Author Archives: surgeons of horror

Retrospective: Weird Woman (1944)

06 Wednesday Jan 2021

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For their second outing under the Inner Sanctum Mysteries umbrella, Universal would turn their attention to a novel by Fritz Leiber called Conjure Wife.
The novel has since been adapted a further couple of times with Night of the Eagle (1962) an Witches Brew (1980) and tells the tale of Professor Norman Reed (Chaney Jr. once again taking lead duties) who falls in love and marries with a woman, Paula (Anne Gwynne) who he meets while abroad.
When they return to the Professor’s hometown, the couple receive a somewhat frosty response from the community, especially as Paula associates herself with the tribal beliefs and voodoo associations that she had been accustomed to during her time on the islands of the South Seas.

These negative views turn sinister once stage things begin to occur, including the death of one of Professor Reed’s colleagues. 

All eyes are on Paula, the outsider, but is she really to blame or is there something else kicking the hornet’s nest?

Weird Woman doesn’t necessarily strike as strongly as the previous Inner Sanctum feature, Calling Dr. Death, playing a fairly simple plotline with some questionable choices under today’s standards, but the highlight for me was Evelyn Ankers who was often paired with Chaney Jr. in Universal films around this time including The Wolf Man and Ghost of Frankenstein.
Here she plays the jealous Ilona, infatuated with Professor Reed and longs to be by his side. Ankers taps into this character drive with such conviction that it elevates her amongst her costars and provides an enjoyable watch to a fairly mediocre movie.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: Calling Dr. Death (1944)

04 Monday Jan 2021

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Launching off the success of the popular radio series, Universal scored the rights to produce a series of films based on The Inner Sanctum Mysteries, an anthology of mystery, terror, and suspense. Initially, the film series had been intended as a joint venture for stable actors Lon Chaney Jr., and Gale Sondergaard to be cast in the lead roles, but for reasons unknown to this writer, the latter didn’t end up being involved.
For Chaney Jr however, he felt that this would be the perfect vehicle to break his horror monster mould that he had been typecast in of late. 

The first in the film series, Calling Dr. Death casts Chaney Jr. as a neurologist, Dr Steele, who is also a dab hand at hypnosis. Unfortunately he is caught in a bitter marriage, where his wife, Maria (Ramsay Ames) displays no feelings towards him and clearly is only invested in his money and the status that comes with it.

So, when Maria turns up dead, Steele becomes the prime suspect, clouded all the more by his sudden amnesia with a lack of recollection for the last few days.

Steele decides to call upon his assistant, Stella (Patricia Morison) to put him under hypnosis and uncover the truth before Inspector Gregg (J. Carrol Naish) pins the murder on him. 

Could it be Maria’s lover Robert (David Bruce), Robert’s jealous wife (Fay Helm) or is he really responsible for wrongdoing?

Calling Dr. Death uses a fairly standard voiceover device, (apparently on the insistence of Chaney Jr. and used throughout the series, which sometimes works but often grates) to gain the insights of Dr. Steele. There is enough of a plot here to intrigue the viewer, with plenty of suspects to fuel the mystery and keep you guessing, marking the movie as a strong entry into the series and worth checking out to see Chaney Jr without getting his wolf on.

  • Saul Muerte

Movie review: Host

04 Monday Jan 2021

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Straight off the bat, I have to proclaim that I am not a massive fan of the found footage genre. There have been some exceptions, primarily Spanish horror flick, [REC], and as much as it pains me, I’ve come to appreciate The Blair Witch Project over the years for how it’s simple storytelling and tapping into the wake of the internet boom. 

Check out the Surgeons team on the Found Footage genre here

Similarly, Host capitalises on the current social climate and the restrictions that COVID 19 has had on the Arts. Unlike the film Unfriended which tried to harness the ever-changing social media landscape to project fear onto the screens, but ultimately falling short of expectations, Director Rob Savage, crafts a clever and creative script using the minimal amount of tools to his advantage, shooting everything through Zoom links and relying heavy on his cast to create the lighting, stunts, and visual effects needed to pull off the story and make it seem believable.

The narrative takes place with a group of friends meeting together via Zoom to initiate a seance, conducted by a medium, Seylan. It all seems innocent with some of the group not entirely taking it seriously, but as events play out, it soon takes a sinister turn with the group unwittingly calling in a demonic entity into their fold. Can they ward off this evil presence, or will it slowly and violently take them out?

The Prognosis:

Don’t be turned off by the remarkably short running time, Host packs in a lot into the story with great performances and strong characters. Not all of them are likeable, but that’s the point. You have to have a few that you wish to get their comeuppance and those that you genuinely hope to survive their ordeal. Savage has proved himself a compelling storyteller as a result, while taking a simple enough premise and weaving a delightfully dark tale with minimal tools at hand. It goes to show that you don’t need a lot to create a little bit of magic and by tapping into the social mainstream, breathe life into the found footage genre once more.

  • Saul Muerte

Movie review: The Platform

02 Saturday Jan 2021

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This Spanish horror flick that is currently streaming on Netflix Australia has garnered some buzz since its release early in 2020. A potential reason that it resonated so profoundly among viewers is its clear social commentary on class warfare. 

Our stage is set when the main protagonist, Goreng (Iván Massagué), awakens in a cell marked with the number 48. We soon learn primarily through his cellmate, Trimagasi (Zorion Eguileor), that they are now part of the Vertical Self-Management Centre, a vertical tower where each floor has a hole that drives straight through its centre, in which a platform of food is lowered down to feed the inmates. The purpose is that those nearest the top are provided with the highest quality food and the further down the tower you are, the less likely you will be to reap the benefits of their status.

Each inmate is either sentenced or volunteers to serve a term inside the complex and must endure the time in order to survive. There is no knowing which floor you will be placed, and even then, one only remains for a total of 30 days before being moved on to a different floor. There is only a small amount of time to eat the allocated food too, before it is passed on down to the lower levels. Naturally with such a strict and measured regime, it brings out the worst in humanity, forced to fight tooth and nail for every last scrap or morsel of food. 

Despite the desperate and the barbaric,  bloody nature on show, there is a glimmer of hope in some of the inmates, and Goreng does his level best to turn this state of affairs around and search for a chance for salvation for all.

The Prognosis:

This movie may slather on the morals with a thick wedge of conspicuousness, but the manner in which it delivers is gloriously brutal, heart-rendering and painstakingly satisfying that it deserves high praise for the bold and accessible approach that director Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia serves. 

The system may be broken, but it only takes a few to stand true and turn the table. 

A brave statement told through a dystopian lens.

  • Saul Muerte

Movie review: Blood Quantum

30 Wednesday Dec 2020

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There is a lot to praise about this film, but chiefly is its stance on American colonialism and thrusting the theme of zombie horror as the platform to herald from. The term Blood Quantum is from the Indian Blood Laws in the United States that determine Native American identity by the percentages of their ancestry, for example if you are born from a mother and father who are considered 100 percent Native American, you would be deemed as having pure blood.

It is this concept that is then carried through the film’s narrative which determines those with Native American blood, immune to a zombie outbreak that occurs.

When we meet our lead characters, they are a mismatch of family members, fractured by the toils that society has placed upon them. There’s the patriarchal figure in Traylor , an indigenous sheriff, who despite being the lead authority in the fishing town, has had his fair share of mistakes to bear his soul. The biggest test that Traylor must face is the bestow upon his two (Michael Greyeyes) sons (both from different mothers) the responsibilities that adulthood brings. One of his sons, Joseph (Forrest Goodluck) has the promise to take on this role, but is prone to self-sabotage and avoidance, which is primarily brought around by the daunting task of becoming a father himself. The other son, Lysol (Kiowa Gordon) seems to be beyond salvation, content on playing by his own rules. Traylor certainly has his work cut out for him under normal circumstances, but this all unfolds in the middle of a zombie outbreak. 

Thankfully, he’s supported by some kick-ass individuals along the way to protect him, his family and community along the way. Among them are his own father, Gisigu (Stonehorse Lone Goeman), a sword-wielding fiend who certainly knows how to hold his own and bastion of his kin. There’s also Traylor’s ex-wife, and mother to Joseph, Joss (Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers), who also happens to be a nurse. In this narrative, she serves as the constant strength and support to her family, despite all of their flaws.

The Prognosis:

The first half an hour of the movie as the zombie outbreak is unleashed, is jam-packed with tension as the lead characters first fathom what they are faced with and then how to survive this ordeal.

Unfortunately the middle section sags a little as the community has set up a refuge six months after the outbreak and learn that they are immune from the virus. The film struggles to stay afloat during this phase and at times feels that it is in danger of losing all the promise that led the stories charge. 

Blood Quantum’s saving grace comes from the strength of its characters. The inner turmoil that is evident in the set up, and like the virus itself, cannot be saved. Instead it is down to the most resilient of them to prevail and find a way out of their predicament. Just a shame it wasn’t able to keep the pace throughout.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: The Climax (1944)

29 Tuesday Dec 2020

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Originally billed as a sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, The Climax changed its course partly due to the unavailability of Claude Rains’ availability to reprise the role of the phantom. Instead some reworking in the script department led to some significant changes and bringing in Boris Karloff for his first feature released in colour. Karloff would play the role of demented physician, Dr. Hohner, driven by jealousy and the need to dominate his fiance, a prima donna at an established Vienna Royal Theatre, and murders her in his obsession.
Interestingly, Universal would resurplus some of the magnificent set that was used in their 1925 adaptation of Gaston LeRoux’s gothic novel and Susannah Foster who brought Christina Dubois to the silver screen in TPOTO (1943), would return albeit as a young operatic singer on the rise, Angela Klatt

Klatt bears a striking similarity to Hohner’s fiance, who has been missing some 10 years now, hence why Hohner has been able to avoid justice. With Klatt’s appearance though, it triggers the inner demon and conflict in Hohner’s mind and he seems hellbent on once more, keeping the diva for himself.

The film plays a familiar tune to previous Universal features and as such struggles to offer anything new in the horror scene. It is bolded by the presence of Karloff, Foster and Turhan Bey (The Mad Ghoul) as the romantic lead, Franz Munzer, but it’s Gale Sondergaard (The Cat and the Canary) as the dutiful Luise, poised to make Hohner pay for his past deeds that really shines through. 

A solid enough entry to the Universal Horror movies, but not nearly worthy of its predecessors.

  • Saul Muerte

Movie Review: Possessor

22 Tuesday Dec 2020

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When Brandon Cronenberg entered the filmmaking scene with his directorial feature film debut, Antiviral (currently available to stream on SBS on Demand), it came with the leadened presence that the Cronenberg name carries with it, and as such, a lot of eyes scrutinised this body horror tale. For a first time behind the camera, Antiviral is actually a solid film. Sure it has its flaws, but at its beating heart is a strong pulse with some decent ideas.

For his second feature, Cronenberg not only raises the bar of his previous outing, but elevates himself exponentially and quite possibly serves up this reviewers favourite movie of 2020.

It’s a bold statement and one that should not be marred by what has admittedly been a crappy year in film distribution due to the impact that COVID has brought to the globe. 

Boosted by an incredible cast in Andrea Riseborough (Mandy, The Grudge), Christopher Abbott (It Comes At Night, Piercing), Rossif Sutherland, Tuppence Middleton, Sean Bean, and Jennifer Jason-Leigh, the screenplay (also written by Cronenberg) has the heavyweight performances to pull off a complex, and deeply unsettling narrative.

It’s a wildly compelling premise, which follows agent Tasia Vos (Riseborough) who works for an underground company run by Girder (Jason-Leigh), who infiltrate other people’s bodies through the use of brain-implant technology. The stakes are high and the clientele, lucrative. With each mission, the risk is great and requires not only a great mind, but also the efficiency to pull off these assassination attempts to reap significant profit as a result. 

The physician and mental drain on each assignment comes with its own hurdle as you must not only study the person’s characteristics and quirks to ensure that they are still believable to those family and friends but combined with the constant battle with the host’s own mind, the agent’s timeline to pull off the assignment is narrow. Failure would lead to both minds infusing together and potential brain damage. This deadline amplifies the tension much to the delight of the viewer.

The added spanner in the works is that Vos comes with her estranged husband and son. The gulf in their relationship caused by Vos’s work and a constant strain on their lives, and the anchor to her reality that constantly tugs at her emotions and clouds her own motives when carrying out her tasks. 

The mission in question is to infiltrate the mind of Colin Tate (Abbott), fiancé to Ava Parse (Middleton) and heir to her father, John’s (Bean) estate. Once in control of Tate,  Vos has 48 hours to kill John, Ava, and finally Colin, before being pulled back into her own body once more.
A task that may prove one stretch too far.

The Prognosis:

From the shocking opening scene, through a brilliantly crafted sci-fi screenplay and an ultimately rewarding conclusion, Brandon Cronenberg has thrown the gauntlet down, commanding our attention as a filmmaker with vision, powerful performances, and a beautifully presented mindfuck.

  • Saul Muerte

Possessor is currently streaming on Shudder

Retrospective: The Mad Ghoul (1943)

13 Sunday Dec 2020

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Presented with his first top billing for Universal, Turhan Bey (The Mummy’s Tomb) has been slowly rising through the ranks to be given this recognition. Much like his co-star Evelyn Ankers (The Wolf Man) who gets her time to shine in the spotlight. 

The Mad Ghoul centres on an Ancient Mayan life-preserving technique that resurrects creatures after they have shuffled off this mortal coil. Attempting to play out this diabolical task is a mad scientist, (naturally) Dr. Alfred Morris (George Zucci – The Mummy’s Hand) who sets about to prove it possible using a human subject.
Morris enlists the help of his student, Ted (David Bruce) to carry out his experiments. Ted however is too infatuated with Isabel (Ankers), but his love is not reciprocated, and when Morris too succumbs to Isabel’s charms, he decides to eradicate his opposition by performing his scientific query on Ted, and succeeds in doing so. The catch is that, in order to stay alive, Ted must continually replace his heart with that of the recently deceased. So throughout the film, Morris leads Ted in a ghoulish state to cemeteries in order to dig up the dead and steal their myocardium. There is great humour to be found here as both gentlemen mooch around attaining hearts so that they can eventually win the heart of Isabel.

Isabel, though, has her eyes for only one man, Eric Iverseon (Bey) and as such, Eric becomes the target for destruction. 

Morris’ grip on the situation begins to dwindle, trying to keep Ted as his ghoulish puppet, to carry out his dastardly deeds, but his pursuits eventually come untangled as his command loses its strength and Ted develops a will of his own.

For a film that uses some of Universal’s former motifs, The Mad Ghoul does enough to cobble a story together that connects with the audience and whilst it doesn’t stand up to some of the stronger titles that have come before it, entertains nonetheless and proves to be a solid enough encounter.

  • Saul Muerte

Movie review: Sweet River (2020)

09 Wednesday Dec 2020

Posted by in Australian Horror, Movie review

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The latest Australian psychological thriller, Sweet River has been released on streaming platform Netflix and like most recent flicks from Down Under it comes with some heavy-laden drama that grinds you down to a gritty conclusion.

The setting for this tale of grief, loss and the search for truth is definitely its selling point, cast in Northern New South Wales between Byron Bay and Tweed Heads where the land is rich in sugar cane fields. The cinematography by Tim Tregoning is stunning and elevates the landscape beyond the screen that is simply captivating and bolden’s Director Justin McMillan’s vision to the fore. Especially the use of red light cast across the river banks that highlight the need to see and not awaken anything submerged in the shadowy depths.

Here the saccharine land has been slowly rotting away with the local community who harbour a secret. This makes our protagonist Hanna’s (Lisa Kay – Indian Summers) quest all the more troubling, as every move she makes to determine what happened to her son is quashed. 

Leading the supporting cast is a stoic performance from an almost unrecognisable Martin Sacks (Wentworth, Blue Heelers) as John, who balances a fine line between help and hindrance to Hanna’s pursuit. And Genevieve Lemon as an equally tortured soul.

There are many elements that are at play here that warrant a far superior film than is ultimately delivered. The mystery and intrigue that surrounds the stunning scenery serves a great juxtaposition with a harrowing journey for the audience to travel down, but this also serves as its downfall, as often we are reduced to the murky depths of an at times stagnant quagmire of a narrative. 

The Prognosis:

The problem is that the standards have been set high in recent years in Australia, with Hounds of Love, Rabbit, and Killing Ground that we’ve come to expect a more hardened journey that stimulates whilst also being smart and intriguing.
Even though it’s a different medium Vicki Madden’s The Kettering Incident and The Gloaming have also set the precedence in this field, which admittedly she has more time to untangle the mystery in her tv show screenplays.
As such, Sweet River leaves the audience wading through thick undergrowth which can be difficult viewing. Despite the struggle, there are moments where the story flows and the scenery swallows you into its serenity. 

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: House of Dracula (1945)

07 Monday Dec 2020

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Celebrating its 75th anniversary this year is Universal’s second Monster mash up, House of Dracula, and being one of the last movies to feature these iconic creatures also indicated that the times were changing and a new shift in horror was about to occur.

Treated as a direct sequel to House of Frankenstein, this feature would once again Count Dracula, The Wolf Man, Frankenstein’s Monster, and a mad scientist together.

This time though, it is the Count (once again played by John Carradine) that seeks a cure for his vampirism. Although there are questions around the legitimacy of his intentions as he seems to still go about his day (or should I say night?) without a care. This in complete contrast to the doomed and tragic figure, Larry Talbot (Lon Chaney Jr reprising his role once more). Dracula approaches Dr. Edelmann (Onslow Stevens) to aid him in his quest for a cure, who believes he can do so using a mysterious plant that can reshape bone. It is Dr. Edelman’s belief that using a series of blood transfusions, he can assist Dracula.

It is at this point that Larry Talbot enters the scene, also hoping that the Doctor can help him. Dr. Edelmann however is too consumed with the Count and so Talbot gets himself incarcerated by the police for fear that he will turn into a wolf and kill again. Whilst imprisoned, Inspector Holtz (Lionel Atwill in one of his last film roles) and Dr. Edelmann witnesses the transformation, with the latter now convinced, and promises he will try to find a cure.

Larry Talbot continues to be one of the most fascinating characters in the Universal Monster franchise, with his inner conflict and turmoil, the characteristics that Chaney Jr played so well. Here Talbot is driven to suicide, throwing himself off the cliff into the waters below, only to survive the ordeal. Dr. Edelmann finds Talbot in the caves beneath the castle and in doing so stumbles across Frankenstein’s monster (Glenn Strange) still clutching the skeletal remains of Dr. Neimann from the previous movie. Edelmann takes the monster back to his castle but swears not to revive him for fear that it will only cause ruin.

Through all these distractions, the Count has been using his charms on the Doctor’s assistant Milizia (Martha O’Driscoll) but is prevented by the good old cross. The Doctor’s other assistant, Nina, (Jane Adams) a hunchback, witnesses the Count’s attempts and notices the absence of his reflection. Time for another blood transfusion, only Dracula turns the tables, hypnotising Nina and Edelman and then reversing the transfusion, so that Edelmann is given the vampiric blood. 

This action proves to be the Count’s downfall however as Edelmann exposes Dracula’s coffin to sunlight, killing him. This is just beyond the half an hour mark leaving the question again as to the true danger that Dracula exhibits when he doesn’t last the entire feature.

With the Wolf Man being treated and the Dracula out for the… count (ahem), this leaves a hole for a villain to fill. In steps a transformed Edelmann, struggling with the vampiric blood in his system that sends him crazy and a climax that brings about the rise of Frankenstein’s creature, a horde of angry villagers, and only a cured Talbot to bring down the house.

House of Dracula serves up a much neater storyline compared with its predecessor, House of Frankenstein, and the performances are strong. It still struggles to incorporate all the different aspects, but considering it’s short running time of just over the hour mark, there’s enough packed in to entertain, and ultimately became a commercial success as a result.

  • Saul Muerte