70's American Horror Part One

THE DUNWICH HORROR
(1970)
Dir - Daniel Haller
Overall: MEH

An early H.P. Lovecraft adaptation of the book of the same name, The Dunwich Horror was produced by American International Pictures who were behind the virtually flawless Roger Corman/Vincent Price/Edgar Allan Poe films from the 1960s amongst many others.  In fact, Corman's name got thrown onto this one as well, in executive producer form.  The source material is fool proof enough, but it has some pacing issues, (as well as a random angry mob), during its finale that kind of drag things down while Dean Stockwell seems to take FOREVER to summon the Old Ones on top of demon cliff.  Also, Sandra Dee spends about 80% of her screen time moving her sleepy head black and forth and moaning whilst under Wilbur Whateley's spell.  Speaking of Stockwell's Whateley, he is so goofy and creepy from our very first meeting with him that the fact that everybody does not just back away and leave well enough alone is rather a hard pill to swallow.  There are multiple close ups of his eyes so I guess he was using some kinda Old One's power to keep people thinking he is charming instead of an eccentric nerd?  Sure why not.

FRANKENSTEIN
(1973)
Dir - Glenn Jordan
Overall: MEH

The second Gothic literary adaptation from producer Dan Curtis, Frankenstein was an early installment in season one of ABC's Wide World of Mystery series, debuting the same year that England also aired their own television version of Mary Shelley's famed source material with Frankenstein: The True Story.  This one also has Curtis serving as co-writer and it premiered on the same evening as The Night Strangler, signifying an era where Curtis' productions were all over the small screen.  Taking as many liberties as any variation of the novel, this one maintains the idea of Frankenstein's creation living in hiding for a number of months where he observes the behavior of others to pick up speech, only to demand a female companion once he is reunited with his maker.   As far as the monster goes, this has a typically pitiful portrayal from Bo Svenson, with the usual motifs of everyone running away or attacking him in terror and all of his early murders being accidental in nature.  Robert Foxworth also makes for a pathetic title character who frustrates everyone around him with his stubborn, obsessive insistence on keeping his experiments on the down-low.  The over two-hour running time is excessive and the shot-on-video presentation allows for no convincing cinematic atmosphere, making this an adequate yet redundant interpretation amongst many.

TOURIST TRAP
(1979)
Dir - David Schmoeller
Overall: GOOD

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre/House of Wax rip-off/homage Tourist Trap was produced by the short-lived company that also put out Halloween the previous year and is a perfect example of a horror film that never loses sight of its tone.  There are a number of things, (make that most things), going on here that are just impossible to take seriously and the film clearly knows this.  Everything from the score, acting, and camera work all contribute to make the viewer feel a bit uncomfortable while simultaneously amused.  The opening scene is quite effective and further creepy moments follow, though everything grows increasingly more bizarre than scary.  There are flaws to be sure as well though.  Every single line of dialog from our main villain Leatherface or whatever he is called is absolutely terrible.  The movie would have benefited if he was mute, considering that many of his actions would seem far more unsettling instead of just weird and laugh out loud funny.  Again though, much of this humor seems intended.  There are also budget detriments that sell many of the effects short and of course every character makes mostly moronic decisions that only characters in horror movies do.  The film was overlooked when originally released, but as is the case with many of these low-budget horror gems, its reputation has aged most well and deservedly so.