Horror Bites - Black Cats and Marble

THE TOMB OF LIGEIA (1964)

Part of the Vincent Price Blogathon with Cinematic Catharsis

What's wrong with sticking to a formula? Dead wives who have influence over the living, Vincent Price playing a character slowly coming apart at the seams, strangely familiar stock footage of a house on fire... yes that's right it's a Roger Corman film based on Edgar Allan Poe. If you've ever seen one of these you probably know the drill; there'll be strange goings on in a Gothic house, a few spells of memory loss, and probably a nightmare scene for good measure. But after so many outings of this nature is there really any gas left in the tank? Or does migrating the production from AIP to Britain give it a new lease of life? It's from the same year The Comedy of Terrors poked fun at the whole thing after all. Let's take a peek inside the crypt and see if there are any signs of life.

Monster Bites - Time Slides

GODZILLA VS. KING GHIDORAH (1991)

Is it possible for a film to contain some of the best and worst scenes in a series? Godzilla's third movie in the Heisei series dares to pose that question. It's a bold move to be sure, but then it's a bold kind of movie. Reckless, striking and even sometimes blundering just like the title character. In some ways it's a greatest hits collection because of the way it re-introduces old concepts and creatures, but then in other ways it's a big radioactive mess. An initial viewing of the story is quite an experience and it gains a lot of kudos just for being so outlandish. But in retrospect it's an uneven story that doesn't really hold up in the same way as the previous instalments. But let's take a closer look into this prehistoric soup and see what exactly is going on.

Horror Bites - Grand Guignol

THEATRE OF BLOOD (1973)

Time for a little jaunt into the Vincent Price back catalogue. But where to begin? When taking a fresh look at any number the horror movies of the time it's always tempting to revisit some of the old Edgar Allan Poe adaptations, or even the Dr. Phibes movies. Although some have been covered here before there's still a lot to choose from when considering his prolific, and often colourful, filmography. Many of them are releases tempting releases that feature the classic Roger Corman and Richard Matheson combo. But then struck by inspiration I thought it would be best to start at the top, and talk about his very best project.

Horror Bites - Secret of the Ooze

PROMETHEUS (2012)

What is it with prequels? They always feel like a slightly unnecessary or unwanted experience, adding very little but holding a lot of potential to cause problems. This one in particular has the obvious issue of being detrimental to the mystique held by the 1979 classic Alien. Which has always been a big part of the appeal. But strangely the end result doesn't really change a whole lot in the long run. It also has the potential to be a massive, crushing disappointment. While this isn't the immense failure of writing and plot problems it could have been overall it does feel slightly... pointless. Instead of being a massive train wreck it's just a strange mixture of sweeping vistas, expensive visual effects, and unexpectedly hilarious b-movie splatter.

Weekend Restrospective - Your Move Creep...

DREDD (2012)

Despite the striking design work in the original 2000AD comics they never felt like something that would work as a live action film. The visual appearance of Judge Dredd and the look of the world were pure comic madness - it was full of things like mutant dinosaurs, weird fashion fads (Get Ugly!) and robot revolutions. They tried this once before with Sylvester Stallone after all, and despite some great production design on display little else made the transition to the big screen. Thankfully John Wagner's stony faced fascist is actually in a movie worth seeing this time around. More importantly it actually includes the character he created rather than a dumbed down interpretation full of awkward '90s genre tropes.

Sci-Fi Sunday - Ringworld

ELYSIUM (2013)

I had a lot of hopes for this after the director's prior film District 9. In the end they were probably the unrealistic kind that could never really be fulfilled, but they still ended up being dashed a little as things unfolded. The earlier project had an erratic and energetic style, with faux docu-drama footage that lent it all a kind of ad libbed charm. It also had a twisted sense of humour that was a big surprise at the time. The whole thing felt like a smaller project full of quirky details suddenly being given a proper budget. Unfortunately the follow up doesn't really have any of those raw indie vibes, and perhaps it was a case of lighting in a bottle. Instead this relies on clichés that should really have been avoided. Perhaps they were unavoidable with a more mainstream cast involved.

Scorecard

MARCH

FILM OF THE MONTH: Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans ☆☆☆☆

Weekend Retrospective - Top. Men.

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)

'South America, 1936'

With this brief subtitle begins the greatest adventure movie ever made. It's a small and innocuous detail quickly offering a time and a place; but that's all this story needs when everything is perfectly measured. What transpires is of course one of the best openings on film, with the slow atmospheric build up hiding the lead character in the shadows. We're left waiting for him to show his face, and his abilities. Following a sinister trek through the rainforest our hero makes his dramatic entrance with a quick turn and the crack of a whip. This kind of no nonsense approach shows us what we need to know and what is in store; Indiana Jones is revealed through actions and not words.