FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE (1974)

 

(Director: Kevin Connor. Screenwriters: Robin Clarke and Raymond Christodoulou, based on R. Chetwynde Hayes’s published stories.)

Review

This entertaining and moralistic compendium horror film was released in Britain in 1974 and stateside in 1976.

The wraparound story features Peter Cushing (THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, 1957) as The Proprietor of an antiques shop, Temptations Limited: Offers You Can’t Resist. Four characters─lead characters in each of the four following stories─cheat or lie to The Proprietor while negotiating purchases from him. Of course, bad things happen to them. Ben Howard played the “Burglar.”

 

In the first tale, “The Gate Crasher,” a young man (Edward Charlton, played by David Warner) buys an antique mirror for far less than its market value, takes it home, holds a séance with friends, inadvertently waking the spirit that lives in a mist-filled alternative world beyond its glass-and-fake-gold frame. When that spirit (The Face, played by Marcel Steiner) demands that Charlton murder people for their blood, the young man is compelled to do so.

 

“An Act of Kindness” begins when an unhappily married, middle-aged office worker, Christopher Lowe (Ian Bannen), befriends─with what he views as a harmless fib─a war-vet match-seller (Jim Underwood, played by Donald Pleasence) on the street. This leads to an affair with Underwood’s daughter, Emily (Angela Pleasence), black magick and deaths that Lowe fails to foresee. Diana Dors played Mabel Lowe, Christopher’s derisive wife.

 

The third tale, “The Elemental,” is titled for a malevolent spirit that haunts Reginald Warren (Ian Carmichael) after he exchanges the pipe’s price tag for a cheaper one in The Proprietor’s antique shop. The elemental terrorizes him and his wife, causing him to contact a spiritualist (Madame Orloff, played by Margaret Leighton) to rid them of the pestiferous supernatural being.

 

 In “The Door,” a young man, William Seaton (Ian Ogilvy) buys an ornate, monster-faced door. The item is delivered to Seaton’s house, used to replace a closet door, transforming the closet into an antique, shadowy and blue-lit room─an alternate realm, with a strange, menacing man inside it. Lesley Ann-Down played Rosemary Seaton, Ian’s wife.

KILL LIST (2011)

 

(Director/co-screenwriter/co-editor: Ben Wheatley. Co-screenwriter/co-editor: Amy Jump. Co-editor: Robin Hill.)

Plot: A former soldier (Jay), recovering from a disastrous mission in Kyiv, joins friend and fellow soldier-turned-hitman (Gal) for a series of jobs that slowly spiral into nightmare-territory horror for them as well as Jay’s wife, Shel, and their son, Sam.

 

Review

KILL LIST’s crisp and striking images and cinematography (credit Laurie Rose) and eerie soundtrack (Jim Williams) are impressive. Director Ben Wheatley is said to have built KILL, Stanley Kubrick-style, around images, then constructed the story. This, too, is an admirably intuitive and quietly remarkable feat, especially given the depth with which Wheatley, his co-screenwriters and their cast built up their characters and their backstory.

Unfortunately, at least for this viewer, Wheatley also had his actors improvise their dialogue, which makes KILL often come off as melodramatic and overlong, notably during its domestic unrest scenes. It’s twenty minutes before KILL’s storyline appears, with more lag-time conversation and fights punctuated by focused scenes of Jay and Gal’s gory, brutal executions of their multiple targets─what should've been a major part of the storyline. KILL’s last twenty minutes are a sprint compared to the rest of the movie, its ending a variation of THE WICKER MAN (1973)─something many genre-familiar viewers may espy early on in KILL.

To be fair, I am not part of KILL’s target audience. I prefer tightly written, acted and edited works. I can, however, see how sensitive, mood-over-plot, emotionally intense movie goers might appreciate it─its cast and crew created a visually wow, gradual-build work with a few nasty, bloody scenes. KILL works in that sense, embodying the feel of its emotionally scattered characters, action and milieu. If you like MIDSOMMAR (2019) and THE RITUAL (2017), you may appreciate KILL’s languid, dark and sometimes intensely violent attractions.

Among KILL’s standout actors: Neil Maskell (THE MUMMY, 2017), for whom the role of Jay was written; MyAnna Buring (THE DESCENT, 2005) as the fiercely devoted and maternal Shel, Jay’s wife; and Michael Smiley as Gal, Jay’s friend, and business partner. And be sure to look out for a solid Robin Hill, one of KILL’s co-editors, as Stuart.

THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (1951)

 

(Director: Christian Nyby and an uncredited co-screenwriter Howard Hawks. Co-screenwriter: Charles Lederer.)

Plot: An American Air Force crew and scientists discover an alien space craft and a frozen-solid alien in the Arctic. They bring the supposed corpse back to their nearby outpost, where the Thing─later described as a deadly “super carrot”─thaws, awakens, stalks and begins feeding on the outpost inhabitants and its dogs.

 

Review

Based on John W. Campbell Jr.’s 1948 story “Who Goes There?” (a rework of H.P. Lovecraft’s 1936 novella At the Mountains of Madness), THING is an influential, waste-no-time science fiction horror film that makes simple-but-excellent use of chiaroscuro (courtesy of cinematographer Russell Harlan), great camera shots, a fast-moving and smart-minded plot, an underlying sense of humor, and fun, solid acting. James Arness’s makeup as the titular creature is more Frankenstein’s Monster than shapeshifter (like it is in Campbell’s story) because of THING’s limited funding─in Campbell’s tale, the Thing has seaweed-like hair, three crimson eyes, a puckered mouth and blue skin.

THING‘s genre-true achievements are  highlighted by Dimitri Tiomkin’s spare, spooky (and science fiction-familiar) score, as well as mood-appropriate art direction by Albert S. D’Agostino (THE CURSE OF THE CAT PEOPLE, 1944) and John Hughes, billed as John J. Hughes. There’s also a bit of PG-rated, light-hearted kink, involving two characters and rope!

Kenneth Tobey (HELLRAISER: BLOODLINE, 1996) played Capt. Patrick Hendry─in THE NAKED MONSTER (2005, his last film) he played another character with the same name. Other notable cast members include Margaret Sheridan (I, THE JURY, 1953) as Nikki Nicholson, scientific secretary, and Hendry’s romantic interest; Robert Cornthwaite as thorny lead scientist Dr. Arthur Carrington─like Kenneth Tobey, he re-used his character’s name from THING in THE NAKED MONSTER (2005). Douglas Spencer (THIS ISLAND EARTH, 1955) played sarcastic news reporter Ned Scott.

THING is one of my favorite films in its subgenre, a love that filmmaker/composer John Carpenter shares, as evidenced by his television-background use of it in HALLOWEEN (1978) and his 1982 THING remake, titled THE THING.

NECRONOMICON (1993)

 

(a.k.a. NECRONOMICON: BOOK OF THE DEAD and H.P. LOVECRAFT’S NECRONOMICON; directors: Christophe Gans, Shûsuke Kaneko, and Brian Yuzna. Screenwriters: Brent V. Friedman, Christopher Gans and Kazunori Itô)

 

Review

Plot: This four-part anthology film, inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s “fiction” (says one librarian monk), revolves around Lovecraft visiting a library of rare books, a grieving man who inherits a house with supernatural issues, a murder-beat reporter interviewing a strange woman in freezing circumstances, and a serial killer whose crimes are the tip of a cosmic iceberg.

 

In “The Library” (NECRONOMICON ‘s frame story), set in America in the 1920s, a plotting H.P. Lovecraft enters an arcane library maintained by secretive monks─a place where he’s a regular visitor. When he goes into an off-limits area, he unwittingly(?) courts cataclysmic events.

Jeffrey Combs (HOLIDAY HELL, 2019) played a nervous, thrilled Lovecraft.  Tony Azito (THE ADDAMS FAMILY, 1991) played a “Librarian.” Juan Fernández (THE COLLECTOR, 2009) played an “Attendant.” “Library” director Brian Yuzna played Lovecraft’s “Cabbie.” Brent V. Friedman (TICKS, 1993) wrote “Library”’s screenplay.

 

“The Drowned” centers around Edward De Lapoer, a grieving widower, who inherits his family’s empty oceanside hotel, a business with a supernatural history─one that threatens his immediate, housebound circumstances.

Bruce Payne (HOWLING VI: THE FREAKS, 1991) played Edward Da Lapoer. Richard Lynch (HALLOWEEN, 2007) played Jethro Da Lapoer. Belinda Bauer (SERVANTS OF TWILIGHT, 1991) played Nancy Gallmore. Maria Ford (SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE III, 1990) played Clara Lapoer, Edward’s dead wife. Denice D. Lewis (END OF DAYS, 1999) played Emma Da Lapoer, Edward’s ancestor. An uncredited Vincent Hammond (THE RELIC, 1997) played “Darkman,” a seaborne creature who brings Edward a horrifying gift.

Christophe Gans (SILENT HILL, 2006) directed “Drowned,” and co-authored it with author Brent V. Friedman.

For those inclined toward reading, “Drowned” sports elements seen in Lovecraft’s real-life 1923 story “The Rats in the Walls.”

 

In “The Cold,” based on Lovecraft’s 1926 story “Cool Air,” a Boston-based reporter (Dale Porkel) interviews a young woman in a gelid apartment while she tells him about a former occupant (Emily Osterman) whose meeting with the strange but seemingly harmless Dr. Madden radically changes her life.

Shûsuke Kaneko (DEATH NOTE, 2006) helmed “Cold,” co-penning it with writers Kazunori Itô (GHOST IN THE SHELL, 1995) and Brent V. Friedman.

Dennis Christopher (FADE TO BLACK, 1980) played Dale Porkel. Bess Meyer (HEATHERS, 1988) played Emily Osterman. David Warner (THE OMEN, 1976) played Dr. Richard Madden. Millie Perkins (THE WITCH WHO CAME FROM THE SEA, 1976) played Lena, Dr. Madden’s intense, longtime assistant.

 

“Whispers” concerns a pregnant police officer, Sarah (Signy Coleman) and fellow officer Paul investigating a series of murders committed by the media-dubbed “Butcher,” a task made more difficult when a car crash in a bad warehouse area opens them to more brutal, occult terrors.

Obba Babatundé (THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, 1991) played Paul, Sarah’s frustrated partner in love and cop-work. Judith Drake (HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES, 2003) played Mrs. Benedict. Don Calfa (THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD, 1985) played Mr. Benedict.

“Whispers,” inspired by Lovecraft’s 1930 novella The Whisperer in the Darkness, was directed by Brian Yuzna, who co-wrote it with (again) Brent V. Friedman.

 

NECRONOMICON is a standout portmanteau film, from its excellent actors (putting in genre-true, often over-the-top performances), wow-worthy gore FX (provided by Tom Savini, Screaming Mad George and others), its all-around behind-the-scenes talent, and mostly solid pacing (the last two segments run a scoche long). As a Lovecraft-based work, it’s one of the better adaptations, NECRONOMICON is worth checking out, if you’re looking for a great-talent-creating-a-B-movie flick, and don’t expect it to reinvent the horrifying anthology subgenre.

JAKOB'S WIFE (2021)

 

(Director/co-screenwriter: Travis Stevens. Co-screenwriter: Kathy Charles and Mark Steensland.)

 

Review

A pastor’s wife (Anne Fedder), quiet and living in the shadow of her husband (Jakob) for the much of their decades-long marriage, is bitten by a new-in-town, Nosferatu-like vampire (The Master), not only racking up a local body count but creating a new, challenging dynamic in her relationship with Jakob, who’s taken her for granted. Will their marriage adapt despite this undead occurrence and, more importantly, will they and their community survive the ensuing bloodshed?

JAKOB’S, one of the best films released in 2021, is a fun, nuanced, character-based (in a good way), deftly written and paced work, one rarely seen in the genre. Anne’s evolution as well as that of her and Jakob’s relationship remain at the core of this sometimes gory, darkly humorous, and conjugal-honest movie, which is equal parts character drama and effective, twisty horror film, with Tara Busch, who also wrote JAKOB’S score, singing a fun, updated cover of Concrete Blonde’s “Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)”. (She’s credited under her band name I Speak Machine.)

It helps JAKOB that its cast is excellent. Barbara Crampton (RE-ANIMATOR, 1985), one of the film’s producers, played Anne Fedder, whose emotions range from church-mouse silence to raging bloodlust. Jakob, played by Larry Fessenden (HABIT, 1997), is also convincing in his emotional transformations. Sarah Lind (WOLFCOP, 2014) played Carol Fedder. Robert Rusler (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2: FREDDY’S REVENGE, 1985) played Tom Low, Anne’s ex. Bonnie Aarons (DRAG ME TO HELL, 2009) played The Master, whose motivations may be more than what they seem.

One of my all-time favorite vampire flicks, JAKOB, with its waste-no-words writing, striking shots and all-around behind-the-scenes expertise, was edited by Aaron Crozier (WE ARE STILL HERE, 2015) and director Travis Stevens.

RACE WITH THE DEVIL (1975)

 

(Director: Jack Starrett. Screenwriters: Lee Frost and Wes Bishop.)

Review

Texas-based couples (Frank and Alice, Roger, and Kelly) head from San Antonio, Texas, to Aspen, Colorado in Frank’s RV. Early in their journey, the men witness a satanic ritual where a young woman is killed. The smiling, intense satanists, who could be anybody, pursue the panicked couples across Texas as they flee the scene of the sacrifice. Disturbing events and bloody sabotage ramp up, resulting in an action-wild, shotgun-blast climax and unsettling finish.

The PG rated, eighty-four-minute RACE is a mixology-punctuated satanic- and witchcraft-interrupted road trip is more psycho-terror than supernatural in tone. It initially feels like a Seventies-drama telepic, becomes intense and paranoiac, before slamming into a series of shotgun-blast action, a flick that thrills with its well-foreshadowed horrors, tight editing, and pacing (credit editor John F. Link), strong acting, effective cinematography (Robert Jessup), lots of non-PC vibing (e.g., Alice and Kelly who do little more than scream a lot, especially Kelly) and a truck that explodes for no reason.

RACE’s pulpy fun doesn’t surprise me, given RACE’s on and offscreen talent. Helmed by Jack Starrett (actor, FIRST BLOOD, 1982), who cameos in RACE as a “Gas Station Attendant,” it was scripted by Lee Frost (director, THE THING WITH TWO HEADS, 1972), who played Deputy Dave, and further shaped by script supervisor Joyce King (SCREAM BLACULA SCREAM, 1973). She, also uncredited, played a “Librarian” in RACE. Paul Maslansky (THE THING WITH TWO HEADS, 1972), a RACE co-executive producer, played an uncredited “Roadworker in Cowboy Hat.”

Of course, this would all be for naught if its onscreen talent weren’t worth watching as well. Warren Oates (BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA, 1974) played Frank. Loretta Swit (S.O.B., 1981) played Alice, Frank’s wife. Peter Fonda (FUTUREWORLD, 1976) played Roger, Frank’s easy-going business partner and friend. Lara Parker (DARK SHADOWS, 1967-71) played Roger’s wife.

Supporting players also include R.G. Armstrong (THE CAR, 1977) as the amused Sheriff Taylor and Paul A. Partain (Franklin in THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE, 1974) as Cal Mathers, who may or may not be a satanic cultist. An uncredited R.C. Keene (also uncredited in MACHETE, 2010) played a masked satanist.