Tubi Thursday: Scream and Scream Again (1970)

 Continuing our break from Giant Monster Films and China, let's stick to the '70s.

Here's a Film with a good Director, three Stars...and a Plot that barely uses any of them.

It is...

A man runs during the Stop and Start Credits.  Just run them or don't, Movies!

He wakes up in a Hospital and they cut off one of his legs.
Enough of him now...until we randomly cut to him later to show him losing more limbs.

The Police investigate a Murder.  The woman is found dead, but there's no blood!

Where's Count Yorga?
Is that Racial Profiling?

We sometimes cut to a fictitious European Country where the Police go after some people, attack another and then Peter Cushing arrives.

He tells the man behind the attack that he'll deal with him later...and he's promptly killed.

As the Police case goes on, we are shown that Christopher Lee is the Captain.

He doesn't do much...but he's here.

At least he's not dead yet.

The killer turns out to be this cross between Keith Moon and Mick Jagger.

He kills another girl and is caught in a Police Sting Operation.

He escapes...for the world's second longest Police Chase.  He's no OJ.

He shows off some super strength and endurance, biting off his own hand to escape some cuffs.  After another long chase (this one on foot), he ends up diving in a Vat of Acid...owned by Vincent Price (who's only shown up once- briefly)

It ended better for Rick & Morty.

How do these Plots- a Fascist Country, a Vampire killer, the amputations and the acid- connect?

Well, Scientists like Price are making robots (not the last time either) to replace us with our stupid, stupid minds (stupid!).

He...ends up fighting the Police's Doctor and then the bad Foreigner...before he meets Lee (for their only Scene) and dips himself in the acid too.

Oh and Lee is secretly an Alien- at least in the Book.

Did that info dump at the end seem like allot?  Well, it was just like that in the Film.

This one is...hard to rank.  On one hand, it has a complex narrative that eventually (mostly) comes together.  On the other hand, it takes the whole Film to make sense...and it still barely does.

It is a Film that I probably won't forget for quite a while though.

It's a shame that the Film used a scandalous Title (it was originally called 'The Disjointed Man') and three Horror Icons in random, small Roles to draw in the Audience.  It's still not a terrible Film.  Just don't expect straight Horror- it is more a Conspiracy Film that would be all the rage in the coming years.

See it with an open mind, but be prepared for lots of long, drawn out shots.  Just take them in...

A mis-marketed Film (by design) with is confusing as all get out.  It's...something.

Lost in Translation?: Asylum (1972)

 Asylum was actually kind of good.

Given its great Cast, it shouldn't be a surprise.

Let's see how we sold it in... America?
That's got to be a first for this, no?

House of Crazies?
I mean...I guess...but...no, right?

That extra tagline is really damn silly too.

To bring things full circle, here's a German (I think) DVD that combines both Titles into one...

There we go.

It's also nice of THIS one to Credit the Actors, as opposed to the U.S. Version.

Your move, America.

Lost in Translation: Asylum (1972)

 Asylum was a fun, strange little Film.

While looking up Pictures to use, I found some alternate covers for it.

First up, Japan...

Kind of specific SPOILERS on this one, right?

Mind you, there are worse ones out there too.

Let's see what Spain did with it...

A Horror Film Poster that feels like Robert Crumb worked on it.  That or some other Artist who makes no sense.

Either way, it sure is odd, no?

Of course, I have more of these, but I'll share them later.

Tubi Thursday: Asylum (1972)

 Does this count as doing another Asylum Film?  I sure hope so!

This 1972 Film is a Horror Anthology Film, since I'm kind of on a streak with them.

A young Doctor is brought to an Asylum and told that he'll be hired...if he can prove which of the Patients is actually the Doctor who originally called him to work there.

I mean, I've had worse Job Interviews...

A woman tells the tale of 'Frozen Fear.'

In it, a man kills his rich wife after taking her down to see the new Freezer.

He chops her body up, wraps each section and waits for his lady (the Patient) to come over.

So, who's strangling him?

As it turns out, the body parts are still alive separately- something to do with voodoo and an unreliable narrator- and killed him.

They tried to kill the Patient, but she hacked at it near her face until she was found- wounded- and brought in.

In 'The Weird Tailor,' a man- Peter Cushing- hires a Tailor to make a strange garment with a very specific schedule (only after midnight).

He's super vague and sketchy, but the guy owes rent.

Things go horribly wrong, Cushing dies, and the suit is taken back to the shop.

The wife- not knowing its dark origins- puts it on the dummy in the shop, which comes to life!

In 'Lucy Comes to Stay,' a woman returns home, but her brother is convinced that she needs to be coddled based on her past experience.

When she takes the Pills she wasn't supposed to, Brit Ekland shows up and someone dies.

Robert Bloch- of Psycho fame- wrote this Film and intended for THIS to be the first Story.  Oh well.

In the final Story, he meets Byron- Herbert Lom- who wants to put his mind into a doll- as you do.

Oddly, this one just kind of stops abruptly and goes back to the Framing Device.  Confused?

To find out the strange, dark secrets (and obvious twists), stream the Film now.

An Anthology Film with varied Stories, notable Actors and weird twists tied together with a simple Framing Device.  Why couldn't Dan Curtis ever do that?  Was he just 'too cool' for it?

In any event, let's skip from mocking the dead to praising them.  Asylum has a nice variety of tales, good Acting, strange moments and a decent, if predictable Story.  I'm one of those guys who wouldn't use Time Travel to say, kill Hitler or punch Jesus.  No, I'd use it to do stuff like see this Film in 1972 and see if anyone didn't guess the twist in real time.

That's why we Science, folks!

As far as the Segments go, the first one is good, the second one is generally better (but mostly setup) and the third is alright.  It's just not, well, directly weird enough for me.  Maybe they did the right thing by making it the Third Story.

Asylum is a better than average Horror Anthology which should be expected with Bloch writing it and Roy Ward Baker- a great British Director- behind the camera.  It also beat Full Moon to the punch with killer dolls, though I don't know if anyone sells a Wind-Up Herbert Lom Doll these days...

A fun, if not amazing Anthology Film.  It's weird and wacky enough with a straight face for everyone to enjoy.

Tubi Thursday: Night of the Big Heat (1967)

As everywhere has record high temperatures (but, of course, Climate Change 'is not real'), I find that people need to know why.

Well, this Film from 1967 may have the answer.  It's...

The Fara Island (a real place in Scotland) has some strange weather. 

While it's freezing everywhere else, it is 90 degrees and rising!

So, naturally, this Film was shot in the Winter...where it was actually cold...while they acted like it was super hot.

Strange lights seem to show up and kill people.  I can probably get a Poor Bastards of Cinema induction (or three) out of this.

The heat keeps rising.

A Scientist (Christopher Lee- getting top billing over Peter Cushing for the first time) is up to something.

Oh and a Writer had an affair and now the lady followed him home (at the worst time).

As day turns to night (as the Title implies), things only get worse...

More people die.

Communication is cut off (since heat causes static?!?).

More off-screen events- such as a landing with lights- also occurs.

What is actually going on?!?

Well, strange creatures have come to Earth, following our satellite pinging back to the source.

They create immense light and heat, killing off people and raising the temperature of the Island (and soon the World!).

So, after all of that, a rain storm causes them to short out and die.

Yep.  

The End.

A solid Premise.  A nice location.  A good Cast.  Tension galore.

So what went wrong?

The Film, in a nutshell, is melodramatic when it needs to be serious and pretty cheap when it needed to splurge a bit.  Shall I explain?

The B-Plot with the former Lover showing up and all that was, well, pretty unnecessary.  Was it the best way to build tension between the Characters?  No.  There were plenty of other ways.  This Plot also keeps intruding on things and not in a way that prolongs the Main Plot in a good way.

The other issue is that the payoff and execution of the creatures is...not great.  There seems to have been a trend around this time of making weird, silly-looking creatures.  For instance, 1966's Island of Terror has very similar creatures, but it has Peter Cushing as the Lead and not just a 'Guest Star.'  Little blobs sliding around are just not as scary or interesting as people seemed to think back then.

So, in summary, this is one of those Films where the first 2/3 is pretty interesting as you see the build-up.  When you get the pay-off, it's kind of laughable.  Oh well.  

Don't get so mad at me now that you just see red.... 

A pretty fun and tense Film, even if it gets sillier the more things are explained.  As always, getting cheap when it counts dooms this to be a pretty run-of-the-mill UK Sci-Fi Thriller. 

New Streaming: Creepshow- 'Night of the Living Late Show'

 As we close out Season 2 of Creepshow, we go out with a- gasp- full Episode Story.

Can my 2022 attention span follow a whole 44-minute Episode?

It's...

A man has invented a large, but impressive device.

It's a full-on VR device (like a tanning bed) that lets you feel like you're in a Film.
You can also somehow interact with it, since, shut up.

Rather than going into, for instance, an Episode of Baywatch, he chooses to go into his favorite Horror Film- Horror Express.

That's...um, okay.

It's not a bad Film, but...oh, it's Public Domain, isn't it?

He's WAY too into it, however, as he has an attraction to its Star- Sylvia Tortosa- and, well, acts on it.
Don't ask how it works!

One- the mix of her Footage and a stand-in (see below) is pretty seamless.
Two- a quick Google Search shows that she was in a Film where she played a Cabaret Dancer AND there's no Monster in it.

Bad pick, Justin!

His put-upon Fiance thinks that he's too into the whole thing and tries to end things...in the Film.

This ends poorly.

To see how it truly ends, stream the Episode now.

A nice, longer-length Episode.  The runtime really gives this one room to breath, which is nice.  The short and succinct ones are good too, but, well, succinct.

In this case, you get more time with the Leads, more time setting things up and more time in the actual Scenario.  The Plot is quite good, so thanks Dana Gould.  It feels believable that someone could be obsessed with one Film.  I mean, I'd used it to hang out with Dr. Phibes and just hear that Clockwork Band play personally.

While most- if not all- Creepshow tales are one-and-dones, I'd kind of like to see a follow-up to this one.  What happens with the survivors and the device?  What other classic Films could you blend people into like Kung Pow: Enter the Fist did?  It has to be better than this fake- as far as I know- Night of the Living Dead VR game...

Next time, we jump to Season 3 and see what is on board.  I'm guessing gruesome deaths and monsters.  See you then...

Tubi Thursday: The Uncanny (1977)

 Are you a Cat Lover?
If not, why are you so dumb?

See why it is right to love your feline overlords in this odd Anthology Film...

Before the Film proper, we get a prolonged Title Sequence (at some point in the '90s this ceased to be a thing people did) featuring 'scary' paintings of Cats.

In 1977, it is for Horror.
In 2021, it is for Etsy.

The Framing Device has Peter Cushing meeting with Ray Milland to discuss his Book that posits that Cats are evil masterminds.

Of course, Milland knows first hand that Frogs are the real Masters!

In the 1912 Story, a woman schemes with the Nephew of a rich Woman to get her money.
She ends up killing the lady and is then attacked by her 10-200 Cats.

This Segment features Cats eating people, 203 shots of cats jumping and one guy being taken out by a single cat somehow biting him in the neck.

Between the Segments, Cushing sees Milland's cat 'talking' to another cat.  Uh oh.

In 1975's Segment, a young girl is adopted after her Parents die in a plane crash.

With only her cat named Wellington as a friend, she is treated harshly by the real Daughter.

So, naturally, she uses black magic to kill her...and I guess that cat helps.

As Cushing gets more paranoid, he tells one final tale.  This one is set up by a photo of Pleasence as 'Blofeld.'

In the 1936 segment, he's an Actor who stages the death of his wife/co-star with a real Pendulum blade.

He *immediately* replaces her with his Mistress, while also taking time to try and kill the Wife's cat.  He also drowns some kittens off-camera, so he deserves to die!

Both are killed by the use of a real iron maiden (for the Film?!?) and off-screen attack respectively.

Cushing leaves without a firm offer from Milland...and is killed by cats like 2 minutes later.

As for Milland, he burns the evidence (only one copy exists?) and feeds his cat.  The End.

This one is weird in all of the right ways.  It is bloody.  It is dark.  It is taken really seriously.

It is also a bunch of stories about evil cats...so I found it kind of hilarious.  They keep cutting to shots of cats like it is something scary.  They keep dropping cats on Actors and coating them in bright red stage blood.  They keep using the same 'paw puppet' to swipe at people's hands.

For all intents and purposes, this is a dark, scary Film.  It is just also funny as hell to me!

Poor Cushing and company really the wacky premise and act out the Segments fully-seriously.  Pleasence hams it up a bit, mind you, but most of them take it straight.  Hell, we get a pre-Animal House John Vernon as a Producer!  He plays a vaguely-French/vaguely-Romanian guy, so that accent is just a bit silly.

Taken as Segments, they are fine Horror (if you ignore the silly).  The fact that it works so well when you aren't laughing at the cat stuff makes it a tricky recommendation.  It's not a 'so bad it is good' Film.  It is more of a 'what were they thinking' and 'why are so many good Actors in this' kind of Film.

A weird Film that is both visually-intense (with loads of fake blood) and silly as hell  For Horror Connoisseurs, it is a hidden gem (of silly).

'70s Class: The Creeping Flesh (1973)

 A good Film...even if it never quite becomes what it promises.  This is The Creeping Flesh, a 1973 Horror Film with a great Title.  Is that all though?  Well, it features the all-star duo of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing.  At this point, the pair could have made a commercial for Peanut Butter and it would have been pretty good.  Not as good as Vincent Price selling Monster Vitamins though.  It's Plot is kind of weird.  I know, you were expecting a Love Story with this Title.  It involves a strange skeleton, a scheming brother, the biological root of all evil and a bar fight.  Will it all make sense?  Yes, but its more fun to describe the Movie like that.  As you'll see, however, the Film introduces a big, interesting element...and diverts elsewhere for quite a while.  To find out how it all plays out, read on...

A Doctor (Cushing) is trying to convince a fellow Doctor that he's discovered a source of evil.

To explain it, he has to tell a story...

***psst- you already figured out the twist, didn't you?  Don't SPOIL it for the rest***

Cushing brings back a large skeleton from Papa New Guinea.

It's big and freaky, but what other secrets does it hold?

Him and his Assistant study the bones and discover some weird things about it.

The DNA is different and there's an old myth/story involving evil giants from the past.

Was it buried to keep it from coming back?!?

A finger on the skeleton is exposed to water and the flesh begins to grow back!

That...can't be good.

Well, forget about the weird skeleton...since we have to deal with Mental Illness.

We learn about how Cushing's Wife went crazy and he hid the truth about her from the Daughter.
When she starts to question things (after going into the forbidden room), he decides to test his 'cure for evil' made from the DNA of the fleshy finger.

Why not?!?

Shockingly, she goes crazy and all sorts of chaos ensues.

What role will Cushing's conniving brother (Lee) play?
Can he save his Daughter?
Will the skeleton be reborn in the flesh?

It all comes to a hand...er, head on a rainy night!

The creature gets some kills in, shows up on screen for like 5 seconds and, shock of all shocks, that guy in the beginning wasn't a colleague.

Nope- nobody believes Cushing's tale and he's locked up in Lee's Asylum.  Dull surprise.  The End.

A good Film that kind of loses its focus.  As I've said before, it's often seen as a 'bad thing' to suggest that a Film should get a Remake.  Well, here I am suggesting just that.  No offense to anyone involved in this Film- especially since most of them are long-dead- but it could be done better.  The set-up: strong and enticing.  What will happen if this creature starts to be reborn?  I can't wait to...hear more about Cushing's crazy wife and how it affected him.  Yea?  The family drama with him, the Daughter and Lee is also good...for another Film.  The whole obsession with 'evil DNA' and stuff is good fodder- also for another Film.  Don't give me a giant skeleton and then make it like a D-Plot in your Film!  Was I expecting an '80s-style Creature Feature?  No.  For one thing, it was like 10 years too early.  I just expected a Movie about, you know, creeping flesh and all that.  That said, the Movie is still well-made.  That whole 'good Film' thing is going to change next, so just hang on...

Next up, I cover a legit contender for worst Horror Film in the last 20 years.  It takes a Colony to suck this bad.  Stay tuned...