The 2015 Orloks - 1971 Results

Started many moons ago by Prof-Hieronymos-Grost, the Orloks were a yearly poll on the IMDb horror boards where users submitted Top 5 lists of their favorite horror movies for each year. All of the results were then tabulated to come up with a definitive list of the year's most-liked genre offerings. Alas, when the good Professor decided to depart the boards years ago, the awards went with him... that is until now. IMDb-er seth_yeah - taking on responsibilities as both host and calculator - has decided to bring back this long-standing tradition in 2015, and now the awards will have a permanent place right here on this blog. Scoring is rather simple and done on a weighted system where first choice receives 5 points, second choice 4 points, etc., with a +1 bonus then awarded to the #1 selection on each list. IMDb release years are being used, but it is left up to voters to determine what they may or may not consider horror (which may be in conflict with IMDb's genre labeling system). If you'd like to participate, head on over to the IMDb HORROR BOARDS to vote! So without any further ado, the results...

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1971

Top 5

* * * * * * * * * *

1. Reazione a catena (Bay of Blood)

Italy / 44 points / Mario Bava

* * * * * * * * * *

2. Let's Scare Jessica to Death

USA / 33 points / John D. Hancock

* * * * * * * * * *

3. The Abominable Dr. Phibes

UK, USA / 30 points / Robert Fuest

* * * * * * * * * *

4. The Devils

UK / 26 points / Ken Russell

* * * * * * * * * *

5. Duel

USA [TV] / 24 points / Steven Spielberg

* * * * * * * * * *

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Making the Top 10:

6. Les lèvres rouges (Daughters of Darkness) / Belgium, France, West Germany / 20 points / Harry Kümel
7. Blood on Satan's Claw, The / UK / 15 points / Piers Haggard
8. Lo strano vizio della Signora Wardh (The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh) / Italy, Spain / 13 points / Sergio Martino
9. (tie) Beguiled, The / USA / 10 points / Don Siegel
9. (tie) La corta notte delle bambole di vetro (Short Night of the Glass Dolls) / Italy, West Germany, Yugoslavia / 10 points / Aldo Lado
10. (tie) Fright / UK / 8 points / Peter Collinson
10. (tie) Omega Man, The / USA / 8 points / Boris Sagal
10. (tie) Una lucertola con la pelle di donna (A Lizard in a Woman's Skin) / France, Italy, Spain / 8 points / Lucio Fulci

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Others receiving votes:

- Bacchanale / USA / John Amero and Lem Amero
- Blood and Lace / USA / Philip S. Gilbert
- Clockwork Orange, A / UK, USA / Stanley Kubrick
- Dr. Jekyll & Sister Hyde / UK / Roy Ward Baker
- El techo de cristal (Glass Ceiling) / Spain / Eloy de la Iglesia
- Frustration / France / José Bénazéraf
- Gebissen wird nur nachts (The Vampire Happening) / West Germany / Freddie Francis
- Giornata nera per l'ariete (The Fifth Cord) / Italy / Luigi Bazzoni
- Headless Eyes, The / USA / Kent Bateman
- House That Dripped Blood, The / UK / Peter Duffell
- La coda dello scorpione (The Case of the Scorpion's Tail) / Italy, Spain / Sergio Martino
- La noche de Walpurgis (The Werewolf vs. the Vampire Woman) / Spain, West Germany / León Klimovsky
- La philosophie dans le boudoir (Beyond Love and Evil) / France / Jacques Scandelari
- La plus longue nuit du diable (The Devil's Nightmare) / Belgium, Italy / Jean Brismée
- L'araignée d'eau (The Water Spider) / France / Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe
- La tarantola dal ventre nero (Black Belly of the Tarantula) / France, Italy / Paolo Cavara
- Le frisson des vampires (The Shiver of the Vampires) / France / Jean Rollin
- Mais ne nous délivrez pas du mal (Don't Deliver Us from Evil) / France / Joël Séria
- Morgane et ses nymphes (Girl Slaves of Morgana Le Fay) / France / Bruno Gantillon
- Night Digger, The / UK / Alastair Reid
- Night Visitor, The / Sweden, USA / Laslo Benedek
- Return of Count Yorga, The / USA / Bob Kelljan
- Sometimes Aunt Martha Does Dreadful Things / USA / Thomas Casey
- 10 Rillington Place / UK / Richard Fleischer
- Trzecia czesc nocy (The Third Part of the Night) / Poland / Andrzej Zulawski
- Twins of Evil / UK / John Hough
- Una farfalla con le ali insanguinate (The Bloodstained Butterfly) / Italy / Duccio Tessari
- What's the Matter with Helen? / USA / Curtis Harrington
- Willard / USA / Daniel Mann
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Links here will be connected when the time comes.

< Back to 1970                    Continue to 1972 >

The 2015 Orloks - 1992 Results

Started many moons ago by Prof-Hieronymos-Grost, the Orloks were a yearly poll on the IMDb horror boards where users submitted Top 5 lists of their favorite horror movies for each year. All of the results were then tabulated to come up with a definitive list of the year's most-liked genre offerings. Alas, when the good Professor decided to depart the boards years ago, the awards went with him... that is until now. IMDb-er seth_yeah - taking on responsibilities as both host and calculator - has decided to bring back this long-standing tradition in 2015, and now the awards will have a permanent place right here on this blog. Scoring is rather simple and done on a weighted system where first choice receives 5 points, second choice 4 points, etc., with a +1 bonus then awarded to the #1 selection on each list. IMDb release years are being used, but it is left up to voters to determine what they may or may not consider horror (which may be in conflict with IMDb's genre labeling system). If you'd like to participate, head on over to the IMDb HORROR BOARDS to vote! So without any further ado, the results...

_________________________________________________________________________________

1992

Top 5

* * * * * * * * * *

1. Candyman

USA / 80 points / Bernard Rose

* * * * * * * * * *

2. Dead Alive (Braindead)

New Zealand / 74 points / Peter Jackson

* * * * * * * * * *

3. Army of Darkness

USA / 39 points / Sam Raimi

* * * * * * * * * *

4. (tie) Dracula (Bram Stoker's Dracula)

USA / 30 points / Francis Ford Coppola

* * * * * * * * * *

4. (tie) Dust Devil

South Africa, UK / 30 points / Richard Stanley

* * * * * * * * * *

5. C'est arrivé près de chez vous (Man Bites Dog)

Belgium / 25 points / Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel and Benoît Poelvoorde.

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Making the Top 10:

6. Innocent Blood / USA / 24 points / John Landis
7. Alien³ / USA / 20 points / David Fincher
8. Tetsuo II: Body Hammer / Japan / 9 points / Shinya Tsukamoto
9. Demonic Toys / USA / 7 points / Peter Manoogian
10. (tie) Kanem (The Stone) / Russia / 6 points / Aleksandr Sokurov
10. (tie) Vampyr: A Soap Opera, The / USA / 6 points / Nigel Finch and Robert Chevara

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Others receiving votes:

- Amityville 1992: It's About Time / USA / Tony Randel
- Auntie Lee's Meat Pies / USA /  Joseph R. Robertson
- Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice / USA / David A. Prior
- De Johnsons (The Johnsons) / Netherlands / Rudolf van den Berg
- Dr. Giggles / Japan, USA / Manny Coto
- Dollhouse Murders, The / USA [TV] / Dianne Haak-Edson
- Ghostwatch / UK [TV] / Lesley Manning
- Gongofer / Russia / Bakhyt Kilibayev
- Happy Hell Night / Canada, Yugoslavia / Brian Owens
- Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth / Canada, USA / Anthony Hickox
- Hikarigoke (Shiny Moss) / Japan / Kei Kumai
- Lao mao (The Cat) / Hong Kong / Ngai Choi Lam
- Lawnmower Man, The / Japan, UK, USA / Brett Leonard
- Mad at the Moon / USA / Martin Donovan
- Mikey / USA / Dennis Dimster
- Mindwarp / USA / Steve Barnett
- Pet Sematary II / USA / Mary Lambert
- Prikosnoveniye (Contact) / Russia / Albert S. Mkrtchyan
- Scanners III: The Takeover / Canada, USA / Christian Duguay
- Sleepwalkers / USA / Mick Garris
- Tale of a Vampire / UK / Shimako Sato
- Unnamable II: The Statement of Randolph Carter, The / USA / Jean-Paul Ouellette
- Vagrant, The / France, USA / Chris Walas
- Violent Shit II / Germany / Andreas Schnaas
- Xin jiang shi xian shenge (Mr. Vampire 5) / Hong Kong / Ricky Lau
- Yao guai du shi (Wizard's Curse) / Hong Kong / Cheung-Yan Yuen
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Links here will be connected when the time comes.

< Back to 1991                    Continue to 1993 >

X: The Unknown (1956)

... aka: X contro il centro atomico (X versus the Atomic Center)

... aka: X... the Unknown

Directed by:

Leslie Norman

Joseph Losey (uncredited)

Made smack in the middle of the two classic black-and-white Quatermass films; the 1955 hit The Quatermass Xperiment (aka The Creeping Unknown in the U.S.) and 1957's Quatermass 2 (aka Enemy from Space in the U.S.), this was actually originally written and planned as a follow-up to the first Quatermass. However, things didn't go quite as planned as Quatermass creator Nigel Kneale refused to let them use the name. The lead character's name was then changed... but I doubt much else was because this definitely in done in the spirit of the first Quatermass. X is also noteworthy in several other regards. For starters, it was among just a small handful of Hammer Film Productions in the horror genre made before the huge international success of The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) changed the dynamic (and reputation) of the studio forever. Second, it marked the feature screenplay debut of Jimmy Sangster, who'd become one of the top horror, fantasy and sci-fi screenwriters in Britain for several decades afterward and also went on to write many of Hammer's finest films. Third, there's a much more famous American film made just two years later that pretty blatantly copies key aspects of this one. And finally, there were a few minor issues both during production and after the film was completed...

An interesting director; Joseph Losey, was initially chosen for the project. Losey was a victim of the Hollywood blacklist and ended up exiled to the UK for a spell, where he worked on a handful of films utilizing an alias (usually "Joseph Walton;" his first and middle names). However, somewhere early on in production, Losey either quit or was let go. I have read three completely different accounts about what happened: 1. Losey lost interest in the movie and quit on his own accord. 2. Losey shot a week's worth of footage, became ill and had to be replaced. 3. Losey's "illness" was a fabrication by the studio leaked to the press to cover up for the fact star Dean Jagger refused to work with him because he believed him to be a "Communist sympathizer." Either way, neither he nor his "Walton" alias is in the credits of this film nor in any of the publicity materials. His replacement, Leslie Norman, was apparently disliked by nearly the entire cast and crew but technically knew how to put together a competent film. Still, it's no coincidence Hammer never used him again after this.

The film also saw distribution difficulties that delayed its release by eight months. Around half of this film's budget was put up by Sol Lesser and RKO Pictures in the U.S.; much of which went toward the salary of American star Jagger. The deal between Hammer and RKO eventually fell apart and the film somehow ended up in the hands of Warner Bros., who finally released it in the U.S. in May 1957. Lesser's name is, again, not listed in the credits nor in any of the publicity materials with the exception of the Italian poster pictured above.

During an army training exercise in the Scottish highlands, a Geiger counter goes crazy, suddenly the earth cracks open and smoke and fire spew forth. The army phones up The Atomic Energy Establishment and has them send out eccentric scientist Dr. Adam Royston (Jagger). He finds no signs of radioactivity at the site, but the men exposed to the underground explosion have come down with third degree burns that resemble radiation burns all over their bodies, and the one soldier closest to the explosion dies from it. In addition, the fissure where the ground cracked open is so deep there seems to be no bottom. A little boy then encounters something in the marshes while out late at night and also ends up in the hospital with severe and ultimately fatal skin burns. Soon after, something shows up at Adam's workshop while he's away and wrecks the place after stealing all of his tritium (a radioactive isotope of hydrogen) then makes an appearance at a hospital to swipe some radium and ruin a playboy doctor's backroom tryst with a nurse in the process.

Mac McGill (Leo McKern), an internal security investigator for the Atomic Energy Commission, shows up on the scene and joins Dr. Royston in his investigation. Peter Elliott (William Lucas), Royston's boss's (Edward Chapman) eager-to-impress son, who works at his father's lab as an administrator but really wants to be a scientist, volunteers to be lowered down into the deep cavern. After finding the charred corpse of a soldier and seeing an unknown being that looks like "something out of a nightmare," the military (led by John Harvey and Hammer regular Michael Ripper) use flamethrowers and explosives in an attempt to kill it and then seal up the crevice with concrete. Unfortunately, that "something out of a nightmare" turns out to be a powerful, shapeless glob of black goo from the center of the Earth out to absorb radioactive elements wherever it can find them. If someone happens to get in its way, well, too bad for them.

This is a fine, professionally-assembled little low-budget B flick. Performances are all decent, the actor play off each other well, it's fast-paced, contains little filler, is very handsomely shot by Gerald Gibbs and the dialogue is rather serious and pragmatic, with only the occasional bit of humor. In addition, the makeup (courtesy of Philip Leakey) and special effects (courtesy of Jack Curtis and an unbilled Les Bowie) are good for the time and even include a few gory moments, such as a face meltdown. It's been noted time and time again how most of these 50s sci-fi films reflect the fears of a society uneasy about "Atomic Age" advancements and this is no exception to the rule. There are several well-meaning cautionary asides, such as how scientific innovation can be a double-edged sword used to either help or harm mankind, but these elements never bring the story to a halt and are credibly worked into the dialogue.

Perhaps the most interesting thing about this one is how much THE BLOB (1958) lifted from it. The creatures are both shapeless, gelatinous masses that invade small towns. They both grow larger and larger as the film advances; The Blob grows from consuming victims while the glob in this one grows from consuming energy. The both have an acidic property that allows them to dissolve / melt victims. Even the 1988 remake of The Blob seemed to borrow its own ideas from this one, including having the townsfolk barricade themselves in a church as the menace oozes through the area. Perhaps being the original Blob film isn't the most prestigious thing in the world but, hey, at least it's something, right?

★★★

La philosophie dans le boudoir (1971) [filmed in 1969]

... aka: Beyond Love and Evil
... aka: Decameron francese (French Decameron)
... aka: Marquis de Sade's Beyond Love and Evil
... aka: Philosophy in the Boudoir
... aka: Philosophy of the Bedroom, The

Directed by:
Jacques Scandelari

"With this torch, I proclaim the triumph of evil over good. This purifying fire burns away all that is false and leaves only the essential of man; man whose true nature is sensual and erotic. The cleansing fire releases man from his outward traditions, freeing his true being. This being is permitted to flourish here in this sanctuary in accordance with his instincts. All forms of sensuality and eroticism are practiced to liberate man. This cruel fire, which burns so brightly it reaches into heaven itself, denying God his right to judge man. Only man can judge himself and say what is good and what is evil. Burn, bright fire, proclaim that man is triumphant at last as a sensual being enjoying to the fullest his true nature." This opening voice-over - which basically lays the groundwork for what we're about to see - is spouted by a man burning a skeleton hoisted up on a cross and it's pretty much just a fancy way of saying, "A bunch of freaks will now do a bunch of kinky things for about 90 minutes... and they won't feel guilty about it!" While that's a philosophy I can certainly get down with. I just wish it had been in service of a film that was a little more compelling and a little less silly.

Young, naive Zenoff (Lucas de Chabaneix, who's extremely pretty even with a unibrow), makes his way through the forest and stumbles upon a white mansion guarded by naked female "statues" with whips and dogs chained-up on the stairs. After averting those minor threats, he then enters into a large banquet room where a dinner / orgy is taking place. There, a bunch of people (mostly half-naked women and men in strange face paint and wigs) eat like pigs, roll around all over each other, feed each other, grope each other, fondle snakes, frogs and a hedgehog (?!) and sip on champagne while spouting a bunch of incomprehensible pseudo-philosophical gibberish that makes them seem more mentally imbalanced than enlightened. This 'love cult' was started by a wealthy weird-o named Yalo (Fred Saint-James), who believes the most important part of life is pleasure and thus has opened his home to anyone interested in a haven away from war, crime, corruption and the confining moral judgments of religion and the 'real world.' So what's a nice boy like Zenoff doing in a place like this? Well, he's fallen in love with one of the cult members and is willing to join them temporarily in order to convince the object of his affections to leave with him.

The object of affection in question is Xenia (Souchka), who's first seen waking up nude in bed in an all-white room with an egg-shaped lamp. She plays with a white bunny rabbit, rubs a white powder puff along her body, puts on a transparent robe lined with white fur and slips on some white furry slippers. Yes, that means she's a virgin and thus held in high regard. She's set to be married to Yalo and he's promised the rest of the cult that they too can have a sample once he's done taking her virtue. In the meantime, he keeps her bedroom door heavily guarded by a black muscleman in a speedo. Though the cult is supposedly all about free will, love and expression, Yalo has managed to warp everything by staging "punishments" where women are hunted down with dogs, whipped and then offered up to Varlac (Serge Halsdorf); a filthy, horny madman rapist he keeps locked away in the cellar. Either that, or they're chased down on horses, rubbed down with oil and engage in lesbian sex on a tree branch. I guess it depends on everyone's mood any given day.

Zenoff finally convinces Xenia to escape with him while everyone else is busy on one of their hunts. They run into the forest for a spell when suddenly Zenoff turns on Xenia and rapes her in a muddy creek. By the very next shot, the two are walking around naked holding hands. They then go back to the mansion (uhhh... why?), lounge around naked and have sex again. Next thing we know Xenia is going through the wedding ceremony and consummating her vows in front of a bunch of robed onlookers. The love triangle ends when one of the guys stabs the other to death and then Xenia morphs into a fascist, Ilsa-like queen bee of the colony who presides over ass-branding, ass-pinching, whipping and mass torture of the disobedient in her flock.

Supposedly this was based on the "memoirs" of the Marquis de Sade but that seems more like a marketing ploy than anything else. Though it does contain plenty of Sadean themes, it has very little to do with its own namesake: de Sade's 1795 book "La philosophie dans le boudoir." Instead of sticking to a straightforward plot, this is more a succession of weird and sometimes surreal set pieces concentrating on the kinky and perverse. There's almost nonstop nudity and lots of whipping, though this was no doubt far more shocking in the late 60s than it is today. During one long sequence, our hero walks along outside the mansion peaking in windows and sees such odd sights as a nude conga line, a guy sitting on the toilet painting, another guy letting a bunch of lesbians dry their feet on them and then drinking their bath water, a man stripped naked, dressed in stockings and then whipped by a bitchy, deranged, green drag queen named Sabrina (?) and, in the film's most memorable moment, a naked woman dumping a bunch of raw, slimy seafood onto her bed then masturbating with a bunch of live fish and a dead octopus (!?)

Does any of this make sense? No, not really. Is it pretentious? Oh God yes, and often hilariously so. It's mostly just a bunch of silly, self-indulgent nonsense with blank, lifeless, impossible-to-care-about characters doing and saying moronic things as well as a shapeless non-plot that has little to actually say outside of its opening monologue. However, it at least has decadent enough production values to complement its subject matter, which partially offsets all of the annoyances. The camerawork is quite interesting and experimental at times, there's a haunting music score and the odd make-up, costumes, artwork and production design provide aesthetic interest throughout.

As is often the case with these lesser-known, older European films, there are conflicting accounts of when this was actually released. The copyright date is 1969 and some sources claim its was actually released in France that same year. Other sources claim it was released two years later in its home country. Here in America it was dubbed and released theatrically in 1971 by Allied Artists Pictures, during that brief time in the early 70s where going to see X-rated films was in vogue, thanks mostly to the success of Best Picture Oscar winner Midnight Cowboy (1969). Most of the cast appear to be using fake names (the lead isn't even credited), though the crew does not. Producer Robert de Nesle also worked on around fifteen different Jess Franco films (usually as a producer) and the director made a few other sleazy flicks as well as a handful of hardcore gay pornos using the alias "Marvin Merkins." There's no legit DVD release to my knowledge.

★★1/2