Category Archives: retrospective

Retrospective: The Cat O’Nine Tails (1971)

15 Thursday Jul 2021

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The Cat O’Nine Tails (Il gatto a nove code) identified as a Giallo film from Italy, with its themes of mystery and heightened thrillers that became popular through the 70s and 80s boasts the great Italian director Dario Argento.
Despite having some visual traits and symbolism throughout that still tie this movie to the giallo scene, Argento has cited the film as one of his least favoured among his credits.

These may seem like modest words but under closer scrutiny the film does struggle a little under the weight of its exposition and in doing so, can be hard to navigate through its narrative.

The story needs to have some twists and turns along the way to allow the mystery to bear fruit but the telling of that journey can feel laborious at times.

The main context of the tale centres on a mysterious break in of the Terzi Medical Institute where it appears that nothing was taken, and yet one of the doctors, Calabresi believes he knows the culprit, and when he attempts to blackmail the individual is then murdered when pushed before a train.

This opens up the investigation for an unlikely duo, reporter Carlo Giordani (James Franciscus) and former hot shot reporter, the elderly, blind Franco “Cookie” Arno (Karl Malden) who still has a nose for a story. Between them, they identify nine possible leads that they could follow in order to identify the killer. The nine leads are the basis of the title Cat o’nine tails and along with it the mysterious journey to our conclusion begins and takes us through the local crypt and a thrilling conclusion on a rooftop. The tension of which is fueled by Franco’s blindness.

Despite the unfavourable comments of his own work, I found The Cat O’Nine Tails an entertaining one despite its complexity. I personally found the intricate narrative added to the mystery and allows the audience to traverse its murky case to a satisfying and thrilling conclusion. The hands of Argento manage to mould his visual style through the giallo lens and produce a worthy addition to the Italian celluloid movement that is well worth your time and satisfies on many levels.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: Vampyros Lesbos (1971)

15 Thursday Jul 2021

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I remember sometime ago reading an article from the team at Diabolique Magazine about this fascinating, prolific film director Jesús Franco, who was synonymous for his exploitative work in the horror genre, and was immediately intrigued.

Celebrating 50 years since its initial release back in 1971, Vampyros Lesbos is an erotic horror story which follows Linda Westinghouse (Ewa Strömberg) who has a series of erotic dreams about a vampire Countess Nadine Carody (Soledad Miranda) who seduces her and feeds off her blood. Despite being warned not to, Linda travels to an island to seek a new home, but in doing so, soon encounters the afore-mentioned Countess in a house where the infamous Count Dracula once resided. It is not long before Linda succumbs to Nadine’s advances and they are embroiled in a sexual encounter and ultimately drawing blood from her neck.

The story itself takes some convoluted turns through its telling, including a nod to another Stoker creation, Dr. Seward (Dennis Price) who treats Linda from her wounds. But he has an ulterior motive in trapping Nadine and convincing her to turn him into a vampire.
There is also a warped and malicious torturer, Memmet, (played by Franco) who seems hellbent on kidnapping Linda and carrying out his salacious desires upon her. All of which leads to Linda needing to expel her curse by killing Nadine.

Where the film suffers from a fairly leaden acting across the board, Vampyros Lesbos makes up for this through its visual exposition combined with the psychedelic funk soundtrack (which had a reawakening of its own in the 90s when remixed and released as an album called Vampyros Lesbos: Sexadelic Dance Party). It hardly stretches the imagination, but has a certain appeal to it that marks an identity of its own and along with Franco’s other ‘71 release She Killed in Ecstacy make a cracking double feature.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: The Blood on Satan’s Claw (1971)

01 Thursday Jul 2021

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Mention British folk horror and most film enthusiasts will automatically strike up The Wicker Man into conversation, or perhaps The Witchfinder General. But where both these features were lifted by icons in the genre, Sir Christopher Lee and Vincent Price, The Blood on Satan’s Claw doesn’t have the weight of talent on display. It does however, like its counterparts, boast a cult following. And for good reason, as it marks an identity of its own with a unique tale spun by writer Robert Wynne-Simmons (The Outcasts) and director Piers Haggard. 

At its core, the tale that is woven is one of demonic possession in early 18th Century England. The oddities begin when Ralph (Barry Andrews) unearths a deformed skull from the ground, but despite his proclamations of the devil’s work, when it comes to proving his case before the local Judge (Patrick Wymark), the skull in question mysteriously vanishes.

Furthermore, when Peter (Simon Williams) brings home his ill-matched fiance according to social status, Rosalind, she suddenly screams through the night, falls ill and is then committed to by the Judge.

TBOSC has a way of getting beneath your skin in a curiously appealing way and when Peter starts to question his own sanity following an attack by a creature in the night only to find that he has severed his own hand. It also plays with the pack mentality too with a menacing presence led by some of the local youths, who gang up and hunt down their prey in the name of the prince of darkness. 

There is so much going for this film and it lures you in with its quirky simplicity and lifts the maniacal pandemonium that arises in a small town without any sense of order, led astray by their frenzy and beliefs in a greater power. Witchcraft is not a loose term in these times and with some strange happenings, decisions are made to stoke the flames of the occult. 

The mob will eventually rise armed with flaming torches to bring down the blasphemous brood, but will it be too late?

TBOSC deserves its place in British Horror hall of fame, and if you’re a fan of folk horror, this is well worth your time and is not surprising that it has influenced many filmmakers for holding true to its identity and not shying away from making its mark on the celluloid soul

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: The Pit and the Pendulum (1991)

27 Sunday Jun 2021

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For those in the know, there’s a special place in the heart of the Surgeons team for the work of Stuart Gordon. If you haven’t already, please check out our podcast episodes on Re-Animator, From Beyond, Dagon, and Dolls.
Links are found at the end of this article.

At the time that we recorded these episodes, I remarked that we had neglected to include his take on the Edgar Allan Poe novella, The Pit and the Pendulum.
Now celebrating 30 years since its release, it seems as good a time as any to retrospectively look back at this film which starred Lance Henriksen.

Upon review, this clearly isn’t Gordon’s finest hour behind the camera, but that’s not to say that there’s not fun to be had in viewing the movie, and most of that is in part due to Henriksen’s performance, quietly subdued take of the evils that humans resort to in the name of lust and infatuation.

Henriksen plays the Grand Inquisitor, Torquemada,  during the torturous time of 15th Century Spain. His tirade has no bounds until he meets Maria (Rona De Ricci) and is immediately enamoured by her beauty. Torquemada struggles with the conflict that arises between his infatuation towards Maria and his devotion to the Church and decides to repress his sinful ways and subject his cruel desires outwardly, charging Maria with witchcraft and a trial by torture.

Whilst imprisoned by a confessed Witch, Esmerelda (Frances Bay – Arachnophobia, Critters 3, In the Mouth of Madness). Here, Maria’s upturned world suddenly spawns new life and the possibility of something beyond our imaginations, but when her husband’s failed attempt to rescue sends him to the new torture device, the pit and the pendulum, is it all too late for resurrection to save him from certain doom.

The Pit and the Pendulum suffers from adding little substance to the subject at hand and while it isn’t a terrible film, it does fail to spark the imagination from a director known to stimulate the visual senses.  It does boast the great Jeffrey Combs aka Herbert West in Re-Animator amongst the cast, but there’s not enough primordial fat for either Combs nor Henriksen to chew upon to make the film stand out. Instead it simmers rather than scorches the fiery subject matter.

It could have been so much more, but quite possibly the adaptation was a step to far for Gordon to handle or make his own, reduced to the shadows of Roger Corman and Vincent Price’s classic take from the sixties.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: Slither (2006)

19 Saturday Jun 2021

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15 years ago, before he would helm the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, Director James Gunn would mark his directorial debut with Slither, a black comedy, sci-fi horror movie centred around a small town in South Carolina that comes under siege from an alien parasite.
It’s a visual spectacle peppered with some humorous dialogue, highlighting the slow paced energy of the townsfolk suddenly thrust into a frenzied assault on their humble town and investing their bodies.
Upon its release, Slither was considered a flop, as it never fell short of the budget used to make the film by a few million.
I remember being a little bewildered by this at the time of its release as I thoroughly enjoyed its energy and direction, coupled with its strong influences from both Carpenter and Cronenberg, directors with whom I greatly admire their work.

It also boasted cracking performances from Nathan Fillion (who had already made a name for himself in Firefly) as Police Chief Bill Pardy, Elizabeth Banks (Brightburn) as Starla Grant, our female heroine, and Michael Rooker as her overbearing and protective husband Grant, who also becomes the first infected by the parasite.

The effects on show are its main selling point who create the tentacled, worm-like creatures with an element of Lovecraftian, body morphia. The humour too is light and zestful, which suits Fillion’s on-screen persona and a testament to Gunn’s writing ability.

This June, Umbrella Entertainment have released a blu-ray edition of the film as part of their Beyond Genres series with some cracking extras including: 

  • Audio Commentary with James Gunn and Nathan Fillion 
  • The Slick Minds and Slimy Days of Slither: Making of featurette – 10 Mins 
  • Who Is Bill Pardy? – 5 Mins 
  • Slither Visual Effects Progressions – 5 Mins 
  • Bringing Slithers Creatures to Life: FX Featurette – 19 Mins 
  • Slithery Set Tour With Nathan Fillion – 5 Mins 
  • The Gorehound Grill: Brewin’ The Blood – 3 Mins 
  • The King of Cult: Lloyd Kaufman’s Video Diary – 9 Mins 
  • Deleted Scenes – 11 Mins 
  • Extended Scenes – 8 Mins 
  • Gag Reel – 8 Mins

All of which resurrect the fun element that was notably present behind the scenes and projected in all facets of what we see on-screen with the final product. This further cemented for me that Slither is a gem of a movie and the reason why it has garnered a cult following as a result.

If you haven’t caught this film, or was deterred by the low box office attendance at the time of its initial release, then I highly recommend that you check it out.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: Docteur Jekyll et les femmes

17 Thursday Jun 2021

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Anyone familiar with the works of Polish film director Walerian Borowczyk will no doubt identify his craft with his overtly pornographic imagery. Docteur Jekyll et les femmes, is no different to this association and one would be forgiven for misinterpreting this movie for its blatant sexual depiction and depravity of the female form that is on display throughout the narrative. Yet, this is also part of its genius and the reason that it won over many critics and why Borowczyk walked away with the coveted Best Feature Film Director award at the 1981 Sitges Film Festival.

Based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella, The Strange Case of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Borowczyk brings the subject material down to its core animalistic roots, namely sex and violence, and how the ‘Mr Hyde’ that remains buried in our inner human traits, can be brought to the surface and inflicted on all those around you, if you are drawn to do so.

This is Dr Jekyll’s (Udo Kier) secret and one he wishes to harbour from his socialite guests, but like any drug, it is hard to contain, and when the drive becomes greater than the human will, then it will break to the surface and ultimately be the ruin of everyone.

If anything, the film is a social commentary on the oppression that we inflict on ourselves in order to ‘fit in’ to what is accepted and any such inhibitions should be kept hush hush, only to be carried out behind closed doors. One of Jeckyll’s guests, General Carew (Patrick Magee) has his own sexual fantasies towards his daughter and this becomes the subject of ridicule from Mr Hyde.

Throughout the film, Jekyll is betrothed to Miss Fanny Osborne (Marina Pierro) and appears to be reserved about this engagement. The irony however is that the sexually curious Osborne uncovers his dark secret and rather than being repulsed, is drawn into his carnal sin, immersing herself into the pool of eroticism and accompanies him on this dark and devious journey on the brink of human existence.

If you are unaware of Borowczyk’s films, then don’t be deterred by what the initial images on display but rather bide your time, as the result is a spotlight on our venereal and lustful acts and how gothic literature can be the perfect subject to bring the taboo to the fore.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: Lake of Dracula (1971)

16 Wednesday Jun 2021

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Lake of Dracula epitomises the substance which resides at the kernel of J-Horror with its evocative imagery and atmospheric style. On face value, the film has very little to offer in plot, but poses some interesting characters and has a psychologically eerie feeling throughout.

In many ways, there are similarities to its namesake in that a vampire arrives on the scene and quickly makes a bride in the supported female character.
Where it does stray in the storyline is through its central figure, Akiko (Midori Fujita), who was scarred from a chance encounter with the vampire (Mori Kishida) 18 years prior. In the same confrontation, Akiko discovers a dead woman and is unable to shake that image from her mind.
So when a white coffin turns up from overseas and the body count begins to rise, along with mysterious bite holes in Akiko’s sister, Natsuko’s neck, the nightmares are about to begin again.

It is down to Akiko and her doctor boyfriend, Takashi Saki (Osahide Takahashi) to confront the evil and put a stop to any further torment that has arisen in their seaside community.

Lake of Dracula buries itself in vampirism folklore and rests on this subject to paint and weave its visuals. There is a decent backstory to the vampire that is revealed towards the end of the movie and the inevitable climax, which admittedly is a little low in its delivery, but there is enough here to whet the appetite of the average horror enthusiast, especially for those interested in the historical vault of Japanese horror.
As part of three vampire films produced by Toho Studios in the 70s, I’m intrigued to watch their other features The Vampire Doll and Evil of Dracula. Another couple for the horror movie bucket list. 

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: Dead and Buried (1981)

29 Saturday May 2021

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1981 is strongly starting to feel like an incredibly poignant year in horror and strangely another classic cult feature had slipped me by.

I intend to right this wrong this year and finally took the time to sit down and watch Dead and Buried, and straight off the bat, I can see why it is revered so highly.

Right from the get-go, the opening scene pulls you in as we follow an amateaur photographer visiting the small town of Potter’s Bluff. He quickly becomes enamoured by a beautiful woman along with an invitation to copulate.

The photographer becomes ensnared and what starts out as a moment of sexual intrigue swiftly leads to his ruin when he is ambushed by some of the townsfolk, who beat him and set him on fire. As if that ordeal was torture enough, the photographer somehow survives, only to be finally put to rest by the temptress who visits him in the hospital dusguised as a nurse.

It’s a gripping and horrifying sequence that hangs heavy on the mind and wrongfully shafted the feature into the video nasty category.

It’s the raw approach to these harrowing scenes that force the viewer into the dark world lurking in the shadows of a remote American town.

This isn’t even the masterstroke of the film however, as director Gary Sherman (Death Line, Poltergeist III) guides us through Dan O’ Bannon and Ronald Shusett’s screenplay via Sheriff Dan Gillis’ (James Farentino). Gillis is drawn to the increase in murders that are sprouting up in town and enlists the support of eccentric mortician, Dobbs (Jack Albertson) to unearth those responsible. In doing so though, Gillis finds himself falling down a rabbit warren of death and despair, and curiously (although perhaps not surprisingly considering O’Bannon’s involvement) the discovery of reanimated corpses. 

As Gillis descends further into his investigation, the behaviour of his wife Janet (Melody Anderson, who will always be remembered fondly as Dale Arden in 1980s Flash Gordon), adding to the bizarre things that continue to occur.

The final blow when it happens is a killer moment and one that leaves the rug firmly pulled beneath Gillis’ feet and us the audience along with him.

If you’ve not seen this movie before, I highly recommend it and it firmly confirms to me the genius mind of O’Bannon, who keeps on impressing with his writings of the Undead.
Oh and it boasts an early performance from a certain Robert Englund in the mix too.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: Svengali (1931)

21 Friday May 2021

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This 90 year old film starring John Barrymore in the titular role was based on the novel Trilby by George du Maurier. It essentially is a tale of a swindler character who lures women to him through the use of hypnosis and profit from their fortune. The term ‘svengali’ actually means someone who can control or mesmerise someone for sinister means.This has left some debate around the categorising of Svengali as a horror film, which admittedly has a thinly veiled occult theme due to Svengali’s abilities, 

We learn that Svengali’s motives are nefarious early on the piece when he cruelly snubs Honori, a young lady that has left her husband to be with him, but with no money or talent for Svengali to sponge off, he influences her into running off and allegedly take her own life.

Barrymore relishes in this cavalier attitude that he carries around with him and brings a larger than life demeanor to his performance that is engaging to watch. This infectious nature is apparent when engaging with the other characters around him, who either shrink away for fear of being controlled or are instantly drawn to him like a moth to a flame.

So when Svengali falls for the young Trilby (Marian Marsh) he decides to manipulate her to his will. Especially when she doesn’t return his love, as she has eyes for another, Billee (Bramwell Fletcher).Once ensnared, Svengali then persuades Trilby to fake her own suicide and reun away with him to Paris.
In Paris they set up a new life and Trilby becomes a successful singer and they both live off the fruits of her success.

Billee meanwhile refuses to give up and continues to pursue them in the hopes that he can win her heart back.

Svengali follows a fairly simple plotline but did win critical approval when it was released, which included an Academy Award nomination for the cinematography and set design. It didn’t, however, resonate with the audience at the time and failed to draw people into the cinemas.
Svengali was also surprisingly dark for its time as there is no happy ending to the film. Instead the movie encircles its leads towards a bleak conclusion. This in part was in kee[ping with the movies of the time, labeled Pre-Code, before there was an official approval process. This allowed some filmmakers to produce some questionably deep subjects for the era, especially moving into crime stories such as Public Enemy. For this, Svengali does stand out along with Barrymore’s performance.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: Omen IV: The Awakening

19 Wednesday May 2021

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Whilst I can applaud the attempt to take this well trodden franchise into a relatively bold new direction, this French-Canadian made for tv horror, can’t remove the shackles that Damien Thorn had on The Omen. The problem arises in how this franchise can exist without the antichrist himself being integral to the uprise of evil. The fact of the matter is that it can’t. No matter how you try to dress it up, any manifestation of darkness will be secondary in comparison.

In what would be the last instalment, chronologically speaking before the 2006 remake, Omen IV: The Awakening tries to inject the fear again by introducing Delia to the fold. Delia, like Damian before her, was an orphan with an ominous background and brought into the world in a nun-owned orphanage. 

There are a lot of similarities to the original 1976 feature, with a powerhouse couple (in this instance, two attorneys) Gene (Michael Woods) and Karen (Faye Grant) who raise Delia, only to discover something more sinister at play. Also the protective nanny, overseeing that no harm should befall the anointed one. Omen IV appears to follow a more female gaze with Karen’s journey as the central theme in juxtaposition to Gregory Peck’s Robert Thorn. It’s a missed opportunity however as if this wasn’t tied down to 90s tv budget territory, there could have been a more poignant message to explore here. 

There are some other nice elements, such as the army of New Age spiritualists who deem themselves strong enough to rise up against the forces of evil, but prove to be too weak. I also like the cojines twins macguffin that held the idea of the antichrist reborn. It’s a loose thread but one that I could attach myself too. No pun intended.

Despite these elements, Omen IV was always punching above its weight and restricted to the platform of choice in order to carry out the story. It suffers from poor acting as well, so it was never going to amount to much trying to deliver a paper-thin version of what the original movie was able to achieve.

  • Saul Muerte