Horror master Ito adapts 'Frankenstein', and tells the weird tale of Oshikiri's many lives

Frankenstein (2018, Viz Media)
Story and Art: Junji Ito
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

Junji Ito is an undisputed master of horror comics. He is one of the few creators who can make comics as unsettling as a good piece of horror fiction, or a well-made horror movie. He's been writing and drawing horror tales since 1987, and he's only been getting better as the years have passed; almost every artist reaches a peak and then starts to decline... Ito, thankfully, hasn't gotten to that point yet.

One of the most recent collections of his work to be printed in English is "Frankenstein." The book draws its title from a rare long-form effort, an adaptation of Mary Shelley's novel that takes up roughly have the pages, with eight shot horror tales, and two cute little pet stories, filling the rest of book.

Ito's "Frankenstein" is a little over 180 pages in length, and it is one of the best comics adaptations of Shelly's novel that I've read; it's almost as good as the one by Mike Friedrich and Mike Ploog published by Marvel Comics in the early 1970s, which remains my favorite. Where the Marvel adaptation took its visual inspiration from Universal Pictures movies released during the late 1930s and early 1940s, Ito's visualization of Victor Frankenstein and his creation seemed more inspired by the movies from the 1950s and 1960s released by Hammer Films; there is more than one panel where Frankenstein has an uncanny resemblance to Peter Cushing. The monster also bears a passing similarity to the make-up job on Christopher Lee in 1957's "The Curse of Frankenstein"... but it's a very slight one.

Lovers of Ito's typical style may find his "Frankenstein" adaptation a little long-winded, because it contains none of the Lovecraftian horror they are used to. Further, unlike his other adaptation of a classic--his take on "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves", which can be summarized as "Tomie Meets Fantasy"--Ito doesn't stray far from his source. Some events from the novel are condensed or glossed over, but it's far more faithful an adaptation than most, and thus it's something that may be appreciated more by general horror fans, or fans of gothic horror, than Ito's dedicated followers.

In fact, the only thing about Ito's "Frankenstein" adaptation that I'd peg as Signature Ito is the appearance of the monster. Everything else about the story seems more restrained and in keeping with the tone and style of the source novel than his usual output. This makes the grotesque nature of Frankenstein's monstrous creation such a striking element that the reader easily shares in the horror felt by the characters in the story. On the reverse side, Ito's characterization of the monster is such that the reader initially feels great sympathy for it, because all it wants is safety and acceptance and love. Once the creature realizes it will never have those things, and embarks on its quest for revenge against Frankenstein, the reader loses that sympathy, although retains a full understanding of why the monster behaves as it does, even if Frankenstein may not. At the end of the adaptation, however, readers will once again feel sympathy for the monster, because, like an abused child or animal, all the violence and acts of evil it committed were a cray for its creator's acceptance, attention, and even the love it so desperately wanted.

Also included in this collection are all the tales focusing on a teenaged boy named Oshikiri. The first couple of tales seem like they are completely unrelated except for the fact that they, strangely, feature the same main character. There appears to be no continuity between them since in the first story he is a psychopathic killer and in the second story he's a lonely boy who becomes attracted to a similarly lonely girl... who turns out to be unhinged. The strange twist ending of the second story, however, sets the stage for the revelation in stories that follow that Oshikiri's house is riddled with portals to other realities, and that people are passing back and forth between them, sometimes at will, sometimes by accident. The last tales in the Oshikiri Cycle (to give the group of stories a name) are a two-part tour-de-forces that include everything regular readers associate with Junji Ito's work--unexplained supernatural horrors, strange bodily transformations, and creeping insanity--and ends with a very creepy final image that implies the multi-universal horror continues on.

Rounding out the book are two stand-alone horror stories and two brief tales about Non-Non, Ito's mother's dog. The pet stories have a charming, rather than chilling, vibe to them, just like the cat stories in Yon & Mu. The two horror stories are some of the weaker efforts I've seen from Ito, with mercifully brief "The Hell of the Doll Funeral" being among his worst (treading similar ground to that he covered so much better in "Dying Young"  from the Flesh-Colored Horror anthology), and "Face Firmly in Place", a tale that must have been inspired by Ito's days working in the dentistry field, but which, while a solid excursion into terror, is undermined by an unrealistic situation--unless clinics and hospitals in Japan are run in a completely incompetent fashion.

Despite the inclusion of two weak short stories, this book is a great read that I recommend highly. Once again, I feel that Ito's work will appeal to horror fans who even like to say they don't like "manga". In fact, those two weak stories barely impacted my rating at all... I'm giving the book Eight Stars because I will forever knock a Full Star off any book that features the sort of sloppy translations that have become the accepted standard in the marketplace where the book reads from what is normally the back and to the front and from right-to-left, because that is how it reads in the original Japanese. Most readers don't mind, so it's just my personal issue. .

Musical Monday: The Connells

The Connells was a great "jangley guitars" band that deserves to be far wider known than they are. Their "Fun and Games" album was a fantastic effort, and it's one that finds it way into my CD player every so often even now. (After I got over my music burn-out--which followed my years as a music reviewer--"Fun and Games" was even one of the first albums I turned to.)

Here's one of the many under-appreciated Connells song. Hopefully it will help to get your week off to a great start!

'The Flirt' will give you a few chuckles

The Flirt (1917)
Starring: Harold Lloyd, Bebe Daniels, and Harry Pollard
Director: William Gilbert
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

A man on the make (Lloyd) takes a job as a waiter so he can flirt with a pretty cashier (Daniels).

As I sample Harold Lloyd's short films, I am finding myself more annoyed than amused by them. So far, I haven't bothered writing up any that annoyed me, because the comments would basically be the same: "I barely made it through this film, because Lloyd's character was such an unpleasant jerk I had no reason stick with it."

"The Flirt" was, fortunately, not one those. Its a brief film (7 minutes long) that sees Lloyd play the sort of unpleasant character that was his stock and trade in his early pictures--a self-centered jerk who goes looking for trouble and causes chaos everywhere he goes through indifference to others and laziness. I found that character tolerable in this one, in part because he is set up from the beginning as a total heel, but also because his obnoxious behavior is very, very funny in this one.

The film opens with Harold in the park looking for a beautiful girl to hit on. He spots Bebe Daniels, follows her to work, and proceeds to wreak havoc in a retraunts dining room and kitchen as he tries to create a window of opportunity to flirt with her. The five minutes of the film where Harold "works" in the restaurant are a series of rapid-fire series of sight-gags and prat-falls that culminate in a patron becoming so frustrated that he goes on a shooting spree in an attempt to give Harold the sort of tip he so richly deserves. In addition to Lloyd's antics, there's a burly uncredited actor who plays the eatery's chef who also gets to be quite funny--and who at one point also nearly gives Harold what he deserves. This film also sits better with me than other Lloyd films I've seen, because of the ending. It's about as perfect and amusing as I could have wished for.

I've embedded "The Flirt" below, and I encourage you take a few minutes to watch it. If you like absurd physical comedy, I think you'll enjoy this one, even if the lead character is a bit unpleasant.

The Thelma Todd Quarterly

Today, Thelma Todd demonstrates this blog's unifying theme.

'The Boat' is another must-see silent flick

The Boat (1921)
Starring: Buster Keaton, Sybil Seely, and Eddie Cline
Directors: Buster Keaton and Eddie Cline
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

A husband (Keaton) builds a boat in his garage and takes his family sailing. Everything that can go wrong, does go wrong.

I read somewhere that "The Boat" was, in Buster Keaton's mind, viewed as a sequel to "One Week", a film about the doomed effort by newly-weds to a home from a kit. At one point, Keaton even suggested that the two films be combined to form a single longer feature, although that never happened.

"The Boat" is another masterful mix of aburdist humor, slapstick and set construction, none of which I want to go into detail about because it will spoil the surprises and the laughs. There is also some impressive miniature effects when the boat is caught in a storm and capsizes again and again and again (which is where some of the impressive sets and stunt work also come into play).

The final five or so minutes of the film get a little too intense for me, and I found laughing despite myself--especially at the joke around the boat's name, Damfino--but that intensity gave the film's conclusion (and the SECOND joke based off the boat's name) that much more impact.

This is another film that makes it clear why Buster Keaton is considered one of the masters of early filmmaking. I think it would be entertaining to anyone who enjoys absurdist humor, especially if it is darkly tinged. That's even if you usually say you don't like silent movies. I've made it easy for visitors to watch this great little movie, as I've embedded it below, via YouTube.


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'The Pip from Pittsburg' deserves its reputation as a comedy classic

The Pip from Pittsburg (1931)
Starring: Charley Chase, Thelma Todd, Carleton Griffin, Dorothy Granger, and Kay Deslys
Director: James Parrott
Rating: Ten of Ten Stars

When Charley (Chase) thinks his buddy Griff (Griffn) is forcing him on another terrible blind date, he does everything he can to make himself unattractive--not shaving, dressing like a slob, and eating a fistful of garlic. When his date turns out to be the beautiful and charming Miss Todd (Todd), Charley tries to make himself presentable on the fly.

By the time "The Pip from Pittsburg" was made, Thelma Todd was about to be headlining her own series of comedies for Hal Roach, so this was the second-to-last film she'd make as Charley Chase's leading lady. However, the best was saved for last as his is unarguably the best picture they made together... and one of the best comedies either one of them appeared in.

The film hits the ground running with a gag within the first ten seconds and then keeps the laughs coming until Chase and Todd tumble from a balcony at a charity dance thrown into chaos. Like other great Chase comedies, this is a carefully orchestrated and tightly scripted affair. The pacing and comic timing are stop-on, with the plot setting up the gags, the gags unfolding with perfect precision while driving the story forward so the next gag can be set up.

All cast members give excellent performances. Unfortunately, the majority of the time Chase and Todd share the screen together is a comedic dance scene like "The Real McCoy" so we don't get any of that fantastic interplay between them that was in "Dollar Dizzy" and "Looser Than Loose". In fact, like in "The Real McCoy", Todd doesn't have much to do in this film except be pretty and charming, but since she excels at both of those, I can't complain too much. Further, the way Chase goes about cleaning up his appearance while a dance unfolds around him more than makes up for any nitpicking I feel inclined to do. Like the rest of the film, it's a multipart routine that's brilliantly and precisly executed. (It's such a well done and funny series of gags that I even forgive Chase's character for being something of an unpleasant jerk.)

"The Pip From Pittsburg" is genuine comedy classic, and it's one of the seventeen films included in the two-DVD set Charley Chase at Hal Roach: The Talkies 1930-1931. It's a must-see if you've enjoyed any comedies starring Charley Chase, Thelma Todd, and/or  Dorothy Granger. While Granger is still clearly learning the ropes at this point in her career, she does a nice job with a rather small part.

'Table for One' is a great read

Table for One (2004)
Story and Art: Bosch Fawstin
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars

Will's obnoxious boss bet him that he wouldn't last one year as a waiter in his restaurant. It's now one year later, and Will intends to collect the money owed and leave the place behind. Unfortunately for Will, his boss won't let him go quietly...

"Table for One" is a small story that deals with a single night, but it's a night that will looms large in the lives of most of the characters. Although I appreciated the film-noirish aestitic of the book's art and tone from the first pages, I felt it was a little on the talkie side. I was drawn into the story by the artistic style and the fact that Fawstin is a good enough writer that each character had a unique voice, but I felt that what I was reading might have been better served by the film medium. I've been saying that more and more about modern comics, because, increasingly, artists and writers don't seem to understand the difference between film and comics. That wasn't the issue with Fawstin's book; here, I just felt that maybe comics wasn't right vehicle for the story he wanted to tell.

But then I hit the spread on pages 21 and 22.

I have read thousands of comic books and graphic novels. I have edited hundreds of comic book pages. That two page spread is one of the very best examples of comic book storytelling that I have ever seen. It captures the hustle and bustle of a busy restaurant dining room and tracks Will's movement from table to table as he waits on the guests and hears parts of their conversations. Those two pages capture both movement and the passage of time in such an artful way that it puts Fawstin on a level of skill that few creators reach. Those two pages also proved that my feeling about Fawstin choosing the wrong vehicle to tell his story were absolutely wrong.

That fantastic two page spread also marked the point where the story kicked into high gear and the dramatic stakes were raised and then raised again. While I wished I knew more about how the diner who insisted he be called God by the restaurant's owner fit into the picture, there was more than enough drama and brilliant storytelling to satisfy me. I loved the way Will and his relationship to the various characters unfolded as I turned the pages. The book even came to a perfect end that contained elements that I knew were coming and other elements that were pleasant surprises... but all of which were perfectly conceived and expertly executed.

"Table for One" is available at Amazon. com via the link below, or directly from Fawstin's online store at this link. I recommend getting it, and I recommend getting the autographed version so you can send a few more dollars in the direction of this brilliant creator.

Abbott & Costello are great in an otherwise mediocre movie

In Society (aka "Abbott & Costello In Society") (1944)

Starring: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Marion Hutton, Kirby Grant, and Ann Gillis

Director: Jean Yarbrough and Earl C. Kenton

Rating: Five of Ten Stars

A series of mistakes and bad assumptions lead to a female cab driver (Hutton) and her incompetent plumber friends (Abbott and Costello) to be drawn into the social machinations of high society, as well as an art heist.

"In Society" is one of the weaker Abbott & Costello films. It's main problem is an unevenness of tone and energy. When it's Abbott & Costello are being mischievous and/or destroying property, the film is lively and full of energy. When the rest of the cast are off in other scenes setting up the plot or moving it forward, things are stilted, overly stagy, and borderline dull. It doesn't help matters that the obligatory songs in the film are performed by Marion Hutton--a pretty lady but a so-so singer and an awful actress. Her film career consisted of just four entires, and this was her only starring role... and judging from her performances in this film, it's no surprise why what is.

Another aspect of "In Society" that bothered me is that Abbott & Costello's standard characters have been ramped up to the point where Abbott is so vicious toward Costello that I had a very strong dislike for him, a dislike that was intensified by the fact that Costello was so dim and childlike in the way he played that he came across as simpleminded or even retarded, which made Abbott's behavior seem even more reprehensible. I had a similar reaction to Abbott's character in "Hold That Ghost", but it was more intense here. 

For all I didn't like about the film, I loved the four major comedic set-pieces that A&C have in the film--and they got a full star in my rating by themselves--the bit where Costello sets up work for their plumbing company; the bit where he argues with a police officer about honking a car-horn at night; the bit where they destroy the bathroom in a mansion; Costello trying to get directions from people on a city street; the pair disrupting a gathering of snooty rich people; and the climactic scene where they are chasing thieves on a fire truck are them at the top of their game (even if I think that chase scene relies a bit too much on stock footage).

"In Society" is nowhere near the best Abbott & Costello film, so you can save it until you've watched the others included in eight-movie collection The Best of Abbott and Costello Volume 2.

When grifters and con artists collide!

Are Crooks Dishonest? (1918)
Starring: Harold Lloyd, Harry Pollard, Bebe Daniels, and William Blaisdell
Director: Gil Pratt
Rating: Eight of Ten Stars

Two grifters (Lloyd and Pollard) engage a pair of fake spiritualists (Blaisedell and Daniels) in a battle of wits. Unfortunately, the grifters came to the fight unarmed.

"Are Crooks Dishonest?" is a fast-paced and uncomplicated film with the characters breezing through the antics and action with barely a wasted moment. A small part of me is annoyed by the way the second (and best) half of the film is set up by a couple extreme conincidences, but the entire cast is so charming and the film so much fun that I can overlook it. 

The best parts of this 14-minute film take place in the secret-passage laden, gadget-festooned "mystic temple" of Professor Goulash where William Blaisedell and Bebe Daniels bilk the gullible with their fake spiritualism, and where Lloyd and Pollard try co-opt their scam. From Lloyd using the trick doors to evade the police and an angry Professor Goulash; to Daniels setting out to turn the tables on Lloyd and Pollard when they try to con her out of money she stole from them earlier in the film; to Lloyd and Pollard just generally clowning around, it's all expertely executed and extremely funny.

Pollard and Daniels in particular get to shine in this film, as they share one of the funniest moments in it. Daniels is an absolute joy to watch in this film, and it's great the way her character is also the most fun of the four leads in the story. (Her reactions to the clumsy cons of Lloyd and Pollard are priceless.)

This entire film is embedded via YouTube below, and I strongly recommend you check it out. The time you spend with the rogues "Are Crooks Dishonest?" may be the best quarter-of-an-hour of you day! Even better, either the film has been carefully restored, or this was digitized from an amazingly well preserved copy, because few films over 100 years old are as clear and crisp as this one. (The look of the intertitles make me think it's the latter.)

'Cockeyed Cavaliers' has hits and misses

Cockeyed Cavaliers (1934)
Starring: Robert Woolsey, Bert Wheeler, Dorothy Lee, Thelma Todd, Noah Beery, and Robert Greig
Director: Mark Sandrich
Rating: Six of Ten Stars

A pair of wandering rogues (Woolsey and Wheeler) pass themselves off as physicians from the King's Court and insinuate themselves into the household of the local lord (Greig). In between hitting on his sister (Todd) and trying to help a young woman who has disguised herself as a boy (Lee) in order to avoid a forced marriage to the lord, they are constantly struggling to avoid giving themselves away by being too stupid.

"Cockeyed Cavaliers" is a movie of highs and lows. When it is funny, it is very funny. When the jokes fail to land, they crash and leave big craters.

I can't decide if it's the style of the performances in the film, or the material that gets in the way when the movie starts sliding in the direction of crappy, so it may be a combination of both. And there's one area where the costume designers and make-up artists didn't go quite far enough to make an aspect of the film convincing.

First, let's start with the script, the songs, and the jokes.

Story-wise, the script is solid, nicely paced, and consisting of several intertwining plots that provide our heroes with plenty of challenges to overcome--including their own stupidity. The romantic subplot between Bert Wheeler and Dorothy Lee's characters--which starts when everyone believes Lee to be a boy--is interesting and ultimately leads straight into the film's conclusion and resolution of all the various problems; and the danger posed by Robert Woolsey's inability to not be randy around the wife of the very jealous and very violent baron (Thelma Todd and Noah Beery respectively) give rise to an equal amount of comedy and tension. The pieces are all very well arranged to maximize both the comedic and dramatic value of the plot elements and the characters in them.

Unfortunately, two out of the film's three major musical numbers aren't all that great. In fact, the song that opens the movie--performed by gossiping villagers and setting up a few major plot points--was so lame that if I wasn't watching this movie as part of the "Year of the Hot Toddy" project, I might have found something else to do with my time. The second song ("The Big Bad Wolf is Dead"), performed by our heroes, the films kinda-sorta villain, and the staff and guests at an inn, is better, but it goes on for entirely too long and the parts that are supposed to be funny mostly fail to launch or fail and crash. The third and final song ("Dilly Dally")--a combination song and dance number performed by Wheeler & Lee and Woolsey & Todd, in pars and together as a group--is, however, extremely entertaining on every level. It's well worth the wait. In some ways, this song even reflects the trajectory of the movie; it starts shaky, but firms up at about the halfway point, and really delivers during the third act. (This is of course better than the opposite.)

Despite the film getting better as it goes, the comedy remains uneven. It is not until we reach the climax--with a high society party, a wild boar hunt, and an even wilder chase scene--that every joke and physical comedy bit comes off well. Up to that point, some of the comedy routines fall flat because the jokes are weak and delivery feels like Wheeler and Woolsey (or whoever their "straight man" is) are performing a routine on stage. While other similar comedians--like the Marx Brothers and, later, Abbott & Costello, were literally taking routines perfected on stage and porting them into films, when watching them, I rarely have the feeling that a waiter is about to lean in and ask for my drink order the way I felt with nearly ever bit in this film. In fact, the scenes that worked the best were the ones where the comedy arose from the situation as much as it did from the back and forth between characters. For example, every scene Woolsey shares with Todd varies from chuckle-worthy to laugh-out-loud funny, especially when the action is revolving around Todd's cleavage.

In fact, I think the only thing that ruined this film for me more than the nightclub-style delivery of many of the jokes was the fact that I simple could not buy Dorothy Lee as a boy. Sure, she was in man's clothing, but the characters would have to be both blind and stupid to not recognize that she was female. This is a shame, because there are some funny jokes tied to the cross-dressing element which would have been even funnier if more of an effort had gone into making it work. I mean, would it really have been that hard to give Lee a hairstyle more in keeping with what her character was pretending to me? Or perhaps putting her in a shirt and vest that were even looser and a little longer?

There are so many things I like about this film that I wish I could have liked the end result more. Aside from the stand-up feel of some of the delivery, every actor in the film is great in their parts. It's easy to see why Dorothy Lee played opposite Wheeler & Woolsey in just about every movie they made, because they make an excellent trio. And, although she had more than come into her own as a comedienne by the time she made this movie, Thelma Todd is mostly used here as the "straight man" for everyone else to play off... and she does that just as well here as she did when she filled that role in her earliest films with Charley Chase. Meanwhile, Noah Beery and Robert Greig are equal parts funny and melodramatically villainous as the film's corpulent bad guys. The production values in this period film are also top-notch, as are the special effects and stunts during the film's climax. And I adored every second of the aforementioned "Dilly Dally" routine. Still, I can't bring myself to give this film more than a high Six Rating.

"Cockeyed Cavaliers" is one of six films in the Wheeler & Woolsey RKO Comedy Classics Vol. 2 set, which features a mix of movies Wheeler & Woolsey made as a team and individually.