TALK'S CHEAP, ACTION'S EXPENSIVE: THE FILMS OF ROBERT L. LIPPERT

TALK'S CHEAP, ACTION'S EXPENSIVE: The Films of Robert L. Lippert. Mark Thomas McGee. BearManor; 2014. 

This is a very entertaining look at the output, life and career of Robert L. Lippert, a prolific producer of mostly B movies from the forties to sixties. The book is divided into four chapters or sections -- Screen Guild, Lippert Pictures, Regal Films and Associated Producers, Inc -- which examine different periods in Lippert's career. Genre films Lippert produced include The Lost Continent, Unknown World, The Quatermass Xperiment, The Fly (one of his most famous and successful pictures), The Last Man on Earth with Vincent Price, The Earth Dies Screaming, and The Horror of It All with Pat Boone; he also did non-genre films such as The Steel Helmet and The Baron of Arizona, also with Price, and many westerns. Lippert started out in the business by owning a chain of theaters, then decided to fill the theaters with his own productions. He entered into an association with 20th-Century Fox to make black and white cinemascope productions that didn't carry the Fox name and were released under the Regal banner. His various companies also released many films that were major money-makers, such as Rocketship X-M. Margia Dean [Sins of Jezebel], who appeared in many of Lippert's movies, was apparently cast so frequently because she was his mistress. Lippert frequently claimed that he gave audiences what they wanted and was more concerned with profit than artistic merit. Still, he was responsible for some memorable films throughout his long Hollywood career. Appendices list every film that Lippert had any kind of association with. 

Verdict: An engaging and informative trip down B Movie Memory Lane. ***1/2. 

VAMPIRA: DARK GODDESS OF HORROR

VAMPIRA: DARK GODDESS OF HORROR. W. Scott Poole. Soft Skull Press; 2014. 

I've already noted that since books on major stars have been done ad nauseam, publishers began offering works on third-tier or even fringe "celebrities," often with some sort of hook to make the book of more interest. Maila Nurmi was a wannabee actress and sometime model whose greatest claim to fame was having a silent role as a ghoul in Ed Wood's not-so-classic Plan Nine from Outer Space. She had appeared for about a year as Vampira on a LA TV show as a hostess for schlock horror films, Author Poole admits this book is not a traditional biography; there simply isn't enough material to work with. Instead Poole puts Nurmi in perspective with the mores and attitudes of the period she lived in, especially in regards to the role of women. To his credit, Poole resists pretension for the most part, and the book is more interesting than you would at first imagine. Poole writes of how Cassandra Peterson, also known as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, pretty much stole Vampira's act, and a legal battle ensued. Nurmi's first husband, actor-writer Dean Reisner, wrote screenplays for Dirty Harry, The Beguiled, Play Misty for Me, and other Clint Eastwood flicks, among others, and she hung out with Janes Dean for a time, although their connection is rather tenuous. Reviewing this book. one critic claims that "Vampira is up there with Vincent Price," which is, of course, ridiculous, as Price was a gifted actor with a long, long career and Nurmi was strictly camp-of-the-moment. 

Verdict: Well-written look at fringe celebrity who had a brief Hollywood flicker. ***. 

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.