(1971)
Dir - Anthony M. Lanza
Overall: MEH
American International Pictures inexplicably pumped out two movies in two years with the same premise of two heads that get stuck on the same body. The first and less interesting of these was The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant, which finds Bruce Dern's irresponsible scientist joining together a murderous sociopath and a dim-witted caretaker for reasons that are no reasons. Screenwriter James Gordon White was credited on both this and the following year's The Thing with Two Heads, understandably since they each cover the same ground and are each ridiculous. Going to great lengths to make every awful decision possible, Dern's character is a moron for the books and there is a certain level of humor to be found as he keeps bumbling his way through a predicament that he is entirely responsible for. Casey Kasem also shows up for what it is worth, but the movie is more of a hoot for its awful script and piss-pour production values. As the unlikely, mutated odd-couple, Albert Cole is a one-note cackling scumbag and John Bloom a pathetic and whiny oaf, both of whom hardly bother conversing with each other despite the fact that they wake up stuck together in such an inconceivable manner.
(1974)
Dir - Terry Becker
Overall: MEHActor-turned-director Terry Becker landed a few TV gigs behind the lens before making his one and only theatrically released work with The Thirsty Dead; a Filipino/American co-production that looks and feels identical to an episode of any television show from the time period. Considering that most of the actors present were from and would continue to work on the small screen certainly helps give it such an aesthetic, but the plot may as well be one that Captain Kirk and co encountered on one of their Star Trek voyages. An immortal, pagan hippie cult lives hidden deep within the mountains and abducts women in order to fuse their blood with a sacred plant, all because a decapitated deity head inside of a red, glass box tells them to. The costumes, performances, and music are of the high camp variety and the make-up effects are crude when characters have been reduced to deformed whatevers or have to rapidly age before our eyes. time-lapse style. Gore wise, there is little bright red blood splatter and besides some of the aforementioned, garish prosthetics, the only horrific elements are a spider pit full of fake skeletons and the quasi-vampiric premise. It is only amusing at irregular intervals, as the cheap presentation does not afford for that gripping of a pace.
(1977)
Dir - Robert Voskanian
Overall: MEHAn interesting if not altogether good bit of no-budget filmmaking, The Child, (Children of the Night, Hide and Go Kill), is understandably frustrating considering that it was made almost exclusively by nonprofessionals both behind of and in front of the screen. Director Robert Voskanian would never helm another film again and producer Robert Dadashian, (both Columbia College Hollywood students), would almost entirely work as a sound editor for the rest of his career. Their slap-dash work here is admirable though as they handle multiple production roles, as do several of the unknown cast. The atmosphere is on point, with excellent use out of fog, lighting, camera angles, sinister music, and a number of strange set pieces that are a steady combination of genuinely creepy and unintentionally humorous. Also, the zombies look fantastic and unique, sort of a monkey/monochrome/filth-covered hybrid that are only teased throughout the movie until the final, chaos-ridden attack sequence. Sadly, the plot details are frequently incoherent, cliches are annoyingly tossed in, the ADR dialog is distracting, the 1930s setting is laughably unconvincing as well as pointless to the story, and the basic premise of a disturbingly weird kid being an annoying, smart-assed brat throughout most of it grows grating quick.
No comments:
Post a Comment