Review - Night of Bloody Horror (1969 - Dir. Joy N. Houck Jr.)

This is the first instalment in an infrequent season that could well take a few years to complete, in fact it may never be finished depending on the availability of the films. So what's it all about? F. Paul Wilson wrote three books in the eighties that were seemingly unconnected: The Keep (made into a disappointing film by Michael Mann), The Tomb and The Touch. He then wrote a further three novels that brought everything together: Reborn, Reprisal and finally Nightworld. These six books form The Adversary Cycle and they're probably the books that I have read the most. 

What's all this got to do with films then? In Nightworld the local television stations run horror/science fiction marathons that fit with the theme of the book. These films are listed at various points throughout. Being a list pervert I just couldn't resist trying to watch all of them, and that's what I'm going to try and do. I've included the full list of 56 films on Letterboxd for your delectation.

And that brings us to the first film on the list: Night of Bloody Horror. For the late sixties this probably was a night of bloody horror but now it's more of an evening of slight grazing. Okay, it's not that tame but the violence won't have the same impact as when it was originally released. There is a quality comedy killing near the start when a lovely lady goes to confession only to be told that her "penance is death!" Eye trauma follows. An axe is used at one point too - always a treat - so this can be seen as a precursor to the slasher films.

When I was watching The Ark of the Sun God recently I was cynically wondering when Raiders of the Lost Ark was released, and yep, it was a couple of years earlier. Here I was thinking that night of Bloody Horror must have been filmed in 1961 or 1962, just after Psycho. Mais non! This was released in 1969. Way too late for a cheap homage. Suffice to say that if you've seen Hitchcock's classic then you'd see the unexpected twist in Night of Bloody Horror coming, even if it set off from the other side of the world. 

Despite some fairly amateurish acting it's enjoyable enough. Wesley (Gerald McRaney - Simon and Simon) plays a troubled young lad who has witnessed something rather disturbing in his childhood. Flashbacks occur in a similar fashion to the ones in Deep Red (1975) accompanied by a tinkly creepy childish tune. Wesley is regularly afflicted by some serious headaches. So serious they are visualised by some some swirly patterns that are overlaid on to his grimacing visage. The police start to suspect Wesley of some minor misdemeanours due to the fact that his girlfriends keep turning up dead. He doesn't help his case by generally being violent and having some slightly worrying dreams. In one he is met by an attractive reporter who hops into bed with him for some slap and tickle. As they caress and rummage, Wesley looks down and the attractive brunette has changed... to his mum. Not good. Oedipus and Freud would stroke their chins in ponderment.

Just as Psycho is an example of a western giallo, so too is this, even down to the leather murdering gloves. It has some style: freeze frames are used to good effect and the camera goes completely bonkers in a nightclub scene, flicking between negative and positive versions of the film. Added to that is the way the camera operator constantly zooms in and out in time to the music. It all made me feel a little bit on the murdery side. 

Ultimately, it's not a Dario Argento giallo or a quality Hitchcock thriller. But what you do get is a slice of sixties murder and mayhem all filmed in Violent Vision that may or may not have influenced Mr Argento. Best for people who've never seen Psycho though.
3/10
evlkeith

If you like this you could also try:
Psycho, Peeping Tom.

Review - The Card Player (2004 - Dir. Dario Argento)

Not wanting to show favouritism, especially after the frankly pathetic Luc Besson Season, I've decided to opt for a later effort by Dario Argento to complete his season of films. I hadn't seen this before, but I can't say that I had high hopes; I would have been happy with anything approaching average. Let's see whether The Card Player approaches that lofty target or will it skip away squealing like a rotund fellow in mountain man country.

Anyone following the career of Argento will have probably guessed that it's the latter. It barely feels like an Argento film. The bad dubbing and bad acting combined with highly dubious character motivations and dodgy dialogue are all in place as usual, although here they just give it an amateur feel rather than adding to the overall fun and enjoyment as in his earlier productions. But - and this is the important bit - they had atmosphere and style on their side (and even a bit of substance occasionally). This doesn't. The trademark Argento style is virtually invisible. The deaths in particular should be the pinnacle of stylishness. Nope. Nothing memorable.

The story actually sounds vaguely interesting at first glance. A serial killer kidnaps an unlucky passerby then plays a game of online poker against the police to decide the fate of his unwilling victim. If the police win the kidnappee goes free. If not, it's razor blade meets neck time. To make matters worse the police have to watch the murder on a webcam. Not too bad an idea is it? (The story, not the murdering of members of the public. That's plain anti-social.)

In practise, it's dire. Anyone who has played any poker will just be shouting and ranting at the screen during the card scenes. The game they play is so simplistic and short that it is  pretty much entirely based on luck. Even the greatest poker players wouldn't be able to win more than fifty percent of their games. Yet the characters beat themselves up regularly over their lack of skill (or congratulate themselves on their prowess). It also suffers from the usual flaw of poker films: the quality of the hands they pull out of the bag. In a best of three hands situation, most will probably be won by a pair. Not here.

The music is by Claudio Simonetti. Ooh, you're thinking, that must bump the rating up a bit. No. It doesn't. The score just doesn't fit with the style of the film and feels like a separate entity. It's not even very pleasant in its own right. A big disappointment.

The only positive is the inclusion of Liam Cunningham as a disgraced cop. His performance here is nothing compared to the performance Poliakoff got out of him in Shooting the Past but he's easily the best thing about the film. When he's on screen The Card Player gets close to being watchable. He adds an actorly weight to the proceedings that no-one else comes close to.

So it's a down ending to The Dario Argento Season (think yourself lucky that it wasn't The Mother of Tears though) but let's not forget all the great films he's made. His final average score will be revealed soon, but for now this poor effort gets a lowly:
2/10
evlkeith

If you like this you could also try:
Rounders, The Cincinnati Kid.

Review - Tenebrae (1982 - Dir. Dario Argento)

Film three in our season of all things Argento is Tenebrae, a return to the giallo genre after his dalliance with the supernatural in Suspiria (review coming soon). When I had my first Dario obsession in the early nineties, I was more enamoured by his fantasy supernatural offerings. But now I tend to lean more toward his gialli.

Peter Neal (Anthony Franciosa) is a popular crime writer whose most recent novel Tenebrae inspires a killer to go and do killings. Neal gets together a Scooby gang consisting of his assistant Anne (Daria Nicolodi) and plucky golf jumper wearing freak Gianni (Christian Borromeo) to help him solve the case. The police become involved when Neal begins to gets threatening letters from the killer. Black leather murdering gloves, a knife, a razor and an axe all feature prominently from there on in. Excellent.

At some point in the not too distant past, I had a minor rant about nobody being interested in finding out who the killer is in a giallo, and that the mystery is only there to provide some lovely murders. Which is fine by me. But here, the identity of the killer is pretty intriguing. There are some blatant red-herrings, but the possible list of candidates is high. Until they all get slaughtered. I don't want to spoil it if you haven't seen it, but there is a moment in the final third when something a little on the unbelievable side happens, and the old spidey-sense is definitely tingling. Although on watching the film a second time, the identity of the killer is fairly obvious due to some recurring themes and images, one of which is directly linked to the killer. It's cleverly done though and rewards repeat viewings.

Along with a nifty mystery there are some (obviously stylish) gruesome murders that build in intensity. The first half seems pretty tame by today's standards but things soon get going and the red stuff flows. Or sprays. Everywhere. There are a fair few iconic images in Tenebrae but surely the most well known is of a lady being slashed as the camera looks through a large hole in her shirt. Logic goes out of the window to enable this legendary shot. The lady in question is rather nervous - there is a killer on the loose after all - and she senses that someone is lurking about in her house. So she changes her top. If ever someone breaks into my house in the middle of the night and starts stalking me with a slashing razor, I'm going to try that tactic. It works on the basis that the murderer won't want to get blood on your freshly washed and ironed shirt. This may work if the killer was my mum, but apart from that...

Tenebrae has a look that you don't get now. The film stock used produces a rich feel to the colour, even when the colours are pale and muted. You may expect that the cinematography would involve lots of shadow and dark recesses, it is a giallo after all. But no. The electricity meter must have run out numerous times during the making of this. Even exterior night scenes are brightly lit. There is nowhere to hide. It all adds up to a gorgeous looking film.

North by Northwest may have sprung to mind, a thriller where the hero is chased in broad daylight. And this isn't the only link between that film and Tenebrae. Neal's agent, Bulmer (John Saxon) is waiting for a meeting out in a public square. The scene plays out, without dialogue, as Bulmer watches the people's lives around him. It is shot in a Hitchcock style: the character looks at something, we see that something, then we see the character's reaction to it. But in a twist on the cornfield scene from North by Northwest, people surround Bulmer. Eventually, he turns out to be just as alone as Roger Thornhill. A great scene.

Dario wrote this film to goad his critics who thought that if he can make these horrific films then he must be a sadistic misogynist murdering paedo. The character of Peter Neal could easily be substituted for Dario himself. Although initially Argento's great plan doesn't seem to have worked - the killer goes for attractive ladies after all - but as the plot develops, his dastardly plan is revealed. As a viewer, I'm not sure why I enjoy horror films, (something discussed in Karl Kaefer's Danse Macabre post) but it's something that I should ponder on. I just know that I'm not a murderer. And I doubt Dario is either. 

Is Tenebrae as good as Deep Red then? Not quite. But that is down to personal taste. In Deep Red, I love the dark sequences in the old house, where David Hemmings chips away at the plaster. The cinematography in Tenebrae actually works against it and comes across as cold. Which fits the tone but not my need for atmosphere. Still, it's a great film that improves like a fine wine. Or, if beer is your preferred beverage, a fine bottle of Timothy Taylor's. Now I've finished writing this lovely review, let me just go and shut the dungeon door before a passerby hears that scream.
8/10
evlkeith



If you like this you could also try:
Deep Red, Don't Torture a Duckling, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage. 

Review - Deep Red (1975 - Dir. Dario Argento)

Well, I waited and waited. And at no point during the whole running time did a pig flying a plane appear. I was severely disappointed and aggrieved. How I laughed when I realised that I'd been watching Profondo Rosso and not Porco Rosso. (Another similar, but true, story is that I thought Billy Elliott was a football film. I don't know where I got that from but I spent the whole film waiting for him to hang up his ballet shoes and put on some boots and shin pads. Stupid useless film.)

Enough of this larking around, let's get on to the film proper. I saw Deep Red about eighteen years ago in a freezing cold, grimy little house in Hull. It didn't really compare to my other Argento favourites at the time. So I haven't watched it since. Until now, for this special Dario Argento season. I must say that it's way better than I'd originally thought. 

Marcus Daly (David Hemmings - looking suspiciously like Rik Mayall) is a pianist who witnesses a murder. He teams up with ace reporter Gianna Brezzi (Daria Nicolodi) to discover the identity of the mysterious killer who funnily enough has a liking for black leather murdering gloves and keeping his/her face hidden.

Yep, we're in giallo territory and all of the usual giallo trappings are present and correct: logic that makes less sense than the answers on 3-2-1, the aforementioned murdering gloves, a preposterous central conceit that leads to the final reveal of the killer, great music (by Goblin - their first collaboration with Dario), heightened sound effects and, of course, stylishly shot murders.

It's not the goriest of offerings but it contains the Dario staple of slamming a lady's head through a plate glass window, a woman getting her head par-boiled in a bath and an incident where a mantlepiece meets a poor fellow's teeth at great velocity. The effects are all quite pleasant but the blisters on the face of the scald victim are particularly realistic.

But strangely I don't enjoy it for the killings - although they do help - I like it for two other reasons. The first is the creepy tension filled atmosphere when Marcus enters an old house at night and starts chipping away at a wall to reveal a painting. This scene lasts ages but the score and the slow reveal of the image keep it thoroughly engaging. My other reason is the relationship between the two leads, who are both supremely watchable throughout. At many times Deep Red plays more like a romantic comedy than a thriller. For evidence, look at any of the scenes that contain the tiny Lupin style car. This light-hearted feel adds a different flavour to a film that is very dark on occasions.

Deep Red falls a little foul of Argento's technical giddyness. Just as Opera was marred by steadicam overuse, Deep Red suffers from macro abuse. A few shots are okay but he does tend to overdo it a tad. But this film also shows Dario taking in wider influences (possibly introduced to him by Daria Nicolodi). One scene includes a virtual recreation of Edward Hopper's 'Nighthawks', even down to the way that the characters all sit perfectly still.

One last reason to watch this film: if you've seen Don't Look Now, one scene will be permanently engraved on your brain due to its ability to make the viewer squirm and back away from the screen. Deep Red has a similar moment with a deeply disturbing clockwork child-sized doll.

Deep Red has definitely gone up in the Dario rankings. It will be interesting to see how Suspiria and Tenebrae fare against it. (Inferno was one of my previous favourites but in a bizarre twist of events the uncut version has spoilt it for me. I really don't want to see a cat eating a live mouse. I prefer the cut version for once.)
9/10
evlkeith



If you like this you could also try:
Lizard in a Woman's Skin, Four Flies on Grey Velvet.

Review - The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970 - Dir. Dario Argento)

This is Dario's first film as a director and it hints at the things to come in his later work (including the glorious murdering gloves). Not yet fully formed but the visual flourishes are already present, as opposed to the total lack of gore. Blood, yes. Gore, no. 

Sam Dalmas (Tony Musante) witnesses an attempted murder and is unable to help as he is trapped in between two glass sliding doors. The police arrive, let him out and give him a mild grilling. They soon lose interest in him as a suspect and he is left to his own devices, becoming an amateur detective trying to track down the killer. He is plagued by the fact that he's sure he saw something that night that just doesn't seem right...

If you've seen Deep Red you will recognise that last sentence. It's exactly the same idea but here it is a feels like a bit of a cheat. In Deep Red you can go back and actually see the clue that the character missed. Here, you can't. It is cleverly staged but not as satisfying as his later film.

At the time The Bird with the Crystal Plumage was very well received and opened the floodgates for other Italian gialli. This is the first time I've seen it and I can understand why it did well and has been influential. But I think it pales in comparison to Deep Red. For me, it's missing the unnerving atmosphere and the engaging characters. Plus, despite being cut a fair bit back in the day, it is incredibly tame now. The entertainment value hinges on the mystery, the clues and the quirky supporting characters. 

Because it's Dario you know there are going to be some great set pieces and yep, there are. The initial attempted murder is a standout sequence, as is a scene where the killer hires a hitman (?) to take out Sam. The chase takes us through a bus station and then into the streets of Rome. It has a pretty good punchline too.

Having spawned many imitators, such as Lizard in a Woman's Skin, this is a film that lovers of gialli should watch. Prepare yourself for a lack of gore and it's a well made thriller. But if you're new to this sub-genre give Deep Red a go instead first.
6/10
 

If you liked this you could also try:
Deep Red, Lizard in a Woman's Skin, Four Flies on Grey Velvet.

Review - Opera (1987 - Dir. Dario Argento)

I quite like a bit of Dario - although in recent years I seem to be veering more to the Fulci style of horror - but this is not one of my favourite Argento films. I saw it in a cut form a long time ago and thought about how great it must be uncut. And it is better. But it's still not one of Dario's best.

Betty (Christina Marsillach) is an opera singer who is forced to watch a murderer going about his deeds. Then she becomes the subject of his dastardly intent. It's a giallo then, with all of the trademark giallo action. In a minor twist on the sub-genre the killer wears protective latex gloves over the top of his black leather gloves. Obviously a killer who likes to keep his murdering gloves in a pristine fashion. Red herrings about the killer's identity are throw around with wild abandon and it all comes to a suitably preposterous end. 

So are the death's any good? That's what you really want to know. Well, they're not too bad. They are made better by the fact that Betty has to watch them with a row of pins sellotaped under her eyes. Dario always stages some good killings and these are no exception. One romantically inclined fellow tries to woo his lady friend by offering her some tea: Rose, Jasmine or Mint. What no Tetley's? He deserves to die the filthy little purveyor of comedy tea. And die he does in a very brutal fashion. Good. (Funnily enough a lot of this was cut out from the version I first saw.) Another death makes brilliant use of an ultra high speed camera, a peephole and a gun, and manages to kill two birds with one stone. Iconic stuff indeed.

Now we get to one of the problems with Dario - his childlike giddiness when it comes to new technology. At times, this is his strength and in the above scene it works for him very well, but in Opera it seems as though he has just got his hands on a brand new shiny steadicam and can't wait to use it. A lot. The endless POV shots get increasingly tiresome and wreck any tension that could have been created with a tad more restraint. Conversely, there is a stunning (for the time) shot of a Raven's POV as it comes circling down in an opera house. I suppose I've got to learn to take the rough with the smooth.

Giulia. Not quite in the same league as Mary's dad but her acting is so overly dramatic she could well pass as a professional dancer. This is exacerbated by the excessive dubbing. Italian film-goers are supposedly used to watching dubbed films but this veer into Eurotrash territory. The theatre manager is one of the prime culprits.

Throw in a baffling Peter Pan-esque killer, terrible non-Goblin soft rock ditties and some unpleasant scenes of ravens being ragged about or slashed at and you'd think that I didn't like Opera. (Admittedly, the raven scene is nothing compared to the cat and mouse scene in Inferno. Perversely, there's a film that was actually better in its cut form.) The problem is that I'm always comparing it to Suspiria, a way better film. Taken on its own merits it's a pretty fun film, and better than the later Argento films. Go with the Eurotrash voices, enjoy the killings, gloss over the bizarre motivations and you shouldn't go too far wrong.

(NB Opera contains strong scenes of opera. Viewers of a sensitive disposition beware.)

6/10

evlkeith