Michael May's Blog, page 91

Witchfinder General (1968)

Who's In It: Vincent Price (Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, the Gene Kelly Three Musketeers), Ian Ogilvy (Return of the Saint TV show), Robert Russell (Doctor Who: "Terror of the Zygons), and Hilary Dwyer (The Oblong Box, Cry of the Banshee)

What It's About: A young soldier (Ogilvy) seeks revenge against the witchfinders (Price and Russell) who murdered his friend (Rupert Davies) and raped his fiancée (Dwyer).

How It Is: It's Price in a completely despicable role, so automatically there's a hurdle. But on top of that, the amount of abuse piled on top of Sara (Dwyer) is so much that I found myself wondering what the point is. If I give it the benefit of the doubt and decide that the movie isn't just using torture for entertainment, I decide that Witchfinder General is the equivalent of War is Hell pictures where the whole point is to reveal the horror of its historical situation in a manner direct and unflinching enough that it shocks viewers out of complacency. That's a noble goal, but it doesn't make me like those movies.

Everyone is very good in their roles and Ogilvy is particularly good as the handsome and noble Richard. I love his response when he finds out what's happened to Sara. His reaction is complicated, but it's a complicated situation and I would have equally believed any of several possible attitudes he might have taken. That he picks the most compassionate and admirable one makes me like him even more.

Not to sideline Sara and how she processes these events. I'm just saving the best for last, because Dwyer is the MVP of the film. She doesn't have much - if any - agency in the story, but that's exactly the film's point about the experience of 17th century women in Britain. Richard may get to take action, but the movie is not a revenge fantasy. It's a horror movie, because it keeps coming back to Sara's point of view. Dwyer is relatable and lovable and what happens to her all through the movie is heartbreaking and terrifying. That makes Witchfinder General a really tough movie to watch, but it's completely effective in what it's trying to do.

Sidenote: It's amusing to me that Witchfinder General was renamed The Conqueror Worm when it was released in the US, purely to cash in on the success of the Price/Poe/Corman films from earlier in the decade. Roger Corman wasn't involved in Witchfinder General and Poe's poem "The Conqueror Worm" has no bearing on the movie (although it is related to The Tomb of Ligeia, since Poe had republished it in the source story for that movie as the creation of the Ligeia character).

Rating: 3 out of 5 Hilary Dwyers.

The Green Slime (1968)

Who's In It: Robert Horton (Wagon Train), Luciana Paluzzi (Thunderball), and Richard Jaeckel (the original 3:10 to Yuma)

What It's About: It's Armageddon meets Alien as a crew of astronauts blow up an asteroid headed toward Earth, but bring a horrible monster back with them to their space station base.

How It Is: Delightful! The screenplay is by Batman's co-creator Bill Finger and it's full of imagination and wild ideas. The effects are charmingly goofy, the models of the ships are wonderfully retro-futuristic, and the theme song by Richard Delvy would belong in a Bond film if it wasn't about, you know, Green Slime.

I still don't love the movie though, because the contentious, central relationship between the rival space station commanders (Horton and Jaeckel) doesn't really go anywhere. Horton's Jack Rankin is a no-nonsense tough guy who's willing to sacrifice people to succeed at a larger mission. Jaeckel's Vince Elliott is compassionate to the point of being seen as weak by his superiors and Rankin. They're basically Spock and McCoy with no Kirk to mediate between them. Paluzzi's Dr Lisa Benson tries to bring peace, but she doesn't have the authority to really keep them in line, so they just end up fighting over her.

It's a good set up; it just never resolves super well. Benson claims to love Elliott, but of course she's actually into Rankin because it's the '60s and he's the alpha male. And I kept expecting some kind of situation to occur where one or the other (or both) of the men's ideologies were tested, but that never happened. They come to a resolution about their relationship, but not because they actually have to work through anything.

Still, the rest of the movie is so fun that it's become a new, cheesy favorite.

Rating: 4 out of 5 electric swamp cyclopes.

The X from Outer Space (1967)

Who's In It: Eiji Okada (The Ugly American), Shun'ya Wazaki (Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades), Itoko Harada (Let's Go! Kôkô Lemon Musume), and Peggy Neal (The Terror Beneath the Sea)

What It's About: An Earth spaceship to Mars encounters a UFO that lays an egg-spore-thingy on the earth ship's hull. Back on Earth, the egg-spore-thingy grows into a giant space chicken that terrorizes Tokyo.

How It Is: Dumb Godzilla ripoff with an equally dumb love triangle that resolves as poorly as the monster threat itself.

On the other hand, it's got a fantastic score of groovy '60s music and I kind of love the spaceship and moonbase models and sets.

Rating: 2 out of 5 giant space chickens.

Night Fright (1967)

Who's In It: John Agar (Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Revenge of the Creature, Tarantula)

What It's About: A monster stalks the woods near a small town college campus.

How It Is: Below average example of the teen-focused monster movies of the time period. My print is crappy, so I couldn't even really see the creature. I'll have to take the DVD cover's word for it that it looked that cool.

Not that the movie cares that much about the monster. It's got the dumbest of origins and the movie is much more interested in teenagers, extended sequences (SO extended) of their dancing, and the drama of who's going to go hang out at the lake. When anyone does think about the monster, it's one bad decision after another.

Rating: 2 out of 5 bored teenagers. I know how they feel.

The Reptile (1966)

Who's In It: Noel Willman (The Kiss of the Vampire), Ray Barrett (Thunderbirds), Jennifer Daniel (The Kiss of the Vampire), and Jacqueline Pearce (Blake's 7)

What It's About: A married couple (Barrett and Daniel) move into a quiet village after the husband's brother dies mysteriously and horribly, discolored and foaming at the mouth. They discover that he's not the only local to die that way and resolve to get to the bottom of it.

How It Is: I'm glad I didn't see the movie's poster before watching, because dang that spoils the big surprise. I quite enjoyed the mystery of Harry and Valerie's looking into the deaths and especially the cool tavern owner (Michael Ripper) who helps them because it's the right thing to do even though most of the village is looking the other way. And there are some creepy suspects like the sinister Dr Franklyn (Willman) who's way overprotective of his daughter (Pearce) and the Malay servant (Marne Maitland) who's always silently lurking around. Again, just reading the poster will let you know exactly what's going on, but not knowing makes it a fun story.

Unfortunately, once the mystery is solved the movie gets crazy and loses me, but up to then it's a great, atmospheric chiller.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stippled stiffs.

The Tomb of Ligeia (1964)

Who's In It: Vincent Price (The Invisible Man Returns, Laura) and Elizabeth Shepherd (Damien: Omen II, the 90s Silver Surfer cartoon).

What It's About: A new bride (Shepherd) begins to fear that she may be possessed by the spirit of her husband's (Price) first wife (also played by Shepherd): a woman who claimed that her will was too strong to let her die.

How It Is: It was cool to watch this so soon after rewatching Rebecca since both are about women trying to overcome the ghosts of their husbands' former wives. Only in The Tomb of Ligeia, the ghost is potentially literal.

I'd heard that Ligeia is the masterpiece of the Corman/Price/Poe series and I can see why. It's a strong story, well shot and acted in a fantastic location, with some great, creepy moments throughout. One of my favorites is a scene when the red-haired Rowena is brushing her hair and finds Ligeia's black hairs in the brush. And then there's the creepy, black cat that stalks the mansion and really doesn't like Rowena very much.

It's also cool that Price's character has enough complexity to keep me interested. Like I said before, I really don't like it when his characters are purely evil and this one oscillates between concern for Rowena and captivated by Ligeia. He's unpredictable and I dig rooting for him to overcome Ligeia's influence.

Rating: 3 out of 5 photophobic fellows.

The Masque of the Red Death (1964)

Who's In It: Vincent Price (Tower of London, The Hollywood Squares), Hazel Court (The Curse of Frankenstein, The Raven), and Jane Asher (The Prince and the Pauper, Alfie)

What It's About: A sadistic prince (Price) offers his castle as sanctuary from a brutal plague to other nobles willing to obey his every whim. But when he also includes and begins to seduce a young village girl (Asher), his current romance (Court) starts a scheme of her own.

How It Is: I've said before that I prefer film noir Vincent Price to horror Vincent Price. I should rephrase that, but it's movies like Masque of the Red Death that make me think it. I quite enjoyed him in The Raven and The Haunted Palace, because those roles gave him a chance to be funny, or at least complicated. In Masque, he's pure abomination and while he's good at that, I get tired of it quickly. Turns out, I want to like Vincent Price, even when he's eeeevil.

Masque is a great-looking movie though. Especially compared to other, cheaper Corman films I've seen, but I don't need to set it next to those to see its beauty. It makes glorious use of color in the castle decor and in the crimson, plague-heralding specter that gives the movie its name.

The story is compelling, too; I just don't especially like any of the characters. Francesca (Asher) is particularly frustrating, because I start off liking her, but Prospero (Price) leads her through a seduction and transformation that should be fascinating, but turns out unconvincing.

Rating: 3 out of 5 rainbow revenants.

The Haunted Palace (1963)

Who's In It: Vincent Price (House of Wax, House of Usher), Debra Paget (Anne of the Indies, The Indian Tomb), and Lon Chaney Jr (Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, High Noon)

What It's About: A married couple (Price and Paget) move into the estate of the husband's ancestors, but the ghost of the last owner isn't done with the place yet... and also has plans for his descendant.

How It Is: Spoilers for my opinion of some of the Corman/Price/Poe movies I watched after this, but The Haunted Palace is my favorite of them. Ironically, though, it's not really a Poe movie at all. The Haunted Palace is just a Poe title slapped on an HP Lovecraft story, complete with the town of Arkham and references to Cthulhu and other elder gods. The title is pure marketing, cashing in on the success of the other Corman/Price/Poe films.

I especially like Price in this one though. He's got a nice, complicated role as a good man who's gradually being possessed by the spirit of his evil ancestor. And Paget is wonderful as the only one who sees what's happening to him.

Frank Maxwell has a significant role as a local doctor who at least wants to believe Ann's (Paget) reports and I like him a lot, too. The film is ambiguous about whether he's attracted to Ann, but if he is, he's never creepy about it. He seems to legitimately want to help the couple, even though it puts him in conflict with the rest of the town and even with Price himself (depending on whether kindly Charles Dexter Ward or malevolent Joseph Curwen is in control).

Chaney gets third billing as basically Curwen's Ygor (or maybe Renfield). Chaney could be unreliable at this point in his career, but he's engaged this time and does a good job alternating between amiable and creepy as needed.

The makeup effects on the various creatures (including deformed townspeople) aren't awesome, but they're serviceable and the sets are all fantastic, from the palace itself to the foggy streets of Arkham.

I'm not crazy about the way everything wraps up, but based on the performances and mood, I'll be wanting to watch this one again.

Rating: 4 out of 5 mutant townspeople.

The Raven (1963)

Who's In It: Vincent Price (The Fly, The Haunted Palace, The Tomb of Ligeia), Peter Lorre (M, The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca), Boris Karloff (Bride of Frankenstein, How the Grinch Stole Christmas), and Jack Nicholson (The Shining, Wolf).

What It's About: A despondent wizard (Price), mourning the death of his wife, helps another sorcerer (Lorre) who was turned into a raven by third (Karloff), drawing them all into a contest for the leadership of the entire magic community.

How It Is: I needed to finally see some of the Roger Corman/Edgar Allen Poe/Vincent Price movies and this is the year. This was a weird one to start with though, because of the humor. It's a fun, lighthearted story about rival wizards and there's plenty of room for Price, Lorre, and Karloff to ham it up as Olive Sturgess (playing Price's daughter) and young Jack Nicholson (as Lorre's son) look on in horror. And there's even a plot twist or two to keep things moving.

It's slight, but delightful. Deslightful!

Rating: 3 out of 5 bawdy blackbirds.

Guest Post | Chris KL99 - Space Adventurer

By GW Thomas

Edmond Hamilton has many claims to fame in a science fiction writing career that spanned fifty years. He began in the pages of Weird Tales, contributing the most SF of material in the largely horror magazine. He also explored his own brand of fantasy and even wrote a few legitimate horror tales. Hamilton's style of cosmic-sized adventure won him the nickname "World Wrecker" Hamilton, though he was also capable of writing deeply personal stories too, like "He That Hath Wings" (Weird Tales, July 1938). In 1940 he was chosen to write the Captain Future series created by Mort Weisinger. Hamilton's career peaked in 1949 when he wrote his most famous novel, The Star Kings.

In 1946, Ed made another choice that would affect his direction for the next twenty years. He began writing comics for DC's Superman and Legion of Super-Heroes. He would leave comics in 1966, returning to stories and novels full time. Before that day, Hamilton would write largely superhero fare, but occasionally he got to return to his SF roots in comics like Strange Adventures. In the inaugural issue he began his "Chris KL99" series, which would appear in seven issues. Loosely based on the Captain Future formula, Chris KL99 is a space explorer who flies around in his ship the Pioneer, with his three sidekicks: a Martian adventurer named Halk, the Venusian scientist Jero, and his chameolonic dog, Loopy. (Interestingly, Hamilton wrote six more Captain Future novellas for Startling Stories while penning this comic. There were enough space adventurers around in the comics to not make this a conflict of interest.) Chris got his name from Christopher Columbus, because he was the first baby born in space. The KL99 is his status from the Space Academy where he scored 99%. All seven adventures were drawn by Harold Sherman.

The first cover went to the adaptation of Destination Moon, but Chris KL99 opened the issue. His first adventure is "The Menace of the Green Nebula" (Strange Adventures #1, August-September 1950). Chris and his buddies are lured into the Green Nebula by a fake distress call. Unscrupulous types follow them to the planet of the nebula to steal its rich radium deposits. This turns out to be the food of the radioactive men who dwell there. It's up to Chris and his friends to make things right. Fortunately, Chris knows a little science about radium that saves the day.

"The Metal World" (Strange Adventures #3, December 1950) begins with mysterious raiders stealing metal treasures like the Eiffel Tower and Brooklyn Bridge. Chris KL99 and his team find the ion trail of the thieves and follow them to their planet-size spaceship. After being captured, Chris comes up with a scheme that will save earth's treasures and the inhabitants of the Metal World.

"The World Inside the Atom" (Strange Adventures #5, February 1951) has Chris answering a distress call from a miniature universe. Shrinking to microsize, he and his two comrades go to Ruun, a planet that is dying because its sun has gone out, allowing monsters to attack its citizens. The distress call came from Drimos, who turns out to be a tyrant, ruling the people with his artificial light. Chris discovers that Drimos is actually the king's twin, Karthis, and that the true king is imprisoned. He uses his size control to rescue Drimos, but Karthis vindictively destroys the light that holds back the monsters. Chris and his friends grow to immense size and restart the sun by throwing a dead planet into it. Obviously inspired by stories like Henry Hesse's "He Who Shrank" (Amazing Stories, August 1936), the atomic science of this story is quite dated even for 1951.

Up to this point, Chris KL99 had been the headliner of Strange Adventures. By #7 he started to appear later in the issue, and often last. This may indicate that other strips in the magazine were more popular, like the non-series stories by Gardner Fox or "Captain Comet" by Edgar Ray Merritt (John Broome). But more likely, Hamilton was busy with Superman and other, bigger titles.

"The Lost Earthmen" (Strange Adventures #7, April 1951) is Chris KL99's first origin story (this will be changed in future guises). In this episode, we learn why he jumps from planet to planet, exploring deeper and deeper into space. He is on the trail of the Starfarer, a ship his mother and father used to find a new Earth. When they did not return, Chris joined the Space Academy so he could go in search of them. He finds their ship on a remote planet where the survivors remain. His parents died as heroes, saving the doomed ship, hit by an ether-wave. But the survivors are once again in trouble. The ether-wave that made them crash will destroy the planet by drawing a storm of asteroids. Chris and his friends have to hurry, using parts from abandoned ships to repair the Starfarer. His quest now finished, Chris plans to quit space forever. He finds a recording from his father and mother that inspires him anew to carry on exploring the universe.

"The Exile of Space" (Strange Adventures #9, June 1951) is Halk's origin story. As chief scientist of Mars, he ruined the great crystal that pumps the planet's water. He has been searching space for a replacement. This he finds on a world that has sent a distress call. When the three arrive, after a couple of close calls with energy beings and an asteroid belt, they find the local tyrant has several power crystals and uses them to oppress the people. Chris and his friends, using gravity inhibitors (a la Buck Rogers), fly up to one of the crystals and take over. Using that crystal, they blow up the others. As a reward, the people ask Halk to take the last remaining crystal with them. Halk is able to make amends for his mistake, but doesn't give up his life in space.

"The Missing Moon" (Strange Adventures #11, August 1951) starts with a visit to a planet of astronomers who give Chris an interesting photograph of earth. In the picture, there are two moons. Chris begins a quest to find earth's missing moon. He follows a trail in space that leads him to the moon, where a civilization of technology haters arrest him and his friends for sacrilege. He learns that there was once a war between the two moons. Giant energy weapons destroyed the surface of our moon, while thrusting the second moon out of orbit and into the galaxy. Escaping the moon-men, a new problem threatens everyone. A dark star is drawing near and only the projection weapons can save them. Halk and Jero hold off the moon-men long enough for Chris to divert the moon away from the star. He even parks the moon around a warm sun, improving life for the moon people. Shades of Space: 1999!

"The Rival Columbus of Space" (Strange Adventures #15, December 1951) features Shan Kar, a fellow explorer from the planet Zor who is Chris KL99's only rival. Shan Kar decides he will enter a deadly, bell-shaped dark cloud because he thinks a planet lies inside. Chris warns Shan Kar off and everyone thinks he is jealous. Both explorers head out in their own ships. Monsters attack Shan Kar's ship, but Chris saves him, allowing them to arrive at the planet inside. Shan Kar lands, even though Chris warns him again. Shan Kar finds gigantic jewels, but the rays from these cause him to grow to a giant size and unable to return in his ship. Chris has been to the planet before and has devised a metal that can counter-act the rays. He joins Shan Kar on the planet and begins smelting ore to make a covering for the giant. Shan Kar is shrunk back to normal and they all go home. Once home, Shan Kar declares Chris the true "Columbus of Space."

The character of Chris KL99 would live on at DC after its original author was gone. In later comics, his origin was changed and he made several cameos in other titles. But the great days of Edmond Hamilton stand nicely separate from these later changes. Here is space adventure of the simplest, pulpy kind as only "World Wrecker" Hamilton could provide.

GW Thomas has appeared in over 400 different books, magazines and ezines including The Writer, Writer's Digest, Black October Magazine and Contact. His website is gwthomas.org. He is editor of Dark Worlds magazine.