More Horror Classics

-->

More Horror Classics

by Kristin Battestella

So many scary movies, so little time!  Here’s a quick list of some of the old spooky greats to see again this Halloween. Black and white is so much more atmospheric, is it not?

Vintage Goods

The Abominable Dr. Phibes – Vincent Price venges on with Joseph Cotton (Shadow of a Doubt) in this 1971 cult classic of bizarre visuals, weird music, and mod yet deco design. Perhaps not everyone will like the pseudo psychedelic and dialogue-less 10 minute opening, but the Biblically inspired revenge is oh so sweet and dare I say it dang crafty! Bumbling Brit Inspector Peter Jeffrey (Anne of A Thousand Days) is a little stereotypical and I’m not sure about Cotton’s accent, but Price himself doesn’t even speak until a half hour into the movie-sort of.  His silent and obsessive plan, wild looking eyes, and methodically orchestrated kills perfectly exemplify that faint line between mad man and genius.  Beautiful and angelic but deadly Virginia North (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service) is also delightfully disturbing as Phibes’ assistant Vulnavia.  The intelligent-if witty and campy- performances and script unfold layer by layer for a fun and memorable conclusion to a film quite unlike any other.  Take in the sequel Dr. Phibes Rises Again for more.

  
The Ape Man –Okay, so they don’t come much more hokey and silly than this 1943 Bela Lugosi (Dracula) charmer.  Yes its old fashioned, complete with bad effects, makeup, and war talk. However, the simplistically scary black and white photography and fun mad scientist set design complete the scene nicely.  Lugosi is on form as an intelligent man emoting with some animalist overtones.  What is he doing locked in a cage dozing on the hay with a male gorilla by his side anyway?! The traditional horror fun and nostalgic style goes a long way as well.  The typewriters, candlestick phones, netted hats, and even nosey newspaper dames add atmosphere to the fine story here.  This one is also pretty short and easy to find since it’s in the public domain-so no excuses! 

Bloodlust-   So we’ve more bad effects in this 1961 thriller, and the transfer to cheap DVDs isn’t that good, either. However, this tale based on ‘The Most Dangerous Game’ has plenty of built in, natural horror.  It all starts out seemingly in good fun- tropical paradise and gallivanting boat rides.  Once stars Robert Reed (The Brady Bunch), June Kenney (Earth vs the Spider), and Eugene Persson (Ma and Pa Kettle) become trapped on a desolate island with deranged millionaire huntsman Wilton Graff (Lust for Life), the tone and atmosphere here quickly becomes dangerous and deadly.  Throw in unfaithful wife Lilyan Chauvin (Catch Me if You Can) and some naughty taxidermy hijinks, and that’s plenty enough suspense for 80 minutes.  Yes, it’s all a little too quick and there’s some good old-fashioned bad acting, but with a dozen variations on ‘The Most Dangerous Game’ and none of them 100% quality or faithful, we take what we can get.  

Race with the Devil – This very dated 1975 satanic rage flick is packed full of RVs, heady music, and badass motorcycles.  It’s tough to believe middle aged men Peter Fonda (Easy Rider, Ulee’s Gold) and  Warren Oats (The Wild Bunch, Stripes) have such hot young blonde wives Loretta Swit (M*A*S*H) and Lara Parker (Dark Shadows) and yet they’d rather be on dirt bikes!   Yes, some bits here are a little too macho- the men never believe the subservient wives in horror films, do they?  Thankfully, the mystery and devil worship conspiracy of backwoods Texas is downright scary.  There’s deadly snakes in said RV, swift pacing, claustrophobic filming, and a bizarre sacrifice scene that was later used in The ‘Burbs!  Director Jack Starrett (A Small Town in Texas) ties it all together with some great chase scenes and a creepy yet subjective conclusion.  Despite being of its time, I seriously don’t think a remake in today’s style is necessary at all.  In fact, please don’t!

The Return of the Vampire – Bela Lugosi returns for this 1944 resurrection of his most famous character- sort of.  He’s not playing Dracula, but one can’t help but make the comparison.  On its own, the moody sets, black and white filming, and spooky atmosphere are quite good.  The DVD release is even quality, with neat menus and even subtitles!  Sadly, we’re dealing with a really, really crappy looking werewolf!  Thankfully, the script is good, with an intriguing science versus vampires angle.  We have everything from kids in peril and good and evil allegory to hurrahs for both World Wars and even some Blitz action.  I love how the gals take time to put on their robes-despite being called upon by the vampire! The melodramatic music is fun, even if the show is a little short. There’s no fluff here and yet Lugosi’s reveal 25 minutes in is worth the wait.  The vampire marks are a little weak, and we don’t see the biting act.  However, it’s actually nice that way, allowing for audience speculation on the kinky penetration.  The supporting cast is somewhat stock, but blessedly not over the top.  The forties style and classic art decoration put the icing on for a zealous ending. Hot Damn!

Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1936) - The sound on my double bill disc is kind of crappy, but otherwise Tod Slaughter (Maria Marten, The Greed of William Hart) and director George King (The Shop at Sly Corner) craft a fine little film in that macabre Victorian spirit.  Even if the then-contemporary thirties bookends are a bit much; the old speaketh, poor London style, and implication that seven apprentice boys have disappeared at Todd’s barbery set the disturbing scene nicely.  The seemingly charming and innocent scoring also throws the audience for a loop against Slaughter’s (love that name!) creepy and abusive performance.  His delight at death and the fear of capture are well done. Stella Rho (Vagabond Violinist) is also a perfectly annoying and Todd’s wicked match as Mrs. Lovett. Such a little old Hackney lady chopping up bodies for meat pies all on her own! The supposed flair of the 2007 musical isn’t needed when you have spooky and bizarre old stuff like this.  I don’t know about some of the stereotypical tribal scenes or the low production values of the time, but the Fleet Street disturbia wins out.

The Vault of Horror – This 1973 anthology film from director Roy Ward Baker (Don’t Bother to Knock) doesn’t have the star power of its precursor film Tales from the Crypt, but its opening premise of five men taking an elevator to a subbasement of judgment to face their darkest dreams is dang cool.  The big names here are Tom Baker (Doctor Who) and Denholm Elliot (Raiders of the Lost Ark)- and they don’t appear until the final story- but this lack of flashy names allows the anonymous characters of Curd Jurgens (The Spy Who Loved Me) and Glynis Johns (Mary Poppins) to shine. Five tales in an hour and a half is a little short, but the stories don’t drag and get to the shocking point.  The twists and ironies are intelligent and wonderful without being all about sex, nudity, violence, or gore.  There’s not a lot of out right horror, but plenty of seventies bizarrity- and that’s refreshing compared to modern remakes and stupidity.

A few of these selections are also streaming or available online for free or subscription at Fancast:

The Ape Man  

Bloodlust 

Race with the Devil  

The Vault of Horror  

A Tale of Two Sweeney Todds

A Tale of Two Sweeney Todds

By Kristin Battestella

Despite liking musicals new and old as well as films with a touch of the macabre, I wasn’t too interested in Johnny Depp and Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street amid it’s theatrical hype. However, when I discovered there was also a lesser known, purely dramatic version of our favorite homicidal barber starring Ray Winstone, well then I had to take a peak at both!

Returning to England after being wrongfully imprisoned by Judge Turpin (Alan Rickman), Benjamin Barker becomes Sweeney Todd (Depp) and resumes his barbering business with the help of Mrs. Lovett (Helena Bonham Carter), who’s meat pie shop is struggling below the cuttery. Todd plots to save his daughter Johanna (Jayne Wisener) from Turpin’s lustful household with the help of her admirer Anthony Hope (Jamie Campbell Bower)- but his vengeance begins with slitting the throats of his customers and then disposing of the bodies in Mrs. Lovett’s now tasty pies.

Well, the macabre is certainly an integral part of Sweeney Todd. While Stephen Sondheim’s (Dick Tracy, West Side Story) 1979 musical production stems from Christopher Bond’s 1973 play, the musical bend must indeed work best on the stage, for director Burton’s (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas) mishmash of song and blood does not work cinematically. Sweeney Todd has no choreography or complex dance numbers as we would expect in a musical-no matter what the subject matter. Although I have to say dancing would have been even worse, nevertheless we expect more than fast zooming CGI of London to accompany the big musical crescendos. That’s your action, CGI? Why make the effort to have realistic music and lyrics if it’s going to be a so obviously fake landscape? All the musical big booms happen when people are standing still, and the notes they’re holding aren’t so big anyway. What’s to catch and awe the audience?

I’m in the minority for disliking Sweeney Todd, I know, and it’s a shame for the drama is quite fine. The period and despair harkens to a Dickensian feel. Fate and story collide with coincidence and irony. It’s the uneven distribution of song and seriousness that hampers the true dramatic development-as proven by the nearly song free final half hour. Sweeney Todd’s conclusion is its finest hour, but you have to get through all the bad singing to get to it! The cockney accents don’t seem fit for the singing, and truthfully, the leads don’t sing that well.

The split personality of Sweeney Todd also hurts the performances. I get the feeling this film is meant to be a black comedy. However, as bizarre, weird, and macabre as the visuals and lyrics are; the musical styles and singing montages are still too happy for the twisted story. What are we supposed to feel while Todd is singing the ballad for his lost daughter Joanna whilst he’s killing innocent customers at his barbery? It’s just too weird for a truly dramatic, emotional connection. Thankfully, Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean, From Hell, The Ninth Gate) is worthy outside of the singing and bizarrity. His skill, depth, and range of emotion from the maniacal murderer to the tragic husband and father are all there. Nevertheless, the arrangement of Sweeney Todd never lets us forget that ‘OMG! It’s Jack Sparrow Singing! in a Freaky dark musical directed by Tim Burton!’

Despite my complaints, the sadistic murders and seriously kinky drama here is wonderful. If you’re looking for the seriousness of Sweeney Todd, the long spaces without music about the middle of the picture are delightful. But of course, the bipolar style rears its ugly head again, making the quiet scenes seem at odds with the musically laden opening. When Alan Rickman (Harry Potter) gets his tune, you suddenly realize how ridiculous it is for this horror movie to be a musical. Alan fricking Snape badass Rickman singing while laid back in a barber’s chair with a deadly blade to his throat. It’s not Jailhouse Rock I’ll tell you that!

The talented support also only has few and far between moments. Thankfully, Timothy Spall (Harry Potter, Auf Wiedersehen Pet) and a little too over the top Sasha Baron Cohen (Borat) make the most of their time. Of course, I haven’t forgotten Helena Bonham Carter (A Room with a View, The Wings of the Dove) as Mrs. Lovett. The oft-nominated star and quirky companion of Burton is exceptional dramatically-but she’s annoying as hell vocally and visually. Again, the feeling that she only got the part because she and her husband are kind of freaky and macabre is intensified by her weak singing and goofy look. Sadly, this trumps her performance. If her Bellatrix in Harry Potter got this kind of screen time in that franchise, however, I would be quite happy.

Fortunately, I have more praise for the BBC’s 2006 production of Sweeney Todd. This purely dramatic edition directed by Dave Moore (Merlin, The Forsyte Saga, Peak Practice) didn’t get nearly as much press as its flashy successor, and honestly I don’t know why. After serving twenty years in prison due to the crimes of his father, Sweeney Todd (Winstone) curbs his quiet, good-natured barbering and surgeoning whilst slitting the throats of the wicked jailers and street urchins who enter his barbery. After befriending and attempting to romance the widowed Mrs. Lovett (Essie Davis), Todd helps her set up a new meat pie business beneath his shop. From above, he is able to observe her suitors, dispense of them quickly, and donate fresh meat towards her juicy pies.

Ray Winstone (Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Departed, King Arthur, Beowulf) may not be as well known or beloved in America as Johnny Depp is, and it’s a damn shame. His subtle, yet sinister and kindhearted Todd is a lovely and somber performance. He dispenses justice by killing those who harm women and pain children whilst also healing kind hearted youths and performing- oxymoron as it is- kindly and comforting abortions. The examination of the sinister mixed with the faithful doctoring is slower than the spectacle of Burton’s presentation. The viewer has to pay attention to the silent ruthlessness of a man who kills because of the cynical hell on earth he witnesses, yet also seeks to make people happy where he can. Winstone is much quieter, but no less charming in his portrayal-and he does it with pure acting, not stressful singing. He’s not considered a hottie or such to the American girlie girl teens like Depp, but it’s impossible to take your eyes off Winstone in his Sweeney Todd. His barber kills Mrs. Lovett’s lovers and then presents their meat to her for cooking in her steak pies! It’s not a quirky sing a long duet here, just all disturbed Sweeney. In one twisted moment, he allows his adorable apprentice Tobias (Ben Walker, The Golden Compass) to eat one of the nefarious pies before sending him away with five guineas towards a better life. This Sweeney is much more complex than Depp’s strained appeal trying to charm the masses.

Essie Davis’ (Australia, The Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions) turn as Mrs. Lovett is equal to Winstone in her somewhat more honest portrayal than Helena Bonham Carter’s crushing and happy to kill performance. Here, Lovett is beaten by her husband and is mostly uninvolved in Todd’s debauchery, yet she’s a bit kinky and loose- trouble that comes back to haunt her and change her baking business. It’s quite a pair to observe here. Todd loves Mrs. Lovett from afar and cares for her with as equal devotion as his deadly barbery. It’s more twisted than Bonnie and Clyde but no less enjoyable to watch. David Bradley (Hot Fuzz, another one of the Potter folk) is also delightfully dirty and creepy as the lecherous and blackmailing Father who abandoned Todd to prison. David Warner (Doctor Who, Hornblower, Titanic) and Tom Hardy (RocknRolla, Layer Cake) are also period piece fine as the investigator and his idealistic lieutenant closing in on Todd.

More focus is spent on the messy, Old World mix of barber skills and medical surgery in our 2006 version. Where Depp and Burton’s interpretation can be for the macabre youthful viewer, this one is not for kiddies or the faint of heart. The medical gore is more pronounced, and a few questionable sex scenes put more fuel on Sweeney Todd’s fire. A Todd who has horrid prison stories and some subsequent impotence and jealousy is far more interesting to watch as a killer than an attempt at a heartwarming but deadly family man barber. The nudity and deaths are not darkly comical by any means. However, the candlelit and natural daylight colors in this smaller television production are in some ways more pleasing to the eye than all the black, garish CGI in the musical edition. The wardrobe is perfectly colonial, too, not steampunk. I adore this straightly dramatic, thrilling, and artful production more compared to the finely decrepit costumes and art decoration from Burton’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. The musical’s positive values are simply too tainted by the over use of CGI. Perhaps Burton’s version was so popular not for its goth look and dramatic performances, but simply because it was achieved. You can have highbrow actors in a not all warm and fuzzy musical, who knew? Well, anyone who’s been following musicals knew. Sweeney Todd seems almost like a capitalistic gimmick; a who you know outside Hollywood but Hollywood approved combination of Moulin Rouge and Saw! The fine story, emotion, and drama need not such sensationalism. The 2006 edition is proof of this.

I used to like Burton’s subtle and creepy early work, and a long time ago, I did have a Depp phase- 21 Jump Street and Cry Baby, anyone? More and more, however, I feel this working pair is far too similar to Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe-too full of themselves and the extremes of what they are doing to the point of parodying themselves and banking on a niche audience always going to see anything with their names attached. I had high hopes for the Burton and Depp collaboration for a big screen adaptation of Dark Shadows. They own the rights to the series now and are of the macabre bend to do such a gothic classic. However, on the one hand, they are too busy with every other project to take the time in getting to Dark Shadows; and secondly, if this is how they are going to do, no thanks.

Well! While we wait for all that, there’s plenty here for both Burton and Depp fans-and Winstone lovers- to enjoy. Goth fans and lovers of quirky off beat film can enjoy Depp’s musical, and appreciators of suspense and Brit thrillers can keep hold of the dramatic 2006 Sweeney Todd. Both can be found for purchase affordably or through renting means. I must say, however, that my rented blu-ray of the 2007 musical froze like hell, but I suppose all the fast paced visuals are better served on blu-ray. The 2006 DVD is billed as a Director’s Cut, but there are no subtitles or any thing else with this bare bones edition- of course, there were plenty of treats with Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. The Todd enthusiast will delight in all that, but I fear mainstream audiences are a little left in the cold and thus missing out on a finely twisted tale. Non-musical fan won’t bother with Depp’s take nor would non-fans of British period piece flicks bother with Winstone’s show. Ideally, the best take would be the happy medium-no songs and more approachability; but if I must choose, I choose Winstone!

View, compare, or choose your close shave tonight-and be thankful to the makers of Gillette and Lady Bic!