Sorcerers, The (1967)

Directed by:
Michael Reeves

Elderly, impoverished professor Dr. Marcus Monserrat (Boris Karloff) promises to painlessly cure stammering, self consciousness, anxiety and other psychological problems through "medical hypnosis." He and his wife/assistant Estelle (Catherine Lacey) run a small clinic out of their own home where they treat patients, but are actually looking for a guinea pig in their mind-control experiments as young antiquity store owner Michael (Ian Ogilvy) soon finds out. While hanging out in a cafe, Michael is approached by Marcus, who promises "an extraordinary evening" if he'll simply follow him home. Michael, who's looking for some excitement and getting a bit bored hanging out in swingin' London clubs with his mechanic best friend Alan (Victor Henry) and sort-of girlfriend Nicole (Elizabeth Ercy), takes him up on the offer, allows the professor to hook him up to a machine, some psychedelic swirls are projected onto his face and now the professor and his wife can control his every action. Not only that, they can also feel exactly what he feels.

Though Marcus wants to immediately share his discovery with the scientific community so it can be used for good, Estelle talks him out of it. She wants vindication for him having been laughed at and discredited by his peers 30 years earlier, which effectively ended his professional career and caused them financial hardship ever since. Estelle first uses their hold over Michael to make him break into a store and steal a fur coat. She then wants to feel the exhilaration of speeding across the country on a motorcycle and the adrenaline rush associated with physical violence. The more she experiences, the more power-mad she becomes. Estelle incapacitates her already frail husband, destroys his equipment and eventually forces Michael to stab his ex-girlfriend (Susan George) to death with a pair of scissors and strangle a pop singer (Dani Sheridan). Michael's chums begin to realize something's not quite right and the cops (led by Ivor Dean) start to close in on him.

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I'm not quite sure what the "point" of this might be, but the storyline itself is full of subtext that helps to keep things interesting. We have an older couple controlling and living vicariously through a young host; experiencing the thrills and highs of a liberated, carefree youth that they likely never had a chance to experience in their own lifetime. As compromise, any time Michael experiences pain or injury, it's also felt by Marcus and Estelle. We also have the power play between husband and wife. From all indications, Estelle has been a supportive, subservient housewife for many years, always cooking her husband dinner and dilligently assisting him in his experiments. The very moment she gets a little control, she uses her newfound freedom to lash out, get the upper hand on her husband and enact out her own little violent scenarios.

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Though the film certainly falls short of its true potential, often seems unfocused and spends too much time showcasing lame pop acts at the nightclub (likely to appeal to a younger audience), this still has its merits. Especially noteworthy are the two lead performances; Karloff does a fine job engaging our sympathies, and he's matched every step of the way by Lacey in the showier role as the increasingly unhinged wife.

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Director Reeves had previously made THE SHE-BEAST (1965), went on to his greatest glory a year after this one with WITCHFINDER GENERAL (1968) and died of an "accidental barbituate overdose" in 1969 right before production was to begin on THE OBLONG BOX (1969), a project that was handed over to director Gordon Hessler. He was just twenty-five years old. Production company Tigon Film Distributors also released CASTLE OF THE LIVING DEAD (1964), which was co-written by Reeves, who also served as second unit director on the film.

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Allied Artists handled theatrical distribution here in the U.S., though it's never been officially released here on DVD.

★★1/2

Fright (1971)

...aka: I'm Alone and I'm Scared

...aka: Night Legs

Directed by:

Peter Collinson

Fright starts out on the right note, with an attractive blonde college student named Amanda (Susan George) heading through the dark woods toward a large, remote country home, all set to an eerie ballad called "Ladybird." When she arrives she meets Jim (George Cole) and Helen (Honor Blackman), a presumably married couple who live there with their 3-year-old child Tara (Tara Collinson). The parents show Amanda around, introduce her to their child (who's already tucked in bed and about ready to go to sleep), show her how to work the TV (where she'll later watch The Plague of the Zombies), give her their contact information and head out for the night. The mother also acts strangely apprehensive about leaving Amanda there alone, but Jim convinces her everything will be OK. It's a fair enough introductory 20-minute sequence that has echoes of such later films as BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974), HALLOWEEN (1978), When a Stranger Calls (1979) and several other films, except this was actually made first. So you have to give credit where credit is due, even though one might not be too thrilled with the eventual outcome.

Unfortunately, after the solid set-up with the babysitter-left-alone-in-a-big-old-creepy-house, the film basically falls apart and becomes overwrought and shrill. Someone seems to be creeping around outside the estate, peeping in the windows and such. It turns out to be a maniac who has recently escaped from an insane asylum and is somehow linked to the mother and child. Instead of eliciting chills, the killer character (as played by Ian Bannen) comes off ludicrously. His nonstop, incomprehensible babbling and wide-eyed stares are unintentionally hilarious, not at all creepy. And what was up with Susan George's character? She seems every bit as unstable as the killer; freaking out, screaming and crying over the most insignificant things imaginable early on. 

Many movies like this try to hint that the lead female is a virgin; I guess to make her seem more vulnerable. This one has to beat you over the head with the fact by throwing in an equally annoying pushy suitor (Dennis Waterman) who basically shows up to try to date rape her and then die. Then they predictably give the killer his own would-be rape scene which tries to fuel the silly surprise 'revenge' ending. Unfortunately, George's character is so grating throughout you can't sympathize much with her. You basically just want someone to stuff a sock in her mouth and do whatever they want with her. No one in this film is even remotely likable and you could basically care less what happen to any of them. For a slasher style film like this, you really need a decent central character to revolve all the horror scenes around or else many people will find it hard to get involved. I feel this film lacks that.

And I don't blame actress Susan George for this. She did a decent job in her role. She's appealing, looks good and her crying and screaming and emoting were all pretty convincing. It's the horrible screenplay, character arcs and dialogue that make this a chore to sit through. The terror isn't gradually built. There's a hysterical tone to the entire film that shows up early on and never goes away, making the whole experience pretty monotonous. Scenes at the house are cut between scenes of Blackman and Cole's night out on the town, which reveal very little aside for a predictable twist that's already telegraphed early on. Things wrap up with a police stand-off at the home, which has some nasty scenes of the killer threatening to slit George and the child's throats with a shard of glass. This sequence is fairly solid for the most part, except it's ultimately ruined by the inclusion of an unnecessary and lame shock twist, which left a bad taste in my mouth.

★★

Venom (1981)

Directed by:

Piers Haggard

Review coming soon.

★★

Tintorera (1977)

...aka: Bloody Waters
...aka: Killer Shark
...aka: Silent Death, The
...aka: Tiger Shark

Directed by:
René Cardona, Jr.

Horrendous JAWS cash-in mixes the killing spree of a giant tiger shark ("Tintorera") with the barely-clad sexual hijinks of a bunch of vacuous, intoxicated, hedonistic vacationers at a Club Med style resort. Skimpy on the horror scenes (the first attack doesn't even come until 30 minutes into the movie, and it's even longer until you get to the second one), but there's lots of loosely attired male and female flesh on display, lots of nauseating soap opera-level drama, lots of scenery and lots of random shots of the sun and water to ensure you're on the verge of dozing off throughout. Wealthy American Steven (Hugo Stiglitz) is on vacation in Mexico recovering from a nervous breakdown. He balances his time between lounging on his yacht in his speedo and scouring the beach with his binoculars checking out bikini-clad babes running around. He catches a glimpse of British tourist Patricia (Fiona Lewis), buys her a drink and next thing you know they're floating around on a raft half-naked talking about how much they're in love. After an argument, Patricia storms off and immediately starts seeing part-time shark hunter/scuba instructor and full-time rent-a-stud Mike (Andres Garcia). One morning Patricia decides to go for a nude swim and is immediately gobbled up by a large shark.

Steven and Mike forget about their previous fight (and obviously forget about Patricia since she's never mentioned again), begin to bond over their love for the ladies and start referring to one another as "my friend" and "my man." There's an attempt to justify all the objectifying and womanizing that goes on with a few brief snippets of dialogue about how men and women exploit one another, but whatever. When you see Mike at the bar with two babes telling Steven, "You can have whichever you want..." as the drunken bimbos giggle and nod their heads in indifference you pretty much key in to this film's mindset. Anyway, the two basically bed whatever willing ladies come their way, and believe me, every lady in this movie is willing. You almost begin to think this movie isn't striving to be anything more than an adolescent male sex fantasy, which would have been fine if you weren't expecting a horror movie with a giant, killer shark.

After a load of wasted time dedicated to sexual conquests, a bunch of drunkards partying on the boat and some shark harpooning (don't know if the sharks are actually being killed, but it sure looks like it), the guys find a depressed-looking Susan George in the bar downing drinks. This time, instead of fighting over the babe or trading the babe off, they decided to "share" the babe. This sparks some discussion that attempts to clarify the relationship everyone is involved in and assure the audience that three-way relationships aren't exactly aberrant behavior. A concerned looking Steven notes, "The thing is, I'm not even jealous when she's with you. On the contrary, I like what she does. And that's precisely what frightens me." This is followed by uneasy smiles and finally grins and understanding looks exchanged by both men in extreme close-up. Strange. Susan says "I'm not thinking, I'm just living." Yes, to any rational human the polyamorous lifestyle is practically harmless and the participants are adults capable of making their own decisions about who they want to love and fuck. But when Susan begins talking about having their love child, you'll be wondering where the hell the killer shark swam off to. And why the hell haven't we seen a killer shark since Fiona Lewis was devoured? Well, old Tintorera finally does show up to crash the party and eat one of the principals. I guess there will be no child conceived of the love of two fathers after all. Bummer.

So it's back to the mainland and the usual crap with an older guy offering to "trade" two blondes (one played by very lovely, chain-smoking future-TV-star-turned-horror-movie-regular Priscilla Barnes) for two brunettes (who Mark and Steve already nailed previously). Everyone jumps in the water for a swim and the shark shows up to eat one of the girls. Will our surviving hero finally get his revenge against the underwater fiend? You're not likely to really care and quite frankly you can fast-forward through the whole film and walk away with as much as you could have by actually sitting through it. There is not much overall violence, but a few bloody scenes and while there's a generous amount of nudity, there is no actual sex.

★