Sophisticated, Saucy, and Sinister Sixties Scares!
By
Kristin Battestella
Say
that one three times fast, then sit back and enjoy this quick variety of
twisted films from that turbulent decade!
The
Devil’s Hand – Commissioner
Gordon strikes again! Neil Hamilton’s pushing freaky voodoo dolls, mental
projection, and sexy dames in this 1962 cult-astic romp. The photography is poor and jumpy, and the
introductory narration is weird. The dialogue is both realistic and yet very
dated and sexist. The costumes are ugly,
and this evil Gamba cult abounds with hokey rituals. Though I’ve seen worse
iffy, Tibetan stereotypes, uncouth Asian music and drums, and more racist dancing
hinder a few scenes. The mid century
symbolism and most of the action here will be too tame and predictable for audiences
today. All that potentially going
against it and yet the creepy dolls, intriguing mystery, and weird dreams work.
Cute things like the slide across bucket seats and decent acting go a long way,
too. It seems a lot of scary movies both old and new always have these kinky,
relatable, but engaged men getting tempted by evil women. They like it, and so
do we. Combined with a few shocks and plenty of tease-ability, this one is a
fun, entertaining hour.
Games – Katherine Ross (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid), Simone Signoret (Room at the Top), and James Caan (The Godfather) star in this 1967
mindbender from Curtis Harrington (What’s
the Matter with Helen?), and the fun costumes, gadgets, and trickery add to
Ross and Caan’s young and sexy. They’re very good at being bent with weird
antiques, colorful décor, and an increasingly twisted mix of freaky foreplay.
Classy as always, Signoret is mysterious, multifaceted, pushy, flaky, yet more endearing
than our initially unlikable snotty rich party couple is. The suspense sequences,
intense crimes, and psychic twists may seem weird. However, as the tables turn,
the audience is hooked and drawn into the demented pace, surprising events, and
jump moments. Wise viewers may find the
plot predictable, but this is a nice little thriller for stylish horror lovers
and fans of the cast.
Spirits
of the Dead – I’m not really a
Jane Fonda fan, but she looks superb in this colorful 1968 Italian anthology
with designs from Edgar Allan Poe. Perfect locales, music, horses, castles, and
foggy coasts set an ethereal, dreamy mood for the first tale here. The period
costumes and sixties fusion might be a bit too Barbarella, and some will be put off by the spoken French and reading
subtitles. Yet Fonda fans will enjoy the suggested kinky and ménage taunts-
even if it’s her brother Peter (Easy
Rider) sparking the obsessions. ‘Metzengerstein’ is more sauce than scares,
but it might have made a nice fantasy movie by itself. By contrast, ‘William Wilson’ adds Italian occupation
and religious motifs for the second installment. Iffy kid acting, look a likes, and flashbacks
can be confusing to start and some of the butchery won’t be for everyone.
However great fashions, sweet cadavers, autopsy educations, and historical
brutalities are scary good- not to mention a dark haired, poker playing Brigitte
Bardot (And God Created Woman) to
keep the questions on one’s conscious and duality from getting too dry. Terrence
Stamp (Billy Budd) is a wonderful
drunkard in the almost too trippy ‘Toby Dammit’ finale, but cool Roman
amusement, bizarre locations, and weird play within a play production keep the
plot from being too nonsensical. Though the final ten minutes get tough, the
well-edited and intense driving scenes make for a fitting overall conclusion. Not all will enjoy the near psychedelic period
and foreign sensibilities, but this is some twisted fun for fans of the players
and all involved.
Tormented
– There’s some soap opera
melodrama in the acting, romance, and blackmail of this black and white 1960
ghost tale, and there are over the top music cues to match. Some of it is
predictably fun, even ridiculous, and the bullet bras enter the room before the
ladies! It’s tough to take your ghost’s threats seriously when the entity is
so…buxom. The narration is also a bit
much, and nothing is really that scary- particularly the annoying kid (Susan
Gordon, daughter of the director Bert I. Gordon, Empire of the Ants). All that aside, this one isn’t that bad. The
spooky lighthouse and nice seascapes might be hampered by the black and white,
but the gray palette helps the freaky early effects and eerie ghostly hi jinks.
Richard Carlson’s (Creature from the
Black Lagoon) dilemma, scandal, and titular emotions are an intriguing
consequence contrasting the pleasant mid century costumes and feelings. There’s
a taint to his would be bliss thanks to the unscrupulous spirits, and the
mayhem creates some tense moments and room for a twist or two.
Whatever
Happened to Baby Jane? – We
can’t imagine anyone but Bette Davis and Joan Crawford in a sibling rivalry
this extreme! The two Oscar winners (Jezebel
and Mildred Pierce, respectively)
finally clash onscreen in this 1962 adaptation from director Robert Aldrich (Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte). The
introductory rise thru the show business eras, fun vaudeville tunes, vintage
film reels, swift editing, period clothing, cool cars, and plenty of suspense
all cap off the warped drama and black and white demented nostalgia. De Vol’s (Pillow
Talk) over the top yet on form and fitting music adds to the fun weirdness
of seeing the slovenly done up Davis.
Perhaps we tend to think of her as so nice and grandmotherly today- unlike
Crawford. Thanks to the likes of Mommie
Dearest, it’s a little ironic to see her as Ms. Sympathy. And yet…both
ladies put our expectations on end, and it’s a tough call on whose is the
better performance. Although the shock moments are probably well known now, the
audience wonders how far off the deep end the wonderfully cruel and simplistic
scares will go. There’s great, bemusing trepidation in the little things we
take for granted in the 21st century- getting a letter to a
neighbor, not knowing what’s for dinner, leaving the phone off the hook. Minds, mirrors, twisted selves- the
unraveling of this relationship train wreck is quite horrific- or at the very
least criminal! Where is the desperation
greatest? Who’s more deserving of their internal hostage via the wheelchair or
the childlike mind? This staple is perfect for classic film fans, fans of the
cast, and anyone looking for a sophisticated feminine horror spin.
(It's not what you think, I assure you!)
And Now for a Bad One!
The
Amazing Transparent Man – This
1960 short, low budget, SF horror from the young American International
Pictures starts ominously enough, with a creepy long drive and good music.
Unfortunately, not much else genre fair actually happens. With the military
chase and crime as is there just isn’t anything that scary or even a whole lot
of sci-fi. Although there are good mad scientist machinery and sounds effects,
there’s also lots of talking about taking over the world thru invisibility.
Thus, all the demented science comes off a little too dry. Despite being only
an hour, it’s easy to zone out or even fall asleep- unless you’re poking fun or
having a drinking game here. This one is
a definite no no unless you take it for the bemusement alone.
(But this is what I call Horror!)
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