THE HORROR SPOOFS OF ABBOTT AND COSTELLO

THE HORROR SPOOFS OF ABBOTT AND COSTELLO: A Critical Assessment of the Comedy Team's Monster Films. Jeffrey S. Miller. McFarland; 2000.

A serious fan of the horror spoofs of the famous comedy team, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, author Miller here looks at such films as Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein and Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy along with other "horror" comedies from the team such as Hold That Ghost. Miller's writing is accessible, although he can't resist giving in to an "academic" approach at times (which borders on the pretentious). Fortunately, his enthusiasm for these films comes through on every page. Chapters consist of lengthy, annotated synopses, as well as critical and background production notes and analysis. Miller notes the changes that occurred in both the boys' pictures and their on-screen characterizations over the years. The book is also bolstered by primary interviews.

Verdict: Good show for Abbott and Costello enthusiasts. ***.

GRABBERS

Watch out for that mouth!

GRABBERS (2012). Director: Jon Wright.

On isolated Erin Island, where nothing much ever happens, Garda [or cop] Lisa Nolan (Ruth Bradley) comes to work temporarily. Ciaran O'Shea (Richard Coyle), who drinks more than he should, is the island officer she is assigned to. Before long they both have their hands full with alien monstrosities of varying sizes -- one is absolutely huge -- who have slimy tentacles the better to snatch you up with and insert you into their toothy maws for dinner. Scientist Adam Smith (Russell Tovey) and the others determine that people who survive attacks by the monsters have a large amount of alcohol in their systems, so the two cops gather up the island residents to the local pub and get everybody drunk to save their lives; liquor is toxic to the hungry creatures. This is a likable, mildly gruesome horror-comedy that is abetted by good actors playing engaging characters; it's scary and funny but ultimately a little too silly for its own good. The FX and photography are top-notch.

Verdict: Not as much fun perhaps nor as inventive as Attack of the Crab Monsters, but it has its moments. **1/2.

THE WEREWOLF OF WASHINGTON

THE WEREWOLF OF WASHINGTON (1973). Writer/director: Milton Moses Ginsberg.

Jack Whittier (Dean Stockwell) is a Washington D.C. reporter on assignment in Budapest when he is bitten by a werewolf. Back home he becomes the buffoonish president's (Biff McGuire) press agent, turns into a shaggy wolfman periodically, and murders mostly women. He sees the mark of the pentagram in the palms of his future victims, and a running "joke" has people he talks to confusing pentagram with pentagon. One suspects this was meant to be a hilarious satire, but it's more pitiful than funny. Thayer David and Michael Dunn [Dr. Loveless of The Wild, Wild West] have small roles, and were probably grateful they weren't on-screen in this mess for too long. Stockwell manages to escape unscathed, although he probably hoped few people would actually see the movie. It looks like it cost about 56 cents. Poorly done and dull to boot. Ads for the video say this is in the "tradition" of An American Werewolf in London, which was actually made nearly a decade later. While I don't think much of American Werewolf, it's an Oscar-contender compared to Washington.

Verdict: Atrocious! 1/2 *.

AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON

Griffin Dunne and David Naughton

AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1981). Writer/director: John Landis.

Two Americans, David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne) are on a walking tour through the British countryside when they are attacked by a werewolf. Jack is killed, but David is bitten, and Jack's increasingly decomposing corpse keeps showing up to warn David that he will turn into a werewolf and kill people, and that his only recourse is to commit suicide. David would prefer to think he's just having crazy hallucinations, particularly as he's just entered into a relationship with his hospital nurse, Alex (Jenny Agutter). Then one night when the moon is full David begins to transform and the killings begin ... I thought American Werewolf was greatly over-rated when it first appeared, and my opinion of it hasn't changed over thirty years later. The black comedy approach may have [unfortunately] influenced many subsequent alleged "horror" films, but it was nothing new -- in fact, the whole movie resembles nothing so much as an EC horror comics story of the fifties. Naughton is okay in the lead, but you get the impression he should have stayed with Dr. Pepper commercials. Dunne is much better as Jack, Agutter is competent, and Lila Kaye makes an impression as a barkeeper. The movie is bloodier than it needs to be, which is kind of at odds with the supposedly "light" tone of the piece. The man-into-wolf transformation scene got a lot of press at the time; it's less impressive today, and the scenes showing the monster walking about aren't very credible. An interesting sequence has David meeting his disfigured victims in a porno movie house. In some ways the movie is quite schlocky; even the attack scenes aren't that well handled. Landis had few if any big hits after The Twilight Zone tragedy, which was covered in the book "Outrageous Conduct."

Verdict: Uneven blend of gore and comedy. **.

FRIGHT NIGHT PART 2

"A black bloodsucker of indeterminate sex"

FRIGHT NIGHT PART 2 (1988). Director: Tommy Lee Wallace.

In this sequel to Fright Night, Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) is seeing a psychiatrist and has almost convinced himself that his bloodsucking opponent, Jerry, in the first film was not a vampire but merely a homicidal maniac. Unfortunately the dead Jerry's sister Regine (Julie Carmen) is in town hoping to get revenge against Jerry and Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall), and she's got a whole host of vampires with her, including one who is given to turning into a wolf, a hulking strong man, and a black bloodsucker of indeterminate sex. Fright Night Part 2 is reasonably entertaining, but it doesn't blend its scares and laughs as well as the original, and it lacks the first film's originality and charm. However, it does have some good FX work and interesting scenes, and the acting is fine. Charley has a new girlfriend, Alex, played by Traci Lind.

Verdict: No Fright Night, but has its good points. **1/2.

FRIGHT NIGHT (2011)

Colin Farrell and Anton Yelchin

FRIGHT NIGHT (2011). Director: Craig Gillespie.

Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) discovers that his new next-door neighbor, Jerry (Colin Farrell), is a vampire who is preying upon everyone in their suburban Vegas neighborhood. At first his mother (Toni Collette) and girlfriend, Amy (the unfortunately named Imogene Poots) don't believe him, until Jerry -- who hasn't been invited into their home as vampires must be -- tries to blow up the place to get them out and get rid of them. Charley's nerdy friend, Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse, another easy-to-forget moniker), who tried to warn him about Jerry, becomes an early victim/vampire, but Charley tries to enlist the aid of a horror host and performer named Peter Vincent (David Tennant). This remake of the original Fright Night is a souped-up, sexier, more elaborate version with more gore and special effects [but, if I recall correctly, not as much charm]. Chris Sarandon, who played the vampire in the original, has a cameo as a victim and still looks good enough [at 70!] to play the lead. The actors in this are all first-rate, with Farrell making a memorable villain. The movie does a good job of mixing humor with creepy and suspenseful scenes, such as a chase on the highway and an escape from Jerry's house. Not bad climax, either.

Verdict: Entertaining horror-comedy hokum. ***.

ARMY OF DARKNESS

ARMY OF DARKNESS (1992). Director: Sam Raimi.

A sequel to Evil Dead and Evil Dead 2 has hero Ash (the charismatic Bruce Campbell) falling through a time warp and winding up in the middle ages. There he learns that the only way he can get home is to find the Necronomicon (a mystical book that was actually invented by H. P. Lovecraft). Along the way he encounters more demons, tiny, giggling duplicates of himself, an evil doppelganger, witches, flying creatures, and living skeletons. The movie is busy but by no means should it be confused with a decent fantasy, sword and sorcery, or horror film; it's a travesty in every sense of the word -- and an effort to sit through for the most part due to its monumental silliness (as opposed to genuine humor). There's no real story and no real characters. Director Raimi, who co-scripted with his brother, seems to have been trying to turn star Campbell into some kind of slapstick comedian. Campbell can handle everything the script throws at him with aplomb, but he deserves better. And so do horror-fantasy fans. There's some acceptable stop-motion work, but none of it is of Ray Harryhausen quality, and there's nothing in this that compares to the climax of Jason and the Argonauts. Some effective, amusing moments, but much of this is just clumsy and foolish. Pretty much a moron movie.

Verdict: Full of sound and fury ... *1/2.

TALES OF TERROR

TALES OF TERROR (1962). Director: Roger Corman.

There really isn't much terror in this light adaptation of several stories by Edgar Allan Poe starring Vincent Price. The dead "Morella" (Leona Gage) blames her infant daughter for causing her death, and when the grown woman, Lenora (Maggie Pierce), shows up to see her father (Price) after many years, Morella seizes the opportunity to take over her body. In "The Black Cat," which also incorporates elements from "The Cask of Amontillado," Montresor (Peter Lorre) walls up his wife (Joyce Jameson) and her lover, Fortunato (Price), but is seemingly haunted by their spirits. "The Case of M. Valdemar" has a dying man (Price again) agreeing to allow mesmerist Carmichael (Basil Rathbone) to hypnotize him at the moment of his death, keeping his soul tormented and imprisoned in his dead flesh. Debra Paget and David Frankham play Valdemar's wife and doctor, respectively. It's great fun to watch old pros Price and Lorre (see photo) sparring with each other, especially during a delightful wine-tasting contest between the two, but the movie itself is mediocre and lacks chills. 

Verdict: Watch this, but then read Poe's original stories for the real spirit of the Master. **1/2.

13 GHOSTS

13 GHOSTS (1960). Director: William Castle. 

Cyrus Zorba (Donald Woods) and his family have serious financial problems, but discover that an uncle has left Cyrus his spooky old house-- and all of its ghosts. This movie has two clever ideas -- that the uncle actually collected ghosts to study, and that he invented a pair of weird goggles through which one can actually see the ghosts. Aside from that 13 Ghosts isn't one of the more memorable William Castle thrillers, although it's fun in its minor way. Rosemary DeCamp is Cyrus' wife and little Charles Herbert is his mischievous son, Buck; Martin Milner plays Ben Rush, the uncle's lawyer, who may have his own agenda -- all give good performances. Margaret Hamilton might seem like a casting coup as the dead uncle's creepy housekeeper and assistant, but her performance is only adequate. Donald Woods is perfect as the put-upon Cyrus, however. 

Verdict: Worth seeing once. **1/2.