Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with the final entry to the special Halloween run of A Movie A Day!
Since it is Halloween and I have gotten caught up in the festivities of my favorite holiday (thus getting behind on these entries) I figured why not package all three of the remaining AMADs together!
Even though the last film I’ll be talking about is considered a classic in the horror genre I must admit to liking WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO AUNT ALICE? the best of all three movies.
It’s not a mind-blowingly eerie film or even really creepy or scary at all, but what it does have is some fine, fine acting.
I loveses Ruth Gordon. As a kid she was the funny grumpy lady in EVERY WHICH WAY YOU CAN and ANY WHICH WAY YOU CAN and as I grew older I found her in films like ROSEMARY’S BABY and the amazing Hal Ashby twisted romantic comedy HAROLD AND MAUDE.
I’ve described character actors as “comfort food” for cinephiles and if I stick with that analogy Ruth Gordon would be a big ol’ quart of cookies & cream ice cream. I get an automatic smile when I see her.
So you can imagine my joy to see her in a cat and mouse thriller as two aging women engage in a game of wits.
Geraldine Page is an older lady used to an extravagant lifestyle. Her not-so-loved husband died and left her nothing but debt, so naturally she does the noble thing… kills her help after taking their savings in a Madoff-ish stock market scheme.
The only trouble with doing that is that you have to hire someone new to take their place… preferably someone with enough money to make it worth going through the effort of murder.
Shortly we’re introduced to Ruth Gordon as Alice, the new “companion” which in rich-speak means maid that talks to you. She seems the perfect victim… she has some money, but no family or friends. Yep, she’s destined to end up under one of Page’s trees. Oh yeah, she gets rid of the evidence by planting trees on top of the bodies.
In true rich-killer socialite fashion, Page has her Mexican gardener dig the hole and then at night Page herself bumps off the old lady AFTER making her “companion” drag the sapling. Yeah, what a bitch, right? There are some harsh class warfare allegories at work with this flick apparent enough even to dumb ol’ me.
So you’re already rooting for Ruth Gordon even before she arrives with her hot temper and too-perfect background.
Final thoughts: Produced by The Dirty Dozen’s Robert Aldrich the flick has an undeniable class to it. Even at its craziest the movie doesn’t delve into exploitative territory, which might turn a few horror fans off, but those that are willing to stick it out will really dig it, especially when Gordon shows up. She’s at the top of her game and it’s awesome watching her and Page go at it.
Next up is an Italian Giallo starring a Bond!
This trailer has run a few times at the Alamo Drafthouse and it’s a doozy. Check it out:
When I finally forked over the dough for the DVD I knew I was ultimately going to cover it in one of these columns, for good or ill. It’s one of those movies that has a title too good not to give a watch.
The trouble with the movie is that only hardcore Italian horror and giallo fans are going to seek it out, but if you’re a hardcore giallo fan you’ve seen much better entries into the genre than this one.
I won’t say WHO SAW HER DIE? is a bad movie. It’s not. It’s a very competent, well-acted (for the most part), not too horribly dubbed movie. Unfortunately it also lacks that zing that could have taken it over the line. There’ just nothing memorable about the movie.
This film is set in Venice as a father searches for his daughter’s killer. In many ways it’s a precursor to Don’t Look Now, but with half the atmosphere, half the script and half the “oh Jesus God No!”ishness.
George Lazenby plays the dad and does a good enough job in only his third feature credit. He’s about as ‘70s as you can get, with shoulder-length post-hippie hair, a giant mustache and a turtleneck. He actually manages to turn in a natural performance while having to re-deliver his performance with ADR, providing his own dub.
As you’d expect in a giallo the more he searches, the crazier people he finds, ultimately leading to a debauched sex circle that has something to do with why the killer is murdering children.
Without giving away the twist on who the mysterious woman is smothering ginger girls to death the most interesting aspect of the movie is the meaning behind the person that is revealed and just what that says politically and socially. There’s a definite statement being made about just how horrible extreme conservative social values can be.
A real nice treat, though, was getting to listen to the bizarre, but typically A+ score from one Ennio Morricone. I didn’t see his name on the credits, but even during the movie I was thinking the score was pretty rad. Go Ennio!
And the final official entry into this limited AMAD return, film 31 of 31, is noneother than:
I feel really bad being underwhelmed by this movie considering its reputation, but that’s how I feel.
CARNIVAL OF SOULS is an interesting movie, but it definitely wears its age on its sleeve. In fact it really does feel like a Twilight Zone episode expanded to feature length, which isn’t a bad thing, but it wasn’t like watching the best of Val Lewton or looking into the Universal monster movies as a kid. I liked what was on-screen and appreciate the story they’re telling, but I couldn’t really connect to it past a purely respectful position.
The flick opens with a drag race where a car full of girls flies off a bridge. And by flies I mean falls slowely. The cops drag the river for 3 hours and suddenly one of the girls emerges from the water like the accident just happened. She’s somehow alive, but they can’t find the car.
If you’re worried about me spoiling the twist ending… well, there’s no real danger as the movie spoils it for in the first 5 minutes. Everybody keeps commenting that she doesn’t have a soul… from a confused guy interested in her to the priest at the church where she plays organ, although she herself isn’t religious… presumably she was that way before the accident.
As this poor girl (played by Candace Hilligoss) tries to get her life back together she starts seeing a creepy old guy dressed up in make-up very much like the first Romero zombie you see in the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. That’s pretty creepy when he’s glimpsed distorted in reflections, but he shows up a lot and we see a lot of him so he just kinda becomes a guy with white make-up caked on him.
Final Thoughts: Great set-up, rather dull story, I though. I get The Haunting. I get The Innocents. I get James Whale movies, I get Robert Wise and Val Lewton movies. This one I don’t get. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for this one.
Considering it’s Halloween my final recommendation title is going to be a flick set on Halloween and will probably make classic horror fans think I’m insane for loving this piece of ‘80s cheese while not jumping on board the CARNIVAL OF SOULS.
There are many things you will find in 1988’s NIGHT OF THE DEMONS that you will not find in CARNIVAL OF SOULS. For instance, there is not a scene of Candice Hilligoss taking her top off while possessed and using her lipstick to draw a spiral shape ending in the nipple… culminating in the lipstick being pushed into the breast via nipple.
Night of the Demons is cheesy, but it’s also pretty creepy. It has a little bit of an Evil Dead-ish vibe, which I really dig. Real simple, perfectly ‘80s set-up… Kids dress up and get fucked up (and just fucked) on Halloween. They head to an abandoned funeral parlor (wrong) and then make matters worse by deciding to do a séance (wrong). That brings the possessing demon and spreads like a zombie.
Eighties scream queen Linnea Quigley plays her typical character here… Slutty McNakedskin. Surprise surprise, but she’s good at it.
Can I also say how much I love horror movies set on Halloween? There aren’t all that many, actually. Halloween and its sequels, this movie, Hell House, Trick R’ Treat… maybe you can count a hybrid like Lady In White. I’m sure I’m missing some big ones, but that’s all that spring to mind as I huridly type this up so I can get my costume going.
So, yeah. Watch this movie if you haven’t seen it (and can find a copy… holy shit, the DVD is out of print and selling for more than Criterion on the Amazon marketplace right now. Crazy!) and you’ll have a ton of fun, especially if booze, drugs and/or friends are involved.
From the bottom of my heart, I really appreciate all you guys supporting AMAD’s brief return. Don’t fret. AMAD may be over, but I think you might be seeing a return to the regular AMAD in the next couple of months… nudge-nudge.
Now I leave you with something that screams Halloween for me. From the best movie about witch kids at a school ever put on video or whatever horrible thing those wacky Canadians shot on in the ‘80s…
Ladies and Gentlemen… may I present The Grand Wizard, otherwise known as Mr. Timothy Curry Esq.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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