I've started loads but for one reason or another not finished them.
I watched The Intruder Within from the 80's last week. It's a poorman's Alien - The Thing rip-off set on a remote oil rig. A waste of time really but I enjoyed it for some odd reason.
Plan 9 From Outer Space was a black and white antique I enjoyed much more. Notoriously one of the best worst movies ever made, Ed Wood's disasterpiece is almost a must-see. Starring the ghost-faced Tor Johnson, a cemetery and various model flying saucers, I was mesmerised.
However, the real star is Vampira, a long fingered, hour-glass waisted alien Morticia, who drifts around the cemetery. Not since discovering Tura Satana in Russ Meyer's Faster Pussycat Kill Kill have I been so transfixed by a femme fatale on film.
I also caught the second half of Drag Me To Hell. I saw it at the flicks on release but hadn't appreciated Sam Raimi's desire to cast it as a remake of the classic Night of the Demon. Lacking the older film's gothic atmosphere Drag Me does not have the same impact in my opinion.
Anyway, have you seen any films, good or bad, of late?
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Post Script!
Here's a piccy of Vampira from Plan 9 from Outer Space. Having read a bit more about here, she was a Finnish-American called Maila Nurmi. Originally a magazine cover girl, she was a close friend of James Dean no less.
Known as the First Goth and the Dark Goddess of Horror she was also the first TV horror host appearing in the 1950's on US television [anyone seen it?]
You can see and read more of Vampira on the superb Vampira Show website.
For some strange reason Vampira reminds me of the original German Bild Lilli - below - on which the US Barbie was based.
Bold Lilli spawned many other clones besides Barbie and Marx's Miss Marlene - below - was one. Dressed in black she could be Vampira's double! With the iconic vampy make-up, these early Lilli lookalikes were even known as Queens of Outer Space.
You can read and see more about these on the cool Fondation Tanagra site.
I loved Faster Pussycat, really strong female character, brutal too! Vampira sounds good, the comic book persona on Eerie (?) and other pulp mags was wonderful! Ive been watching the latest suite of hero films, with Dawn of Justice and Man of Steel knocking Marvels truly unremarkable fare into a cocked hat. Aside from that, I came across a less well advertised film, 'Kill Command'. Fantastically well executed and well written, a team of future marines on a training exercise are put to the test by a rogue mecha and its team of mobile artillery. Well considered and beautifully designed and well worth a watch if you like your droids.
ReplyDeleteWarren Publishing gave us Vampirella Bill in the Sixties. Vampira arrived in the Fifties and appears to predate all scream queens bar the Brides of Frankenstein and Dracula way back in the Thirties. Don't know Kill Command. Will have to check it out. Happy Halloween. It's in the trees!
DeleteEd Wood's Plan 9 gets the thumbs up from me every time, Woodsy. I really admire his maverick disregard for cinematic codes and conventions in this patchwork hybrid. A beautifully flawed example of a struggling director battling the odds to produce something quite unique. Hats off to the man and the movie :)
ReplyDeleteYes, he gets a bad rap Tone. Ed Wood is clearly more talented that many modern directors. You only have to check out the horror film strands of channels like Now TV and others. Utter dross. Plan 9 was at the very least interesting!
DeleteWatched some beauties last night.First, "Carnival of Souls".Seems like a college film project more than a theatrical release, but very moody with some nice camera work and lighting to make the most of black and white.Next,"It's Alive". Low budget flick about a big,demonic looking rubber baby that kills the doctors the minute its born,then goes on a killing spree.I finished off the evening by stumbling across a "Dark Shadows" marathon.I could rely on Tapes and DVD's in my own collection to keep me in the Halloween spirit,but I must admit,the networks are keeping me entertained with plenty of variety this year.
ReplyDeleteCarnival of Souls is a cracker Brian I agree. Unique in its vision of the thin viel between the real world and the supernatural. I love the old fun park next to the sea. Will have to look it up. Yep, It's Alive is great fun too. I have it on VHS I think. Dark Shadows is a series that I've never seen but have been living with for decades. I even collected many of the paperback TV tie-ins by Marylin Ross. I will have to get this series watched. I wonder if you've seen the modern movie with Johnny Depp? Happy Halloween!
ReplyDeleteI have seen the movie Dark Shadows.I think the makers kind of missed the mark by making it a comedy.It could have been a fantastic drama,but taken at face value, it's not bad.
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