TO THE DEVIL A DAUGHTER

TO THE DEVIL A DAUGHTER (1976). Director: Peter Sykes.

Author John Verney (Richard Widmark), who frequently writes on the occult, is importuned by a frightened man named Beddows (Denholm Elliott) to look after his daughter, Catherine (Nastassja Kinski), after she arrives in London. Catherine is a nun who belongs to the Church of the Children of the Lord, a sect that worships Astaroth. The leader of the church, Father Michael (Christopher Lee), is anxious to get his hands on Catherine because of certain bloody rites that must be performed. Initially sweet and compliant, Sister Catherine eventually becomes a danger to Verney's friends, including his literary agent Anna (Honor Blackman) and her boyfriend David (Anthony Valentine). Catherine makes her way to Father Michael as her own father writhes in terror and Verney learns what he can do to fight against the god -- or devil -- Astaroth's entry into earth via Catherine (or something like that). 

To the Devil a Daughter is a co-release of Hammer Studios but don't expect a Hammer classic with this atrocious movie. Most of the actors give it their all (one suspects Widmark wishes he had stayed in America) but they're fighting a losing battle with a hopelessly erratic script and sequences that are so bad they have to be seen to be believed. The last quarter of the film is hilarious, especially a sequence when a character is embroiled in fire and reduced to ashes so quickly that it is more comical than frightening. A bit of business in which a woman commits suicide by draining all of her blood into those special plastic bags turns hysterical when Chris Lee intones with consummate understatement: "she gave her life's blood." An orgy sequence is equally laughable. It's hard to imagine how anything could have been made out of this awful movie, which even Chris Lee can't save. 

Verdict: One of the worst Hammer movies ever made. *1/2. 

THE TORTURE CHAMBER OF DR. SADISM

THE TORTURE CHAMBER OF DR. SADISM (aka Die Schlagengruber und das Pendel/1967). Director: Harald Reinl. 

35 years ago Count Regula (Christopher Lee) murdered 12 virgins in an attempt to gain immortality. For his trouble, he was drawn and quartered as his two chief accusers stood watching. Now the descendants of these people, Roger Mont Elise (Lex Barker) and Baroness Lillian (Karin Dor), have received an invitation to the crumbling old Castle Regula, both unaware of what transpired in the past. Accompanying them by coach are Lillian's maid Babette (Christiane Rucker) and the rather shady Father Fabian (Vladimir Medar). 

The first half of the film is a protracted journey through a creepy forest in which trees have limbs growing out of them and skeletons are hanging from nooses. At the castle the group run into the long-dead Anatol (Carl Lange), the count's major domo, who plans to bring the count back to life. Wanting his revenge, the revived count places Roger under a slowly descending pendulum even as Lillian is nearly thrown into a pit full of writhing snakes. Yes, this is a very loose adaptation of Poe's classic The Pit and the Pendulum. 

Pitiful victim of "Dr. Sadism"

Although one could certainly quibble with some aspects of the screenplay, Torture Chamber not only holds the attention but has some classy and macabre art direction and is colorful in every sense of the word. Lex Barker appeared in several West German films and eurospy movies after he wrapped up his run as Tarzan. Karin Dor was a German actress who appeared with Barker more than once and was also in You Only Live Twice. Christopher Lee only appears in the prologue and at the very end and probably did all of his scenes in a couple of days  -- he appears to be the only actor who isn't dubbed. Carl Lange certainly makes an impression as Anatol.

Verdict: Fun horror film from West Germany that has some of the qualities of Italian horror features. ***. 

BEYOND TOMORROW

BEYOND TOMORROW (1940). Director: A. Edward Sutherland. 

Three elderly millionaires (Charles Winninger, Harry Carey, C. Aubrey Smith) get involved in the life of a handsome young singer, James (Richard Carlson), whom they meet on Christmas Eve, even after all three are killed in a plane crash. This rather silly, occasionally touching, movie presents the after-life as a misty limbo with voices calling you either up or down to you-know-where. There is a big difference between honest sentiment and sappiness, which this movie doesn't seem to realize. Jean Parker and Helen Vinson are the two women who get involved with Carlson. Frankly, it's irritating watching these ghosts trying to influence what a grown man should do, just as it's somewhat misogynous to suggest that the supposedly "bad" (or sexier) woman in the story is responsible for every terrible thing that happens. It's a pleasure to see Maria Ouspenskaya being warm, pleasant and grandmotherly instead of muttering gypsy curses. 

Verdict: This is no It's a Wonderful Life but it has its moments, however rare. **.

THE GHOUL (1933)

THE GHOUL (1933). Director: T. Hayes Hunter.

Poor Boris Karloff got stuck in another stinker with this very boring, alleged thriller/horror film. Karloff plays an egyptologist who vows to return from the grave to get back at his enemies, and keeps his promise. There's also two cousins -- one male, one female -- who are caught up in a family feud and get involved because Karloff was their uncle. This has an interesting supporting cast, including Ernest Thesiger from Bride of Frankenstein and Cedric Hardwicke. "No doubt you will succeed in making a painful interview intolerable," Hardwicke says to one character. But it's very disorienting to see the likes of Ralph Richardson in a Boris Karloff horror film. He plays a priest and is as excellent as ever. Karloff and the others are fine but wasted.

Verdict: Might help you go to sleep. *1/2.

EVIL DEAD 2

EVIL DEAD 2 (1987/AKA Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn). Director: Sam Raimi. 

Not so much a sequel as a revisioning (and parody) of Raimi's cult hit, The Evil Dead. Ash (Bruce Campbell) is back in a cabin, has to murder his possessed girlfriend again, and then not only has to deal with demons trying to take him over but with the possessed bodies of the cabin's occupants and visitors, including Annie (Sarah Berry), the daughter of a scientist (whose dead, devious wife is rotting and plotting in the cellar). Even more of a comic book than the original, the burlesque, black comedy tone of the film probably made it more influential on the alleged "horror" films (actually gory comedies) that came later. There's a naked, headless corpse dancing ballet in the woods, an eyeball that shoots out of another suppurating corpse and into Annie's mouth, and it becomes very clear that this is nothing that anyone, even the filmmakers, could possibly take seriously. Sporadically amusing and entertaining, but basically too ultimately schlocky to care about. There are some decent stop-motion monster effects near the end. The climax has Ash sucked through a warp into another dimension, setting up another sequel. Bruce Campbell manages to preserve his dignity no matter what shit the script puts him through, acquiting himself nicely in a performance that has to balance [ersatz] horror with humor, and definitely displays star charisma. But while the "Evil Dead" movies may have put him on the map, in the long run they probably didn't do him all that much good. 

Verdict: Some inventive stuff but overall the same old grind. **.

CHILD'S PLAY (1988)

Best Buddies? Chucky and little Alex Vincent

CHILD'S PLAY (1988). Director: Tom Holland.

A very nice widow named Karen Barclay (Catherine Hicks) wants to get her little son Andy (Alex Vincent) a popular "Good Guy" doll but finds it too expensive. However, she manages to acquire one from a street vendor and brings it home to her delighted six-year-old son. Neither of them realize that the doll -- Chucky by name -- has been possessed by the spirit of nasty strangler Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif of Dario Argento's Trauma), who is out to get revenge on certain people, such as cop Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon), and anyone else who gets in his way. But both Andy and then his mother will have a tough time convincing anyone that this weird little doll is actually alive ...

Chris Sarandon and Catherine Hicks

Child's Play manages to be both suspenseful and creepy in spite of its absurd premise, thanks to some adroit direction and editing and the casting of Catherine Hicks, who is quite good as the mother, and little Alex Vincent, who is sympathetic and appealing as the innocent and rather resourceful Andy. Chris Sarandon [The Light in the Piazza] plays the cop on the case as the stereotypical blase and gruff detective and is okay on that level. But one might wonder why no one would think Chucky was a pygmy or midget before they would accept a supernatural explanation. It's also a little strange that no one in the subway remarks upon a six-year-old traveling by himself on the subway -- we New Yorkers are not that indifferent to what's going on around us.

Don't make Chucky mad

One of the best sequences has Chucky attacking Norris as he drives in his cop car, desperately trying to keep his body up off the seat when Chucky starts trying to thrust a knife into his private parts. Considering his small size, Chucky manages to inflict a lot of damage on certain individuals, such as Karen's friend, Maggie (played by Lee Grant's daughter, Dinah Manoff), who babysits Alex when Karen has to work and comes afoul of that demonic plastic toddler. An interesting touch is that the spell that put the dying Dourif's spell in the doll will eventually turn him completely human. (Although Dourif tries his damnedest to have his consciousness wind up inside Andy, he might as well stay inside the doll as in either case he'll still be a child.)

Child's Play was so successful that it was followed by several sequels, and also engendered a terrible remake that just came out this year. Tom Holland also directed the memorable Fright Night, which starred Sarandon. Child's Play may have been influenced by a segment of the TV film Trilogy of Terror, which also featured a lively killer doll.

Verdict: Appealing players help put over this pretty exciting horror flick. ***. 

I MARRIED A WITCH

Veronica Lake and Fredric March

I MARRIED A WITCH (1942). Director: Rene Clair.

In the 17th century, the witch Jennifer and her father Daniel are burned at the stake (off-screen), but not before Jennifer places a curse on the family of her chief accuser, Jonathan Wooley (Fredric March): "Each Wooley must marry the wrong woman." A series of funny vignettes illustrates how the curse is working until we are 270 years into the future, and Wallace Wooley (also March), who is running for governor, is about to marry his attractive if harpy-like fiancee, Estelle (Susan Hayward), on election day. A bolt of lightning hits the tree under which the remains of Jennifer and Daniel are buried, and their spirits are immediately freed.

Cecil Kellaway

Eventually father and daughter get bodies (the logistics of this are glossed over), with Jennifer emerging as Veronica Lake and Daniel materializing in the form of Cecil Kellaway [The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms]. Daniel believes that Jennifer had the right idea with her curse, but that it would be better if she made Wallace fall in love with her and then reject him, causing a lifetime of pain. But when she prepares a love potion, she accidentally drinks it herself. Soon father and daughter are pitted against one another as Jennifer fights even harder to get Wally away from Estelle and Daniel has trouble causing mischief because he can't remember the words to his spells. All havoc breaks out during a wedding ceremony, and there are even more complications after that.

Robert Benchley and Fredrick March

I Married a Witch boasts a very funny script and excellent performances, with March (who not only plays Wallace but all of his ancestors) proving a very adept comedian. But Lake is no slouch -- she not only gets across the kittenish sexiness of her character, but successfully plumbs the vulnerabilities and insecurities of Jennifer. Susan Hayward is cast in the thankless role of foil and straight woman, but she delivers, and there are fine turns by Elizabeth Patterson as Wally's scandalized housekeeper; Robert Benchley [Nice Girl?] as Wally's pal; Robert Warwick as Estelle's apoplectic father; and -- right up there with March and Lake -- Kellaway in his impish yet malevolent portrait of the quirkily sinister warlock, Daniel. Rene Clair also directed And Then There Were None.

Verdict: Black comedies like this either work beautifully or they don't work at all. This one works every step of the way. The hilarious wedding sequence is alone worth the price of admission. ***1/2. 

DEADLY BLESSING

DEADLY BLESSING (1981). Director: Wes Craven.

Thrown out of his Hittite community for marrying a non-believer, Jim Schmidt (Douglas Barr) farms his land with his wife, Martha (Marin Jensen). After he is killed in a strange tractor accident, Martha is visited by two close friends, Lana (Sharon Stone) and Vicky (Susan Buckner), both of whom have unpleasant encounters with the pious Hittite leader (and Jim's father), Isaiah (Ernest Borgnine). But there are other forces leveled against the women that they may be unprepared to deal with ...

A tarantula wants to make nice with Sharon Stone, who's having none of it

Deadly Blessing has some interesting things in it, but its script is disjointed and illogical. Wes Craven's direction shows no great skill -- although the snake in the bath tub is memorable, and was later sort of re-used in Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street -- and much of the acting is insufficient. Sharon Stone [Total Recall] is so mediocre that you would have imagined she'd wind up in one or two slasher films and then settle in as a salesgirl at Mrs. Field's Cookies. Marin Jensen is not much better, and Borgnine's performance borders on caricature. Susan Buckner makes a more favorable impression, as do Doug Barr and Jeff East [Pumpkinhead] as his sympathetic younger brother. Lisa Hartman is given one of the most embarrassing debuts since Jean Arless in Homicidal, and Lois Nettleton [Butterfly] certainly deserves much better material.

Marty gets religion: Ernest Borgnine

One female character in the film has a secret, but whether it's that she's really male, transsexual, or a hermaphrodite isn't made clear. There's a fast-moving "cat fight" at the end of the film. James Horner's score liberally borrows from Bernard Herrmann and especially Jerry Goldsmith, to an almost comical degree. With a tighter script and better direction, Deadly Blessing might have been a contender, but no dice. Former model Maren Jensen had few credits; this was her last feature film; Buckner's as well.

Verdict: Silly and oddball in the wrong way. **. 

CARNIVAL OF SOULS

Candace Hilligoss

CARNIVAL OF SOULS (1962). Director: Herk Harvey.

Mary Henry (Candace Hilligoss) is one of three young women whose car goes over a bridge and sinks deep into a river, but she is the only one who survives. Mary is a blunt, direct person whose reaction to the tragedy is to have no reaction at all. Traveling to a new town, she gets a room in a boarding house and a new job as church organist. But everywhere she goes Mary is followed by a gaunt, creepy fellow (played by director Harvey), and on other occasions no one can see or hear her, as if she has stepped out of existence. She becomes obsessed by the idea that she will learn the truth about herself at a huge abandoned dance hall near the water. But she may have preferred that she remained in blissful ignorance.

Stan Levitt and Candace Hilligoss

The low-budget but creatively filmed Carnival of Souls was undoubtedly influenced by the 1960 Twilight Zone episode "The Hitch-hiker," or by its source, Lucille Fletcher's famous radio play. But this variation on a theme has its own pleasures, not the least of which is the location filming, especially in that real abandoned dance hall on the beach. The performances are better than you might expect in a 99 cent item, although Hilligoss -- who clearly felt she was superior to the material -- comes off like a talented amateur who needs some seasoning. In fact the film itself seems in many ways like an admirable but amateur movie that might have amounted to much more (especially given those locations) had a more experienced director been at the helm --most of Harvey's films were documentaries -- but for what it is, Carnival of Souls is not bad.

Dance of the Dead

Some of the other cast members make a positive impression. Sidney Berger is excellent as the slimy John Linden, who lives in the boarding house with Mary and has an obvious and vulgar yen for her. Frances Feist, who plays the landlady and appeared on Broadway in Harvey, gets across her general uneasiness when in the presence of Mary, and there is also some good work from Art Ellison as a sympathetic minister and Stan Levitt as a doctor who tries to help Mary deal with her problems. Carnival of Souls has silly aspects -- with the creepy man turning up all over the place for an almost comical effect, and its quasi-religious aspects aren't well-handled --  but it is also undeniably eerie and compelling. The sequences when no one can see or hear Mary and she feels as if she has simply ceased to exist are disturbing, as is the not unexpected denouement. Maurice Prather's cinematography is a decided asset; most of his work was on documentaries. Sidney Berger was an acting coach; his only other film credit was a bit in the 1999 remake.

Verdict: Highly interesting low-budget spook fest. ***. 

DEAD AND BURIED

James Farentino

DEAD AND BURIED (1981). Director: Gary Sherman.

Dan Gillis (James Farentino) is the sheriff at the small town of Potter's Bluff, which suddenly seems to have an epidemic of homicide. Mutilated corpses are turning up, and we see that the perpetrators are gangs of ordinary citizens attacking outsiders. Dan, however, is even more perplexed than the audience, especially when one of the victims turns up alive with a new identity. Dan's paranoia increases when he suspects that the town's old mortician, Dobbs (Jack Albertson), who is also the medical examiner, may know more than he's saying, and when he finds that his wife, Janet (Melody Anderson), has been reading a book on witchcraft. Then he gets a piece of film that reveals the true horror of the situation, and one especially shocking revelation ...

Jack Albertson

Dead and Buried counts many things among its influences, Frankenstein chief among them, but it also has its own originality if you take it with a grain of salt. There are scenes that go on too long (the opening especially), but otherwise the film is well-paced and consistently suspenseful. Although Jack Albertson [The Subject Was Roses] would not have been my first choice for the role of Dobbs, he's still effective and never chews the scenery. Farentino is excellent, adroitly handling a difficult role, and Melody Anderson [Flash Gordon] is also on target as his wife. The supporting cast, which includes a pre-Freddie Krueger Robert Englund, is well-chosen. Although there are several exciting and chilling sequences in the film, perhaps the most memorably disturbing is an attack on a frightened family in an old abandoned house. The gruesome make ups are expertly handled by Stan Winston. Director Gary Sherman originally wanted this to be a black comedy, but, fortunately, the movie, despite its absurd aspects, is played straight.

Verdict: Very creepy picture with a disquieting premise. ***.

NIGHT OF THE DEMON (1957)

NIGHT OF THE DEMON (aka Curse of the Demon/1957). Director: Jacques Tourneur. Screenplay by Charles Bennett and Hal Chester. Based on "Casting the Runes" by M. R. James.

Professor Harrington (Maurice Denham), who has challenged the abilities and veracity of a warlock named Julian Karswell (Niall MacGinnis), finds himself under a deadly curse, and is found dead and mutilated the following morning. Another skeptic, psychologist John Holden (Dana Andrews), arrives in London and hooks up with Harrington's beautiful niece, Joanna (Peggy Cummins), who is convinced that her uncle's death was not a grotesque accident. Holden is a complete non-believer, but he admits he is baffled by some of the things that have happened since he has encountered Karswell, whose supernatural claims he has come to investigate. Holden discovers that Karswell has secretly passed him a parchment covered in runic symbols which mark Holden as the next victim of a legendary demon. Although Holden scoffs at first, Joanna's near-hysteria and certain occurrences make him wonder if he really has something to fear ...

Dana Andrews and Peggy Cummins

Night of the Demon was released in the U.S. under the title Curse of the Demon with fifteen minutes cut from the running time. It is a superior horror film, with very good performances, a wonderfully creepy atmosphere, adroit direction from Tourneur, and sequences that stay in the memory. Clifton Parker's music adds just the right note, and Edward Scaife's [Tarzan's Three Challenges] cinematography is first-rate. At the time of the film's release and later, there were some who objected to the producers' insistence on including a demon during key sequences, suggesting that this ruined the ambiguity of the film -- is the supernatural real or is everyone over-reacting? -- but there are other sequences in the film (footprints suddenly appearing in the ground where no one is walking; a cat that turns into a much larger feline creature; those hands on the banister) that make it clear that the supernatural events are actually occurring. Besides, the monster looks great. Andrews' panicky run through the midnight woods with something after him is chilling, and despite the film's essential grimness, there is an amusing seance that features comic actor Reginald Beckwith, with Athene Seyler  [I Thank a Fool] as Karswell's conflicted mother. Brian Wilde makes an impression as the haunted prisoner, Rand Hobart, a member of Karswell's sect who has been driven insane. Tourneur also directed I Walked with a Zombie, among many others, but this is by far the better film.

Verdict: A highly effective, engrossing, well-made and scary horror film without a single severed limb and with a fine script by Charles Bennett and Hal Chester. ***1/2.  

THE FOG (1980)

THE FOG (1980). Director: John Carpenter.

As the California coastal town of Antonia Bay prepares for its centennial, most of the town's citizens are unaware of its truly tragic origin. The town's founders, learning that a wealthy man was planning to build a leper colony near the town, deliberately sank the schooner that the lepers were sailing on and took the wealthy man's gold for themselves. Now it's one hundred years later and the ghosts of the lepers want revenge. Noticing the glowing fog at sea, along with some other strange occurrences, are several townspeople, including: Stevie (Adrienne Barbeau), who runs the local radio station out of a lighthouse; hitchhiker Elizabeth (Jamie Lee Curtis) and the fisherman, Nick (Tom Atkins), who gives her a lift; the tippling Father Malone (Hal Holbook), whose grandfather was one of the town's founders; and Mrs. Williams (Janet Leigh), who tries to stay in charge of the ceremonies even as she deals with the fact that her husband is missing.

Adrienne Barbeau

This was the second theatrical film after Halloween for both director Carpenter and Jamie Lee Curtis, who has a supporting part in this. I was not all that impressed with The Fog when it was released, and it hasn't grown on me, although it is by no means a terrible picture, especially when compared to some of the horror schlock released at the same time. The main problem with the film is its too-deliberate pacing, which should at least give the movie time to develop its characters but doesn't. The main premise is quite good, but Carpenter, who co-scripted, just doesn't do enough with it, and viewers often get the impression that the movie is over just when it starts to get really interesting -- although to be fair there are some eerie sequences and a couple of startling moments. It also has some mood and atmosphere, and Dean Cundey's cinematography is notable. The picture cries out for a much better score than the one that composer Carpenter has provided, however. Janet Leigh gives a very obvious performance, but Barbeau [Two Evil Eyes] is better, along with most of the other cast members. Barbeau and John Carpenter were married at the time; their marriage lasted five years. I found it hard to believe that Barbeau's character would stay at the radio station instead of going to her little boy's rescue. Remade in 2005.

Verdict: If you like movies with creepy things in the fog, watch The Crawling Eye instead. **1/2.

THE LONG HAIR OF DEATH

George Ardisson and Barbara Steele

THE LONG HAIR OF DEATH (1964). Director: Anthony Dawson (Antonio Margheriti).

Near the end of the fifteenth century, Adele Karnstein is burned as a witch. She was accused of a murder actually committed by the Baron Kurt Humboldt (George Ardisson), who also murdered her older daughter when she confronted him. Some years later Kurt forces the "witch's" other daughter, Lisabeth (Halina Zalewska), to marry him, moving her into his castle. Then along comes a mysterious woman named Mary (Barbara Steele), who bears a striking resemblance to the dead sister, and with whom Kurt becomes obsessed. Becoming her lover, Kurt then importunes Mary to help him get rid of Lisabeth so they can be together forever. But Kurt may not be aware that there may be other deadly plots going on as well ... The Long Hair of Death is an interesting if imperfect film that comes off like a stretched-out episode of, say, Thriller, but it does make good use of medieval settings, tombs, secret passages, and the like, and there are certainly some effective sequences. Although this version has the actors speaking Italian (with sub-titles), most of the international cast are dubbed, meaning we don't get to hear Barbara Steele's great voice. The lead actors give more than adequate performances, and the rest of the cast includes such Italian horror staples as Laura Nucci [The Bloodstained Shadow] as the housekeeper Grumalda, Umberto Raho as Father Yon Klage, and Giuliano Raffaelli as Kurt's father, Count Humboldt. Steele and Raho were also in The Ghost.

Verdict: Low key but fairly absorbing Italian horror film. **1/2. 

DON'T GO TO SLEEP

Robin Ignico

DON'T GO TO SLEEP (1982). Director: Richard Lang.

Phillip (Dennis Weaver) and his wife Laura (Valerie Harper) move into a new home with their two children, Mary (Robin Ignico) and Kevin (Oliver Robins of Poltergeist). Strange things begin to happen and Mary seems to be under the spell of her sister, Jennifer (Kristin Cumming), who died in a car accident some time before. Is Mary psychologically disturbed due to the trauma of her sister's death or is Jennifer's ghost out to destroy the family? Don't Go to Sleep shouldn't work, but thanks to excellent acting from the entire cast, taut and suspenseful direction, and a compelling script by Ned Wynn, it emerges as a memorable, creepy, disquieting and very uncompromising horror telefilm. Tragedy keeps piling on tragedy, and Weaver [Duel] and Harper [Stolen: One Husband] excel in difficult roles wherein they have to deal with things that (hopefully) few people would have to endure in real life. A cast stand-out is Robin Ignico, one of the most talented child actors I've ever seen, giving a nuanced, complex, and chilling performance. Ruth Gordon is peppery as the grandmother and Robert Webber is fine as a psychologist.

Verdict: A family tragedy disguised as horror. ***.

EVILSPEAK

Clint Howard

EVILSPEAK (1981). Director: Eric Weston.

Stanley Coopersmith (Clint Howard) is an orphan who has been sent to the West Andover Military Academy, where most of the students and staff are equally loathsome. Stanley discovers an ancient mystical tome in a dank cellar, and begins to type spells into his computer; he is soon allied with the spirit of an excommunicated monk from the past. A secretary (Lynn Hancock) also discovers the book and somehow manages to agitate a group of already excitable pigs who later devour her. Tormented by one too many bullies, one of whom even slaughters his puppy, Stanley uses the forces of evil to strike back with a vengeance -- you have to see hungry hogs on the rampage to believe it. Anyone expecting another Carrie will be disappointed, as Evilspeak is too disjointed, slow and incoherent to make much impact, although the gore FX at the climax aren't badly done. Clint Howard, the brother of Ron Howard, makes an effective "hero" and there are decent performances from Hamilton Camp as an instructor; R. G. Armstrong as a drunken janitor; Don Stark as nasty cadet Bubba; Charles Tyner as the highly unsympathetic Colonel Kincaid; and Joe Cortese as the school's reverend, all of whom die horribly. There's some catharsis in watching the bad guys get their just desserts, but the movie is still a major disappointment. It's interesting that the only person who is kind to Stanley is a black cadet who is too sensitive and intelligent to judge the boy by his athletic ability or lack of same.

Verdict: Good idea thrown together too haphazardly. **.

SHOCK (1977)

SHOCK (aka Beyond the Door 2/1977). Director: Mario Bava.

Dora Baldini (Daria Nicolodi of Opera), her second husband Bruno (John Steiner of The Devil Within Her) and her little boy Marco (David Colin Jr.) move into the home she previously occupied with her late first husband, a drug addict who presumably committed suicide. Being in the house -- a rather bad idea -- has an effect on Dora, as it seems to have on her son, an adorable seven-year-old child who begins doing upsetting things that he later tearfully denies. Bruno thinks it is all in Dora's head, reminding her of her stay in a mental institution after her husband's suicide. But do Dora and Bruno have other secrets as well ... Shock is Bava's last film, and it's not one of his best, although the story does lead up to some interesting twists and the performances are good. Little Colin is a wonderful scene-stealing child actor who easily walks off with the movie. There are some genuinely creepy moments in this, but the movie is still tedious and silly for much of its length. Steiner was a British actor who did much work in Italy, including Tenebrae, which starred Nicolodi. Shock was released in the U.S. as Beyond the Door 2 after the success of the original, which is related only in that Colin Jr. also had a role at the ripe old age of 3. Shock has been vastly over-rated by Bava fanatics.

Verdict: What this needs is a little more shock. **1/2.

THE GHOST (1963)

Barbara Steele and Peter Baldwin

THE GHOST (aka Lo spettro/1963). Director: Robert Hampton (Riccardo Freda).

In 1910 Scotland Margaret Hichcock (Barbara Steele) is married to an ailing and wealthy older man, John (Elio Jotta), who has an interest in the occult. Margaret is also having an affair with his very handsome doctor, Charles Livingstone (Peter Baldwin). When John dies, the lovers see signs that the man may still be living, or that his specter is haunting the manor house. Worse, the couple are having problems finding out where John hid his valuable treasures. As suspicions against each other mount, and John seems to appear to them in horrible visions, the two's nerves are stretched to the breaking point. But there's worse to come ... The Ghost is one of the best of the Italian horror films of the period, albeit the plot and its twists aren't exactly original. While a dubbed Steele seems to be sleep-walking through early sections of the movie, she certainly delivers in her dramatic sequences in the latter half. Both Jotta and Baldwin are adept as husband and paramour respectively. Harriet Medin [The Whip and the Body] is also effective as the creepy maid, Catherine, as is Umberto Raho as Canon Owens. Franco Mannino's score helps give the film an almost operatic intensity at times, and Raffaele Masciocchi's cinematography is suitably atmospheric. There's a decent and bloody slashing scene as well. This is only a nominal sequel to The Horrible Dr. Hichcock, which also starred Steele and was directed by Freda. Freda also helmed Caltiki, the Immortal Monster.

Verdict: Lusty and enthusiastic Italian fright flick. ***.

FLESH AND FANTASY

Who is that masked lady? 

FLESH AND FANTASY (1943). Director: Julien Duvivier.

This is a collection of three macabre stories with a framing device of one man relating the tales to another. The first story deals with a supposedly homely woman (Betty Field) who is given a mask (see photo) that makes her appear beautiful to everyone and that she must return by midnight. In the second story, Edward G. Robinson is given a prediction, which he initially scoffs at, that he will commit murder. The second story runs into the third, which has a high-wire acrobat (Charles Boyer) having premonitions of disaster when he meets a mysterious woman (Barbara Stanwyck) whom he has seen in a recurring dream in which he falls to his death; meanwhile the lady has secrets of her own. In a cast of talented actors, Thomas Mitchell [Theodora Goes Wild] and Dame May Whitty [The Sign of the Ram] almost walk off with the picture and it's quite interesting to see Boyer and Stanwyck together. Alexander Tasman contributed some quirky theme music. Duvivier also directed Lydia.

Verdict: Perhaps less here than meets the eye, but it's well-acted for the most part and entertaining. ***.

THE ASPHYX

Robert Powell and Robert Stephens

THE ASPHYX (1972). Director: Peter Newbrook.

Sir Hugo Cunningham (Robert Stephens) is a scientist who is interested in capturing pictures of the soul leaving the body after death. He comes upon an odd apparition or creature that seems to appear just before death, realizing this when he sees pictures of his natural son, Clive (Ralph Arliss), and fiancee, Anna (Fiona Walter), just before they die in a boating accident. Heartbroken, Hugo turns to his adopted son, Giles (Robert Powell of Asylum), for help in isolating the creature so that immortality can be achieved by capturing it. Alas, things don't always work out the way you intended, especially when Hugo tries to make his daughter, Christina (Jane Lapotaire), immortal, leading to a horrific climax. The Asphyx boasts an interesting idea, even it if seems influenced by certain E.C. horror comics, and it's also well-acted, especially by Stephens and Lapotaire [Crescendo], with good work from Powell as well. It is also not as predictable as you might imagine. Director Peter Newbrook was also a cinematographer for such films as In the Cool of the Day, but he did not do the photography for this film.

Verdict: Not entirely successful, but different. ***.

POLTERGEIST (1982)

Robbie (Oliver Robins) and his malevolent clown

POLTERGEIST (1982). Director: Tobe Hooper. Produced by Steven Spielberg.

"It's not another tribal burial ground. It's just people."

A very nice family living in a development in Cueste Verde are subjected to all manner of strange phenomenon in their home, culminating in their little girl, Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke) disappearing into a closet. Now most parents would at least try the police first -- after all a predator could have run off with the child during all the excitement (a tree with a hungry maw; a tornado etc.) -- but Steve Freeling (Craig T. Nelson) and his wife, Diane (JoBeth Williams) reach out to parapsychologists instead (if for no other reason than to get the plot moving). This is just as well, as the little psychic Tangina (Zelda Rubinstein) discovers there's an evil presence inside the house. Just when you think things have calmed down and the child has been returned, there's a bravura climax in which the Freelings discover just why so many crazy things have been going on with a vengeance. Poltergeist is in its way rather silly and even schlocky at times -- it's much more of a black comedy than a true horror film, but works on that level -- but it has some well-done FX and creepy sequences. On the debit side, Poltergeist takes a while to get going -- the day to day details of the Freelings lives are simply not that interesting -- and sometimes the pacing is off. The movie does do a very good job of getting across childhood fears, however.The acting is fine -- the children are especially noteworthy -- but the actors take a back seat to the special effects. Jerry Goldsmith's score helps a great deal in key action sequences. One quick and disgusting gore sequence doesn't quite fit the tone of the movie, even though it turns out to be an hallucination. In the thankless role of another parapsychologist, Beatrice Straight does little but flap her lips together. Followed by two sequels and a remake. Tobe Hopper also directed the terrible Eaten Alive.

Verdict: No masterpiece, but fun. ***.