NIGHT WATCH

Elizabeth Taylor and Laurence Harvey

NIGHT WATCH (1973). Director: Brian G. Hutton. 

Ellen Wheeler (Elizabeth Taylor) is a neurotic wife who has already had one nervous breakdown and is haunted by the death of her first husband in a car crash. She lives with her husband, John (Laurence Harvey of Welcome to Arrow Beach), and has a house guest in best friend, Sarah (Billie Whitelaw). During one dark and stormy night, Ellen is convinced that she has seen a bleeding corpse in the abandoned manor house across the way, but the police find nothing. John and Sarah try to convince Ellen to go off for a rest cure, but Ellen has something else in mind ...

Taylor with Billie Whitelaw

Based on a play by Lucille Fletcher of Sorry, Wrong Number fame, Night Watch is one of those thrillers that initially seems to have a good and unexpected twist until you really start to think about it. Even Agatha Christie might have had trouble completely pulling it off, although it leads to an interesting and rather violent climax. (With only three major characters, there aren't too many directions in which this marital melodrama can go.) The ending is amusing, fun in its way, but far-fetched, and leaves quite a few plot holes when all is said and done. As for the acting, Harvey and Whitelaw come off best, and Taylor is typically uneven, the whining woman-child who would set most people's teeth on edge. The picture is second-rate in most departments, but reasonably absorbing.  

Verdict: More rain, thunder and lightning than you can shake a stick at! **1/4.    

NO ONE HEARD THE SCREAM

Vincente Parra and Carmen Sevilla

NO ONE HEARD THE SCREAM ( aka Nadie oyo gritar/1973). Director: Eloy de la Iglesia. 

Kept woman Elisa (Carmen Sevilla) maintains her own residence in a sparsely populated apartment building. One afternoon she catches her neighbor, failed writer Miguel (Vincente Parra), throwing his dead wife's body (Maria Asquerino) down the elevator shaft. Although apologetic, Miguel forcibly insists that Elisa help him dispose of his wife's corpse, which she does, driving off with him beside her and the wife's body in the trunk. Strangely, Elisa does not try very hard to get away from Miquel, and soon their relationship starts to head in unsettling directions. They have more in common than either had imagined but Miguel may be keeping secrets ... 

Sevilla with Tony Isbert

One thing you have to say for No One Heard the Scream -- it's certainly unpredictable. There is also a nifty sequence when our odd duo come across a highway accident and are told by cops that they must put a couple of victims in the back seat and their large suitcase in the trunk! A third person, an attractive young man named Tony (Tony Isbert), shows up and has a couple of appearances, but this doesn't really lead into anything that interesting. The final twist is interesting, although it raises unanswered questions. The whole thing might have been more absorbing if the two leads were a lot hotter or dragged Tony more into the story. 

Verdict: Intriguing Spanish suspense film comes close but doesn't quite cut it. **1/2.  

THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD

The goddess Kali vs. Sinbad

THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD (1973). Director: Gordon Hessler. 

In the mythical kingdom of Marabia, Sinbad (John Phillip Law of Miner's Massacre) encounters the evil wizard Koura (Tom Baker). The disfigured Vizier (Douglas Wilmer), who always wears a mask and is now the ruler of Marabia, warns Sinbad that Koura is out to take over the kingdom any way he can. Accompanied by the Vizier, young Haroun (Kurt Christian), whose father pays Sinbad to take him along, and the beautiful former slave Margiana (Caroline Munro), among others, Sinbad sets sail for the lost world of Lemuria, an island that is all that's left of the mythical sunken continent. There Sinbad hopes to find the third part of a fabulous necklace or tablet with a map on it, as well as a great treasure. But he will face many challenges and monsters ... 

Caroline Munro and John Phillip Law

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, with stop-motion FX work by Ray Harryhausen, may not be in the same league as such Harryhausen masterpieces as 7th Voyage of Sinbad and Jason and the Argonauts, but it is still an exciting, entertaining and very colorful fantasy flick. Law gives a personable and amusing performance as Sinbad, even if he may not be as beloved in the role as Kerwin Mathews. Tom Baker is good as Koura, but he lacks that certain flair and sinister charisma of such actors as, say, Torin Thatcher or Christopher Lee. Munro is decorative and adept enough and Christian displays a certain gauche charm. Takis Emmanuel scores as Achmed, Koura's uncertain assistant. An uncredited Robert Shaw plays the Oracle of All Knowledge who appears, unrecognizable, in a burst of fire. 

homunculus, Takis Emmanuel, Tom Baker,

As usual Harryhausen's creations steal the show: the tiny, winged homunculus that spies on the group for Koura; the wooden lady figurehead who pulls free of the ship and barrels across the deck; the slavering horror of the one-eyed centaur, who either wants Munro for his mate or dinner. The griffin is a slight disappointment, but the six-armed Kali statue who comes to life to dance and then battle Sinbad and his crew, is simply magnificent. Another plus is Miklos Rozsa's excellent score. One of the best scenes has nothing to do with monsters but is a suspenseful bit with Sinbad climbing out of a cavern through a hole in the ceiling as he dangles high in the air and nearly falls to his death. 

Verdict: Highly enjoyable adventure-fantasy film with some great FX work. ***.  

THE KILLER IS ONE OF 13

Ramiro Oliveros and Patty Shepard

THE KILLER IS ONE OF 13 (aka El asesino esta entre los trece/1973). Director: Javier Aguirre.  

"They killed him savagely with a knitting needle."

Lisa (Patty Shepard) is convinced that her late husband, who played around on her and died in a plane crash -- he was the pilot -- was murdered. Apparently someone he knew paid a call on him and doctored his coffee just before his flight. Was revenge for his adulterous behavior -- a jealous husband or discarded mistress -- the motive, or did Lisa's husband know too much about illegal financial affairs? She invites all of the suspects to her rambling home in the country and confronts them. Then the murders begin ...

Paloma Cela and Simon Andreu

There are plenty of suspects for both the murder of Lisa's husband and of his assembled "friends:" Playboy Harry (Simon Andreu), who has a wandering eye, especially for married ladies; Francis (Eusebio Poncela), a creepy guy who can't keep his hands off women; his hateful, domineering mother, Bertha (Trini Alonso); grumpy Jorge (Alberto Fernandez), who may have had some unsavory business practices, and his horny wife (Paloma Cela), who is rejected by Harry. Then we mustn't forget the servants: the driver Ernest (Paul Naschy of A Dragonfly for Each Corpse), who's boffing maid Elena (Rosa de Alba), and handsome Harry (Ramiro Oliveros), who's boffing Lisa in addition to his other duties.

The Killer is One of 13 takes its time in getting there, and a good hour has gone by before the murders occur in rapid succession. This Spanish film is almost more of an Agatha Christie-type murder mystery than a horror film, but it's somewhat entertaining and fun on that level. Some of the sleazy characters and some more-than-adequate acting help put it over, and the ending is perfectly rational and satisfying, if not entirely unexpected. 

Verdict: More suspects than murders! **1/2. 

SO SAD ABOUT GLORIA

Lori Saunders

SO SAD ABOUT GLORIA (1973). Director: Harry Thomason. NOTE: Some plot points are revealed in this review.

Wealthy Gloria (Lori Saunders) is released from a sanitarium and into the care of her Uncle Fred (Dean Jagger). Apparently she was traumatized when she saw her father die, although the details regarding this are never explained. She meets a novelist named Chris (Robert Ginnaven) and the two quickly fall in love. They move into a house where a young lady was axed to death (a bloody but not terribly graphic sequence depicted early in the movie). When she learns about the still unsolved murder, Gloria becomes a little unhinged, and keeps hearing music even though Chris hears nothing. When Chris goes into town to meet with his publisher, Gloria is left alone in the house as fate rapidly rushes up to engulf her ... 

Robert Ginnaven

The biggest problem with the clumsily directed and edited So Sad About Gloria isn't that you can see the twist coming from a mile away, but that the film leaves the viewer dangling. I have no problem in relating that the identity of the aforementioned axe murderer, who apparently appears twice, is never 

revealed. Although the big scene is the murder of the young woman, we never learn the slightest thing about her, not even her name! Aside from Dean Jagger and Seymour Treitman, who plays a sort of handyman, the acting throughout is too often very stilted and unreal. Furthermore, there are far too many annoying flashbacks showing an axe chopping at chains wrapped around a coffin, with no explanation for this forthcoming. To be fair, there are a couple of suspenseful sequences. Harry Thomason, who directed and produced this and other terrible films, fled to television where he produced Designing Women, The Fall Guy, and others. 

Verdict: Lowercase suspense film. **. 

TORSO

 

TORSO (1973/Italy). Director: Sergio Martino. 

While this Italian giallo film lacks the style, finesse and classy art direction of the best of Mario Bava and Dario Argento, it does manage to work up some suspense and chills in the final quarter. Young women are being stalked, murdered and dismembered in Rome. The suspects include a professor, a love-sick student, a handsome doctor, a co-ed's uncle, the "village idiot" and others. The heroine, Jane, (Suzy Kendall) retreats with three friends to a house in the country high atop a cliff, but finds she can not escape the killer. The movie begins inauspiciously and promises to be a pretty dull item, but it sustains interest until an excellent sequence when Jane hides from the maniac as he begins to dismember her friends. Later there is a very taut, chilling sequence when he goes through her room in search of her and nearly finds her. If the whole movie had been on the level of these tense scenes it really might have amounted to something. As it is, horror fans may find it worthwhile. The professor, Franz, is played by John Richardson, who co-starred with Raquel Welch in One Million Years B.C. (1967) and did little else of note. The script throws in a lesbian love-making scene for no apparent reason other than to presumably add some extra titillation. None of the killer's many victims, either male or female, ever seem to fight back. At one point he manages to dispatch three women (off-screen) at the same time! 

Verdict: Not great, but of interest to fans of psycho-shockers. **1/2.

THE BOY WHO CRIED WEREWOLF (1973)

Kerwin Mathews and Scott Sealey

THE BOY WHO CRIED WEREWOLF (1973). Director: Nathan Juran.

A divorced and somwhat chauvinistic father, Robert Bridgestone (Kerwin Mathews) and his young son, Richie (Scott Sealey), take off for a cabin in the mountains for a vacation. While there Robert saves his son from an attack by a strange person who bites Robert on the arm. Richie is convinced that the person who attacked them was a werewolf, and later that his own father has become one himself. A series of gruesome dismemberment murders in the area have the police stymied, but no one will believe Richie. 

Mathews begins his transformation

The Boy Who Cried Werewolf is the last film directed by Nathan Juran, who worked with star Kerwin Mathews on two fantasy adventure pictures, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and Jack the Giant Killer. The premise of this film is a good one, but not enough is done with it. A big problem is the fact that while Mathews made a fine swashbuckling hero in the aforementioned movies, in this his acting is insufficient. Little Scott Sealey gives an earnest performance and is a likable youngster, but he doesn't quite hit the mark, either. Elaine Devry is more than acceptable as the boy's mother, and there are some flavorful character performances sprinkled throughout. 

Kerwin Mathews and Elaine Devry

The movie has uneven scoring and missed opportunities, although there are some exciting action sequences, such as when the werewolf attacks a trailer and some other people and causes a great deal of havoc. A psychiatrist who accepts the werewolf explanation much too easily (even if he's right!) is savagely murdered, but unfortunately the shrill, annoying head of a hippie commune is spared that fate. The make up by Tom Burnam is good even if one might question the werewolf's pompadour. 

Verdict: A boy and his werewolf. **1/2.

THE HORROR AT 37,000 FEET

Chuck Connors

THE HORROR AT 37,000 FEET (CBS telefilm/1973). Director: David Lowell Rich. 

Captain Slade (Chuck Connors of Hot Rod Girl) is flying a passenger plane from Heathrow airport to New York. Architect Alan O'Neill (Roy Thinnes of The Invaders) is shipping, via the cargo hold, an altar, among other items, from an abbey that was built over a place of Druid sacrifice. Another passenger, Mrs. Pinder (Tammy Grimes), failed to stop Alan from taking the altar from England via legal means but is planning to try again in New York. Meanwhile, once the flight takes off, Alan's wife, Sheila (Jane Merrow), begins hearing frightening voices. And the cargo bay begins to develop a frigid atmosphere that quick-freezes the poor flight navigator (Russell Johnson). Before long there's a full-stage panic aboard the plane as Slade tries to get his ship out of an unholy wind and the passengers fight against the demonic force in the cargo bay. 

William Shanter, Jane Merrow, Roy Thinnes

The Horror at 37,000 Feet is one of a great many made-for-TV horror films that proliferated during the seventies, and it's an entertaining picture, although anyone expecting a masterpiece of terror will be disappointed. Despite the absurdities of the plot and some of the situations, the movie is fast-paced and harrowing enough to easily help the viewer suspend disbelief. A big plus for the production is the way the entire cast plays so well together even after things get seriously weird and some of the characters become understandably hysterical. Although William Shatner [Dead Man's Island] doesn't quite get a handle on his role as an ex-priest, generally playing in too perfunctory a style (but at least not over-acting), Conners is solid and Tammy Grimes excellent as the strange Mrs. Pinder. 

Buddy Ebsen and Will Hutchins

Being a TV movie, it's no surprise that the film is full of TV stars, including the already named along with Buddy Ebsen (as a wealthy entrepreneur) and Will Hutchins (as a cowboy star in foreign movies) with Paul Winfield and Lynn Lowry along for the ride. The whole thing reminds one of a slightly longer episode of Twilight Zone or Outer Limits, and works on that level. One wishes there had been more outside shots of the plane in flight to remind viewers that everyone is miles up in the air, adding another degree of fear and tension to the proceedings. France Nuyen plays a model and H. M. Wynant is a co-pilot. Jane Merrow is an English actress who did a lot of work on American television (as well as British TV series) and appeared in such films as Hands of the Ripper and Island of the Burning Damned; she is fine. Creepy theme music by Morton Stevens. 

Verdict: Don't watch before booking your next plane trip. ***.