I’m logging my Monster Movie Month © viewing with ultra-mini
reviews at the end of every week this October. I write it. You read it. No one
needs to get hurt.
Straight Jacket (1964-
dir. William Castle) ***
This is a minor William Castle shocker, but Joan Crawford
makes her presence felt as a woman trying to put her life back together after a
long stint in an asylum for offing her husband with a wire hanger an
axe. The twist is so-so, but getting the chance to see Crawford ham it up in a
Castle picture is enough. The picture loses half a point because Castle never
actually appears on screen to charm us with a schlocky gimmick while sucking on
a giant cigar.
October 13
It Follows (2014-
dir. David Robert Mitchell) ****½
It Follows may
build atmosphere with a retro-eighties feel (complete with spot-on synth
score), but it is hardly a pastiche. This is a wholly original horror movie in
which sex is both the cause and the cure of an unspeakable murderous evil.
David Robert Mitchell’s script follows its own nightmare logic, and it may be
best not to bother trying to unravel it. In any event, you won’t have time to
think as you get totally engaged in this suspenseful spin on the zombie movie.
You’ll be too busy shouting, “Look behind you, dummy!” and “Don’t go in there!”
and all those other things you shout while watching a terrific horror flick.
October 14
Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde (1941- dir. Victor Fleming) **½
Ugh. They took Mamoulian’s masterpiece out of circulation for
this? It takes more than high
production values, an all-star cast, and a big-time director to make a decent
horror movie. Slick as the trail behind a snail and only half as interesting,
this remake of Rouben Mamoulian’s Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (which, in case you’ve never read this site before, is
my pick for greatest horror movie ever made) is simply bland. Spencer Tracy
would not lower himself to play a full-blooded monster, so he plays Hyde as an
incessant mumbler with rings around his eyes and slightly mussed hair.
Threatening this guy is not. As bawdy barroom fixture Ivy, Ingrid Bergman is
the only one who makes her presence felt, but she sure doesn’t make you forget
Miriam Hopkins. Blah.
October 15
Get Out (2017- dir. Jordan
Peele) ****
Even considering Hollywood’s embarrassing refusal to green
light movies by black filmmakers, it’s surprising that a horror movie that
casts white society as its main villains took so long to get made. After all, The Stepford Wives did the same for men
more than forty years ago. My main issue with Get Out is that it borrows a bit too much from The Stepford Wives right down to a garden party scene in which I
expected someone to start droning “I’ll just die if I don’t get that recipe.” For
that reason I appreciated Get Out
more for its point of view than its storytelling, though it does throw in a
pretty weird mad scientist twist. I wasn’t as knocked out by Get Out as a lot of viewers were, but I
am definitely excited to see what Peele does next. His voice and vision are
long overdue.
October 16
The Ghoul (1974-
Freddie Francis) ***
A stylish yet nasty period horror starring Peter Cushing and
Veronica Carlson, and featuring the sure-handed directorial talents of Freddie
Francis, The Ghoul is a Hammer
picture in everything but name. A flesh eater is at large, and Cushing harbors
an unfortunate secret about the monster. A xenophobic angle complete with
actress in brown face and a middle section that sags like a pair of old
y-fronts spoils the fun, but Carlson is a heroine with a refreshing amount of
fight in her (well, at least up until a point), a scraggly young John Hurt is successfully
vile as a Renfield type, and Cushing is at his most affecting, probably because
of the uncomfortably personal nature of his role.
The Shape of Water (2017-
dir. Guillermo del Toro) ****½
We live in a strange age indeed when an unofficial Creature from the Black Lagoon sequel
about inter-species sex wins the Best Picture Oscar. I guess that’s what
happens when you have a filmmaker with the skills and specific interests of
Guillermo del Toro. The Shape of Water
is such a bizarre and unexpected gift to the dwindling Monster Kid ranks that
the film’s occasional logic lapses and heavy-handed symbolism can be
unabashedly forgiven. It is beautifully filmed and beautifully acted, it is a
romance for outcasts that never feels patronizing or twee, and— Jesus
Christ—it’s a fucking Creature from the
Black Lagoon movie! Hoorah!
October 17
Vampira and Me (2012-
dir. R.H. Greene) ****
Filmmaker Ray Greene puts the 75 minutes of Maila Nurmi
footage that didn’t make it into Schlock!:
The Secret History of American Movies to use in a riveting documentary
devoted to the queen of horror hostesses. If you’re expecting some campy fun,
this ain’t the place for you. Nurmi’s story is a pretty sad one, and Greene
takes it completely seriously, which is generally appropriate but not very
inviting. Nurmi is much more charming in the footage captured just four years
before her death. Sadly, there is barely any footage of her in her infamous
Gothic guise (and the scant footage is wonderful indeed), but Greene made the
right decision in only using period footage and not resorting to recreations,
the cheapest trick in the documentary filmmaker trick bag.
This Island Earth (1955-
dir. Joseph Newman) ****
Supersonic scientist Cal Meacham keeps receiving mysterious
gifts of futuristic electronics, hardware, and manuals, and they ain’t coming
from NASA. It’s all related to a test from big-headed extraterrestrials who are
assembling a team of the world’s crackingest scientists to help thwart attacks
by hostile aliens. The fact that the aliens are aliens is kept a mystery for a
while despite the fact that they look like a race of Mr. Whippy heads. But we
can allow This Island Earth that
absurdity because it really earns its rep as a sci-fi classic with perfectly
proportioned intelligence and campy weirdness. I would have also liked more
time with the Metaluna Mutant, which may be Universal’s best second-tier
monster.
October 18
Genuine (1920- dir. Robert
Weine) ****
Genuine is a priestess who is kidnapped by a hostile tribe,
dehumanized until she’s more monster than madam, and sold into slavery. A slimy
slime ball purchases her and keeps her imprisoned in a nightmare abode that
boasts such mod cons as a skeleton with a clock for a face. Genuine likes to creep around the joint in her
spider costume and make eyes at a Crispin Glover lookalike who comes to visit.
Her idea of romance is pretty macabre too. Despite an ugly premise, ugly
details, and a plot that only kind of makes sense, Genuine is a pretty amazing viewing experience. It’s easily as bizarre
as Robert Weine’s definitive expressionistic work, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, and Fern Andra makes a major
impression as the mesmerizing title character, who gets one of
the all time great introductions when she literally steps out of a painting.
