Day 278: La Belle et la Bête (1946) - Rank 4.5/5

This ain't a Disney-fied take on Le Prince de Beaumont's classic, cautionary fairy tale. Jean Cocteau presents a film that may have lapses of logic, but is never devoid of phantasmagoric beauty. To give a plot synopsis would be moot, for most individuals are familiar with the tale of a woman falling in love with her inhuman captor (Stockholm syndrome at its mythical best). What is worth mentioning is that this is one of the most beautiful films in the history of cinema. Cocteau's knack for breathtaking visuals in "Orphee" was what lured me towards the film.

Jean Marais, the star of "Orphee" (and Cocteau's lover for a time), plays both the role of the garrulous Gaston, the egotistic hunter seeking Belle's affection, as well as the Beast. The makeup for the Beast is far more elaborate than the work Jack Pierce was doing with Lon Chaney Jr. across the ocean. The set design and costuming dazzle the eye as well, enhancing Cocteau's surreal take on the tale. There are elements to the story that seem to be lost in translation, making a few minor plot points a little perplexing, but I would liken the overall viewing experience to watching a good, foreign opera - while everything that's transpiring may not make complete sense, the production is so gorgeous you cannot turn away.


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Day 277: The Old, Dark House (1932) - Rank 4.5/5

This is one of the only films included in this ongoing list that I've watched before. In this situation, I include it only because I had a gathering of friends over to my home to watch it during the October season. I coupled it with "The Wolf Man," but I'm choosing to present only "The Old, Dark House" here because far too few film lovers are familiar with it. It's a shame really, for I think it's one of the best movies to come out of the Universal horror boom of the thirties and forties.

The film features two themes that are common to horror: a couple becoming stranded at a creepy manor on a dark and stormy night, and the subplot of a crazy relative locked in the attic of the home suddenly escaping. "The Old, Dark House" was the first film to feature these themes that have since been duplicated and butchered ad nauseum by decades of copycats. Here, our stranded travelers are Melvyn Douglas, Gloria Stuart and Charles Laughton, and our eerie hosts are Ernest Thesiger and Eva Moore. Thesiger and Moore plays Horace and Rebecca Femm, respectively, with wonderful, tongue-in-cheek glee. Horace Femm sets the scene as he greets his guests and then remarks "My sister was in the process of arranging these" before tossing a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers into the fire.

Brember Wills is also one of the most terrifying villains in early cinema. With a scraggly beard and a twisted laugh, he jabs a knife into the table repeatedly in front of Douglas while soliloquizing on his studies of fire. "It's not hot at all, but cold as ice and sharp as knives." The film is probably overlooked because it doesn't feature a monster that could later reappear in numerous sequels (though Boris Karloff does appear as the Femm's alcoholic and lecherous butler), but it is a wonderfully atypical, early offering from a studio that made an early fortune on the horror genre.

Not a trailer, but a decent review

Day 276: Zombieland (2009) - Rank 5/5

There are two genres of film that are terribly overdone in cinema today - angsty teen romance and zombie flicks. The first has been common theatre fare since "American Pie," where an awkward teen tries to get the girl, but his foibles and eccentricities get the best of him until the girl learns to love and appreciate him for those qualities. I suppose it could be argued that such characters have been around far longer (Corey Haim could play such characters to perfection in John Hughes films), but it's only become a trend in recent years to make such characters the driving force behind the plot rather than having them serve as comedic relief on the side. As for zombies...'nuff said. Seventy percent of the horror films released in this day and age have zombies somewhere and it's become a theme that's exhausted as vampires. However, the amalgamation of the two surprisingly worked.

I went in expecting to find the film predictable and mildly funny (I think I'm one of the few people in my circle of friends who found "Shaun of the Dead" too "by the books"), but instead, I was quite simply laughing my ass off. Woody Harrelson was tolerable, nay likable, as Tallahassee, a Twinkie-obsessed redneck who shacks up with a nervous, yet level-headed Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg aka "poor man's Michael Cera"...I kid!) in a post-apocalyptic world. Columbus finds himself pining for Wichita (Emma Stone), a foil to the duo, primarily because she's the only girl in a hundred-mile radius that will talk to him and isn't trying to devour his flesh.

At this late date, I don't think it counts as a spoiler to mention that Bill Murray also appears in the film in the most brilliant, self-parodying cameo I've ever witnessed. Tears of joy intermixed with tears of laughter as he chewed the scenery far more than the zombie hoards could. This was easily one of the more delightful surprises I've had in theatres this year, considering I went in expecting convention and tedium. Thankfully, I received neither.

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Day 275: Kiss of the Vampire (1963) - Rank 3.5/5

Third in the vampire series by Hammer films and second film released sans Christopher Lee, "Kiss of the Vampire" stands up fairly well against its predecessors. This time, the victims are a honeymooning couple (Gerald and Marianne) that decided that Bavaria is a prime place to experience a romantic getaway (I'm sure that was a fad that had a half-life of two weeks in the early 20th century). The pair are invited to a dinner hosted by Dr. Ravna and his family in their luxurious and ominous castle. Marianne is turned into a vampire shortly thereafter and Gerald seeks the help of Dr. Zimmer (Clifford Evans acting qua Dr. Van Helsing) to bring his bride back.

The vampires in the film reflect the trend that was stared in "Brides of Dracula," where blood-suckery is an allegory for the cold nature of aristocracy. The parties held at the Ravna Castle are reminiscent of the celebration staged during the final act of Corman's "Masque of the Red Death" - colorful revelry masked by an ominous shadow. Evans doesn't rival Cushing's Dr. Van Helsing, but he's still fun to watch (though not nearly as entertaining as a sinister Noel Willman as the insideous Dr. Ravna). I find it somewhat sad though, that the hedonistic debauchery of vampire films of the sixties and seventies has been utterly replaced by teen angst and empty lust in the modern entries in the genre.

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Day 274: Twins of Evil (1971) - Rank 4/5

Twins of evil? More like quadruplets of evil! Mary and Madeliene Collison, a pair of identical Playmates, take up residence with their Puritan, witch hunting uncle, Gustav (Peter Cushing, full of his usual, entrancing braggadocio). As i s typically the case with twins (at least within film), one is good (Maria) and one strays toward the naughty side of life (Frieda). Frieda is lured by her own desires to castle Karnstein where she revels in the pleasures of satanic love and badda-boom: vampire! Now Gustav has two problems: one, he must deal with the vampire menace of the village and two, he must save his niece from both vampirism and death at the hands of his witch hunter brethren.

I think it goes without saying that there's plenty of "bait and switch" within the plot. "How do we know which one is the vampire?" Poor Maria keeps ending up in the hands of the witch hunters. The film ranks up with "Vampire Circus" and "Captain Kronos" in the way of Hammer films that deviate from standard vampire lore. Delightfully dark, decidedly entertaining and, needless to say, a definite guy guilty pleasure. It's been a month and a half since I watched this film, but I still recall that those babies stay clad until the hour and twenty-one minute mark.

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Day 273: Woman in the Window (1944) - Rank 3.5/5

This was the last of the "original five" film noirs that I had yet to see. The very concept of Fritz Lang teaming up with Edward G. Robinson is a golden one. Robinson's Professor Lanley is an expert on the psychology behind the homicidal mind, but his wits are put to the test when he murders a man. The victim is the enraged beau of Alice Reed (played seductively by Joan Bennett), a model who met Lanley when she caught the lumpy professor ogling her portrait in an art studio window. While the death could clearly be justified as self-defense, Lanley lets his libido do the thinking and acquiesces to Reed's suggestion of dumping the body in the woods.

It doesn't take a genius to foresee the perfect crime going awry, but a unique twist presented is Lanley happens to be best buds with the detective assigned tot eh case. Lanley struggles to mask clues as quickly as they're discovered. While the film is atmospheric and clever, it left a sour taste in my mouth at the finish. The cause? Possibly one of the worst/cliched endings I've seen in a film noir (and that's taking into account that the entire genre is based around convoluted plots and convention). I saw it as a cinematic "Fuck you" to the audience that can only be dwarfed by the saccharine wedding at the end of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" (though the big difference here is that Crystal Skull really didn't have any redeeming qualities). Research proved my hypothesis on the twist, comedic ending: it was studio intervention. Pity, for what could have been a dark and powerful finale is reduced to a gag denouement that instills disappointment.

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Day 272: Phantom of the Opera (1962) - Rank 3/5

After a month-long hiatus of posting reviews (though not from viewing films), due to a deceased computer and knee injury, I shall endeavor to get caught up on my reviews with great haste, meaning I will struggle to be as concise as conceivably possible. Considering my circumlocutory ways, that might prove impractical though. Anyway, the Hammer studios production of the classic Gaston Leroux novel is a nice mix of the fanciful and the morbid (thanks to the expertise of Hammer veteran director, Terence Fisher), but it doesn't rival its predecessors. Well, namely, the 1942 Universal production starring Claude Rains.

Yes, the garish countenance of Lon Chaney Sr.'s role made the Phantom infamous, but Rains really generated sympathy for the character's plight. Herbert Lom dons the plaster mask opposite Michael Gough (who plays the opera-thieving, lecherous Lord D'Arcy) and while he executes the role well, he lacks the power of "presence" that Chaney or Rains commanded. This might be due to the script, which reduces the film's climax to a more altruistic end for the Phantom. The dash of treacle does not do this permutation any good in my mind, but it's still hard to dislike the film, simply because the source material is so good. Though I suppose the same could be argued that such is the case with Charles Dickens' immortal "A Christmas Carol," but that's not going to sway me to sit through two hours of 3-D, Carrey hijinks.


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