(1972)
Dir - Robert Mulligan
Overall: MEH
In his only quasi-horror film, To Kill a Mocking Bird director Robert Mulligan adapted Tom Tryon's novel The Other, Tryon himself penning the screenplay as well. While it is well made and looks rather pretty, (perhaps too pretty), it is not all together that interesting of a movie. From the very beginning, it is crystal clear that we are dealing with another "kid has an imaginary friend who we can also see" scenario, this time it being his identical twin brother. Though it is not made to look that mysterious, when it becomes explicitly stated that this is what is going on later in the movie, the obviousness robs the would-be most dramatic scene of all of its oomph. We are left with a family that gets one murder or grave misfortune after the other during a matter of weeks and no one once thinks it might be the doing of this young boy who is perpetually acting a little off. Maybe it is asking too much since as the viewer, we are in a far different seat than the characters on the screen. Yet when it comes to movies, some of this does need to be taken into consideration. Otherwise, we are getting taken out of the experience too much. Gore and actual "horror" wise, this is as bland as they come, though this is not a knock on it in anyway. The film is just too tame all around. A pre-Three's Company John Ritter does show up for a couple of scenes which is amusing at least.
(1974)
Dir - Jeff Gillen/Alan Ormsby
Overall: MEH
As much a Canadian production as an American one, (it was shot north of the border and includes a primarily Canadian cast though it was funded by an American music promoter), Deranged, (Deranged: Confessions of a Necrophile), was the first film to more obviously be inspired by Ed Gein with both Psycho and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre only taking minor details into their plots from the real life Mamas-boy turned necrophiliac, grave-robbing serial murderer. The film is pretty straightforward for anyone familiar with the real life Gein, except it throws in a slightly awkward documentary approach by having an on screen narrator walk on and explain things from time to time. The movie is also played for laughs more frequently than one would think, not so much with frequent Bob Clark collaborator, make-up artist, and writer/co-director Alan Ormsby's script, but with some of the performances that go from goofy to disturbing in a gradual fashion. Speaking of make-up, Tom Savini was also on board to decorate some of the corpses here as well. The film is bad by any stretch, but it also does not even remotely offer up any suspense which it rather needs. We know the fate of every murder victim that is set up for Gein, (here called Ezra Cobb and played by Roberts Blossom, Old Man Marley from Home Alone), so it is difficult to get our heart racing when we see these scenes play out. That said, some of them are oddly humorous and even "yyyyyyaaaaaa!" terrifying, so it gets a pass.
(1976)
Dir - Matt Cimber
Overall: MEH
This rather ambitious project from blaxploitation director Matt Cimber is a bit surprising in how it skews its rather exploitative elements and becomes quite poignant as it goes on. The Witch Who Came from the Sea is anything but what its movie poster and title may suggest, (there is no sexy, Frazetta-esque sea witch wreaking havoc on doomed sailors or anything). The film is unpleasant to watch at various times, occasionally seems a bit ridiculous, (including a main musical score that is rather inappropriate for such material), and has some gruesome moments, but it seems clear by the end that the filmmakers were not making something for pure shock value at all. Now, watching a movie about sexual child abuse is never a fun experience and in this regard, there is much here that one would rather not sit through. Millie Perkins, (The Diary of Anne Frank), as the lead protagonist Molly is a frustrating character and likewise uncomfortable to witness most of the time. Ultimately though, it would have been disingenuous to make her any less complex and aggressive, the story itself being a difficult thing to stomach. Future A-list cinematographer Dean Cundey is on board in one of his first movies and he also helps elevate the material even further, showing just enough to make the disturbing aspects strike home. It is still a tough call if the movie is in fact a triumph or bares more than a single viewing, but it is something to take note of at the very least.
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