is a powerful depiction of what can happen when Church and State become powerful and corrupt. Reed was never better than in this film. He is masterful and perfectly in control as the lunacy around him descends from farce to true horror. Vanessa Redgrave is incredible as the twitchy, hunchbacked Sister Jeanne whose lustful repressed desires for Father Grandier provide the catalyst for Cardinal Richelieu to move in with his inquisitors and seize control of the town. In the process the nuns are encouraged to act as if possessed by demons, leading to shocking scenes of debauchery which are provided for the amusement of tourists, and even the King himself.
Russell insisted that everything in the film was based on historic fact, indeed Huxley noted some things the nuns did that even he felt would be going too far. Despite its claim tohistorical accuracy, and the quality of the performances, the sets, the score and the direction, Warner Bros. were appalled by the finished film. Russell expected some difficulties with the BBFC and other censorship bodies around the world, but the studio demanded more cuts than the censors did. The version that was released in the UK still retained a lot of shocking material, but the US release was so butchered that it barely made any sense. Russell was outraged by the way his film was treated, but fortunately it did not prevent him from continuing to make great films throughout the decade.
In 2004 with the assistance of film critic Mark Kermode some of the missing material from The Devils was located and restored by the British Film Institute. The most notable section has become known as "The Rape of Christ", and depicts several naked nuns writhing on a massive crucifix in Loudun Cathedral, in their eyes committing the ultimate blasphemy. It is powerful and memorably disturbing. Warner Bros. have finally allowed the BFI to finally release The Devils on DVD, but also withholding this previously missing footage. The new DVD features the 1971 UK X-rated cut, which is the longest and most complete version of the film released anywhere in the world. It is hoped that at some point in the future Warner Bros. will finally allow the full version to be released. This 1971 version is still an incredibly piece of filmmaking, and the DVD restoration team have performed an amazing job. The picture quality is phenomenal, and Derek Jarman's sets have never looked so stark and foreboding.
There are some excellent extras provided in this two disc set, including a new commentary with Ken Russell and Mark Kermode, the 2002 documentary "Hell on Earth", a contemporary making of documentary, some on-set home-movie footage, and a restoration of one of Russell's first films, Amelia and the Angel (1958), which has similar themes of religion and redemption.
The Devils is a film with notoriety, and this BFI release allows us at long last to see it and make up our own minds. It is an astonishing piece of work on every level, and this release will rightfully cement Ken Russell's reputation as a true visionary and one of the finest directors the United Kingdom ever produced.
(See Cinema Retro issue #21 for John Exshaw's detailed exploration of The Devils)
Audrey Hepburn: Photographs 1953 – 1966
Bob Willoughby
Published by Taschen
Hardcover, 11.2 x 14.1 in., 280 pages, £ 44.99
Multilingual Edition: English, French, German
Audrey Hepburn is iconic. Her image has perhaps eclipsed her performances in the many movies she starred in before her early retirement to focus on UNICEF. This new collection from Taschen (previously available only in a limited art edition) demonstrates just why this happened. The camera simply loved Audrey Hepburn. These photographs, taken by Hollywood photographer Bob Willoughby, show that whether she was relaxing at home, posing for stills or working on set, she was a radiant, mesmerising presence. After first meeting at Paramount Studios in 1953 to promote Roman Holiday, Willoughby and Hepburn became close friends. The way she was able to relax in his presence clearly comes through in so many of these fabulous photos.
Although the book does serve to reinforce Hepburn's visual impact, it also reminds one that first and foremost she was an actress. Plenty of commentary is provided on the films covered here; Green Mansions, The Children's Hour, Paris When It Sizzles, My Fair Lady and Two For the Road. One fascinating collection of pictures shows how Hepburn developed a close relationship with Ip, a fawn that was to co-star with her in Green Mansions. Ip lived with her for three months before shooting started. Mel Ferrer, Hepburn's husband and director of Green Mansions, commented that Ip treated her like it's mother, and professional animal trainers were amazed at how it followed her around, even going shopping!
Some of the best photos show Audrey off guard, showing her true character rather than posing for a publicity still. She plays with her children, she exercises, in one touching photo she appears to be upset and is being calmed down by Anthony Perkins. This is another beautifully high-quality book from Taschen and any reader will want to spend hours examining the detail in these photos before seeking out all of these movies again.
Eureka Video: The Masters of Cinema Series
USA | 111 min.
1.37:1 + 1.85:1 ratios
Orson Welles liked to relate the tale of how one evening he headed home after a long day directing Touch of Evil, whilst also playing corrupt cop Hank Quinlan, to find his wife was throwing a dinner party. Still in his full costume and make-up, looking bloated, haggard and on the point of collapse, guests who had not seen Welles for some time remarked, "Orson, it's great to see you looking so well!" Hank Quinlan does not look like a well man. He's an American trying to solve a bombing in a small Mexican border town. He seems to be tired of police work. He just wants to get the job done, and he is not above manipulating the truth or faking evidence. After all, the guy is probably guilty anyway. Reluctantly he is aided in his investigation by Mexican super-cop Mike Vargas, played by Charlton Heston, who knows that even the police aren't above the law. He's taken down some of the worst gangsters and mobsters in town, and now he has Quinlan firmly set in his sights. Throw in a new bride (Janet Leigh) and a mysterious gypsy woman (the enigmatic Marlene Deitrich), and you have the makings of one of the best thrillers ever made. This is arguably Welles' finest film since Citizen Kane, and it was also the last he made in Hollywood. He was cast as Quinlan before Charlton Heston suggested to the studio that he ought to direct the picture too. Welles cast aside the potboiler crime plot and focused on the corruption of the man at the centre of the film. Who committed the bombing is not interesting or important. The heart of the story is one style of policing against another, old versus new, corrupt versus clean, and perhaps most shockingly for its time, American versus Mexican.
The treatment of the film by a confused Universal Studios is now legendary. Unhappy with the way Welles edited the film they waited until he was out of the country (raising funds for his next project, the unfilmed Don Quixote) before re-cutting and re-shooting whole sections of the movie. In their eyes they made it easier for audiences to understand. Universal wanted a simple crime story, not a treatise on the fall of man. When Welles finally saw this new version, he was distraught. He produced a lengthy memo detailing everything that needed to be changed, which was duly ignored. When the film was released in 1958 it was a huge hit despite Universal's butchery, and Welles went to Europe, unhappy but unable to do anything about it. Sadly he died before the film was revisited with more sympathetic eyes. In 1998 his memo was studied and followed as closely as possible with the remaining film elements. The result was a film far closer to his original vision and proved that he had been right all along. This new version was a truly great experience, confirming Welles' status as one of the best directors of all time.
This new Blu-ray release from Eureka gives audiences the opportunity to see the film in its 1958 version, the 1998 "restoration" edit and a 1957 preview version, which is longer and contains some differences from both other versions. The picture quality for each is stunning. The option is also available to watch the film in either 1.85:1 or 1.37.1. There is still some debate, as explained in the fifty-six page booklet, as to which was Welles' preferred aspect ratio. Each version is accompanied by a separate commentary track, featuring Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, a collection of Welles scholars and the producer of the restoration edit. Also available are documentaries on the making of the film and the restoration, which shed some light on how Welles worked, and how challenging it was bringing the film back to his vision (these documentaries have previously been screened on television, and are not new productions). The booklet contains essays from Welles alongside Francoise Truffaut and film theorist Andre Bazin. The most fascinating extra of all is available to
download from Eureka's website: a full copy of Welles' 1957 memo itself. http://eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/welles-memo.pdf
Touch of Evil deserves its reputation as perhaps the last real film noir, and certainly one of the best. This high definition release is a must have for anyone with an interest in classic cinema.
Network DVD
Discs: 8
Total running time: 1300 (approx.)
Screen ratio 4:3 Colour
Cat. No.: 795036
Toward the end of The Saint, Roger Moore was paired with an American playboy to solve a mysterious crime in an exotic location. It was felt that this could potentially spin off into another show, and so the end of The Saint became an unofficial pilot for what was to become The Persuaders. The team-up was so successful that Lew Grade, executive producer, sold the concept of the new show in the US before he even had confirmation from Roger Moore that he would do it. At the time Moore was planning to leave television behind completely to work in films. Unable to say no to Grade, he postponed his plans, whilst the producers began scouting for an actor suitable to play opposite him. Originally they hoped for Rock Hudson, but it was felt he looked too much like Roger Moore. Eventually Tony Curtis was courted and signed, and the adventure began.
The Persuaders was shot in 1970 and only lasted for one series of 24 episodes,as Moore was then off for the role he was born to play in Live and let Die. Originally titled The Friendly Persuaders, the story revolved around two rival millionaires holidaying on the French Riviera, where they meet a retired judge who for some reason thinks they can put their skills in wine, women, wisecracks and fast cars to use as crime fighters. In some ways, the show could have been more accurately titled The Persuaded. It was an unlikely assumption on the part of the judge, yet somehow they rose to the challenge, and each week saw them in and around a variety of European locations mainly helping attractive women in distress. The Persuaders had a playful and comedic air, yet did not shy away from occasional genuine danger and excitement. Shot on 35mm the show has the feel of the Euro-crime and espionage thrillers that were so popular at that time, ironically due to the influence of the James Bond films. The on-screen relationship between the two leads was playfully antagonistic and appeared to show the blossoming of a genuine friendship. The Persuaders represents a different time and a different world, most probably one that never actually existed outside of ITC's adventure series. What also makes the show really stand out is the incredible roster of writers involved, including Brian Clemens (The Avengers) and Terry Nation (Doctor Who), working alongside such well-known film directors as Val Guest, Roy Ward Baker, Sidney Hayers, Leslie Norman and Basil Dearden. Roger Moore himself also took on some directing duties, just as he had in The Saint.
Although previously available on DVD, the show has been meticulously restored in high definition by Network DVD, one of the UK's finest exponents of both classic and obscure television shows. Each episode looks brighter and clearer than it would probably have looked on most television sets in 1970, and one can even see each little detail on the suits that Roger Moore designed for himself. What will be of even greater interest to fans and collectors is the extensive set of extras, beginning with a 156 page book of viewing notes (unavailable for review, but is written by Andrew Pixley who wrote the incredibly detailed book which accompanied Network DVD's blu ray release of The Prisoner). Recently discovered alternate title sequences, commentaries and unseen images can also be found for most episodes. The hour-long documentary on the making of the programme which was used on the previous DVD release is here as well, and is fascinating. There is some very frank discussion on the relationship Tony Curtis had with both Moore and the production team. Curtis is interviewed extensively and was both unapologetic and frank about his shortcomings, including the time he called Joan Collins a word we prefer not to print here at Cinema Retro, and his arrest for marijuana possession when he first arrived in the UK. He was clearly a difficult person to work with, which is totally at odds with his character in the show itself.
Continue reading "ADRIAN SMITH REVIEWS "THE PERSUADERS" UK BLU-RAY RELEASE"
The web site B Movie Cast features a discussion of the Hammer Films version of One Million Years B.C. that made Raquel Welch a household name- and her prehistoric bikini an iconic part of movie lore. Click here to download to listen to the discussion that features Cinema Retro columnist Adrian Smith.
Continuing the inevitable rollout of classic (and not so classic) movies to the latest home video format, Fox Studios have released Conan the Barbarian as a region-free Blu-ray in the UK, just in time to help stir up interest in the forthcoming remake in September (although that film is being distributed by rival studios Lionsgate).
It is hard to imagine now, given Schwarzenegger's legendary status in the film industry, that in 1982 he was a relatively unknown actor. As a former Mr Olympia he had achieved some level of fame through the body-building documentary Pumping Iron in 1977, where he infamously smoked marijuana. Several years before that, his first film role had seen him take the lead, under the name Arnold Strong, in Hercules in New York (1969). One of the funniest bad movies of all time, it did little for his career at the time, and until Conan the Barbarian, other film and TV roles mainly consisted of bit parts, playing heavies and body builders.
It was his starring role in Pumping Iron that brought Schwarzenegger to the attention of Hollywood, and a property was sought out that would suit his particular screen presence, ideally a role that needed an imposing physique and little in the way of dialogue. The Conan Marvel comic book series, based on the fantasy novels by Robert E. Howard, with its highly stylish depictions of this towering, muscle-bound hero, provided the inspiration and a script was developed. That process took four years, and included a major rewrite by Oliver Stone.
The story, evidently based on Viking culture and mythology, depicts the evils committed by a snake cult lead by the messianic Thulsa Doom (James Earl Jones). He makes the mistake of killing everyone in young Conan's village, including his parents. Conan and the other children are put into a life of back-breaking slavery. Young Conan grows up to be the hugely over-developed Arnold Schwarzenegger. His muscles do not go unnoticed, as he's soon put to work as a gladiator, stabbing, gouging and pummelling those brave or unlucky enough to be put into the ring with him. Eventually he manages to secure his freedom, and goes on a quest to find the cult that killed his parents. Along the way he has sex with a witch, makes friends with foxy warrior Valeria (former dancer Sandahl Bergman, who performed all her own stunts) and thief Subotai, and learns that Thulsa Doom has taken the King's daughter. With the King financing his quest, he sets off into the desert (Almeria, Spain, a location seen in hundreds of films, but perhaps best known for The Good, The Bad and The Ugly) to confront Doom and his bloodthirsty minions.
Continue reading "REVIEW: "CONAN THE BARBARIAN" ON BLU-RAY"
On the 28th May 2011 Vanessa Redgrave CBE and Franco Nero were both awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from Brunel University in recognition of their outstanding services to the arts. The event was held at the Italian Cultural Institute in London and was attended by friends, family, fans and colleagues, including the controversial Italian director Ruggero Deodato, with whom Nero has worked several times.
Redgrave was once called "the greatest actress of our time" by Tennessee Williams, and has been nominated and won many awards for both her film and theatre work since she began her career in the 1950s, where she co-starred with her father Sir Michael Redgrave in the play A Touch of the Sun.
The Italian Franco Nero is probably best known for one of his first films, the vastly entertaining and influential Spaghetti Western Django in 1966. He has appeared in over 150 films and is also involved in numerous charitable and humanitarian projects. Quentin Tarantino cites Nero as a big influence, and has recently announced that his next film will be a western, titled Django Unchained. Nero was unable to confirm or deny rumours that he has been cast in this film.
Redgrave and Nero were married in 2006, despite first meeting on the set of Camelot in 1967. They were together for a short while then, and have one son Carlo, but it took almost forty years for them to finally get back together. This story was played out recently in the film Letters to Juliet, in which they played a couple reunited after many years. They were both clearly touched to be awarded in this way by the university and gave moving words of thanks. The ceremony was followed by an onstage interview, in which they discussed the beginnings of their relationship whilst making Camelot in London. According to Nero Vanessa Redgrave asked him to give a friend a lift to the airport. Whilst they were there, she then suggested they jump on the next plane anywhere. Several hours later they found themselves driving a hired car around the streets of San Francisco! The evening was rounded off with a packed rare screening of the Italian film A Quiet Place in the Country from 1969, in which they both starred.
Franco Nero was also given a Lifetime Achievement Award from Cine Excess, the International cult film conference which was being held by Brunel University during that weekend. He also attended the launch of a new book published by FAB Press, Any Gun Can Play: The Essential Guide to Euro Westerns, for which he has written the foreword. The book is available now, and Cinema Retro will review this shortly, but on first appearances this looks like an essential purchase.
The BFI Flipside range have brought some interesting and occasionally downright bizarre lost British films to a wider public audience since it's inception in 2009. Private Road is a followup, and in some sense a spiritual sequel, to a previous Flipside relase, Bronco Bullfrog. That film was Platts-Mills' debut as a feature director, and was notable for its performances from non-professional actors. Private Road follows some of the themes first explored in that film, and the naturalistic story-tellingl also comes through, although Private Road is clearly more tightly constructed and directed.
The story follows Bruce Robinson (best known for writing and directing Withnail and I) as a "gifted" young writer who seems to enjoy the boho lifestyle of a London in the last thralls of the Swinging Sixties. We're told he's brilliant, although he very rarely touches his typewriter. He gets together with a young secretary played by Susan Penhaligon. They fall in love and start a life together, but his old life can't quite let him go. Private Road tackles the problems of growing up, of responsibility, of the divide between generations. The drug-fueled hippy of the decade may have some of the answers, but not all of them.
The film seems both dated and totally fresh at the same time. It feels like a late 1960s piece, with its references to Vietnam and Maoist revolution. Bruce Robinson is a dead ringer for Pink Floyd's Syd Barrett and the soundtrack consists mainly of Nick Drake-style whimsical acoustic guitar numbers. Yet the film deals very frankly with issues such as heroin, abortion and relationships. Susan Penhaligon is a revelation in this film. Her character is sometimes naïve, sometimes outspoken and adult. Her performance feels truthful, in part because of the improvised feel of the dialogue.
Private Road is a terrific film which sheds further light on Barney Platts-Mills, a director whose work is all but forgotten. The BFI have put together another great package. Alongside the film itself are two short films. One is a moving documentary by Platts-Mills on a school for children with special needs. The second is The Last Chapter, a short film starring Susan Penhaligon alongside that stalwart British character actor, Denholm Elliott, based on a story by the novelist John Fowles. He plays a successful author of badly-written but popular thrillers (he appears to be a spoof of Ian Fleming), who is interrupted in his work by a young schoolgirl who claims to want an interview for her school magazine. Initially reluctant, Elliott eventually agrees, but things take an interesting and uneasy turn when her motivations begin to seem suspect. Does she want to seduce him or ruin him? It's a great little film and a superb extra to be included here.
The BFI Flipside range are available in a dual-format package, meaning you can have it on DVD and if you upgrade to Blu-ray later, you'll already have one to put in your new machine. This is a great idea and should help encourage people to try it out. The extras are the same on both discs.
Click here to order from Amazon UK (This is a Region 2 disc)
Epics, Spectacles and Blockbusters: A Hollywood History by Sheldon Hall and Steve Neale
Published by Wayne State University Press, Detroit, 2010
376 pages
It is often assumed in popular film history that the craze amongst movie studios for the Hollywood blockbuster began with the success of Jaws in 1975, and was cemented by George Lucas with Star Wars in 1977. Hall and Neale, in this fascinating new book, demonstrate that the blockbuster has actually been around since the days of silent movies. And it is not just the epic spectacle of huge sets and casts of thousands that set these out as blockbusters, but also the way studios handled their directors and stars, production budgets, marketing and release patterns. Some films would become roadshow pictures, meaning they would have an extended run (sometimes for over a year) in a limited number of cinemas before being rolled out across the country. It was treated like a theatrical production, where people booked seats in advance. During the 1960s, inspired in part by the successes of independent companies like AIP with their mass drive-in products, studios began to adopt a showcase strategy, where the film would show in some key cities and first-run theatres whilst simultaneously opening on a regional-saturation basis. The book explains in great detail both the highs and lows that studios and producers went through. They have uncovered a lot of financial information which makes this book an excellent resource for anyone conducting their own research into Hollywood history. It also provides some perceptive insight into the cinema-going habits of filmgoers fifty years ago. Before Alfred Hitchcock insisted that latecomers not be allowed in to screenings of Psycho (1960), it was common practice for movie theatres to not have specific show times. People would just turn up, and if the movie was halfway through, they would just remain in their seats and wait for the film to start again. When All About Eve (1950) was released scheduled performances were attempted, but the idea was abandoned after four days because of poor business and the reluctance of exhibitors to adopt it. It took another ten years before the idea really took hold with Psycho, and thanks to the success of that film (over $9 million domestic rental, more than ten times its production cost), it became more commonplace.
Epics, Spectacle and Blockbusters is primarily an academic book, with rather a plain cover and only a limited number of black and white illustrations, but it does contain a great deal of absorbing information and detail which is simply unavailable elsewhere. It should be compulsory reading for all heads of Hollywood studios today, in the hope that they may learn to avoid making some of the mistakes of their predecessors.
With only a short time to go until Christmas, some of you may still be looking for ideas for the perfect gift. Well look no further. Here is a small list of suggested goodies from our own Christmas list, and any of these will bring a smile to the face of your classic movie lover when they find them under the tree.
Psycho: 50th Anniversary Edition
Blu ray
Universal Pictures
It is difficult to believe that this film is now fifty years old. Seen here in a pristine transfer, it seems just as fresh, original and shocking as it must have been to those first cinema audiences in 1960. Much has been written about Psycho, not least within the pages of this magazine, so there is no need for me to sing its praises here. This is one of the best Blu-ray releases of 2010 and should be in every home. Alongside the film itself you can enjoy a huge amount of extra features, many of which are exclusive to this release and include a feature-length documentary, archive material, a full commentary and 20 page booklet.
Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot Commemorative Book with DVD
Alison Castle, Dan Auiler
Hardcover + DVD, 36 x 22.5 cm (14.2 x 8.9 in.), 384 pages
Some Like It Hot is one of the greatest comedy films ever made, and this book serves as a celebration and tribute to the stars and Billy Wilder himself. You'll find the original first draft of the script with annotations and photos, as well as in-depth interviews and archival material. There are some excellent candid photos and the truth of Marilyn Monroe's problems on and off set are laid bare. The book even comes with a DVD of the movie, so you can imagine that you bought the film and got the best DVD extra ever.
Continue reading "THE RETRO MOVIE LOVER'S GIFT GUIDE "
Odeon Entertainment are continuing their quest to bring a mixture of sought after and totally obscure titles to DVD with generous extras here in the UK.
Goodbye Gemini (1970) stars Martin Potter and Judy Geeson as twins in a complicated and suspiciously incestuous relationship. They are 20 years old but they roam and play in their large Chelsea townhouse like children, and what begins as childish pranks escalate into something seriously disturbed. At that time Potter was fresh from his success in Fellini's Satyricon (1969) whilst Geeson had made a big impression as a promiscuous schoolgirl in To Sir With Love (1967), and in Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (1968), espousing free love whilst skinny-dipping in a lake. Goodbye Gemini was directed by Alan Gibson shortly before he made two Dracula films for Hammer. With his name attached, along with a supporting cast including former Frankenstein's monster Freddie Jones one might expect the film to be a horror, but it's not as easy to pigeonhole as that. The film could more accurately be described as a psychological thriller, set in the tail-end of the 1960s where post-Altamont and Charles Manson, the hippy dream has well and truly gone sour. It's a fascinating and terrifying film that crosses sexual boundaries and pushes relationships over the edge. When we spoke to Martin Potter he remembered the film well: "As an actor I was trained to tell truth. In Goodbye Gemini there was this awful scene where I was about to gas myself, having done something truly awful. There was Hammer horror, where as an audience you didn't expect Christopher Lee or anyone else to explain what they were doing. It was just a genre of film. But I do recall with Goodbye Gemini trying, probably incredibly naively, to explain what this person was doing. I took it all terribly seriously. I was trying to make it real for me. Whereas the director was doing the film to pay off his mortgage!"
Goodbye Gemini is based on the 1964 novel Ask Agamemnon and features a great period soundtrack by first time composer Christopher Gunning, who would go on to score dozens of TV series and films, including the recent Oscar-winning La Vie En Rose (2007). There would appear to be very little commercial appeal in this story of a brother and sister who love and kill together, but thankfully this was a time of risk-taking and experimentation in the British industry. They were even able to bring Sir Michael Redgrave on board in a significant role as a politician who spends his evenings attending the wrong kind of parties.
Continue reading "ADRIAN SMITH REPORTS ON THE UK DVD RELEASE OF PROMINENT CULT FILMS "
The Thirties: An Intimate History by Juliet Gardiner
Published by Harper Press 2010
Hardcover 944 pages
On 31st December 1929 over 1000 children, unaccompanied by adults, packed into The Glen Cinema in Paisley, Scotland to watch a short Tom Mix western, some cartoons and The Crowd, an epic silent movie directed by King Vidor. Shortly after the programme started, and the natural rowdiness and noise began to die down, some of the children noticed smoke coming from the projection booth. The scream of "Fire!" caused major panic, and as the auditorium filled with both smoke and carbon monoxide there was a rush to the exits. Unfortunately the main exit had been firmly locked by the owners to prevent children from letting their friends in without paying. When the rescue operation was finally over 71 children were dead and many more ill or injured. This was the worst kind of tragedy to befall a small community, and it happened in a cinema.
This incredible story is used by Gardiner to open her fascinating new book on the social history of Britain as it went from prosperity to recession and into an inescapable World War. Although this book falls somewhat outside the main focus of Cinema Retro, it contains an insightful chapter on the development of film exhibition throughout the decade, and the growth of the "Picture Palaces" or "Dreamlands" across the country. She quotes some unbelievable statistics that would make any studio executive today weep with envy: in 1934 903 million cinema tickets were sold in Britain, and this had risen to over 990 million by 1939. This was an average of almost 20 million every single week. Compare that to the UK box office figures for 2009 - a mere 173.5 million. By 1938 there were nearly 5000 cinemas with some towns having over 100 each. There are some wonderful descriptions which put our modern multiplexes to shame. She notes the Astoria in Brixton which was built like an indoor fantasy of trailing vines, antique statues and a ceiling which changed like the sky from dawn to dusk, to starry night. As if that wasn't enough they scented the auditorium with Yardley's Lavender perfume. Others were designed to look like Egyptian pyramids, Baronial halls or mermaid's palaces. To top it off, when the audience took their seats they were first entertained by a man in a white suit rising from the well of the cinema playing popular tunes on a translucent, flashing, multi-coloured electric organ.
Continue reading "BOOK REVIEW: "THE THIRTIES" HAS A WEALTH OF LORE FOR LOVERS OF BRITISH FILMS"
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Celebrating Films of the 1960s & 1970s