More Hammer, Lee, and Cushing Trinity!
By
Kristin Battestella
Why
not spend the summer delighting in another batch of Christopher Lee, Peter
Cushing, and Hammer Horror treats both vintage and anew?
The
Bloody Judge – The battle scenes
are awesome in this twisted 1970 historical from the late writer and director Jess
Franco (The Awful Dr. Orloff). The
music is sweet; the colorful design looks the part and doesn’t feel cheap at
all. One can even forgive the bad English dubbing, mixed languages, and sudden
subtitles amid the otherwise fine script, dialogue, and native Anglo delivery. The
persecution plots and political intrigue are nice, too – even if it has been
done better and feels too Witchfinder
General knock off. Unfortunately,
the fake blood is obvious, and the nudity presented is just too bizarre. The skin
scenes are actually almost too subdued to start – one expects more in early
seventies euro horror. However, the flesh gets awkward quickly with an out of
place full frontal sex scene and lots more much too much shocking and fleshy
torture. It’s initially effective to see the cruel rack and sadistic pain thanks
to its great juxtaposition – these wicked, supposedly in the right officials against
the nature loving, harmless witchcraft accused. Sadly, the exploitative sex and violence goes
overboard as the hour and forty-plus minutes goes on. It’s just too dang nasty
– talk about torture porn! Ultimately, this uneven attempt at horror and
sexploitation detracts from what could have been a seriously fine, macabre
historical lesson. It’s a pity, as it’s certainly fun to see Birthday Boy Lee
rocking that judicial wig! He’s just right as the creepy lawman checking out the
bodices, bosoms, and wenches on trial but doesn’t have much else to do. Although
Big C is great when he does get some demented ups and downs and crime and
punishment and fans will enjoy his scenes, the entire picture would have been
better served by doing a complete history on the titular mayhem.
From
Beyond the Grave – Peter Cushing
sports a hint of accent for this final 1974 anthology from Hammer rival Amicus Productions,
and the creepy antiques and curiosity shop themes are an interesting precursor
to Friday the 13th: The Series.
Demented music, great sounds, and smoke and mirrors effects add to the fun seventies
styles, colors, askew camera angles, and shadow techniques. Séances and
possessed mirrors take over in the first story, “The Gatecrasher,” and David
Warner (The Omen) is delightfully tormented
into murder for this largely one-man tale. “An Act of Kindness” continues the
weirdness thanks to street peddler Donald Pleasence (Halloween), his kind of kinky daughter Angela (Symptoms), and some deadly voodoo for good measure. Some dark humor
sets off the psychic warnings, demonic touches, and poltergeist effects in “The
Elemental,” and lastly, Ian Ogilvy (Witchfinder
General) and Lesley-Anne Down (North
and South) discover centuries-old occult disaster behind “The Door.” The character
developments may seem slow to start or the writing somewhat soft or tame today,
but there’s enough blood and action to carry the macabre mood. This one makes
we want to marathon all the Amicus anthologies for one massive, eerie late
night! We don’t see Cushing too much, but we shouldn’t be fooled by his seemingly
so cute and innocent proprietor. Don’t these people know not to cross Big P?!
The
Resident – I didn’t like the
last Hillary Swank horror attempt The Reaping
– actually I dislike any time she goes off her Oscar winning type coughP.S. I Love Youcough. Thankfully, she’s
solid as a strong but socially awkward and somewhat man needy doctor in an ominous
apartment for this 2011 nuHammer thriller. Likewise, Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Grey’s Anatomy) is effective, even if
it’s obvious he’s the too good to be true handyman in a horror movie. At the
standard 90 minutes, precious time is wasted with cool opening credits – not
usually a good sign for a recent horror film – and the story is slow to get
going and ultimately quite predictable. The cheating boyfriend explanation for
her moving comes a little too late and the color gradient looks over processed,
but the hospital blood and gore are well done. Of course, Christopher Lee has a
great introduction. He looks like a perfectly respectable grandfather, yet
there’s something just a bit creepy
old man about him, and I love it! Although the casting and plot could have
easily gone the college bimbo route and it sets up some naughty, eerie hi jinks,
the brief Swank nudity and up close lingerie shots are surprising. Fortunately,
smart shadows, lighting, reflections, and some unique camera angles add to the
suspense. The frenetic flashback answers a lot of questions and ups the stalker
vibe, too. Yes, it turns this film from a seemingly haunted house bump in the
night horror tale to a nasty if somewhat typical real world thriller, and there
isn’t a lot of mood, atmosphere, or truly spooky feelings as a result. Though
pleasant, the New York
contemporary city vibes and final reliance on plot holes, tools, hardware
horror, and chases hamper the “it could happen to you” fears. It’s a bit
misguided and could have been more, but the cast is likeable and some quality
character twists win out.
Wake
Wood – Perhaps this type of
child death and parental grief horror is too familiar – it’s been done before,
certainly. Fortunately, there is enough relate-ability, disturbia, and morbid
in this frightening 2011 nuHammer ‘be careful what you wish for’ lesson. Despite
the seemingly happy family introduction, things will obviously go bad for Aidan
Gillen (Game of Thrones) and Eva
Birthistle (Ae Fond Kiss) thanks to
the creepy Timothy Spall (Auf
Wiedersehen, Pet) and his abacus of life and death calculations! The dramatic,
intercut opening scenes don’t feel like a horror film. However, the subsequent
despair, blood, gruesome effects, animal terrors, creepy townsfolk, and nasty
rituals make for some very upsetting visuals. Some of the swift editing and quick
camerawork is a bit too flashy, and those rituals do become overlong and too
complex, yes. The voices are also tough to hear compared to the violence, and
the accents will be tough for some stateside. Thankfully, the Irish locations and
country scenery are very colorful and bright, making for a pleasant contrast
and ‘what lies beneath’ the quaint eerie.
More unique filming angles and photography accentuate the desperation
and delightfully build the slow, sinister reveals. I don’t want to give everything
away, but this one stands out among the standard crop of recent horror clunkers.
There’s enough macabre for the expectant horror fan to enjoy, and a level of
dramatic maturity with serious consequences and a few twists.
The
Woman in Black – Harry Potter star Danielle Radcliffe
does well in this 2012 nuHammer creepy haunted house ghost story adapted by
Jane Goldman (Stardust, X-Men: First
Class) from Susan Hill’s source novel. There’s a very nice gothic spirit at
work thanks to the moody history, ghostly atmosphere, and mostly silent, one-man
scares. Suspicious townsfolk and freaky kid deaths add to the sudden effects
and camera tricks, and candlelight and darkness up the sinister for an overall,
quite effective spooky. Though the
period settings are perfectly decrepit in addition to the smart, darker
photography, there is just a little too much drab unnecessarily weighing down
the film’s look. Perhaps there was an intentional kinship to something black
and white or a depressing palette meant to mirror Radcliffe’s widower Arthur
Kipps and his desperate state of mind. However, this devoid, colorless, overly
digital, saturated dreary feels amiss –we have the spooky and disturbing
elsewhere in set decorations, story, and character. There’s no need to add this layer of off
putting heavy – in fact, some rich late Victorian color and flair would have
gone a long way in the household fears, local smarmy, and child scary simply
because the viewer would have found something pleasing, if creepy, for the eye. This doesn’t look fun to watch, and some
horror audiences expecting more action or panache may be disappointed by this
style. There’s also a few plot holes and missed opportunities or speculation with
Ciaran Hinds (There Will Be Blood) as
the upstanding, decidedly not superstitious Sam Daily. Were there townsfolk
involved in the ghost causing history? Did Kipps really bring the titular
vengeance as the bereaved claim or was something else at work? What the F happened
to the dog? There’s room for some debate in the tale as it isn’t all explained
in one big reveal, but a few clarifications would have been nice – especially
since this budding sequel talk sounds kind of crappy. Despite a few questions
and visual flaws, the 90-plus minutes here keep things ominous – the shocks and
suspense happen without resorting to the crassness, gore, or nudity we so often
find today. Bravo!
I
was worried the nuHammer films would, well, stink, but two have been good, one’s
decent with star power, and I’m looking forward to more!
1 comment:
Portions of this review are now featured in the Horror Addicts Guide to Life anthology!
https://www.createspace.com/5358602
Do you love the horror genre? Do you look at horror as a lifestyle? Do the “norms” not understand your love of the macabre?
Despair no longer, my friend, for within your grasp is a book written by those who look at horror as a way of life, just like you. This is your guide to living a horrifying existence. Featuring interviews with Midnight Syndicate, Valentine Wolfe, and The Gothic Tea Society...
For more information, visit Horror Addicts.net or join the gang on Facebook!
https://horroraddicts.wordpress.com/2015/04/03/horror-addicts-guide-to-life-available-now/
https://www.facebook.com/horroraddicts.net
Post a Comment