Black Sunday (1960)

Dir: Mario Bava
Cast: Barbara Steele, John Richardson, Ivo Garrani, Arturo Dominici
(Warning: I’m Phoning it in!)
You’ve probably heard me say about a million times that the 30s was the golden age of horror, but for one little country shaped like a boot it was around the early sixties. The debut film from Italian filmmaker Mario Bava, (at least the first one credited) Black Sunday is a grisly thriller brimming with mystique. A film considered so gruesome and controversial that it was actually banned in the U.K. for eight years! But it’s not all blood and guts, Black Sunday is literally overflowing with ingenuity and impressive cinematography.

So to my memory it’s about this witch (Barbara Steele) who rises from the grave and wants to possess this beautiful woman who looks like her or something. Plot-wise I can’t recall much more except for the violent ending, which I’ll never forget. Though what I do remember is the great sets and visuals taking you all the way back to 1630.

I’ll have to keep this one brief as my memory is hazy. I just needed to fill out my 60s timeline and the sixties is kind of slim picking for great horror movies. Though Black Sunday is definitely an important film and worth mentioning, even if it was just a brief acknowledgment. I’m definitely going to have to read into this supposed “Golden Age” for Italian Horror, I mean I didn’t know there was a “Golden Age” until I wrote this review, so there in lies a possible mission this moody season.

Peeping Tom (1960)

Dir: Michael Powell
Cast: Carl Boehm, Moira Shearer, Anna Massey, Maxine Audley
1960 belonged to Psycho and why not? It changed the shape of cinema and broke barriers, but it wasn’t the only controversial slasher of 1960. U.K. director Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom like Psycho was a film ahead of it’s time, but it unfortunately has never received the same kind of recognition. Both films were considered controversial for their depictions of violence but one heaped praise while the other heaped backlash. Peeping Tom was lambasted for it’s voyeuristic themes, violence, even the title “Peeping Tom” it sound dirty. Though what these early critics failed to see is that there is a strong emotional core under all the violence and this is a great film.

Mark Lewis (Carl Boehm) is a shy, soft spoken, aspiring filmmaker. Working as a part-time adult photographer/landlord Mark seems like your typical loner, but he has a dark secret. Mark likes to murder women and film them while he does so. It’s so very twisted and yet we as an audience still sympathize with Mark. He’s a misunderstood man with a view of the world warped by his abusive father. You wouldn’t think it’d be the kind of character you could get behind, but he’s amazingly complex and German actor Carl Boehm is fantastic.

Apart from a marvelously executed premise, the film is quite cleverly photographed. For one Mark’s kills always take place from the POV of his camera and there’s other details sprinkled around that will catch the corner of your eye. Of course when it comes to mild mannered maniac films from 1960 it’s still no Psycho but it’s kind of an intriguing overseas. counterpart. On a side note one of it’s biggest fans just happens to be Martin Scorsese who is basically responsible for the film getting wider distribution and a re-release in the late 70s, which would help the film find a cult following.

The Fly (1958)

Dir: Kurt Neumann
Cast: Vincent Price, David Hedison, Patricia Owens
(Spoilers)
If You like movies about men turning into insect hybrids but don’t like watching Jeff Goldblum throw up, than this is your film. Adapted from George Langelaan’s short story, The Fly is that classic tale of a man that tampers with science, then becomes fly, gets horribly killed and so on, but with some unexpected twists and turns along the way.

The film opens when our lead scientist Andre Delambre’s (David Hedison) remains are found in a hydraulic press. His wife Helene is found guilty of his murder. She is also obsessed with a particular white fly but we’ll address that later. So she tells her “story” that her husband Andre had been working on a transporter device. Desperate to finish the project Andre eventually turned to using himself as the machine’s test subject but uh oh, what happens when a fly gets in the machine? Abra Cadaver he’s become a monster and soon this monster side stars to take over his mind.

What’s great is that it’s a fairly familiar premise approached in an unconventional way. From the film’s sequencing to how it’s paced, it’s what most monster movies wish they could be “unpredictable”. You may already know the fate of the monster but there’s a lot more to it. (More Spoilers) For the Fly head monster wasn’t the only thing to come out of the transporter, there is another… And it’s revealed in one of the most disturbing endings to a horror flick I can recall.

Remember that white fly? Well it’s discovered that it is in fact a fly with Andre’s head and the moment Andre’s brother Francois (Vincent Price) discovers the abomination you’ll be shaking in your lab coat. The disturbing shriek of “Help Me! Help Me!” as Andre becomes prey in a spider’s web, that shit is some freaky stuff. If you like the Jeff Goldblum/David Cronenberg version I suggest you check out where it all started, it may not be as slimy but it’s just as unsettling.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

Dir: Don Siegel
Cast: Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wyner, King Donovan, Carolyn Jones
It’s here already! It’s next! It’s next! Yes it’s my review of the 50s, Sci-Fi/Horror classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Culturally significant not only for it’s shock value but for it’s complex themes of alienation in modern mass society. In the era of McCarthyism, Invasion stood out with’s anti-conformist message. Though that could be a load of bull-honky over analyzation. All I know for sure is that this is a great sci-fi story that still resonates with audiences today.

Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) is a doctor in the fictional town of Santa Mira, California. Unexpectedly, a large amount of patients start coming to him complaining of their loved ones now being “impostors.” This is dismissed as mass hysteria but it’s not long after that Bennell himself discovers the secret. That these emotionless “Pod People” are duplicating humans in an effort take over our planet, damn, damn, double damn! So the adrenaline kicks in soon enough and what was a subtle movie soon becomes a suspenseful “On the Run” type flick. Staying awake becomes the missions for Miles and his friends as it’s the only way to stay alive.

The Pod People are damn freaky and it almost as a bit of a Twilight Zone vibe. It was produced by Walter Wanger and directed by who else but Don Siegel who would go on to be famous for his Clint Eastwood collaborations such as; Coogan’s Bluff (1968), Dirty Harry (1971) and Escape from Alcatraz (1979). Daniel Mainwaring was the man responsible for adapting the script from Jack Finney’s story, not a bad job either. And can you believe this movie has been remade “Three times?” It’s just a really remakeable movie I suppose, just wait another ten or fifteen years, I bet it’s not over.

House of Wax (1953)

Dir: Andre de Toth
Cast: Vincent Price, Frank Lovejoy, Carolyn Jones, Roy Roberts, Charles Bronson
No not the spellbinding work featuring the immense talents of Chad Michael Murray and Paris Hilton, nor the version from 1933 starring Lionel Atwill, it’s the 50s classic starring the always devious VIncent Price. Groundbreaking for being the first 3D color film to be released by a major American Studio. Naturally this would go on to fuel the 50s 3-D craze but aside from all that this is just a great thriller with a great star.

The iconic Vincent Price stars as Professor Henry Jarrod, a skilled wax sculptor with a museum in 1910s New York. When his financial partner Matthew demands new exhibits to increase profits, Jarrod refuses so Matthew burns that mutha down! Later on Jarrod recovers and builds a new wax museum that showcases most notably the “Chamber of Horrors”. Matthew and his fiancee gets what he deserves and a bunch of other people die. It’s all good, but what’s unfortunate is the movie can’t really live up to the opening scene. I guess I could just watch wax melt all day long, it’s a real trip.

It’s a film propelled by grand, grim, imagery and strong performances. Vincent Price steals the show and a young Charles Bronson as Price’s deaf/mute assistant is entertaining. Unfortunately I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing it in 3D, which is a shame as a few scenes don’t really make sense in 2D. Like this scene where a guy is entertaining passerby’s with a paddle ball, it makes no sense, but maybe it looked cool in 3D. That aside the film’s got a nice little twist near the end that I bet you could figure out in less than ten guesses, but it’s a fun ride. If you like Vincent Price movies this should be at the top of your list.

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

Dir: Charles Barton
Cast: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Lon Chaney Jr, Bela Lugosi, Glenn Strange, Lenore Aubert, Jane Randolph
I’d originally planned to do Val Lewton’s Cat People but due to poor planning, I’ll dust off this ‘ol gem instead. Though in a way this is just important as it might be the first great horror/comedy, at least the first that comes to my mind. What happens when you cross old school comedy with old school horror? Sheer brilliance, with no shortage of scenes where are duo wander in rooms, blissfully unaware of monster’s right behind them. Like this one scene where Costello sits on the Frankenstein Monsters lap and– Maybe I should first explain how all these characters are in the same movie.

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello play Chic and Wilbur, railway baggage clerks in LaMirada, Florida. The film opens with Lon Chaney Jr. reprising his role as “The Wolfman” calling the depot and begging them to hold two packages until he gets there. Unfortunately he’s in London and it just happens to be a full moon. The conversation carries on with Wilbur thinking his talking to a dog until another man named McDougal shows up and requests the same two packages. He claims to have acquired them for his “House of Horrors” and also claim that they are indeed the bodies of Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi) and Frankenstein’s Monster (Glenn Strange.) McDougal demands the duo deliver them in person to his museum and hilarity ensues.

Later on we find out that a woman named Sandra (Lenore Aubert) is seducing Wilbur so she (partnered with Dracula) can put Wilbur’s brain in the Frankenstein Monster. Why? I have absolutely no idea, but it’s a hilarious haunted romp. Abbott and Costello have such incredible chemistry and their routine never gets old. Lou Costello is the simple minded, clumsy, moron while Bud Abbott fills the often underrated role of the pissed off straight man. As Groucho Marx once said regarding Abbott “He’s the Greatest Straight Man Ever.” I felt that was worth addressing as he’s often overshadowed by the silliness of his partner.

What’s amazing is it’s actually a fairly good horror film as well. Anytime Universal is involved you know it’ll go that extra mile and it does. I mean the story is pretty moronic but it is also a comedy so it finds a pleasing mid ground. Lon Chaney Jr. and Bela Lugosi are a real treat to see fighting together and although you miss the presence of Karloff, Glenn Strange is a suitable Frankenstein’s Monster.

Abbot and Costello made dozens of films together and from what I’ve heard this is supposedly one of their best, at least their most famous. It brought classic comedy and horror fans into the same theater and there’s nothing wrong with that. I might even check out some more Abbott and Costello flicks after Halloween. Then again they do have several other horror related flicks, hmm.