On the tenuously linked subject of blood suckers, I wanted to include some quick thoughts on Hammer's Kiss of the Vampire. This was intended as an all '70s review round up before I realised this is a film from 1963. Imagine my confusion. But since we're here I'm going to break all the rules and talk about it anyway, it's been that kind of week. The problem here is that if you've ever seen a movie about vampire cults of any kind, much of this will be far too familiar. It doesn't really offer much of its own to merit a recommendation, which is odd considering this could have been the studio's third Dracula film after Brides of Dracula.
The main problem is that this is just a bland version of events done better elsewhere as a newly-wed couple become stranded at a remote inn, and soon become guests at a nearby castle. The main draw is a vampire ball in which everyone wears masks and our two lead romantics are separated. It lends everything a sense of classic horror, something that's lacking in the scenes filmed at the village where the inhabitants are a grand total of three people. It's interesting that the vampires seem to have some sort of church like organisation, but overall it's underwhelming and rushes towards a silly climax involving black magic and fake bats.
2/5
Post Hammer the horror landscape had quickly evolved and British releases became stranger and more sinister, as is the case with The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971). A film from Tigon, the company which produced Witchfinder General and The Wicker Man, this is a different sort of so called folk horror, but it still has a similar kind of eerie rural atmosphere. But what can you expect from a story in which a 17th Century farmer unearths a piece of skull, with fur and a fresh eyeball somehow attached. It vanishes soon after it's found, but apparently it's part of a widespread evil force that soon influences the local teenagers.
Were the bones part of a demonic creature that was awakened by the field being ploughed? I have no idea. But in the nearby village people find themselves growing the same kind of fur in small patches of their skin. This is an odd film but an effective one, from the strangely jaunty score to the glimpses of evil hiding in the shadows. Patrick Wymark is a good replacement for the types of stoic hero in earlier Hammer releases. His screen presence lends the period setting a kind of believability as a local judge, and later fighter for the forces of good. But the real impact of the film comes from it's tone, in a story that has a cruel edge in some of the more unsettling sequences.
It's a cold and bleak looking movie which adds to this overall mood, one in which the innocent are tortured and and killed. There are lots of great outdoor sequences in the English countryside and plenty of creepy moments as the camera looks out from behind trees and in the soil below unsuspecting farmers. The only major fault is that some of the editing is a little messy, particularly in scenes where dark indoor lighting already makes it difficult to see what is happening. Erratic movements accompany scenes in which something sinister lurks under floorboards. However this is still an interesting and sinister piece of work, which is all I can really ask for even if the ending is weirdly rushed. The alternative title Satan's Skin probably does the uneasy feeling it produces more justice.
4/5
Last up let's take a look at something which is considered by many to be a festive classic, Black Christmas (1974). A tale of mystery phone calls and girls living together at a college sounds like a recipe for a typically banal kind of slasher film, but luckily this is a restrained and moody whodunnit. It skimps on blood and instead focuses on suspense and characters. Plus it has Margot Kidder and John Saxon, what a recipe for success. The cast is full of memorable faces but it all comes together because so many of them are oddballs and drunks. The sorority house mother (Marian Waldman) has stashes of booze all over the place and her scenes in particular are all really amusing.
It's not all fun and games (although for me this is a lot of the appeal) as the film glides between great characters and great horror set pieces. There's plenty of effective point of view shots long before Halloween did this kind of thing, and the brief glimpses of the killer are very sinister. Their voice on the phone is also a mixture of gratuitous cursing and genuinely unsettling lunatic noises. All of the ingredients are horror film staples, but the execution lends everything slightly more class than you'd usually expect. Even the lead Jess (Olivia Hussey) feels more developed than she needs to be as her relationship with music student Peter (Keir Dullea) turns sour.
Purely as a murder mystery it's often tense and dark as the killer sets up his victims in a creepy attic but is never really shown. There's no eye rolling expository dialogue, there are no sex and drug use clichés before the kills, and the violence is all very restrained. Some of the spookiest moments involve simple things being set up and paid off whether it's a missing cat or the light from a trap door. The Christmas setting may not feel like a thematic inclusion overall, but it does lend the story a kind of nihilistic mood. The carol singing and warm coloured lights are a backdrop to needless cruelty just off camera. Though you can easily enjoy this any time of the year just as a great film.
4/5
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