Halloween Diary: 10/19 - 10/20 [weekend]
It has sort of been a brief tradition now a couple years where after I take my kids to their fall festival school event, I return home to watch Dracula (1931). This year was special because my son was actually interested in the film once he entered the room near the half-way point. Right about when Renfield starts up about the blood of rats promised him by Dracula. My daughter, who had been pestering me to watch it, didn't even bother once I started up the film. Go figure.
I always just love when Dracula goes through the spider web and Renfield, before he is a victim of Dracula and goes from ordinary and naive to bug-eyed and overly expressive, walks right into it. Frye rarely got to just portray ordinary, so before Renfield becomes "ole flyeater", seeing him react with annoyance and puzzlement at the strange of Dracula always amuses me. I just consider Lugosi's work here so captivating, Frye often gets a bit overlooked, but not too much so. I think Dracula fans realize his importance to the overall joy of the film. When he's in his cell and Dracula is on the grounds looking up at him, talking to his mind without moving his lips, Frye's eyes are just so white while the room is so darkened, it is always just so eerie to me.
Because I have commented so much about the film in the past, I am sure I have run over the same bulletpoints quite a bit. It is hard to write about the same films that make the "October cut" year after year without covering the same scenes and moments that always hook me the most. The film is essentially the first twenty or so minutes, I have to admit. And when Van Helsing resists Dracula's powerful influence, winning the battle of wills, pulling the crucifix from his coat before the vampire can sink his teeth in.
Some of the comedy and David Manners (yes, I never could stand him) don't work all that well for me anymore, but that is just small potatoes. By and large, I don't complain too much. I will always be grateful for the Glass score with Kronos in '99 because the static effect of no musical score used to kind of impact the effectiveness of certain scenes. I can't imagine Glass/Kronos' musical accompaniment not attached to when Dracula rises from his coffin at his castle or telling Van Helsing to "come here". And the playful beats that are specific to Renfield every time he escapes his cell and chats up Seward and Van Helsing. Mina and Harker is probably my least favorite of the film because of their rather lifeless personalities. Again, the overall film isn't let down by them, but I far prefer seeing less of them and more of Lugosi, Frye, and Van Sloan.
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Calvin Lockhart is a big game hunter looking to add a werewolf to his trophy case in The Beast Must Die (1974). He's determined to find this werewolf, even holding hostage the likes of a former music performer (Michael Gambon!), former diplomat (Charles Gray, both a Bond villain and adversary to a heroic Christopher Lee), Gambon's protege and lover (Ciaran Madden), an authority in werewolves (Cushing), and a medical student notorious for eating human flesh as an "anatomical prank" (Tom Chadbon) all lured to Lockhart's estate because he investigated their histories, noticing murders that seemed to follow them wherever they would go or certain character peculiarities. Lockhart just coldly plots to hunt one of them after staging quite an athletic and grueling test of his estate, moving through the woods, where cameras are in the trees and motion detectors are planted in the ground. Lockhart flaunts that he will discover which of his "guests" is a werewolf and execute them. He's not a nice guy. He even tells his wife, played by Marlene Clark, that if she were a werewolf he'd "pow" her, too. Anton Diffring is the brains behind the systems serving Lockhart to protect the grounds from any escape, at the monitors in a room. I really enjoyed this cast, especially Chadbon as the sarcastic Paul Foote, an artist at the current who often thumbs his nose at Lockhart's intense and humorless Tom Newcliffe. Cushing as the knowledgeable archeologist with particular interests in the "loup-garou", I don't think, is ever a possibility to anyone as the mysterious lycanthrope. The Werewolf Break device giving us thirty seconds to determine who the werewolf is just feels so outdated by 1974, even if I sort of enjoy it as a homage. The mystery in who the werewolf is seems to be a decent enough hook to keep us invested, although Lockhart is such an unlikable lead, I could see how some might root for the creature to win over him. Poor Clark tries to keep her guests from rioting against him, hoping to end this whole ordeal as Lockhart insists on seeing it through. In doing so Clark ends up cut by glass and infected by the werewolf bite bloody wounds of her pet dog. And most of the cast is dead by film's end because of Lockhart's obsessive quest to kill a werewolf. Seeing Cushing and Gray at chess, all that pop culture history, was a minor thrill for me in a buff sense. There is so much talent in this, but I just wish it was for something better than this gimmick movie. Seeing Gambon in an Amicus film is kinda cool, though. He's wasted, but nonetheless it is a treat to see such a young Gambon trying to flee the premises in his car only to be chased down by Lockhart in his jeep. The decision to go with a wolf instead of a beast man just further takes some of the thrill off the film.
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I recall coming home from working at the grocery store in the mid 90s when I was a teenager, as my siblings were in the living room, committed to a type of slumber night watching slasher films rented on VHS from one of our local rental stores. The one they were watching as I arrived in the house was Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988). Due to the holiday month for which horror fans often celebrate, this attempted cash-in after the failure of Season of the Witch (1982), after a six-year absence, brought Michael back to basically pick up where he left off after stupid Smith's Grove once again royally fuck up by letting him out (Pataki, like typical suits who fail to heed Loomis' pleas to keep Michael locked up and the public safe, without any concern just signs him off to someone else). It has taken about thirty years but the white Myers mask used in this sequel now seems to work where it didn't once. I guess because Parts 4 & 5 are so disregarded now (especially the 1995 film, in either incarnation), within their own personal cannon (tied to Carpenter and Rosenthal's films in storyline, but not recognized by other films that would come later), the different mask that doesn't have the Shatner features sort of serves as a happy accident (although many Halloween fans aren't or ever will be accepting of it) in that it is identifiable to the Jamie Lloyd sequels. I did enjoy Dwight Little's use of the mirror, whether just to use a reflection of Michael or the broken fragments that distort him. And the use of lightning, too, and a homage to the Carpenter original where you see a faint white image just in the dark at a distance from a deputy in a rocking chair with shotgun in hand. The love triangle that does get some emphasis is just of no consequence to me, although the attempts at terror by Little I do appreciate...they are old school and traditional (Jamie and Rachel fleeing the house on the roof, eventually get to the ground less than comfortably; Michael in the neighborhood as Jamie and Rachel are separated during a night of trick-or-treating) stalk, predatory pursuit, give-chase type sequences that many consider easy to rely on for any director involved in the making of a slasher film. Using a child as the one chased is also an easy choice to coax anxieties. Harris gets early Awwws from her weepy-eyed cutes, longingly and forlornly looking out a rainy window when Cornell tries to get her back to bed; this sets up a new prey for Michael and she is such a worthy earner of our affection and care. Is this creatively awake? Nah, it is a sequel that sends its recognizable killer on a killing spree again. Its essentials remain in place, and for those who reject them always that isn't a good thing because formula, for many, grows stale.
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Tina and her "psycho boyfriend" is one of a few clever touches that sort of gives Halloween 5 (1989) some creative advantages over the previous film which seemed to "play it safe" with the formula. For instance, while Little's direction doesn't take much chances, director, Dominique Othenin-Girard isn't scared to aggressively try a more experimental style, with plenty of in-your-face, POV, and steadi-cam, including a very energetic nightmare sequence where Jamie can't escape Michael no matter where she retreats only to be shaken back into reality by a janitor. He does return to formula with the cat flying out on folks in a barn (and the barn returning also), as well as, someone once again dressing up at Michael to freak out law enforcement. Loomis, though, I must admit, has slipped so far into hysterics and crowds Jamie so much he becomes rather intolerable. Michael has driven him mad. The Loomis of The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) is nowhere close to as unstable as what we see in The Revenge of Michael Myers. Tina's car trip with Myers in a different mask, even kissing him unknowingly (replacing a dick Tina has for a boyfriend), is a fun bit of development, with this sequel's decision to introduce a couple of goofy cops with silly music always accompanying them and an enigmatic figure clad in black jeans, steel-toed boots, coat, and hat also separating the sequel from its going-through-the-motions predecessor. Definitely the car chase where Jamie is nearly ran through remains my favorite sequence, still to this day. The way it is shot, and how Tina heroically sacrifices herself, with the car in flames after explosion from a crash into a tree, is good stuff. While nothing really agrees with me in the 4th and 5th films quite like Little's introductory opening credits, quite non-Myers related and more Halloween seasonal related, I do think Othenin-Girard's energy comes right off the screen. I could tell he was invested while Little seems to approach the fourth film as a by-the-numbers project. Like Harris and the chute in the "Myers home" with Michael trying to once and for all silence her, there is indeed an attempt to make The Revenge of Michael Myers somewhat different than the film before it.I guess I would have preferred Beau Starr had been more involved in this sequel but he's just popping in and out support here. Amusingly, the poor Haddonfield police department has to restock its force...I couldn't help but think from the immortal Return of the Living Dead (1985), "Bring More Cops." And plenty of Michael and pronged murder weaponry, too!
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When a friend (actually a girl I should have probably dated if I had gotten my shit together) reminded me on Facebook about Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) yesterday morning, I remembered with fondness my youth, and the thrill of finally turning 17 years old, getting to see the "new Michael Myers movie" because I was "of age". I recalled the freedom of my youth, having a car to drive, spending an early Sunday afternoon with her and my siblings at the theater. I believe we all went to eat somewhere, too, but explicit memories of everything that happened that day now escape me. I do, however, remember the disappointment, frustration, and total dismay with the product put on screen by Miramax and those involved in the creation of The Curse of Michael Myers, wondering even then what the fuck they were thinking. It is such a cobbled derangement of badly edited pish posh, where something about the Curse of Thorn and how the evil of Michael keeps him going because a force wills him to destroy, annihilate, and execute those within his path. The character of Jamie Lloyd is treated with such pathetic disregard, including Michael just thrusting her on the blades of farm equipment (probably covered this before, but I love to reiterate this part of the presentation especially) and turning on the machine so she dies agonizingly, revisiting this sixth film becomes often a chore. I do own the blu of the Producer's Cut, having actually watched it two years ago. This version is the mishmash of Michael butchering the family who now live in a remodeled version of his former abode (after Jamie and a few others on his way to Haddonfield), Tommy Doyle (now in the personality-less form of almost always reliable Paul Rudd) trying to keep Jamie's baby safe from Michael, Loomis "coming out of retirement" to join a former colleague at Smith's Grove (Mitchell Ryan) in the pursuit of Michael (only to realize that Ryan is a founding member of the Cult of Thorn), and Kara (of the butchered family which included a cuckolded Kim Darby and toxic, repulsive Bradford English) trying to keep her blond, weird son from harm. Michael keeps coming after all of them, until the conclusion at Smith's Grove has Ryan and a medical staff planning to do something with Jamie's child while Kara and Tommy do their best to protect the baby and Kara's son. Loomis is ceremonial casting in this film (as opposed to the Producer's Cut which has him featured much more), scaring Darby at one point when he enters her home unannounced with warnings about Michael. Loomis' fate at the end of this version left me pissed off when I watched this in a theater. The girl that reminded me about it just yesterday actually liked it a lot, returning to it with her boyfriend (and future husband) of the time for a second go. Imagining watching this again in a theater even then was just unthinkable. That said, Brother Cane's And Fools Shine On was included in the end credits and I went immediately to YouTube to listen to it so the film wasn't a total waste.
It must be said that at least the film really brings alive the autumnal part of the Halloween season quite well, and there are a few good shots of Michael in the presence of those who are unaware. And you get a head explosion...so there's that.
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The Terror (1963) is a film I really love but when someone watches it and returns with a critique of boredom I can understand why. It has a lot of walking about a castle with Karloff, a Baron never recovered from the death of his wife (or so the film at first presents this as the case, knocking us for a loop when his manservant, played by a surly and unwelcoming, inhospitable Dick Miller, reveals to us that he is suffering quite the traumatic identity crisis), rife with melancholy and regret, morosely moving about while a pesky and continuously invasive Jack Nicholson (who is not the least bit convincing a French Napoleonic soldier) arrives to question the existence of Sandra Knight's long-dead (twenty years!) Baroness Ilsa (Nicholson knows as Helene). Karloff and Miller just want Nicholson gone while Knight's coming-and-going spirit is such an enigmatic specter, emerging and vanishing, they are often quite startled and perplexed at her purpose for remaining quite active but elusive also. Knight's mysterious behavior which is often very non-expressive and soulless, as if the image of Ilsa has been conjured but the human being (the soul) of the person doesn't exist, always fascinates me; she's quite alluring which makes sense as to why Nicholson would pursue her, for intimate and romantic purposes. You can see why Karloff's Baron Von Leppe would also remain enamored and obsessed with "being with her". And you can see--especially once he explains how Eric didn't actually die as believed when Von Leppe tells his terrible story to Nicholson's Duvalier--Miller is anxious at her consistent presence. The turmoil is just further stirred by Duvalier's arrival, but Ilsa's presence, later to be determined as summoned by Eric's mother, a witch played by Dorothy Neumann, was already disrupting the lives of Miller's Stefan and the Baron. A lot of my love for this film is what was seemingly done in Big Sur and I am just so compelled as a buff by the inner workings of how this film was inexplicably comprised using such talent as Monte Hellman (The Shooting), Nicholson, Jack Hill (Switchblade Sisters), and even Coppola (The Godfather) presenting footage for Corman to piecemeal into something of a story about the principals involved in a betrayal and violence resulting from it. Nicholson wasn't exactly Oscar-worthy here, but I could see why he went on to great things...his charisma and star power is undeniable even if this character was so ill-suited for him. Seeing Nicholson in a Corman production with aesthetics of the Poe films also continues to lure me to this film time and again. And of course Karloff's involvement, accompanied with the eerie score, bright sun (there was also obvious day for night technique used, too), idyllic location work, castle and crypt sets remaining from previous Corman works still very atmospheric and effective, and a bird that plucks out eyes and attacks on command (Neumann's pet is turned loose on those who might interfere with her plot of revenge). I have realized that this has made the October cut for probably three or so years now, a film I often watch a little later than I did this evening. I enjoy this as a Midnight movie more often than not, but I have found myself watching it also in the early morning and afternoon. I can honestly see why many would consider this a less-than-desirable watch, due to its throwaway story (recognized due to the film's history to have been thrown together quickly) and disregard for pacing. Nicholson does move around a lot, though. It is Karloff you see pacing the castle mostly.
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I admit that I was unfamiliar with Wheeler and Woolsey's comedy act but it was definitely a product of its time, with jokes certainly a relic of the 30s, as Mummy's Boys (1936) can attest. There are some cringe-worthy jokes that will make an audience of today uncomfortable like how stowaway, Willie Best (anytime I see African-American actors emerge I hope for the best but expect the worst), can barely hold a lantern due to the shakes as Woolsey reminds him that he wouldn't be seen anyway (!!!) in a darkened cave or the Cairo adventures where Wheeler and Woolsey run afoul of a tempermental shiek they constantly ink or spray in the face while flirting with his harem! The erroneous map drawn on Wheeler's back by Woolsey based on a lost map by their benefactor (who turns out to be a greedy murderer responsible for the faux Pharoah curse deaths of those on a previous Egyptian expedition) while fumbling a clue to the whereabouts of the tomb they are pursuing--20 miles as the crow flies--is perhaps the best act while the RKO tomb and Cairo setpieces aren't altogether too shabby. Moroni Olsen, as the revealed killer who lures Frank Thomas and Barbara Pepper (as father and daughter), along with Wheeler and Woolsey, on the expedition ultimately serves as a fun antagonist at the end, suffering plenty of pots crashed over his head. But Best enduring the typecasting uneducated and fraidy-cat guide served as a reminder of how Hollywood treated African-American characters during that time. Wheeler's failed-memory routine and dopey nature is hit-and-miss. Woolsey, in his spectacles, always puffing on the cigar, tries to keep Wheeler straight but doing so often leaves him exasperated. These guys do what they can with the material given them, but "2+2=", naivete, and oblivious misunderstanding without wit and punch leave them often cast adrift, trying to coax giggles from us. Wheeler is good at being a rube but the consistent use of lost memory as his running routine tires quick. Woolsey exhaustively devotes plenty of effort in getting the act over. Of course, Wheeler spends plenty of time wooing Pepper. Wheeler and Woolsey dressed as members of the shiek's harem in an attempt to escape him is amusing. Some of Woolsey's comments, like some barbs towards Egyptians, don't come off so well today. Sadly no mummies except Olsen in wraps trying to grab our heroes. The end has a lot of running around in the tomb's secret rooms and corridors.
Woolsey would be dead two years later of kidney disease, ending an act that produced several films featuring the team, their best work reputedly during the adventurous pre-code early 30s.
I always just love when Dracula goes through the spider web and Renfield, before he is a victim of Dracula and goes from ordinary and naive to bug-eyed and overly expressive, walks right into it. Frye rarely got to just portray ordinary, so before Renfield becomes "ole flyeater", seeing him react with annoyance and puzzlement at the strange of Dracula always amuses me. I just consider Lugosi's work here so captivating, Frye often gets a bit overlooked, but not too much so. I think Dracula fans realize his importance to the overall joy of the film. When he's in his cell and Dracula is on the grounds looking up at him, talking to his mind without moving his lips, Frye's eyes are just so white while the room is so darkened, it is always just so eerie to me.
Because I have commented so much about the film in the past, I am sure I have run over the same bulletpoints quite a bit. It is hard to write about the same films that make the "October cut" year after year without covering the same scenes and moments that always hook me the most. The film is essentially the first twenty or so minutes, I have to admit. And when Van Helsing resists Dracula's powerful influence, winning the battle of wills, pulling the crucifix from his coat before the vampire can sink his teeth in.
Some of the comedy and David Manners (yes, I never could stand him) don't work all that well for me anymore, but that is just small potatoes. By and large, I don't complain too much. I will always be grateful for the Glass score with Kronos in '99 because the static effect of no musical score used to kind of impact the effectiveness of certain scenes. I can't imagine Glass/Kronos' musical accompaniment not attached to when Dracula rises from his coffin at his castle or telling Van Helsing to "come here". And the playful beats that are specific to Renfield every time he escapes his cell and chats up Seward and Van Helsing. Mina and Harker is probably my least favorite of the film because of their rather lifeless personalities. Again, the overall film isn't let down by them, but I far prefer seeing less of them and more of Lugosi, Frye, and Van Sloan.
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Calvin Lockhart is a big game hunter looking to add a werewolf to his trophy case in The Beast Must Die (1974). He's determined to find this werewolf, even holding hostage the likes of a former music performer (Michael Gambon!), former diplomat (Charles Gray, both a Bond villain and adversary to a heroic Christopher Lee), Gambon's protege and lover (Ciaran Madden), an authority in werewolves (Cushing), and a medical student notorious for eating human flesh as an "anatomical prank" (Tom Chadbon) all lured to Lockhart's estate because he investigated their histories, noticing murders that seemed to follow them wherever they would go or certain character peculiarities. Lockhart just coldly plots to hunt one of them after staging quite an athletic and grueling test of his estate, moving through the woods, where cameras are in the trees and motion detectors are planted in the ground. Lockhart flaunts that he will discover which of his "guests" is a werewolf and execute them. He's not a nice guy. He even tells his wife, played by Marlene Clark, that if she were a werewolf he'd "pow" her, too. Anton Diffring is the brains behind the systems serving Lockhart to protect the grounds from any escape, at the monitors in a room. I really enjoyed this cast, especially Chadbon as the sarcastic Paul Foote, an artist at the current who often thumbs his nose at Lockhart's intense and humorless Tom Newcliffe. Cushing as the knowledgeable archeologist with particular interests in the "loup-garou", I don't think, is ever a possibility to anyone as the mysterious lycanthrope. The Werewolf Break device giving us thirty seconds to determine who the werewolf is just feels so outdated by 1974, even if I sort of enjoy it as a homage. The mystery in who the werewolf is seems to be a decent enough hook to keep us invested, although Lockhart is such an unlikable lead, I could see how some might root for the creature to win over him. Poor Clark tries to keep her guests from rioting against him, hoping to end this whole ordeal as Lockhart insists on seeing it through. In doing so Clark ends up cut by glass and infected by the werewolf bite bloody wounds of her pet dog. And most of the cast is dead by film's end because of Lockhart's obsessive quest to kill a werewolf. Seeing Cushing and Gray at chess, all that pop culture history, was a minor thrill for me in a buff sense. There is so much talent in this, but I just wish it was for something better than this gimmick movie. Seeing Gambon in an Amicus film is kinda cool, though. He's wasted, but nonetheless it is a treat to see such a young Gambon trying to flee the premises in his car only to be chased down by Lockhart in his jeep. The decision to go with a wolf instead of a beast man just further takes some of the thrill off the film.
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I recall coming home from working at the grocery store in the mid 90s when I was a teenager, as my siblings were in the living room, committed to a type of slumber night watching slasher films rented on VHS from one of our local rental stores. The one they were watching as I arrived in the house was Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988). Due to the holiday month for which horror fans often celebrate, this attempted cash-in after the failure of Season of the Witch (1982), after a six-year absence, brought Michael back to basically pick up where he left off after stupid Smith's Grove once again royally fuck up by letting him out (Pataki, like typical suits who fail to heed Loomis' pleas to keep Michael locked up and the public safe, without any concern just signs him off to someone else). It has taken about thirty years but the white Myers mask used in this sequel now seems to work where it didn't once. I guess because Parts 4 & 5 are so disregarded now (especially the 1995 film, in either incarnation), within their own personal cannon (tied to Carpenter and Rosenthal's films in storyline, but not recognized by other films that would come later), the different mask that doesn't have the Shatner features sort of serves as a happy accident (although many Halloween fans aren't or ever will be accepting of it) in that it is identifiable to the Jamie Lloyd sequels. I did enjoy Dwight Little's use of the mirror, whether just to use a reflection of Michael or the broken fragments that distort him. And the use of lightning, too, and a homage to the Carpenter original where you see a faint white image just in the dark at a distance from a deputy in a rocking chair with shotgun in hand. The love triangle that does get some emphasis is just of no consequence to me, although the attempts at terror by Little I do appreciate...they are old school and traditional (Jamie and Rachel fleeing the house on the roof, eventually get to the ground less than comfortably; Michael in the neighborhood as Jamie and Rachel are separated during a night of trick-or-treating) stalk, predatory pursuit, give-chase type sequences that many consider easy to rely on for any director involved in the making of a slasher film. Using a child as the one chased is also an easy choice to coax anxieties. Harris gets early Awwws from her weepy-eyed cutes, longingly and forlornly looking out a rainy window when Cornell tries to get her back to bed; this sets up a new prey for Michael and she is such a worthy earner of our affection and care. Is this creatively awake? Nah, it is a sequel that sends its recognizable killer on a killing spree again. Its essentials remain in place, and for those who reject them always that isn't a good thing because formula, for many, grows stale.
-------
Tina and her "psycho boyfriend" is one of a few clever touches that sort of gives Halloween 5 (1989) some creative advantages over the previous film which seemed to "play it safe" with the formula. For instance, while Little's direction doesn't take much chances, director, Dominique Othenin-Girard isn't scared to aggressively try a more experimental style, with plenty of in-your-face, POV, and steadi-cam, including a very energetic nightmare sequence where Jamie can't escape Michael no matter where she retreats only to be shaken back into reality by a janitor. He does return to formula with the cat flying out on folks in a barn (and the barn returning also), as well as, someone once again dressing up at Michael to freak out law enforcement. Loomis, though, I must admit, has slipped so far into hysterics and crowds Jamie so much he becomes rather intolerable. Michael has driven him mad. The Loomis of The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) is nowhere close to as unstable as what we see in The Revenge of Michael Myers. Tina's car trip with Myers in a different mask, even kissing him unknowingly (replacing a dick Tina has for a boyfriend), is a fun bit of development, with this sequel's decision to introduce a couple of goofy cops with silly music always accompanying them and an enigmatic figure clad in black jeans, steel-toed boots, coat, and hat also separating the sequel from its going-through-the-motions predecessor. Definitely the car chase where Jamie is nearly ran through remains my favorite sequence, still to this day. The way it is shot, and how Tina heroically sacrifices herself, with the car in flames after explosion from a crash into a tree, is good stuff. While nothing really agrees with me in the 4th and 5th films quite like Little's introductory opening credits, quite non-Myers related and more Halloween seasonal related, I do think Othenin-Girard's energy comes right off the screen. I could tell he was invested while Little seems to approach the fourth film as a by-the-numbers project. Like Harris and the chute in the "Myers home" with Michael trying to once and for all silence her, there is indeed an attempt to make The Revenge of Michael Myers somewhat different than the film before it.I guess I would have preferred Beau Starr had been more involved in this sequel but he's just popping in and out support here. Amusingly, the poor Haddonfield police department has to restock its force...I couldn't help but think from the immortal Return of the Living Dead (1985), "Bring More Cops." And plenty of Michael and pronged murder weaponry, too!
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When a friend (actually a girl I should have probably dated if I had gotten my shit together) reminded me on Facebook about Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995) yesterday morning, I remembered with fondness my youth, and the thrill of finally turning 17 years old, getting to see the "new Michael Myers movie" because I was "of age". I recalled the freedom of my youth, having a car to drive, spending an early Sunday afternoon with her and my siblings at the theater. I believe we all went to eat somewhere, too, but explicit memories of everything that happened that day now escape me. I do, however, remember the disappointment, frustration, and total dismay with the product put on screen by Miramax and those involved in the creation of The Curse of Michael Myers, wondering even then what the fuck they were thinking. It is such a cobbled derangement of badly edited pish posh, where something about the Curse of Thorn and how the evil of Michael keeps him going because a force wills him to destroy, annihilate, and execute those within his path. The character of Jamie Lloyd is treated with such pathetic disregard, including Michael just thrusting her on the blades of farm equipment (probably covered this before, but I love to reiterate this part of the presentation especially) and turning on the machine so she dies agonizingly, revisiting this sixth film becomes often a chore. I do own the blu of the Producer's Cut, having actually watched it two years ago. This version is the mishmash of Michael butchering the family who now live in a remodeled version of his former abode (after Jamie and a few others on his way to Haddonfield), Tommy Doyle (now in the personality-less form of almost always reliable Paul Rudd) trying to keep Jamie's baby safe from Michael, Loomis "coming out of retirement" to join a former colleague at Smith's Grove (Mitchell Ryan) in the pursuit of Michael (only to realize that Ryan is a founding member of the Cult of Thorn), and Kara (of the butchered family which included a cuckolded Kim Darby and toxic, repulsive Bradford English) trying to keep her blond, weird son from harm. Michael keeps coming after all of them, until the conclusion at Smith's Grove has Ryan and a medical staff planning to do something with Jamie's child while Kara and Tommy do their best to protect the baby and Kara's son. Loomis is ceremonial casting in this film (as opposed to the Producer's Cut which has him featured much more), scaring Darby at one point when he enters her home unannounced with warnings about Michael. Loomis' fate at the end of this version left me pissed off when I watched this in a theater. The girl that reminded me about it just yesterday actually liked it a lot, returning to it with her boyfriend (and future husband) of the time for a second go. Imagining watching this again in a theater even then was just unthinkable. That said, Brother Cane's And Fools Shine On was included in the end credits and I went immediately to YouTube to listen to it so the film wasn't a total waste.
It must be said that at least the film really brings alive the autumnal part of the Halloween season quite well, and there are a few good shots of Michael in the presence of those who are unaware. And you get a head explosion...so there's that.
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The Terror (1963) is a film I really love but when someone watches it and returns with a critique of boredom I can understand why. It has a lot of walking about a castle with Karloff, a Baron never recovered from the death of his wife (or so the film at first presents this as the case, knocking us for a loop when his manservant, played by a surly and unwelcoming, inhospitable Dick Miller, reveals to us that he is suffering quite the traumatic identity crisis), rife with melancholy and regret, morosely moving about while a pesky and continuously invasive Jack Nicholson (who is not the least bit convincing a French Napoleonic soldier) arrives to question the existence of Sandra Knight's long-dead (twenty years!) Baroness Ilsa (Nicholson knows as Helene). Karloff and Miller just want Nicholson gone while Knight's coming-and-going spirit is such an enigmatic specter, emerging and vanishing, they are often quite startled and perplexed at her purpose for remaining quite active but elusive also. Knight's mysterious behavior which is often very non-expressive and soulless, as if the image of Ilsa has been conjured but the human being (the soul) of the person doesn't exist, always fascinates me; she's quite alluring which makes sense as to why Nicholson would pursue her, for intimate and romantic purposes. You can see why Karloff's Baron Von Leppe would also remain enamored and obsessed with "being with her". And you can see--especially once he explains how Eric didn't actually die as believed when Von Leppe tells his terrible story to Nicholson's Duvalier--Miller is anxious at her consistent presence. The turmoil is just further stirred by Duvalier's arrival, but Ilsa's presence, later to be determined as summoned by Eric's mother, a witch played by Dorothy Neumann, was already disrupting the lives of Miller's Stefan and the Baron. A lot of my love for this film is what was seemingly done in Big Sur and I am just so compelled as a buff by the inner workings of how this film was inexplicably comprised using such talent as Monte Hellman (The Shooting), Nicholson, Jack Hill (Switchblade Sisters), and even Coppola (The Godfather) presenting footage for Corman to piecemeal into something of a story about the principals involved in a betrayal and violence resulting from it. Nicholson wasn't exactly Oscar-worthy here, but I could see why he went on to great things...his charisma and star power is undeniable even if this character was so ill-suited for him. Seeing Nicholson in a Corman production with aesthetics of the Poe films also continues to lure me to this film time and again. And of course Karloff's involvement, accompanied with the eerie score, bright sun (there was also obvious day for night technique used, too), idyllic location work, castle and crypt sets remaining from previous Corman works still very atmospheric and effective, and a bird that plucks out eyes and attacks on command (Neumann's pet is turned loose on those who might interfere with her plot of revenge). I have realized that this has made the October cut for probably three or so years now, a film I often watch a little later than I did this evening. I enjoy this as a Midnight movie more often than not, but I have found myself watching it also in the early morning and afternoon. I can honestly see why many would consider this a less-than-desirable watch, due to its throwaway story (recognized due to the film's history to have been thrown together quickly) and disregard for pacing. Nicholson does move around a lot, though. It is Karloff you see pacing the castle mostly.
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I admit that I was unfamiliar with Wheeler and Woolsey's comedy act but it was definitely a product of its time, with jokes certainly a relic of the 30s, as Mummy's Boys (1936) can attest. There are some cringe-worthy jokes that will make an audience of today uncomfortable like how stowaway, Willie Best (anytime I see African-American actors emerge I hope for the best but expect the worst), can barely hold a lantern due to the shakes as Woolsey reminds him that he wouldn't be seen anyway (!!!) in a darkened cave or the Cairo adventures where Wheeler and Woolsey run afoul of a tempermental shiek they constantly ink or spray in the face while flirting with his harem! The erroneous map drawn on Wheeler's back by Woolsey based on a lost map by their benefactor (who turns out to be a greedy murderer responsible for the faux Pharoah curse deaths of those on a previous Egyptian expedition) while fumbling a clue to the whereabouts of the tomb they are pursuing--20 miles as the crow flies--is perhaps the best act while the RKO tomb and Cairo setpieces aren't altogether too shabby. Moroni Olsen, as the revealed killer who lures Frank Thomas and Barbara Pepper (as father and daughter), along with Wheeler and Woolsey, on the expedition ultimately serves as a fun antagonist at the end, suffering plenty of pots crashed over his head. But Best enduring the typecasting uneducated and fraidy-cat guide served as a reminder of how Hollywood treated African-American characters during that time. Wheeler's failed-memory routine and dopey nature is hit-and-miss. Woolsey, in his spectacles, always puffing on the cigar, tries to keep Wheeler straight but doing so often leaves him exasperated. These guys do what they can with the material given them, but "2+2=", naivete, and oblivious misunderstanding without wit and punch leave them often cast adrift, trying to coax giggles from us. Wheeler is good at being a rube but the consistent use of lost memory as his running routine tires quick. Woolsey exhaustively devotes plenty of effort in getting the act over. Of course, Wheeler spends plenty of time wooing Pepper. Wheeler and Woolsey dressed as members of the shiek's harem in an attempt to escape him is amusing. Some of Woolsey's comments, like some barbs towards Egyptians, don't come off so well today. Sadly no mummies except Olsen in wraps trying to grab our heroes. The end has a lot of running around in the tomb's secret rooms and corridors.
Woolsey would be dead two years later of kidney disease, ending an act that produced several films featuring the team, their best work reputedly during the adventurous pre-code early 30s.
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