Más negro que la noche (1975)

...aka: Blacker Than the Night

Directed by:
Carlos Enrique Taboada

Aspiring actress Ofelia (Claudia Islas) is living in a crowded apartment with three other young women; librarian Aurora (Susana Dosamantes), model Marta (Lucía Méndez) and Pilar (Helena Rojo), who's living off alimony checks from her ex-husband Roberto (Pedro Armendáriz Jr.), when she's learns she's just inherited some property after the passing of her stern great aunt Susana (Tamara Garina). The inheritance includes a large country home, which Ofelia and her friends promptly move into. The only stipulation is that she must must care for Susana's beloved pet cat Bequer, who the sinister live-in housekeeper Sofia (Alicia Palacios) refers to as "blacker than the night." Three of the ladies aren't exactly cat people and when Aurora's pet canary is killed, the cat itself mysteriously disappears, only to be found dead in the home's cellar days later. Soon after, each of the ladies begin hearing eerie crying sounds and a female voice calling for the cat, are paid visits by the dead aunt's black-clad, cane-carrying ghost and begin dying in mysterious ways.

Overall, it's a mild, predictable ghost tale; talky, slow-moving and with just a handful of potent horror/ suspense scenes. It's well-made, though, and the cast is appealing. But what makes this one a little more interesting than others of its type is that it seems to look at "modern" young ladies of the time with genuine disdain. All three of Ofelia's friends are - for the most part - rude, uncompassionate, gossipy, flighty, indecisive, oblivious and self-centered. They seem to have no reverence for things of the past, no respect for the simplest of rules and no appreciation for the antiquities contained in their new home (which they refer to as "junk"). They mock the elderly housekeeper and scoff at her warnings; only warming to her when they feel like their asses are on the line. It's an obvious comment on the attitude of the then-new generation of provocatively-attired young women from an aged, conservative, male stance. I could see some being faintly offended by that (granted anyone notices or even cares), but hell, in a world where the cast of The Hills and Paris Hilton are deemed worthy of fame and attention, I have no problem with someone turning their nose up at the increase in what he / she feels is the willfully ignorant, especially in something that's over 30 years old.

Taboada, the most respected of all of Mexico's horror filmmakers, began his career scripting such south-of-the-border genre fare such as the Nostradamus series (1960) and THE WITCH'S MIRROR (1962) before moving on to direct such acclaimed films as HASTA EL VIENTO TIENE MIEDO (1968; "Tonight, Even the Wind is Afraid") and THE BOOK OF STONE (1969).

★★1/2

Sounds of Silence (1989)

Directed by:
Peter Borg

American photographer Peter Mitchell (Peter Nelson), who's still got some growing up to do, is surprised to learn that an unheard of distant relative all the way in Sweden has died and left him an inheritance. He, along with his successful mystery novelist girlfriend Sarah Richards (Kristen Jensen) and her deaf young son Dennis (Dennis Castillo), travel abroad and temporarily move into their newly aquired mansion while Peter decides whether he wants to keep it or sell it. Locals shun Peter when they find out who he's related to, some sinister people filter in and out and almost immediately Dennis starts suffering from nightmarish visions of a ghostly young boy dressed in rags at an abadoned building formerly used as an orphanage. The boy turns out to be Bill (Jonas Ivarsson), the long-dead young son of Peter's deceased spinster relative, and a grim tale of child abuse and murder soon unfolds.

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Though definitely not for all tastes (it's slow-moving, a bit overlong and virtually gore-free...), I thought this was a surprisingly good, well-made and well-plotted film that works just fine for what it was intended to be; an old-fashioned ghost story. It's atmospheric, the cold Autumnal scenery provides a nice backdrop to the action, there are some effectively spooky moments spread throughout and the cinematogaphy (including some wonderfully eerie shots of the camera floating through the haunted orphanage hallways) is often excellent. The cast is pretty good, too, with solid lead actors and nice supporting performances from Vanja Rodefeldt as a housekeeper, Rico Rönnbäck as an attorney and Gunnar Öhlund as the guy who used to run the orphanage... and has a sledgehammer wielding psycho of a son. Special guest star Troy Donahue (the only real 'name' in the cast, at least to U.S. audiences) appears in just two brief scenes.

Director Borg (who co-scripted with Marc Fiorini) also made the even more obscure SCORCHED HEAT (1987) and apparently came to America at one point only to serve as an assistant director on the schlocky CAMP FEAR (1990) before falling off the map. Wonder what happened to him?

There was an American video release years back on the Promark label, though to my knowledge it's never been released on DVD. It'll be debuting at #6 on my Top 10 for 1989.

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★★★

Strange Door, The (1951)

...aka: Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Door

Directed by:

Joseph Pevney

Based on the Robert Louis Stevenson story "The Sire de Maletroit's Door," this dark, set-bound period melodrama seems like an attempt by Universal to reboot the line of gothic horror films they used to specialize in, which had gone out of vogue in the mid-1940s. This didn't accomplish that much during its day - audiences seemed more interested in atomic age sci-fi/horror at the time - but it remains a pretty fun watch thanks primarily to the deliciously over-the-top performance of Charles Laughton. Fleeing after a bar room brawl leaves a man dead, Denis de Beaulieu (Richard "Stapley"/ Wyler), a bad egg descendant of noblemen, ends up at taking refuge in the castle home of Alain de Maletroit (Mr. Laughton). The sanctuary soon turns into an uncomfortable situation as Denis finds himself at the mercy of the gluttonous, vengeance-mad Frenchman, who keeps him there against his will and tries to force him to marry his niece Blanche (Sally Forrest). Years earlier, Alain's brother Edmond (Paul Cavanagh) stole away the woman he loved and now, you see, he wants revenge by ruining Blanche's life.

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Second-billed Boris Karloff has a disappointingly small role as manservant Voltan, who works for Alain but has secretly sworn allegiance to Edmond, who's being kept prison in the castle's dungeon away from a daughter who assumes he's dead. Though it drags a bit in the middle and offers few surprises, the film has an intriguing opening sequence and a lively finale to keep you watching. Well-acted by all (including Michael Pate and Alan Napier in supporting roles), though the entire film is pretty much dominated by Laughton whenever he's on screen. The sets and production design are both good and the cinematography's decent; though the score is comprised entirely of familiar stock music.

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A nice-looking print of the film is available on the Universal release "The Boris Karloff Collection;" a welcome box set that also includes NIGHT KEY (1937), TOWER OF LONDON (1939), THE CLIMAX (1944) and THE BLACK CASTLE (1952; which also features Karloff in a smaller role).

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★★1/2

Zombies of Mora Tau (1957)

...aka: Dead That Walk, The
...aka: Secret of Mora Tau, The

Directed by:
Edward L. Cahn

In the darkness of an ancient world -- on a shore that time has forgotten -- there is a twilight between life and death. Here dwell those nameless creatures who are condemned to prowl the land eternally - The Walking Dead. And so begins one of the earliest zombie flicks we'll be covering on this blog. Nope, these aren't zombies who rise up from cemeteries, eat people and go down with a shot to the head. They're also not like the voodoo-entranced, docile dead of the 30s and 40s either. These guys, though technically zombies, are more like phantom figures. They look pretty much human aside from some strategically placed seaweed and their sole purpose is to guard a cache of diamonds that's hidden somewhere on the ocean floor. The zombies are actually the ten men who died when their ship sank sixty years earlier and now reside in open caskets in a nearby mausoleum. Anyone who goes looking for the treasure face death at the hands of the seaweed-covered undead sailors.

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Despite their presence, wealthy tycoon George Harrison (Joel Ashley) organizes a trip to Africa to search for the diamonds. He brings along expert diver Jeff Clark (Gregg Palmer, who'd just faced off against another underwater fiend in the previous year's THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US), scientist Dr. Jonathan Eggert (Morris Arkrum) and a small crew. He also drags along his sarcastic, sexpot wife Mona (ATTACK OF THE 50-FOOT WOMAN's Allison Hayes) to lounge around on the ship in a bikini and make bitchy comments. Everyone stays at the plantation home of elderly widow Mrs. Peters (Marjorie Eaton), who knows all about the zombie legend since her husband is one of them. Also thrown into the mix is Grandma Peters' blonde granddaughter Jan (Autumn Russell), who clearly picked the wrong time for a visit.

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Talky, slow, darkly photographed, almost entirely devoid of chills and thrills and all-around silly, this isn't what I'd consider a must-see, but it's a mildly enjoyable 70-minute curio if you're interested in the development of the zombie film. The subgenre as we know it today, as well as the characteristics we usually associate with zombies, are mostly derived from NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968). Interestingly though, the zombies in Night and the zombies here do at least share a couple of similarities; namely their fear of fire and, though it's never shown or explained how they're able to do it here, their ability to turn humans into zombies. Then again, if you want to get technical about it, the underwater scenes are unconvincing, the generic stock music score is a bore, the film basically just peters out by the end and most of the performances are flat, though Hayes does try to her best to liven things up a little bit. Well, while she still has a pulse, at least.

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Sony Pictures released this as part of the Sam Katzman Collection; a two disc set that also includes the Katzman productions CREATURE WITH THE ATOM BRAIN (1955), THE WEREWOLF (1956) and THE GIANT CLAW (1957).

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★★

Hollow Gate (1988)

Directed by:

Ray Di Zazzo

An alcoholic tries to drown his young son after he fails at the bobbing-for-apple game (!) at a Halloween party. Ten years later, the now grown boy – Mark (Addison Randall) – is a mentally disturbed guy who seems to go bonkers every year when All Hallow’s Ever rolls around. He blows up an obnoxious guy and his date in their car (by putting her panties in the gas tank and lighting them right before they drive off!) and then two years later attacks a girl who won’t go on a date with him. He’s placed in an institution briefly before being released into the care of his wealthy widowed grandmother, Mrs. Nelson (Pat Shalsant), who owns a large country estate called Hollowgate. Granny keeps him insolated in a secure room but makes the mistake of letting him out on Halloween when he hasn’t taken his medication. He murders her with a pair of scissors and then sets about stalking and killing four teenagers; Kim (Katrina Alexy), Allen (Richard Dry), Mandy (Patricia Jacques) and Billy (J.J. Miller), who he traps on his grounds with an electric fence that surrounds the property. Mark dons different costumes and personas (soldier, hunter, doctor, etc.) and kills with axe, shotgun, combine harvester and a pair of killer Golden Retrievers (!?) while overacting and spouting off various silly one-liners.

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Goofy, cheap, highly dumb cheese? Absolutely. But in comparison to other shot-on-video titles of the 80s, it's surprisingly fun and watchable, with decent cinematography, settings and an enthusiastic cast. Randall plays the killer for high camp, and the rest of the cast are adequate. The victims are all amusingly sensitive, touchy-feely and overly emotional. Producers Joseph Merhi and Richard Pepin also made the horror EPITAPH, before finding their niche in the direct-to-video action market.

★★

A Reencarnação do Sexo (1982)

... aka: Mortal Possession: The Reincarnation of Sex

... aka: Posesión Mortal: La reencarnación del sexo

... aka: Reincarnation of Sex, The

Directed by:

Luiz Castellini

According to the Coffin Joe bio "Maldito," written by Andre Marcinski and Ivan Finolli, the Brazilian film industry was on its last legs by the time the 1980s rolled around. The only way the industry could keep going was to shift its attentions away from mainstream films and focus its attentions on X-rated adult features. In fact, of the 679 films produced in the country during the decade, 425 were actually hardcore porno. While Reincarnation seems to be among the non-hardcore Brazilian films of the time (unless I saw a censored version that excludes close-ups) it's still loaded to the gills with sex, sex and, you guessed it, even more sex. The scenes are technically soft and about as graphic as what you might find late at night on Cinemax, except for one scene involving a sex toy (I'll be getting to that later...) and some full frontal male nudity (which is still pretty taboo on U.S. cable channels for some strange reason).

At a secluded farmhouse, teen Patricia (Patricia Scalvi) and a farmhand named Antonio (Artur Rovedeer) have loud sex, which seems to really piss off the girl’s father (Roque Rodrigues). The next day, dad lures the lover out into the woods, chops him up with an axe and then buries the body. The lover’s vengeful spirit then calls out to the girl at night, leading her to his body. She's possessed, goes bonkers and starts rubbing blood all over her body. The film then cuts to “Dez Anos Depois” as another young couple – Celia (Celia Santos) and Fabio (Fabio Vilalonga) – purchase the same home and move in. Celia hears the lover's voice, becomes possessed and turns into a nympho who’s always running around the house naked and demanding rough sex. She also has visions of Patricia floating outside her window a la the vampire kid in Salem's Lot. While most men might be in heaven, Fabio becomes concerned that his wife isn't quite herself and contacts his friend Roberto (Roberto Miranda) for help. Before Roberto gets there, Celia manages to get her hubby into bed and stabs him to death during sex. But you think that's gonna stop her? Ha! She just keeps on going on top of Fabio's corpse and then decapitates him when she's done! Sharon Stone, eat your heart out.

Next up, an older man in a wheelchair (who I think is the real estate agent) lets his daughter Ligia (Ligia de Paula) move into the home despite the previous events. Thanks dad! Ligia’s hairy-armpitted lesbian friend Ana Maria (Ana Maria Kriesler) shows up and the two ladies do some major rubdowns in the shower before moving on to even more graphic things. Yep, this thing looks like it's about to cross into X territory when Ana Maria whips out a dildo and starts simulating oral sex on it while it’s rested in between Ligia’s thighs. But then the ghost of Patricia shows up to help reassure us this is a horror film by slamming Anna Maria’s head onto the sex toy until she’s dead. Death by deep throating a dildo? Yup. Some of the victims are later seen in a nuthouse and the last half hour mostly eschews the sex for plot. Too bad there are no subs on this rarity so I had no clue what any of them were saying.

All in all, adequate sleaze.

★★

Il maestro del terrore (1988)

... aka: Alta tensione - Il maestro del terrore

... aka: Prince of Terror, The

Directed by:

Lamberto Bava

One of the rarest of Lamberto Bava’s 80s horrors, this – sort of a home invasion thriller with a supernatural twist - has never been officially released anywhere to my knowledge; not even in Italy. Bootleg copies exist though, and the one I obtained had a “Not For Commercial Use” warning at the bottom of the screen the entire time. It’s silly, farfetched and confusing, but entertaining and surprisingly well made. The “Prince of Terror” is the name the media has given to famous Romanian horror movie director Vincent Omen (Tomas Arana). Omen is having problems on the set of his latest zombie movie and decices, along with the film’s producer Philip Moses (Pascal Druant), to fire scriptwriter Paul Hillary (David Brandon), whom he claims is a plagiarist (“It’s a tribute, not a ripoff!”). While being interviewed, Omen tells a reporter (Virginia Bryant) “I am the devil” and plays with golf ball with “666” on it. Hints are also made that he may be ageless, or not quite human. Though he may be more than he seems, Vincent lives a relatively normal life in an ultra-modern gated mansion (complete with horror movie props) with his wife Betty (Carole Andre), their teenage daughter Susan (Joyce Pitti) and their pet pooch Demon (!)

After hosting a dinner for Philip and an airhead actress named Magda (Marina Viro), strange and horrifying things begin happening. The toilet overflows with blood and pages of Paul’s script are found stuffed inside. In an unintentionally hilarious scene, the daughter goes to pick up her dog and removes only the skin. After the dog is placed in a garbage can outside, someone heaves it back through a window. The power goes out and before long, a bald maniac breaks into the home and starts terrorizing everyone. The killer turns out to be Eddie Felson (Ulisse Minervini), a former actor burned on a movie set over a decade earlier who blames Omen for ruining his career. He may or may not be acting alone. And there’s more to the story than just that. The film also makes room for bear trap and chainsaw usage, a hand getting impaled with a shard of glass, a Poe moment of someone getting bricked up behind a wall, a decapitation, a robot (!) and a killer golf ball (!!) that explodes an eyeball on contact!

Many of the leads seem to be speaking English and the acting is actually pretty good aside from the daughter, who looks older than her mother yet irritatingly acts like a whiny 7-year-old. There’s plenty of gore (by Sergio Stivaletti), the screenplay (from the prolific Dardano Sacchetti) offers up some genuine surprises along the way, the home it’s set in looks great and Gianfranco Transunto’s cinematography and Simon Boswell’s score are both fine. If only the whole thing weren’t so silly and it wasn’t saddled with such an annoyingly inconclusive ending… Oh well, Lamberto’s done much worse than this.

★★1/2