Video - THREE CASES OF MURDER (1954)

I finally got around to watching this very British portmanteau that kept me amused for the duration. It is certainly worth seeing if you are searching for something a little different this Halloween season. 

Trailer From Hell - TALES OF TERROR (1962)

In this Trailer From Hell Roger Corman takes us behind the scenes of his fourth Edgar Allan Poe adaptation, a three-story omnibus written by the great Richard Matheson. The film has a great cast and it swings from funny to creepy with deft skill. Somehow this film is often forgotten when discussions of anthology horror films come up and it shouldn’t be. It isn’t my favorite of Corman’s Poe series but it is fantastic.

The Bloody Pit #186 - A CHRISTMAS HORROR STORY (2015)

December brings our annual Holiday Horror episode! John Hudson and Troy Guinn join me to discuss the anthology film A CHRISTMAS HORROR STORY (2015).

We keep the conversation almost completely spoiler free with only a few third act details being alluded to as we go along. We talk about the possibility that Shatner might have ad-libbed some of his dialog as DJ Dangerous Dan and marvel at his ability to bend a syllable. Each of us picks our favorite of the stories presented and Troy points to some paths he thought the narrative might take that were skipped past. The darkly humorous nature of elements of the film are discussed with attention to how the laughs add to the entertainment level. We also bring up a couple of other recently seen Christmas horror movies as examples of our annual desire to see more of this subgenre. Toshi the cat visits us to rub up against the microphone and disrupt our trains of thought, such as they are. And the show ends with a brief tale about Mr. Hudson having been recognized as a recently published Cinema Sewer interviewer. Cool stuff!

We hope everyone has a Happy Holiday season and if you have any comments about the show thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to send them. Stay safe and hug your loved ones. Thank you for listening.

The Bloody Pit #164 - FLESH AND FANTASY (1943)

FLESH AND FANTASY (1943) is a film that should be much better known both in Horror fan circles and among fans of classic cinema in general. Directed by one of the giants of French cinema transplanted to America Julien Duvivier, this film shows the care and craftsmanship of a fine storyteller working with the full resources of a major studio. Following the template he had used in his earlier film TALES OF MANHATTAN (1942), this is an anthology with three vignettes linked by a framing device with humorist Robert Benchley. But that wasn’t exactly the original vision of this movie, as we will discuss.

Troy and I return to the Universal horror films with a true outlier this time. FLESH AND FANTASY is easily the most expensive production on our list of these 1940’s films with its large budget and cast of major movie stars being just the most obvious differences from the monster sequels surrounding it. The movie uses all its resources wonderfully to present a dazzling series of visuals and at least one of the best (possibly) supernatural stories the studio would ever make. The cast is fantastic and filmmaking a delight! It is a shock how underseen and underappreciated this excellent movie has been but with a Blu-Ray release just around the corner we hope that is about to change. Join us a for an interesting conversation about the production, structure and underlying themes of this hidden gem.

The show’s email address is thebloodypit@gmail.com and we’d love to hear your thoughts on FLESH AND FANTASY or any of the movies we’ve covered. Thank you for listening and we’ll be back with an email episode very soon.

TALES OF TERROR (1962) - Trailers From Hell

It's always fun to have Roger Corman talk about his classic Poe adaptations and this is no exception. Check it out! 

Made For TV Horror - DARKROOM (1981)

Although the past decade has seen a resurgence of the anthology horror film there haven't been nearly as many new television series that follow the multiple stories per episode format. That is a shame as I think these kind of shows allow for a couple of fascinating programming possibilities. There is the ability to put together two or more different stories that share a theme or even a star. I could even envision a series that occasionally featured multiple stories by the same famous author as an event episode. Also, it would be possible to use a later story to soften the harshness of the preceding tale with a humorous final play to make the darker opening punch seem less rough. The options seem limitless especially with the more permissive standards of cable and streaming we have now.

 

But if you are interested in past attempts to bring this type of show to the masses I am happy to say that NBC has made the short-lived 1981 anthology horror series DARKROOM available to stream from their website. If you have a Roku TV or another streaming device you can watch episodes of this rare little gem on the NBC app and see what worked and didn't in this show. I can't claim every episode was great but when you see Robert Bloch and Brian Clemons' names attached you know the right people are in there pitching! I'm going to be rewatching episodes for the rest of October to discover if my positive memories are accurate or not. Fingers crossed! 

Darkroom on NBC

Re-visit - SCREAMS OF A WINTER NIGHT (1979)

I recently rewatched this low budget indie horror film and enjoyed it even more this time. Part of that might be because this time I was watching a much better print on the Code Red Blu-Ray meaning that I was seeing an improved image with more sharpness and detail. Shot on location in Louisiana it was inspired by the success of various other regional filmmakers like Charles B. Piece (LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK, TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN) and Joy Houck (CREATURE FROM BLACK LAKE).

The setup is a classic! On a dark night a group of vacationing college friends tell each other several different stories while at a cabin in the woods. There are the various stereotypes on display from practical joker to lothario to different shades of bland white guy. The ladies are even less well defined with only one of them given much to do but the actress in question really digs into things. The thing is, the stories that they tell are fun. They are mostly variations on the standard campfire tales used to scare people for decades if not centuries and they generally work well. You’ve probably heard a version of at least one of them yourself in your youth but a well done scary story can get the job done regardless of familiarity.

For this viewing though, the real draw for me was that this Blu-Ray has the rare, longer version of the movie that included an entire excised tale. This story is about a couple of guys that encounter some spooky entities lurking in a graveyard after dark. Now, this film is a perfect example of 1970’s PG rated horror in that it is more creepy and fun than frightening or scary. It has its chilling moments but there is little to bother an old horror hound like me. Except…. This new story got to me. And it got me even though the method used is as simple as an old spook show or a cheesy William Castle Emergo stunt. I won’t ruin it for new viewers but there were a couple of moments that actually got under my skin and made me start checking the shadows for stalking creatures! It was so effective I was still creeped out a while later when I went to sleep. “Are those things flitting around the end of the bed? Better check.” How cool! And unexpected.

SCREAMS OF A WINTER NIGHT (1979) isn’t some undiscovered classic but it is a very well-done little movie that has a few surprises up it’s sleeve. It might get to you the way it got to me. Or it might get to you in a completely different way. That’s one of the joys of anthology films – debating which segment is best! 

Trailers From Hell - WILD TALES (2014)

With this trailer commentary Brian Trenchard-Smith reminded me of this excellent Argentinian anthology film. It's comprised of six  revenge tales and manages to be funny, scary and (eventually) touching. The movie's vicious humor is as sharp as a well-honed blade digging into class differences, fidelity and societal expectations. I need to seek out more from director Damián Szifrón.  

John Ford's THE RISING OF THE MOON (1957)

Because Turner Classic Movies showed it back last March (and my DVR still held on to it, thank goodness) I finally was able to catch up with John Ford's Irish anthology film THE RISING OF THE MOON (1957). I was well aware of director Ford's previous Irish epic THE QUIET MAN (1952) which is rightly considered a classic and is a film that I dearly love. This film seems to be much less well-known and there really is no excuse beyond  the sadly obvious -  this one does not have an identifiable American movie star at its core. Also, I guess, the anthology format works against it for broad audience acceptance which I think is a real shame. I love anthology movies and all three of the tales told here are really entertaining with great humor and fine wit at every turn. I suspect that the producers or Ford himself may have feared the lack of star box office appeal as evidenced by the inclusion of Tyrone Power as the narrator and host of all three tales. This gives a slight Hollywood sheen to the stories that are otherwise populated by dozens of fine Irish actors drawn from that country's stage and film community. The film  was shot completely on location in Ireland (except for the Powers segments, I assume) and part of the fun of watching is to see the wonderful sights of that land circa the 1950's. The black & white photography is so beautiful I only once or twice wished for it to be in color so I could see the natural vistas in their green glory.

THE RISING OF THE MOON is a fantastic, entertaining picture and one I plan to rewatch around St. Patrick's Day if possible. If you can get your hands on it maybe you'll enjoy laughing along with Mr. Ford and his collaborators too. Warner Archives sells it on DVD if Turner isn't available in your neck o'the woods. I recommend it!