1963 – Jiggy's Horror Corner

Twice-Told Tales (1963)

Directed by Sidney Salkow [Other horror films: The Last Man on Earth (1964)]

I’ve long heard of this film, and remember the title primarily due to the quality alliteration, and as it turns out, Twice-Told Tales is a pretty good film. I mean, it’s an anthology that stars Vincent Prince in all of it’s stories, so perhaps that shouldn’t come as a great surprise, but even so, I was rather entertained by the film.

Twice-Told Tales comprises of three stories, each one based on works of Nathaniel Hawthorne, being ‘Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment’, ‘Rappaccini’s Daughter’, and ‘The House of the Seven Gables.’ I regret to say that I’ve not read any of the source material – in fact, I have very limited exposure to Hawthorne’s writings, and the only writings from him I can swear to have read would be the short story “Young Goodman Brown.”

Despite my lack of experience with Hawthorne’s work, I can say that each of the three stories here are pretty solid. All have a rather classic horror feel, the second segment, ‘Rappaccini’s Daughter,’ perhaps being the most experimental and daring. Given the film is about two hours, each segment lasts forty minutes, which I do think causes minor dragging at times – certainly this isn’t the fast-paced horror that modern-day audiences might be used to. Even so, I found it rather worth it.

I think that, while all three stories are decent, the strongest is the last segment, being ‘The House of the Seven Gables.’ Amusingly, it’s not an easy choice, though, as ‘Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment’ is a very strong segment, and has some of my favorite performances and characters in the whole of Twice-Told Tales. That said, while ‘The House of the Seven Gables’ (which is definitely a title I recognize from cultural osmosis, but before watching this, I couldn’t tell you what it was pertaining, as my hombre Serge from Beverly Hills Cop says) is a bit slow at the beginning, come the finale of the story, things pick up beautifully, and it’s a wildly fun time reminiscent of House of Usher.

When it comes to ‘Rappaccini’s Daughter’, I’m torn. I didn’t dislike it, but it certainly felt like the weakest of the three segments, though of course I appreciated the horrors of botany being displayed some years prior to The Revenge of Doctor X/Body of the Prey/Venus Fly Trap. I think the main issue I have is that, while the finale of the story was decent, there weren’t really any ompf moments, which the other segments definitely had. I do think, because of this, that it was well-placed as the middle story, as it allows the film to both begin and end on higher notes.

Naturally, Vincent Price is the glowing star here – in all three stories, he does wonderfully, and I think he especially shines in both the first and final story. Price has long been a favorite actor of mine – from classics such as House on Haunted Hill and Pit and the Pendulum to films such as Theatre of Blood and The Oblong Box, he rarely does poorly, and this film showcases his great talent. My second-favorite performance here would be Sebastian Cabot (Journey to Midnight), as I found his performance in the first story rather poignant, and I thought he worked fantastically with Price.

Others who warrant a mention include Jacqueline deWit, Joyce Taylor (13 Frightened Girls, Beauty and the Beast), Abraham Sofaer, Richard Denning (Creature with the Atom Brain, Target Earth, Day the World Ended, The Black Scorpion, Creature from the Black Lagoon), and Brett Halsey (Demonia, Return of the Fly). Admittedly, Halsey takes a little while to really make a positive impression on me, as portions of his performance seemed weak, but the others listed were fun from beginning to end.

There were a few portions of the film that really stood out – naturally, given how much I enjoyed the first segment, a lot of that finale kept me really happy. Even more, though, would be the finale of ‘The House of the Seven Gables’, which, as I said earlier, was just wild. There was a house that was seeping blood from the ceiling and walls, blood coming from a portrait, all made more effective due to the fact this film is in color (which isn’t always a given when it comes to 60’s horror). Oh, there’s also a floating skeleton arm that attacks someone in the final story, which was of great value also.

All-in-all, while it’s possible that Twice-Told Tales runs a bit long, it’s an overall solid film, and if you’re a fan of either classic horror or Vincent Price, then it’s definitely worth keeping an eye out for. I don’t know if it’ll impress others as much as it impressed me – and to be sure, I wouldn’t exactly call the movie amazing – but I do think many would get a kick out of it.

7.5/10

Matango (1963)

Directed by Ishirô Honda [Other horror films: Ishirô Honda [Other horror films: Gojira (1954), Gojira no gyakushû (1955), Jû jin yuki otoko (1955), Godzilla: King of the Monsters! (1956), Sora no daikaijû Radon (1956), Godzilla (1957), Tokyo 1960 (1957), Bijo to ekitai ningen (1958), Daikaijû Baran (1958), Half Human: The Story of the Abominable Snowman (1958), Gigantis: The Fire Monster (1959), Mosura (1961), Varan the Unbelievable (1962), King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963), Mosura tai Gojira (1964), Uchû daikaijû Dogora (1964), War-Gods of the Deep (1965), Furankenshutain tai chitei kaijû Baragon (1965), Furankenshutain no kaijû: Sanda tai Gaira (1966), Gezora, Ganime, Kameba: Kessen! Nankai no daikaijû (1970), Gojira tai Hedora (1971), Godzilla (1977), Godzilla 1985 (1985), Gojira vs. Desutoroiâ (1995), Gojira tai Megagirasu: Jî shômetsu sakusen (2000)]

Matango, or Attack of the Mushroom People (which is a pleasantly provocative title) is a quality Japanese movie, rife with beautiful colors and people horrifically transformed into mushrooms. It’s never been a favorite of mine – I think it moves a bit slow for much of the runtime – but the final twenty minutes or so are hauntingly nightmarish, and it’s worth the watch for that.

Based on a short story by William Hope Hodgson titled ‘The Voice in the Night’, the film follows a group of people who shipwreck their yacht, and are trapped on an island filled with mist and mushrooms, and little else. It should go without saying that the mushrooms may not be the healthiest thing in the world to eat, but given their desperation and hunger, they don’t have a lot of choice, and some succumb to the springy-textured temptation.

Before that point, though, we’re treated to a lot of infighting amongst the group – the captain is getting on peoples’ nerves, one of the women is actively flirting with multiple men, putting people on edge, and there are power struggles popping up as to who should lead the group, and what their plan of action should be.

It’s not uncommon in a movie like this, and in fact, it reminded me of Goke, Body Snatcher from Hell, which I saw earlier this month. In that Japanese movie, much like this one, a group of people find themselves in a desperate situation, and morals break down, leading to danger and tension throughout.

For a sociological look at things, that approach is fine. You can also see much the same type of things in various zombie movies (28 Days Later… comes to mind), and it’s certainly realistic. I don’t mind it here, but I do think the film moves terribly slow, and it’s not until about 35 minutes in that I’m really intrigued. Once they find an old shipwreck covered in fungus, things improve, but getting there is a little bit of a struggle.

Honestly, none of the performances really stood out to me. I sort of liked Miki Yashiro’s character, and she had a creepy scene at the end, but saying she added much would be a hard case to make. Akira Kubo was perfectly fine, albeit generic. Yoshio Tsuchiya was fine as an antagonist, but again, he doesn’t particularly stand out.

What makes Attack of the Mushroom People worth seeing it the slow, creeping atmosphere and the eeriness of the concept. I didn’t read much of the Odyssey back in school, but the story of the lotus eaters always freaked me out, and that’s the type of thing this movie has to offer. Once people consume the mushrooms, they slowly transform, and never want to leave the island. Oh, and they live in this creepy mushroom-filled area – it’s color, it’s atmopshereic, and it’s, as the kids say, creepy as fuck.

Attack of the Mushroom People has never been a movie I loved, but that’s not because it’s bad. It’s just that much of the human element before the titular Mushroom People come about doesn’t interest me that much. Their drama is just not my cup of tea. Once things get moving, though, it’s a really good film, and the final twenty minutes are fantastic. Definitely a Japanese classic worth checking out.

7.5/10

Der Würger von Schloß Blackmoor (1963)

Directed by Harald Reinl [Other horror films: Die Bande des Schreckens (1960), Die unsichtbaren Krallen des Dr. Mabuse (1962), Der Teppich des Grauens (1962), Zimmer 13 (1964), Der unheimliche Mönch (1965), Die Schlangengrube und das Pendel (1967), Ein toter Taucher nimmt kein Gold (1974)]

Known as The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle in the USA, this German film was quite fun. It had a lot going for it, especially the mystery and the atmosphere, along with the setting, and it’s probably one of the better krimis out there.

I’ve known about krimis for a long time, though I’ve only seen one (1967’s Creature with the Blue Hand, or Die blaue Hand). Short for Kriminalfilm, it’s a subgenre of German crime movies, popular from 1959 to around 1972. Many of the movies are based on works by Edgar Wallace, and most, from my understanding, involve mystery of some sort. I suspect many of them aren’t horror – the first krimi, titled Der Frosch mit der Maske (Face of the Frog), sounds far more like a spy/crime film than anything else – but some definitely are, including this one.

The best way to describe krimis, I think, is comparing them to gialli – both generally involve mysteries, a lot of potential suspects, a masked killer with black gloves. Just like how that’s not true of all gialli, it’s certainly not true of all krimis, and to be sure, there are differences – krimis started a bit earlier (the first krimi was 1959, the first giallo 1963), the violence is a lot lighter, and it’s a lot less artistic.

All of this is to say that I’ve only seen two krimis, the first one (again, Creature with the Blue Hand) so long ago I barely remember it, but if The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle is any indication of other films in the genre, I’d say krimis are an untapped resource for horror fans, as this movie was great.

In many ways, it felt a bit like one of those old dark house mystery movies – something like The Bat Whispers, The Cat and the Canary, or Night of Terror. There’s murders being committed around a castle, a diamond-cutting conspiracy, a cache of long-missing diamonds, and secret passages galore. It has a lot of the staples I love, and it does it beautifully.

The killer looked a lot like the killer from Blood and Black Lace – he didn’t have the hat, but they wore a black ski mask and a nice coat. Also, the killer knew how to get things done – yes, as the title says, strangling does occur, but there’s also a healthy dose of decapitation, one scene in particular which was great (imagine a motorcycle and a wire strung out on a bridge, and you’ll get the picture). It’s a black-and-white film, and certainly not a bloody one, but entertaining all the same.

And speaking of entertaining, I thought many in the central cast were great. Walter Giller’s character in particular was a lot of fun (he played a Scottish lord, always wearing a kilt), but Karin Dor (Dark Echo, Hand of the Gallows, and Room 13) made a very solid lead, and Rudolf Fernau was great as her uncle. Dieter Eppler had a sinister aura, always sneaking about, Hans Reiser’s character popped up at all the right times to make him suspect, and Harry Riebauer made a good Scotland Yard detective.

The film is just fun throughout – toward the end, pretty much all of those who could be the murderer are in a single room when devastating news is revealed, which was a fun set-up. There’s a marsh that police officers are chasing the murderer through – they have to use planks and ladders to cross the murky lands. And there’s also one of the best hiding places I’ve ever seen for hidden valuables, which was fun also.

Krimis are a subgenre I’ll have to look into more. I’ve heard this may be the best one, which I can believe, but plenty of others, including The Door With Seven Locks (Die Tür mit den 7 Schlössern, 1962), The Sinister Monk (Der unheimliche Mönch, 1965), and The Hunchback of Soho (Der Bucklige von Soho, 1966), sound intriguing, and provided I can find them in German with English subs, I’ll need to give them a look.

If you’re a fan of the occasional giallo, or want to see what West Germany was up to in the 1960’s, I can scarcely think of a better way than to give The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle a chance.

8/10

I tre volti della paura (1963)

Directed by Mario Bava [Other horror film: I vampiri (1957), Caltiki il mostro immortale (1959), La maschera del demonio (1960), Ercole al centro della Terra (1961), La ragazza che sapeva troppo (1963), La frusta e il corpo (1963), 6 donne per l’assassino (1964), Terrore nello spazio (1965), Operazione paura (1966), 5 bambole per la luna d’agosto (1970), Il rosso segno della follia (1970), Ecologia del delitto (1971), Gli orrori del castello di Norimberga (1972), Lisa e il diavolo (1973), The House of Exorcism (1975), Schock (1977)]

Infinitely better known under the title Black Sabbath, this Italian anthology has never really impressed me. Of course, I’ve only seen it twice now, so that may change with future viewings, but right now, it just doesn’t seem that great a movie.

What possibly might impact that conclusion is that I’ve seen only the American print. Both versions contain the three same stories – ‘The Telephone’, ‘The Wurdulak’, and ‘The Drop of Water’ – but the stories are in a different order in the American copy, along with edits being made to the stories, most prevalent in ‘The Telephone.’

I don’t know if I’d like the movie anymore with the original print, but I can say that as I believe ‘The Telephone’ is by far the weakest segment here, I’d definitely be open to seeing the story done differently. ‘The Wurdulak’, which is the final story in the American print, isn’t that bad, but it does run on a bit long, and possesses a bunch of annoying character mistakes that make it quite hard for me to sympathize with them, not to mention having somewhat melodramatic dialogue (“All I know is that I love you”).

The true winner of this film, as far as the segments go, is ‘The Drop of Water’, which is unfortunate, as it’s the segment that opens the American copy, meaning that after the story is done, there’s little to look forward to. ‘The Drop of Water’ is sweet and simple, and is a masterclass in suspense. From the moment we first see the dead body of the medium to the final scene, it’s a very thrilling story, and a pleasure to watch.

It’s also a pleasure to see Boris Karloff introduce the stories (though I would have liked it if he also had some closing dialogue), and not only that, but he was also in ‘The Wurdulak,’ playing a beautifully threatening role (though that one piece of dialogue – “Can’t I fondle my own grandson?” – was dated terribly). Jacqueline Pierreux was amazing in ‘The Drop of Water,’ and while some of his choices bothered me, I thought Mark Damon did decently in the final story. It may partially just be the story, but Michèle Mercier didn’t really impress me in ‘The Telephone.’

Obviously, Black Sabbath isn’t without it’s strengths, which is evident by the amount of people who call the film a classic. No doubt that it looks nice – the color is rather fresh for an early 1960’s movie, and the portions of the film that it gets right, it really gets right. It’s just that it doesn’t happen often, and though the film might be better in the original Italian print, I can’t imagine my views changing significantly.

In short, despite it’s classic status, it’s not really a film I enjoy save for ‘The Drop of Water,’ and there are so many other horror films from the 1960’s that I’d rather watch.

6/10

La ragazza che sapeva troppo (1963)

Directed by Mario Bava [Other horror films: I vampiri (1957), Caltiki il mostro immortale (1959), La maschera del demonio (1960), Ercole al centro della Terra (1961), I tre volti della paura (1963), La frusta e il corpo (1963), 6 donne per l’assassino (1964), Terrore nello spazio (1965), Operazione paura (1966), 5 bambole per la luna d’agosto (1970), Il rosso segno della follia (1970), Ecologia del delitto (1971), Gli orrori del castello di Norimberga (1972), Lisa e il diavolo (1973), The House of Exorcism (1975), Schock (1977)]

Known under both The Evil Eye and The Girl Who Knew Too Much, this Italian classic directed by Mario Bava is often considered one of the earliest gialli. In truth, while I don’t mind that claim to fame, it’s nowhere near as memorable as the following year’s Blood and Black Lace, and while an okay movie, I don’t know if La ragazza che sapeva troppo really stands out that well.

A giallo it may well be, and there are certainly familiar elements here (an American witnesses a murder and attempts to figure out who the mystery killer is), but there are also quite a few missing elements. For one, the film’s nowhere near as vibrant, a big reason being the movie’s black-and-white. The killer also doesn’t wear any type of face covering. No doubt the mystery is decently solid, but it doesn’t quite feel what you might expect after seeing later gialli.

One small thing that did take some getting used too was the use of interior thoughts. Sort of like first person narration, though it’s just the thoughts going through some character’s minds. It doesn’t pop up too often, and mostly revolves around the main character played by Letícia Román, but it was somewhat interesting, and occasionally seemed an odd choice.

Personally, seeing a younger John Saxon (A Nightmare on Elm Street, Tenebre, My Mom’s a Werewolf, Black Christmas) was a big selling point, but I can’t say his character made a huge impression on me. Letícia Román made an okay lead, but some of her character’s decisions were pretty sketchy. I did rather like Dante DiPaolo here, and Valentina Cortese (Un’ombra nell’ombra) did pretty well, especially around the finale.

From my understanding, some versions of the film (under the title ‘The Evil Eye’) have removed some scenes and added a bit of comedy not apparent in the original. Given this is the version I believe I watched, I can say that tonally, it seemed sometimes inconsistent. None of the comedy is over-the-top by any means, but the movie just felt a bit whimsical at times, and I don’t think that was a great decision. Also, the ending (what with a random murder on ski lift-type things) just felt sort of ridiculous.

Obviously, Mario Bava was one of the most important Italian horror directors of the 1960’s. Before this film, he was behind films like Black Sunday and Hercules in the Haunted World (along with films he wasn’t credited for, such as Caltiki and Lust of the Vampire), and while Black Sunday is well-appreciated, I think he hit his stride later on, Blood and Black Lace being one such example. Blood and Black Lace has some similarities to this, to be sure, but it feels more polished, and being in color, feels so much more like the gialli I’ve grown to love.

All of this is to say that La ragazza che sapeva troppo is an okay film, and it’s certainly watchable, but I don’t think it’s a particularly great movie. If you’re interested to see how gialli got their start, it’s worth a watch, but otherwise, I can’t say this film has that much to offer, at least the print I happened to see.

6.5/10

The Raven (1963)

Directed by Roger Corman [Other horror films: The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955), Day the World Ended (1955), It Conquered the World (1956), Not of This Earth (1957), Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957), The Undead (1957), War of the Satellites (1958), The Wasp Woman (1959), A Bucket of Blood (1959), House of Usher (1960), The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961), The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), The Premature Burial (1962), Tales of Terror (1962), Tower of London (1962), The Terror (1963), X (1963), The Haunted Palace (1963), The Masque of the Red Death (1964), The Tomb of Ligeia (1964), Roger Corman’s Frankenstein Unbound (1990)]

For many, this is a classic film, an enjoyable blend of horror and comedy, but I have to admit that, despite the fantastic cast, this movie really didn’t do a thing for me.

Which is a damn shame, as you can imagine. I mean, check out the cast – Vincent Price (House on Haunted Hill, The Haunted Palace, and Theatre of Blood), Boris Karloff (Frankenstein, The Black Cat, The Ghoul, and The Walking Dead), and Peter Lorre (Mad Love, The Beast with Five Fingers, and You’ll Find Out) are the central actors, and what a great mix it is. A young Jack Nicholson (The Shining and The Terror) appears throughout, and we also get some Hazel Court (The Premature Burial, Ghost Ship, The Masque of the Red Death, and The Curse of Frankenstein). All of these performances (and throw in Olive Sturgess for good measure) were solid.

I just don’t care for the story, though, which is very heavily entwined with comedy and fantasy. It started out strong, with some stanzas from Edgar Allan Poe’s classic poem being read by Price, but as soon as the raven (Lorre’s character who was transformed during a failed magical duel with Karloff’s sinister warlock character) flew in, I was just taken aback. Don’t get me wrong, I knew the film was partly comedy, but I didn’t quite realize it’d play so heavily a part, and some of the intended comedy just didn’t do much for me (such as Nicholson’s scene on the carriage).

And of course, this isn’t to take away from the performances, which were fantastic throughout, and they even managed a few pretty good scenes (I personally think the best one was Nicholson’s character traversing a ledge outside Karloff’s castle in order to get to another room, which held quality tension), but then there was a lengthy magical duel at the end between Price and Karloff which went on for at least six minutes with zero dialogue, and I can’t express how drowsy that made me.

Vincent Price is one of my personal favorite actors of the horror genre, being in multiple movies I absolutely love (such as the aforementioned House on Haunted Hill and Theatre of Blood), so it gives me no pleasure to admit that I didn’t care for this, especially because I also have a huge respect for Lorre and Karloff. The story just wasn’t my cup of tea, though, and I just did not derive much in the way of enjoyment from this whatsoever.

Most people enjoy this one, though, so if you’re into classic movies, by all means, give it a shot. Just know what you’re going into.

5/10

Black Zoo (1963)

Directed by Robert Gordon [Other horror films: It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955)]

Maybe I was expecting too much, but I left Black Zoo feeling somewhat underwhelmed. The movie wasn’t poor, by any means, and there were some amusing scenes, along with performances worth noting, but a few elements of the story tasted funny, and I think the film, for me, ends up around average, if not a little lower.

I did appreciate the first 12 minutes of the film, though, wherein a tour bus of, well, tourists, comes to a zoo, and are taken through a tour by the head of the zoo, played by Michael Gough, and it’s just a nice, pleasant trip through the zoo, almost like one of those science documentaries my people sometimes watched in school when we had a substitute teacher. It was a charming opening, and I enjoyed it.

Also worth mentioning, Black Zoo is in color, which I didn’t know beforehand (and certainly wasn’t a given during this period of cinema). I don’t know if it really mattered in the end, but it was sort of nice to see.

Of course, Michael Gough is best known for playing Alfred in the Batman movies, though he has done plenty of horror (the 1962 Phantom of the Opera, Horrors of the Black Museum, Berserk, What a Carve Up!, Trog), and he gives a solid performance here, occasionally hammy, but enjoyable throughout. I was indifferent on Jeanne Cooper, who played Gough’s wife, but both Rod Lauren (The Crawling Hand, Terrified) and Elisha Cook Jr. (House on Haunted Hill) were solid, though I admit I didn’t care entirely for Lauren’s story.

On that note, there’s a bit of a twist at the end regarding Rod Lauren’s character, but I really didn’t find myself caring that much about it, because it didn’t really make a difference as far as I could tell. Also, while I understand the concept, that one crazy animal cult (they basically believe that the souls of recently-deceased animals can enter a new animal and live again) was just a bit too silly, and Michael Gough’s character didn’t strike me as someone who’d want to mix-in with a lot like that.

Points are given, though, for the murders that Gough’s character plans. Who doesn’t like him taking revenge on people with the help of his lions, tigers, and gorillas? There’s even an emotional scene, of sorts, where one of his animals is killed by Cook Jr. and, in a rage, Gough takes him out (honestly, I can’t blame him at all for that, as Cook Jr.’s character was the one that was begging to be attacked).

Overall, though, Black Zoo was just an okay movie. I didn’t have a terrible time with it, but I definitely think it could have been better in some ways. It’s worth a watch just for something different (how many zoo-based horror films even are there, aside from this and Murders in the Zoo?), but it’s not an amazing film.

6/10

The Birds (1963)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock [Other horror films: The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927), Psycho (1960)]

It’s been a long while since I’ve seen The Birds, and once I rewatched this (on the same night I revisited Psycho), I came to the somewhat shocking self-discovery that I actually enjoy The Birds more, and as I got further and further into this movie, I was hooked in a way I wasn’t through most of Psycho.

It’s the slow-building nature of the bird attacks that really revs things up. The first instance is the seagull attacking Daniels’ on the boat. Then the bird flying into the door. Then the small (most mostly harmless) attack on the birthday party. Then (off-screen) them going after that farmer. And all of this leads to my all-time favorite sequence of films.

Daniels (Tippi Hedren) is asked by Lydia (Jessica Tandy) to go pick up Cathy (Veronica Cartwright) from school. At the school, waiting for the session to end, Daniels sits on a bench with the playground (including a jungle gym) in the background, and beautifully, slowly, crows fly and land on the jungle gym.

There may be ten or so when the film suddenly focuses on purely Daniels as she smokes, and then after a few minutes, she notices a crow flying overhead, and watching where it lands, we now see that the jungle gym, and in fact every surface suitable for a bird to perch on, has a bird. It’s creepy, and even if you know it’s coming, it’s done amazingly.

Then comes the scene of Daniels and Annie (Suzanne Pleshette) ushering the children out of the school, and getting attacked by the crows. It’s a tense scene, but they all seem to get out fine. And then a quiet diner scene, which is, again, fantastic, as Daniels tells of the attack of the school by birds, which leads to pushback from all sides (one woman doesn’t think it’s possible, another man wants all birds killed, one mother just wants them to stop scaring her children), and then a gas attendant gets attacked by a bird (which they all witness), and falls down, gas now leaking toward a car. And in that car, a man who gets out and lights a cigarette and, upon burning his fingers (and not taking heed in the people yelling at him to not drop the match), he drops it.

Perhaps one of my all-time favorite shots of the film is next. We see Bodoga Bay from – a bird’s eye view (kill me now if you want) – which looks so cool, and more and more birds join in before swooping down onto the town, causing all-out mayhem.

That was just a beautiful collection of scenes, and there wasn’t a moment when I wasn’t fully engaged in what was going on. That doesn’t change once Daniels and Mitch (Rod Taylor) get back to the house and start boarding things up. It only sustains it’s suspense throughout.

Tippi Hedren was an interesting character. Strong in her own right, she completely loses it toward the end of the film, breaking down mentally (sort of like Barbara in Night of the Living Dead) after a vicious attack by birds. Rod Taylor was strong throughout, as was Jessica Tandy, who had plenty of emotional scenes. And for a younger actress, Cartwright was pretty good too.

The effects here don’t always look great (such as the children being chased from the school by the crows), but all of it is pretty admirable, and there are just some fantastic scenes (such as Hedren’s character being trapped in a glass phone booth with wild birds flying all around), and the onslaught of birds was just amazing.

If I was asked a day or two ago, I probably would have said that Psycho was my favorite Hitchcock film, but after seeing The Birds again, I’m all in. I very much love this film – it’s ominous ending a fantastic one – and this is top-rate stuff.

9/10

This is one of the films covered by Fight Evil’s podcast. If you want to hear Chucky (@ChuckyFE) and I discuss this classic, look out below.

The Haunted Palace (1963)

Directed by Roger Corman [Other horror films: The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955), Day the World Ended (1955), It Conquered the World (1956), Not of This Earth (1957), Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957), The Undead (1957), War of the Satellites (1958), The Wasp Woman (1959), A Bucket of Blood (1959), House of Usher (1960), The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961), The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), The Premature Burial (1962), Tales of Terror (1962), Tower of London (1962), The Raven (1963), The Terror (1963), X (1963), The Masque of the Red Death (1964), The Tomb of Ligeia (1964), Roger Corman’s Frankenstein Unbound (1990)]

Being the second time now I’ve seen this, The Haunted Palace is a good example of a Corman-Price movie, with a great setting, quality atmosphere, nice color, all the works. I have to admit, though, that I just think it’s a good movie, and not much more.

You’ve gotta love the setting – the New England town of Arkham (H.P. Lovecraft influenced obviously), and of course, once a husband and wife seek out an ancestral palace they inherited, the townspeople react just as warmly and cuddly as you’d expect (pretty much as they did in The Gorgon). There’s also an influx of mutated people roaming around town, which leads to some pretty creepy scenes.

Vincent Price gives a solid performance, but this is Vincent Price we’re talking about (House on Haunted Hill, Pit and the Pendulum, Theatre of Blood, and The Tingler, among many others), so that can’t come as a surprise. Lon Chaney Jr. (The Wolfman) is nice to see, but his character doesn’t really have much in the way of agency. Elisha Cook Jr. (House on Haunted Hill and Blacula) was nice to see, but like Chaney, his character wasn’t really given much to do. Others such as Milton Parsons, Frank Maxwell, and Debra Paget were all good also.

These elements (and the fact the film is in beautiful color) should lead to a great movie, but I think it’s only okay. I can’t entirely say why – the story isn’t my favorite, but it’s still decently creepy (it helps that the titular palace is a pretty stellar setting), and seeing Price’s character being taken over and becoming a cruel warlock is good stuff, but I just don’t love this the same way I did, for instance, The Pit and the Pendulum.

None of this is to say that The Haunted Palace isn’t a movie worth seeing, because it’s still a fine slice of 1960’s horror films. And I know others who rank this quite highly among the Corman-Poe cycle, so perhaps you’ll love it, but for me, I think it’s just around average.

7/10

Maniac (1963)

Directed by Michael Carreras [Other horror films: The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb (1964), Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb (1971)]

I can’t say that this Hammer film is exceptionally good, because it’s not. By no means a bad movie, Maniac has a pretty decent story and a somewhat stellar ending. Even the method of murder is interesting (when it pops up), but all of that said, I don’t know if it’ll end up being all that memorable.

One thing that doesn’t necessarily bother me, but does make me question the sanity of Kerwin Matthews’ character, is when he falls for Nadia Gray over Liliane Brousse. Nothing against Gray, who certainly wasn’t unbecoming, but Brousse looked quite fantastic throughout, but I guess that the heart wants what the hearts wants.

Otherwise, it’s a solid story, and has a pretty fair conclusion, the likes which somewhat reminded me of the 1972 mystery-horror film Endless Night (though I still think Endless Night has a better finale), though I do think there was a change or two this movie could have made to make the ending even better. That said, it was a solid ending still for what they cobbled together.

I’m not familiar with any of the names in the cast – Kerwin Matthews (The Boy Who Cried Werewolf being one of his few other horror roles) was pretty decent, had a good look to him, and though I can’t say I care for his romantic choice, still seemed a solid guy. Nadia Gray didn’t do poorly, but I never thought much of her character, especially in the beginning when she was obviously trying to pull Matthews’ attention away from Brousse’s character. And as for Liliana Brousse (who was also in Hammer’s Paranoiac, which came out earlier in 1963), she was quite cute and I felt for her throughout. Donald Houston (A Study in Terror) was appropriately threatening.

While I do wish that Maniac had a bit more frights in it than it ultimately ended up having, I think the suspense was decent enough for what they had, and overall, it’s one of the lesser-known Hammer films that might be worth checking out. I have to admit, though, that others they made around this time, such as Paranoiac, were superior.

7/10