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japanesedream_72Often used to describe out-of-the-ordinary films with dark sensibilities which come to appeal to a multitude of movie buffs, the term ‘cult classic’ gets thrown around a lot. “Night of the Living Dead” might spring instantly to mind at the mention of this phrase. Or perhaps “Eraserhead”. Maybe “El Topo” is your idea of a cult classic. “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” could even fit the bill.
But how many would include “Carnival of Souls” (http://imdb.com/title/tt0055830/) on their list of cult classics? It appears that a growing number of film fanatics are doing just that, & with very good reason.
The story begins with a group of twenty-somethings engaging in a drag-race on a strip of road that leads to a bridge. One of the cars involved, however, runs off the bridge & plunges into the river. A throng of rescue personnel & lollygaggers gather, all of whom bear witness as a sole survivor, a woman named Mary (Candace Hilligoss), emerges from the murky water.
A strong-willed, almost too-rational realist whose independent nature & desire for privacy border on outright coldness, Mary eventually makes her way to Utah, where she has accepted a job (& to her, it is only a job) as a church organist. While she is quite talented - her playing can, as the clergyman puts it, “stir the soul” - she is, at the same time, very calculated, almost mechanical. In other words, her precision lacks passion.
She rooms at a boarding house; the owner is kindly enough, but the place’s only other tenant is a bit of a perv (under the guise of lonely nice guy) who aggressively pursues Mary until she finally agrees to go out with him. Despite her lack of desire for the close company of others, she begins to open herself up ever so gradually over the course of the film. Especially since bizarre things have been happening to her.
A well-dressed but somewhat ghoulish gentleman, known in my notes as Creepy Guy (played by director Herk Harvey in an un-credited role), appears to be following her. Occasionally, she hears distinct yet inexplicable strains of organ music. A large pavilion in the area, a former dance hall turned carnival which has since been abandoned, holds a strange attraction for her. She frequently finds herself drawn to it; when she goes near it, she has visions of ghostly figures dancing. Most harrowing of all, there are several instances in which she becomes completely deaf, & no one around her can see or hear her. With all sound absent, & people seemingly unaware of her, it is as if she is momentarily removed from the very fabric of existence.
One must applaud Candace Hilligoss for her performance as a rather unlikable character (on whom the story hinges entirely, no less), yet one with whom the audience can also become sympathetic, particularly as her mounting paranoia (stemming from these strange occurrences, especially the recurrent appearances of Creepy Guy) threatens to destroy the rock-solid rationality with which she shields herself.
The plot may remind some “Twilight Zone” aficionados of an episode starring Inger Stevens, but the exquisitely surreal presentation here - very much like a disorienting dream - makes “Carnival of Souls” entirely original. Enhanced by beautiful cinematography, a haunting atmosphere, an all-organ soundtrack, & lots of lovely old Chevrolets (my grandpa said every car in this movie was a Chevy!), this one’s been a favourite of mine for a while, & I was lucky enough to find it on DVD for $1. Trust me, it’s worth a lot more.
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I have yet to see the classic Fellini film “La Dolce Vita” starring Anita Ekberg, but I know the title translates to “The Sweet Life”. Well, all I can say is that life isn’t quite so sweet for Ms. Ekberg in “Fangs of the Living Dead” (http://imdb.com/title/tt0062957/).
A sultry song opens the film, as the titles appear over a painting of a beautiful, raven-haired woman. Then, our story whisks us off to Rome, where Ekberg plays Sylvia, a pretty, blonde model who’s engaged to a scientist, Pietro. Sylvia receives word that she has come into possession of her mother’s family’s ancestral castle & the title of Countess. So she swans off to the village of Walbrooke, to appraise the property she has been bequeathed.
Upon her arrival, she stops at the village inn, & gets into conversation with sisters Bertha & Freya, the tavern barmaids. Bertha mentions feeling very weak, of late. As soon as Sylvia lets slip that she’s staying in the castle, the tavern’s patrons fall deathly silent. Later on, she is met at the castle by servants of her uncle, the Count (her mom’s brother), one of whom tell her that the Count “never appears at this early hour” (gee, like that’s not a giveaway).
The Count arrives that evening, & Sylvia recoils slightly at his icy touch. She notices the painting from the opening credits, & he tells her it bears the image of her grandmother (although later on in the film, I could swear the woman is referred to as her great-grandmother). When Sylvia asks about her mother, who died when Sylvia was very young, & of whom her late father never spoke, the Count takes Sylvia to the family crypt, where her mother now rests. After some Freudian slips (“She really died”), the Count sends his niece to bed.
Someone comes to Sylvia’s room, waking her from sleep. The woman, named Malenka (an almost unrecognisable Ekberg in a dual role), is the spitting image of the woman in the painting (hint, hint). She claims to be the Count’s former love, & says the Count is over 100 years old (nudge, nudge). She tells Sylvia her mother was “very blonde, & very sad”, & that the Count often locked his sister in her room, but was never able to dominate her. “He wants you to do what she refused to,” Malenka says. Soon, she is lulling Sylvia to sleep & kissing her on the neck.
The Count disrupts this bit of fun & hauls away the protesting Malenka. Sylvia follows them, distressed by the sound of the woman’s pleas. She finds Malenka - bound at the hands (from a cord affixed to the ceiling) & being whipped by the Count - & starts to defend her...until she sees Malenka’s fangs, that is.
Yes, folks, it’s a vampire movie.
Exactly what the Count wants or needs Sylvia to do is never truly established. He urges her to stay in the castle, offering her immortality, saying it is her duty to the family (obviously, her mother wouldn’t take it). He also tells her she must break her engagement to Pietro. But when she writes her fiance a letter telling him it’s over, he senses something amiss, & goes to Walbrooke (along with his pseudo-comic relief friend, Max) to find her, teaming up with a few of the locals in an attempt to cease the goings-on at Malenka’s “infernal castle”.
While best-known for his “Blind Dead” trilogy, concerning Knights Templar zombies whose eyes have rotted away (but whose enhanced hearing enables them to aurally stalk their prey), writer-director Armando de Ossorio has managed to put together a delicate piece of Italian gothic with a few nifty embellishments (& I’m not just talking about the sado-masochistic bits; this is the first movie I’ve ever seen that includes the word “necro-biological”). Some humourous dialogue (watch for those one-liners) makes up for a few clichés, & there are some lovely visual touches, including scenic external shots, weird shadows of bat wings in one scene, great costuming, chicks running through a graveyard in flowy dresses, even a vampiric cat-fight. Anita Ekberg gives a really good performance (in both roles), & Julian Ugarte has some devilish moments as the Count. The resolution is a bit too quick, though handled decently enough - the FX are reminiscent of the Universal/Hammer classics. In fact, the whole movie has a decidedly Hammer-ish feel to it. And that’s just fine.
There’s a twist to the ending which makes absolutely no sense (although I’ve read that some versions of the film have edited this out - probably a good thing), but vampire enthusiasts could do a lot worse than “Fangs of the Living Dead”. For all-around horror lovers, try it on a double-bill with “Lady Frankenstein”. I think you’ll be more than satisfied.
Damn. I gotta see that video.
EDIT: Have since seen that video (& plenty of others by them!). One of my favourites of all-time. ^_^
But how many would include “Carnival of Souls” (http://imdb.com/title/tt0055830/) on their list of cult classics? It appears that a growing number of film fanatics are doing just that, & with very good reason.
The story begins with a group of twenty-somethings engaging in a drag-race on a strip of road that leads to a bridge. One of the cars involved, however, runs off the bridge & plunges into the river. A throng of rescue personnel & lollygaggers gather, all of whom bear witness as a sole survivor, a woman named Mary (Candace Hilligoss), emerges from the murky water.
A strong-willed, almost too-rational realist whose independent nature & desire for privacy border on outright coldness, Mary eventually makes her way to Utah, where she has accepted a job (& to her, it is only a job) as a church organist. While she is quite talented - her playing can, as the clergyman puts it, “stir the soul” - she is, at the same time, very calculated, almost mechanical. In other words, her precision lacks passion.
She rooms at a boarding house; the owner is kindly enough, but the place’s only other tenant is a bit of a perv (under the guise of lonely nice guy) who aggressively pursues Mary until she finally agrees to go out with him. Despite her lack of desire for the close company of others, she begins to open herself up ever so gradually over the course of the film. Especially since bizarre things have been happening to her.
A well-dressed but somewhat ghoulish gentleman, known in my notes as Creepy Guy (played by director Herk Harvey in an un-credited role), appears to be following her. Occasionally, she hears distinct yet inexplicable strains of organ music. A large pavilion in the area, a former dance hall turned carnival which has since been abandoned, holds a strange attraction for her. She frequently finds herself drawn to it; when she goes near it, she has visions of ghostly figures dancing. Most harrowing of all, there are several instances in which she becomes completely deaf, & no one around her can see or hear her. With all sound absent, & people seemingly unaware of her, it is as if she is momentarily removed from the very fabric of existence.
One must applaud Candace Hilligoss for her performance as a rather unlikable character (on whom the story hinges entirely, no less), yet one with whom the audience can also become sympathetic, particularly as her mounting paranoia (stemming from these strange occurrences, especially the recurrent appearances of Creepy Guy) threatens to destroy the rock-solid rationality with which she shields herself.
The plot may remind some “Twilight Zone” aficionados of an episode starring Inger Stevens, but the exquisitely surreal presentation here - very much like a disorienting dream - makes “Carnival of Souls” entirely original. Enhanced by beautiful cinematography, a haunting atmosphere, an all-organ soundtrack, & lots of lovely old Chevrolets (my grandpa said every car in this movie was a Chevy!), this one’s been a favourite of mine for a while, & I was lucky enough to find it on DVD for $1. Trust me, it’s worth a lot more.
-----------------------------------------------------
I have yet to see the classic Fellini film “La Dolce Vita” starring Anita Ekberg, but I know the title translates to “The Sweet Life”. Well, all I can say is that life isn’t quite so sweet for Ms. Ekberg in “Fangs of the Living Dead” (http://imdb.com/title/tt0062957/).
A sultry song opens the film, as the titles appear over a painting of a beautiful, raven-haired woman. Then, our story whisks us off to Rome, where Ekberg plays Sylvia, a pretty, blonde model who’s engaged to a scientist, Pietro. Sylvia receives word that she has come into possession of her mother’s family’s ancestral castle & the title of Countess. So she swans off to the village of Walbrooke, to appraise the property she has been bequeathed.
Upon her arrival, she stops at the village inn, & gets into conversation with sisters Bertha & Freya, the tavern barmaids. Bertha mentions feeling very weak, of late. As soon as Sylvia lets slip that she’s staying in the castle, the tavern’s patrons fall deathly silent. Later on, she is met at the castle by servants of her uncle, the Count (her mom’s brother), one of whom tell her that the Count “never appears at this early hour” (gee, like that’s not a giveaway).
The Count arrives that evening, & Sylvia recoils slightly at his icy touch. She notices the painting from the opening credits, & he tells her it bears the image of her grandmother (although later on in the film, I could swear the woman is referred to as her great-grandmother). When Sylvia asks about her mother, who died when Sylvia was very young, & of whom her late father never spoke, the Count takes Sylvia to the family crypt, where her mother now rests. After some Freudian slips (“She really died”), the Count sends his niece to bed.
Someone comes to Sylvia’s room, waking her from sleep. The woman, named Malenka (an almost unrecognisable Ekberg in a dual role), is the spitting image of the woman in the painting (hint, hint). She claims to be the Count’s former love, & says the Count is over 100 years old (nudge, nudge). She tells Sylvia her mother was “very blonde, & very sad”, & that the Count often locked his sister in her room, but was never able to dominate her. “He wants you to do what she refused to,” Malenka says. Soon, she is lulling Sylvia to sleep & kissing her on the neck.
The Count disrupts this bit of fun & hauls away the protesting Malenka. Sylvia follows them, distressed by the sound of the woman’s pleas. She finds Malenka - bound at the hands (from a cord affixed to the ceiling) & being whipped by the Count - & starts to defend her...until she sees Malenka’s fangs, that is.
Yes, folks, it’s a vampire movie.
Exactly what the Count wants or needs Sylvia to do is never truly established. He urges her to stay in the castle, offering her immortality, saying it is her duty to the family (obviously, her mother wouldn’t take it). He also tells her she must break her engagement to Pietro. But when she writes her fiance a letter telling him it’s over, he senses something amiss, & goes to Walbrooke (along with his pseudo-comic relief friend, Max) to find her, teaming up with a few of the locals in an attempt to cease the goings-on at Malenka’s “infernal castle”.
While best-known for his “Blind Dead” trilogy, concerning Knights Templar zombies whose eyes have rotted away (but whose enhanced hearing enables them to aurally stalk their prey), writer-director Armando de Ossorio has managed to put together a delicate piece of Italian gothic with a few nifty embellishments (& I’m not just talking about the sado-masochistic bits; this is the first movie I’ve ever seen that includes the word “necro-biological”). Some humourous dialogue (watch for those one-liners) makes up for a few clichés, & there are some lovely visual touches, including scenic external shots, weird shadows of bat wings in one scene, great costuming, chicks running through a graveyard in flowy dresses, even a vampiric cat-fight. Anita Ekberg gives a really good performance (in both roles), & Julian Ugarte has some devilish moments as the Count. The resolution is a bit too quick, though handled decently enough - the FX are reminiscent of the Universal/Hammer classics. In fact, the whole movie has a decidedly Hammer-ish feel to it. And that’s just fine.
There’s a twist to the ending which makes absolutely no sense (although I’ve read that some versions of the film have edited this out - probably a good thing), but vampire enthusiasts could do a lot worse than “Fangs of the Living Dead”. For all-around horror lovers, try it on a double-bill with “Lady Frankenstein”. I think you’ll be more than satisfied.
| What Japanese music video are you living inside of? You're living inside of the Cage video! A ballerina comes across a deranged Japanese rockstar (who also happens to have an absolutely insane sort of foot fetish) in the middle of the forest. He takes her back to his place where he brutally mutilates her feet as he licks them. Then, she's set free to sit in a hall in pain and vomit while he fantasizes about her holding a bloody chicken. Other people suffer. There's more blood spewing. And, as this is all happening, a band plays in the background. Man, you're sick.
|
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Damn. I gotta see that video.
EDIT: Have since seen that video (& plenty of others by them!). One of my favourites of all-time. ^_^
