LOGAN'S RUN

Logan-6 (Michael York) makes an appalling discovery

LOGAN'S RUN (1976). Director: Michael Anderson.

In the 23rd century, people live in huge domes by the sea and are only allowed to live until age thirty. At that time there occurs the ritual of the carousel, where people who have reached the deadline are either destroyed or renewed, (apparently a form of reincarnation). People who do not wish to take part in this ritual and hope to reach a ripe old age instead become "Runners" who are tracked down and killed by law officers known as "Sandmen." One of these Sandmen is Logan-5 (Michael York), who is given an assignment to trace over a thousand missing runners to a secret place known only as Sanctuary. He also learns to his horror that no one has ever been renewed, and then is technologically aged to near-death so he can masquerade as a runner. Quite understandably, Logan decides to become a runner himself, and takes off with a young woman named Jessica (Jenny Agutter), who is part of the Sanctuary network helping runners, but it's a question of what they'll find even if they manage to escape ... Logan's Run has an intriguing premise and the first half of the film is quite entertaining, but the second half (in which the story veers from the novel, which was already loosely adapted) becomes increasingly stupid and tedious, with a frankly ridiculous and almost comically simplistic finale. York [Something for Everyone] gives an excellent performance (the film is not really worthy of it) and perhaps demonstrates star charisma in this more than in any other movie. Jenny Agutter [Dominique] is also quite good as Jessica, as is Richard Jordan as another Sandman, and friend of Logan's, named Francis. Unfortunately Peter Ustinov is a little too weird as an old man our intrepid pair encounter, and Farah Fawcett-Majors is simply terrible as a nurse to a cosmetic surgeon. The surgeon, Doc, is played with flair by Michael Anderson, Jr., the son of this movie's director, in an exciting laser surgery-run-amok scene; Anderson Jr. had many credits, perhaps the most famous of which is In Search of the Castaways. The FX in the film are variable, but there are some striking shots of a deserted, half-ruined Washington, D.C.  Jerry Goldsmith has contributed his usual adept musical score. An interesting aspect of the film is that homosexuality seems completely accepted in the futuristic society, however flawed it may be in other respects. Logan's Run was, I believe, very successful, and influenced later films as much as it was influenced by earlier ones. The following year a very short-lived TV series was made from the film. NOTE: In the novel everyone must die at only 21!

Verdict: Semi-literate Hollywood "sci fi" with more than a few lively moments. **1/2.

THE FINAL CONFLICT

Son of Satan: Sam Neill

THE FINAL CONFLICT aka Omen III: The Final Conflict/1981. Director: Graham Baker.

"Most people confuse 'evil' with their own trivial lusts and perversions." -- Damien Thorn

Damien Thorn (Sam Neill), the anti-Christ, is now grown and still causing bloody mischief after the events of The Omen and Damien: Omen 2. Thorn becomes the new ambassador to Britain, then discovers that the Christ child has been born in London. Even as Thorn has his minions murdering male infants in case one of them is his adversary, Father DeCarlo (Rossano Brazzi) and his monks attempt to kill Thorn with special daggers -- only the little devil outwits them every time. Thorn develops a relationship with reporter Kate Reynolds (Lisa Harrow), but seems more interested in indoctrinating her teenage son, Peter (Barnaby Holm), into the ways of evil and lord only knows what else. But Damian's plans may come to nothing despite his best efforts ... The Final Conflict is a highly-enjoyable, slick and well-made horror film if you don't take it seriously, which is impossible to do for all but the sub-literate. On that mindless level the film boasts an excellent performance from Neill [Daybreakers], and a very notable turn from Don Gordon, who is Damien's executive assistant, and unbeknownst to Thorn, the father of a boy born on the wrong day. Brazzi [Summertime] doesn't seem to take anything that seriously, and probably didn't; Harrow and Holm are fine. The set-pieces in the film -- an assassin gets caught in a fiery trap while trying to kill Damien in a TV studio; the assorted suspenseful murders of the infants -- are well-done although a scene with dogs allegedly tearing a monk apart doesn't quite work because the rather cute doggies don't actually seem to be doing anything. The film is tremendously bolstered by a near-operatic score by Jerry Goldsmith, who has delivered an epic and beautiful theme with demonic undertones, and embellishes every scene with a sweeping and majestic backdrop. When Kate is, to all intents and purposes, raped late in the movie, she has virtually no reaction! But then the filmmakers have no more compassion for the assorted victims than Damien does.

NOTE: This was followed by the TV movie Omen IV, and just this year A and E had a series entitled Damien detailing the further adventures of Damien Thorn; it lasted one season.

Verdict: Comparatively empty but engaging and rather clever horror flick. *** out of 4.

CITY OF FEAR

Vince Edwards

CITY OF FEAR (1959). Director: Irving Lerner.

Vince Ryker (Vince Edwards) has managed to escape from San Quentin with what he thinks is a fortune in heroin, but he doesn't realize that the white powder is actually deadly cobalt 60. People who come into contact with Ryker become ill and Ryker himself is feeling rather poorly. This premise certainly could have made a good movie, but the pedestrian direction creates not a dollop of suspense or tension. This is a shame because the acting is good, with Edwards far from his Ben Casey TV characterization and quite convincing as a bad guy; Patricia Blair effective as his hard-bitten girlfriend, June; and Lyle Talbot [The Vigilante] stronger than usual as Police Chief Jensen. Steven Ritch, who co-wrote the screenplay, plays the doctor who clues everyone in on the dangerous properties of cobalt, and Kathie Browne has a small role of a sales clerk who gets embroiled in the action. The score is an early one by Jerry Goldsmith [Outland], and Lucien Ballard [The Undying Monster] did the photography, but even that's not enough to save this.

Verdict: Edwards fans will enjoy this the most. *1/2.

THE MEPHISTO WALTZ

THE MEPHISTO WALTZ (1971). Director: Paul Wendkos.

Based on a novel by Fred Mustard Stewart, this was one of a slew of big-studio supernatural films that were released in the wake of Rosemary's Baby. Miles, a journalist (Alan Alda) is given a chance to interview the reclusive pianist genius Duncan Ely (Curt Jurgens), who remarks upon Alda's hands as being “the hands of a great pianist.” After Ely's death, Alda, who inherits most of the man's fortune, himself becomes a great pianist while Alda's wife, Jacqueline Bisset, develops the perhaps not-so-paranoid delusion that Ely, a Satan worshiper, is inhabiting her husband's body. But what is she going to do about it? The idea is terrific, but the execution is mediocre and much of the acting insufficient; the film hasn't a single outstanding sequence and isn't memorable. Alda from Mash isn't bad as the journalist Miles, and Jurgens is at once authentically sinister and charming. Bradford Dillman, Kathleen Widdoes, and Pamelyn Ferdin also appear, the last as the young couple's likable doomed daughter. Barbara Parkins plays Jurgens' daughter/lover. Jerry Goldsmith's score is a bit too loud and jangling, although it makes good use of Lizst's fascinating piece "The Mephisto Waltz."

Verdict: Not so hot. **.