The
Loreley's Grasp
In
Amando de Ossorio's 1974 fantasy film, The Loreley's Grasp,
half the characters seem to be making the best of it circa 1900, while
at the nearby all-girls' boarding school, they're listening to 70s
groove, and giggling
around the pool in
string bikinis. I
cannot explain this—and it doesn't matter—in this gothic/gore/swinger/monster
movie from the creator of the Blind Dead
series. An ageless beauty menaces both the young lovelies at the school and the earnest
townspeople indiscriminately, for she's actually a Rubbermaid®-glove-clad sea monster
who must murder constantly to perpetuate her existence. Not exactly a spoiler there. I just watched this recently, and it's a
mind-muncher—I have to see it again just to wrap my head around all the
boobs, gore and ersatz-mosphere.
Dracula
vs. Frankenstein
How
could I not love my wife even more after she referred to Zandor Vorkov's awkward
portrayal of the legendary Count as "the exposition vampire"? Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971) is
not so much a horror movie, as it is a meta-charming,
somewhat slightly self-aware B film, with crummy effects and loads of
day-for-night
hospitality. An added
bonus is a small appearance by late Famous Monsters of Filmland
publisher Forrest J. Ackerman, whose attitude and magazine shaped my young mind
immeasurably and
irreversibly. (Forry recently answered my Facebook friend request, so apparently he continues to snicker from
beyond the grave!) Initially released on DVD in 2001 by Troma (there
have been other editions since), Dracula vs. Frankenstein is also of
note for being the last film appearance for both J. Carrol Naish and Lon Chaney
Jr. Ignore the low ratings out there
for this one—DvF is a corker!
Vengeance
of the Zombies
Hinduism, trendy spiritualism, full-body paint, the
living dead and cheesy sex scenes
all go together, right? They do in this atmospheric romp from auteur
Paul Naschy (aka the Spanish Lon Chaney) and director Leon Klimóvsky. Klimóvsky, an Argentinean, was a Spanish
exploitation-film legend, and directed some of Naschy's finest films, including Werewolf
Shadow and Dr. Jekyll y el Hombre Lobo. Vengeance... is an occult/living
dead/revenge construct that's
satisfying on every level—providing that your levels include lurid color, wooden acting, a crazily
meandering plot, and semi-nude female zombies moving in perpetual slo-mo. The
film is also the most genuinely horrifying of the three titles mentioned here, with several brutal killings and creepy ideas in abundance. An added bonus is Juan Carlos Calderón's wonderful score, reminiscent of Piero Umiliani at times, or a psych-rock Morricone circa Malamondo. Here is a link to download the score (as
one, long mp3 file) at my full-time Web home, My Castle of
Quiet.