JANUARY 1, 2013

001 ROGUE'S REGIMENT (1948) Directed by Robert Florey ***

French born Robert Florey was set to direct FRANKENSTEIN for Universal before he was usurped by James Whale. This was probably a blessing given the evidence of THE MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE. Florey has, at least, a couple of good films to his name, both starring the great Peter Lorre, THE FACE BEHIND THE MASK and THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS. Mainly because one of its stars is Vincent Price I have wanted to see ROGUE'S REGIMENT for a long time and while it does not bear comparison with the two Lorre films it stands the test of time as a competent thriller - part post-war propaganda and part film noir. It is probably the first film to deal with the situation in Vietnam under French rule. Dick Powell is an American agent who joins the French Foreign Legion in Saigon while on the trail of a fugitive German war criminal played by the excellent and underrated Stephen (Horace) McNally. He is hindered in his investigation by illegal arms dealer, Vincent Price, who is running guns to the Viet Cong. The performances are excellent with the lovely Marta Toren as the sultry night club singer who is more than she seems.

Rogue's Regimen (1948)

FALL OF THE LOUSE OF USHER (2002)

The great thing about Ken Russell's FALL OF THE LOUSE OF USHER is that in the future when anybody prompts me to answer the killer question "What is the worst film you have ever seen" I will now be able to answer Ken Russell's FALL OF THE LOUSE OF USHER without hesitation.  It is, to put it is Biblical terms, an abomination. Not only is it an insult to Edgar Allan Poe it is far worse, it is Ken Russell pissing on his own talent. As I said in my piece when Ken passed away I was never an uncritical admirer of his cinema films, preferring his BBC work, but he had is moments. His increasingly silly films began to irritate me although I have a soft spot for LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM which works in a strange way all of its own. The film under discussion has little to do with the Poe story that inspires the pun of the title and seems to me to be the product of a sadly deranged mind - and I mean that quite seriously. Ken appears as mad Dr.Calahari (oh, yawn) and looks like he is a victim of the Red Death, although I was unsure if this was another reference to Poe or whether Ken was  suffering from some terrible skin affliction. Rating : 0

DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (2011)

I'm pretty forgiving when it comes to silly horror movies (see previous reviews). Sometimes the plot flaws and the general incompetence are part of the fun. When a lot of money is spent on a movie and things are sloppy it is a different game altogether. I was recently enjoying THE AWAKENING which is a pretty intelligent (for the most part) haunted house film.....then as the film builds to its climax it throws a surprise twist into the plot. Nothing wrong with that except that the trick that the scriptwriters have been playing on the audience turns out to be the same trick used by another very famous ghost film. After that we are hit with a plot contrivance that is so far fetched and unlikely that the film lost credibility for me. I still like THE AWAKENING fo r its atmosphere, performances, photography etc. but........you get my gripe.  DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK is a remake of a dumb but enjoyable 1970's made-for-tv movie with Kim Darby.  People acted pretty stupidly in that movie. In the remake they take stupidity to a new level and the plot, which in its basics is an improvement on the original, has plot holes you could drive a bus through. It is technically very well made, looks great, has some terrifically nasty "fairies" and perfectly adequate performances....but, oh dear, the script!  Not written by hacks either as Guillermo del Torro and Matthew Robbins are the culprits.  A shame because this could have been a classic but instead it is just another very enjoyable dumb horror film....see I am forgiving. Director Troy Nixey may do something much better.  Guillermo del Torro is a worry. I've sort of liked all his films so far without becoming a fanboy.  I enjoyed the HELLBOY movies on a comic book level but his Spanish horror films (as both producer and director) while remaining a cut above the recent Hollywood fodder have all seemed to me to have two stories. I can see the point that they are trying to make - relating horror to war etc and applaud the attempt but for me the films remain a bit schizo as I don't think the stories gel together. He does, however, remain one of the more interesting genre artists around - especially now I've almost given up given up on Tim Burton. Rating ***

DARK SHADOWS (1991)

No, still not the recent Johnny Depp film but the 1990 revival of Dan Curtis's earlier daytime supernatural soap.  I didn't expect a lot but was very pleasantly surprised. No masterpiece but a great improvement on the original in every way: better acted, better sets,  better technical credits and, thankfully, some real vampire action. Ben Cross seems a bit stiff to start with but soon makes a good Barnabas Collins.  The other standout elements for me were Jim Fyfe as Willie (a vast improvement on John Karlen) and, of course, the wonderful Barbara Steele who I'd happily share a pizza with. They stand out in a more than competent cast which also includes Jean Simmons and Roy Thinnes.  Rating ***

Babs

CHI O SUU BARA/ Evil of Dracula (1974)

EVIL OF DRACULA is the third part of Michio Yamamoto's vampire trilogy and while not being up there with the classics of the genre it is at least comparable in quality with the second rank of Hammer films. It does, indeed, ape the Hammer style with only occasionally nods towards traditional Japanese horror films. Shin Kishida repeats his vampire from the earlier films (neither of which I've yet seen) and Toshiro Kurosawa is likable as the young teacher who arrives at a secluded girl's boarding school (vampires seem to love those places) and discovers more going on than net ball matches.  To be honest I rather enjoyed it as a curiousity and look forward to seeing its predecessors. Rating ***

DARK SHADOWS (1966)

This is the original television series that inspired the latest episode of the Johnny Depp/Tim Burton mutual admiration club. I've not seen the Burton film yet but I was pleased to finally catch up with the first incarnation of the television series which, until now, has remained unseen in England. The three disc DVD is nicely packaged and contains a 17 minute "highlights" of the series before picking up the story at the first appearance of Jonathan Frid as vampire Barnabas Collins whose adventures we get to follow for ten episodes. But, be warned, there is very heir little in the way of vampirism on show here and all the episodes are black and white. My first reaction was that the whole ting was pretty slow and boring but by disk two I was getting into the spirit. One has to remember that this was a daytime soap with only 22 minutes to play with each day and if you enjoy actors fluffing their lines, missing their marks, cardboard sets, collapsing props then it is quite fun. Its a bit like CROSSROADS with vampires. I've just ordered the 1990 reworking with Ben Cross as Barnabas (well, it does have Barbara Steele in it) and I'd probably buy more episodes of the original....if they were cheap enough. Rating **

HUGO (2011)

I may see another film better than Martin Scorsese's HUGO this year but I doubt if I'll see one I like as much.Reviews of the film seem to be divided between those who find it boring and those who, like me, are enchanted by it.  Having read many reviews by the dislikers it was noticeable that many simply had no idea who Georges Melies was.  It is Melies, rather than the boy Hugo, who is at the heart of this movie. Because of this, under Scorsese's direction, the film becomes a tribute to the great French movie pioneer and innovator and both in subject and,  in the technical aspects of the film itself, a hymn to the wonder and magic of movies.  Performances, even in minor roles are superb with Ben Kingsley a more than convincing Melies and Sacha Baron Cohen turning in a wonderful comedy performace as the Station Inspector. Richard Griffiths, Frances De La Tour, Ray Winston, Jude Law and Christopher Lee add to a cast of characters who could have stepped from the pages of Dickens. Special praise must be saved for the younger members of the cast who, under Scorsese's direction, avoid the mawkish sentiment that could have sunk the film so quickly: Asa Butterfield is excellent as Hugo and Chloe Grace Moretz effortlessly claws her way up the ladder to true stardom with another performance that shows her as one of the most versatile young actresses around. Rating *****