The Avengers: The House That Jack Built

The House That Jack Built (1966)
Starring: Diana Rigg, Michael Goodliffe, Patrick Macnee, Griffith Davies, and Michael Wynne
Director: Don Leaver
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

The past returns to haunt and torment Mrs. Emma Peel (Rigg) when she becomes trapped in the nightmarish hallways and rooms of a mansion left to her by her recently deceased Uncle Jack.

The set-up of this episode seems a bit far-fetched to me. If faced with the same situation that Emma Peel is presented with, I never would have exposed myself to the situation she ends up in... and I find it far-fetched that little old me, who whose life hasn't been steeped in international and industrial intrigue and danger since my teenaged years is more cautious about unexpected news than someone like Mrs. Peel that led Emma Peel. I similarly understand completely why John Steed took the steps he is revealed to have taken as the show unfolds, even if they were completely ineffectual, because he seems to have a more cynical outlook about the unexpected than Emma Peel does.

Aside from the weak set-up, however, this is one of the most intense episodes in the entire fourth season. Other episodes have flirted with trapping characters with horror and/or trapping characters in a surreal, mind-twisting environment (with "Too Many Christmas Trees" being foremost among them), but this one nails it perfectly and it keeps the tension building and mystery deepening throughout the episode. Even after the full extent of the villain's scheme and depraved, revenge-driven creativity has been revealed, there still seems very likely that Peel is going to meet her end, trapped in a nightmare maze.

And speaking of Peel, this episode is focused pretty much entirely on her. Diana Rigg is really the only actor in the episode who has any significant amount of screen time, and we get to see her full range of talent on display. Fans of Rigg should love every minute of this episode.

This episode is even more interesting, because it tells us of Emma Peel's life before she went to work for the British government as Steed's partner. It also bridges the gap between her nomadic childhood as the daughter of a hands-on international captain of industry and her modern life as a multi-discipline subject matter expert who sometimes has to kill people. One question that wasn't answered, however, is whether Peel stepped away from actively running her business because she got married, or if she had already chosen to pursue the more varied life that her wealth allowed.

"The House That Jack Built" is one of the must-see episodes of "The Avengers". I can nitpick the set-up, but what follows is brilliant in every way. It's low on the humor content, but it's more chilling than many straight-up horror movies. 

When your host is spinning his wheels...

... and starts procrastinating, pretty pointless things like this happen:

Dancer Margot Fonteyn posing, before Photoshop

Dancer Margot Fonteyn posing, after Photoshop

Halloween is coming...

 ... and Vampirella thought she'd get into the Halloween spirit by eating some candy corn. That was left over from last year. 

We think her facial expression says how well that worked out.

How do you cage the devil? Apparently, you don't....

Satan in Prison (1907)
Starring: Georges Méliès and Jehanne d'Alcy
Director: Georges Méliès

Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

After being imprisoned in an empty room for his many evils, Satan (Méliès) uses magic to improve his conditions of confinement.

 

I have a new favorite Georges Méliès film. This one has a story, is energetic and lots of fun... and, given the techniques that Georges Méliès was working with, the effects are amazing. (For those may not know,  Méliès was a stage magician turned filmmaker. He was one of the very first to make extensive use of special effects in his films--in fact, building them pretty much to show off cinematic trickery and illusions. Without his work, the big-budget superhero extravaganzas everyone loves so much, would not exist.)

In addition to being a fun romp, almost every trick photography and illusion-created-via-editing is pretty much seamless and better and more believable than a lot of new-fangled digital effects that you'll see in contemporary films made with less care and enthusiasm for both the creative process and entertaining the audience. 

But don't just take my word for it. Take five minutes and watch this fun flick right now by clicking below. I looked at several different versions available on YouTube for embedding in this post and I went with the one that was most complete and with the sharpest visual quality. It does not have a music soundtrack, however, so if you prefer your silent movies without complete silence, you should watch this version.

It's a very special Tuesday, because...

 

Musical Monday with Strahd von Zarovich

Darkness is falling and the mists are rising. The heroes move up the steep and winding road that leads to the castle of Lord Strahd, the undisputed ruler of Barovia and all who dwell within that land. For they have been invited to dinner... and no one refuses an invitation to visit Castle Ravenloft--if they wish to continue to live.

As they reach the castle's front gates, there is a sound of music drifting through the air. Someone within is playing an organ, and he or she is clearly a master at their craft.

What is the music that's welcoming the heroes to the shadow-draped halls of Castle Ravenloft? Click below to find out!

Picture Perfect Special with Valeska Miller

In October 2020, we discovered actress and dancer Valeska Miller during the 31 Nights of Halloween (an annual event at our sister blog, Terror Titans). Today, it's exactly one year since her first appearance at Shades of Gray, so we're putting up a few more pictures of her in observation of the anniversary. (Maybe we'll see this turn into a new tradition at this blog!)

Bones Coffee's Jacked-O-Lantern

There's a coolness in the air. Groaning ghosts are being carried along on the wind, their passing causing leaves to shrivel and drop from the trees. Halloween is coming, and here's another review of a seasonally appropriate coffee blend for you to drink and possibly offset that chill down your spine.

Ida Lupino is wondering is wondering if the jack-o-lantern is talking to her,
or if she's had so much pumpkin-spiced coffee she's hearing voices.

BONES COFFEE COMPANY: JACKED-O-LANTERN

The Jacked-o-Lantern blend is another offering from Bones Coffee with a great cartoon on the cover. It also attempts to capture an eternal seasonal favorite that sends young and old running to coffee shops and stands--the pumpkin-spiced drink. 

This review is based of coffee brewed from a 4-oz sample pack that I got when I ordered the Fall Favorites bundle from Bones. When you open the bag, you get a hint of what's to come--the spicy goodness wafts deliciously up into your nostrils. While the aroma as the coffee brews isn't particularly strong, that same delightful smell of spices is evident as you pour the coffee.

The bad news when it comes to the actual flavor is that here isn't much of a pumpkin taste in this blend. While this is a great tasting medium-roast blend that goes down smooth and hits the "spice" part of "pumpkin-spice" right on the head with strong allspice and nutmeg flavors, if you are looking for pumpkin, you won't find it here. 

The good news is that when I drank a cup with unsweetened almond milk and then one with sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream creamer, I was treated to taste sensations that put me in mind of a "dirty chai", something that used to be a favorite drink of mine at a (now, sadly, closed) indie coffee stand. Basically, a "dirty chai" is a chai latte with coffee added, and I used to get one of those a week, hot or iced, depending on my mood and the weather. So, in perhaps goes without saying, but I enjoyed the Jacked-O-Lantern blend very much with milk or creamer added.

Another bit of good news is that Jacked-O-Lantern holds up nicely as it cools, with its taste remaining steady. Whether I drank it straight or with almond milk or creamer, this blend was a smooth coffee treat with a spicy kick. At room temperature, the spiciness comes through even stronger when it's mixed with the Sweet Cream creamer. It's perfect for someone like me who often takes a while to finish off a cup of coffee.

Finally, and perhaps not surprisingly, this blend works brilliantly iced. The spicy flavors remain strong, and the coffee flavor is silky smooth when chilled. As before, the unsweetened almond milk and the sugar-free Italian Sweet Cream enhanced rather than subdued the spicy flavors, making this blend even tastier. What I still couldn't detect, though, was any hint of pumpkin flavor.

In a break from my normal protocol when drinking coffee for review rather than pure pleasure, I decided to try this blend with chocolate almond milk, to see how the spice would interact with chocolate flavor, The result was an extremely tasty spiced chocolate coffee drink that I recommend chocolate and coffee lovers should try. (I think it worked well hot, too, but I admit that I had reheat the last cup in the microwave to try it, so the result was suboptimal and even less consistent with the rest of the reviews that just adding the chocolate almond milk.)

More Cosmic Horror from Junji Ito

Sensor (Viz Media, 2021)
Story and Art: Junji Ito

Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

Wataru is a self-described "no-name reporter" who becomes drawn into a struggle between cosmic forces when he crosses paths with Kyoko, a mysterious woman with hair that literally glows.

"Sensor" is the latest work from comic book horror master Junji Ito. It was originally serialized in Japan during 2018 and 2019, and the English translation of the collected edition was released in August of 2021. Like "Uzamaki", this is a cycle of short stories that combine to tell a single novel-length tale. As such, Ito played to his strengths, avoiding the mistake he made with "Remina": He does good short stories, but long-form is definitely not his strength.

As such, this is a project that plays to Ito's strength as a storyteller. As "Remina" showed, Ito can't quite pull off a novel-length tale if he's structuring it like a novel. However, in this book, he instead is presenting a series of short stories that ultimately combine into one long story. And it works beautifully.

With "Sensor", the book opens with a prologue that initially seems only loosely connected to what follows--with the mysterious Kyoko spending decades in suspended animation within a cocoon formed around her when a village of people who worshiped a cosmic force they called the Akashi was destroyed in a sudden volcanic eruption. Each of the stories that follow, however, tell a stand-alone story that has elements that tie back to that prologue, and these ties get stronger as the book unfolds. Eventually, as the book reaches its climax with a clash between good and evil on a very literal cosmic scale, it becomes apparent that every story have, in fact, been closely related to each other; our hero, Wataru, may have seemed like he was following loosely connected threads, but we discover at the end that he had been trapped in a web of pre-destiny since even before his first encounter with Kyoko.

According to Ito's afterword to the book, "Sensor" (which was originally published under the title "Travelogue of a Succubus") was originally conceived as a story that would have had strong similarities to "Tomie", the series that propelled him to international fame.

This early piece of promotional art certainly looks like it's for a serial about a succubus and the horrors she leaves in her wake as she travels:

However, from the very first installment, "Sensor" was already showed signs of not being what the title was implying. Instead, this prologue lays the foundation for a tale of cosmic horror that the likes of H.P Lovecraft probably would have gotten a kick out of. It is to our benefit that Junji Ito followed his creative instincts and abandoned the original concept for the series (and that his editors allowed him the freedom to do so). The story he delivers is excellent, as is the way each chapter initially seems to stand alone, but that they ultimately add up to a single narrative. 

The only complain I can field about "Sensor" is that it's too short. I felt like the overarching plot seemed to resolve too quickly between the true threat to Wataru's safety coming into to focus in Chapter Five, and the climax unfolding in Chapters Six and Seven. It feels like this book needed to be at least three or four chapters longer--perhaps even twice the length of the seven that it lasts. I feel this way, partly, because because I liked Wataru as a character, and I wanted to see him have more intriguing encounters, but I was also impressed with the way Ito wove a larger story through the background of a series of short ones. I wanted more of this--brief stories that unfolded against a backdrop of events that couldn't possibly be connected yet somehow seemed to be. 

If you've enjoyed Junji Ito's work in the past, or if you're new to it and want to read some excellent horror comics, I strongly recommend you get a copy of "Sensor".

A Werewolf Tale

 We present this cartoon by Richard Sala as a time-saving device this Halloween season. Read it, and it'll be as if you've seen 90 percent of the werewolf movies out there! (Click on the image for a larger, more easily read version.)