60's British Horror Part Nine

PEEPING TOM

(1960)

Dir - Michael Powell
Overall: GOOD

It is not hyperbolic to consider Michael Powell's Peeping Tom to be one of the most influential horror films of all time.  Legendarily panned when released and subsequently ruining the career of its director, it has survived its initial reputation to become over analyzed by film scholars and other directors for decades which it primarily deserves.  The mere concept of voyeurism was rarely explored as complexly as it is here.  The unassuming, socially fragile Mark Lewis, (traumatized by his scientist father's sadistic experiments on him as a child), is a pathetically sympathetic psychopath who's erotic fixation with the film camera uncomfortably puts the viewer of the movie themselves in his rather perverse position.  Though it helped begat European giallos and later the largely imitative slasher sub-genre, many of the tropes established here were uniquely challenging for it's time.  It remains a powerful and psychologically striking work to be sure.

 

THE SHE BEAST

(1966)

Dir - Michael Reeves

Overall: MEH

 

The brief filmography of director Michael Reeves kicks off to a pretty haphazard start with the English/Italian co-production The She Beast.  Barbara Steele is on board for a single day of filming and it shows since the script, (also authored by Reeves under the pseudonym Michael Byron), ditches her at the end of the first act.  It begins with your standard, "angry villagers condemning a witch" set up, then goes into your standard "attractive couple on holiday in remote Europe" follow-up.  All ending with a high speed chase between the police and a descendant of Abraham Van Helsing with a drugged up monkey witch in the trunk, (don't ask), the film goes through so many topsy-turvy motions that it is certainly worth noting as a piece of outlandish Euro-horror.  The pacing is of course dreadful and the dubbing embarrassing plus from a technical level, it is all long, single shots, "vaguely point the camera at things in broad daylight" cinematography, and botched editing.  Certainly a mess and an amateur-level production top to bottom, but also rather amusing at regular intervals because of it.

THE HAUNTED HOUSE OF HORROR

(1969)

Dir - Michael Armstrong

Overall: WOOF

Largely inept and further mangled by studio interference, Michael Armstrong's full-length debut The Haunted House of Horror, (Horror House), is a poorly regarded slog and rightfully so.  Multiple initial casting choices, (such as Boris Karloff and David Bowie), were replaced by lesser known actors with Frankie Avalon forced into the production as American International Pictures had him under contract at the time.  Further script re-writes and additional, uninteresting sub-plots were also shot.  Essentially a whodunit set in swinging London, the first act is mercilessly slow and completely void of anything horror related at all.  Amazingly though, it gets even more boring once the murders start happening.  Loaded with nonsensical plot decisions, more torturous pacing, pathetic day for night scenes, and an out of nowhere twist ending, there is nothing to recommend even for curiosity's sake.  Well, Avalon does get stabbed in the dick which is certainly worth a chuckle, so credit where it is due there.