Black Death

Black Death

Well, it is October again, which means I am returning to the wonderful world of horror films for a few weeks!  First on the list is the recent Black Death, a low budget horror film that came out of England last year.  The film never really found an audience here in the United States, though I am willing to bet that a wide theatrical release with a real marketing campaign would have helped.  It is a pity no studio got behind Black Death, but it is actually really quite good.

In the 1340s, the plague has descended over England, sweeping across the countryside and eventually killing 1/3 to 1/2 of the total population.  But there is one village out in the marshes that is unaffected by the plague.  No one knows why the village has been spared, but there are rumors of witchcraft and devil worship.  A group of religious warriors led by Ulric (Sean Bean, Lord of the Rings) is sent by the local bishop to investigate, guided by a young monk named Osmond (Eddie Redmayne, The Other Boleyn Girl).

First, let's talk about what's good.  I love the look of this movie.  I don't think I have seen the Middles Ages look quite so bleak and real.  Black Death does a fantastic job of depicting the bubonic plague, really showing how desperate and horrifying it was, and how it drove much of the country into paranoia and savagery.  I was impressed with this bleak setting, and would have liked to have seen even more of it.  I also really like the cast, which is uniformly great, and also includes Carice van Houten (Black Book) as Langiva, the leader of the village (and possibly a witch), Tim McInnerny (Black Adder), and a nice cameo from David Warner (Tron).

What I also like about the film is that while it is simple in story structure, there is actually a lot happening under the surface.  Now in the 21st Century, I don't think we can comprehend something as devastating as the Black Death.  Think about this - literally half the people you know dead all within the last year.  How would you react?  What would you think?  How paranoid would you be?  What if you're next?  Would such devastation drive you to religion or away from it?  These are questions that this movie asks by showing us how the warriors and the villagers react to the trying times.  Sometimes we feel like the villagers are right, sometimes we find ourselves agreeing with the warriors.  And this is probably the film's greatest strength, how it is adeptly shifts our sympathies from one side to the other, leaving us unsure of who to trust and who to root for.  It is a cleverly conceived by director Christopher Jones and writer Dario Poloni.

And I will be honest, I always preferred this style of horror film, which is more about atmosphere and the slow build, to the hack and slasher genres that most people watch today.  I would take a good Hammer Film over a Friday 13th movie any day of the week.  Black Death isn't even really scary at all, but it is eerie and unsettling, and probably has more of an impact as a result.

There are a few problems with the film, the biggest of which is an over-reliance on shaky cam.  I am tired of directors thinking that handheld cameras means the film will be more artsy.  Just hold the camera steady so I can see what's happening!!! The shaky cam (or what I call earthquake cam) gets annoying in the first third and then all but ruins the one major battle scene in the movie.  Thankfully, once Ulric and company arrive at the village, the camera work settles down a bit.

I also have some problems with the ending.  The climax bounces from some brilliant moments (most involving the kickass Sean Bean) and some highly questionable moments.  Then we are left with a coda, which while thematically is related, just seems tacked on for no other reason than to depress us.

But overall, this is a rock solid film with some great performances and atmosphere.  You should check it out!

BEST LINE:  
It's all in his delivery, but I like it when Wulfstan explains to the naive Osmond that: "A necromancer...is one who plucks the dead from the cold earth...and breaths new life into them."

MVP:
As much as I like Sean Bean, (and he does deliver the single coolest moment of the movie), I have to give the MVP to John Lynch, who plays the warrior Wulfstan.  Wulfstan was easily my favorite character.  Everyone else in the motley crew of warriors are either greedy, bloodthirsty, way too fanatical or full of wimpy angst. Wulfstan is a fighter, but he is a good man, probably the best man in the movie.  And as the crew traveled through the plague ravaged countryside and the bandit riddled forest, it was his fate that I was most concerned about.  Maybe that is a failing of the movie since I should have been more worried about Osmond and Ulric, but I prefer to view it as a testament to John Lynch's accessible performance.  Plus, he looks a bit like Scott Bakula in battle armor.  And that's kinda cool.

TRIVIA: 
Lena Headey (who also played Sean Bean's nemesis on Game of Thrones) was set to play Langiva, but was replaced by van Houten.

The Mummy

The Mummy

The foundation for Hammer Films was laid with three adaptations of classic movie monsters - Horror of Dracula, Curse of Frankenstein, and The Mummy - all directed by Terence Fisher, written by Jimmy Sangster and starring Peter Cushing as our hero and Christopher Lee as the monster.

The Mummy was the final of these three and while it is certainly the best of the Mummy films, it doesn't hold a candle to Horror of Dracula. The setup is simple and the same as most Mummy films. A team of archeologists led by Professor Banning (Felix Aylmer) and his son John (Peter Cushing) unearth the tomb of Ananka, the Egyptian priestess of Karnak. This of course pisses off the mummy that is guarding her tomb (Christopher Lee). The normal hijinks, curses, and murders ensue. What makes the film fun to watch is a committed cast of professionals (there really is not weak link in the acting department) and a Mummy that is genuinely cool looking. Unlike the silly looking bandages of the monsters in the later films, Christopher Lee's wrapping is actually pretty gross. He's muddy and moldy and dangerous.

The good parts of the movie also include the fights between the Mummy and John Banning. They are actually pretty rough for the 1950s and are some of the better fights of the franchise. I also really like the sinewy score by Franz Reizenstein. The main theme is terrific.

So its a pity that the movie just doesn't completely gel together. It really feels a bit sluggish in places, especially when it spends time on the little villagers, who I suppose are meant to be comic relief. Ultimately, they just drag the film down. And after a very effective buildup, the climax is a bit of a letdown. Overall, though, The Mummy is not bad. A bit slow in places, but still entertaining. I would recommend it. Just make sure you see the Dracula movies first!

MVP: Gotta give this one to Christopher Lee. I once foolishly thought that it didn't take talent to be a Mummy in a Mummy film. All you have to do is lumber around and kill people. But as I learned in this franchise's sequels, The Mummy's Shroud and Curse of the Mummy's Tomb, it really isn't so easy to be a Mummy. The monsters in those movies are not scary, at best - and at worst, they are laughable. Christopher Lee shows them how it should be done - he portrays the menace, but also the emotion. He is a conflicted mummy, after all. He cares more about Ananka (and John's wife, Isobel, who happens to look exactly like her) than he does about killing people. Lee makes all this clear with his body language and his eyes alone. It's pretty good stuff. Besides, he also deserves the MVP because of the Trivia below.

TRIVIA: Poor Christopher Lee. The Mummy is supposed to burst through a door during one attack. A grip on the set accidentally bolted the door shut right before filming. Luckily Christopher Lee was strong enough that he broke through the door anyway, but he dislocated his shoulder in the process. And then he threw his back out carrying Yvonne Furneaux through the forest. And then he bashed up his knees and shins on the swamp set because he couldn't see all the pipes and fittings underneath the murky water. And finally - those awesome little explosives that set off when Cushing shoots the Mummy with the shotgun (a super cool effect in the film) were extremely painful and left Lee with burn marks for weeks. All in all, a pretty painful gig...

BEST LINE: John Banning trying goad a potential bad guy into revealing himself:

John: "Karnak was not a very important diety. A third rate god."
Mehmet: "Not to those who believed in him."
John: "Perhaps not. But their standard of intelligence must have been remarkably low."

Curse of the Mummy's Tomb

Curse of the Mummy's Tomb

The first sequel in Hammer's Mummy series, Curse of the Mummy's Tomb is definitely a mixed bag. Certainly, the basic plot line is almost exactly like the first - an Egyptian tomb is found, the Mummy is brought to life by a bad guy and goes on a rampage, killing those who disturbed his eternal slumber. In this case, our potential victims are American showman Alexander King (Fred Clark), Egyptian government official Hashemi Bey (George Pastell), and archeologists Sir Giles (Jack Gwillim), John Bray (Ronald Howard) and Annette Dubois (Jeanne Roland). Helping our heroes out, while also wooing Annette away from her fiance, is amateur Egyptologist Adam Beauchamp (Terence Morgan).

While the plot isn't the most original, there is a lot of good stuff in here. Alexander King's role is an interesting addition to the Mummy story. Instead of wanting to put the Mummy in a museum, Alexander King wants to tour the artifacts around the world in a tacky Barnum and Bailey-like sideshow attraction - much to the horror of esteemed archeologist Sir Giles and the Egyptian official Hashemi Bey. Such conflicts within the group initially make it unclear who the villains and heroes in the film are - though it is obvious who is the lead bad guy. Even then, the twist of the bad guy's real identity is an interesting angle on the well-known mummy movie curses. I thought it was actually quite creative.

The acting is all quite good (with two notable exceptions) and the cinematography is beautiful. Carreras knows his way around a creepy shot, and the first appearance of the Mummy in the London fog is fantastic. This film had a horribly small budget, and what Carreras does with his sets and camera is surprising, giving the film a more more expensive look.

Unfortunately, the film's flaws are also many, and like several Hammer films, the last 15 minutes are a bit of a mess. The big problem is that our female lead Annette is so thoroughly unlikable. Her character is a bit of a turd, spending most of the movie flirting with Adam and cheating on her fiance. Maybe we are supposed to feel sympathy for Annette and her heart being torn between two men, but if that is the case, actress Jeanne Roland is just not up to the challenge. With all the fun characters the Mummy kills in this movie, I kind of wish he had just gone after her. A bigger problem is the Mummy itself - I was foolish in thinking that you didn't need a real actor in this type of role. But you really do. Christopher Lee brought menace and pathos in the original Mummy, while this lumbering creature just waddles around, a bit like a Penguin, and he has a beer belly. I repeat - this Mummy has a beer belly!

I also think the police are handled really weirdly in this movie. Upon first hearing that a Mummy is running around killing people, they're all just, "oh, okay" as if this were a regular event in turn-of-the-century London. And there is an inexplicable scene near the end where the police set a trap for the Mummy. When the traps goes wrong, they all literally just stand in the room and watch while the creature kills one of the main characters and then walks away. Do they try and stop it? Nope. Is it because they are afraid? Nope. I would have accepted that. I have no idea why they just stand there. And why does the Mummy even leave? If he is supposed to kill all our heroes as part of the curse, why does he just kill one and leave when his other would-be victims are right in front of him? Clearly the police weren't going to stop him. This scene is frustratingly stupid and coming near the end of the film, it helps put a nail in the coffin for a movie that started so well.

Like most Hammer Films, Curse of the Mummy's Tomb is still worth checking out for the good moments, but be prepared to be very disappointed by the second half.

MVP: Jack Gwillim (Clash of the Titans) as the old archeologist Sir Giles. Sir Giles is an interesting character, and given an emotional struggle that is more interesting to me than our leads' romantic issues. As the leader of the expedition, he is blamed by the Egyptian government when the artifacts don't end up in a Museum and become part of the sideshow act instead. He is banned from ever entering Egypt again. For an esteemed scientist who has devoted his life to Egypt, its like his life has been taken away. What's a man to do? Drink heavily, I suppose. You really feel for Sir Giles in this movie, and Gwillim puts in a magnificent performance - the sadness in his eyes, the slump of his shoulders - the line deliveries are a beautiful mixture of depression and shame that he couldn't stop King. It's very good work. It doesn't hurt that Sir Giles gets the best confrontation with the Mummy in the film. Gwillim plays the part right, with a mix of terror and resolve as he whips out a pistol and gets ready to go down fighting. His acting makes up for the fact that the Mummy's pot belly kept making me laugh. It ends up being a pretty good scene - and mostly because of Gwillim.

BEST LINE: Alexander King to an Egyptian belly dancer: "You ever learn to do that in ragtime, we'll make a fortune!"

TRIVIA: Michael Carrera's pseudonym as screenwriter, Henry Younger, was an inside joke since his fellow Hammer writer/producer Anthony Hinds' pseudonym was John Elder.

The Gorgon

The Gorgon

What a bummer. The Gorgon is an entertaining enough movie, but with the talent involved it could have been great. One more script rewrite to iron out some plot holes and to clean up the ending, and maybe a slightly bigger budget to help with the special effects, and this movie would have launched from Interesting to Awesome. With the re-teaming of director Terence Fisher and actors Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing (the three who collaborated on Horror of Dracula), I was really hoping for a classic.

The plot is actually almost identical to the Hammer film I just reviewed, The Reptile. There is a mysterious murder in a small town. Relatives of the victim (in this film, the victim's father and brother) come to the town to investigate. The townspeople are suspicious douchebags and attempt to scare the investigators away. There is a creepy doctor (a superb Peter Cushing here) who may know more than he is letting on. And then we have the monster appear in the climax - and just like in The Reptile, the makeup is not that good.

The fact that the plot is familiar isn't necessarily a bad thing. When the formula is done well, who cares if it isn't original? There are large chunks of the movie that are really good. The first half is particularly strong as Professor Heitz (Michael Goodliffe) and his son Paul (Richard Pasco) investigate the murders. The initial Gorgon attacks are all well directed and spooky, with the monster only barely glimpsed in the shadows and through reflections. This is all very effective. The acting is also pretty good along the board. Hammer actresses are not known for their acting ability, but Barbara Shelley turns in a great performance as Carla, the creepy doctor's assistant. Shelley (Dracula: Prince of Darkness) shows once again that she isn't just another pretty face. She is quite good at showing conflicting emotions and is superb at showcasing suppressed dread. The fear is in her eyes, and that's not easy to do.

Unfortunately, once the set-up is established and the movie needs to move forward, things just start to fall apart. Events occur and then nothing comes of it. A medical assistant tries to kill Paul, and that's never brought up again. Characters' motivations become a little too cluttered and contradictory. The climactic fist fight in the haunted castle, while pretty exciting in of itself, doesn't make a lot of sense since both characters are there for the same reason. I'm just glad Christopher Lee shows up in the last reel. His grumpy clear-headedness makes up for everyone else's peculiar behavior.

Overall, this isn't a bad film. Just a missed opportunity. I'm not alone in thinking this. Christopher Lee himself said it was okay, but should have been awesome. And I don't think the comparisons to The Reptile are an accident. John Gilling, who directed The Reptile was one of the scriptwriters on The Gorgon. I have a feeling he went back, fixed a lot of the problems with the storyline, and took a second stab at the tale. And The Reptile is certainly a more consistent movie through and through. But it lacks the star power that The Gorgon has, which is what is frustrating. With Lee and Cushing, this coulda been a classic!!!

MVP: As much as I like Christopher Lee in this movie, he's just not in it enough. He probably has all of ten minutes of screen time. Peter Cushing takes the rest of the film and places it squarely on his shoulders. I know I've given him 3 MVPs already, but I promise they are all deserved! Here, he plays Dr. Namarov, who may or may not be the main villain of the movie. Namarov keeps his private thoughts close to the vest, but he is clearly conflicted between what his heart tells him and what he knows is the right thing to do. If Namarov's final actions in the film don't seem very motivated, it's not Cushing's fault. He sells it completely. Only later, when I think about it, do I go, "hey, wait a second..." Namarov is for the most part a good, strong, meaty character, and Cushing brings everything he has to the role. Well done, sir!

TRIVIA: Though it was suggested to use a wig with real snakes, the producer said no because of time and budget constraints. So instead we get the weird wig with the plastic snakes in the movie. Boo. After watching the movie, the producer realized he had made a big mistake. And Christopher Lee is quoted as saying, "The only problem with The Gorgon is the Gorgon."

BEST LINE: Professor Meister: "Don't use big words, Inspector. They don't suit you."

The Reptile

The Reptile

Considering that The Reptile is the first non-vampire Hammer film I've seen, I wasn't sure what to expect. Interestingly enough, I got more of the same. The Reptile has a lot in common with the vampire movies. It's not terribly original, but is still a solid horror film, mostly due to the efforts of director John Gilling and some good acting.

Charles Spalding has been killed - obviously murdered though the coroner's report reads, "heart failure," and the not so bright townspeople suspect the plague. Charles has left his small house to his brother Harry (Ray Barrett) and Harry's wife Valerie (Jennifer Daniels). Despite the warnings from the friendly neighborhood pub owner Tom Bailey (Michael Ripper) and their creepy neighbor Dr. Franklyn (Noel Willman), the Spaldings decide to move permanently into the little cottage. But then there are more deaths around the town. Can Harry and Valerie solve the mystery of the Reptile before its their turn???

Of course they can. The mystery isn't very hard to figure out. You will know who the Reptile is the second the character arrives on screen. This movie follows a well worn path and there are few surprises in it. But I will admit there are actually a few scares, as well. In the first half of the film especially, there are some surprisingly creepy moments. Director John Gilling makes excellent use of shadows and darkness which create an atmosphere of foreboding even more effectively than in other, better films. There is also an especially good scene involving a sitar performance during a dinner party at Dr. Franklyn's house. The music speeds up, people look at each other uncomfortably and the scene goes bizarrely over-the-top, but is still incredibly effective in creating tension among the guests. This might be the best scene of the movie.

I guess if there is a problem with the film, it is that I was rarely engaged in it. Despite fine acting and solid direction, I found myself intellectually watching it instead of actively being involved in the story. Even during the good scenes, I was thinking, "Huh, that's interesting." instead of "Whoa! That's cool!" I'm not sure if it is the slow, measured pace of the film (which will certainly bother some people used to quicker thrills) or the unoriginality of the storyline, but I just didn't feel involved.

The other problem is the monster itself. I applaud the fact that Hammer tried to use an original creation, but is this really the best they could come up with?








A green mask with crooked teeth and Mr. Potato-Head eyes is not my idea of scary. Thank goodness they don't show this hideously bad looking creation very often!

Ah, well. It's not a bad film, by any means. It's actually a competent, little thriller. But I wouldn't rush out to see it. There are plenty of other Hammers you should watch first. 

MVP: I am going to go with Michael Ripper, a Hammer Films regular. Usually relegated to smaller roles, The Reptile really gives Ripper a good character, Tom Bailey, the local pub owner. In fact, I would say he's the real hero of the film. Though Harry Spalding is the dashing and strong lead, Tom Bailey is the one who actually gets stuff done. Everything that works is his idea - and yet Ripper's performance is humble enough that the audience is tricked into thinking Harry is the hero. Now that is a supporting actor!

TRIVIA: Filmed back to back with Plague of the Zombies, using all the same sets and many of the same actors.

BEST LINE: Mad Peter: "May I please tell you something about myself? It may not be of great interest but might help convince you that what I'm about to say is not a figment of my imagination. May I?"

Dracula has Risen from the Grave

Dracula has Risen from the Grave
I know that by the late 60s and 70s, the Hammer films were on a decline. While Dracula has Risen from the Grave was produced before the fall, the cracks are beginning to show. Trying to keep the franchise vibrant, the producers throw a whole lot of absurdity at the screen. Just listen to the set up of the movie:

Dracula has been dead for a year, trapped underneath the massive ice moat that surrounds his castle. But in a nearby town, the townspeople are still terrified. They even refuse to go to church because the castle's shadow touches the church in the afternoon. So Monsignor Mueller (Rupert Davies) and the town priest (Ewan Hooper) climb up to the castle to purge the site of its evil and seal the entrance with a giant cross. Continuity be damned - the road that led to the castle in the last movie no longer exists and the only way to get there is by climbing up a treacherous mountainside.

And that massive moat I mentioned? It's gone, and has been replaced by a tiny frozen stream at the bottom of the cliff. During the exorcism, there is a great storm and the priest trips and falls on the ice. He cuts his head, and a tiny bit of blood goes through the ice and just happens to fall in the mouth of Dracula's drowned corpse. The vile count of course wakes up and puts the priest under his spell. When he learns that a cross is barring the way to his home, does he ask the priest to just take it down? No! Instead, he concocts some sort of bizarre revenge scheme against the Monsignor.

At this point, I was really worried. I got even more worried when I met our young hero, Paul (Barry Andrews), an atheist graduate student who works part time and shirtless in a bakery. Yes, he likes to bake shirtless. Our hero is in love with the Monsignor's neice, Maria (Veronica Carlson). The stage is set. Dracula and the now-evil priest vs. the atheist Paul and the Monsignor. The movie is gonna stink. 

But then something happens - it doesn't stink. With all the pieces clumsily put into place, the movie suddenly gels together and becomes really entertaining. The acting is all quite good. I knew Christopher Lee and Rupert Davies would be good, but I assumed that the young couple would be a pair of wooden pretty faces. On the contrary, Andrews' Paul is nowhere near as annoying as his shirtless baking introduction hinted at. And Veronica Carlson is quite good as the Count's ultimate target. She is certainly one of the most beautiful Hammer starlets, but she's also one of the better actresses I've seen so far in these films. And Hooper is also quite good as the priest, a good but weak man trapped in the thrall of evil. Dracula has Risen from the Grave also ramps up the sex and gore factor. It is never over-the-top, and is very effective. If anyone had any doubts that Hammer was responsible for the sexual subtext of vampires, they should see this movie. As one virginal victim is "seduced" by Dracula, we got a shot of her hand pushing a teddy bear off the bed. If there was ever a visual metaphor for deflowering/the end of youthful innocence, there you go. It's so bad, it's good! And the violence? The attempted staking in this film is not just the highlight of the movie, but one of the more entertaining moments in the franchise.

 The movie was directed by Freddie Francis, who is better known as a superb cinematographer (he won the Oscar for Glory). He experiments with filters and colors, and really gives the film a unique look over the previous Dracula movies. Sometimes he pushes the experimentation too far, adding a burnt hue to the scenes by the castle which are really just distracting. But for the most part, the film looks superb. I have to be honest, I can see why this film was one of Hammer's biggest hits. Once the adventure starts, it doesn't let up. And the climactic battle is actually one of the more exciting of the series so far. As long as you can get past the silly set-up, Dracula has Risen from the Grave is actually very good - maybe not as good as the first two, but a definite step up from Dracula: Prince of Darkness But even in its fun, you can see the cracks forming. And even if Dracula has Risen from the Grave ends up working, you can see that this is the beginning of the end.

MVP: Back to Christopher Lee, who actually puts in his best performance as the famous Count. The ten years since Horror of Dracula have been good for the character. The extra wrinkles and the gray streaks in his hair all add to his imposing stature. Though his dialogue is hokey (lots of lines like "At last my revenge is complete"), Lee sells every line with menace and rage. He was good in the other films, but he knocks it out of the park here.

TRIVIA: The very first film to ever be rated by the newly formed MPAA.

BEST LINE: A drunk Paul, after drinking some water, "That's better. Ah, that's delicious!" It's more the performance than the line itself. It made me laugh.