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Post by Aryeh on Oct 14, 2018 10:45:51 GMT -5
What about this one: Count Dracula (1977) with Louis Jourdan? It is a TV movie, but nevertheless. I find this one to be a successful attempt to bring Dracula back to the horror genre, and out of camp, bizarre, poetic and romantic renditions. This version uses Video and TV technique in order to achieve that documentary look it has; sets look real enough and people in them seem like genuine people from the final years of XIX century; exteriors look natural and filled with some presence that comes right out nature and is dangerous for humans; Jourdan as Dracula is not a romantic, he is not a warlord from forgotten times, he is probably not even really human, but is, instead, some kind of earthly devil, who knows no God and no law. The way he crawls down the castle walls is frigntning because his human form there appears as a shell of some inhuman creature which doesn't care about humanity at all. When in this version Jonathan finds himself locked up in Dracula's castle, I feel claustrophobia; when Lucy comes back from the dead, she makes organic sounds, and behaves the way material beings behave, and all that make her believable as vampire who haunts the every-day reality; Renfield (Jack Shepherd, who is brilliant here) is no longer a funny-looking side-kick but instead he is a very believable mental patient, with dry lips and crazy eyes; when a child is killed by Dracula's vampires, it is an every-day banal evil.
...There are so many great Dracula versions. Nosferatu (1922) is great cinema; Bela Lugosi was great in this role and had some great scenes; John Carradine had his great moments as Dracula, and he looked like the Dracula from the novel; Christopher Lee was great, and his Dracula movies are uniquely perverse entertainment; I often think Jack Palance was the greatest Dracula ever (may Schreck, Lugosi and Lee forgive me!) -- he is a real warlord who happen to become undead -- and that movie has some nice scenes; Herzog and Kinski had some great moments in their Nosferatu remake although the result was perhaps too fatalistic, too artistic even; the Frank Langella version is entertainment for the whole family. Finally, Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula is for me one of the best films ever made. But the Coppola version is only partly a horror film -- it is much more a fantasy film. On another level, it is also a film about films -- it functions also on that meta-level. In short: if someone asks me to recommend a great film, I would be quick to recommend F.F. Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula; but if someone asks me for a great Dracula that is frightening, I'd recommend the Jourdan version.
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Post by almuric on Oct 16, 2018 9:56:12 GMT -5
White Zombie (1932) - The Halperin Brothers were briefly huge in 1930's horror, and this film was responsible. Lugosi stars as Murder Legendre, a voodoo sorcerer who turns a young bride into a zombie for the man who lusts after her. I know what you're thinking: Who the hell names their kid "Murder"? The leads may be dull, but Lugosi and the direction make it all worth while. He fits the fairy tale mood of the story. The direction by Victor Halperin is very bold and experimental for the time period and keeps the story from bogging down even when Lugosi is off-screen. The Halperins would make other horror films, but none ever came close to White Zombie in popularity.
You can catch it on TCM Oct 24.
The Walking Dead (1936) - This came out from Warner Brothers, and indeed the opening scenes are reminiscent of their contemporary crime dramas rather than Gothic horror. Karloff is John Ellman, a man convicted of accidentally killing a man who is released and then framed for the murder of a judge. The young couple whose testimony could have freed him (Warren Hull and Dracula's Daughter's Marguerite Churchill) keep quiet out of fear of the racketeers, only to try and save Ellman -- too late. However, the doctor they work for has developed an experimental procedure which successfully resuscitates Ellman, who returns to life with the supernatural ability to know who framed him and a desire to bring them to justice.
It almost sounds like a Poverty Row set-up, but the direction by Michael Curtiz (who also did The Mystery of the Wax Museum) makes excellent use of light, shadow and angle to add an artistic touch to the story. There's a bit of the Monster in Karloff's performance, when he's lurching about in search of the men who framed him and the scene of his revival is basically a modernized version of the Monster's creation. This movie was later sort-of remade as The Man They Could Not Hang, with Karloff as the scientist.
You can catch it on TCM on Oct 17.
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Post by paulmc on Oct 16, 2018 10:29:13 GMT -5
What about this one: Count Dracula (1977) with Louis Jourdan? It is a TV movie, but nevertheless. I find this one to be a successful attempt to bring Dracula back to the horror genre, and out of camp, bizarre, poetic and romantic renditions. This version uses Video and TV technique in order to achieve that documentary look it has; sets look real enough and people in them seem like genuine people from the final years of XIX century; exteriors look natural and filled with some presence that comes right out nature and is dangerous for humans; Jourdan as Dracula is not a romantic, he is not a warlord from forgotten times, he is probably not even really human, but is, instead, some kind of earthly devil, who knows no God and no law. The way he crawls down the castle walls is frigntning because his human form there appears as a shell of some inhuman creature which doesn't care about humanity at all. When in this version Jonathan finds himself locked up in Dracula's castle, I feel claustrophobia; when Lucy comes back from the dead, she makes organic sounds, and behaves the way material beings behave, and all that make her believable as vampire who haunts the every-day reality; Renfield (Jack Shepherd, who is brilliant here) is no longer a funny-looking side-kick but instead he is a very believable mental patient, with dry lips and crazy eyes; when a child is killed by Dracula's vampires, it is an every-day banal evil.
This is one of my favorites, mostly because it adheres to the novel so tightly. Although, sometimes that doesn't always work--you do need to adapt for a given medium.
Frank Finlay's portrayal of Van Helsing is still my favorite of all time.
I think you might give the cinematography a bit too much credit. It was BBC policy to use film for exterior shots and video tape on interior. I don't know why. I know it drove one of my friends nuts. But I was used to it after years of classic DOCTOR WHO.
But yes, I agree. Recommended.
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Post by johnnypt on Oct 16, 2018 11:09:40 GMT -5
What about this one: Count Dracula (1977) with Louis Jourdan? It is a TV movie, but nevertheless. I find this one to be a successful attempt to bring Dracula back to the horror genre, and out of camp, bizarre, poetic and romantic renditions. This version uses Video and TV technique in order to achieve that documentary look it has; sets look real enough and people in them seem like genuine people from the final years of XIX century; exteriors look natural and filled with some presence that comes right out nature and is dangerous for humans; Jourdan as Dracula is not a romantic, he is not a warlord from forgotten times, he is probably not even really human, but is, instead, some kind of earthly devil, who knows no God and no law. The way he crawls down the castle walls is frigntning because his human form there appears as a shell of some inhuman creature which doesn't care about humanity at all. When in this version Jonathan finds himself locked up in Dracula's castle, I feel claustrophobia; when Lucy comes back from the dead, she makes organic sounds, and behaves the way material beings behave, and all that make her believable as vampire who haunts the every-day reality; Renfield (Jack Shepherd, who is brilliant here) is no longer a funny-looking side-kick but instead he is a very believable mental patient, with dry lips and crazy eyes; when a child is killed by Dracula's vampires, it is an every-day banal evil.
...There are so many great Dracula versions. Nosferatu (1922) is great cinema; Bela Lugosi was great in this role and had some great scenes; John Carradine had his great moments as Dracula, and he looked like the Dracula from the novel; Christopher Lee was great, and his Dracula movies are uniquely perverse entertainment; I often think Jack Palance was the greatest Dracula ever (may Schreck, Lugosi and Lee forgive me!) -- he is a real warlord who happen to become undead -- and that movie has some nice scenes; Herzog and Kinski had some great moments in their Nosferatu remake although the result was perhaps too fatalistic, too artistic even; the Frank Langella version is entertainment for the whole family. Finally, Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula is for me one of the best films ever made. But the Coppola version is only partly a horror film -- it is much more a fantasy film. On another level, it is also a film about films -- it functions also on that meta-level. In short: if someone asks me to recommend a great film, I would be quick to recommend F.F. Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula; but if someone asks me for a great Dracula that is frightening, I'd recommend the Jourdan version.
I remember when the Jack Palance one was premiering on TV, he made the cover of TV Guide that week! |
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Post by Aryeh on Oct 16, 2018 11:09:57 GMT -5
I think you might give the cinematography a bit too much credit. It was BBC policy to use film for exterior shots and video tape on interior. I don't know why. I know it drove one of my friends nuts. But I was used to it after years of classic DOCTOR WHO.
I had in mind also video-effects like this one (later also used in for example David Bowie "Ashes to Ashes" music video) wich for some reason still give me the creeps:
I guess that spontaneously when I see a negative, I presuppose that a positive must unquestionably exist. Something similar to when one sees an X-ray shot and automatically presupposes there has to be a layer of muscles, skin, etc. over it. This in my mind made Dracula very real, very dangerous because of this "obviousness".
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Post by johnnypt on Oct 16, 2018 11:14:21 GMT -5
White Zombie (1932) - The Halperin Brothers were briefly huge in 1930's horror, and this film was responsible. Lugosi stars as Murder Legendre, a voodoo sorcerer who turns a young bride into a zombie for the man who lusts after her. I know what you're thinking: Who the hell names their kid "Murder"? The leads may be dull, but Lugosi and the direction make it all worth while. He fits the fairy tale mood of the story. The direction by Victor Halperin is very bold and experimental for the time period and keeps the story from bogging down even when Lugosi is off-screen. The Halperins would make other horror films, but none ever came close to White Zombie in popularity. You can catch it on TCM Oct 24. The Walking Dead (1936) - This came out from Warner Brothers, and indeed the opening scenes are reminiscent of their contemporary crime dramas rather than Gothic horror. Karloff is John Ellman, a man convicted of accidentally killing a man who is released and then framed for the murder of a judge. The young couple whose testimony could have freed him ( Warren Hull and Dracula's Daughter's Marguerite Churchill) keep quiet out of fear of the racketeers, only to try and save Ellman -- too late. However, the doctor they work for has developed an experimental procedure which successfully resuscitates Ellman, who returns to life with the supernatural ability to know who framed him and a desire to bring them to justice. It almost sounds like a Poverty Row set-up, but the direction by Michael Curtiz (who also did T he Mystery of the Wax Museum) makes excellent use of light, shadow and angle to add an artistic touch to the story. There's a bit of the Monster in Karloff's performance, when he's lurching about in search of the men who framed him and the scene of his revival is basically a modernized version of the Monster's creation. This movie was later sort-of remade as The Man They Could Not Hang, with Karloff as the scientist. You can catch it on TCM on Oct 17. I know I've told this story somewhere along the way, but it's so unusual: the first time I tried to watch White Zombie, it was on a public access channel in New Jersey one morning in the late 80s. The print was REALLY bad...so bad that around 12 minutes into the film, it cut off, came back on for a few minutes, then cut off again. A few minutes of dead air followed and then something I never heard before or since: an announcer said they were unable to continue showing the film and just went on and showed something else! I finally saw it around 6 or 7 years ago on TCM and the print is amazing looking. Definitely worth a watch. |
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Post by almuric on Oct 16, 2018 11:44:01 GMT -5
You can tell where parts of White Zombie have been cut and restored in the TCM print: the quality of the film stock changes abruptly at several points. From what I've heard, nearly 15 minutes of the movie was once missing.
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Post by Aryeh on Oct 16, 2018 18:11:48 GMT -5
I remember when the Jack Palance one was premiering on TV, he made the cover of TV Guide that week!
It is interesting that Marvel Comics' "Tomb of Dracula", by Gerry Conway and Gene Colan, intentionally based the visual appearance of Dracula on Jack Palance. That was in 1972. Dan Curtis' "Dracula" TV movie came after that, in 1973, after Marvel already introduced their Dracula which looked like Palance.
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Post by almuric on Oct 21, 2018 11:11:06 GMT -5
Brides of Dracula (1960) - No Dracula here, but this is one of Hammer's best vampire movies. The Count is dead (though this would change) but the vampire cult lives on. A young French schoolteacher Marianne (Yvonne Monlaur) spends the night in the castle of Baroness Meinster. During the night, she discovers the Baroness's son (David Peel) chained in his room. Persuaded to free him, she unknowingly releases a vampire. Van Helsing (once again played by Peter Cushing) is fortunately in the area and knows just how to deal with the undead.
This one has a fairy-tale feel, with lots of strong performances all around, Cushing especially. Highly recommended.
Kiss of the Vampire (1963) - This one begins with a startling opening taking place at a funeral and keeps building from there. A newlywed British couple Gerald and Marianne, (Edward De Souza and Jennifer Daniel) end up accepting the hospitality of a Bavarian nobleman, Ravna (Barry Warren) and his family. The vampire cult also plays a role here (it could very well be in the same fictional universe as Hammer's Dracula). A real standout is Clifford Evans as Professor Zimmer, the Van Helsing stand-in.
There's a really great scene at the masquerade when Marianne gets led away by a vampire posing as her husband wearing a devil mask, into the fire-lit dungeons where she's left face to face with Ravna. The only place where it stumbles a bit are the effects used at the climax, when Zimmer resorts to black magic (the idea was intended for Brides, before Cushing objected) and summons a swarm of vampire bats to slaughter the cult. Lets just say I've seen worse rubber bats, but I've also seen better. Still, apart from that, this is another fine Hammer horror that doesn't get the attention it should. Also recommended.
Next: I can't believe it's not Hammer!
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Post by johnnypt on Oct 22, 2018 7:08:12 GMT -5
Brides of Dracula (1960) - No Dracula here, but this is one of Hammer's best vampire movies. The Count is dead (though this would change) but the vampire cult lives on. A young French schoolteacher Marianne (Yvonne Monlaur) spends the night in the castle of Baroness Meinster. During the night, she discovers the Baroness's son (David Peel) chained in his room. Persuaded to free him, she unknowingly releases a vampire. Van Helsing (once again played by Peter Cushing) is fortunately in the area and knows just how to deal with the undead. This one has a fairy-tale feel, with lots of strong performances all around, Cushing especially. Highly recommended. Kiss of the Vampire (1963) - This one begins with a startling opening taking place at a funeral and keeps building from there. A newlywed British couple Gerald and Marianne, (Edward De Souza and Jennifer Daniel) end up accepting the hospitality of a Bavarian nobleman, Ravna (Barry Warren) and his family. The vampire cult also plays a role here (it could very well be in the same fictional universe as Hammer's Dracula). A real standout is Clifford Evans as Professor Zimmer, the Van Helsing stand-in. There's a really great scene at the masquerade when Marianne gets led away by a vampire posing as her husband wearing a devil mask, into the fire-lit dungeons where she's left face to face with Ravna. The only place where it stumbles a bit are the effects used at the climax, when Zimmer resorts to black magic (the idea was intended for Brides, before Cushing objected) and summons a swarm of vampire bats to slaughter the cult. Lets just say I've seen worse rubber bats, but I've also seen better. Still, apart from that, this is another fine Hammer horror that doesn't get the attention it should. Also recommended. Next: I can't believe it's not Hammer! Brides is a film that on paper probably shouldn't work, but somehow ends up being an effective thriller. Guess they figured "Well, Universal made a Dracula sequel without Dracula so..." The thing that shocked me the first time I saw it was what happens to Van Helsing very near the end and his somewhat unique solution to his dilemma. The vampire's demise is always one of those things you'd stop by when you're flipping channels on a Saturday afternoon and watch and go "Yeah, why didn't anybody think of that!" Count me as one of those who's no given Kiss the attention it deserves, haven't gotten around to seeing it. Still need to do Plague of the Zombies as well. |
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Post by almuric on Oct 22, 2018 17:39:30 GMT -5
Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968) - AKA, The Crimson Cult. The success of Hammer inspired other studios to try their hand at low-budget horror. One of them was Tigon British Film Productions, who made a number of such movies in the late '60s and early '70s. When they weren't making horror, Tigon was a distributor of European pornos. This one is a co-production with AIP starring Christopher Lee,and an unacknowledged adaptation of Lovecraft's "Dreams In The Witch-House". Robert Manning (Mark Eden) is investigating the disappearance of his brother. When he visits the village where he was last seen, he's quickly drawn into a mystery of witchcraft, satanic cults and murder.
Karloff appears in one of his last movies, mostly wheelchair-bound except for two brief scenes. While it hurts to see him so near the end, he's as lively as ever and at least he gets to share screentime with Lee, unlike Barbara Steele, who is largely confined to the dream sequences. It must be said that Steele's witch costume and makeup are truly first-rate. In fact, it's hard to say how "real" Lavinia is. At the end, Karloff claims it was Lee all along (and he just forgot to mention that he suspected he was nuts, thanks Boris!) but there's also the final shot of a laughing Lavinia superimposed over the flames of the burning mansion so . . . maybe not?
For a film with blood and boobs, this is strangely tame. Even the Satanists (including the guy in the too-brief G-string and antler helmet) are rather reserved. That, and too much focus on the blandly ordinary Mark Eden instead of the three horror icons, keeps this from quite being a classic. But no movie with the horror greats is ever entirely bad, and as a bridge between the two great horror cycles, this is at least okay. This is available on Blu Ray from Kino Lorber.
Horror Express (1972) - Again, you'd assume a period piece horror movie with Lee and Cushing would be Hammer, but this one was a British-Spanish co-production. It's also one of Cushing and Lee's best movies. Lee is playing a paleontologist who has found a frozen fossil of a prehistoric hominid and is bringing it home aboard the Trans-Siberian Express. But the fossil isn't, and pretty soon the blank-eyed bodies are piling up . . .
I almost don't want to say too much, because I'd spoil the many surprises of one of the best horror movies of the '70s. The menace is reminiscent of many of classic Doctor Who's best quasi-historical serials and the setting is first-rate. There's wonderful performances all around. This one got a Blu Ray release in 2011.
And speaking of Hammer, I see my PVR has eaten my recording of Quatermass And The Pit. Damn it.
Next: Mummy v Robot: Dawn of Weirdness
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Post by Aryeh on Oct 23, 2018 4:33:33 GMT -5
"The Brides of Dracula" (1960) appears in "The Matrix Reloaded" (2003): Merovingian's thugs are watching it and then Morpheus and Trinity arrive and stand in front of the screen on which you can still see this movie. I thought it was a nice homage to this underrated film. Johnypt said in his post the first things that also came to my mind about this one.
I remember "The Kiss of the Vampire" (1963) mostly because some elements of it were later repeated in Roman Polanski's "Dance of the Vampires" (1967) -- at least I don't remember any other film before these two that has so many vampires who are then throwing a party. I really like that traits of a real cult become clear in relation to vampirism in "The Kiss of the Vampire".
Regarding "Horror Express" ("Pánico en el Transiberiano", 1972), would it be too much of a spoiler to say on which short S.F.-horror story it was based? Perhaps...
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Post by zarono on Oct 23, 2018 8:26:03 GMT -5
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Post by johnnypt on Oct 23, 2018 9:03:31 GMT -5
Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968) - AKA, The Crimson Cult. The success of Hammer inspired other studios to try their hand at low-budget horror. One of them was Tigon British Film Productions, who made a number of such movies in the late '60s and early '70s. When they weren't making horror, Tigon was a distributor of European pornos. This one is a co-production with AIP starring Christopher Lee,and an unacknowledged adaptation of Lovecraft's "Dreams In The Witch-House". Robert Manning (Mark Eden) is investigating the disappearance of his brother. When he visits the village where he was last seen, he's quickly drawn into a mystery of witchcraft, satanic cults and murder. Karloff appears in one of his last movies, mostly wheelchair-bound except for two brief scenes. While it hurts to see him so near the end, he's as lively as ever and at least he gets to share screentime with Lee, unlike Barbara Steele, who is largely confined to the dream sequences. It must be said that Steele's witch costume and makeup are truly first-rate. In fact, it's hard to say how "real" Lavinia is. At the end, Karloff claims it was Lee all along (and he just forgot to mention that he suspected he was nuts, thanks Boris!) but there's also the final shot of a laughing Lavinia superimposed over the flames of the burning mansion so . . . maybe not? For a film with blood and boobs, this is strangely tame. Even the Satanists (including the guy in the too-brief G-string and antler helmet) are rather reserved. That, and too much focus on the blandly ordinary Mark Eden instead of the three horror icons, keeps this from quite being a classic. But no movie with the horror greats is ever entirely bad, and as a bridge between the two great horror cycles, this is at least okay. This is available on Blu Ray from Kino Lorber. Horror Express (1972) - Again, you'd assume a period piece horror movie with Lee and Cushing would be Hammer, but this one was a British-Spanish co-production. It's also one of Cushing and Lee's best movies. Lee is playing a paleontologist who has found a frozen fossil of a prehistoric hominid and is bringing it home aboard the Trans-Siberian Express. But the fossil isn't, and pretty soon the blank-eyed bodies are piling up . . . I almost don't want to say too much, because I'd spoil the many surprises of one of the best horror movies of the '70s. The menace is reminiscent of many of classic Doctor Who's best quasi-historical serials and the setting is first-rate. There's wonderful performances all around. This one got a Blu Ray release in 2011. And speaking of Hammer, I see my PVR has eaten my recording of Quatermass And The Pit. Damn it. Next: Mummy v Robot: Dawn of Weirdness I remember seeing the end of Crimson Cult on WOR in NY one Sunday afternoon in the 70s, really messes with your mind if you just walk in and watch the last 5 minutes! They also showed another creeped out horror movie from around the same time also with a mind messing ending called The Witchmaker (also mind messing is the hero is the guy who played Hank Kimball from Green Acres, at least it wasn't Ebb!). Thanks for the fun childhood, Channel 9! I saw Horror Express a few years back on TCM, you can't leave out how much Telly Savalas chews up the scenery and spits it whole!  Speaking of messed up endings, which Q&tP got eaten: the BBC one from the 50s or the Hammer one from 1968? |
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Post by almuric on Oct 23, 2018 9:21:33 GMT -5
The Hammer Quatermass. I saw it years ago, but was really looking forward to seeing it again. Ah well.
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