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"If this should leave me, you'll have reason to fear, for when the full moon strikes the door of my tomb, I will come back."
Professor Morlant (Boris Karloff) has obtained an ancient jewel, 'the eternal light', believing it has mystic powers to aid re-incarnation, and soon he will find out whether his faith is justified, as he is dying. To this end he commands that the jewel be bandaged to his hand and his body be entombed in an Egyptian style cave on his estate. But once dead his tomb is defiled, the jewel stolen and Mordent rises to seek revenge!
An atmospheric thriller, the film has fun leading us down various paths as we look to find out who is it that stole the jewel and caused the ghoul to rise? Though slow, there is much to admire in this. From the wonderfully gothic cinematography, through to the intricate soundtrack, especially for 1933. Topped off with some terrific acting from such as Karloff and Ralph Richardson.
"Darling, the only ghoul in the house is you!"
Millionaire Fredrick Loren (Vincent Price) and his estranged wife Annabelle (Carol Ohmart), invite five people to stay overnight at a haunted house, for a party with a difference. Each guest has been offered $10,000 if they spend a night in house. Each is desperate for the money and determined to see the night through, but will they be able to last out?
Castle throws everything but the kitchen sink at this in his attempt to give the viewer some thrills. A great little horror that hurtles along, giving the viewer little time to take stock. A classic and prime example of how to use atmosphere to ramp up the chills.
aka Five Days.
"I don't know where you'll do it, or how you'll do it, but you'll do it."
James Nevill (Dane Clark) is a thrusting young head of a successful British company. Then a failed business deal forces him and the company to the brink of bankruptcy. He hits on a scheme to blackmail a susceptible friend (Paul Carpenter) into murdering him so his wife (Cecile Chevreau) can collect his life insurance. But then a deal comes off and Nevill has to try and contact and convince his friend not to go through with the contract.
This plot demands a rather large suspension of disbelief, but given that, if you do, then this becomes a nice little noir with a nice twist in the tale.
aka The Glass Cage.
"It takes very little to make people happy these days - only money."
'Pel' (John Ireland) is a carnival barker who comes up with a new scheme to make some money. Backed by bookie Tony Lewis (Sid James), he persuades professional faster Sapolio (Eric Pohlmann), to try and to break his world record of 65 days without food. Pel then builds a glass cage where the paying public can view the event. All looks good, but when Sapolio throws a party a woman in an apartment upstairs is murdered. Tony is suspected when it is revealed that he was the girl's ex-boyfriend and she was trying to blackmail him. Then it's revealed that Sapolio may have glimpsed the murderer. This obviously marks him out as a target for the real killer.
Another of Hammers quota quickie, this one being for the most part a run of the mill noir, due in part to the fact that we know the killer from the off, which takes much of the suspense out of the equasion.
Aka Child of Satan.
"It is not heresy, and I will not recant!"
John Verney (Richard Widmark) is an American novelist who specialises in the occult. On a book tour in London he inadvertantly gets drawn into a battle to save the life (and soul) of Catherine Beddows (Natassja Kinski). Catherine has been brought up as a nun within a supposed Catholic sect. But the cult is actually run by Father Rayner (Christopher Lee), an excommunicated priest, who is using Catherine to create an earthly apperition of the demon Astaroth.
Hammer's second attempt to bring a Dennis Wheatley novels to the screen. Whilst Wheatley is on record expressing dislike for the film, as do many Hammer film fans, I enjoyed it. Yes the script has holes and isn't the greatest, but it trots along at an agreeable pace, with some great set piece scenes. All held together with some fine acting from the principles. Not as bad as many would have you believe.
aka Blood Evil. Blood Will Have Blood. Nightmare of Terror.
"...destroy the evil in my blood..."
Girls are disappearing in a remote area of Bavaria and the locals believe that a demon is responsible. But is it all in the mind of Baron Zorn (Robert Hardy), a tortured man, who keeps his two children (Shane Briant and Gillian Hills), locked up, isolated and separated from each other and the world. Their every attempt to escape thwarted by their aunt Hilda (Yvonne Mitchell). And with the Baron ignoring the family doctor (Patrick Magee) and his attempts to help.
A thoughtful horror, full of suspense, as it delves beneath the seemingly placid and well mannered exterior to reveal interbreeding and insanity, based on irrational fear. Hammer often attempted psychological thrillers, but they were often ignored for the more familiar Gothic horrors that made their name. Which is a shame as many of these are the equal if not superior to the much more obvious Frankenstein and Dracula sequels. This one is for those who like full on gore, and over acting in period costume!
aka Edgar Rice Burroughs' The Land That Time Forgot.
"If God wills it we will live our lives out here."
Its World War I, and a German U-boat sinks a British ship and takes onboard the survivors, including Bowen Tyler (Doug McClure). The prisoners immediately set about disrupting the U-boats antics, causing it to end up in Antarctica and discovering the lost land of Caprona. Once there they soon realise that they aren't in Kansas anymore when attacked by dinosaurs and neanderthals.
An entertaining and underrated film. Look beyond the low rent script and the less than perfect special effects and you have a great Saturday morning adventure.
"I always wanted to play the hero."
Following on from The Land That Time Forgot. Major Ben McBride (Patric Wayne) leads an expedition to Antarctica to locate his friend Tyler (Doug McClure), who went missing there several years earlier. When their plane is attacked by a pterodactyl McBride's group realise they have stumbled into a primitive world of dinosaurs and cavemen. Can Tyler really still be alive and can McBride find him? Their chances of doing so soon look up when they rescue Ajor (Dana Gillespie), a cave girl who happens to speak English!
A true boys own adventure with a slim plot, that just about holds your attention, mainly due to the presence of Dana Gillespie and Sarah Douglas. Cheap but cheerful!
"I know who I am!"
Its post war America and Harry Angel (Mickey Rourke), is a private investigator hired by the mysterious Louis Cyphre (Robert De Niro) on a missing persons case. Cyphre wants Angel to track down a singer called Johnny Favorite who disappeared a number of years earlier. Angel's search takes him down some dark paths and into the world of witchcraft and voodoo, guided in part by Epiphany (Lisa Bonet). Something tells me that Angel won't like where he's going.
A would be film noir, that you've probably already figured out, but sometimes its all in the journey, rather than the arrival that counts, and this film is a case in point. An enjoyable entertainment, steeped in atmosphere.
"This city is afraid of me. I have seen its true face."
Its 1985, in a US that won the Vietnam war due to their not so secret weapon, Dr Manhatten (Billy Crudup), a scientist who due to a nuclear accident has developed into a superhuman collossus capable of bending the laws of physics. Dr Manhatten was a member of an disbanded organisation of costumed superheroes, called the Watchmen and we follow the various members as they come back together to investigate the violent murder of The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Could the murder be in any way connected to the mounting tension between the US and Russia, that threatens to explode into nuclear annialation.
An incredibly dark and twisted graphic novel is straightened out and thinned down to make an interesting film, full of great action sequences. Some will quibble with the adaption, but its actually a good version of what many considered an unfilmable story. Its not Alan Moores Watchmen, but its still a complex and beautifully atmospheric and realised world.
"If this should leave me, you'll have reason to fear, for when the full moon strikes the door of my tomb, I will come back."
