(1971)
Dir - Jean-Louis van Belle
Overall: MEH
An utterly strange vampire comedy from obscure French filmmaker Jean-Louis van Belle, The Sadist with Red Teeth, (Le sadique aux dents rouges), is somewhat akin to a Jean Rollin film, only if it were made by Ed Wood Jr. The plot is utterly preposterous; a doctor discharges his deranged mental patient that thinks he is a vampire, only to concoct a pointless scheme along with his girlfriend and the police to further convince him that he is a vampire, which apparently he turns out to actually be after murdering several people. Stylistically, it is aggressively surreal and goofy with lots of hallucination sequences, completely inappropriate, seemingly unsynced music playing over dialog, cheap production values, and black and white stock footage even though the movie is in color. It has a claustrophobic amateur feel as well with lousy, imposing cinematography and messy editing. Despite all of its bizarre attributes, the movie does not manage to maintain one's interest outside of short bursts of time, but it is certainly interesting in the annals of Euro-horror.
(1975)
Dir - Louis Malle
Overall: MEH
A mostly failed experiment from Louis Malle, Black Moon is a bit too maddening and aimless to pick up any compelling momentum as a potent art film. It was shot at Malle's actual estate in Southwestern France; a two-hundred year old manor house surrounded by just as much acreage and plenty of livestock. While the setting provides the right isolated atmosphere, the fact that the movie was made with little to no shooting script certainly shows as it has a "making it up as they go along" vibe that is only occasionally fetching. Surreal moments of crying flowers, a talking unicorn, an invalid old lady suckling breast milk, male and female soldiers at war with each other, and naked children gallivanting around with pigs are definitely wacky, but the non-narrative is rather unforgiving in conveying any symbolism with such images. At other times the movie seems to be purposely funny, as if Malle is at least enjoying the absurdity of it all and sharing that with the audience. It ultimately collapses under its pretentiousness though.
(1977)
Dir - David Cronenberg
Overall: GOOD
Conceptual cousins with his exceptional debut Shivers, David Cronenberg's follow-up Rabid once again deals with a horrific outbreak of sorts via equally similar production values. Ivan Reitman took on an executive role with John Dunning stepping in as the credited producer this time and a few of Cronenberg's stable of actors make an appearance, including the final one from friend Ronald Mlodzik who cameos in a single scene. While the story has a similar enough premise to Shivers on paper, the sexual angle is more downplayed and it has the feel of a conventional zombie movie even if that is not technically what it is. Marilyn Chambers in her first non-pornographic lead is a bit too aloof to make heads or tails of, yet that could be more due to the writing than her performance. In fact the script kind of meanders a bit as Chambers goes from one encounter to the next with identical results and no new information ever being delivered to the viewer. Still, it has some freaky moments, plus the tone is consistently grounded and severe. Cronenberg continues his career-long obsession with disturbed body transformations and bleak outcomes here and it certainly works even in such a comparatively less profound and more streamlined way.
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