Monday 10 December 2007

October Horror - Wrapping November...In December


Yeah, so I'm obviously a procrastinator. I tend to put things off. Things like posting about stuff I saw awhile ago. I should probably do something about that. Just not right now though...

For the moment, here's a few random films I saw in November as part of the laundry list of Horror films I wanted to get to in October. The list was so large, they'll be a big part of my diet throughout the next year.


  • The Last Man On Earth (Sydney Salkow - 1964) - Though I had heard about the upcoming blockbuster "I Am Legend", I had no idea that it's essentially the same story as this (gauging from the trailer I just saw of it). My guess is that it won't have the simplicity and eerieness of this film nor show the real loneliness the main character goes through. I can only hope they don't jigger with the ending too much.





  • Hearts Of Darkness - A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (Fax Bahr, George Hickenlooper, Eleanor Coppola - 1991) - You bet this is a horror movie...Eleanor Coppola's documentary footage of behind the scenes conversations and goings on during her husband's filming of "Apocalypse Now" is an incredible document of the human capacity for delusion and the dangers of exceeding that limit.







  • Asylum (Roy Ward Baker - 197) - Yet another anthology of horror tales, but the wrapper story this time around has a greater role - a psychiatrist applying for a job as head of the asylum must interview 4 patients, hear their stories and decide which is the mad doctor that preceded him in the position. The wrapper and all 4 stories are quite silly, but they are all told with style and fun - and lots of inanimate objects coming to life (severed body parts, mannequins, little robots).







I just wanted to say that Britt Ekland was really attractive in this movie.




  • Theatre Of Death (Samuel Gallu - 1966) - Not a great movie by any stretch, but it's got Christopher Lee being Christopher Lee, very colourful sets and terrific use of the camera in framing shots. Lee plays the role of a megalomaniac theatre director who specializes in horror productions and may have something to do with the spate of murders being committed. It doesn't quite build the tension and mystery throughout, but still delivers some good scenes. And Lee has those eyes...







  • Tombs Of The Blind Dead (Amando de Ossorio - 1971) - This one really surprised me...It suffers from some poor acting, dubbing (another case of the sound likely not being recorded during filming - so even its original language of Spanish doesn't quite match up with the moving lips) and a slow moving awkward story, but damn if those blind dead priest guys aren't eerie as all get out. And where else would you get to see blind dead priest guys riding horses in slow motion (and get realy creeped out by it)?






  • Reincarnation (Takashi Shimizu - 2005) - The director of the Ju-On series of films takes a break to focus on another kind of vengeful ghost (the film was part of last year's "8 Films To Die For" series as well as volume 3 in the Japanese J-Horror Theater series). During the filming of a horror movie based on a mass murder incident that took place 30 years previous, a young woman sees flashbacks to the hotel that was the scene of the crime. As the movie production moves everyone to that actual hotel, the flashbacks get worse and she feels she may be the reincarnation of one of the victims. The story is a bit jumbled, but its fractured timeline is actually quite effective in disorienting the viewer until the end. Shimizu really knows how to build uneasy feelings with the surroundings he chooses, the sound field and those damn ghosts. I really enjoyed this one...

    Warning - Creepy doll alert!








Maybe I'll post something on Christmas movies sometime in April...

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmm....Reincarnation?? I don't know about that one. Didn't care for it too much.

Really like your site though. I'll be visiting again for sure..!!

Bob Turnbull said...

Hi CG. Thanks for the comment and I appreciate the kind words. It appears that you are off to a great start on your own blog...

Not that I'm second guessing my own opinion, but I can certainly see why Reincarnation wouldn't appeal to someone. It is indeed a bit of a mess and doesn't contain any outright major scares. But I am just a sucker for ghost stories of this variety and the slow creeping feelings of unease.

Kimberly Lindbergs said...

I'm glad you enjoyed the first Blind Dead film! I love the entire series, but it has it's high and low moments.

Last Man on Earth in another favorite film that I really love, along with Omega Man. I'm really weary of the new film with Will Smith but also strangely curious even if the reviews have been rather lackluster so far.

I've never seen Reincarnation, but the pics you posted have got me curious about it. I can't resist creepy doll movies!

Bob Turnbull said...

Hi Kimberly...

I actually just saw "I Am Legend" Friday morning at a work recognition event. The first 2/3 of the film is interesting and not what you might expect from a major Hollywood film - slower and darker than you would expect (though the filmmakers can't resist throwing in some flashbacks to show what happened). Will Smith is quite good and despite some iffy CGI there are some solid moments. The last third lost me a bit as the film feels the need to bring hope and a religious message out of the woodwork.

That's where the Tombs Of The Blind Dead film works. It isn't afraid to end the way it does...I'm gonna try to find the rest of the series.