70's Foreign Horror Part Twenty

LOVE BRIDES OF THE BLOOD MUMMY

(1973)

Dir - Alejandro Martí

Overall: WOOF

 

One of the defining characteristics of Euro-trash which made such films exploitative in the first place was that rape played a predominant role in the narrative, as well as being unabashedly shown on screen.  The second and last directorial effort from Alejandro Martí, Love Brides of the Blood Mummy, (El secreto de la momia egipcia), particularly abuses this trope with a "plot" that insultingly and merely serves as an excuse for such unwholesome nonsense.  Save for two book-ending segments that allow for George Rigaud's wealthy Egyptologist the opportunity to regale fellow Egyptologist Frank Braña with his perverse yarn, it is no exaggeration to state that the only thing that happens here is one scene after the other where a stone-faced mummy, (that is also a vampire because movies are stupid), violently undresses, mildly tortures, rapes, and then bites women.  In fact they even throw a tasteless montage in at the end, just to slam home the point that the entire film is a pointless exercise in lazy sleaze.  A musical score is oddly absent throughout, which can often be an effectively eerie, mood setting device to create a sense of tension, but here it just further enhances the lethargic pacing.  The finale is just as disappointing as everything else and save for its brazen commitment to be so noxious as to inadvertently be fascinatingly bizarre, it still ends up a loathsome, hugely boring watch.

PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK

(1975)

Dir - Peter Weir

Overall: GOOD

 

A conventional horror film Peter Weir's Picnic at Hanging Rock certainly is not, yet its aggressive stance against upholding any of the genre's cliches in place of enigmatic, anti-storytelling is likely to perplex viewers who are not accustomed to nearly two solid hours of meandering, period-set musings on largely impenetrable themes.  An adaptation of the 1967 novel by Joan Lindsay that was filmed on location in Victoria, Australia, it has many moments that are uniquely chilling merely by suggestion and the Pink Floyd-via-flute musical score creates a haunting atmosphere that is atypical along with the bright, sunny scenery.  A mystery with no resolution, the story is imprecise about what it is actually exploring since it deliberately skews conventional narrative, hinting at supernatural forces that could represent a threat against European colonialism and/or adolescent sexuality and intrigue.  The audience is left grasping for straws with such assumptions though, which is either a pivotal part of the movie's spell or a hindrance on the experience.  In any event, this remains a lauded work in the Australian New Wave and largely set off the rest of Weir's successful career.

 

THE KEEPER

(1976)

Dir - T.Y. Drake

Overall: WOOF

 

This highly confused and unengaging comedy/thriller hybrid inexplicably scored Christopher Lee in the title role, yet it is otherwise a complete mess of a movie.  The Keeper is the only directorial effort from screenwriter T.Y. Drake, who stepped in behind the lens at the last minute and handles his own lackluster material with the expected clumsiness of such a newcomer.  The film is unavoidably boring and the only moments of liveliness occur when Lee's apparently mischievous doctor sits on the other side of a glass wall and hypnotizes his patients into regressing to childhood, all for reasons that are never convincingly explained.  Besides Drake's unfocused story itself which is incomprehensible to a point, the biggest problem is the tonal inconsistencies and lazy performances.  Every attempt at humor is so awkwardly placed and dry that they seem more accidentally odd than anything, so therefor none of the intended comedic beats land in anyway.  Besides Lee, (who still manages to save face even if his presence in something so lackluster and amateurish is perpetually confusing), all of the other actors seem to be merely collecting a paycheck with the thespian abilities of a local theater group at best.