Draugasaga (1985) (TV)

... aka: Drauga Saga
... aka: En spøkelseshistorie (A Ghost Story)
... aka: Ghost Story
... aka: Powder Game

Directed by:
Viðar Víkingsson

At a TV studio, photographer Matti (Guðmundur Ólafsson) snaps some photos of a blonde model as the lights start flashing on and off. When he develops the film, the image of another red-haired woman briefly shows up. Soon after, the picture goes completely black and, when the negatives are checked, the redhead's image doesn't show up at all. The redhead seems to be a well-known apparition familiar to late night workers at the studio who claim she haunts the place. Graveyard shift night watchman Runolfur (Þorsteinn Hannesson) is one of several who can vouch for her existence. Luckily for him, he's about to get some help as arrogant college medical student Sonny (Kristján Franklin Magnúss) has been hired on to help with the night shift duties. But his new helper doesn't seem at all concerned with Runolfur's ghost tales, nor his advice to always take the stairs unless he wants to be trapped in the studio's unpredictable lift with the ghost.

Also frequently working late in the studio is make-up artist Elsa (Sigurjóna Sverrisdóttir), who's obsessed with old Hollywood glamour, classic movie stars and WWII era "spook fashion." She's particularly obsessed by a photograph of her beautiful, red-haired grandmother, who was "Miss U.S. Base 1942" and either died, immigrated to America or mysteriously just vanished into thin air a long time ago. Her fate being completely unclear is something that fascinates Elsa, as does the fact her mother (Kristbjörg Kjeld) claims she's dead yet refuses to discuss the cause of her death. Elsa and Sonny the new nightwatchman start hanging out in the vacant studio at night. She dresses up as her grandmother and puts her skills to use transforming Sonny into a vampire for a little role-playing fun. The two become lovers but their after hours dress up games start going a bit too far.

Becoming a little too enraptured by the fantasy Elsa initiated, Sonny decides to start dressing up as the redheaded ghost to "haunt" the studio. Elsa even helps him with the make-up and costume, at least at first. It works. After making an appearance in the photographer's studio, the haunting / ghost makes the front page news. While busy changing bathroom towels on each floor, Runolfur forgets his own advice and hops on the elevator. It becomes stuck and Sonny, impersonating the ghost, paces in front of an open crack in the door holding a sledgehammer, which ends up giving the old nightwatchman a fatal heart attack.

After Runolfur's death, Elsa refuses to help Sonny get into ghost drag, but he continues on without her. Confessing that "the guise has really taken hold of me" and that he thinks that's "fantastic," Sonny plots to scare the life out of the next nightwatchman (Rúrik Haraldsson) the studio hires and eventually turns on (and attacks) Elsa. But there's also the issue of the actual studio ghost, who apparently doesn't take too kindly to being impersonated.

Perhaps due to the short running time (just 67 minutes), there are some pacing issues and poor scene transitions here. There's little easing into Sonny's sudden slip into insanity. He's normal one minute and psycho the next and it's rather poorly handled. That said, this does have other stuff to enjoy, like some amusing dialogue, gritty texture to the photography and a well-designed, though only briefly seen, ghost. A number of the horror and suspense scenes work really well too, especially the bit taking place in the elevator and when the leading lady is pursued through the streets at night by the (real) ghost.

With younger characters who seem to want to live in the past and older characters who are having a hard time adapting to (or understanding) the present, this seems to be trying to say something, though what that is I'm not exactly sure. There are lots of allusions to the WWII era, including a photo of FDR, 1940s music and clothing and some weird fantasy scenes of Elsa imagining herself as her grandma with her American G.I. lover. The ghost is jokingly referred to as "the specter of communism" at one point due to her red hair. Communism itself was at its peak in Iceland during WWII, with popular support around 20% according to a 1958 article from Foreign Affairs.

Meanwhile, the older characters show disdain for how foul mouthed and promiscuous today's youth are, look at punk hairstyles with disgust and sigh "It's all gone queer on the television these days" while watching a music video of David Bowie performing "Boys Keep Swinging" in drag. So what does it all mean? Well, that's for you to figure out. It's 3am. I'm feeling more Ambien than analytical right now.

This was made for Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV) which, from my understanding, is kind of like the Icelandic version of PBS and the movie itself was mostly shot in their studio. The only other pre-1990 Icelandic genre films I'm aware of are Blóðrautt sólarlag (1977; "The Crimson Sunset"), Vandarhögg (1980; "Whiplash"), Húsið: Trúnaðarmál (1983; THE HOUSE), Djákninn (1988; aka "The Deacon of Dark River") and the same director's Tilbury (1987). There aren't very many, all but one were made for television and none were officially released with English subtitles.

★★1/2

Brain Eaters, The (1958)

... aka: Attack of the Blood Leeches

... aka: Battle of the Brain Eaters

... aka: Brain Snatchers, The

... aka: Keepers, The

... aka: Keepers of the Earth

... aka: Las sanguijuelas humanas (The Human Leeches)

... aka: Les Mangeurs de Cerveau (Brain Eaters)

Directed by:

Bruno VeSota

While on a pleasant Sunday drive through the country near the small town of Riverdale, Illinois, mayor's son Glenn Cameron ("Alan Frost" / Alan Jay Factor) and his fiancée Elaine (Jody Fair) are blinded by a white light and startled by a loud noise. They pull over to investigate the woods nearby and find not only a bunch of dead dogs but also a 50-foot high, metallic, cone-shaped object. Soon after, several of Riverdale's leading citizens are found dead. Dr. Paul Kettering (Ed Nelson), principal scientist for something called "Project Damper," does a preliminary investigation that reveals both the origin of the craft and whatever materials it's composed of are completely unknown to man. Whatever it's made of, it's resistant to heat, pressure, fire and even acid.

It takes just 48 hours after the cone's discovery for the "U.F.O. Committee" to organize in Washington D.C.. Skeptical state Senator Walter K. Powers ("Jack Hill" / Cornelius Keefe) decides to head to Riverdale to look into matters. He insists no press be informed about what's going on, which he believes to be nothing more than a "spaceship fairy tale."

Upon arrival, the Senator and his quiet assistant Dan (Robert Ball) are met at the airport by Glenn, who immediately takes them out to see the cone. When they arrive, they're introduced to mayor's secretary Alice Summers (Joanna Lee), Dr. Kettering and his colleague, Dr. Wyler (David Hughes), who are all taking vitals on the ship. Kettering has tried everything, from sonic waves to metal-eating acids to diamond drill bits and nothing seems to penetrate it. Having exhausted all possibilities, he grabs a pistol and climbs into it through an open port hole. He emerges hours later none the wiser as the insides appear to be nothing more than a labyrinth of empty tunnels.

Receiving a phone call from the Sheriff (Greigh Phillips), everyone rushes to the court house to meet up with the Mayor (Orville Sherman), who's been missing ever since the ship landed. When they arrive, he's frantic, waving a gun around and then turns violent. The police have no choice but to kill him. An autopsy reveals he has something strange on the back of his neck. That something is a little parasitic critter that latches onto victims, pierces into the skin with two fangs and then secretes an acidic substance that destroys the nervous system. Had the Mayor not been put down he'd have been dead in less than 24 hours, anyway. However, dead isn't exactly dead when someone is infected by the parasite. Victims continue on as zombie-like henchmen for the creatures.

The henchmen carry around the parasites in a glowing orb fishbowl and either sneak them into people's rooms or attack victims and attach them themselves. An elderly and nearly-dead professor who disappeared five years earlier suddenly comes crawling out of the cone with the parasite marks on the back of his neck. He mutters something about the Carboniferous Period (which occurred hundreds of millions of years ago) before passing. Leonard Nimoy (misspelled "Nemoy" in the credits) appears in just one scene as another long-missing professor and is unrecognizable behind a big white beard and layer of thick fog.

Considering this was shot for just 26,000 dollars over a six day period, it's a minor miracle it's at least OK. But OK is basically all it is. Things feel really rushed in the final third and the Body Snatchers-like premise needed more fleshing out than what this 60-minute film can accommodate. Narration has been added to try to fill in the blanks but there are just too many loose ends left unattended to at the end. Especially annoying is that a large portion of the townspeople (including police officers, the telegram man, the radio station engineer and the phone operator) have been taken over by the parasites yet their fates are left completely up in the air. Instead, this concentrates solely on our heroes killing the parasites and their controller inside the cone. I suppose we're to assume this also somehow kills the parasites / zombies not there. 

This was one of just three feature film directorial credits for hefty character actor VeSota, who passed away in 1976. Nelson, one of the most underrated sci-fi leading men of the 50s, also produced and came up with the (barely-seen) parasites. Hampton Fancher, who went on to co-script Blade Runner (1982) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017), appears uncredited as one of the zombies. Gordon Urquhart is credited with the script but the makers (including executive producer Roger Corman) were sued for 150,000 dollars by writer Robert A. Heinlein, who claimed it ripped off his 1951 novel The Puppet Masters. Heinlein settled out of court for just 5 thousand and opted not to receive a credit on the film as he didn't like it.

This played as the second half of an AIP "Double-Dare Double Feature" along with The Spider (1958; aka Earth vs. the Spider) and was also sometimes paired with Terror from the Year 5000 (1958). There were numerous VHS releases, including a 1993 one from Columbia TriStar and a UK VHS through Hendring on the "Drive-In Classics" label. A DVD from UK DVD Ltd. followed and came with a 50-minute audio interview with distributor Samuel Z. Arkoff.

★★