80's Nostalgia

I was a pretty big fan of the Ghostbusters when I was a kid. For instance I have a picture of me from my class picture day in second grade and I am wearing a Ghosbusters shirt. I really was a fan of the first movie and of the tv show and comic book The Real Ghostbusters. I guess the show had the "Real" before it because they wanted to make it seem different then the adult movie, which it was since it was a saturday morning cartoon for kids, but i was just a huge fan of it.

I also had tons of the real ghostbusters toys. I still have in my garage the firestation playhouse, which is the main HQ of the ghostbusters, and I have the ecto 1 car and a few other toys still.

With all thing 80's being popular again I think Ghostbusters is prime for a comeback. There have been a lot of talks about a new movie or a remake or a movie with the original cast handing off the reigns to a new younger cast, whatever! Anyway the movies are starting to make there way back into the masses and I think people are happy to see them again. For instance there is a new Ghostbusters game coming out very soon, and it is voiced by all the orginal actors from the movie. Yes, even Bill Murray does a voice in the game. It takes place after Ghostbusters 2, and has me pretty much wanting to get a video game really bad for the first time in a long time. Check out the first trailer from the video games, it looks pretty fun.


I think the game looks really cool and I can't wait to play it.

Vintage horror on the big screen - two Dr Jekylls

Over the next few weeks, the BFI Southbank in London is showing the 1931 and 1941 Hollywood versions of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. These were the first two film adaptions of Robert Louis Stephenson's novel to be made with sound.

Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1931)
starred Fredric March and Miriam Hopkins. Director Rouben Mamoulian's extraordinary version, equating Mr Hyde's animal behaviour with Dr Jekyll's suppressed violent urges, heavily hints at his unspoken sexual desires. For this reason, the film was censored, even before the Hays Code had started incurring it's huge list of cinematic taboos. It's subtle by today's standards but still definitely adult-themed - like Jekyll's encounter with a 'woman of the street' that hints at his being sorely tempted, despite being a respectable doctor, engaged to be married.

At present, the only DVD of the film (a US double-bill of both these versions) is still a censored one, though uncut (or less cut) prints occasionally play on British TV. There are some startling publicity photos that indicate that additional scenes were shot and then censored, or not used - like the monstrous Mr Hyde catching and eating a pigeon, and another of him stamping on a small child in the street! No footage of these scenes has emerged as yet.

Not only is the subject matter ahead of its time, but the film-making is still interesting today, demonstrating how early sound cinema took the new technology in its stride. Considering how much bulkier early movie cameras were when they were sound-proofed, the point-of-view tracking shot that introduces Jekyll through his eyes as he goes to work, is impressive.

Starring as both leading men, Fredric March was better known for light comedic roles, but you may know him from the original A Star is Born (1937), I Married a Witch (1942) which is very much a prototype for Bewitched, Inherit the Wind (1960) or as the US President in Seven Days In May (1964). He won an Oscar for his portrayal of Jekyll and Hyde, citred as the first ever awarded to an actor in a 'horror' role.

The film gets a deserved extended run in London, showing daily from December 12th to January 1st. Details here.




Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1941)
starred Spencer Tracy and Ingrid Bergman. It's more restrained than the earlier version, though the cast may be more familiar to you. Spencer Tracy takes on the main roles, though is somewhat miscast, and far less make-up is used for his violent 'alter ego'. The furious Freudian symbolism in the dream sequence is quite over-the-top, verging on funny. Ingrid Bergman famously took on the role of the 'bad girl', while Lana Turner played the virginal fiance, both actresses playing 'against type'.

Director Victor Fleming's impressive previous credits include no less than Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz, though this film isn't in colour, which begs the question, why remake a ten-year old movie? It still makes an interesting comparison to the Fredric March version.

It will be shown at the BFI London on January 6th and 10th only. Details here.

WITCHFINDER GENERAL (1968) - the nastiest of witch hunts

WITCHFINDER GENERAL
(UK, 1968, also called The Conqueror Worm)

How do you know she's a witch?

Finally, I can say I've seen a good presentation of one of Britain's best horror films. I'm going to talk longer than usual about its DVD releases, because it's a highly regarded film in British cinema, as well as horror history, and there are a few ‘restorations’ out there... I'm very late to this particular party, these DVDs have all been out for ages, but I've only recently wanted to watch the film again and cross-compare.

Based on a factual but rather dry historical account of the real-life Witchfinder General, written by Ronald Bassett, director Michael Reeves’ film aims for realism in both period detail and the depiction of violence. Because it stars Vincent Price, it’s therefore classified as a horror film. But only as much as Apocalypse Now or The Deer Hunter are horror films. They show the horror of war and torture, and are based on real events. Witchfinder General could only really be classified as horror if it hadn’t happened.


The Civil War in 17th century Britain, when Oliver Cromwell’s Roundheads were fighting King Charles’ armies across the country. Amidst the chaos of warfare, Matthew Hopkins, a legally-appointed witchfinder was entrusted to root out, torture and execute anyone suspected of practising witchcraft. Just after a young soldier in Cromwell’s army gets engaged, his fiance and her father cross paths with the witchfinder and his thuggish assistant, Stearne. Can the soldier tackle Hopkins and win? Can he avoid being hung for desertion from the army, as well as outwitting the deceitful and ruthless official?

Behind the scenes -
Kine Weekly, January 6th 1968

Ian Ogilvy (star of The Sorcerers and Return of the Saint) plays the driven young soldier - his best ever performance. Vincent Price also won great reviews for underplaying as Hopkins - whereas his usual horror roles were lightened by his humour and theatricality (like in The Abominable Dr Phibes and The Pit and the Pendulum to name but two). Here he's a ruthless and grim character, deliberately ignoring the suffering he inflicts for personal monetary gain. Hilary Dwyer (Cry of the Banshee, The Oblong Box) plays the fiance Sarah, also underplaying as a likeable and realistic character.

Half-page ad in Films and Filming, July 1968

The film benefits from being shot almost totally on location. The English countryside helps us to imagine what it was like over 300 years ago. Some of the Norfolk and Suffolk locations that were used had actually been visited by the real Hopkins. The village square in the burning scene isn't a set - some of the buildings would have been around when Hopkins was there. It couldn’t look any more authentic.

In the book, the torture scenes require imagination. But the pain is fully described in the film, made even worse by the twisted injustice of the rules. Once accused, the ‘witches’ have no chance of survival, whether they co-operate or not.


The film was heavily cut on its original release, but not because of explicit special effects – there’s no prosthetics, rubber limbs or even spurting blood. The violence was far more effectively portrayed than usual, by using a realistic amount of stage blood, true to life performances and a lot of screaming. The loud and extended use of screams make it uncomfortably real and all the more horrifying. Besides the censor cuts to reduce the amount blood, there were cuts to reduce the amount of screaming.

After decades of watching this on TV, when it was always a cut version, the VHS debut in the UK turned out to be less cut, but with alternate scenes of nudity from the Continental version. This wasn’t the version I wanted.


In the US, the film had been re-edited and re-titled as The Conqueror Worm for the cinema release, to fool audiences that this was another of Vincent Price’s Edgar Allen Poe films (the series of adaptions directed in the UK and US by Roger Corman). But worse still was the US VHS release, with Paul Ferris’ haunting orchestral score replaced with electronic music.


Subsequently, each time I saw Witchfinder General, there was a little bit more to see. With a string of TV restorations, and finally an 'uncut' widescreen UK DVD release in 2001, from Metrodome. But this debut on DVD was compromised by having the restored violence sourced from a low-quality VHS. Every restored cut was also incorrectly aspected (4:3 vertically squeezed) and sometimes intercut with film elements midshot. Even so, this rough restoration has played on TV. While the new shots were a revelation to see, the presentation was regularly jarring. DVD Beaver, the best site for DVD comparisons has as yet only reviewed this version, though it has some useful screengrabs.

Metrodome gained bonus points for the DVD extras, including an in-depth documentary with some of the original film-makers. It also has a ‘branching’ option to see the Continental version – using alternate takes of topless bar wenches, originally shot for Europe's less prudish audiences. There is thankfully the choice to see it with the clothed scenes intact. But both versions on the DVD include the low-grade VHS censor cuts.


Finally there are now two more DVDs to choose from. The 2007 MGM 'Midnite Movies' release in the US, which Tim Lucas recommends here, and the same restoration on a 2005 French DVD that I’ve only just seen. The two DVDs run at slightly different speeds, as is usual with PAL and NTSC transfers, but appear to be exactly the same version.


Based on a French online film-forum comparison, I bought the French DVD release from Neo Publishing, titled Le Grand Inquisiteur. The onscreen titles and credits are all in English, and the French subtitles can be turned off. I’ve compared it side-by-side to the UK Metrodome release, and the French DVD beats the look of the UK DVD in almost all departments. The restored cuts blend perfectly with the rest of the film, and even add a couple of powerful moments not previously seen. Two scenes run a little longer - the end of Stearne's dungeon interrogation scene runs an extra two slaps and screams, and the climax runs for two extra whacks of the axe. Both scenes now feel like they run to a natural conclusion.

The print, or maybe the film-to-tape transfer, used for the French DVD also improves the crushed, darkened look, where many filmed details were lost in the shadows. Conversely, some day-for-night shots that were too light, that even had blue skies in supposedly night scenes, have been corrected. With more detail on display, and flawless restored footage, this is now a treat to watch.


While the French DVD is by far the best version I've ever seen, I still have a couple of notes, (comparing it to the UK DVD was easy as they ran at identical speeds). It starts with a slightly yellow bias to the colours, skewing the lush green of the grass, seen in the UK transfer. The DVD also seems to suffer poor compression at the start, with subtle but visible patterning in the skies of the opening scenes. Both these faults disappear after the first five minutes of the film. It has all the restored footage of the UK DVD, except the first pricking shot for some reason.

The MGM release also marks the home video debut of the original soundtrack in the US. Tim Lucas notes the loss of the 'Conqueror Worm' version opening and closing footage, which I’ve still not seen. This indicates possible material to be included in a future special edition. The MGM DVD has the documentaries but adds a unique commentary track, from the star Ian Ogilvy and producer Philip Waddilove.


This article was inspired by this French page that demonstrated the advantages of the French presentation over the UK. I couldn't have found out about it without the fellow obsessives on the MonsterKid Classic Horror Forums. The French article has very useful comparison framegrabs of the UK and French DVD releases.

There's also a interesting interview about the MGM restoration here at DVD Talk.

Vincent Price talks about his cruellest of characters
in Photoplay Film Monthly, July 1968

Lastly, there should hopefully be a CD release of Paul Ferris’ soundtrack on the way, as indicated here on the De Wolfe website. I really, really hope that it happens.

Not On DVD: THE MAZE (1953) - a missing 3D thriller

THE MAZE
(1953, USA)

What about getting the 3D films of the 1950's on DVD?

Many of the fantasy movies from the 1950's 3D boom are out on DVD (House of Wax, Creature From The Black Lagoon, It Came From Outer Space...), but none are viewable in 3D as yet. Here's a movie, with many of the same elements as those classics, that hasn't been available on home video for many years.

A man inherits a scottish castle and then severs his ties with friends and his new fiance. As they come to visit him, expressly against his wishes, they discover a changed man, newly greyed hair, bearing a heavy burden - a family secret involving a forbidden room in the castle and a large maze outside in the castle grounds...

One midnight in the late 1970s, I’d been prompted by a chapter in William K Everson’s Classics of the Horror Film, to stay up late to see The Maze. Of course i wasn't going to see it in the original 3-D, but some of the scenes made more sense knowing it had been filmed that way. Sure there are shock effects thrown at the camera, like the nightclub dancers being hurled around, but I still think 3-D works best when the eye can get it's bearings. Long slow moves along deeply-focussed sets use 3-D to the best effect. Luckily, years after first seeing it on tv, I had a chance to see it in 3D at London’s BFI cinema.


Director William Cameron Menzies excelled at production design, integrating sets with story and atmosphere. This is most evident in the huge castle interiors that dwarf the guests, and the maze itself is perfect for 3-D. This was released the same year as Menzie’s better known sci-fi nightmare classic Invaders From Mars which also had off-beat compositional framing and exaggerated perspectives, as well as being an early sci-fi in colour.

Leading man Richard Carlson was a recurrent 3-D star in the 1950s - he also heads Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) and It Came from Outer Space (1953). Making it more of a mystery why this has never been on home video - it should be on DVD.


Trivia-fans take note that the creepy butler is played by Michael Pate (with the white hair in the Radio Times clipping), the late Australian actor-turned-director, who cast a young Mel Gibson in an early starring role as Tim (1979) opposite Piper Laurie.

The climactic secret of the house doesn’t fully explain all the bizarre and secretive behaviour. But the ending is certainly unique, and another opportunity for 3-D effects. Though the tragedy of the scenario can easily lapse into laughter with a cinema audience.


This isn’t essential viewing for horror fans, but is good for 3-D fans and friends of the fifties. It's pace is slow-moving compared to today, but I've always thought that a slower editing pace and steady tracking shots are the best use of 3D. The slow tracking shots moving slowly around the maze are extremely effective. I'd love to see a modern Japanese horror film in 3D. Note that the BBC (in a 1970s review above) possessed a "left-eye and a right-eye print".

Here's the trailer on YouTube...

Here's the trailer in 3D (needs red and green glasses), pointed out by a member of The Classic Horror Film forum...

DVD UPDATES - the best region 1 news

Over the next few months, there are going to be a few DVD releases that I can only describe as 'ABOUT BLOODY TIME'! The wishlist they were originally written on is so old, it was made of paper! Out of everything new on DVD - here's what I'm excited about... two classic slasher movies, a vintage Dario Argento thriller, and an unusual epic from the silent era...

FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET (1971)

Finally, finally, finally, on February 24th is the home video debut of Dario Argento's early psycho-thriller. The third of his stylish giallo murder mysteries, with outrageously choreographed death scenes, has been missing from all our Dario collections. Until now. Whatever legal wrangles have been keeping this movie out of circulation must now be over. It's being released by Mya Communications. Watch out for that lorry...
Good news courtesy of DreadCentral.com.

MY BLOODY VALENTINE (1981)

To coincide with the cinema release of the new remake, the best news is that the original haunted mine, pickaxe slasher is finally being released uncut. The 2002 DVD release was disappointing for being digitally remastered from the familiar censored cut. Ever since gorehounds were first teased with photos of bloody make-up effects in the (then) new magazine Fangoria, we've been waiting decades to see several climactic moments to this lesser-known atmospheric slasher. I'm pre-ordering it - I've waited too long to see this!

Exciting news courtesy of DreadCentral. Cover art previewed on Fangoria.com.

FRIDAY THE 13th (1980)

Another remake has prompted an uncut overhaul of the original for DVD - but again no cover art yet for this February 2009 release from Paramount Home Video. This will be the US DVD debut of the uncensored version. Admittedly the cuts should only amount to a few seconds, but for a cornerstone of the slasher genre, it's a very welcome release. It will also be available on Blu-Ray, and there'll be a deluxe array of extras.
More details from ClassicHorror.com. Cover art and specs from DVD Active.

J’ACCUSE (1919)

Completely new to DVD is this epic anti-war movie from legendary French pioneer Abel Gance. I've only just caught his 1939 remake and can't wait to see the silent movie original, meant as a plea for 'no more war' just after the so called 'Great War'. The movie is of genre interest because of it's astonishing resurrected war-dead finale. Screengrabs and a review of this 2-disc special edition from silent movie specialists Flicker Alley, can be found on DVDtalk.

GAMERA THE BRAVE (2006)

New to the US is the latest Gamera movie - I reviewed the film here. It's angled more at children, but serves as a good temporary fix for all those giant monster fans who are missing Godzilla at the moment. Arriving to flatten a city near you at the end of December, from Tokyo Shock.

THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN (2008)

Lastly, I don't normally herald new Hollywood films, but this is coming to DVD and Blu-Ray on Feb 17th. Based on Clive Barker's short story from the very first of 'The Books of Blood', this is cult Japanese director Ryuhei Kitamura's American debut. Despite mixed reviews and a faltering cinema release, I still want to see anything by the director of Azumi, Versus and Godzilla Final Wars.
(Release news courtesy of DreadCentral).

TO THE DEVIL... A DAUGHTER (1976) - hard-hitting Hammer horror

TO THE DEVIL... A DAUGHTER
(1976, UK)

Unfortunately, the first Hammer film I ever saw in the cinema was also the last Hammer horror film that was produced. I saw it only a couple of years after its release in an all-night horror show at a local suburban cinema in Ewell. I’d gotten used to the Hammer style of lush-looking gothic dramas on TV, and was rather surprised by the ultra-modern looking psycho-logical satanism that is To The Devil... A Daughter. Through the years, it’s endured as a unique and earnest attempt to visualise the modern practice of black magic.

Through the early 1970s, Hammer Studios were continuing to move forward and experiment with the genre, but not quite fast enough for the plunge into gore and sensationalism. The wide-angle cinematography borders on experimental and the subtle, cold lighting makes for a gritty and realistic look. The far-from-stagey acting is helped enormously by the star, Richard Widmark’s performance. The nudity and violence is still eye-opening today. It’s not wall-to-wall, but when it happens it doesn’t pull any punches. For instance, the birthing scene isn't explicit, but it is painfully nasty.


The unusual story structure initially presents a string of unexplained events. For once, the baddies are one step ahead of the goodies, as well as the audience. We have to be patient as the plot gradually takes shape. Widmark plays John Verney, an occult expert called on to look after a young nun, by her father (Denholm Elliott), who hasn't told him the whole story about her value to an underground band of satanists. The depiction of various black magic rituals and their effects look very real, and the story starts to convince that it might all actually work...

Hammer regular Christopher Lee is for once a very human monster - posing as a priest. Lee is in his prime here, desperate to do his beloved author Dennis Wheatley justice. The mainly British cast includes Anthony Valentine (Tower of Evil) and Honor Blackman (Goldfinger, The Avengers) as a normal couple,dragged into extraordinary circumstances, much the same as Paul Eddington and Sarah Lawson's characters did in The Devil Rides Out (1968), Hammer’s earlier excursion into Dennis Wheatley’s satanic novels. Denholm Elliott (The House That Dripped Blood) is the rightfully paranoid informant, mirroring David Warner’s frightened retreat inside the pages of the bible in The Omen, the same year.


And of course Nastassia Kinski, in an early role, plays the nun at the centre of the deadly chess game. Her full-frontal scenes, at only aged seventeen, mirror the sexuality at the heart of the decade's wave of sexual explicitness in horror films. Using those stills as publicity for thje film shows a huge lapse of taste, only possible in that very different time. I also can’t remember whether she was dubbed for this role by another actress. While German actors were no doubt part of the deal, in this a German co-production, Kinski is perfect in the role.

The only drawbacks to the solid and gripping story, are towards the finale, as an unconvincing demon animatronic effect intrudes poorly into two scenes, and the ending is a famous anticlimax, thankfully discussed in the extra documentaries on the recent Optimum DVD in the UK. The film is also part of the massive 21-movie Hammer Horror boxset/cube.


There are filming locations in Germany and around London, indeed the whole film looks like it was shot outside of studios and sets. Widmark’s flat and several scenes take place just next to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge - the site is now now a huge, boring block of offices, but back then a maze of locks and canals.

The Optimum DVD extras include several interesting and frank interviews including Christopher Lee himself. The late veteran stuntman Eddie Powell also describes the danger of his main stunt, the first British 'full body burn', as well as an unusual assignment doubling for Lee…

There's a trailer here on the revived Hammer Studio's new website.

RING (1998) - watch it, I dare you

RING
(1998, Japan, IMDB: Ringu)

Much, much much much, has been written about Ring. But I still don’t meet many people who’ve actually seen it. To honour it’s tenth anniversary, I’m revisiting it. This is after reading the books it was based on, reading the manga it inspired, and seeing the many alternate versions of the story. (More about the Ring phenomenon here). How will a trip down the well stand the test of time?

Ten years on, there’s several Ring movies, lost in a sea of rip-offs in the Asian Cinema and Horror sections. No longer the one and only, the first J-horror film. Many have only seen the American remake. Why see the original?

People easily get drawn in by the premise – a cursed videotape that kills you seven days after you watch it. Sounding like a typical urban legend, this is enough to interest new viewers, as long as they read subtitles (this is where the potential audience branches between the Japanese and American versions). While the video curse is central to the story, it’s also rewardingly complex, and many strands of the plot offer room for discussion. It also presented a new monster and a new horror mythology that didn’t follow the cliches of western horror.


The opening sets up the curse without giving much away. Two teenage girls are at home, the parents are out. They’re talking about a story going round at school about a cursed videotape. One of them jokes that she’s seen it, and when she leaves the room, her friend gets a nasty scare. The scene has a mild pay-off but certainly kicks off the mystery. The unsettling atmosphere mainly generated by the deafening telephone. But the cosy modern setting in a typical home sets the mood. This is a horror film set in the here-and-now – you’re not even safe sitting around watching TV.

The story rapidly gets creepier as Reiko, a journalist, is researching a story about the cursed videotape at the school. She’s investigating the case of two students who were found in a car, both dead from natural causes. She then attends the funeral of her niece, only to discover that all three teenagers coincidentally died at the same time.

As she gets deeper into the mystery, Reiko discovers a weekend hideaway that the teenagers all went to, finds the cursed videotape and watches it. If the curse is to be believed, she only has one week to live. Everything about the case feels like a real threat. She teams up with her ex-husband, Ryuji, to try and beat the curse…

I enjoy every scene in the film, how the mystery is unveiled, how it constantly raises as many new questions as it answers. The curse worsens, getting increasingly more threatening as she gets in deeper. There are a few shock moments, but it’s not long before I start getting the creeps.

A sort of metal squealing sound signals that the curse is spreadind. The background music is tonal and unsettling, rather than musical. The camera only gives away glimpses of ghosts and shadows. Something is nearby, but we can’t see what. The camerawork is very still, always waiting for something bad to happen.

As Reiko watches the cursed videotape, we realise that we’re watching it too. The weird assembly of seemingly unrelated nightmare images, provide more clues for her and Ryuji. Leading them both to the distant Oshima Island, in search of a psychic who could predict volcanic eruptions.

The journey to the island helps reinforce the reality of their situation. Nothing in the whole film looks like a set. It all looks like it was shot on location. Similarly, the video and a key flashback scene really look as if they were really made forty years earlier. It all looks real.

For those who haven’t seen the film, I still can’t spoil it. But keep your eyes on that video - each time you see it, it changes a little. Brrrr.


Ring is a very, very tightly-constructed mystery, a classic ghost story with great hair-raising moments as well as jolts. A complete contrast from the gore we’re wading through at the moment. It’s a testament to the writer, producer and director, that the film improves on the book. The sequels would then feed off both this film and the other books to create several parallel stories riffing on the same themes. A videotape. A well. And a girl called Sadako.

Although influenced by the ghost stories and older horror movies of Japan, the image of a vengeful ghost, a woman in a floor-length white dress with long black hair covering her face, is now a new horror icon. But besides the way she looks, the way she moves is just as scary…

Of course, the first time I watched Ring was the best. Electrifying. Now, it’s still creepy but no longer full of surprises. But it is still very watchable - for the story, the atmosphere, the impeccable acting and meticulous directing. But apart from the centre-stage videotape, the film hasn’t dated at all. It’s a true classic, an essential film to help horror buffs make sense of half the horror films that have been made since, indeed most of the ones to come from the east.

Needless to say, after the worldwide success of the story, Hideo Nakata, the director of Ring has been busy ever since. His other horror stories include Dark Water, Death Note and most recently Kaidan. He directed the American sequel The Ring Two and is currectly lined up for The Ring Three, according to IMDB. His earlier movie ghost stories are interesting, but not scary - Don't Look Up (Ghost Actress) and Curse, Death & Spirit.

Presumably Nanako Matsushima, who played Reiko, wanted to distance herself from horror after this. Hiroyuki Sanada, who played Ryuji, has also kept a high profile rather than a low-budget horror one. He starred in the excellent drama The Twilight Samurai, and has appeared in US films The Last Samurai and Speed Racer.

Ring was initially released by Tartan in the UK with poorly legible subtitles from a weaving, scratched print. It's since been remastered in the UK, but only in a boxset of all three Japanese Ring films, plus Hideo Nakata's non-essential, non-horror, children's film Sleeping Bride. The film is singly available in the US as Ringu, and in a boxset with the two Japanese sequels as Ringu: Anthology of Terror.

I'm currently exploring all of the films in Ring mythology - the overview, and links to other Ring sites and reviews, is all here.