The Beast Must Die (1974)

An Amicus offering, but not a multiple story film. Calvin Lockhart plays Tom Newcliffe, a rich playboy who enjoys hunting. He assembles a group of people at his remote mansion and tells them that one of them is a werewolf and he plans to hunt it down. Coming across as a hybrid of horror and Agatha Christie-type whodunnit and we are challenged at the beginning to discover who the werewolf is before the film reveals all. There is even a 'werewolf break' near the end giving you 30 seconds to make your guess. Of course it can only be a guess as there isn't the customary clues tp point out exactly who it is, it really could be anyone, there are some red herrings thrown in, however, to make try and make you pick the wrong one. It lacks pace, contains many plot holes and doesn't answer a lot of the questions, we, as the detective, raise. The werewolf looks like a shaggy dog which never offers anything in the way of thrills. It's a shame, for it's a decent idea but seems to have been made in haste. But with Peter Cushing, Charles Gray, Michael Gambon in the cast, it's a fun romp nonetheless.

The Woods (1996)

Reminiscent of a few European movies, The Woods is an American horror flick about a girl who sent to a boarding school (in the woods) with a secret and discovers her being there is no coincidence. Helmed by the writer/director Lucky McKee, who also made the excellent May, the film looks good and has some genuinely creepy set pieces, but somehow misses the mark. It occasionally rambles and could have done with tightening up - it doesn't really come to life until well past the half way mark. And some of the clues it offers up are maybe too hidden and subtle, which, I grant you, is unusual for an American film and I may just be sore for missing them! The ending would try and have you believe it's based around true happenings, but it isn't and it seems a cheap way of trying to drum up interest. Nevertheless it's plenty watchable.

Vampire Killer Barbys (1996)

Not watched many films over the last few days; got a Wii at the weekend, need I say more!

So Vampire Killer Barbys - no mistype, Mattel wouldbn't let it be called 'Barbies'. Ajess Franco film. For those not familiar with the name of Franco, he is an incredibly prolific Spanish director of mainly low budget Eurotrash. Some of his films are very difficult to watch due to lack of plot, budget, acting abilities,pacing and just about everything you need to make a successful film. But some of his films are quite wonderful in a very strange way. However, you do need to leave some of your more normal sensibilities behind to enjoy most of them. He has made some 'mainstream films, such as two of the Christopher Lee Fu Manchu films(and quite a few others starring Mr Lee) and his films range from violent horror, western, crime drama, literary adaptions and hard and soft porn. In fact most of films contain a high amount of nudity. Some of his fans proclaim you need to see all his films to appreciate his vision, but that's just rubbish. For one, most of his films appear in multiple versions and I doubt anyone has seen all his films, even Franco himself. You do, though, need an open mind.

VKB is, I believe, one of his more accessible movies. A rock band - the Killer Barbies, a real Spanish band, are on their way to a gig when their van gets stuck and an ominous stranger offers them shelter in the castle of his mistress, the mysterious Countess who needs the blood of the young to remain looking young. So far so good - a Countess Bathory-type flick. Bad points include the horrendous dubbing, on the copy I saw, which never helps and is always an obstacle andthe villains sidekicks, a backward man and his two midgets who seem to be there to add a little comedy - they don't. However Franco includes some artful shots and keeps the atmosphere on the weird side as the action takes place in a strange world where the time is never not 12 noon and daylight and night merge with each other wildly. The castle is a wonderful backdrop filled with macabre curios and statuettes, all with their eyes covered, presumably so they don't ever get a peek of the crumbl;ing Countess. The Countess, of course, rejuvenates to an attractive, secualk fiend (played alluringly, and because of that worryingly, by the 59 year old stalwart of Eurotras, Mariangela Giordano. The film will hold no surprises, or indeed shocks, but has plenty in it to keep your interest up. There was actually a sequel to this, The Killer Barbys v Dracula, which I feel duty bound to track down.

But then, I like Franco and this is one of the main reasons that I am dropping rating the films - it's impossible to rate Franco alongside, say, Hitchcock and render any rating meaningless. Franco is no Jean Rollin, who you are occasioally reminded of through this film, but he can make interesting films.

The House That Dripped Blood (1971)

This is one of the many Amicus portmanteau horror films thatn were about in the late sixties and early seventies. It's quite amazing to think thesedays that these films had an X certificate back then. This one in particular is pretty tame, having no nudity or violence, at least visual violence. Irrespective of the title, there's not even any blood on view. There a four stories linked by the framing device of a policeman investigating the disappearance of a famous actor who rented the titular house and hears stories about the previous occupants. The first features Denholm Elliott as a writer whose creation seems to be coming to life. Next up Peter Cushing is transfixed by a waxwork figure in the local Chamvber of Horrors. Christopher Lee appears in the next as a widower who is afraid of his little daughter and it finishes off with Jon Pertwee as the disappeared actor who unwittingly buys a real vampires cloak which turns the wearer into one of the befanged fiends. The twists have been marred by countless rewatches but it is still a fun film, and with such a cast list, which also includes Ingrid Pitt, Geoffrey Bayldon and Nyree Dawn Porter, it can't be anything else.

George In Civvy Steet (1946)

George Formby's cinematic swan song.
Demobbed from the army, George heads back to his village pub, with his army buddy Ronald Shiner in tow, and finds the place rundown, while the pub across the river is thriving. Cue pub wars!
If this had been handled better, George may have a few more years in him but amongst the usual Formby shenanigans there are few moments that could easily have been lost. There's too many songs without the ukulele and the whole Alice In Wonderland dream sequence seems woefully out of place, even if it is metaphorically sound. Regardless, the appearance of George is enough alone to cheer you up and get you rooting for him.

Old Bones Of The River (1938)

An occasionally flat pre-WW2 British comedy that is much enlivened by the presence of that great, but rather forgotten, comic actor, Will Hay. Aided and abetted by Moore Marriott and Graham Moffatt, the film cannot be anything but entertaining, even if it is one of the weaker Hay films.

Hay plays Benjamin Tibbett, a teacher who arrives in darkest Africa to 'reform the pagans' but ends up in command of a military post and quells an uprising of natives. Modelled on Edgar Wallace's 'Sanders Of The River', it suffers today from some duboius views of the natives (as indeed 'Sanders..' did) - the wish to overthrow the invading British and return to the life they had before is seen as being wrong, while the complete acquiesence of servitude is apparently to be applauded. Still, there is still plenty of fun to be had and there no such thing as Will Hay film not worth watching.

Mon Meilleur Ami (2006)

Or 'My Best Friend'. A superb comedy of manners from the ever-reliable hand of Patrice Leconte. Every time I watch a film by Leconte he never fails to leave me thoroughly satisfied.

Francoís (played by the excellent Daniel Autiel) ia an art dealer who lives for his work. His partner tells him that he needs a friend, that work is not everything. Francois lies and says he has a best friend. His partner calls his bluff and she bets him that he can't produce this friend in 10 days. After a few painful tries to make friends, he enlists the help of a taxi driver, Bruno, to help him, not realising that they are themselves becoming friends. But ends up using Bruno purely for the bet, little realising that the extra depth of pain this will bring Bruno.

If this was an American film, it would have heavily over-emotional and full of sugary sweet moments and cack-handed 'comedy' moments. However, in Leconte's hands, it a subtle exploration of loneliness and the nature of relationships with many amusing moments all wrapped up in that realism that French cinema does so well.

Rope (1948)

An experimental film by Hitchcock which works as a piece of interest but misfires a lot as a film. It started life, unsurprisingly, as a play and Hitch wanted to film it as one and so he set out to film it entirely in one go. Of course he could only film 10 minutes at a time with the length of reels they had so to keep his desired continuity he has the screen blacked out momentarily, usually as somebody moves in front of the camera. Unfortunately it's not always done seamlessly.

It's the story of two students who feel so intellectually siperior thewy believe that not only can they murder someone, but host a dinner party straight after the deed with the body hidden in a trunk on top of which they place the food. The murdered boy's parents are two of the guest, as is Jimmy Stewart as the boys tutor. Stewart is visibly uncomfortable in the role and gives an uncharacteristic poor performance. There are a few nice touches but you never lose the feeling that Hitchcock is experimenting and the whole thing lacks any real suspense. It's clever and worth seeing, just to see how he does it, but it's not one of his classics.

Welcome To The Dollhouse (1994)

Todd Solondz debut (I think) flick is a black comedy about the terrors of being a 12 year old girl who, as most of us who can remember that age will testify as being true, doesn't feel as she belongs anywhere, not even in the familial home. Tormented by all, including the ones who should know better, she lives a life slightly one step to the left of everyone else. With a punishing truthfulness Solondz pulls no punches about the awfulness of these years but somehow manages to make an engaging, frequently funny, film that makes you want to contact old school mates to apologise - everyone at some point in their formative youth will have been a monster - the girl in question, Dawn, herself passes her torments straight down to her little sister who is the only person she can be nasty to. An excellent film that begs people, parents and friends alike, to walk a while in other people's shoes before they judge.

A Cock And Bull Story (2005)

The supposedly unfilmable story comes to life. Based on Lawrence Stern's 18th century novel Tristram Shandy the film tries hard to accommodate the waywardness of the novel and nearly accomplishes it, but it has to severly alter things to gain the feeling of the book. Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon take the leads, Brydon taking the comedy honours outshining Coogan which has a strange mirror on the film. In the film they show you not only the film, but the fictitious behind of scenes goings-on with Coogan, as a fictitious Coogan, worrying about being outshone by Brydon, and it happens in the real film. Whether it is a decent attempt to film the novel is a question that really shouldn't be taken too seriously and you should just enjoy the film for what it is - an amusing romp about the trials and tribulations about making a film. A sort of English version of Truffaut's Day For Night. It's nothing to get excited about but an enjoyable enough way to spend an hour and a half.

The First Post

I did mean to start this Blog off straight after New Year, but life does get in the way, and better late than never! Normally an avid film watcher, it has been a slow start to the year with only a handful of films watched . First up was:

Frenzy (1972)

Hitchcock's thriller of the hunt for serial killer amongst the markets of Covent Garden was a sparkling return to form from the master after a run of several stinkers. Although slightly nastier than usual, it's a tremendous flick with plenty of signature touches from Hitch. The camera recoiling from horror from what is happening in the flat of the killer, backwards down a a twisting staircase and out into the street was, for me, the standout shot but the 'wrestling' match with a corpse in the back of a potato wagon is a wonderful moment of black comedy. One of Hitch's most common theme, that of the wrong man being accused and hunted down, is the mainstay of the story as Jon Finch tries to elude the police unaware that is actually his friend, Barry Foster, who is The Necktie Killer. Hitch uses the London backdrop with nolstgiac fondness and captures the now defunct markets at Covent Gardens wonderfully. This was the place of his youth as his father was a greengrocer in these parts and he captures the bygone days before they vanished forever which is an incedental treat of the film. Hitch was to make one more film, Family Plot in '76, but this is his last true hurrah.