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Reviews
Chisum (1970)
Good old-fashioned John Wayne spectacle
Chisum, one of the few John Wayne films based on history, is squarely within the formula of heroism and lavish western adventure that represent John Wayne's twilight-era movies. It has its faults but overall is an engrossing, rollicking oater story, thanks in no small part to Andrew J. Fenady's well-defined characters.
Character perhaps is the core of the film, which relies on the familiarity of the cast which includes such well-known supporting actors as Richard Jaeckel, Andrew Prine, Glenn Corbett, et al. The history of Chisum, Tunstall, Garrett and Billy the Kid are the film's backbone, which is why the film clicks in the beginning and end where the various rugged personages are involved in gunfighting and brawling exploits.
The middle of the film is problematic, essaying to a fault the details of the conspiracy against Chisum and protracting the homebound scenes between Billy the Kid and Sally Chisum. Shorn of a few minutes in this section the film would seem more crisp.
The stunt-work, cinematography and casting are done professionally to great effect. McLaglen's direction is perfectly suited to this type of old-guard, breezy actioner, and his best films rely on stars like Jimmy Stewart and Robert Mitchum as this one relies on Wayne.
Yet CHISUM isn't totally lost in bravado star-packed-action movies previously alluded to. The snappy editing and zooms betray '70s styles and younger stars like Geoffrey Deuel are zestful and violent counterparts to their staunch elders.
Such things as this generational representation and the charisma of the patently excellent western cast makes CHISUM stand out from some of the other less exciting films in the group of Wayne's late '60s/early '70s output.
Aside: neat opening credits!
Ercole sfida Sansone (1963)
Catch this one!
TCM often shows films not available on video, and this, such a film, is most interesting.
As the sword and sandal craze dwindled this was unloaded onto the matinée market by MGM in 1965. Strongman Kirk Morris plays the lead Hercules, assisted by crafty Ulysses and equally powerful Samson against the evil ruler of Gaza.
This is actually a weirdly absorbing movie, as I found myself wanting to see it to the conclusion. The plot is rather complex, with double-crosses, duels to the death and some attractive scenery. As is to be expected, dubbing makes all of the action somewhat hard to follow. The larger-than-life characters are acted with gusto. I hope we see a DVD of this someday...
The Mephisto Waltz (1971)
Strange twist on usual Satanic-cult potboiler
It is important in film-making not only create an impression but also to engender some sort of gut reaction from the audience, especially in horror films. We can judge a horror film in addition to its style, by its ability to actually frighten. THE MEPHISTO WALTZ does well on this count.
The film is about a couple who is coerced into the household of rich socialite-Satanists, led by Duncan Ely, who is played by Curt Jurgens, who is pretty good here. What follows is a deadly game of cat-and-mouse between the converted and unconverted to Ely's sect. It is pretty well-written and shot, with genuine suspense and a deceptively simple use of oblique angles and soft focus to create a nightmarish atmosphere. The problem with the film is that it is too long, and domestic sequences are not poignant enough to be interesting, despite the strange Alda performance.
However, there are scary sequences of fantasy vs. reality and terror-based ideas, such as Jaquelin Bisset's realization that her dreams are reality and the pure horror of the dog attack scene. Initially director Paul Wendkos's inserts seem too jarring, but in being jarring they make the action more threatening.
I didn't really like the title sequence because it gives away too many of the nice shots we should be surprised or thrilled by later in the film. One thing that definitely adds to the suspense of the film is Jerry Goldsmith's score: it rivals Herrman's PSYCHO score for violin-fueled, full-blooded accompaniment to a horror film.
Overall, despite some problems of character development and loose ends, THE MEPHISTO WALTZ is a frightening film, and a devious twist on a concept used in such other films as THE SEVENTH VICTIM and ROSEMARY'S BABY, this one is a distinctive experience in the bizarre. Some may not like the plot's convolution, but assuredly watch if you are a fan of horror films of any connotation.
I Am Legend (2007)
durable story given good modern treatment here
This is, as many fans of the Richard Matheson novel should know, the third version of I Am Legend. I suspect it to be the caliber of The Omega Man and a good translation of the novel in the guise of a 2007 society going to waste because of a lethal virus.
Francis Lawrence's picture has a great introduction, completely varying every NYC precedent you could imagine. It kicks off the story of Robert Neville, the scientist who believed he could cure a botched cancer antidote that became the "KV" virus of the film. Like Price and Heston, he fights off the diseased nocturnally and researches or tries to solve his problem when he has time during the day.
Within the open-ended plot structure are many vignettes, some of which are less interesting than others. I think in terms of character development Neville goes more and more insane trying to find a cure towards the end, which builds the theme of fate because he only really saves every last normal human on Earth in a coincidental moment of realization.
This is rather impressive compared to Constantine, the other Francis Lawrence film but the main weakness is the zombie element--the monsters of the novel appear to have mutated into the creatures of the 28... films and other recent movies with hyperactive night creatures such as these. They don't have any character or anything unique about them, which works for the theme of de-evolution, but the design could have been more bizarre or original.
In terms of cinematic grammar the film is well-shot, but the second unit is kind if blurry due to the CGI used for animals/creatures.
It is enough to say that Will Smith is great and carries the movie like the true movie-star he is, with charisma and conviction in a difficult role that he could not have handled earlier on--it shows how much he has grown as an actor.
Despite all of this the film is most interesting because of its themes and subtle integration of existential or religious complexes within humanity. It is also a generally compelling story of unlikely survival and the element in humans as a whole that lets us surpass the evil we create.
King Dinosaur (1955)
Big lizards in silly first film from Mr. B.I.G.
Initiated into film with 1954's Serpent Island, which I would love to see, Bert I. Gordon got his chance to direct with King Dinosaur, whose being influenced by King Kong is indicated in in the title and the monster battles.
The mini-epic, filmed in Bronson Caverns etc. on a mini budget, starred Bill Bryant, who had minor roles in some other films like CHISUM and appeared on TV in westerns as well. He plays one of four intrepid scientists who venture to newly discovered Planet Nova, which has just entered the solar system. Well, actually this occurs after a barrage of about 15 min of stock footage accompanied by Marvin Miller filling us in with about every piece of useless information we might need.
Anyway, they eventually get to Nova and discover an island and some monsters, walking and talking a lot along the way.
That's the main weakness of the script and film in general; an all-encompassing lack of genuine intrigue. However, it's kind of fun for sci-fi fans and devotees of Gordon's to see his slightly amateurish first feature, even if it means sitting through a lot of stale scenarios to get to those full-blooded reptile brawls.
Heavy Traffic (1973)
Seemingly underseen underground animation; Bakshi's best film
HEAVY TRAFFIC, written and directed by Ralph Bakshi, produced by his oft producer Steve Krantz, is the near-perfection of his urban schema. The film follows Michael Corleone through a psychological odyssey of a rough New York, propelled by, as an artist, his own imagination and interpretation.
The visually complex film derives its story from Michael's twisting of his real-life; his cartoon and "real" worlds are intertwined. He gives a portrait of his dysfunctional family, inserting black comedy and commenting on the bizarre characters of the underbelly of the city throughout the film. This is the essential and most effective force in the narrative: the interaction between Michael and his girlfriend Carole and the people in their lives they become dissident towards. For example, Angie, Michael's Italian father, resents his dating a black woman, and puts a contract on his son. Michael's need to escape such overwhelming pressures and assert himself sexually is the driving force throughout the story.
This makes the story compelling, as we learn to dislike the characters, but in their exaggeratedness find them novel and funny. The moral disconnect here and the many undercurrent conflicts, (like the conflict of Michael's parents in their guiding their son) disorient the viewer but provide an ample amount of thought-provoking messages, many of them subliminal in the visuals.
The look of the film is tremendous, perfectly capturing a grubby city, but also giving a stylized verve to the characters. The direction of animation succeeds also in using obtuse compositions to make the environments have certain effects, particularly in the scene of Michael's death, where everything goes out of proportion as he descends back into reality.
Because of the racial and violent content, the film might seem repugnant, but it is an uplifting, completely compelling experience that is completely distinct and demands more than one viewing to fully comprehend. The issues cannot be magnified to seem overly relevant or original and the story is not profound, but as stressed before, there is a demand of art direction and character that makes the film stay in a crazy kaleidoscope of urban commotion and devious activity. Therefore, the experience and overall effect are hard to forget.
A note on availability: some time ago MGM released a DVD and VHS of HEAVY TRAFFIC. These are now hard to find in stores but can be purchased online. The film is available only in this edition, which has an academy ratio (full-screen) image. However, cineastes who don't want to seek it out can view in 7 or 8 parts on Youtube, with some other Bakshi stuff like Coonskin there too.
Doomsday Machine (1976)
pretty dire stuff
Pieced together in 1972, THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE (although most prints exclude THE at the beginning of the title) is the worst movie I have ever viewed. If you looked only at the cast and crew however, that would come as somewhat of a surprise. Grant Williams, Lee Sholem, James Craig and many other members of the production were very reliable in their better years, which brings me to the conclusion that many needed (or accepted) their roles in this modest film "for the money".
This would account for the bad acting and careless execution of a story that had been seen so many times before even when the film was began in 1967. This involves, with a Commie-apocalypse twist worked in, what happens when a crew of astronauts discover their mission to Venus was actually an attempt to advance the human race beyond an impending nuclear apocalypse (which is unbelievable even with the most infinite amount of suspension of disbelief).
And so for the next hour the audience is bludgeoned with droning melodrama and incongruous stock footage until a conclusion that will shock you with its utter stupidity and inexplicable nature.
What makes the film somewhat of a guilty pleasure is to see how it scrapes the bottom of the barrel in terms of production values, offers no provocative politics and little human conflict in a situation that requires huge amounts and frames all of its action in a static manner. This film shows the viewer explicitly everything that can go wrong in making a movie, and provides the some of the most laughable dialogue and scenes one may ever see.
Grouped most accurately with other tiny-budget commercial independents of the 70s like CRY BLOOD, APACHE and THE REVENGE OF DR.X, the film wastes the talents of its once-great principals and the time of anyone who sees it--I can't even see many of those who love terrible cinema enjoying this--and makes one wince in sheer boredom that there must be something interesting in the film.
For all of the 80-odd minutes spent watching this one, there really isn't. See it at your own risk.
The Terror (1963)
Fascinating, occasionally tedious movie
On leftover sets from THE RAVEN (1963), Roger Corman created another unlikely cult classic under conditions seemingly similar to those he faced with THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1960).
THE TERROR features Boris Karloff and Jack Nicholson (an interesting contrast) as villain and hero respectively. A soldier from Napoleon's army, Nicholson traces a mysterious ghostly girl to the castle of the Baron Von Leppe, played by Karloff. A number of eerie goings-on lead to an exciting climax.
Corman and a number of assistant directors accomplished a bizarre atmosphere with the film, and although it is uneven, the film is surprisingly watchable.
This is partially thanks to an interesting Leo Gordon script with themes typical of Corman's Poe cycle and good performances by Karloff and the Corman stock cast. Nicholson is especially fascinating to watch in an enthusiastic but not always believable performance. The direction is workmanlike in areas, especially action sequences, but the mise-en-scene can get rather engrossing in encounters with the various strange characters. Finally, the finale will not disappoint fans of Corman's Gothic films.
Recommended to Nicholson and AIP-Poe fans, who will have to search to find a good print of the public domain film on video.