Go One Step Beyond for International Clown Week!

International Clown Week (August 1 - 8) kicks off today. We're going to observe this annual recognition of clowns with a few clown-related posts. Up first, we have a review of "The Clown", one of the spookier episodes of television series "One Step Beyond". (And if you don't feel like reading, you can skip to the bottom of the post and watch the episode by clicking on the embedded video.)

The Clown (1960)

Starring: Mickey Shaunessy, Christopher Dark, and Yvette Mimieux

Director:  John Newland

Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

A murderer (Dark) thinks he is being stalked by the vengeful clown (Shaunessy) who witnessed the crime.

"The Clown" is one of the most intense episodes of the classic television series. With just a couple minor changes, it would even feel like something you might see on network television or some streaming service today.

The characters featured, and the actors portraying them, are what makes this episode so great. They.are ones that you love to hate, or which you just love. There's a possessive, abusive, cradle-robbing husband (played in a perfectly vile fashion by Christopher Dark) who moreso than most villains I wanted to see get what was coming to him; there's his young wife (played with believable innocence and self-unawareness by the underappreciated actress Yvette Mimieux in her second major role) who is old enough to recognize that she's beautiful but not mature enough to not delight in every bit of attention she can get; and Pippo the Clown (Mickey Shaunessy, in a performance that's gentle and completely sympathetic) who ends up paying dearly for his attempt to make the young woman happy. But not as dearly as she does...

When this episode was produced in 1960, the rules for what could and couldn't be shown on television were far more stringent than they are now. Because of restrictions on showing blood and violence, the murder that puts the story on track toward its climax is a little less horrific than it could have been, and even a little confusing. And that is the only thing that keeps this episode from getting a Nine of Ten Stars.

But don't just take my word for it. Click below... and take One Step Beyond!

For your information:

"One Step Beyond" was a television series that was hosted and primarily directed by John Newland. It was similar to "The Twilight Zone" in content, but generally more lowkey and supposedly featured stories inspired by real-world paranormal experiences. Original episodes aired on ABC from 1959 - 1961, which were then later widely syndicated during the next two decades.

Sarah did some scribbling...

 

In addition to the always-amusing Sarah's Scriibles, Sarah Andersen has brought us the excellent Halloweenish strip "Fangs". It's the story of true love between a vampire and a werewolf, and here's my review of a book collecting most (if not all) of them.

Well-crafted film noir homage with a twist!

Long Cold Walk (2022)
Starring: Nat Wise, Rocco La Motta, Stephen Scott, Jessica Rudolph, and Gene Winer
Director: Gene Winer
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

A homicide detective on the nightshift (Wise, voiced by Winer), is called to the scene of what turns out to be a greater mystery than he could have possibly imagined.

 

"Long Cold Walk" is a well-crafted film noir homage with an unexpected twist. Visually, there are a few jarring elements--such as some extreme close-ups that don't seem to serve any purpose and an extra that seems out place with the historical setting of the film--but overall Gene Winer and his crew do a fine job, on pretty much every technical level you'd care to consider.

As this film reached its final moments, I was certain that I would be giving it a solid Six of Ten Stars... but then the twist occured. I was expecting there to be some sort of twist due to a comment made by the narrator at the very beginning of the film, but when it happened, it was not at all what I expected it to be. That twist, and how it was executed, got a star added to the rating all by itself! I've watched and reviewed so many films over the past 30 years that "WOW!" moments don't happen all that often anymore, but Winer delivered one with "Long Cold Walk".

If you like old-school detective movies and TV shows, you're going to enjoy this short. Click below to check it out!

'The Guest' presents a night of dark mystery

The Guest (2013)
Starring: Ben Tiramani and Eliza Skelton

Director: Eric Woods

Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

A man (Tiramani) checks into an isolated hotel, carrying with him a closely guarded secret. Little does he know that the night clerk (Skelton) has plans for him...

 "The Guest" is a film that starts in mystery, adds more questions and mysteries as it unfolds, and ends with no questions answered, and even adds one final question as the end credits. I watched it twice, paying very close attention each time. I'm fairly certain I did not miss anything, and I am certain that everything obscure about this film remains obscure.

More often than not, this sort of approach bothers me; I am of the mindset that there should at least be enough hints dropped during a film for viewers to recognize a certain kind of stock character, or get some hint as to what might be going on, or why characters are behaving in this or that way. We get none of that in "The Guest"... and I hardly mind at all. What this film lacks in exposition, it makes up for in style and atmosphere to the point where we WANT to know the hows, whats, and whys of what's unfolding in this mysterious hotel, but still feel satisfied when we get no answers.

This is like the cinematic version of "Hotel California"--something weird and supernatural seems like it might be going on, we never get to know exactly what, but we don't care because the mysteries are presented to us in such a cool fashion.

I came upon "The Guest" in a remote, rarely visited corner of YouTube where I find many of the short films I spotlight here at Shades of Gray, and my first impression was that it was the only thing the lead actress and director had ever done. I thought that was a terrible shame, because this is a fantastic piece of atmospheric filmmaking. Although it's positioned as an effort in capturing a film noir vibe, it put me more in mind of late silent/early sound horror films. Why don't you take a few minutes to check it out, and then let me know what you think of it!

As it turns out, "The Guest" was NOT the only thing that writer/director Eric Woods and lead actress Eliza Skelton had done. In fact, you can watch more of Woods' works on his YouTube Channel, and you can visit Eliza Skelton's channel for the same.

Further, there's a second version of "The Guest", also available on YouTube, and Eric Woods appears to have revisited it several years later. He re-edited it, added a different music soundtrack, improved the sound mixing, added a few visual flourishes, and changed the opening titles and end credits. Most significantly, he added a classic B-movie style informational-newspaper-headline shot to provide a bit of an explanation to what's going on in "The Guest". Well, he attempted to, but doesn't quite succeed. 

If you enjoyed the original cut of "The Guest", perhaps you will like the 2017 version as well. It seems to be the one that the director prefers, as it's what you'll find if you visit his YouTube Channel. Personally, I prefer the original, even if I understand why Woods made the changes he did, and I can appreciate that the "what" and the "why" are both much clearer.

Check out "The Guest" 2.0--let me know which version you prefer!

The Guest (2017)

Starring: Ben Tiramani and Eliza Skelton

Director: Eric Woods

Rating: Six of Ten Stars

Here's a film to step up the Halloween spirit!

Steps (2022)
Starring: Mori Christian and Kris Cummins
Director: Russell Miller
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

A woman (Christian) movies into her just-purchased house, only to discover that the previous owner has left something behind...

"Steps" is a expertly paced and well-filmed haunted house tale. It mostly avoids the jump scares that so many creators of short films (and long-form horror films, too, for that matter) rely so heavily on. What we get here is good old-fashioned tension building through escalating weirdness

The only non-nitpicky complaint I can voice about this film is also a compliment: As the film ended, I wanted to know more. More about the main character, more about the house she purchased, more about the person who sold it to her, more about the previous owner/inhabitants... just more. Generally, stories like this that don't have the slightest hint as to why the supernatural events of the film are happening bother me. I generally feel like there should be some slight hint as to why this curse is upon a particular place or is happening to a particular person. There are some exceptions, though, like what we have here--a film so engaging that it sparks my imagination and causes me to make up the greater story surrounding it. That, in turn, makes me wish that I could know the REAL story beyond the edges of the story we are told.

But why don't you take a few minutes to check out "Steps"? Even if you aren't as impressed with it as I was, I think you'll agree that it's an excellent short film, as well as a great way to boost the Halloween Spirit!

A haunting thought...

 ... on this last day before Halloween 2021.

For more fun cartoons from Sarah Andersen, visit her website. You can also get collections of her cartoons in book-form, with which to impress your friends (or just to have them in a more permanent form and to support her work with some royalties off the book-sales)!

Also, for something different from Andersen, you want to check out the very excellent book "Fangs"--which is a chronicle of the romance between a werewolf and a vampire. You can read my review of it here. 

When horror movies go to the dogs...

... you get a fun little take on so very many of the short films that're featured over at our sister blog Terror Titans.

Horror Movie For Dogs (2020)

Starring: Koda

Director: Caleb Herring

Rating: Six of Ten Stars

A family dog (Koda) is left alone in a haunted house.

 

Filmmaker Caleb Herring wrote about "Horror Movie for Dogs: "I shot this the night before Halloween because I was insanely bored and my girlfriend was out for the night, leaving me and our good boy home alone."

His boredom is our blessing, because this is a nicely done short film. It's concise and not a moment of screen-time is wasted. The only complaint I have is that the soundtrack is a bit overblown and too omnipresent. A little more quiet in this film would have made it a lot more effective.

That aside, this is an amusing effort that is well worth checking out (which you can do from this very post). I think that those people who are down-voting it have no hearts, sense of humor, nor sense of what makes a good film.

Look Kids! Creepy Comics!

 A comic to get you in a Halloweenish mood!

'Lovesickness' is more greatness from Junji Ito

Love Sickness (2021, Viz Media)
Script and Art: Junji Ito
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

"Lovesickness" is the latest hardcover collection of tales by Japanese horror comics master Junji Ito. I refrain from calling Ito's work "manga", because I think his style should appeal even comics readers who usually claim to dislike Japanse comics. (I still have issues with the lazy translations that have been the norm for the past couple decades, but that war was lost long ago, so now all I can do is knock a star or two off my final rating.)

The majority of the book is taken up by the multi-part saga from which the book draws its title. Structurally, it occupies a place between Ito's "Remina" series (where all the sections add up to a novel-length horror story) and Ito's "Tomie" (where most of the stories stand alone, but are linked thematically and by recurring characters). The parts of "Love Sickness" stand individually, but they add up to a chilling tale of a curse and restless spirits that almost destroy a small town. The story threads involving the main characters add up to a greater tale, but the way the individual smaller story arcs intertwine with each other to form a larger, unified story plays to Ito's strengths in spinning short horror yarns while also delivering a novel-length experience. 

Individually, each story in the "Lovesickness" cycle delivers haunting tragedy and blood-chilling gore, but they also build upon each other, bringing the reader an increasing sense that this is going to end badly for everyone involved. Even the final chapter, which serves as a denouement to the greater "Love Sickness" story cycle stands on its own, and it provides closure to the story that's equal parts spooky and uplifting and completely perfect.

"Lovesickness" is further noteworthy, because it will surprise longtime Ito readers with the directions it goes in as it unfolds. There are characters who you expect to survive who don't, and visa-versa. It's also nice to see a long-form story from Ito with a young guy as the main character instead of the young girl we're used to seeing. Finally, both the main ghost in the story--a tall, impossibly handsome young man--and the mystery surrounding his origin is among Ito's best-drawn and -written work so far. The mists swirling around the mystery man, as well as the spirits he assembles around him are goosebump-inducing. (I won't go into the details of the horror scenarios in each individual story, other than to say they all invoke elements of traditional Japanese ghost stories while incorporating elements of modern youth- and pop-culture, bringing new levels of darkness and horror to each.

Once "Lovesickness" wraps up, Ito introduces us to the Hikizuri Siblings. This group of unpleasant freaks are featured in two stories, both of which are dark comedies. I've said in previous reviews of Ito's work that it's generally very different than any other horror comics, but that is not the case here. The two tales starring the Hizikuris--one where the youngest sister (the beautiful one) runs away from home and finds a boyfriend, the other where the ghost of the family patriarch seems to appear during a seance--are surprising only because they are similar in nature to the tales one used to read in comics like "House of Mystery" and "Scream" and numerous titles from NUELOW Games. They are not among Ito's best works (even if, artwise, the second story has some very impressive moments), but it's nice to see him flex his talent for funny stuff. 

Rounding out this collection are three stand-alone short stories--one that is among the best Ito's ever done, one that is average for him, and one that makes me wonder if something was lost in translation or if he has some personal significance to him, because it's pretty weak.

"The Mansion of Phantom Pain" is an intriguing idea about a house that seems to be haunting its occupants and crushing them in body and spirit. It's got some great art, is very atmospheric, but the story itself is badly executed and left me with too many "why don't they do this?" and "why did they do that?" moments in regards to the characters. Ito's done worse, but he's also done much better; this might be an idea that he should return to later and perhaps develop over several stories ala "Uzumaki" or "Tomie".

With "The Rib Woman", however, we Ito at his best and most horrific; everything he does well is featured in this story. We start with a girl, who, feeling pressured by society's standards of beauty, undergoes surgery to have a couple of her ribs removed. This sets her, and her friends and loved ones, on a collision course with the supernatural... which Ito's pen and brush bring to life in spectacularly gory fashion. There are many reasons why this story will stay with you after you're done reading it. Further, similar to the way "Lovesickness" contained commentary on youth culture, "Ribs Woman" is something of a metaphor for the dangers of unnecessary, body-altering surgery just to conform to some arbitrary standard of beauty forced upon us by others.

The final story, "Memories of Real Poop", may or may not be autobiographical, but it is definitely an attempt at lighthearted humor drawn from from every day life. Unfortunately, it's not very successful... or maybe I just don't get this story of a kid who buys a hyper-realistic, plastic poop and then plays a prank with it. 

"Lovesickness" may end on a bit of a low note, but the vast majority of the book is well worth any horror fans time, especially if you're already familiar with Junji Ito's work. Even horror fans who have convinced themselves they hate "manga" will like this book. (That said, I will repeat the complaint I've been making for 20 years: This book is another lazy translation that's marred by the fact the "localization" is half-assed in the sense that you have to read the book "backwards", because Japanese is read from right to left instead of left to right as English is.)

It's an Old World Vultures Halloween!

The Old World Vultures is a four-member Canadian band that performs "post-rock" instrumental music. Their piece "Too Much Eye Makeup" is an interesting listen with a bizarre title... but the video for it is a creepy little ghost story that inhabits a space between an early 1960s B-movie, and a 1990s Japanese horror flick. It's just the sort of thing to get you in the Halloween Spirit, so check it out right now!


Too Much Eye Makeup (2010)
Starring: Edwin Conroy Jr. and Natasha Pedros
Director: Devin Hughes
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

Halloween Warm-Up: The Monster

Here's a little flick from the cinematic special effects pioneer Georges Méliès that may help you get in the proper mood this Halloween season!


The Monster (1903)
Starring: Georges Méliès
Director: Georges Méliès
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

A necromancer in Ancient Egypt shows off to a friend, summoning spirits and restoring life and beautiful youth woman who's long been dead.

"The Monster" is one of hundreds of showcases that Georges Melies made for his brand of cinematic wizardry during the early years of filmmaking. At roughly two-and-a-half minutes in length, this is an uncomplicated film, but it features some impressive (for the time) and well-executed special effects, and a nice little twist at the end. 

(If you've seen several other of Melie's films, there won't be many surprises here, but if you're a fan of his work, you'll still enjoy yourself.)

Check out "The Monster" right here, in this post, embedded below via YouTube.

Halloween Warm-Up: The Apparition

Pioneering filmmaker Georges Méliès was making special-effects laden fantasy films and horror comedies when most of his contemporaries could barely conceive of using film for anything but documentary purposes. The film I'm offering as Halloween warm-up viewing today sees him deploying nearly his entire bag of tricks in a three-minute supernatural romp.


The Apparition (aka "The Ghost and the Candle") (1903)

Starring: Georges Méliès 

Director: Georges Méliès

Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

A lecherous old man (Méliès) gropes a maid and is subsequently haunted by a vengeful female ghost.

This is another one of those Méliès films where too much blather from me will ruin the fun of watching it, so all I'll say is that the early 20th century must have been a very different time than today, since the main character in this short film isn't phased by a candle that moves on its own, nor seems to find a woman solidifying from a cloud of smoke strange at all.  

But why don't you take a few minutes to watch "The Apparition"? It's bound to put a smile on your face while getting you ready for the tricks and treats that are coming our way later this month! 

School kids get creepy with "What Lies Beneath"

In 2014, Middle School teacher Candace Craig taught an intensive four-day course on silent movies, with an emphasis on horror films. At the end of it, her students made a rather remarkable little film. With the Halloween festivities starting next week at this blog, as well as the return of the 31 Nights of Halloween over at Terror Titans, this nicely done little film will serve as a warm-up for the things to come.

I'm going to refrain from my usual critical comments--this film WAS made by Middle Schoolers!--aside from observing that while the ending they gave this film was in perfect keeping with the films they were emulating, but I still it had ended a moment earlier, as the angry ghosts are closing in on our hapless teenaged trespassers.

If you like silent movies, I think you'll love this. I hope the kids who were the main drivers behind this film continued to be creative and perhaps even found a way to make a living in the film business.

(Also, check out the "Making Of "What Lies Beneath" here.)

Boooobies: Trick or Treats?

One of the greatest haunted house movies

The Legend of Hell House (1973)
Starring: Roddy McDowall, Clive Revill, Pamela Franklin, and Gail Hunnicutt
Director: John Hough
Rating: Ten of Ten Stars

A parapsychologist (Revill) travels to Balasco House--also known as "Hell House" and reported to be the worst haunted house in the entire world--with his wife (Hunnicutt) and two psychics (McDowell and Franklin) in order to gain indisputable, scientific evidence for the existence of ghosts and other supernatural phenomena. But the evil that dwells within the sprawling mansion never gives up its secrets easily....


"The Legend of Hell House" is one of the greatest haunted house movies ever made. It works, first, because the director and cinematographer manage to convey the sense that the house itself is alive and a character in the movie, and, second, because of the great peformances of the stars, and, third, because it features a script so tight that not a single line of dialogue or action on the part of the characters doesn't feed into the suspense and horror of the film--horror that keeps mounting until the final twist at the movie's end.

This is a movie where everything is done right. The cinematography and lighting is supreme, the actors are all perfect in their parts--with Roddy McDowall as the reluctant psychic shining even brighter than the rest--and the pacing is perfect throughout.

I wish the producers and directors of moden horror movies (particularly ghost movies) would take a look at "Legend of Hell House". This film is far scarier than any ghost movie of recent vintage.

Time's passage may have left 'Lucky Ghost' behind

Lucky Ghost (aka "Lady Luck") 1942
Starring: Mantan Moreland, E.F. Miller, Maceo Bruce Sheffield, Florence O'Brien, Arthur Ray, Jessie Brooks, Nappie Whiting, and Henry Hastings
Director: William Beaudine (as William X. Crowley)
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

Riding an incredible wave of luck in craps games, two vagabonds (Miller and Moreland), have the chance to become set for life when the irritable operator of an illicit club and casino (Sheffield) bets his entire operation against them on a single winner-takes-all die roll. The ghost of the former owner (Hastings) may have other plans, however.

"Lucky Ghost" may be one of those films that's more interesting as a historical artifact than something that modern viewers should seek out for entertainment. It's rife with the common mid-career weaknesses of most William Beaudine-helmed films--like scenes and jokes that could have been impactful or funny but which are padded well-past the point of even being interesting--and a whole lot of race-based humor that will cause the 21st Century Woke Set to suffer strokes before the halfway mark.

That last bit is perhaps one of the more interesting aspects of the film. "Lucky Ghost" is what is termed a 'race picture'--a film made specifically for a black audience during a time when the United States was racially segregated, so there was a market for films to be shown at movie theaters for all-black audiences. Despite this, the all-black line-up of characters in "Lucky Ghost" are almost without fail what today is viewed as racially insensitive and negative stereotypes, far more so than other 'race pictures' I've watched (which, admittedly, aren't very many). Perhaps these caricatures were to the audience back then as stoners or nerds are to viewers of comedies today and were recognized as exaggerations of existing people and not something to get huffy over?

One thing that should still speak just fine to modern audiences, and the best part of the film, is the interplay between stars Mantan Moreland and E.F. Miller. This is one of a handful of films they were teamed in, and they function as a black version of Abbott & Costello, with Miller being the straight man and Moreland providing the antics. I think I've expressed my affection for Moreland in every review of a movie I've seen him in, and it's no different here. All by himself, Moreland brings this film from a Low Four rating to a Low Five... and his presence might have made an even stronger impact if not for some of the scenes where I am certain that Beaudine padded the running time by including all takes on a bit where only one, or two at most, should have been included. Moreland is particularly funny during the gambling scenes, and in a couple of scenes where he is leering at the butts or cleavages of the casino's hostesses and making not-so-subtle innuendos. While the film is labled as having passed the Review Board in the opening credits, one wonders which Hayes Commission censor was sleeping on the job that day!

Another aspect that lifts this film a bit above many other horror-comedies of the period is the nature of ghosts. More often than not, hauntings in these pictures turn out to be hoaxes or misinterpretations of perfectly normal and natural events. No so here; in "Lucky Ghost", the filmmakers go fill-tilt with the phantoms, even treating the audience to what special effects the meager budget could allow. It's a nice change of pace.

Mediocre Gothic Thriller with a Goofy Title

Terror Creatures from the Grave
(aka "Cemetery of the Living Dead")(1965)
Starring: Walter Brandi, Mirella Maravidi, Barbara Steele, and Alfredo Rizzo
Director: Massimo Pupillo (credited to producer Ralph Zucker)
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

An attorney (Brandi) answers an urgent request to prepare a will for a country doctor living at an isolated estate. When he arrives, his strange wife (Steele) and neurotic daughter (Maravidi) tell him the doctor couldn't have written the letter as he's been dead for over a year. Before he can sort out the mystery, the doctor's old friends start dying as well, apparent victims of the ghosts evil sorcerers who spread a plague across the land 500 years ago.

We are informed during the main credits that "Terror Creatures from the Grave" was inspired by the writings of Edgar Allan Poe; it certainly bears more resemblance to them than several films that have claimed to be based on them (such as several Lugosi vehicles from Universal), I think I'll still have to go with the Real Thing over this movie.

The film's hero, an attorney visiting a house of secrets and madness, certainly feels like he stepped out of a Poe story, and Barbara Shelley, yet again playing another two-faced, treacherous bitch who causes not only her own downfall but also that of pretty much the entire cast, also could easily have been a Poe character, but the film never quite manages to be as creepy as a Poe story. It has some nice moments, but in general in plods along too slowly to generate any real sense of dread and fear in the viewer. The mystery of a dead man writing letters in intriguing, the array of characters present clearly set the stage for some Very Bad Things, but the film wastes too much time with overlong establishing shots and with too many meandering scenes for it to really add up to anything.

Except for roughly the last ten minutes. When the Plague Spreaders FINALLY make their appearance, we finally get some real spookiness. Although the climax is ultimately a bit rushed and relies a bit too much on the Deus Ex Machina, it's a pay-off worth waiting for. Steele's death scene is especially chilling and well-filmed.

(Oh... I don't think it's much a spoiler to reveal that Steele is the villainess and that she comes to a bad end. It's her place in most films she appeared in, and it's pretty obvious from the outset.)

There's nothing in "Terror Creatures from the Grave" that you haven't seen done better elsewhere, but it's main offense is its mediocrity. Fans of Barbara Steele will enjoy it more than most, but even for those it's not worth going to far out of your way for. But if present in one of those movie mega-packs, which is where I came across it, it's a bit of harmless filler that's worth checking out when you're in the mood of nightgowns and candlesticks and creepy castles.

Great remake project for Roman Polanski?

Tormented (1960)
Starring: Richard Carlson, Susan Gordon, Lugene Sanders, and Juli Reding
Director: Bert I. Gordon
Rating: Four of Ten Stars

Tom Stewart (Carlson), a third-rate ladies' man, lands himself a beautiful girl with more money than brains (Sanders) and is about to tie the knot; However, he first has to dispose of his former girlfriend, Vi (Jeding). Unfortunately for Tom, he failed to realize that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, whether she's alive or dead... and he soon finds himself haunted by Vi's floating head and other random detached body parts.

The "hero" of this film is perhaps the singularly most unlikable character I've ever been expected to feel sympathy for in a movie. Not only is Tom rotten to the core, but I get this child-molester vibe off him whenever he's around his fiance's little sister. (Of course, part of that is because he thinks she may know that he killed Vi and he's working hard to gain her trust, and eventually he tries to do the ultimate slimeball thing and kill the little kid, but there's still that vibe...)

The greatest problem with this film, and it's only partially because of its low budget, is the way things that are supposed to be scary--like when Vi's ghost manifests--are laughable. The overall flatness of the acting is also a crippling factor. Carlson does a good job as the ultimate scumbag, and little Susan Gordon gives a surprisingly good performance for a child actor... particularly when one considers that she probably got the part first and foremost by being the director's daughter.

The film does have some interesting visual flourishes, and there are several suspenseful scenes that take place in an old lighthouse. In fact, all the movies suspenseful scenes take place in the old lighthouse; whenever we get away from that location, things tend to drag a bit--except when Carlson is giving off "dirty old man" vibes around Gordon. The horror is strong at that point, whether the setting is the lighthouse or not.

The basic idea of this film--which crosses a film noir sort of attitude with a ghost story--is one that appeals to me. The execution here is sorely lacking, however.


Someone should ask Roman Polanski if he has seen this flick. I'm sure he'd have all kinds of sympathy for Tom if he did. He might even want to option a remake and relive the excitement of his youth by having Tom feed Sandy roofies and then rape her before deciding she knows too much and must die.

The monster without a face haunts 'Nightmare Castle'

Nightmare Castle (aka "The Faceless Monster", "Night of the Doomed" and "Lovers From Beyond the Tomb") (1965)
Starring: Barbara Steele, Paul Muller, Lawrence Clift, and Helga Line
Director: Mario Caiano
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

After psychopathic 19th century mad scientist Stephen Arrowsmith (Miller) tortures to death his unfaithful wife (Steele), and her lover, he uses her blood and a process he's developed to restore youth and beauty to his own mistress, Solange (Line). He later marries his first wife's mentally unstable half-sister, Jenny (also Steele) to retain control of the fortune that had been willed her... and to ultimately driver her insane and murder her for a fresh supply of blood for Solange's beautification treatments. He even cleverly invites Jenny's long-time doctor, Dereck Joyce (Clift) to stay at the castle, so there will be a witness to Jenny's unfortunate, tragic undoing. But even before Arrowsmith can put his evil schemes into motion, Jenny starts having strange visions and dreams, and Dr. Joyce becomes convinced that some outside force is wrecking havoc on her mind, and that these forces are ghosts haunting the castle. Has the first Mrs. Arrowsmith come back from the dead for revenge, to protect her half-sister, or both? Or is there a more rational answer to the unfolding events?


The above summary of "The Faceless Monster" (more often seen under the title "Nightmare Castle") may sound like its loaded with spoilers, but there's nothing there that doesn't come to light in the first half hour or so of this very creepy gothic horror flick.

Decently acted, well-photographed, decently staged, and full of shocking violence and interesting twists, the film suffers slightly from too leisurely a pace during its middle section, and from a villain whose motivations seem to change more often than most people change their underwear: He's motivated by greed... no, he's motivated by a devotion to science... no, he's motivated by love for Solange... no, he's motivated by spurned love for Muriel, the unfaithful woman he beat, electrocuted, and burned to death... no, he's motivated by... oh, who the hell knows?! Perhaps this is one character where just noting that he's a murderous madman is all the information you need, and it works perfectly, something that is rarely the case in fiction and films. Stephen Arrowsmith appears to be pure evil, and he's evil because he can be, with no need for justification or rationalizations. I still wonder if things in the nightmare castle might not have been a bit more horrifying if Arrowsmith had been better defined.

While Barbara Steele manages to enrich just about every film she's been in, I'm not sure I put as much stock in her dual role as half-sisters Muriel and Jenny as I've seen some reviewers do. The parts reveal the limitation in her talents rather than show her strengths. Steele simply does not have the range and flexibility to change between characters by shifting her facial expressions and gestures, something that's absolutely essential in a film of this kind, with situations like the one Jenny and Muriel are in during the film's second and third acts.

All my complaining aside, "The Faceless Monster"/"Nightmare Castle" is a fine gothic horror movie with a deliciously evil villain and some great ghostly twists (the final 10-15 minutes are truly grand, in a twisted way).

'Horror Hotel' has lots of amosphere but few sparks

Horror Hotel (aka "City of the Dead") (1960)
Starring: Venetia Stevenson, Christopher Lee, and Patricia Jessel
Director: John Llewellyn Moxey
Rating: Five of Ten Stars

When Nan (Stevenson) decides to spend her Winter Break working on a research project involving witches, her professor (Lee) urges her to travel to a small New England village that has a rich history of witchcraft. Once there, she discovers that the fog-bound hamlet is crawling with evil witches and Satanists (both alive and undead).

"Horror Hotel" has a few nice scares, a couple of genuinely chilling moments, and nice performances by its stars (with Jessel being particularly excellent in a dual role as innkeeper and evil undead witch), but the most constant feature of the film is tedium. The fog-shrouded village and its decaying cemetary are rich with atmosphere, but the pay-offs of that atmosphere are too few, and I often felt myself wishing that the film would get on with it.

In final analysis, "Horror Hotel" is a fabulously atmospheric movie, but the filmmakers are then unable to fully capitalize on that atmosphere.