Hey there nieces and nephews!  You might want to put on your galoshes for this trip because we're heading down to some wet and sticky southern jungles tonight.  Go ahead and grab those spearguns too, just in case, as we travel deep into the dark depths of the Amazon to pay a call on one of our cousins from the other branch of the evolutionary tree.  Tonight we seek the Creature From The Black Lagoon.

This is another night of firsts in the Dusty Musties.  First Universal film to make an appearance in this blog and the first appearance by the great director, Jack Arnold.  It's also our first visit to the Happy Days of the 1950s. 

     Leather jackets and greasy hair.  Poodle skirts and bobby sox.  High school gyms and Malt shops.  Horror was leaving the gothic castles, crypts and haunted forests of literature and folklore behind and looking towards a future where alien spaceships filled the skies and giants and robots walked the earth.  Adjectives like Terrifying, Horrifying, and Blood-curdling were being replaced with words like Amazing, Astounding, and Fantastic.  Science Fiction was starting it's decade long reign as the ruler of the Horror genre.  But while others were catching the Earth on fire or colliding it with other worlds, or even making it stand still, Universal was introducing us to a clawing monster from a long ago age in the forbidden depths of the Amazon.

Universal Studios had already given us Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, and the Wolfman and their numerous sequels. They had even reached the point where they were including these great Horror monsters in their Abbott and Costello films.  Although being responsible for the great initial popularity of Horror films, the original Universal monsters had been overexposed and just didn't have the scare appeal they had had a decade earlier, so Universal rose to the occasion and produced some of the best Sci-fi/ Horror films of the period.  Some even in the new fad, 3-D.

     Like their magnificent "It came from Outer Space", Creature From The Black Lagoon was also filmed in 3-D, but it was probably the last of the 3-D boom pictures and since viewer interest in 3-D was fading , most movie houses presented it in 2-D.

    The producer, William Alland, who had also worked with the director, Jack Arnold on It came From Outer Space, got the inspiration for the Creature from overhearing the Mexican cinematographer, Gabriel Figueroa talking about legends of half-men/half-fish creatures that lived in South america.

Jack Arnold was arguably one of the best sci-fi directors ever.  Not only did he direct our film in 1954, but prior to that, he also directed It came From Outer Space and would go on to direct such classics as Tarantula and the great, underated Incredible Shrinking Man. Jack also has the distiction of having two of his movies mentioned in the song Science Fiction Double Feature from Rocky Horror Picture Show.

     He was another master of the Black and White format, and while telling great sci-fi/ horror stories, he managed to also fill them with more action than most films of the time.  He wasn't afraid of difficulty and having the reputation of being a little hard-nosed and tough helped him to lead his cast and crew into making some great hard-to-make movies.  The production values are great and the conversion of Universal's backlot into a Amazon jungle is simply incredible.  While watching the action, remind yourself, that except for the underwater scenes which were filmed in Florida, this entire movie was filmed on Universal's backlot.  The set and design guys did an amazing job.

We'll now head into the dense Amazon on the boat of Captain Lucas who has heard the legend of the Man-Fish. The cast who board Captain Lucas' boat, the "Rita" features Richard Carlson as Dr. Reed, the icthyologist and leading man, who realizes, perhaps too late, that they are not equipped to fight a monster. Carlson had also been the lead in It Came From Outer Space. The character of Dr. Reed would become one of the first of the new breed of scientist/heroes.  Previously, scientists in Horror films were usually of the "Mad" variety.

    His girlfriend Kay Lawrence is portrayed by the beautiful and curvy Julia Adams. Julia (later calling herself Julie) mainly worked in western genre films, but would later pull off the TV trifecta of acting in episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Night Gallery, and Kolchak.

   Mark Williams, the money man who funds the expedition is played by Richard Denning, whose other claim to fame was being the husband of Evelyn Ankers, the love-interest of The Wolfman.

     The other two scientists are Dr. Maiva, portrayed by Antonio Moreno, who had been one of the greatest stars of the silent era in his youth and Dr. Thompson who is portrayed by Whit Bissel (what a name). Bissel portrayed scientists and professors in many of the horror movies of the time,  including I was a Teenaged Werewolf, I was a Teenaged Frankenstein, and the marvelous original Invasion of The Body Snatchers.  He also played the wonderfully done undertaker in the terrific Magnificent Seven.

The creature was designed by the beautiful and sexy Milicent Patrick, an ex-Disney animator.  The suit itself was possibly the best of the foam rubber monsters, including gills that actually flapped when the creature was out of water.

Glenn Strange, who had portrayed Frankenstein's monster in several of the post-Karloff Universal films was originally offered the role of the Creature, but turned it down when he saw how much swimming was involved.

    The 6'-5" Ben Chapman was eventually chosen to play the Creature above water and had ten pounds of flat weights in the feet of the costume to force him to slide his feet instead of stepping. 

     The world class swimmer Ricou Browning was chosen to wear the suit in the underwater scenes in Florida.  Browning was a producer of, and diver in, many of the underwater shows at the Florida Water Show parks that were very popular at the time.  He would later go on to produce the original Flipper movie and write for the TV show that it spawned.  During his career he ended up producing, directing, co-ordinating stunts, acting, and performing underwater cinematography in many situations where water played a crucial element in the shoot. 

     During his his lengthy swimming scenes as the Creature, Browning would sometimes hold his breath for as long as 4 minutes.  Where Carlson and Denning were using oygen tanks, Browning was just using his lungs.  Jack Arnold did not want to use any breathing apparatus as part of the Creature suit, believing that air bubbles would take away from the illusion that water was flowing through the Creature's gills.  While watching some of the underwater fight scenes, you'll notice clearly the air bubbles flowing from the tanks of the humans, but nothing from the Creature.  It's amazing when you realize that Browning was performing all the swimming in that suit as well as the fighting while holding his breath.

It was the early 50s when films with a large amount of underwater content like Moby Dick, Hunters of the Deep, and of course our movie,  were finally being able to be made.  The scuba tank (originally called the underwater lung) had just been invented by Cousteau and Gagnon ten years before Creature From The Black Lagoon began filming.  Previously, all divers were connected to the surface using air hoses. 

     Most cameras at that time were not meant to be underwater and filming underwater presented quite a few difficulties.  There are strange optical properties involved when filming underwater.  The camera angles are very important and light diffuses and changes color, as well as loses contrast. Cameraman Charles Wibourne designed a light weight water-proof camera unit with two cameras side-by-side shooting each scene at two different angles simultaneously.

While many of the Sci-fi/Horror films of the 50s tried to blind us with science, this one actually starts out by teaching us how the Earth was formed and how life began.   After our lecture, we find Dr. Maiva hard at work in the Amazonian jungle where he discovers the fossilized hand of a humanoid creature that defies explanation.  So after bringing his remarkable find back to civilization and gathering the good doctors Reed and Thompson, the wealthy Mark Williams, and the beautiful Kay Lawrence, love-interest of all creatures, human or otherwise, they head into the jungle on the good ship, "Rita" hoping to find more fossils, not the real thing.  Boy, are they suprised. What starts off as a jungle paleontology quest, complete with pith helmets, soon turns into a fight for survival. The Creature finally gets a glimpse of the lovely Kay and realizes that humans may be good for more things than just being killed.  Much underwater stalking ensues. I find the scene when Kay is swimming on the surface, back lit from above, with the Creature swimming face-up beneath her to be very erotic.  Jack Arnold even admitted in later years that scene was a stylized simulation of sexual intercourse.

This film includes plenty of action, with a decent body count for a Universal picture.  In addition to the victims of the Creature, base camps, boat crew members, and others, he is also harpooned, poisoned, set afire, stabbed, shot, and even hit with a rock in futile attempts to hold off his constant attacks.  Trapped in a forgotten lagoon by a deadly Creature from another age, who will escape the claws of the creature?

The Creature was the last of the great Universal monsters and his iconic features are almost as recognizable as those of the Frankenstein monster. Compared with Frankie, Drac, the Mummy, and the Wolfman, he may have been Universal's most original monster.  Aurora created model kits for him just like they did Dracula and King Kong and rightfully so. 

     Some of you may say that he's not Dusty--everyone knows who he is.  Yes--but honestly, how many of you have actually watched the film?  Just as I thought--Dusty.  He did spawn two sequels and although not bad, they don't hold the magic of the first one.  TV was still in its infancy and the classic Universal movies had not been released yet to that medium.  If you missed them in the movie theatres and drive-ins then you had to wait for a second run.  The Creature fed the hunger for a new monster and he didn't need spaceships or radiation to be scary.  He filled the gap between Davy Jones and Jaws as far as monsters who can drag you to a watery grave go.

At only 79 minutes it contains enough action and adventure to seem much longer.  The soundtrack is not bad either and even features Henry Mancini as the composer of the romantic river exploration music.  Several composers worked on it and it pays off.  The music used for the underwater scenes is great and a nice example of how light and minimal sound can be effective.  The trumpets which blare, "Da-Da-Daaaaa everytime the Creature makes an appearance are also a nice touch.

    You may wonder if Gene Roddenberry and the Star Trek writers were inspired when Dr. Reed informs Mark that, "Dr. Maiva is a scientist, not a fortune teller" and you may wonder at the shivering of environmentalists everywhere as a ton of Rotenone is dumped into the lagoon to drive the Creature to the surface.  Regardless of the wondering, I think you'll count yourself among its many fans, one of which was Ingmar Bergman, who loved this movie and rewarded himself by watching it on his birthday every year.

Now load your tub with bubbles, grab your rubber duckie, watch Creature From The Black Lagoon and try to scare yourselves.

Next time we'll scurry close to the borders of Dusty Mustie land and check out an early 70s flick, complete with color (a rarity in Dusty Mustie land).  You may want to bring that bug spray.

Tonight is a night of celebration here in Dusty Mustie land.  The nieces and nephews are chattering around the bonfire.  We're breaking open a great vintage of Banana wine.  Life is good.  Because tonight is our first Hammer entry to add to the Dusty Mustie collection.  It's also the first time Christopher Lee has appeared among the Dusty Musties.  It's "Dracula Has Risen From The Grave".  Yeah Baby!

It's also the first appearance among us of that greatest of all horror villians, the most feared being to ever haunt the living: DRACULA!  Bram Stoker's cursed count has appeared in over 60 film adaptations, and inspired countless other vampires on film.  Christopher Lee has portrayed the king of all bloodsuckers a record 9 times, (7 for Hammer).  No sleight to Lugosi intended (he will soon be making his own appearances in these posts and is also a true Horror master), but Lee was always my favorite count.  Hammer's version was a more violent and bloody take on the legend than Universal's, but without going over the top into gory and Lee still maintained the charm and dignity befitting the character.

Lee, at 6'-5", gave the count a towering commanding presence. He wore the teeth well and filled the cape magnificently.  His eyes never lost that intense glare whether they were red and bloodshot when your death was near or clear and focused when in seductive hypnotizing mode.

We could devote pages to Lee's career, but let me just throw out a few tidbits:  He was born on May 27th, 1922 (Vincent Price's birthday was also 5/27 and Peter Cushing's was 5/26).  He was born in London and served in the RAF during World War II, as a member of special forces in the intelligence field.  He is also a Knight.  He has been quoted as saying, "One should try anything he can in his career except folkdance and incest."

You youngsters know him as Count Dooku in the Star Wars universe and Saruman in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.  He was the only cast member of the latter to have actually met Tolkien.  But if appearing in both these tremendous movie series was not enough, he also has the distinction of being a Bond villian, Scaramonga, in The Man with the Golden Gun.  He was a distant cousin and good friend of Ian Fleming's and has said that he thought Pierce Brosnan was the closest to Fleming's image of Bond. He also portrayed Sherlock Holmes three times on film. I believe at one time, he was considered the center of the Bacon's Degrees of Seperation Universe by being able to be linked to anyone in Hollywood in an average of 2.59 steps, beating out even Bacon himself. He has been honored by several stuntman unions for doing many of his own stunts in the early Hammer days, severely injuring himself on several occasions. He has appeared in over 220 film roles, over 85% of which were as one of the bad guys, making him truly a villian for the ages.

  Getting back to Horror, where we belong, he has portrayed Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, and the Mummy on screen.  He turned down the role of Dr. Loomis in the original Halloween, a decision he admits to regretting. He was good friends with, and lived next door to Karloff in London. Like Chaney, Jr and Karloff, he never liked the term "Horror" film.  This was art to these men and the others like them who loved the genre and their fans.  He also  likes heavy metal music and his favorite director is Tim Burton.  Lee's contributions to the genre cannot be overstated and he is possibly your ol' Uncle Pump's favorite Horror actor.  It is an honor to induct him into this blog.

Hammer studios' contributions to the genre , also, cannot be overstated.  While American filmakers embraced the atom and many sci-fi wonders in the 1950s (some of which, will also make their way into this blog), Hammer brought classic Horror back to the forefront and filled a black hole in the hearts of true Horror fans, who were tiring of different varieties of men in lizard suits and giant bugs.  Hammer with  Lee and Cushing and Fisher and their assorted lovely ladies led the re-birth of Horror and may have produced some of the most beautiful gothic films ever made.  I will explore the relationship of Cushing and Lee, true best friends, later on when I post movies in which they both appear, but I will add this:  after Cushing died, Lee said he knew he would never have anything in his life again like their friendship. 

Hammer hit the screen in the late fifties with "Curse of Frankenstein" and "Horror of Dracula" instantly making their mark on the genre and making Cushing and Lee household names, at least among Horror fans. I will dig up and throw upon our altar more about the beginnings of Hammer in later posts when I talk of earlier films, because Dracula Has Risen From the Grave wasn't made until 1968, a full ten years after Horror of Dracula.  Dracula Has Risen From the Grave was the third film in the Hammer/Lee Dracula series, and yes, Hammer considered them sequels to each other, at least the first few.  Some would say it is the fourth film because they are counting 1960's Brides of Dracula, but since Dracula wasn't even in it, and although it's a fine movie, I don't count it in this sequence.  Our film followed Dracula: Prince of Darkness. Dracula's demise in that film, directly relates to his re-birth in ours, so there is no question about it being a sequel.  Dracula: Prince of Darkness has the distinction of being the bizarre one where Christopher Lee's Dracula did not speak--at all!  He thought that the scripted dialogue was so awful that he refused to utter it, and they made the movie anyway, and honestly--it's not that bad--just a little weird, and we certainly don't have a problem with weird, do we?  And don't fear --Lee speaks in our film and what he has to say is none too pleasant.

Dracula Has Risen From the Grave also has another distinction.  It managed to be one of Hammer's best productions and their single  most profitable film, without the involvement of Cushing or their famed director Terence Fisher.  Fisher had been injured in a car accident and the directing duties fell upon Mr. Feddie Francis, one of the best camera men in the business.  Francis started as a camera man, worked his way up to cinematographer, and then director--never losing his camera man's eye.  A brief note for those youngsters who still have their bananas peeled for them:  Cinematography is not a map of where movies are made.  The cinematographer is in charge of all aspects of camera work, imagery, lighting, lens choice, filtering, etc, in other words: the "look" of the film.  Along with art direction, and set design, the Cinematographer turns a writer's words, an actor's performance,and a director's vision into an actual work of art.  I believe cinematography is very underated when heaping praise on a film.  I think we all have been guilty of saying how beautiful a film is and then not even checking the credits to see who the cinematographer was.  A black banana of shame to us all as we promise to do better in the future. The grand and beautiful Cinematography is one of the things that make Hammer films so magnificent and irresistable to watch.  Very rarely do you see films in our genre look as wonderful as these. Dracula Has Risen From The Grave was also the first film to be rated by the MPAA.

Freddie Francis would bounce back and forth between the director's chair and Cinematographer's lens with ease.  He directed over 30 films including The Creeping Flesh, and the wonderful anthologies, Tales That Witness Madness, 72's Tales From The Crypt, Torture Garden, and the marvelous and vastly underated Dr. Terror's House of Horrors.  Freddie won two oscars for Cinematography, one being the American Civil War film, Glory.  Among his other Cinematography credits are the superb 1980 The Elephant Man and 1991's great remake of Cape Fear.  Freddie Francis, who just died 2 years ago, was a true God of the lens, and along with Terence Fisher, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Ingrid Pitt and all the rest of Hammer's other cast of genius and colorful characters, both in front of and behind the lens, assures that our British friends across the Atlantic can always stand tall and proud, earning their place among the best the Horror genre has ever had to offer.  One of the ways you know you're watching Hammer is when you realize that every aspect of the film was produced  with a love of the genre and a desire to create a piece art with their films.  If Romero and Raimi are working men's blue collar beers, and Hitchcock is champagne, and Jason and Myers are shots of strong vodka (I guess cronenberg is a hit of acid), then Hammer is the smooth aged Cabernet Sauvignon of the genre.  There's a time and place for them all, but tonight we drink wine my friends.  Deep red and bold.

With all the praise I've been piling on, you probably thought I'd forgotten there was an actual film under here to discuss and a cast that included more than just Lee.  But I haven't and here we go.   Being the first Hammer Dracula film, The Horror of Dracula usually places high on "best of" lists, which make me think that alot of folks stop with Curse of Frankenstein and Horror of Dracula when exploring the Hammer catalogue. As great as those two films were, Hammer actually got better as they went along and didn't start stumbling until around 1970. I dare you to watch Horror of Dracula and Dracula Has Risen From the Grave back-to-back and still say Horror was the better film.  I would be tempted to climb the tree myself and toss coconuts upon you.  First does not always equal best.  Now you know your ol' Uncle Pump to be a promoter of great old films, dusty and forgotten and love them I do and he regrets how forgotten some of these absolute gems have become, but it's not just because they are "firsts" or just happen to be old.  Old does not always equal good or better.  As much as I love the original King Kong, I would never say it is better than Jaws. I would never say Psycho is better than Halloween, or even that Evil Dead is better than Evil Dead 2.  I wouldn't say Hawks' Thing was better than Carpenter's and I surely would not say that the first Friday the 13th was the best of that series. May I end up in a testing lab if I ever exclaim Rosemary's Baby to be better than The Omen. I believe Dracula Has Risen From the Grave to be the best of Hammer's Dracula series.  With the sucess of their previous films, by the mid to late sixties, Hammer was at their peak and running on all cylinders.  Lee had gained a firm grasp on the role through the two previous films and was at his evil best here. I always thought his face seemed a little too youthful in 1958's Horror of Dracula, but ten years later,  when our film was made, he looked never more perfect for the role.

The script was penned by Anthony Hinds, son of Will Hammer, one of the studio's co-founders.  He used the pseudonym of John Elder and as Elder wrote the scripts for our film as well as other Hammer greats like Taste the Blood of Dracula, Rasputin: The Mad Monk, The Reptile, and the Mummy's Shroud.

The opening scene of this movie is possibly the best use of a church bell in the genre since Quasimodo rocked Paris.  I won't give away the mode of the actual rising of Dracula in this film, but I will say this time he is pissed like I haven't recalled seeing him before. Not content to bite a neck or two and hang out waiting for the vampire killers to arrive like in many movies, this time he is enraged and out for revenge.  Lee's Dracula is sometimes maniacal in this film, and he will savagely beat any horse or human in his way.  Not content with just a horse -drawn carriage, this time he has a black hearse, complete with coffin and black-plumed, black horses.  He is a mobile and terrible presence--literally Hell on wheels.  This is probably the most action-filled of Hammer's Dracula movies and the film benefits from more screen time by the Count, himself,  than there was in the two previous films.    It appears that a monsignor has taken it upon himself to desecrate Dracula's castle with exorcisms and blessings and crosses, while the darklord slumbered, waiting to be revived.  Imagine Drac's fury upon seeing his front door decorated with a huge cross hung like a wreath.  Everyone involved in this horrible insult must pay!

Dracula is constantly menacing as he adds priests and serving wenches to his stable of slaves.  He is a hard and unforgiving taskmaster and his punishments are severe.  He is unstoppable and unkillable as you witness him survive attacks that would have rendered lesser vampires unto dust.  The horns of the great soundtrack, composed by James Bernard,  literally pound when Dracula is upon the screen. I mentioned Lee's eyes earlier, but I again will mention the horror in them as he uses them to fill some with spine-chilling terror and others with a wonderful desire for him.  His mental seduction of Maria that rapidly turns physical is the perfect example of why women find vampires sexy.

The rest of the cast is a mix of veteran and new actors. You have the veterans, Rupert Davies as the Monsignor and Michael Ripper as Max, the inkeeper/tavern owner.  Michael Ripper is truly one of the unsung heroes of Hammer films.  He appeared in more Hammer movies than any other actor, 35 in all, usually playing an innkeeper, coachmen, village official, constable, etc.  But we know that this excellence in the supporting roles is so very important to a film and Ripper never dissapoints.  The lovely Maria, niece of the Monsignor, is played by the beautiful Veronica Carlson in her first of three films for Hammer. Veronica is now a painter in Florida who sells her paintings of her Hammer co-stars for big bucks.  Barbara Ewing, in only her second film, portrays the cleavage-baring Zena.  Barbara had previously had a small part, as did Ripper in Amicus' Torture Garden.  She would go on to have a long career on the British stage and screen.  Rounding out those in Dracula's sights are the young and handsome Barry Andrews playing Paul, the atheist who smells of beer and Ewan Hooper as the drinking, tainted,  tortured, head-bashing priest.

This is a Hammer Horror Whopper of a film, my friends.  Hammer throws everything but Peter Cushing and the kitchen sink into this spectacular production.  From well-whipped black horses to misty town rooftops where much of the action takes place.  Artfully reproduced villages and burgs, taverns and churches.  The classic vampire defenses are used, garlic flowers, garlic oil, prayer, wooden stakes.  But their ability to stop this enraged fiend are highly questionable.  I know crosses are constantly used in vampire films, but I don't recall one where the religious symbol is featured so prominently throught the movie.  The eerie graveyard scenes are here as well as that lush Hammer cleavage.  Great rooftop chases, more action than most Dracula movies, an insane with rage Dracula portrayed by Christopher Lee at his very best--What's not to love?  This movie also proves that the best way to convert an atheist is to bring a vampire to the party.  When Dracula himself marks you for death, who can survive.  You'll need to watch this  one to find out who falls to his fury and who is left to try to battle this most powerful of the undead.

Give yourself a delicious treat and watch this movie--you deserve it horror fan. 

And please tune into the blog for our next entry when we'll be getting all wet as we splish and splash into the sci-fi 50's.

Meanwhile, the party's over, I'm cleaning up--you go and try to scare yourself.

Welcome back nieces and nephews.  I hope you've been managing to scare yourselves.  If not, your ol' Uncle Pump is just going to have to do it for you this time.  

We'll stay in the 60s this time, but not on the ground with the baboons.  This time we'll move further up in the evolutionary tree.  Swing from a higher branch, if you will.  Mr. Karloff will be joining us again and this time he brought along a studio and director that will also appear more than once in the Dusty Mustie archives.  Let's start our introduction to AIP (American International Pictures) and Mr. Mario Bava with Black Sabbath.

One of the first and best anthology films, Black Sabbath paired Bava with Karloff (because he was under contract to AIP at the time).  This marvelous gem of a horror film is as Mustie as they get and by all rights should not be Dusty at all, but alas it is--especially the true version.  This film was shot in Rome and originally released in Italian.  When AIP brought it to the states, it was changed completely.  The original title, "The Three Faces of Fear", was changed to Black Sabbath , to cash in on the title of Bava's previous classic Black Sunday.  The one benefit to the name change was the fact that this is what the band Black sabbath took their name from. The entire score was replaced, the dialogue was dubbed, the whole lesbian subplot of the first tale was eliminated, and much blood was removed  from the second story. Even the order of the tales was switched around.  A great Mario Bava film was watered down to the point of being fit for American TV audiences of the time.    Please watch the the original Italian version with English subtitles to truly see Bava's vision.  There's no excuse not to, since our good friends at Anchor Bay were kind enough to release the uncut original version on the DVD shown above.

Let's chat about the still, in my opinion,  underappreciated director,  Mr. Bava for a moment.  Some folks don't know him at all and some folks think that Argento was the only great Italian horror master,  No knock against  Argento (who will make his own appearances among the Dusty Musties) at all, but Mario Bava was at the very least his equal, if not better.  His Black Sunday(1960) was, and still is an undisputed classic of the genre and his 1963 The Evil Eye helped kick start the whole giallo subgenre.  His painfully erotic Whip And The Body, with Christopher Lee, came out also in 1963-five years before Belle du Jour and ten years before Last Tango in Paris.  He helped start the Italian and American slasher subgenre with Blood and Black Lace in 1964 and added more fuel to the fire with Hatchet For The Honeymoon and Twitch of The Death Nerve in the early 70s.  His influence can be seen in the work of many modern directors and has been admitted to by as accomplished and diverse a list as Ridley Scott, Quentin Tarantino, Federico Fellini, Martin Scorsese, Tim Burton, Guillermo Del Toro, and David Lynch.  Bava moved from the medium of black and white to color filmaking without missing a step.  He was one of the first directors to fully embrace and understand the impact of color in a movie.  His use of color was the work of a true artist, using distinct groupings of primary colors to manipulate our eyes into sending signals of approaching doom to our scared brains.  He used simple, but brilliant color schemes to move us almost unknowingly from real to unreal, from comfort to dread.  Now that boxed sets of his work are being released, maybe he'll get more recognition.  Even his death in 1980 was overshadowed by Hitchcock's just two days later.

Although I slapped their hand earlier (and rightfully so), for butchering this movie for it's American release, let me also sing the praises of AIP for giving us, not only this movie and Black Sunday, but also the great Corman/Price adaptations of Poe's stories and many other fine horror films of the era.  It was only AIP that really gave any kind of American challenge to the horror mastery of Britain's Hammer films.

Now--on to the movie.  Not only does he act in the second of the three tales in this film, but Karloff is also our host.

We find Karloff now heading towards the twilight of his career.  He would only make a handful of movies after this one and his health was already failing.  He would die just six years later.  But an aging Boris Karloff is still KARLOFF!  He was the man.  Having dissapointed his family with his career choice, he moved from England to Canada and worked as a farmhand and manual laborer, while acting in bit parts whenever possible.  He was already 44 when he became a household word by his superb portrayal of Frankenstein's monster.  His given name was William Henry Pratt and in his younger days, folks called him Billy.  It is widely believed that he came up with the name Boris Karloff himself.  He stated in public that the name came from his mother's side of the family, although no record of the name Karloff has ever been found in his family tree.  No less a director than James Whale told Karloff that his face had startling possibilities.

The first tale, The Telephone is possibly the weakest of the three stories told, but still a delight.  Oh the imagery of  the glint of a steel blade in a black gloved hand.  This chapter is all about style and beauty.  Speaking of beauty, Michele Mercier, who portrays the high class call girl Rosy is a sight to behold.  She is a perfect example of how stunning an Italian woman can be.  Just being allowed to watch her sit on the end of one of the most beautiful beds I've ever seen and smoke cigarettes makes you feel that this consort has earned her fee.

Watching her terror increase as she receives call after call from someone who can clearly see her is delicious.  This tale was clearly the inspiration for many phone call/ stalker films to come.  Set in Paris, this tale has our lovely Rosy involved in a very cool, psychotic, homo/hetero, love, and murder triangle with just enough of a twist to make it all worthwhile.

For the second tale, we travel to the old Russian countryside and the countryside is marvelous.  Creepy woods, old ruins, mountains, mist-enshrouded farmhouses, low-lying fog everywhere, the great heaving bosoms of Maria and Sdenka (by now you know ol' Uncle Pump loves him some heaving bosoms), and the swinging head of Alibeq the Turk.  This story is called the Wurdalak and is actually based on a short story by Tolstoy.  As far as I know, this is the only time Karloff portrayed a bloodsucker, and he waited until late in his career to do it.  His performance is well worth the wait.  As Gorca, Karloff is no sleek, classy, sexy Lugosi or Lee, nor is he quite the raging, brutal fiends of 30 Days of Night.  He makes this role his own and plays it to a tee.  Wurdalaks don't only like the taste of blood, they want that blood to come from the ones they used to love.

Now my little chimplings, I get to point out a source of pride.  Most of you are too young to have been scared by Karloff.  You know his legacy, you like seeing him in the old black and white classics, but he doesn'r really scare you.  I saw this film when I was still in Elementary school, and folks, that image above scared the tar out of me.  I woke up more than one night, imagining that face at my window.  I can say "I was scared by Karloff". 

This segment, though barely 30 minutes long, feels like a movie itself.  The handsome and dashing, young Count Vladimir comes to the farmhouse on the same night that the Wurdalak comes to get reaquainted with his loving family.

I love the line, "My lips are dead without your kisses". Folks--this tale has it all.  Even a dog with a howl that would make any werewolf proud and how many future filmakers were inspired by little Ivan's cries of "Mama, I'm cold" There's some very chilling stuff here.  It'd take an evil clown with power tools to equal the level of creepiness in this segment.  You can be dashing, you can run, you can hide, you can even fall in love, but will any of that protect you from the Wurdalak?

Now a tiny little sidenote before we move on the final story:

The dashing Count Vladimir is portrayed by a fellow by the name of Mark Damon.  Before this, he mostly played in old fifties love and romance films.  He played in some other horror films afterwards and even some spaghetti westerns, but his major claims to fame were: 1.-as a producer, he helmed such films as The Choirboys, Das Boot, The Neverending story, 9-1/2 Weeks, Wild Orchid, and Monster with Theron and Ricci.

2.-He turned down a role in a Sergio Leone film and then introduced Clint Eastwood to Leone for A Fist Full of Dollars.

Sidenote over--Let's forge ahead to the third tale, in Victorian London, The Drop of Water is nasty little story of revenge from the grave.

We all know it's wrong to steal from the dead.  But what if the dead just happen to be an old medium who regularly communicates with the dead and lives in a creepy old house with creepy old dolls and a gazillion cats.  Sure sounds like a place I don't want to steal from.

That's all I can really say about the third and final chapter wthout some serious spoilers.  I will say Ghost tales don't get much spookier. 

Bava considered Black Sabbath his favorite out of all the movies he made.  That's good enough for me.  It should be good enough for you too.  If you have not already experienced this masterpiece, then you have some true blood-curdling moments ahead.  Until next time, Go try to scare yourself.                                      

Come on nieces and nephews -- grab your stick and let's gather 'round the termite mound.  Invite those little lemurs too--they look tasty, and after tonight's tale, we may want something more hearty than termites and fruit.

You know your Uncle Pump--he likes his wine.  A perfectly aged Cabernet with a juicy steak, a dry Chardonnay with smoked salmon, and fine cheeses like an old English Stilton with an Australian Shiraz, but every now and then, the soul cries out for some Boone's Farm Apple wine with some fake american rubber cheese.  And that brings me to thinking of my old friend Tarzan and our feature film, The Undertaker and his Pals.

Yep--that Tarzan--I knew him well back in the day.  And not the toned-down politically correct version in the movies and TV.  Lord Greystoke my ass!  We used to call him Little Lord Gaystroke.  Man, he hated that.  But he tried to get all cocky once he found out he was an English Lord and we weren't having any of that and since he had started it anyway when he first coined the term, "Spanking your Monkey"--yeah, yeah--go ahead and laugh--HAHA-- I never thought it was funny when he constantly refered to his piece as his "monkey".  He'd swing up in the trees and start relieving his stress above our heads--nasty bastard.  The real Tarzan was like a cross between Beavis and Butthead and Michael Myers.  He was a very  scary bastard once he found that  damn knife.  But really, I liked him--we were friendly enough.  He was the one who turned me onto tonight's film.  Once he started traveling back and forth between the human world and ours, we started getting access to your books, movies, wine, etc.  We'd give him lists of things to bring back from "civilization". 

The time was the mid-sixties, and were asking to see the great Universal classics with the deep black and white images and the great classical scores and the beautiful Hammer films with their wonderful creatures and cleavage spectacles.  But  then he brought us Bloodfeast and it was all over then.  This new type of horror film had been born--the gore film.  Tarzan loved this stuff.  All the suspense had been removed and replaced with blood or even innards.  The classical scores were replaced with some trippy jazz that certainly liked the sax as much as we like the guitar now.  It became a time for hep cats and be bop and since he was the original swinger, he fit right in.  And some of these movies kinda grew on me--I always did like seeing a human get mutilated.  I haven't seen ol' Tarz in quite awhile.  I like to think he's back in africa somewhere still trying to ride the elephants like they used to show him doing in the old movies.  In reality the elephants would grab him with their trunks and throw his dumbass on the ground, but he loved it.  He did like his extreme sports like gator wrasslin.  The old boy woulda been hell on a skateboard.

So back to our purpose and in honor of Tarzan, I present to you: The Undertaker and His Pals.

They have a great tagline: Cannibalism was never so funny.   And I think that's where the charm in this film lies.  The movie never takes itself seriously. Never pretends to be a good movie or even a good horror movie.  But it sure looks like it was fun to make and you can tell they were having a good time.

In 1965, Herschell Gordon Lewis gave us Bloodfeast, which I believe was probably the first "gore" film, certainly his first.  He would later continue this new gore genre with the original versions of 2000 Maniacs and The Wizard of Gore.  But Gordon didn't give us this little gem that was clearly trying to capitalize on the suprising sucess of Bloodfeast.  The Undertaker and His Pals was written and directed by one Mr. T.L.P. Swicegood.  Who? you may ask and the answer is : exactly.

Clearly these guys look like an Undertaker and his Pals.  Much like the director, all the actors would invoke that response of "Who"?except for maybe the Undertaker himself, Ray Dannis who was also in The Corpse Grinders.

Yes we have covered the director and cast already--not much to tell.  Plot?  oh yes it has a plot.  Plot that makes much sense?  C'mon now you can't have everything.  It's the story of three friends; Mort the Undertaker, and Doc and Spike, owners of the Greasy Spoon Diner.  To cut costs they dress up in leather, mount their motorcycles and seek out young ladies to mutilate.  Doc and Spike take the choice cuts like the legs of Sally Lamb and the breasts of Anne Poultry to serve in the diner, while The Undertaker gets the bodies to fix-up and provide funeral services for.  He is the Dapper Dan of the funeral parlor crowd.

The rest of the cast is rounded out by a fat cop, a suprised photogenic sailor (you'll see), a dumb and dashing private eye, and all the women who want to get in his pants at first sight--and of course the lovely victims, some of which, fall into the prior category.

Now to sum this flick up, let's go good uncle/ bad uncle on it.

Bad uncle says:  No getting around the fact this movie is poorly directed, badly written, awfully acted--even the lighting sucks.  The props and sets are bad and thrown together.  The music is a kind of twitchy porno jazz with lots of loud horns.

Good Uncle says:  Possibly the funniest of the early gore films.  Many things to laugh with and at and inbetween and even during the laughing, there are stabbings, chain lashings, acid vats, kitchen surgery, and even more gruesome goodness that I won't spoil.

By now , you're probably saying, "Uncle Pump, this doesn't sound like one of your Dusty Musties"

And you're probably right--I can't find the Mustie in it myself.  I can't bring myself to proclaim this as a "must-see" movie, but in my very first blog post, I did say some would just be personal favorites and I am giving this movie the Uncle Pump Personal Favorite Free Pass.  Now, on the other hand, I do think it qualifies as a "Dusty" .  Of the early Gore films from the mid to late sixties, I believe this has probably been the most overlooked and under viewed.  I've met quite a few people who have heard of or seen the original versions of Lewis' films like The Wizard of Gore.  I've met very few who have even heard of this movie. It's a Dusty alright.

At barely an hour long, it'll go by quick.  If you can, get the version put out on Dvd by "Cheezy Flicks".  The old trailers and drive-in advertisements in the special features contains some very funny moments.

So yes I was a swingin hep cat too, just like Tarzan, so if you really want to swing like the jungle boy--check this groovy little movie out.  And don't miss the finale song--whatever you do.  Now run along and try to scare yourselves.

Alright Monkeys and Monkettes, let's take a trip in Uncle Pump's educational time machine in honor of schools starting back up.  Today our journey will take us back to the 18th century as we look for the origin of the word "Bedlam". 

Ahhh--found it already have we.  We're sitting in front of a hospital.  Why it's St. Mary's of Bethlehem Asylum, now known as Bethelem Royal Hospital in London.  From the Online Etymology Dictionary:

Yes Bedlam was the nickname of St. Mary's of Bethlehem Asylum.  A particularly harsh environment for the mentally challenged in 1761, which is when our story is set.  Now, for the telling of our story, we have to travel forward to 1946, but first let me make a Dusty Mustie comment in general.  One thing you will see time and time again with older classic horror films, is that most are set in centuries prior to the filmmaker's.  Most modern horror films are set in current times--most older ones were not set in their current time.  Is any gothic horror made anymore?

Well back to 1946 and our feature presentation:

Karloff, Lewton, RKO--all three will make frequent appearances among the Dusty Musties, and this is great film to showcase them.

We'll start with Karloff, a true icon of the genre.  Truly one of a kind.  Frankenstein's Monster.  The Mummy.  And is there a more dinstinctive voice in the genre?  He narrated and was the voice of The Grinch, who was stealing Christmas way before Mr. Skellington came along (he even took the roast beast!)  and honestly, who's voice was Pickett trying to imitate when he recorded the original classic Monster Mash?  Because of how great he was as Frankenstein's Monster and the Mummy, alot of younger primates don't recall what a great actor he really was in a human role.  With the possible exceptions of The Body Snatcher and Targets, this may be his finest acting performance.  He plays the Master of the asylum, George Sims.  Such a lush performance.  Notice the difference in facial expressions and even body movements as he shifts effortlessly from subserviant, groveling kisser of the dandy Lord Mortimer's fat ass to the ruthless, cunning, and cruel Master of the inmates.  Karloff's performance alone makes this film worthy of multiple viewings.

Now we come to Mr Val Lewton and his wonderful relationship with RKO pictures.  A relationship that brought us The Cat People, I Walked With a Zombie, and The Body Snatcher.  These are the three that most folks have heard of, and as much as I love them, I think Bedlam is right up there with them.  As producer, this was Lewton's most expensive film for RKO, but also the least sucessful.  It didn't impress moviegoers or RKO and Lewton never made another picture for that studio.  Most folks have never heard of this movie, but I think it deserves to be mentioned with Lewton's best.  It is easily his most underated film. 

Most folks think Lewton directed these horror classics for RKO, but although he was involved in every aspect of the film-making, the actual " getting your hands dirty" directing was done by his frequent collaborator Mark Robson.  Robson and Lewton co-wrote the screenplay which was inspired by a William Hogarth engraving.  The scene depicted in the engraving is actually reproduced in the film.

Although Robson is usually completely forgotten in the shadow of his mentor, Lewton, he was a fine director in his own right who would later get two best director nominations from the academy for 1958's Peyton Place and 1959's Inn of the Sixth Happiness.  He would later go on to direct 1967s Valley of the Dolls, and 1974's Earthquake.

As you can tell from the age of the movie and the posted photos, this is a black 'n' white movie and a beauty.  The use of shadows was very important in a black 'n' white movie and Lewton and Robson were masters.  They were absolute geniuses in the use of lighting and shadows and it is rare to see a black 'n' white film so lush and  beautifully  shot.

Karloff/Master Sims' adversary, Nell Bowen, is portrayed by the lovely Anna Lee, a goddaughter of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and probably best known for her later lengthy run as Lila Quartermain on the soap, General Hospital. And a worthy adversary she is, as her character takes an instant dislike to Sims and his methods of dealing with the inmates under his care.  She is the one who does not fall for his blowing of smoke up noble asses.  The banter and arguments between Sims and Miss Bowen are some of my favorite moments in the film--true examples of fine verbal swordplay.  Another trivia note regarding Anna Lee:  The dress she is wearing when she mounts her horse is the same one Vivian Leigh made from curtains in Gone With The Wind.

Many may not consider the film itself to be a Horror film, but more of a psychlogical thriller, although the setting of an 18th century English insane asylum should garner quite a bit of fear.  Nell Bowen is the protege of Lord Mortimer, although she makes it clear that, "He has no more freedom with me than any man".  They happen to be taking a carriage ride (I love those carriage rides) past the asylum when an unfortunate "accidental death" occurs.  She dislikes Master Sims immediately and is further disgusted and horrified to learn that Sims is making a profit by charging people to come in to "see the lunatics in their cages".  Her rage only grows once she sees his treatment of the inmates.

During her angry persistance at trying to cause Sims' downfall through Lord Mortimer, she finally crosses the wrong lines and ends up at the mercy of Master Sims as one of his inmates.  It's a chilling and forboding moment during her first night in the asylum when Sims, gleefully evil, shoves the money in her mouth.

What will become of young Nell?  Who will come out on top?  Who will survive their stay in Bedlam?  You'll have to watch it to see.

The cast is rounded out by a great group of inmates, whose various afflictions, illnesses, and disorders I won't spoil.  Look for a young Ellen Corby (of Grandma Walton fame).  Look for Ian Fleming's inspiration for suffocation by gold paint.  You won't have to look for the other important character, The Quaker, who is everywhere spreading his message of creamy Quaker goodness that we're all the same in God's eyes (now whether God loves us all or God thinks we're all fucked, I'm not sure).  There's also the wonderful Mr. Wilkes who doesn't mind letting Nell know that he requires much more freedom with his proteges than does Lord Mortimer.

For those of you interested in the evolution of women's roles in Horror films, Anna Lee's portrayal of Nell Bowen has been described as the first real feminist heroine, setting the stage for the Strodes and Ripleys to come.

As dusty as this Mustie is, compared to many more well-known 1940s Horror movies, I believe you'll have to look hard to find one that decade that truly surpasses this gem.  The film is a wonderful example of how deep, and rich black 'n' white filmaking could be in the right hands.  The dialogue is a tremendous piece of writing and Karloff and Anna Lee give performances as good or better than anything else they've done.  And the ending--oh the ending--it is truly worthy of the film.

That's it for this session.  See this movie.  Eat your bananas. 

And please--try to scare yourself.

The title Haxan is usually followed by "Witchcraft Through The Ages" but that wasn't added to this 1922 gem until 1968 when they tried to ruin the film.  But I'm getting ahead of my self.  Let's begin another way.

I believe witches have been neglected in films compared to their horror brethren like vampires, zombies, werewolves, etc.  I know, I know--you're thinking and shouting out movies:  The Witches, The Witches of Eastwick, Hocus Pocus,etc.  Decent movies but not scary.  If I am thinking movies like Rosemary's Baby and The Wicker Man--then I'd have to lump in all kinds of satan/cult movies.  I hate to bring up  the Witchboard or Witchcraft series--for any reason. The Devil Rides out is decent enough and then there was that old 70s one with Oliver Reed and orgies whose name I can't remember and one with Shatner and some yawnfest with Hot lips, Peter Fonda and an RV--not witches--not witches--people in hooded cloaks do not a witch make. 

Now that brings me to witch movies I actually like:  The Craft, Suspiria, Black Sunday, Blair Witch Project, and Bell, Book, and Candle. (I know--but Kim Novak was so hot) And don't get me started on Angelique of Dark shadows fame--I would have left Mary Ann and Ginger on the island and stuffed Jeanie back in her damn bottle to be able to take Angelique to the harvest dance.    OK, back to pupose.  But they're still not that Halloweeny, Old Crone, Macbeth, boiling cauldren, eye of newt, poison-apple, broomstick witch that we've had images of ever since we met The Wicked Witch of the West and her funky sock-wearing sister in the Land of Oz.  Can we have that type of witch action and still manage to scare someone?  My friends, the answer is Haxan.

It was filmed in 1921-1922 and yes--it is a silent movie, with subtitles in Swedish and English.  But in my opinion, it may be the most important silent horror film ever.  And yes, I've seen Nosferatu, The Cabinet of Caligari, The Lost World, and Der Golem.  For raw horror imagery and daring, it trumps them all.  The director, Benjamin Christensen, who also plays the Devil and a cameo as Jesus Christ, was brilliant, inventive, and for 1922, very,very bold and daring.  Eventhough it seems he was trying to educate his audience, I can't imagine the shock and horror they experienced in the theater and yes again--this movie was banned in many countries. It would be another 40 or so years before this much obsenity and blasphemy was included in a horror movie.  Universal certainly didn't go down some of these roads. It was shot in Denmark, but for for a swedish audience.  It wasn't allowed to be shown in Denmark until 1941.  And since we're getting the dates out of the way here, the 1968 version with narration by William Burroughs and a wacked out jazz soundtrack ruins the experience completely.  Do not watch that version or if you feel compelled to out of curiosity, don't do it til you've watched the original 1922 version first, with it's great classical score by the likes of Schubert, Mozart, Bach, Wagner, and Beethoven.

The imagery, sets, props, etc are like something out of a horror fan's dreams.  This is like experiencing the very beginnings of horror, I kid you not.  Imagine looking over Poe's shoulder as he wrote "The Fall of the House of Usher" or cuddiling up beside Shelley as she dreamed of Frankenstein or being one of Romero's zombies in the original NOTLD.  Yes--it is that kind of "witnessing the birth of horror" moment.  I have no problem stating that this movie is essential viewing as much as NOLTD, TCM, Halloween, the Exocist, etc

And lest you think me insane or on someone's payroll, let's get into the nasty , creepy facts upon which I build my gushing fanboy praise.

It's filmed in 7 acts,(called scenes in the movie) the first of which is like a slideshow of the old woodcuts and paintings that you've seen before with witches kissing the Devil's ass and being tortured, etc along with photos of relics and idols and such (watch for a cameo by the Exorcist's very own Pazuzu, the plague demon).  This is lecture -type stuff, complete with a pointer as he describes the ancient beliefs on Hell and demons. Fascinating stuff as a guy from the 1920s describes the mystical beliefs of the 15th century.

We start with the juicy stuff in Act 2 in the witch's lair and I must say that it is like the ultimate witch's lair with pots, potions, animal skeletons, corpses, etc.  You'll see that graverobbers were bringing corpses from the gallows to witches before they were bringing them to Dr. Frankenstein.  And of course they needed to be well sniffed to sample their freshness.  Without watching Act 2, how would you know that a potion made from cat feces and dove hearts would soften the heart of any man? The special effects start here as well, and from what I've seen--Christensen was way ahead of his time in that department as you watch a little demon eat through a door.  The Devil makes his first appearance in this act too, and HELL Yeah!!--what a Devil he is, looking just like a Devil should as he pops up to call nude fat-bottomed girls out to play.  He also seems to enjoy watching old crones puke and the dance of the maidens and pig demons is not to be missed.  I'll try not to be this spoilerish with the rest of the Acts, but I wanted to keep your interest and anyway, this joyful ride is just beginning.

Act 3 is the accusation and capture, complete with rolling witch cage.  Let's just say that it sucks to be Maria the Weaver who begs from door to door.

Then Act 4 where all the gloves of everybody come off and we're told that "the burning of a witch is a sweet scent to God" (how do you not love that line?)  The persecution starts , complete with "good inquisitor" - "bad inquisitor" dynamics.  And what's a little cup of inquisition without a couple spoonfuls of good ol' torture.  And not only does poor old Maria start rolling over and laying accusations on everyone and their kin, Mr. Christensen, kind man that he is, decides to graphically show us in re-enactment fashion, all the stuff she's confessing to.

And yes that is 1922 ass above you embracing that lucky demon. There is much cavorting with Devils and Demons and if you want to know what Devils and Demons are supposed to look like, then watch this film.  The broomstick flights of the witches are right out of a child's nightmare and may seem tame by today's special effects standards, but in 1922 I bet you could hear screams around the corner as people ducked in their seats.  This is the Act to skip if you're offended by blasphemous imagery such as cross desecration, Demon molestation, bloody baby cooking and much more.  But no--not you--you want to watch--that's what I like about you.

In Act 5, everyone is getting rounded up and we learn that helping witches resist arrest, refusing to bear witness against a witch, or even admitting to having a sinful thought, can lead to dire consequences.  Also starring the little monk who likes to be whipped--oh he's such a little sinner.

Act 6 graces us with more pig demons and cats who like to soil altars.  We're also given the coolest demonstrations of some of the popular tools of the torture trade. 

SIDENOTE BREAK: I've wondered before about the individuals whose job it was in medievel times to come up with some of these devices.  Talk about some fucked up dudes--damn.

Oh--and the Devil is back in Act 6 with the purpose of corrupting a whole convent and making nuns do un-nunly things.  He's starting his corruption below by softening them up a little.

Then we come to Act 7, which from a horror standpoint is the weakest act.  Our lecturer is back with the morals of the story which is OK, but I don't think the burning times are quite on us again yet.  He's basically showing a few scenes to point out that common misfortunes today, like being ugly, twitchy, hunchbacked, or being a kleptomaniac!? could have gotten you killed in the 15th century.

We do find out that one of his actresses told Christensen during filming that Devils are real because she has seen them sitting at her bedside and the ending scene is almost magical in it's message.  And wait til you find out how to say "The end" in Swedish--I know--you'll just google it.  That's cool, but please watch this movie. 

I know I walked a fine spoiler line with this blog entry and probably crossed it once or twice, but in my experience, I've had a hard time getting folks to sit down and watch a black 'n' white, silent, foreign movie. It's got all three strikes against it.  But this needs to be the exception.  I will push very few movies this old, this hard.  True horror fans can sit back and just enjoy all the wonderful horror imagery, like the shot above, even if they don't want to get into the plot.  I can't imagine a true horror fan not liking this and you very well may consider it the best silent movie you've seen.  Now go try to scare yourself.  OO OO EE EE

Welcome nieces and nephews to the inaugural edition of Uncle Pump's Dusty Musties.

Now pull up a coconut or hang by your cute little tails while I break some news to you.  There were horror films before "The Ring".  There were horror films before Hannibal Lector ate his first liver and Jason swung his first machete.  There were even horror films before zombies decided to go shopping up in Pennsylvania malls.

I'm creating this blog to dust-off some old treasures and share their light with some of you young termite-munchers.  And to you older silverbacks, maybe I'll bring back some fond memories of drive-ins and late-night horror shows.  Some will be so old that silence was the rule and some will just be personal favorites. Maybe some films you've heard of and never seen and maybe a few for the kids.  Some you may have seen and dismissed or some you just forgot.  Some may veer slightly from horror into sci-fi and fantasy and few may be just to demonstrate that "bad" movies existed in the good old days too.  Dusty because they're old-none made after 1975 and Musties because I believe all of these gems are integral parts of the stone foundation upon which our modern, shiny steel horrors are built.

I couldn't think of a better one to kick off this exploration than " . . And Now The Screaming Starts"

From Amicus, who along with AIP, were Hammer's rivals for the horror buck of the time.  They were known for their horror anthologies, and when this single story motion picture came out in 1973 it was in direct competition with a Hammer that was already starting to stumble.  I saw this first at the drive-in, but a lot folks remember the edited TV version that received a bit of airplay over the years.  If you are buying or renting this, please try to get the uncut original version or you'll lose alot of blood in the American TV version.

Directed by Roy Ward Baker who had already done the original 1972 "Tales from the Crypt" and "Asylum" for Amicus.  Before that he directed the infamous "Vampire Lovers" and the underated "Quartermass and the Pit" for Hammer.  He is probably best known for directing "A Night to Remember" which was THE Titanic movie prior to Cameron's version.  That movie is definitely a non-horror Mustie if you have the time for it. 

The film is beautiful.  That great gothic countryside, sets, and costumes that the Brits did so well, opening up with a misty carriage ride.  For future reference--movies that have horse-drawn carriages in them will always score extra Dusty Mustie points.  Based on the novel "Fengriffen" by David Case, it features Peter Cushing, Herbert Lom, Patrick McGee, and Stephanie Beacham.

Stephanie portrays Catherine  who has arrived at the manor to marry the young Lord Charles Fengriffen.  Catherine's screaming starts before the first house tour is complete and rarely stops but verily I say unto you-Ms Beacham's bosom heaves and heaves some more.  Stephanie delivers all the screams and cleavage you should expect in an early 70s British horror film.  But poor Catherine's wedding night turns out to be alot more (and Charles' a lot less) than was expected.  Catherine falls victim to the curse placed on the family due to the horrible deeds of Gandpa Fengriffen 50 years earlier.  Herbert Lom, best known as Commissioner Dreyfus in the Pink Panther movies, plays Granpa Fengriffen.  Dr. Whittle, played by Patrick McGee, trys to help and ends up having to call upon the expertise of Dr. Pope, played by Peter Cushing in one of the worst hairpieces I have ever seen.  You would need to staple a dead possum to your head to be more strange-looking than this toupee.  Cushing, Lom, and McGee had also worked together in "Tales from the Crypt".

By now, you may be saying, not another girl comes to old estate and suffers madness movie.  Well it is that movie, but . . .

It is so much more. The beauty of the house (same one used in Rocky Horror Picture Show)and Stephanie's heaving bosom.  It is thick with atmosphere: creepy paintings, creepy woodsman, full moons, old graveyards, ferocious dogs, howling wolves, and a great maniacal grave desecration. And then there's the two main villians, a severed hand and a horny, one-handed, eyeless zombie ghost.  And not just any severed hand--this one knows Jedi mind tricks.

So thanks for reading this first blog entry and I hope you somehow manage to scare yourself.