1970s Curtis Harrington Part Three

THE DEAD DON'T DIE
(1975)
Overall: MEH

 

The second small screen collaboration between director Curtis Harrington and author Robert Bloch, The Dead Don't Die was an adaptation of the latter's short story of the same name, airing here on NBC in January of 1975.  Set in 1930s Chicago as the exquisitely-mustached and tanned George Hamilton tries to clear his recently executed brother's name, it reveals itself as a Haitian voodoo story before too long, one that has a throwback vibe to when various Poverty Row Hollywood studios were churning out similar material, (hence taking place four decades prior).  Watching Austrian character actor Reggie Nalder walking around as a member of the undead is a hoot and easily a role that the man was born for, plus Hamilton makes a solid noir protagonist that finds himself in over his head in a supernatural zombie army scheme.  Though such a tale should translate well enough to the television format since gore, sleaze, and profanity are hardly necessary to channel that low-level Monogram Pictures "magic", this still comes off as uninspired, despite Harrington being able to muster some atmospheric moments here or there.

 

RUBY

(1977)

Overall: MEH

Taking a break from a series of television horror films, director Curtis Harrington tackled the exploitation snoozer Ruby; a ghost/possession/revenge movie that is equal parts lackluster and silly.  Hot off of her renowned turn in Carry from the previous year, Piper Laurie plays the title character with some ham-fisted bravado that is appropriate for a former mob dame turned has-been lounge singer running a drive-in of all things; a drive-in that exclusively employees veteran gang members.  While Laurie's tough gal Mae West channeling is appreciated, it jives awkwardly with bloody and goofy murder sequences that at least break up the boredom.  The last act spends more time with the mute daughter played by Janit Baldwin, (who is oddly a dead ringer for English actor David Hemmings), and this is where the cliched Exorcist knock-off moments come in, all of which are as unintentionally humorous as any other 1970s movie that featured young women contortioning their bodies while speaking in creepy voices.  Laurie's characterization is weak at best and inconsistent at worst and though the film tries to keep things interesting with a barrage of arbitrary supernatural sequences, they are too consistently hackneyed and unconvincing to deliver anything more than yawns.
 

DEVIL DOG: THE HOUND OF HELL
(1978)
Overall: MEH
 
The penultimate full-length from director Curtis Harrington was the television film Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell which initially aired on Halloween in 1978 on CBS.  Notable for its ridiculous premise that is played unwaveringly straight, it has Richard Crenna in the lead, a cameo by scream queen Martine Beswick, and also reunites child actors Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann who likewise played siblings in John Hough's Witch Mountain.  As far as the actual movie goes, Harrington maintains a steady mood of dread, occasionally utilizing a chilling vocal score that is typical of the era as well as letting long moments play out to silence as to mount the suspense.  Still, we are privy to an opening sequence where Beswick and a handful of other people wear robes and summon a demon to possess a female dog so that it will spawn a litter of evil pups.  It is a tonal clash in this respect that is impossible to take seriously despite how seriously everyone on and behind the screen is taking it.  The two moments where we see the K9's true infernal form only work because an occult expert explains them to us, as the special effects are rough even for 70s TV.  Some may dig the atmosphere and goofy premise, but the stock plotting, stagnant pacing, and dry execution do not jive accordingly.

1970s Curtis Harrington Part Two

THE KILLING KIND
(1973)
Overall: MEH
 
After two psycho-biddy full-lengths, director Curtis Harrington switched gears, (slightly), with The Killing Kind, an unsettling thriller that is more miserable than frightening.  The focus is on a young and aggressively unlikable man who returns home from serving time for being forced into raping a woman; a man with an unfiltered temper as well as a disturbingly attached and emotionally dependent mother who really has a thing for taking pictures of him and asking him if he wants a glass of chocolate milk.  While their disturbing dynamic is interesting to a point, John Savage's antagonist has no redeemable qualities even before he starts murdering people.  Savage's performance is effectively slimy, but that is what makes the film a difficult watch since we are stuck experiencing his perspective until things switch back to his mother in the final act.  Harrington exhibits an eye for details though, building awkwardly tense moments where people either knowingly or unknowingly push Savage's unhinged character to a breaking point.  Ann Sothern and Luana Anders are effective on screen, the latter as a sexually frustrated neighbor and the former as the wacky mother whose doting affection plays some roll in her son's wretched behavior and downfall.
 

THE CAT CREATURE
(1973)
Overall: MEH
 
Though all parties involved give the material a solid go, The Cat Creature cannot overcome its unintentionally hilarious attributes.  One of several ABC Movie of the Weeks to be directed by Curtis Harrington, none other than Robert Bloch penned the screenplay though apparently under strenuous circumstances.  Roughly twelve minutes of materiel was cut before shooting, only for the final product to run twelve minutes short, which forced Bloch to cobble together some easily filmed padding to bring it back up to snuff.  Considering the title and the fact that Cat People and The Curse of the Cat People's Kent Smith makes an appearance, the film has obvious allusions to Val Lewton's RKO work in the genre, but it is typically paced for the contemporary time period, meaning talky as all get-out.  The performances are fine, (with a blink and you'll miss it cameo by John Carradine), but Meredith Baxter seems miscast with her unassuming demeanor and young housewife looks.  Essentially though, it proves impossible to make a scary story that is about a domestic-sized cat who can hypnotize and claw people to death.  The final set piece has an eerie mood, (plus understandable use is gotten out of imposing silhouettes when the lights are off), but this is flimsy and ridiculous stuff.
 

KILLER BEES
(1974)
Overall: WOOF

 

If the 1970s loved anything it was A) television movies, B) movies about killer insects, and C) movies with any of the Charlie's Angels in them.  Curtis Harrington's on-the-nose-titled, ABC Movie of the Week Killer Bees checks off all three of these boxes, with Kate Jackson arriving at a country mansion full of slight eccentrics with her fiance, only to discover that the family's matriarch is psychically controlling a swarm of bees to murder people that she does not fancy.  You can practically smell the wood paneling and bell-bottoms.  Featuring one of the last performances from Gloria Swanson as well as Edward Albert portraying the frustrated and estranged member of Swanson's wine-making family, all of the familiar faces in the world cannot save an insultingly unmoving story that keeps the killer bees of the title away from the proceedings as much as possible.  Instead, we have a slack melodrama concerning rich assholes who gaslight Jackson and bore the audience to smithereens in the process.  TV nature horror films generally suffered such problems, losing any potential viewer until remembering to put some animal mayhem in during the third act when it was too little, too late.  Instead of even that, this one goes for an ambiguous maybe possession angle in its closing moments, which may have been interesting if anyone could pay attention long enough to get there.

1970s Curtis Harrington Part One

HOW AWFUL ABOUT ALLAN

(1970)

Overall: MEH

 

After a three year break, director Curtis Harrington returned with the ABC Movie of the Week How Awful About Allan.  An adaptation of Henry Farrell's novel of the same name, (the author also penning his own screenplay here), and one of the gallons of television productions that Aaron Spelling threw his name on, the film scored Anthony Perkins in the lead as well as Julie Harris as his sister, both of whom hold up in the family house eight months after Perikins' title character accidentally caused the death of their father due to a fire.  Left "psychologically blind" from the traumatic incident, the plot plays out with Perkins either being gaslit by those around him or legitimately losing his grip on reality, fearing that his home is being visited by a shady intruder and no one believing him in the process.  While the story has little in the way of uniqueness and it suffers from a monotonous structure, Harrington throws in some spooky aesthetics here or there, with details like a whispery-voiced tenant, Perkins' foggy vision, and Laurence Rosenthal's unsettling score helping things along.  Perkins is also as effortlessly charismatic as ever, making the whole thing watchable if not altogether good.

 

WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH HELEN?
(1971)

Overall: MEH

 

The third psycho-biddy horror film from the mind of author/screenwriter Henry Farrell, What's the Matter with Helen? has Shelley Winters giving people what they expected of her at this point in her career, namely portraying a pudgy ole kook whose mental instability results in violence.  Her and Debbie Reynolds playing a set of disgraced mothers with sons that have murdered people gives the premise a macabre starting off point, but this is juxtaposed with a lot of cutesy song and dance numbers between children, as well as Reynolds showing that she has still got it.  Director Curtis Harrington stages the ghastly bits well and the period decor enhances the old timey campiness, though the story is not as nuanced or disturbing as Farrell's What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, by comparison.  The actors are in fine form even if Winters screams and hams it up to the heavens as a Bible-quoting and knife-wielding closeted lesbian, but the movie could afford to shave off twenty or so minutes as it feels its length in getting to the inevitable and over-the-top conclusion. 

 

WHOEVER SLEW AUNTIE ROO?
(1971)
Overall: MEH

Another case of an overabundance of screenwriters resulting in a confused and sloppy end product, Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?, (Who Slew Auntie Roo?), has four people credited to concocting a modern day "Hansel and Gretel" revamp, and it shows.  Too many plot elements go nowhere and though the ending is appropriately disastrous and enough in keeping with the fairy tale source material, it is also abrupt and offers some perplexing insight into the main children protagonists.  There is a cold brute of a orphanage head mistress, a phony psychic, a conniving butler, and then we have the kids and Aunt Roo herself who all could be seen as villains at one point.  Only the title character's story arc is seen all the way through, which makes for several needlessly winding avenues to go down along the way.  On the plus side, director Curtis Harrington, (who also directed Shelley Winters in the same year's similar psycho-biddy thriller What's the Matter with Helen?), frames some suspenseful moments and ideal horror images here or there, plus Winters herself is sufficiently hammy, so it hits the mediocre mark at least.

1960s American Horror Part Ten

TORMENTED

(1960)

Dir - Bert I. Gordon

Overall: MEH

 

A conventional and dopey, psychological B-movie from writer/director/producer Bert I. Gordon, Tormented delivers some silly scares within its elementary yet sensationalized plot.  It is a more intimate, stripped-down affair coming from Gordon who had previously made a name for himself with special effects showcases like The Amazing Colossal Man, Earth vs. the Spider, and Attack of the Puppet People.  Though there is effects work here as well, it comes off as laughable by involving a floating head or crawling hand from a recently deceased mistress who, (as the title would suggest), spends the entire film "tormenting" her former lover that is about to marry another woman.  Accompanying such set pieces is a random hodgepodge of stock music, with blaring, up-tempo jazz causing a particularly clashing effect when things are supposed to be suspenseful.  Granted Richard Carlson of Creature from the Black Lagoon fame plays a jazz pianist so maybe the daft soundtrack choices were intentional, but they come off as no more or less inappropriate than in any other cheapie drive-in movie from the era.  Other unintentional laughs like an obnoxious beatnik blackmailer who calls everyone "dad" every three seconds, a blind housekeeper, and uncomfortable tension between Carlson and his wife-to-be's kid sister may provide enough campy fun for some viewers.

GAMES

(1967)

Dir - Curtis Harrington

Overall: MEH

 

Featuring early performances from both James Caan and Katherine Ross as an upper-class couple engaging in various acts of frivolous boredom that of course goes horribly awry, the simply titled Games backs itself into a predictable corner with its twists-on-top-of-twists framework.  A much different follow-up for filmmaker Curtis Harrington whose previous Queen of Blood was one of the many sensationalized, drive-in genre offerings of the day to be distributed by American International Pictures, this one plays out as an elongated Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode with a dash of classic domestic financial manipulation thrown in.  It is likely no accident that Les Diaboliques's Simone Signoret appears as the plot here bares several similarities to said landmark, French psychological horror film from Henri-Georges Clouzot.  In fact it is too similar in structure to various other movies where a woman is clearly being driven mad by the main characters around her, (usually the husband), which unfortunately dilutes the suspense-laden impact of the final act.  The one-hundred minute running time is also problematic as if feels cluttered with unnecessary filler, so the whole thing could have been punchier if told in a more compact manner.

DAUGHTER OF THE MIND

(1969)

Dir - Walter Grauman

Overall: GOOD

 

This ABC Movie of the Week adaptation of Paul Gallico's 1964 novel The Hand of Mary Constable explores the usual angle of how supernatural activity emotionally effects hard-edged skeptics who are particularly susceptible to its influence, yet it also uniquely mixes it with Cold War conspiracy.  Daughter of the Mind was one of many television films from director Walter Grauman and he keeps up an impressively brisk pace for something that is heavily talky and low on action.  Ray Milland's grieving father is a wonderfully two-dimensional character who is a career cybernetic expert that is not prone to taking ghostly activity at face value.  So, when his daughter presumably returns from the grave with vague warnings pertaining to his national security-sensitive work, he enlists someone who can utilize paranormal pseudo-science to get to the bottom of things.  Some room-tapping government agents, sleeper spies, and foreign mystics later, it all uncovers a satisfyingly convoluted series of events that is played straight enough as to not become ridiculous.  Perhaps the only downside for horror enthusiasts is that the would-be spooky bits do not convey a chilling atmosphere, but the presentation is compelling enough to keep the audience guessing.

1960s American Horror Part Five

NIGHT TIDE

(1961)

Dir - Curtis Harrington

Overall: MEH

Though he had been making short films as far back as 1942, Night Tide serves as Curtis Harrington's full-length, independent debut which was not theatrically released until two years after it was finished.  One can see direct, personal parallels with Harrinton's homosexuality to a story about an orphaned woman growing up as a side-show attraction who was raised to "not have normal relationships with normal people" by her lonely, jealous, and adopted guardian.  This results in Linda Lawson's mysterious "mermaid" Mora being an outsider who has become confused with her own natural feelings that are at odds with her manipulated upbringing.  Such subtext is ultimately more interesting than the movie itself though.  Harrington does not have the directorial chops to break up the monotony of the plot which is stagnant at regular intervals.  Dennis Hopper is good as a likeable Navy cadet even if his initial, pushy passes at Lawson have not aged particularly well.  Some of the more startling images are undermined by noticeably bottom-end production values, including an unintentionally hilarious dream sequence where Hopper is attacked by a giant stuffed animal octopus while pretending to be terrified by it.  Still, this is a curious footnote in early New Queer Cinema for those who may want to seek it out.

 

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?

(1962)

Dir - Robert Aldrich

Overall: GOOD

 

The legendarily nightmarish What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? kick-started the psycho-biddy sub-genre, (which was never done better than here), and also provided career revivals for Bette Davis and Joan Crawford.  Equally famous for both its melodramatic infamy as well as the real life rivalry between its aged stars, it would be a mere footnote in Hollywood lore if not for the fact that it holds up so well as a darkly comedic thriller of the wackadoo variety.  Davis turns in one of the screen's most memorably loony performances as the title character who is like a dialed-up, off her meds Norma Desmond.  Whether she is pathetically wallowing in delusion or gleefully torturing her sister, she delivers the chills through and through.  Crawford is equally excellent in the infinitely more sympathetic role of Blanche Hudson and the two make arguably the most dysfunctional sibling pair in any movie.  Lukas Heller's screenplay, (which is an adaptation of Henry Farrell's novel of the same name), has a couple of purposely aggravating close-calls where the audience is likely to yell at Crawford for not seizing her early opportunities to escape.  Yet Robert Aldrich's direction overcomes such mild grievances by being enjoyably macabre and heavy on the suspense.

MY BLOOD RUNS COLD

(1965)

Dir - William Conrad

Overall: MEH

The second of three thriller films produced and directed by William Conrad that were released in 1965, My Blood Runs Cold is notable for featuring heartthrob actor Troy Donahue in an against type role as an aloof, villainous conman who is also several sandwiches short of a picnic.  Donahue's character goes from annoyingly stubborn and standoffish to inexplicably irresistible to Joey Heatherton protagonist with daddy issues, all before sleepwalking through his eventual bouts of violent mania.  It is not so much that Donahue is bad in the part, it is more that he does not have anywhere interesting to go with it due to John Mantley's script which deals with simple minded, psychological cliches.  The movie is also almost entirely without action, making it a heavily talky affair that grows more tiring as everyone behaves like stereotypes out of a therapist's playbook.  Things get unintentionally silly by the end which compounds the plot holes, features Heatherton laying it on pretty thick, and a final set piece on top of a sand plant that is more stupid than tragic.  Everything looks slick and is taken seriously for a B-picture at least, but the components are definitely lacking in quality.

1960s American Horror Part Four

DEMENTIA 13
(1963)
Dir - Francis Ford Coppola/Jack Hill
Overall: MEH

Obviously notable as the first film written and directed almost solo by Francis Ford Coppola, (Jack Hill was hired to shoot addition scenes since producer Roger Corman was displeased with the initial version), Dementia 13 suffers from some understandable problems.  As usual, Corman had just wrapped up a movie in Ireland under budget and offered Coppola the chance to make a cheap, Gothic horror outing while they were still there with the same crew.  Coppola then wrote the script in three days with the help of friend as well as art director Al Locatelli, the result coming off as quite the rushed, limited funded project it is.  To say that the story is confusing would be an understatement with most of the character's motivations underwritten and several plot avenues abandoned at various points.  It kind of just goes through a number of sections and by the end, it has the feeling of being three or four different movies disastrously spliced together.  Coppola even this early on had a flair for some nifty camera work and the opening scene on a row boat, as well as the moment where Luana Anders, (The Pit and the Pendulum), undresses, swims underwater, and then meets some grisliness once she resurfaces are indeed pretty well done.

QUEEN OF BLOOD
(1966)
Dir - Curtis Harrington
Overall: GOOD

Made for American International Pictures on a typically small scale budget, Curtis Harrington's Queen of Blood further swiped its special effects shots from two Russian films Mechte Navstrechu, (A Dream Come True), and Nebo Zovyot, (Battle Beyond the Sun).  They also scored Basil Rathbone for a day and a half of shooting as well as a young Dennis Hopper, who is always amusing to see in such clean-cut, pre-Easy Rider roles.  Even though Harrington takes quite a long time to get to the good stuff, the film's first two acts are pretty briskly paced as all of the pieces are quickly set up to get our astronauts in contact with the title character.  Every aspect of Queen of Blood looks as silly and dated as can be and once cannot think of how incredible 2001: A Space Odyssey must have come off in comparison a mere two years later.  As was common for many hokey sci-fi movies of the day, (even if this one more closely resembles the ones that were coming out in droves a decade or so earlier), everyone takes things rather seriously which makes it possible to fully invest in the proceedings.  Harrington's script is rather textbook, poses some thoughtful questions, wisely glosses over the space travel details as they are hardly important, and also has some laughable leaps of logic, yet it is still plenty charming and occasionally memorable.

JESSE JAMES MEETS FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER
(1966)
Dir - William Beaudine
Overall: MEH

Boring, stupid, and cheap, William Beaudine's companion piece to the comparatively less boring, stupid, and cheap Billy the Kid Versus Dracula plays nearly all of its cards wrong.  The movie is competently acted and Estonian actress Narda Onyx chews as much scenery as possible in the Dr. Maria Frankenstein role, but there is hardly anything to recommend anywhere else.  Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter goes through the motions for the first half, presenting two totally different movies for awhile before haphazardly smashing them together later.  It never gets tortuously inept, but it also never picks up any momentum either and the amount of lazy plot devices mount up embarrassingly.  Any "scientific" details to Miss Frankenstein's experiments seem like they were imagined by a five year old and her entire motivation in the first place is shrugged off as an afterthought.  Both of the female characters fall dramatically in love with Jesse James within minutes of meeting him and the amount of charisma John Lupton brings to the role is completely unconvincing.  It is not his or anyone else's fault though since the film barely tries and all these years later, it is nearly impossible to find the end product even sparsely interesting.