(1970)
Dir - Freddie Francis
Overall: WOOF
With respected cinematographer and occasional director of notable horror films Freddie Francis, screenwriter and Hammer director John Gilling, Joan Crawford in her final film appearance, horror mainstay Michael Gough, and even a lifted stop-motion sequence from Ray Harryhausen's work on The Animal World documentary all joining forces, it just goes to prove that sometimes a reliable crop of talent is not enough to stop a trainwreck. Trog is one of the most famously bad movies ever made. While there are moments of pure, utter ridiculousness leisurely sprinkled throughout, it all gets off to a trudgy start with a snore-inducing first act. The camp eventually does go a long way, from Crawford's surprisingly professional performance amongst such nonsense, to Gough's cartoonishly forced villainous one, to every single moment that the title character wearing half of an ape costume from 2001: A Space Odyssey is on screen. It cannot be stressed enough how atrociously hilarious said troglodyte looks. Scenes of him walking around in broad daylight as the musical score whimsically tries to make him sympathetic just defines schlock. There are ultimately too many boring moments to warrant it as a hall of fame anti-classic, but it comes close enough at times, that is for sure.
(1971)
Dir - Peter Collinson
Overall: MEH
Formulaic yet occasionally successful, Fright was one of the many straight thriller entries in director Peter Collinson's filmography. Scripted by Tudor Gates, (Barbarella, The Vampire Lovers, Lust for a Vampire, Twins of Evil), it plays to familiar tropes such as a babysitter being targeted in a remote house, the phone lines being cut, women being told that they are imagining things, and an escaped mental patient fulfilling the proto-slasher killer role. We have all seen these patterns utilized to greater effect elsewhere and the way that they blandly pile on here is really the movie's only undoing. Elsewhere, there are some tense moments and solid performances even if none of it ultimately elevates the vanilla presentation. The way the sociopath uncontrollably confuses two of the characters really does not say much beyond "he's crazy". Similarly, the more sexually charged nature of the movie, (the boyfriend gets a bit pushy in the pants, the babysitter randomly stops to admire her body in a mirror, and the killer inevitably forces himself on her), are more there as scandalous ingredients to make it a bit more edgy, which was becoming more common for the era.
(1977)
Dir - Claude Héroux
Overall: MEH
The same year that he stared as Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars, Peter Cushing lent his name and talents to this unofficial Amicus anthology The Uncanny. Actually a British/Canadian co-production between Cinévidéo and The Rank Organization, (though Amicus founder Milton Subotsky was on board as producer), it has all of the hallmarks of any other omnibus horror films made in that country, thankfully so. Well, all the hallmarks except being good. It is difficult enough to get each individual entry in an anthology movie to measure up to each other in quality when they can all pick from wildly different subject matter. It is even more problematic to have them pigeonhole a sinister feline element into them. Thus is the case with The Uncanny which features a fear of cats as a linking thread, never managing to make such a premise anything except laughably lame. Not that it is really presented as anything to be taken that seriously. While having a ghoulish, knowing charm is a commendable trait for such fare, the enjoyment factor is regrettably amiss here. Poor Mr. Cushing. There is a reason people talk about Star Wars more.
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