Classic Foreign Horrors, Oh Yes Indeed!
By
Kristin Battestella
Of
the 900 odd channels we currently have on cable, one of the ones we don’t get is the classic Spanish movies
channel, which seems to have some great scary films in its tantalizing grid
listings! This conundrum inspired me to search far and wide for intriguing
international horrors of old. So let’s get our foreign freaky and frightful on,
shall we?
The
Brainiac – Oft scary star Abel
Salazar leads this black and white Mexican horror and SF combo, but this English
title doesn’t fit as well as the original El
Baron del Terror – or so it seems. Despite being a bit too telling instead
of showing, the 1661 inquisition opening is effective enough thanks to lots of
shadows and creepy men in black hooded robes. The picture is a bit dark, too;
the sound’s uneven, and there’s bad science on top of poorer science fiction
effects. I mean, the comet plot device – used by our titular sorcerer to return
in 300 years, just in time for the swanky, swinging sixties – looks like a
streak of snot on the camera lens! There
are bad monsters, more simple smoke and mirrors, and the bare bones DVD has no
subtitles, but the bemusing dubbing adds to the camp charm. Fun music, updated
castle scenery, and low budget but suave mod décor matches the screaming ladies
and cranky detectives. Perhaps the one by one ancestral vengeance plot is
nothing new, but the sci-fi spins, historical twists, and obligatory deaths are
suspenseful and well paced. Smart editing, nice zooms, and a few shocker
moments cap off the creepy atmosphere, as well. What is that, pâté? It looks
yummy! Perhaps you have to like bad horror and camp fun to appreciate this one,
but at only 77 minutes, one can easily enjoy this SF scary amid a fun movie
marathon.
The
Curse of the Crying Woman – It’s
pretty much expected that the dubbed dialogue and English subtitles won’t match
in this otherwise eerily effective 1961 Spanish creepier again starring Abel Salazar.
It’s also a bit bemusing how the awkward, wooden voiceovers make one sound so casual when mentioning how there’s a
maniac on the loose! In addition to the uncanny music, black and white mood,
and period stylings, the story and script here are actually well done, if
standard – a couple in a scary house with a witchy aunt and all that. It’s also
nice to see a twisted woman lead and her hunchback servant instead of the more typical
masculine terrors. From the eyeless
chicks, fast cut violence, mauling dogs, zesty camerawork, and sharp zooms to
the skeletal effects, creepy webs, derelict lairs, and shocker moments, wow, there’s
some quality gothic production here. The opening freaky and weird imagery
unravels slowly and remains spooky for the entire 80 minutes thanks to a
countdown to midnight, bloody rituals, macabre flashbacks, wicked mirrors, and
a destructive, fiery finale. I’m surprised at the lack of information available
for this film, as touch of mid century hokey aside, this one has plenty of gothic
mood and solid scares.
Fury
of the Wolfman – Paul Naschy is
Waldemar Daninsky again for the fourth turn in this haphazard Spanish werewolf series,
and an opening narration and flashback scenes provide some of the wolf origins
here. More sexy innuendo, whips, chains,
and even a yeti add to the car crashes, asylum secrets, affairs, science
debates, abominations, mind control, and seemingly evil lesbian internships.
Sweet period cars, clothes, candles, and excellent storm sounds help forgive
the somewhat simplistic wolf transformation effects and standard dubbing. Some
of the were-action is filmed and paced in almost a silent film style, which
adds to the demented love and mind drama, but the uneven editing and mixed
camera styles unfortunately contribute to some of the science fiction and
horror crossover story confusion. Detective and reporter elements are also weak
and dated – though it’s nice to see an investigation instead of just killings
without consequences in a self-involved bubble. I wish this was a bit more
polished, but behind the scenes troubles, a delayed 1972 release, title
changes, and edited video prints only add to the frustrating pursuit of this
not completely available, free form franchise. It’s a pity as the layered plots
and twists here are dang entertaining.
The
Man and the Monster – This 1958
macabre musical gets right to it with a crazy good car crash and continues the
sinister build, slow reveals, and solid suspense pacing for the whole 78
minutes. Naturally, there are hints of Phantom
of the Opera as the pained, eponymous Enrique Rambal maestros the pretty,
talented Martha Roth. However, enough twists happen here – including a wicked
mother, creepies more ala Psycho, and
a unique demonic bargaining for those said musical gifts. In addition to the great
piano compositions, frightful, pulsing orchestrations, and opportunities for
silence or sparse diegetic sounds, the black and white photography effectively
hides any filmmaking flaws whilst heightening the shadowed, hidden ghastly. The
then contemporary fifties cars, fedoras, and frocks are mid century cool, yet a
moody, gothic atmosphere lingers thanks to overgrown abandoned estates. Yes,
Abel Salazar doesn’t have much to do as our good guy businessman and the
ensemble is slightly over the top. Some of the piano playing is obvious fakery,
and though high end at the time, the monster effects are hokey today. The
narration was also unnecessary in the tell-all flashback for the sequence plays
out wonderfully on its own. Fortunately, these dated quirks invoke classic
silent film styles and keep the regrets taught and wild finale avante garde. Perhaps
this one isn’t out and out scary to modern audiences, but it’s still an
effective, entertaining little morality tale.
I
must say, it does help to have some knowledge of a particular film’s original
language, as the subtitles and dubbing don’t always match. Fortunately, the
DVDs almost always have the necessary language options – although I swear it
seems Netflix only has one copy of these types of elusive, eclectic videos. I
had to wait for each of these for quite some time, and many more I’d like to
see have so little information about them or are simply no longer available and
may never see the light of digital day. It’s a pity, as I’ve enjoyed the old
foreign horror I have seen more than some of this contemporary chiller drivel!
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