150 Movies You Should Die Before You See - Miller Steve [36]
Thumbs Down Rating:
The Crappies
The Worst Script Award goes to … Edgar G. Ulmer and Peter Ruric for writing an adaptation of The Black Cat that has more in common with The Fall of the House of Usher.
And the Worst Director Award goes to … Edgar G. Ulmer for giving the film a cheerful denouement, ruining what could have been one of the creepiest endings in the history of film.
They Really Said It!
Poelzig: The phone is dead. Do you hear that, Vitus? Even the phone is dead.
Betcha Didn't Know
This was Universal's biggest grossing film in 1934, with a production cost of $96,000 and a domestic box-office take of $236,000.
This was the first screen-pairing of Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi.
Trivia Quiz
Which star of The Black Cat also appeared in Universal's second movie to bear this title?
A: Boris Karloff
B: Bela Lugosi
C: David Manners
D: Jacqueline Wells
Answer: B. Bela Lugosi has a bit-part as a creepy groundskeeper in the 1941 horror-comedy.
FROM BEYOND
Empire Pictures, 1986
PRODUCERS Charles Band (executive producer) and Brian Yunza (producer)
WRITERS Brian Yunza and David Paoli (script), H. P. Lovecraft (original short story)
DIRECTOR Stuart Gordon
STARS Jeffrey Combs (Crawford Tillinghast), Barbara Crampton (Dr.
Katherine McMichaels), Ken Foree (Buford “Bubba” Brownlee), Ted Sorel (Dr. Edward Pretorius), and Carolyn Purdy-Gordon (Dr. Bloch)
A pair of physicists (Combs and Sorel) create a machine that causes our dimension to merge with another. They end up unleashing horrors — and sexual perversion — unlike any seen before.
Why It Sucks
The similarity between the movie From Beyond and the H. P. Lovecraft story it sprang from ends about ten minutes in. It's a gory, goopy movie that you do not want to watch while eating. Not bad in many ways, but it's got very little to do with Lovecraft's fiction.
Thumbs Down Rating:
The Crappies
The Worst Special-Effects Award goes to … The animators who created the “mystic energy” effects. Even by 1980s low-budget sci-fi standards they were bad.
And the Worst Actress Award goes to … Carolyn Purdy-Gordon as Dr. Bloch for playing her part while clearly thinking “I wish I were somewhere else.”
They Really Said It!
Crawford Tillinghast: It ate him! Bit his head off — like a ginger-bread man!
Betcha Didn't Know
This was one of three H. P. Lovecraft — based films that Stuart Gordon directed for companies operated by B movie mogul Charles Band.
Jeremy Combs and Barbara Crampton also star in Gordon's two other Band-produced Lovecraft films.
Trivia Quiz
What famous pop culture location did H. P. Lovecraft create?
A: Springfield
B: Arkham Asylum
C: The Land of Oz
D: Atlantis
Answer: B. Arkham Asylum. Several of Lovecraft's characters end up there or at least visit it. It's located in the fictional Massachusetts town of Arkham.
MODESTY BLAISE
Twentieth Century Fox, 1966
PRODUCERS Joseph Janni
WRITERS Evan Jones (script), Stanley Dubens and Peter O'Donnell (original comic strip)
DIRECTOR Joseph Losey
STARS Monica Vitti (Modesty Blaise), Terence Stamp (Willie Garvin), Clive Revill (McWhirter/Sheik Abu Tahir), Dirk Bogarde (Gabriel), Harry Andrews (Sir Gerald Tarrant), Michael Craig (Paul Hagan), and Rosella Falk (Mrs. Fothergill)
Adventuress Modesty Blaise (Vitti) and her sidekick Willie Garvin (Stamp) come out of semi-retirement to stop an unknown enemy from interfering with a shipment of diamonds promised to an eccentric Middle Eastern leader (Revill). Along the way Blaise clashes with her old enemy Gabriel (Bogarde).
Why It Sucks
Modesty Blaise has a timeless adventure tale. The villains manage to be creepy and funny at the same time; the film captures the relationship between Willie and Modesty perfectly. And then the filmmakers decided to go campy. Sigh. Modesty's hair color