(1971)
Dir - Anna Procházková
Overall: MEH
This television drama serves as the only cinematic Dracula adaptation made in the Czech Republic. Shot in black and white with soap opera lighting, Hrabe Drakula, (Count Dracula), is certainly a low budget affair, but not in a adverse way. While the film jumps set pieces rather abruptly at times, it still condenses Bram Stoker's novel rather impressively since it does only run seveny-six minutes. Naturally, it is rather void of gore and emphasizes virtually no sex appeal, but that is solely a fault of the television medium from the era as opposed to any byproduct of the filmmakers. On that note, some of the effects are well-executed despite the meager production values. The vampires speak telepathically and appear transparent at times and all of the scenes at Dracula's castle fare better than the more stagey, interior set ones. It is not without some other issues though. The ending is underwhelming and suffers the most from the minimal length, Ilja Racek does not get enough screen time to properly establish himself as a worthy on-screen Count, and the stock music is frequently more silly than spooky. Acceptable for what it is, but still deservedly a more obscure outing.
(1978)
Dir - Juraj Herz
Overall: GOOD
This take on the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve's much-filmed Beauty and the Beast tale is both lavishly stylized and quite dark. For the better part of about a decade's time, filmmaker Juraj Herz was easily the most persistent purveyor of the horror genre in his native Czechoslovakia. It is not surprising then that his Beauty and the Beast, (Panna a netvor, The Virgin and the Monster), embarks on a much more gruesome and dank trek than many other versions. The grotesque, bird-like Beast's castle is a crumbling, quintessentially macabre abode full of broken statues, bubbling ponds, overgrown and dead foliage, decrepit furniture, and melted candles. The whole establishment looks like it has been abandoned for centuries after being burned down. There are numerous, freaky touches in the form of a charred, legless man either living in or being part of a chandelier, a person made of gold operating the fireplace, and at one time a stone statue appears to be mobile. With a musical score that exclusively bounces between a romantic violin melody and dramatic, minor-key organ bursts, visually the moments of sinister weirdness are equally offset by robust dream sequences full of blinding white and soft lighting. The story is left positively vague and follows a type of fairytale logic that Herz spends very little time explaining, but this is less frustrating than it is essential to the movie's odd, surreal nature.
(1979)
Dir - Juraj Herz
Overall: MEH
Closing out his most prolific decade, Juraj Herz ended his 1970s input with an original fairytale co-scripted by Josef Hanzlík. The horror components in The Ninth Heart (Deváté srdce) are sparse, limited mostly to the mere concept of an evil, cross-eyed astrologer who needs a series of human hearts to do...something. Sadly, this is not one of the director's more engaging works. We are treated to an entire puppet show by a vagabond troupe in the very beginning, only to witness different parts of it again several more times throughout the movie. Elsewhere, a smug, unlikable "hero" bamboozles an innkeeper with an elaborate meal that he cannot pay for, gets thrown in jail, escapes jail, joins the traveling riff-raff, gets arrested again, and then finally the actual plot kicks into gear. From then it still overstays its welcome though with long, ballroom dance scenes and an underwhelming ending where three characters appear trapped in the astrologer's magical castle for what feels like eons. As it explores the fantastical themes of Herz' other films in a more whimsical way, it is a compelling watch only for those looking for a more comprehensive intake of his work.
No comments:
Post a Comment