this past weekend was good to me, I had a lot of time to soak of up some spooky films, even if some of my viewing were a bit distracted. wound up watching a lot of vampire stuff, which isn't my usual fare but was enjoyable nonetheless.
Saturday
The Torture Chamber Of Dr. Sadism - [dir. Harald Reinl, 1967]
I hadn't even heard of this one until a few days before I watched it. Just happened to see a trailer online and it demanded a watch ASAP. I'll say up front my knowledge of pre late 70s horror is pretty limited. I typically expect less or no gore, less violence, less nudity, but I also try to keep an open mind. What I'll say for this movie is what it lacked in tits and gore it made up for in atmosphere. It's positively dripping with Gothic German vibes, like a dark fairy tale. Maybe half of the movie is the main characters getting to the castle but that journey is some of the best parts. Specifically there's a sequence where there are corpses and limbs coming out of the trees like some bizarre garden of limbs. And then the castle itself, which is really just underground ruins, is filled with scorpions, vultures, snakes, skulls, candelabra and best of all, these awesome knock off Hieronymus Bosch paintings. What a setting! My only complaint is the extremely limited screen time for Christopher Lee who basically makes anything better, but I would watch this again in a heartbeat.
Sunday
The coldest day of autumn so far, so it was a wonderful excuse to work and watch movies for most of the day...
Black Sunday - [dir. Mario Bava, 1960] - I've watched this a few time since I picked it up about 8 years ago and each time it rises in my estimation. When compared to some of the other films I watched this weekend it's surprising how much more violent and brutal, for the time, Black Sunday is. The first few minutes of the movie really are the highlight, such an excellent sequence. Again, the atmosphere here is just insane and keeps the slow parts from dragging things down. Also, things never fall into camp territory which I appreciate. There are a fair amount of corpses by the end too. There's a beautiful earnestness or something like that at work, or maybe that's just my rose tinted glasses. Either way, it's a perfect movie for the Halloween season.
The House that Dripped Blood - [dir. Peter Duffell, 1971]
I'm trying to get more into British horror and so I give this one a shot and what a fucking romp! Normally I fucking hate anthology movies but this is that format done right. All of the stories are tight, they have nice little twists, and the last one had me laughing out loud at several points. I don't think any actual blood drips in the film tho. There's no gore and the violence is very minimal, but despite being a gore-hound it really didn't bother me. My only two complaints are some extra money should've been spent on the props and I especially wish the figures in the spooky wax museum looked less absurd, but its a minor thing.
Vampires - [dir. John Carpenter, 1998]
My buddy and I have been threatening each other with this movie for years now and we finally decided to pull the trigger. To my shock this was way less shitty than I thought. At any point this could've gone into the campy and silly but to the movies credit it never does, even at its most absurd. I always enjoy watching James Woods be James Woods and he does that well here. Side note, his head is fucking huge compared to his shoulders. There's a good amount of gore, the action sequences are competent and sometimes pretty good, the pace is surprisingly brisk at times for Carpenter, and there's some effective humor. The script is ok for what it is, not laughably bad but could've used some work. There's a weird use of dissolves in some scenes that's very unnecessary but sort of interesting from a WTF perspective. And the score is unsurprisingly enjoyable. If the movie had a better villain and one who didn't look like a cross between Brandon Lee as The Crow and Slade Craven from Turbulence 3, it could've really been elevated. As it stands the badguy is just dull as hell. Oh didn't I mention Sheryl Lee shows up to play a battered sex worker? This one is pretty fun. Definitely worth a watch once.
Vampyros Lesbos - [dir. Jesus Franco, 1967]
This is a movie I've been hearing about since I first started watching b-movies and the like however many years ago. I mean that title and that cover, it definitely piques my curiosity. Yet 20 years later I'm only just now watching it. I think the only other Jes Franco film I've seen is Venus in Furs, so I can't compare other than to say I think I prefer Venus in Furs over this one, although my last viewing was 10+ years ago. Anyway.... extremely hot Soledad Miranda and les hot Ewa Stromberg get naked and kiss in a variety of extremely gorgeous interior and exterior sets in Turkey. A psychiatrist slaps the shit out of his patients. A jilted female ex screams a lot. A boyfriend looks befuddled. The music is wonderful. The sound design gets real weird. A big ass pin gets shoved in an eye. The script is laconic, the pace is lethargic, but it all works most of the time because the images and sounds are so damn enjoyable. Not an everyday film, but a movie you should watch once, even if it takes you 20 years to get around to it. Final note, the Severin blu-ray I have looked fucking stunning.
