Thursday, August 17, 2023

70's Foreign Horror Part Fourteen

THE TENDERNESS OF WOLVES
(1973)
Dir - Ulli Lommel
Overall: GOOD

The second directorial effort from Ulli Lommel, The Tenderness of Wolves, (Die Zärtlichkeit der Wölfe), is a particularly grim work in the New German Cinema movement and one of the many collaborations between he, producer Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and writer Kurt Raab who stars as a homosexual serial killer in war-torn Germany.  With obvious allusions to Fritz Lang's seminal masterpiece M in the fact that it takes place in a small community plagued by a child-murderer, (as well as Raab's appearance which comes off like a cross between Max Schreck and Peter Lorre), the disturbing subject matter, full frontal male nudity, and gay themes were certainly boundary pushing for the day and even somewhat still now.  Stylistically though, Lommel creates a subdued atmosphere with virtually zero incidental music, plus he more often than not alludes to the most horrendous acts instead of graphically showing them.  Raab's performance is stellar as he seems wholly arrogant, pathetic, manipulative, and menacing all at once and he wisely makes his character far more fascinatingly deranged than sympathetic.  It is overall a movie that could have easily exploited its inherently horrific nature, yet it instead underplays everything and places the audience very uncomfortably in a stark, fly-on-the-wall position in order to be aghast and challenged.
 
THE CLOWN MURDERS
(1976)
Dir - Martyn Burke
Overall: WOOF
 
Notable for containing one of the first screen appearances by John Candy in a dramatic role no less, the first theatrically released film from Canadian writer/director Martyn Burke The Clown Murders is an alarmingly dull and confused kidnap thriller.  Tonally, the movie presents itself as something seriously troubling, with ominous music on the soundtrack and characters reacting absolutely absurdly to situations that are poorly conveyed to even be that big of a deal.  The main gist is that four friends , (who actually seem to hate each other), all decide to dress up as clowns and kidnap a woman that they personally know just for a joke, except that some other unknown assailant who is also in a clown custom eventually stalks and murders two of them.  By the time this happens though, the dynamics between everyone becomes impossibly murky with dramatic moments taking place that have no logical footing and only seem to be there to make something happen to suspend the catastrophic boredom of everything else.  It all has a slap-dash, almost Cassavetes-esque feel with both obnoxious over AND under acting, all propelled by a story that barely seems to be there in the first place.  Judging by the title, anyone expecting manic, schlocky, slasher-fueled mayhem with circus music and clown-related murders will be insultingly disappointed.
 
ALICE OR THE LAST ESCAPADE
(1977)
Dir - Claude Chabol
Overall: GOOD
 
An inventive fantasy detour for French New Wave filmmaker Claude Chabol, Alice or the Last Escapade, (Alice ou la dernière fugue), swipes part of its name from Lewis Carroll's seminal Alice in Wonderland as well as the idea of a woman venturing into a place where rhyme and reason are not to be found.  In the particular universe that Sylvia Kristel's title character finds herself in, the other inhabitants/psychic manifestations that she meets repeatedly proclaim that they will not answer questions as no answers for any exist, which puts both her and the viewer in a frustrated position that allows for us to meet the movie's lack of logic on its own mysterious terms.  Chabol effectively utilizes natural silence to build suspense, where the pin-drop quiet of a sprawling old house, the birds or rain outside, and the occasional ticking of a clock, (which seems to signify mischievous forces at play), create a tense mood where anything can conceivably happen yet rarely does.  Filmgoers who can easily spot such "Person supernaturally stuck at a house even if it seems that they have escaped" motifs will hardly be surprised at the outcome here, but it is the restrained approach to its limbo horror concept and the evocative mood which makes this something unique and memorable in its field.

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