FILM & TELEVISION REVIEW

In 1931, when Frankenstein was released, the New York Times called it “one of the best pictures of the year!” but no such accolades came to Hammer Films on the release of The Curse of Frankenstein in 1957.  Although greeted with varying degrees of disdain from the critics, the audiences disagreed and it became a hit for the studio.  London’s Observer critic (C. A. Lejune) said of  the film, “I should rank The Curse of Frankenstein among the half dozen most repulsive films I have encountered.”  At the New York Times, Bosley Crowther dismissed the picture as nothing more than, “a routine horror film which makes no particular attempt to do anything more important than scare you with corpses and blood.”  In spite of the mixed reviews, the film went on to be a commercial success.  Hammer’s next entry was appropriately titled, The Revenge of Frankenstein.

And revenge it was as, amid the disdain some reviews came out with bursts of enthusiasm like the New York Daily News, “Cushing is new Karloff,” but the notices were mixed as they would remain for all of Hammer’s horror films.  Just as the audience would always line up for each of the Hammer Frankenstein films.

 

Revenge picks up exactly where Curse left off as the Baron narrowly escapes being executed for the crimes committed in the first film.  Once again the film strays from the typical horror plot and is set in a medical clinic for the poor.  Frankenstein is going under the name Dr. Victor Stein.  It is three years after his escape from prison and he is running a clinic in Carlsbruck where he has enraged the local medical council because he has refused to join, and he is taking their patients.  They decide that this is unacceptable and go to challenge his position in the community.

The council sends three of it’s board to see Dr. Stein, but of course he refuses to join them or to modify his tactics.  One of the board members recognizes him and blackmails him for medical knowledge.  He has to agree and takes Dr. Kleve from the council to his hidden laboratory where he is soon to preform a surgery to give Karl (the cripple that helped him escape execution) a new body.  The body is an artificial one made from the limbs of the poor.  Of course there is a distraction when Margaret (Eunice Grayson) a daughter of one of the council members shows up at the clinic to do volunteer work and Karl becomes smitten by her.

I don’t think anyone knows why the producers at Hammer Films made the decision that they did for The Evil of Frankenstein.  The best guess is that since it was going to be distributed by Universal, they thought it would be a good idea to make a film that used the elements from the Universal original.  It was not.  The less said about the result, the better.

 

Frankenstein Created Woman, has nothing to do with The Bride of Frankenstein.  We can be thankful that whatever it was that caused The Evil of Frankenstein it was out of their collective system before they considered the 1967 production featuring Susan Denberg.  That is not to say that the script produced for Frankenstein Created Woman was not bizarre, but it was a return to the mad scientist without foresight that had powered the first Hammer efforts.

 

 

The plot is somewhat convoluted so suffice it to say that Dr. Frankenstein has graduated from transferring brains–to transferring souls.  The deformed barmaid, Christina (Susan Denberg) is drown and the doctor transfers the soul of her dead boyfriend, Hans (Robert Morris) who has been hanged for a crime he did not commit into her and brings her back to life as a beautiful woman!  The problem?  Han’s soul begins to take control and is out for revenge against the men that framed him for murder!

Susan Denberg performed wonderfully in what must have been a challenging role for her; Thorley Walters was exceptional as always.  Robert Morris and all of the supporting cast were above average.

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“When a Man’s partner is killed, he’s supposed to do something about it.  He was your partner and you’re supposed to do something about it.  And it happens we’re in the detective business.  Well, when one of your organization gets killed, it’s–it’s bad business to let the killer get away with it, bad all around, bad for every detective everywhere.”

Sam Spade 

The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

The Sources

The detective story was essentially invented by Edgar Allen Poe who was a direct influence on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie.  His detective, C. Auguste Dupin can be seen reflected in both Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot.  The first person narrator being a friend of the detective, Dr. Watson for Holmes and Captain Hastings for Poirot, the bumbling police inspector, and the trademark minor details that only the detective can see are all lynchpins carried on by Doyle and Christie.  With the success that Poe had on the publication of his Dupin stories, it is hard to understand why he did not feel as the public did at the time.  He felt that they were a minor achievements and that they were something he wrote to amuse himself, but he did not regard them as serious writing.  Doyle also wrote his mysteries as a reprieve from his more serious writing, and considered killing Holmes off very early on; unfortunately for him, the public was not in agreement, and when he killed off Holmes there was an outcry that led him to bring the detective back in The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Like most literary forms, Film Noir developed out of  an existing style of writing.  Mostly pulp fiction and detective stories, but they were different from what had come before them.  They were dark and gritty and dealt with the fears and travails of ordinary people.  Unlike the mysteries of the past where the butler probably did it, these were stories set in the streets of the city; in the bars and cafes and clubs of the metropolis’ shadows.  Holmes’ cocaine was replaced by a whiskey bottle, and Dr. Watson by a dead partner that had to be avenged.  Some of the writers became well known to the general public: Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, and most notably,  Dashiell Hammett.

Pulp magazines were not taken very seriously until one called Black Mask appeared.  Edited by the famous H.L. Mencken and George Jean Nathan in 1920, it became more prestigious than other publications of its type.  It was quickly taken over by its publishers  when the original editors lost interest.  The new editor took the magazine very seriously and held the contributors to high standards.  The contribution made by Black Mask to the eventual rise of Film Noir cannot be underestimated; Showcasing writers like Hammett, Paul Cain, Roger Torrey, Earl Stanley Gardner, Fredrick Nebel, and Raymond Chandler the hard boiled detective story flowered like a black rose.

 

Dashiell Hammett was regarded as the most important writer of the hard-boiled school of writing; Raymond Chandler said that Hammett had taken, “murder out of the Venetian vase and dropped it into the alley.”   He was a prolific writer and produced thirty short stories in a two year span.  All but two of the thirty early short stories were published in the famous, Black Mask magazine from 1928 to 1930.  It is still considered the most prestigious mystery publication and has been revived and can be ordered at: https://blackmaskmagazine.com/

His writings include the novels: Red Harvest, The Dain Curse, The Maltese Falcon, The Glass Key, and The Thin Man.  The Maltese Falcon remains one of the most well known of the Film Noirs based on his writing.  His Sam Spade was a blueprint for the quintessential hard-boiled detective; brought to life by Humphry Bogart in one of his most imitated characterizations.  The following year, The Glass Key was released starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake.

Both of these films made a powerful impact on the public.  Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake had a strong screen chemistry and would be reunited in This Gun for Hire (1942), The Black Dalia (1946), and Saigon (1948).  Bogart also starred in  Raymond Chandler’s, The Big Sleep with Lauren Bacall and Martha Vickers (1946).  Bogart became as much a part of Film Noir as the black and white photography and stylized dialogue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, and Cornell Woolrich

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dracula & Frankenstein 1931

Welcome to the first part of the history of Scream Queens!  In this article the term Scream Queen applies to actresses know for an appearance or appearances in horror films.  The status of Scream Queens has changed tremendously over the years (as have horror films and their audience),  and all of this will be considered as we journey from the advent of sound to the present.

Helen Chandler (1906-1965) Frances Dade (1910-1968)

Dracula (1931)

The first notable Scream Queens of the sound era were Helen Chandler and Frances Dade.  Chandler was perfect for the role of the bright but somewhat innocent Mina.  The more sophisticated Lucy was played by Frances Dade.   Together they find themselves in the clutches of the undead.  As the vampire takes one and then slowly courts the other.  He quickly and brutally takes the sophisticated Lucy.  It may be because she was attracted to the demon from their first meeting.  He comes to her at night and his bite kills her.  As he courts Mina as only the Count can, Lucy rises from the grave.  Meanwhile, he turns Mina slowly as Van Helsing and Dr. Seward struggle to stop him.  The clueless Jonathan Harker fights against the whole idea of a vampire; even when Mina is trying to bite him!

Neither actress ever appeared in another horror film.  Helen Chandler soon returned to the New York stage.  Frances Dade made a few unexceptional films before leaving Hollywood.

Mae Clark (1910-1992)

Frankenstein (1931)

In 1931 Mae Clarke played Elizabeth in Frankenstein.  Even though she would appear in no more horror films, she is the 3rd of the sound era’s Scream Queens. Clarke’s career continued through the 60’s and she has over 120 screen credits in film and television.  She even did an uncredited appearance in 1970’s Watermelon Man that starred Godfrey Cambridge and Estelle Parsons. Mae’s prostrate pose may have been inspired by Mary Shelly’s prose or by Henry Fuseli’s painting.  Was Shelly’s description influenced or was Whale influenced by the painting?  We will never know for sure, but it is certain that the influence was there in one place or the other.

Her next film working with James Whale was The Impatient Maiden (1932), which was a bizarre romance where fair maiden rejects the proposal of her medical student boyfriend, takes a part time job with an attorney and only accepts her boyfriend’s proposal after appendicitis puts her under his knife!  Also in 1932, she starred in Night World with Boris Karloff and Lew Ayers. Happy McDonald (Boris Karloff) and his unfaithful wife Jill (Dorothy Revier) own a night club and he is threatened by bootleggers.  Boris Karloff was the lead in the film and the use of the Frankenstein stars was a bid to draw box office.  The film’s supporting players included Hedda Hopper and a young George Raft.

Mae was in seven movies in 1932 and Three Wise Girls was the first one after Frankenstein.  She co-starred with the luminous Jean Harlow.

She will always be best known for her role in Frankenstein.

King Kong 1933

Fay Wray (1907-2004)

The honor of being the first prolific Scream Queen goes to Fay Wray,  whose beauty and talent also made her one of the most well known.  Her first  appearance in a horror film was in Doctor X (1932), directed by Michael Curtiz, and she co-stared with horror favorite, Lionel Atwill.  Also released in 1932 was The Most Dangerous Game.

In 1933 Wray would star in  three more horror films: The Vampire Bat, Mystery of the Wax Museum, and the one that would assure her of lasting fame, King Kong (1933).  The film had such an impact on her life that when she wrote her auto-biography, she called it,  On the Other Hand.

It is said that when Merian C. Cooper offered Fay Wray the role he said, “You’ll have the tallest, darkest leading man in Hollywood.”  The story also adds that she thought he was talking about Cary Grant.  Fay Wray went on to other roles in her long career including starring opposite Spencer Tracy in Shanghai Madness (1933), and  with Richard Widmark and Gloria Grahame in The Cobweb (1955).  On television she appeared in a multitude of shows including: Playhouse 90, 77 Sunset Strip, and Perry Mason.

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The last Universal film featuring the Frankenstein Monster is the classic, Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).  Arguably one of the comedy duo’s best films as well as an affectionate swansong to Universal’s golden age of monsters.  It was clear that times were changing even though Bud and Lou would make two more films meeting the Universal monsters: they would meet the Invisible Man in 1951, and the Mummy in 1955 in their last film for Universal.   In this post war America,  Abbott & Costello would soon find themselves on TV and horror movies were about to go to the next level.  After the Second World War, eyes turned toward space and as the cold war heated up, Science Fiction would spawn the next generation of horror films.

 

 

 

 

 

 Frankenstein was certainly the first Science Fiction novel.  That it fit so well with the gothic characters is something else that James Whale and Hollywood achieved with the telling of their tales.  Dracula, the Wolf Man, and Frankenstein seemed to belong together, but of course Shelley’s novel had nothing to do with any of that genre of horror.  It is ironic then that Universal’s last monster would also be of the Science Fiction genre.  Universal would release Creature from the Black Lagoon in 1954.  No dreary castles or gypsy curses.  This was based on science (of a sort) not myth and folklore.  Both Frankenstein and Creature from the Black Lagoon are included in the Hugo Award winning, The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Science Fiction by David Pringle.   

The audience was also changing.  Television was becoming more and more popular.  The movie audience was skewing younger.  This effected all of the films coming out of Hollywood.

Suddenly,  there were a number of Science Fiction films filling the screens across the country and around the world: The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), The Thing (1951), It Came from Outer Space (1953), Them (1954),  Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), just to name a few. 

It appeared that the monsters of old would really vanish, but in 1957 Hammer Films released, The Curse of Frankenstein.  The first film in what would be a six film series starring Peter Cushing as Doctor Frankenstein.  Cushing was already a well known television star in England, but this first Hammer Frankenstein film brought him world wide fame.  He was supported by the striking Hazel Court (The Raven) as his cousin Elizabeth.  Fearful that Universal may sue (the novel Frankenstein was in the public domain, but the Universal films were copyrighted), the producers at Hammer determined to take a completely different approach to the Frankenstein saga.  Focusing more on the Doctor and his obsession than on the Monster led to a successful and lawsuit free series that gave Peter Cushing the role for which he is most celebrated.  It also afforded more varied and bizarre plot lines.  

The film begins with Doctor Frankenstein in prison.  He is awaiting execution when a priest arrives that he has asked to come visit him.  He thinks that if he tells his tale to the priest that it will help him to avoid the gallows.  He begins his tale from his boyhood when  he is left alone due to the death of his widowed mother.  His Aunt and cousin are leaving from the funeral and he promises his aunt that he will continue sending the stipend his family always sent her.  His aunt hints at what a wonderful wife her daughter, his cousin will make someday.  Once they leave, his mentor shows up.  It is a tutor that he sent for pretending to be his father in the letters that he sent.  The tutor agrees to take the position as tutor, and they begin working right away.  In a few years the student surpasses his teacher, and they begin to work as equals.

They keep working until they bring a dog back to life, and then things begin to come apart.  His mentor, Paul (Robert Urquhart) is shocked that Frankenstein wants to create a man.  He continues to help him against his better judgement, but the Baron goes too far when he steals a body from the gallows.  Paul’s distaste grows as the Baron cuts off the head due to damage done by birds.  The Baron has to go on a trip, and while he is gone his cousin returns, now a fully grown woman who plans stay and finally wed the Baron.

This is taken in stride by the Baron, but it seems to displease the maid, Justine (Valerie Gaunt).  It is clear that there has been some dallying in the pantry!   The Doctor is not a good man or at least he is a man with no conscience.  His cold heartedness is not disguised by his charm; indeed, it makes it all the worse.  The addition of color, violence, and more blatant sexuality are all calculated to draw movie goers away from the telly–I mean the television of course.  The cinema now had to compete with the small screen for every ticket sale.

Now that Paul has decided that the Baron is dangerously out of control, he tries to get Elizabeth to get out of the house.   She refuses because she feels indebted to the Baron.  Paul stays on at the Baron’s house to protect Elizabeth.  While Paul tries to persuade Elizabeth, Victor is in the hallway with his maid.  The kisses are interrupted by the maid’s jealousy.

This does not bode well and Victor leaves on another trip.  He tells Elizabeth that he is off to buy materials for his work.  When he returns with his materials (a pair of eyes), Paul makes another attempt to talk some sense into him.  Of course, it is futile and things begin to unravel quickly after the Baron commits murder to get the brain that he needs.  The Monster is played by Christopher Lee.  In this film, the real monster is Baron Victor Frankenstein and is played wonderfully by Peter Cushing.  Christopher Lee’s role as the Monster is much smaller, and has not received as favorable a reception as Cushing’s Baron.  Part of it may have been the expectation of the audience.  With the Baron being as evil as he is, the creature seems even more of a victim than in any other telling of the story.  Lee delivers an admirable performance in a supporting role.  As for what happens next,  you’ll have to watch the film to find out how it all…ends.

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The Haunting 1963 vs The Haunting 1999

The Haunting (1963 Paramount Pictures)

Directed by Robert Wise

Screenplay by Nelson Gidding based on the Novel, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Music composed by Humphrey Searle

Rated G / 113 minutes

Cast: Julie Harris (Eleanor Lance), Claire Bloom (Theodora), Richard Johnson (Dr. Markway), Russ Tamblyn (Luke Sanderson), Rosalie Crutchley (Mrs. Dudley), Lois Maxwell (Grace Markway).

The Haunting (1999 DreamWorks SKG)

Directed by Jan de Bont

Screenplay by David Self based on the Novel, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

Rated PG-13  / 113 minutes

Cast: Liam Neeson (Dr. David Marrow), Catherine Zeta-Jones (Theo), Owen Wilson (Luke Sanderson), Lilli Taylor (Nell), Bruce Dern (Mr. Dudley), Marian Seldes (Mrs. Dudley), Alix Koromzay (Mary Lambetta), Todd Field (Todd Hackett), Virginia Madsen (Jane), Michael Cavanaugh (Dr. Malcolm Keogh).

Halloween is almost upon us, so this installment of Double Vision is comparing the much lauded 1963 version of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House with the 1999 remake.  The ’63 version is still believed by many to be the most frightening ghost story ever filmed.  I don’t know if I would go that far, but it is certainly an original and well conceived study of fear and its effect on our emotions.  Robert Wise makes good used of Nelson Gidding’s screenplay to bring the characters to life as well as in giving life to a very creepy house.  In the leads, Julie Harris and Claire Bloom are wonderfully expressive and their character’s fear is palpable which is what has garnered such high marks for this as a ghost story.  They believe it and so the audience believes it, but is it true?  Is the house haunted or do they bring their own demons to it?  It is the unknown in this film that gives it its power.  It still works fifty-five years after its release date.

The 1999 version has the same run time as the original, but for some reason seems longer.  It may be because the house is actually the lead in this let down of a remake.  Once you’ve had the tour, you’re ready for something meaningful to happen, but art direction is the only real direction and the actors are left to flounder with lines that just don’t build suspense or move anything forward.  The attempts at humor are too obvious and ghostlike, and the amped up sexuality just doesn’t play.

Julie Harris’ vulnerability in the character of Nell is missing and the passive aggressive version of Zeta-Jones’ Theo is more party girl than secretive sophisticate.  These changes may have seemed necessary, but should have come with script changes that amount to more than comparing the house to the home of the Munster’s meets Citizen Kane.  The cast cannot be held responsible;  I could name a number of directors and writers that could have pulled this off and even stepped up the humor.

Once again, the original is unsurpassed.  Kudos to Robert Wise, Julie Harris, and Claire Bloom, and the wonderful black & white photography of Davis Boulton (Children of the Damned).

ABOVE: Kiernan Shipka in The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina

 

Warner Brothers Television

Directed by Lee Toland Krieger

Written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa

Network: Netflix

Premiere Date: October 26th, 2018

Season One, Episode One: 60 minutes

Cast: Kiernan Shipka (Sabrina Spellman), Ross Lynch (Harvey Kinkle), Lucy Davis (Hilda Spellman), Chance Perdomo (Ambrose Spellman), Michelle Gomez (Mary Wardell), Jaz Sinclair (Rosalind Walker), Tati Gabrielle (Prudence), Miranda Otto (Zelda Spellman), Bronson Pinchot (George Hawthorns), Lachian Watson (Susie Putnam), Richard Coyle (Father Blackwood), Adeline Rudolph (Agatha), Abigale F. Cowan (Dorcas), Bronson Pinhot (George Hawthorne), Sarah-Jane Redmond (Mrs. Kemper), Kurt Max Runte (Mr. Kemper).

 

The first episode of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina wastes no time in pulling the viewer to the center of Sabrina’s world.  Kiernan Shipka’s Sabrina is a girl trying to navigate the life of a teen and the burden of being a half-witch while juggling a boyfriend, social reform, and her upcoming not so Sweet Sixteen party (read Pagan Ritual overseen by the Dark Lord) with the family.  She has a strict mother, an understanding aunt, and sympathetic cousin, but all of them expect her to adhere to the plan of going all wicca when she hits the big 16.  Besides the ceremonial party, this includes a private school for witches and warlocks, shades of Hogwarts!  She even receives a visitation from three current students of the school a la The Craft (see Halloween Video Review 2) because they don’t want a half blood at their pristine dark arts academy.

It also entails leaving her friends, and even her boyfriend behind.  What is a girl to do?  That is the dilemma that starts off a colorful and sometimes dark series that promises to be entertaining and original with some homages to what has come before and a good deal of originality in this graceful blend of horror and comedy. 

The cast is in full control as this first episode hits the boards running.  Kiernan Shipka is splendid as Sabrina bringing both wisdom and innocence in a tempered execution of the part.  Special kudos to Lucy Davis and Michelle Gomez for bringing very off beat characters to life.  Season One premiered on Netflix on October 26th.  Happy Halloween–binge witching all around!

A Short History of The Twilight Zone

 

Rod Serling Producer/Writer

of 

THE TWILIGHT ZONE

 

“You are traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind.  A journey into a wondrous land of imagination.  Next stop, the Twilight Zone!”

Of course this is going to be more than a short history.  It’s going to be an appreciation of one of the early great television shows.  A show that brought not only better, more imaginative writing to television, but also was an incredible showcase for many talented people.  Writer’s, actors, and directors all had a chance to work on television in a quality vehicle.  In 1959 the American home was invaded once a week by an incredibly imaginative mind (Serling wrote over 50% of the scripts for the five season span).  From 1959 to 1964 five seasons and one hundred and sixty-four episodes aired on CBS Television.

 

 

 

 

The pilot that Serling chose was a story he wrote called, Where Is Everybody? starring Earl Holliman in a tour de force of a one man performance.  This episode clearly reflected not only Serling’s intent, but that he was raising the bar for what could be called quality television.  It would be decades before the majority of television producers would catch up and then only in fits and bounds and finally with the introduction of cable and more freedom would the renaissance really begin.

The second episode was shear genius, giving the audience a heartwarming story about death called, One for the Angels.  Ed Wynn and Murray Hamilton soar in this simple tale of Mr. Death (Murray Hamilton) coming for an old salesman known as Lou Bookman (Ed Wynn).  The cast is completed by Dana Dillaway who plays one of the children that lives in the same building as Bookman.  These two episodes remain among the best of the original Twilight Zone.  Before we get too far into the individual episodes, a little background is required.

The Twilight Zone was produced by Cayuga Productions, Inc.,  which was Serling’s own company.  Before producing the show, Serling had written a number of well known scripts for TV including Patterns and Requiem for a Heavyweight (both of which eventually were made for the silver screen), Patterns (1956) and Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962).  Patterns is the story of a man who is recruited onto the board of a large New York corporation and finds that his ethics and ambitions are at odds.  Requiem for a Heavyweight is the story of a punch drunk boxer who is at the end of the road;  but can he get away from the only thing he knows and the men that want to exploit him?

Serling’s deep interest in social issues and his defiance of the network norms would be his undoing with TV further down the road, but for now–he was it’s golden boy.  He had pitched the show with a script called, The Time Element which was then produced for Westinghouse-Desilu Playhouse  anthology.  The episode starred William Bendix and was about a man that believed he has travelled back in time to the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The episode was so popular that CBS green lighted The Twilight Zone.  Rod Serling was about to break television out of the prison imposed by short sightedness, sponsors, and venal motivation.

In Part 2 we will look at the first season of The Twilight Zone.

 

 

 

 

Total Recall 1990 vs Total Recall 2012

Total Recall

(1990 TriStar)

Directed by Paul Verhoeven

Screenplay by Ronal Shusett & Dan O’Bannon and Gary Goldman inspired by Philip K. Dick’s short story: We Can Remember It for You Wholesale

Music composed by Jerry Goldsmith

Rated R / 113 minutes

Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger (Quaid), Rachel Titcotin (Melina), Sharon Stone (Lori), Ronny Cox (Cohaagen), Michael Ironside (Richter), Marshall Bell (George/Kuato), Mel Johnson Jr. (Benny), Michael Champion (Helm), Roy Broksmith (Dr. Edgemar), Ray Baker (McClane).

Total Recall

(2012 Sony Pictures)

Directed by Len Wiseman

Music composed by Harry Gregson-Williams

Screenplay by Kurt Wimmer and Mark Bomback based on the Motion Picture Total Recall screenplay by Ronal Shusett & Dan O’Bannon and Gary Goldman.

Rated PG-13 / 121 minutes

Cast: Colan Farrell (Douglas Quaid / Hauser), Kate Beckinsale (Lori Quaid), Jessica Biel (Melina) Bryan Cranston (Cohaagen), Bokeem Woodbine (Harry), Bill Nighy (Matthias), John Cho (McClane), Will Yun Lee (Marek).

Double Vision is the column where we compare the remake of a film to the original.  Philip K. Dick’s short story, We Can Remember it for you Wholesale  inspired 1990’s Total Recall  which in turn was the basis for the 2012 remake that starred Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, Bryan Cranston, and Bill Nighy.  With such a stellar cast, you would think that the 2012 effort would easily surpass the original, but for the most part–that is not the case. 

Director Paul Verhoeven and screenwriters Ronald Shusett & Dan O’Bannon and Gary Goldman use Philip K. Dick’s story as a starting point and run all the way to Mars with it.  Easily, Schwarzenegger’s best effort, and a stellar victory for Sharon Stone whose character’s hatred of the Red Planet is forever burned into my psyche.  The two had a lust/hate chemistry that has never been matched.  The violence and dark humor abounds as does the insane sexuality of Stone’s literally undercover agent, Lori.  Without these touches and Quaid’s trip to Mars, the remake falls flat.

Rachel Ticotin also gives a very real performance as the woman who loves Quaid.  Her fight with Stone is epic, although Lori’s demise is left to Quaid’s famous, “Consider that a divorce,” scene.  Michael Ironside is hilarious as Lori’s cuckolded lover.  Michael Champion shines as Helm, Ricter’s mordantly snide partner.

 

None of this is to say that the cast in the 2012 remake is inadequate, but it is a sterile version that also misses due to never going to Mars.  Quaid’s obsession with Mars is the McGuffin that powers the first film.  Without it there is a void that the new plot does not fully fill.  The pending invasion of the colony is so buried in the action that there is no real suspense.  Perhaps if the film-makers hadn’t based it on the script from the previous film it would not be as easy to find fault.  Keeping the three breasted woman while not having the environment that produced her is an example of both the homage to the film and the error of using it in this context.  There are also so many references to the 1990 film that it makes it difficult to see them as two different stories based on the same source.

Kate Beckinsale is a maniacally militant Lori, but lacks the passion of Stone’s version.  She also replaces the character of Richter in the pursuit of Quaid and Melina, and that effectively eliminates Richter’s partner Helm thus reducing the black humor further.  She is a practiced action star as well as an actress that commands the screen and her Lori tears through the film with a relentless furor.  She is the perfect foil for Jessica Biel’s Melina.  Biel’s Melina fights back with a fury to match Lori’s as she struggles both with Quaid’s indecision and the forces that are trying to destroy them both.

Brian Cranston and Bill Nighy are well cast, and the film is well produced.  The cast is up to the challenge and there is no shortage of special effects or action, but the script is just not what it could have been.  Given the popularity of the original film, a sequel would have been a better choice.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goldsmith’s score for Malice (1993) the thriller starring Nicole Kidman and Alec Baldwin is lyrically exhilarating and fuels the suspense.  The choral is alluringly evocative and powerfully performed.  The film and the score are still exemplary works.   This is one that you must listen to on the soundtrack CD.  A masterful composition of exceptional beauty.     

For Star Trek: First Contact (1996) Goldsmith was back to dazzle with the old and the new as he expanded the magnificence of the opening theme, and delivered a wonderfully symphonic score that takes you worlds away in the best possible sense.

 

 

 

 

 

For L.A. Confidential (1997) he wrote a distinctive score that moves with the story and pulls you into the twisting intrigue.  He merged the style of the time with his own and as with Chinatown the result echoes classic noir.  Trumpets, pianos,  strings, and percussion and back to the lone trumpet in a haunting refrain, Goldsmith gives us one of his most elegant scores.

 

 

 

 

 

In 1998, Goldsmith was back on another Star Trek.  Star Trek: Insurrection was gracefully gilded by his sure hand and from the opening notes we know that we are in for another wonder.  The softness that the opening segues into from the usual bravura of the franchise’s main theme tells us that things have changed  and we are again truly going where no one has gone before.

 

 

 

In 1999 his work on The Mummy would help in bringing back one of the Classic Universal Monsters.  His music is as important as the stunning sets and locations in evoking the feel and mood of the film.

The cast and the music bring Egypt to life with sound and movement as we re-live the adventure of The Mummy.  So much of the film is based on the original and is so well done that I don’t  understand why Universal chose to begin its re-boot of the Universal Monsters with The Mummy!   They already have two excellent Mummy films that are recent enough to be included in the current series.  And, the first one has an amazing Jerry Goldsmith score!

Also in 1999 came The Haunting a  remake of the 1963 classic Robert Wise film that starred Claire Bloom, Julie Harris, Richard Johnson, and Russ Tamblyn.  Still thought to be the most successful of all haunted house movies.  Of course the remake has a lot to offer in the way of special effects in addition to Goldsmith’s marvelous score.

 

Goldsmith composed his last score for the Star Trek franchise, Star Trek Nemesis which was released in 2002.  It was not the best of his Star Trek scores, possibly because it is  bleak and darkly colored in many places.  Goldsmith managed to pull it up in the end and delivers a rewarding entry that contributes to his astonishingly successful association with the series.

 

Okay, so I did forget witches.  Geez!  And, as someone else pointed out, “Only one vampire film and it had to be that stale old Stoker story?”  Calm down.  This is  Halloween Video Review 2 and it will bring you more fright films to party with!

WITCHES

Since I’ve received so much flack over the absence of witches, I have three films to recommend.   The first is a film from 1966 that was way ahead of it’s time on the sexuality meter.  It is based on the novel Aura by the Mexican novelist, Carlos Fuentes.  The film is not rated so parents beware, but it is also the least known of the chosen which include both well and lesser known films, but I think they are diverse enough to satisfy almost any wicked or good witch film fan.

The vampire film that I’m recommending is a remake of a foreign film called, Let the Right One In, which is also recommended.

The Witch (1966 Arco Films)

Directed by Damiano Damiani

Screenplay by Ugo Liberatore based on the Novel, Aura by Carlos Fuentes

Not Rated / 109 minutes

Cast: Rosanna Schiaffino (Aura), Richard Johnson (Sergio Logan),  Gian Maria Volonte (Fabrizio), Sara Ferati (Consuelo Lorente), Margherita Guzzinate (Lorna).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This off beat Italian film is a classic mystery/horror that is based on a novel by Carlos Fuentes.  Sara Ferati’s Consuelo is at the center of the mystery as she manipulates Sergio into coming to work for her.  Her concealed intentions spin the New Wave influenced narrative as  Richard Johnson’s (The Haunting) Sergio is led deeper and deeper into the old woman’s trap. Rosanna Schiaffino’s (Two Weeks in Another Town)  Aura moves slowly and sensually through the eerily seductive narrative bringing an unlikely plot to life.  This is a film that you are better off having no expectations about, and just allowing yourself to fall under   its spell.

The Craft (1996 Sony Pictures)

Directed by Andrew Fleming

Written by Andrew Fleming & Peter Filardi

Rated R / 101 minutes

Cast: Robin Tunney (Sarah Bailey), Fairuza Balk (Nancy Downs), Neve Campbell (Bonnie), Rachel True (Rochelle) Skeet Ulrich (Chris Hooker), Christine Taylor (Laura Lizzie).

This one is really all about the cast: Robin Tunney (Hollywoodland), Fairuza Balk (Almost Famous), Neve Campbell (Scream, Skyscraper), and Rachel True (The Manor).  What a coven they make!  It is scary (Fairuza Balk hits an 11 on the intense meter)  and violent, and it’s a great Halloween ride sans broomsticks.

It is not the usual twist on witches, but it is more then just a teen scare fest.  The girls get too deep into the occult and it begins to lead to darker places than most of them intended to go.

This powerfully angst ridden film out distances it’s surface appeal with strong performances and enough mayhem to satisfy the most demanding of horror fans for a fantastically frightful Halloween.

Hocus Pocus (1993 Buena Vista Pictures)

Directed by Kenny Ortega

Screenplay by Mick Garris and Neil Cuthbert

Story by David Kirshner and Mick Garris

Rated PG / 96 minutes

Cast: Bette Midler (Winifred Sanderson), Sarah Jessica Parker (Sarah Sanderson), Katy Najimy (Mary Sanderson), Omri Katz (Max), Thora Birch (Dani), Vanessa Shaw (Allison), Amanda Shepard (Emily).

This one is for viewers that love Halloween candy but just don’t get the scary.  Funny Halloween fun with Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker (L.A. Story, Sex in the City), Kathy Najimy (Sister Act, King of the Hill), and Thora Birch (Ghost World, Deadline, Train).

One of the writers is Horror master Mick Garris, so you know there’s gonna be some dark patches, but  Thora Birch is adorable, Sarah Jessica Parker is full tilt batty, and Bette Midler and Katy Najumy are so far over the top that you wonder if they spent the whole movie on their broomsticks.  Perfect for a Happy Halloween!

Vampires

Let Me In (2010 Overture Films)

Directed by Matt Reeves

Screenplay by Matt Reeves based on Screenplay Let the Right One In and Novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist

Rated R / 116 minutes

Cast: Kodi Smit-McPhee (Owen), Chloe Grace Moretz (Abby), Richard Jenkins (The Father), Cara Buono (Owen’s Mother), Elias Koteas ( The Policeman), Sasha Barrese (Virginia).

Let Me In is one of those rare moments when a remake of a foreign film turns out to be a gift.  This in part is due to Reeves’ script based on the original by John Ajvide Lindqvist which was based on Lindqvist’s own novel and the perfect cast: Richard Jenkins (The Shape of Water), Chloe Grace Moretz (Kick Ass) and Kodi Smit-McPhee (Deadpool 2) all turn in subtle and believable performances.

It is a strangely original spin on the vampire myth that is powered by Abby’s situation and her concern for a timid boy that is being bullied.  This simple but brilliant plot lifts it up beyond most horror films and yet is strong in fear and scare as well.  A combination that makes for perfect Halloween fun for the whole family.