Part of the 2nd Great Cinematic Catharsis Hammer-Amicus Blogathon
After watching so many of these releases from Hammer over the years I've never really stopped to think why so many of them are set in a vaguely Victorian time period. Their attempts at depicting actual history and those films set in the modern day not withstanding of course. I guess it's just visual shorthand for spooky goings on and it probably saves money. Gothic scenery and fancy threads are always nice to see, don't get me wrong I'm not complaining. But this is a story about Greek mythology right? At least on the surface. Maybe a more ancient location would have made it stand out from the crowd, after all the studio had a hand in making at least a few fantasy films.
But instead of evoking any sort of legendary time period this is just another film set in the early 1900s. There are more non-specific European police outfits and plenty of creaking hallways in both a local asylum and a castle. The storyline also feels more like something that's been done before, in this case another werewolf film rather than anything related to the eponymous myth. Maybe I'm just too obsessed with Clash of the Titans to look at this objectively. So let's cut to the chase and examine what the film actually delivers rather than what I would have expected from the title. Despite various shortcomings it's still a fairly archetypal Hammer outing from the director to the cast.
In the village of Vandorf the head of a hospital Doctor Namaroff (Peter Cushing) is in league with the local police inspector (Patrick Troughton) after a series of unexplained deaths. The latest involves a travelling artist who has allegedly killed his girlfriend before hanging himself, but the evidence at the inquest is at odds with what both these characters know. There's no mention of the girl's body becoming petrified, and a lot of speculation about the dead man's character is made to ensure the judge delivers the right verdict. However the artist's father (Michael Goodliffe) is not having any of this and begins his own investigation.
Like John Gilling's The Reptile this mystery from Hammer regular Terence Fisher has a particular framework as suspicious characters move about in the shadows and various murders occur. Despite a few red herring moments it's not too hard to figure out what's going on, but they do at least try to build up the atmosphere. However it lacks a central hero in the usual sense as the artist's father, his brother Paul (Richard Pasco) then his brother's mentor Professor Meister (Christopher Lee) each take on the detective work after various pitfalls along the way. As a result the pacing in the first two acts is kind of meandering, and despite the cast involved it's all a bit lacklustre.
Namaroff is clearly up to no good but still spends most of the story denying anything is wrong in the village, even when there are indications he wants to solve the problem. But when certain issues are clearly linked to the full moon it's not clear why he's not doing more to stop further tragedy. Elsewhere the newcomers try to figure things out, but after dealing with violent locals and corrupt police officials they just end up dead or comatose when they get close to the truth. In typical Christopher Lee fashion Professor Meister clearly has more of a handle on things and really gets things moving on his arrival, which is probably he's left out of the narrative until an hour has passed.
Meanwhile there's a doomed romance between Paul and hospital assistant Carla (Barbara Shelley) but it's not particularly convincing. They don't give her nearly enough to do and the potential conflict between Paul and the controlling Namaroff is never explored. None of these plot elements are particularly bad but it's all just a bit by the numbers. There's a lot of this kind of wasted potential here and they should have really leaned into the possible psychological thriller ideas involved. It begs for more sequences in the medical ward, the local graveyard and the village castle. That being said everyone is doing their best with the material, and they do at least make sure to add a typical Hammer action finale that delivers exactly what you're expecting.
Overall it's all just so typical that it's hard to dissect in any meaningful way. If you like this cast list you'll get a kick out of the film, but it's all very familiar territory. There are certain moments that hint at this becoming a far darker story, but often it also feels like a tale that should have been told with more scenery chewing. The idea of the human body turning to stone is pretty interesting, but at the same time there's a certain silliness to the whole thing. Shockingly there are no eccentric bit players involved and the film is without a single surly carriage driver or drunken villager stumbling into peril. The end result is fine but often feels a bit bland when it might have been much more outlandish and fantastic.
3/5
BONUS REVIEW
PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1962)
Elsewhere let's take a quick look at a film that demands to be larger than life because of its premise alone, but falls short in many departments as a whole. Like many other versions of this story it involves a composer turned killer (Herbert Lom) taking revenge after his music is stolen, but there are various additions along the way. In this case it's kind of his own fault, since he tried to make money by giving the only copy to wealthy scumbag Lord Ambrose D'Arcy, (Michael Gough) a man so slimy that his evil intentions drip from every line he delivers. These two performances alone should make this a winner but there are other problems here.
This version also includes a murderous sidekick for the phantom (Ian Wilson) to spice things up, but the story itself is pretty dry. Prima-donna hopeful Christine (Heather Sears) finds herself facing the unwanted attention of both the phantom and Lord Ambrose, but is saved at various intervals by opera manager Harry (Edward de Souza). The bulk of the story concerns the mystery of the phantom's presence in the theatre but they spent far too much time with the romantic subplot. Worse still there's a lot of repetitive bickering between Harry and Ambrose after Christine refuses the sinister advances of the latter, and a lot of dialogue involving the ownership of the opera.
They try and make the big performance itself interesting at least, and an opera telling the story of Joan of Arc is visually arresting at times. But this really should have been the Herbert Lom and Michael Gough showcase instead of just another flat romantic tale spliced with a sluggish mystery plot. The final confrontation between the two central figures is laughably short, and the ending is a rushed anticlimax that comes out of nowhere. It's kind of watchable and there are some reasonably macabre moments here and there, but for a such a well trodden story they should have been more creative. It's never as dull as the 1943 version but borrows too much from it.
2/5
