Dig Two Graves or Just Come Back from One: Lady Morgan’s Vengeance (1965) Review [Gothic Fantastico: Four Italian Tales of Terror Box Set]

Director: Massimo Pupillo

Notable Cast: Barbara Nelli, Paul Müller, Gordon Mitchell, Erika Blanc, Michel Forain, Carlo Kechler, Edith MacGoven

 

Arrow Video has delivered another one of those classic box sets they are known for unleashing with their latest: Gothic Fantastico: Four Italian Tales of Terror. Pulling together four films under a common thematic and stylistic aspect, this set contains some 1960s cult cinema finds with brand new 2K restorations, gorgeous packaging, and enough new commentaries, essays, and interviews to impress any movie collector.

 

Although this might be the first film in the Gothic Fantastico: Four Italian Tales of Terror box set, one might expect that a film named Lady Morgan’s Vengeance would have a lot more - vengeance? Yet this 1965 gothic romantic horror film centers most of its time and energy around the gaslighting of the titular Susan Morgan rather than the vengeance that comes thereafter. Not that establishing characters, plot, and motivations is a bad thing, but despite some strong visual elements and performances Lady Morgan’s Vengeance is a film that doubles down on its easy-to-consume (yet oddly offbeat) story which burdens the overall experience. 

 

Hammered in the Neck: Hammer's Dracula Franchise Part III

There is a beauty, style, and look to classic Hammer horror films that only that studio contains. There are only a handful of times in the history of cinema that a studio has defined themselves so steadfast, even when they experiment, one can immediately tell who made it by the style and tone. Hammer is one of those. For this latest franchise article, we were asked to cover some of the major Hammer studio releases and it seemed only fitting to start with the one that most people recognize: Dracula. Spanning multiple decades, the Dracula series is often times as iconic as the original Universal series and it certainly helped solidify both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee as genre cornerstones. Truthfully, it was a pleasure to be asked to go back and watch this franchise once again and write this series of articles. Not that my words do it much justice, but even if I can inspire one to revisit the films, then I will have done my duty.

Due to the length of this franchise, it only made sense to split it up into multiple articles to prevent having one massive piece that people will tire of reading by the time they reach the third or fourth film. Since there are nine entries, it made sense to evenly split the articles into three films each. For this third and final part of the article, we will be covering the seventh, eighth, and ninth entries into the series.

Hammered in the Neck: Hammer's Dracula Franchise Part II

There is a beauty, style, and look to classic Hammer horror films that only that studio contains. There are only a handful of times in the history of cinema that a studio has defined themselves so steadfast, even when they experiment, one can immediately tell who made it by the style and tone. Hammer is one of those. For this latest franchise article, we were asked to cover some of the major Hammer studio releases and it seemed only fitting to start with the one that most people recognize: Dracula. Spanning multiple decades, the Dracula series is often times as iconic as the original Universal series and it certainly helped solidify both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee as genre cornerstones. Truthfully, it was a pleasure to be asked to go back and watch this franchise once again and write this series of articles. Not that my words do it much justice, but even if I can inspire one to revisit the films, then I will have done my duty.

Due to the length of this franchise, it only made sense to split it up into multiple articles to prevent having one massive piece that people will tire of reading by the time they reach the third or fourth film. Since there are nine entries, it made sense to evenly split the articles into three films each. For this second part of the article, we will be covering the fourth, fifth, and sixth entries into the series.

City of the Dead (1960)

Director: John Moxey

Notable Cast: Christopher Lee, Dennis Lotis, Patricia Jessel, Tom Naylor, Betta St. John, Venetia Stevenson, Valentine Dyall, Ann Beach, Norman Macowan

City of the Dead was one of those films that would occasionally pop up in my peripheral vision as a cult cinema consumer, but it was not one that I would actively seek out. Even with a huge name like Christopher Lee attached to it, the lacking attachment of any of the bigger studios of the period (Hammer, Amicus) certainly had a part to play in my hesitation to leap into it, but the latest Blu Ray release from VCI perked my interest. While City of the Dead does hit some of the necessary Gothic elements that one expects from a film of this caliber, it’s also not a film that finds itself uplifted into the upper echelon of the genre. Still, fans of the style and those looking for a decent classic horror film to burn some time with will be fine with what is on display here - although it does tend to be somewhat forgettable ultimately.

Scalpel (1977)

Director: John Grissmer

Notable Cast: Robert Lansing, Judith Chapman, Arlen Dean Snyder, David Scarroll, Sandy Martin

Going into the latest Blu Ray release of Scalpel, there was only one expectation that I had in mind: that it was directed by the same man, John Grissmer, that gave us the highly entertaining slasher film Blood Rage (which also received a slick Blu Ray from Arrow Video.) With a name like Scalpel and knowing his work on Blood Rage, my expectations for the film were to have a highly entertaining and tongue in cheek film. That is not at all what style is used with Scalpel. Instead, the film is a subtle, atmosphere soaked Southern Gothic film meant to be more unnerving and morally vague than anything else. Still, the film is a cult cinema find for those not familiar with it or love their 70s style atmospheric fringe horror. Not to mention, the release itself is packed with plenty of features that cinephiles will love to dissect.

Spotlight on a Murderer (1961)

Director: Georges Franju

Notable Cast: Pierre Brasseur, Pascale Audret, Marianne Koch, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Dany Saval, Jean Babilee, Georges Rollin, Gerard Buhr, Maryse Martin, Serge Marquand, Lucien Raimbourg, Robert Vattier, Jean Ozenne, Philippe Leroy

One of the beautiful aspects of writing about cult film is that, with an open mind, there is a lot of surprises out there in the historical landscape of the art and so much of it is overlooked. Spotlight for a Murderer is one of those films that creates a special moment of discovery for me. Arrow Academy is a label fairly new to me as Blood Brothers has mostly dedicated its time to genre films more often than arthouse cinema, but Spotlight for a Murderer is one that appeals to both the genre side and the arthouse side. A 1961 French murder mystery flick, this gem is at times a noir, a gothic horror flick, an Agatha Christie inspired thriller, and a satire on all those things. It adheres to the tropes, but does so in a manner that indicates it knows it is accomplishing just that and starts to toy with its audience in the meantime. The film is highly engaging and is practically self-aware which makes it the perfect kind of cult film, in the know but well executed enough to exist on multiple levels. Needless to say, for those who enjoy any of the above listed genres or styles, Spotlight on a Murderer is a film primed for your collection.

Psychomania (1972)

Director: Don Sharp        

Notable Cast: Nicky Henson, Mary Larkin, George Sanders, Beryl Reid, Roy Holder, Robert Hardy

Psychomania just makes sense. Perhaps not in its narrative because that is generally all over the place, but combining the thrills of the 70s biker movie with the 70s occult flick seems like common sense. You’re now hitting two genres with exploitative appeal and doing it at the same time. Psychomania does just that and does it with decent effect. The results can be a bit mixed overall, occasionally unfocused in how it wants to present its characters or even logistics when it comes to its hodge podge of occult/supernatural elements, but this film was ultimately much better than expected. It’s an enjoyable piece of cinema, powered by a lot of quirky pieces and an oddly engaging love story, but it touches on a lot of great concepts that span over the themes of both genre styles that ought to please a lot of cult cinema fans. Psychomania is the perfect addition to Arrow Video’s gems from the cult cinema past.

Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave, The (1971)

PART OF THE KILLER DAMES BOX SET FROM ARROW VIDEO

Director: Emilio Miraglia

Notable Cast: Anthony Steffan, Marina Malfatti, Rod Murdock, Giacomo Rossi Stuart, Umberto Raho, Roberto Maldera, Joan C. Davies, Erika Blanc

In an effort to set up a context for this review, I’ll admit – I made a mistake. Instead of watching the two films in the Killer Dames double feature box set in chronological order, I started with The Red Queen Kills Seven Times mostly due to its kickass title. I had little knowledge of either film prior to watching them, perhaps knowing that they were cult favorites for some of my giallo loving cohorts, and I was pleasantly surprised with the The Red Queen’s blend of gothic elements and giallo structures. Going into the previous film The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave (which will be referred to as Evelyn from this point on) of similar style from director Miraglia, I had high hopes for another round of gothic giallo fun. However, The Red Queen was most definitely a more refined approach to this style. Evelyn is certainly a ballsy film at times, willing to sacrifice logic or narrative flow for the sake of a few shocks and revelations, but it sacrifices too much and it ends up feeling half cooked despite some strong visual elements and exciting concepts.

Red Queen Kills Seven Times, The (1972)

PART OF THE KILLER DAMES BOX SET FROM ARROW VIDEO

Director: Emilio Miraglia

Notable Cast: Barbara Bouchet, Ugo Pagliai, Marina Malfatti, Marino Mase, Maria Pia Giancaro, Sybil Danning, Nino Korda, Fabrizio Moresco, Rudolf Schundler

Being as this is the first year that I’ve really dug into the giallo genre with more than just a casual curiosity, I am finding myself starting to see the genre’s tones, patterns, and style that has set the sub-genre as a cult favorite for decades. It helps that Arrow Video has been intent on digging up not only the mainstream ones that everyone knows, but ones from the second tier level that are worthy of viewing as new releases for people like me who may not have gotten around to seeing them in previous formats. Their latest Blu Ray box set, Killer Dames, built with a double feature of giallo films from director Emilio Miraglia, sits right within that realm. The first film from the set I am reviewing, the awesomely titled The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (which will from this point just be referred to as The Red Queen) sports a slick mix of Italian gothic elements within the classic giallo structure and narrative approach. The film can be a bit scattered when it comes to drawing out a cohesive mystery to its plotting, but its flaws are made up for by a visual and auditory feast for giallo fans.

Baron Blood (1972)

Director: Mario Bava

Notable Cast: Elke Sommer, Massimo Birotti, Rada Rassimov, Antonio Cantafora, Umberto Raho, Joseph Cotton, Luciano Pigozzi, Dieter Tressler

Recently I held a discussion with some friends about the generally over used phrase ‘style over substance’ in cinema and its rather derogatory usage. Granted, I agree that substance always trumps style, but I would also make the argument that sometimes it’s perfectly fine for a film to have lots of style even if the substance part of its appeal is less than fulfilling. An archetypal example of this discussion and my stance on it is Baron Blood, one of director Mario Bava’s pre-slasher horror films that he was toying with in the early 70s. As you will see by the rating at the end of this review, Baron Blood is hardly a great film and the issues with its ‘substance’ certainly drag down a shallow script to what could have been a fascinating plot. However, the film is still very entertaining as it merges the cult and gothic tones of Black Sunday into what would end up being a slasher film form. Sure, its substance is a bit weak and the plotting horribly formulaic for someone 40 years later, but the style is so much fun that it carries a mediocre film into being rather memorable. ­­

Mummy, The (1932)

Director: Karl Freund
Notable Cast: Boris Karloff, Zita Johann, David Manners, Arthur Bryon, Edward Van Sloan

When someone says "Universal Monsters" people usually think of Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolf Man...and the Mummy. The Mummy always seems to be the last on the list. For the most part I think many people find this film to be the least of the aforementioned films. I as a child also found The Mummy to be my least favorite of the four. Re-watching it again as an adult with an adult perspective I can still honestly say that it is still my least favorite of the major four films. This however doesn't mean I dislike the film just less than the others.

The film opens with an impressive Egyptian model for the title sequence and then the audience is thrown into Egypt in which a dig is being conducted on a mummy's tomb. When a sacred box is opened our Mummy awakens. After a very short sequence of the mummy in his bandaged form, he returns on screen as the more human looking Boris Karloff who is searching for the reincarnated soul of his long lost love.