LEGACY OF BLOOD

Bad Hair Day: Faith Domergue and John Russell

LEGACY OF BLOOD (aka Blood Legacy aka Will to Die/1971). Director: Carl Monson.

Christopher Dean (John Carradine), the hateful patriarch of the Dean family, has expired, and the relatives are gathered to hear the reading of the will. Dean's four children -- Greg (Jeff Morrow), Veronica (Faith Domergue), Leslie (Brooke Mills) and Johnny (Richard Davalos), the last two of which have incestuous feelings for one another -- will inherit millions but must spend a week in the family mansion before they can get a dime. Naturally, murders begin to occur, with the first, inexplicably, being that of the sheriff (Rodolfo Acosta). 

Faith Domergue

Legacy of Blood certainly has an interesting cast in that we've got sci fi hero Jeff Morrow [This Island Earth], Howard Hughes discovery and genre actress Faith Domergue [It Came from Beneath the Sea and This Island Earth as well], Dick Davalos of East of Eden, and another genre specialist, Merry Anders [The Hypnotic Eye], playing Morrow's wife. Then we've got TV stars John Smith and John Russell playing, respectively, Leslie's husband and a servant-driver named Frank. The movie is reminiscent of Curse of the Living Corpse, and not only because of the business with a severed head on the kitchen table. 

Faith Domergue and Richard Davalos

Domergue easily gives the best and most convincing performance although the others are credible, given the material. Davalos has some good moments but is a little too overwrought at times. Ivy Bethune makes her mark as the maid, Helga, and she has one very good scene with Davalos, but Brooke Mills and Buck Kartalian (as another servant, Igor, who likes to be whipped) are memorable for all the wrong reasons. The picture has some atmosphere and a slight touch of suspense, and there's an electrocution-in-bed sequence that's effective, but there are too many "twists" and the black comedy aspect of the ending doesn't really work. This may hold your attention but there have been better dysfunctional family/maniac movies.  

Verdict: Low-budget horror flick could have used a little more originality but it has its moments. **1/4. 

RUN, HIDE, DIE

Potential victims

RUN, HIDE, DIE (akaThe Anniversary/2012). Director: Collin Joseph Neal. 

NOTE: This review contains spoilers. 

Addie (Alison Monda) lost her husband to an apparent murder a year ago. To help her get through the memories, a group of girlfriends take her to her former in-laws' cabin for some r and r. After what seems an interminable amount of gal-bonding and silly horseplay (yes, even ladies can make fart jokes), the tone abruptly shifts and the gals all wind up tied up in a bedroom, whimpering and moaning without stop as if they were all eight-years-old. What's strange about this is that their assailant is a middle-aged woman, who turns out to be Addie's former mother-in-law, Janet (Gail Harvey). Then her husband, Jim (Philip D. Clarke) gets in the act. 

star and scripter Alison Monda

Run, Hide, Die was scripted by its star, Alison Monda, who seems out to prove that even female screenwriters can write stories in which women are continuously debased, this time by another woman. There's a kernel of a good idea in this nominal slasher, which takes much too long to get going, and delivers more grossness than genuine horror. The acting is mostly okay, but the direction is pretty routine. One bizarre, almost comical aspect of the story is that Addie knows that her husband actually committed suicide, and doesn't want to tell anyone why. You keep wondering what this shocking revelation could be and it's simply -- get this -- that he's gay? Big whoop! Worse, she finds out that he's gay because he's HIV positive, as if heterosexuals never get HIV. What century is Ms. Monda living in? At least there are a couple of lesbian//bi characters among the young ladies.

But then Monda presents most of the women characters, except the one "final" gal who survives, as utterly helpless whiners who don't seem capable of doing a single thing to fight back against their much, much older attacker. In one tediously drawn-out sequence, none of the women even seem to get angry that they are being held captive. 

Verdict: Perfectly okay, if you've never seen a single other horror flick. *1/2. 

VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA Season 4

Richard Basehart and David Hedison

VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA Season Four. 

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, despite a few silly detours, began as a relatively serious show that could be watched by both children and grown-ups. But with each season it became increasingly ludicrous, mostly because the powers-that-be concluded that it was mostly kids watching the show. It would have been better had they provided more storylines that viewers of all ages could appreciate, but that was generally not the case in the later seasons of the show. 

Vincent Price with one of his "Deadly Dolls"

Nevertheless, even season four -- the final season -- had a few watchable and interesting episodes. Vincent Price guest-starred in "The Deadly Dolls," which had a script by Charles Bennett, and had the crew being replaced by puppets; it was not memorable, unfortunately. "Cave of the Dead,' with Warren Stevens, had to do with missing ships and the Flying Dutchman. "Man-beast," "Fatal Cargo" and "The Abominable Snowman" featured dangerous creatures, mutated or otherwise, the first of which was actually Captain Crane (David Hedison), stomping around the Seaview. Admiral Nelson (Richard Basehart) is told that Crane is an imposter in "Edge of Doom," which was a more serious but, ironically, less interesting episode than others. "The Death Clock" is a loopy episode in which guest-star Chris Robinson uses a machine to manipulate time and space. Mr. Pym (Henry Jones) did the same thing with a stop watch in two episodes with missed potential, "A Time to Die," and the series's final episode, "No Way Back," which is the better of the two. 

Basehart and Hedison keep straight faces with the Lobster Man

The show's nadir might well have been "The Lobster Man," with a silly-looking crustacean man -- Victor Lundin managed to keep his dignity in the part -- although there were other contenders for silliest monster/alien. The best episodes of the season, however, included "Sealed Orders," in which the Seaview crew disappear one by one while a neutron bomb is being transported; "Rescue," (guest-starring Don Dubbins) with saboteurs on the sub causing havoc and death; and arguably the very best fourth season episode, "Man of Many Faces," in which an unknown person disguises himself as several crew members even as a certain device begins to pull the moon out of orbit. 

David Hedison and Bob Dowdell

Most of the fourth season episodes of the show proceeded as mysteries, providing a weird situation which Nelson, Crane, Chip (Bob Dowdell) and the others would have to figure out, only the solutions too often tended to be childish alien menaces. "Nightmare" began well, with Crane being accused of treason even as the Seaview aims missiles at Washington D.C., but it collapsed before the conclusion. There were far too many episodes in which Nelson or  Crane were mind-controlled into trying to kill each other or destroy the ship. At least producer Irwin Allen got to use his beloved giant lizard from The Lost World once again in "Death Clock."

Verdict: Not enough great episodes to make this a memorable season. **1/2. 

AS ABOVE, SO BELOW

Ben Feldman and Perdita Weeks

AS ABOVE, SO BELOW (2014). Director and co-writer: John Erick Dowdle. 

Scarlett Marlowe (Perdita Weeks of Penny Dreadful) is a British professor in Paris who thinks she has found a clue to finding the famous Philosopher's Stone. Along with her photographer, Benji (Edwin Hodge), she enlists the aid of a Parisian named Papillon (Francois Civil), who knows his way around the catacombs and sewers of Paris. Scarlett is sure she has discovered the whereabouts of a secret chamber and only needs Papillon to guide her there, along with Benji, her reluctant friend, George (Ben Feldman of Cloverfield), whose brother drowned inside a cave, and Papillon's friends, Souxie (Marion Lambert) and Zed (Ali Marhyar). Descending beneath the city, they all get much more than they bargained for. 

Edwin Hodge as the ill-fated Benji

As Above, So Below has an off-putting style, similar to a "found footage" movie with everything being photographed during the trip via shaky hand held cameras that make you seasick and occasionally mask the action. That being said, As Above is extremely well-done for what it is, with generally excellent performances, outstanding production design (tunnels look like orifices), some top-notch FX work, and a genuinely creepy and claustrophobic atmosphere. Unfortunately, director/co-writer Dowdle is not content to make a satisfying thriller or horror flick, but tries to get metaphysical, with pretentious, unoriginal intimations that people create their own Hells, and throwing in supernatural stuff that may or may not be hallucinatory. Eventually all of the crawling around becomes a little silly and tiresome. But this is still quite a disquieting journey into the underground for most of the movie's length. 

Verdict: A trip you'll be glad you're watching instead of participating in. **3/4. 

THE BEST OF "THE SCREAM FACTORY"

THE BEST OF THE SCREAM FACTORY (2019/Cemetery Dance Publishers.)

HORROR FANS: Cemetery Dance publishers has just released this huge, magnificent coffee table book called THE BEST OF "THE SCREAM FACTORY."

The Scream Factory was a terrific magazine published some years ago which featured stories and articles covering all aspects of the horror genre (books, films, comics, TV etc.) and various columns. I wrote a column called "Hidden Horrors" about horror where you might not expect it. This collection includes two of my pieces, a stand-alone article on giant monster novels and the other a column on the Fu Manchu books by Sax Rohmer. This book is full of fascinating stuff by a variety of authors and artists. Edited by Peter Enfantino, Robert Morrish, and John Scoleri.

Apparently the limited signed edition has already sold out (!!!) although there are copies available on Amazon. Quite a collection for the horror fan and I was very happy to be included in it!

HALLOWEEN (2018)

Michael

HALLOWEEN  (2018). Director: David Gordon Green. 

Forty years after his killing spree in Haddonfield, IL, Michael Myers is transferred to a different facility and, naturally, escapes. His sister, Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis), who has turned her home into a fortress in preparation for his return, sets out with her shotgun to kill him. Meanwhile, Michael murders several individuals. Will Laurie finally wipe out the brother who tried to kill her? 

Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie

Who cares? I was never a particularly big fan of the original Halloween, only saw a couple of the mostly mediocre sequels, and found this one (which, I believe, ignores the events of the previous "sequels") to be distinctly unoriginal, and eventually, rather dull. The script is disjointed, the pacing is off, and there are only a couple of moments of suspense and very few thrills. Oddly, critics seemed to like the movie even more than the fans, some even finding it "terrifying" and "well-directed." I can only imagine they fell asleep and had a scary nightmare. 

Laurie's daughter and grand-daughter in the cellar

One critic liked the film because of its suggestion of female empowerment, since Laurie, her daughter, and her grand-daughter, all square off against Michael at the climax, but apparently this very young reviewer hasn't seen many slasher films and has no awareness of the whole "final girl" trope. There are a couple of likable kids in the movie: a young boy who tells his father that he likes spending time with him hunting, but would rather go to dance class that night (Billy Elliot?) -- too bad that he doesn't -- and little Julian (Jibrail Nanttambu), a black kid whose babysitter comes to a bad end. 

Verdict: The film doesn't have enough energy for its own good. *1/2. 

LADY IN THE DEATH HOUSE

Jean Parker

LADY IN THE DEATH HOUSE (1944). 

Director: Steve Sekely. 

Psychologist Charles Finch (Lionel Atwill) tells a group of associates the story of Mary Kirk (Jean Parker), who was fated to die in the death house. Finch had originally encountered Mary at a nightclub, when her dress accidentally caught on fire and Finch assisted her, along with Dr. Dwight Bradford (Douglas Fowley), with whom she becomes romantically involved. When a man who knows that her father was a criminal tries to blackmail her, he winds up dead and Mary is accused. Even after she is convicted and as the time of her execution draws very near, Finch suspects that her younger sister, Suzy (Marcia Mae Jones) may know more than she's telling. Will the real killer be discovered before it's too late? 

Douglas Fowley, Lionel Atwill, Jean Parker

The most interesting -- if very contrived -- aspect of the story is that Dr. Bradford, who wants to 
marry Mary, is employed as the executioner at the prison, and when she gets to death row, will get the job of killing her, even though he could easily refuse considering the circumstances. Early in the movie Bradford explains to Finch that he only works at the prison so that he can continue his research into reviving dead animals. But if you're hoping Bradford will kill Mary and then revive her, that whole aspect of the story is completely forgotten, making one wonder why it was ever brought up in the first place.

Although there is an attempt to create some suspense at the climax, Lady in the Death House is less than nail-biting. It's padded and dull and its running time of less than an hour seems twice as long. Atwill is fine but completely wasted, while Parker makes a competent leading lady. Byron Foulger and Cy Kendall have small roles and I believe I heard the voice of Lyle Talbot as a radio announcer. Director Steve Sekely's best-known feature is probably Day of the Triffids. 

Verdict: A very cheap P. R. C. production with little to recommend it. *.