Tagarchief: Horror

Horror of Dracula

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Terence Fisher
Written by: Bram Stoker (novel), Jimmy Sangster
Cast: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Michael Gough, Melissa Stribling

Year / Country: 1958, UK
Running Time: 82 mins.

With The Curse of Frankenstein in 1957, Hammer Studios began the revival of early Gothic horror films. The team behind it consisted of director Terence Fisher, screenwriter Jimmy Sangster, and actors Peter Cushing as Victor Frankenstein and Christopher Lee as the creature. It became a considerable classic. After Mary Shelley, it was now time for a retelling of Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’. The cast and crew remained largely the same.

The story is well known: a librarian named Jonathan Harker arrives at Dracula’s castle and quickly notices that no birds are singing. He is supposedly there to index Count Dracula’s books, but secretly intends to destroy the count and end his reign of terror. His mission fails. Not long afterward, Doctor Van Helsing arrives with the same purpose as his former friend and colleague. A deadly game ensues between the demonic Dracula and the cunning Van Helsing.

Unlike Tod Browning’s original Dracula, the Hammer version has not aged nearly as noticeably. As a result, this is the version that can still be enjoyed by generations to come. Fisher’s vision is compelling; he reportedly refused to watch Browning’s film so that it would not influence him and he hit a home run. Horror of Dracula proved universally popular and is commonly regarded as both Fisher’s and Hammer’s finest work. Despite the typical Hammer gore, Dracula has seldom appeared as majestic as he does here.

The cast is a joy as well. Lee’s first performance as the Lord of the Undead is strikingly pure and memorable, not yet diluted by the countless unnecessary sequels that would follow. Peter Cushing may be even better as Van Helsing. He takes the material seriously and knows how to involve the audience in his sacred mission, while still managing to throw in touches of humor here and there.

For the ultimate Dracula classic, look no further than this version. It’s absolutely spellbinding. Classic horror was seldom better.

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Biography: Terence Fisher (1904, London – 1980, London) was a very active British filmmaker who directed no less than sixty movies in his career. He entered the film business as a clapper and made it to editor quite soon. When he made his directorial debut he was already quite old, but swiftly made up for it in quantity. His big break came in 1956 when, at the age of 52, he directed the Hammer Studios’ remake of Frankenstein. The Curse of Frankenstein became a cinema hit. Fisher continued to make films for the Hammer Studios, making many remakes of Universal monster classics. He directed Peter Cushing fourteen and Christopher Lee twelve times. He kept making horror movies till the end of his career in 1974. He died in 1980, aged 76.

Filmography (a selection): Portrait from Life (1948), A Song for Tomorrow (1948), Colonel Bogey (1948, short), The Astonished Heart (1950), Home to Danger (1951), Distant Trumpet (1952), Mantrap (1953), Spaceways (1953), Face the Music (1954), Final Appointment (1954), Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. Presents (1953-55, TV episodes), The Flaw (1955), The Last Man to Hang? (1956), The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), The Adventures of Robin Hood (1956/57, TV episodes), Horror of Dracula (1958), The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958), Dial 999 (1959, TV episodes), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), The Mummy (1959), The Brides of Dracula (1960), Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace (1962), The Gorgon (1964), Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966), Island of Terror (1966), Frankenstein Created Woman (1967), Night of the Big Heat (1967), The Devil Rides Out (1968), Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969), Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974)

Videodrome

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: David Cronenberg
Written by: David Cronenberg
Cast: James Woods, Sonja Smits, Deborah Harry, Peter Dvorsky

Year / Country: 1983, Canada
Running Time: 84 mins.

In David Cronenberg’s Videodrome, shabby network TV-producer Max Renn (James Woods) is searching for the ultimate shock-TV experience to serve his buccaneers. When his tech-man Harlan breaks into a secret cult-network show called ‘Videodrome’ he finds what he is looking for. A series of snuff videos that are very grotesque, realistic and brutal. Not meant for public consumption. But, as Max puts it, his channel is too small to be considered public.

Max justifies his occupation with economics. His network is small and can only survive by giving the audience something they can’t get anywhere else, hence his interest in Videodrome. When Max participates in a television debate about the ethics of his work, he meets the girl Nicki with whom he hooks up afterwards. She turns out to be pretty much a masochist, who wants to audition for Videodrome herself. Then Max finds out that the show – that is all about torture, mutilation and murder – is real.

When Max goes to speak to television guru Brian O’Blivion, he starts having hallucinations. And very soon the lines between reality and video begin to fade. It goes deep. What we learn along with Max is that reality is pure perception. According to O’Blivion, Videodrome will eventually evolve the human brain so that it will be able to control hallucinations and change the human reality entirely.

Master of body horror David Cronenberg sets up this creepy movie perfectly. The prospect of an unleashed hallucination machine is pretty much terrifying, especially after seeing what Max sees. Max has to watch his own body mutate when a videocassette inserter appears in his belly. This can be used by the creators of Videodrome to insert hallucinations in the form of pulsating VHS-cassettes. The flesh transformations are made very gruesomely by FX-wizard Rick Baker. A frightening exploration of the mind of those who like extreme stuff. A movie that was ahead of its time and is still powerful today in both style and message.

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Biography: David Cronenberg (1943, Toronto), also known as the King of Venereal Horror or the Baron of Blood, grew up in Toronto. His father was a journalist and his mother a piano player. Cronenberg graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in literature after switching from the science department. He then turned to filmmaking and reached a cult status with a few early horror features including Shivers and Rabid. He rapidly became a very popular genre filmmaker and eventually a true auteur, making profound statements on modern humanity and ever-changing society.

Filmography (a selection): Transfer (1966, short) / Stereo (1969) / Shivers (1975) / Rabid (1977) / Fast Company (1979) / The Brood (1979) / Scanners (1981) / The Dead Zone (1983) / The Fly (1986) / Dead Ringers (1988) / Naked Lunch (1991) / Crash (1996) / eXistenZ (1999) / Spider (2002) / A History of Violence (2005) / Eastern Promises (2007) / A Dangerous Method (2011) / Cosmopolis (2012) / Crimes of the Future (2022)

Hostel

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Eli Roth
Written by: Eli Roth
Cast: Jay Hernandez, Derek Richardson, Eythor Gudjonsson, Barbara Nedeljakova

Year / Country: 2005, USA
Running Time: 94 mins.

From executive producer Quentin Tarantino and director Eli Roth (Cabin Fever) comes Hostel, a relentless and visceral gore-fest that redefines the horror genre.

The film follows three reckless backpackers who, lured by the promise of a Slovakian hostel teeming with alluring women, stumble into a nightmare far darker than they could imagine. Instead of a paradise of hedonism, they find themselves trapped in a sadistic torture factory, where young travelers are systematically brutalized and slaughtered.

One by one, the trio is ensnared by their seductive yet treacherous holiday flings, drawn into a world of unimaginable horror. Hostel taps into the same vein of sadistic thrillers as James Wan’s Saw, but where Saw bogs itself down in a convoluted detective narrative, Hostel thrives by anchoring its terror in the protagonists’ harrowing first-person descent into madness. The slow, creeping revelation of their fate makes the experience all the more terrifying.

Roth masterfully manipulates his audience, balancing an entertaining – if occasionally implausible – setup (why would anyone impulsively jet off to Slovakia after a single photo of women?) with a descent into bleak, hopeless torment. The film escalates from a tense struggle for survival to a blood-soaked frenzy of revenge, delivering a rollercoaster of dread and catharsis.

Some people have complained about the lack of plot. But seriously: who cares? Horror movies haven’t been this fun in ages and it is the first film that actually scared the living hell out of me in quite a while. It’s a perfect storm of tension and grotesque brutality (and yes, it’s extremely gory). I’d even call it a brilliant piece of entertainment. Just a fair warning: this isn’t for the faint of heart.

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Biography: Eli Roth (1972, Boston) began shooting Super 8 movies at a young age. After studying at N.Y.U. he worked for many years in film and theatre doing every job available. His first feature Cabin Fever was made for only 1,5 million dollars and grossed a 100 million at the box office. Quentin Tarantino calls him ‘the future of horror movies’.

Filmography: Chowdaheads (1999, TV series), Cabin Fever (2002), The Rotten Fruit (2003, short), Hostel (2005), Hostel: Part II (2007)

Cult Radar: Part 4

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

FilmDungeon.com is glad to explore the video trenches to find that oddball treasure between the piles of crap out there. Off course a treasure in this context can also be a film that’s so shockingly bad it’s worth a look, or something so bizarre that cult fans just have to see it. Join us on our quest and learn what we learn. Hopefully we’ll uncover some well-hidden cult gems.

Researched by: Jeppe Kleijngeld

The Green Hornet (USA, 1974)

Directed by: William Beaudine, Norman Foster, E. Darrel Hallenbeck
Written by: Charles Hoffman, Ken Pettus, Jerry Thomas, Arthur Weingarten
Cast: Van Williams, Bruce Lee, Charles Bateman, Walter Brooke

This is the first of two movies, compiled of The Green Hornet TV-episodes. It follows the adventures of Britt Reid aka the Green Hornet (Van Williams). In the daytime he is the publisher of a newspaper called ‘The Daily Sentinel’ and a news broadcaster. At night he is a masked vigilante who investigates crime, together with his sidekick Kato (Bruce Lee). In this film they take on various racketeers and a brilliant scientist that wants to drop a H-Bomb. While Reid does most of the investigating like some sort of Phillip Marlowe, Kato uses his martial art skills to kick the bad guys asses. The TV-budget obviously didn’t leave a lot of space for production design, but this is nevertheless entertaining stuff. If only to see an early example of Lee’s great talents at work.

Fury of the Dragon (USA, 1976)

Directed by: William Beaudine, Norman Foster, Robert L. Friend, ao.
Written by: Ken Pettus, Arthur Weingarten
Cast: Van Williams, Bruce Lee, Walter Brooke

This is the second compilation film made out of The Green Hornet TV-episodes. This time around the Green Hornet and Kato have to rescue the abducted daughter of a Middle-Eastern prince. They also take on a corrupt cop, a ring of drug dealers and a gang of art-thieves. The transitions between the four different episodes are a bit odd, but the episodes chosen are pretty decent. Al Hirt’s great trumpet theme score is missing most of the time, but the other Green Hornet elements are there: detective work, Kato’s martial arts and the usual comic book gadgets. Like the first film, this is entertaining super hero stuff.

Goin’ Up (Netherlands, 1983)
OT: De Lift

Directed by: Dick Maas
Written by: Dick Maas
Cast: Huub Stapel, Willeke van Ammelrooy, Josine van Dalsum

Expertly made Dutch thriller about an elevator that starts to live a life of its own. The visitors and inhabitants of an office building are terrorized and killed by the elevator, until maintenance man Felix Adelaar (Huub Stapel) starts to investigate the mysterious occurrences. The limited concept of this movie seems more like material for a short, but writer / director Dick Maas stretched it out over a feature that pretty much manages to entertain throughout its duration. The characters are a bit flat and the resolution a little silly, but this is made up by a few terrific shocks and excellent cinematography.

Body Snatchers (USA, 1993)

Directed by: Abel Ferrara
Written by: Stuart Gordon, Dennis Paoli, Nicholas St. John
Cast: Gabrielle Anwar, Terry Kinney, Billy Wirth

New York filmmaker / artist Abel Ferrara directs a fabulously creepy remake of the fifties sci-fi classic about aliens attempting to take over the world. The alien pods’ tentacles infiltrate the bodies of sleeping people and make copies. The old bodies just disappear and one by one, all people are replaced by pod-people. Gabrielle Anwar is one of the few humans still able to resist. On a notable modest budget, Ferrera has perfectly captured the paranoid spirit of the original. The good cast and efficient shock effects complete this as a direct-to-video must-see.

Iron Monkey Strikes Back (Hong Kong / Taiwan, 1977)
OT: Jue dou Lao Hu Zhuang

Directed by: Hsueh Li Pao
Written by: Shu Mei Chin
Cast: Kuan Tai Chen, Sing Chen, Ling Chia, Lin Chiao

Despite what the title might suggest, this movie has nothing to do with the popular Hong Kong flick Iron Monkey. In fact it is unclear what ‘Iron Monkey’ from the title refers to in this movie. This is a much older martial arts film set in the Ching Dynasty. The emperor’s wife is murdered by a mysterious assassin. An investigation is started by inspector Coolhead, who tries to unravel the conspiracy. Although there is reasonable looking action every few minutes, the ridiculous dubbing and sound effects take a lot of fun away. Only for real kung-funatics.