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Post by hman on Aug 7, 2004 10:34:02 GMT -8
So I got back from Brazil this week. I was in Sacramento the other day and I found a DVD three-pack of "The Wasp Woman", "Creature from the Haunted Sea", and "Beast from Haunted Cave." It was $10 for the three of 'em, so there was no way in heck I was going to pass that up.
"The Wasp Woman" was pretty good. It had some surprisingly grisly moments in it for a film of that era. I think they should've shown her more and I think they could've had a better make-up job.
I didn't like "Creature from the Haunted Sea" as much as I would've liked to. Probably because the movie was treated like a comedy and not a horror flick. It would've been better if they would've treated it as such and given it some atmosphere.
"Beast from Haunted Cave" was a lot better. It was a lot more atmospheric and the black and white helps a lot. Not sure if it's a classic, but it's a good effort.
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Aug 7, 2004 12:13:43 GMT -8
I like "Creature" just fine, but then I had an inkling it was a comedy before I started out.
I may pick this one up if I see it.
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Post by hman on Aug 7, 2004 12:46:38 GMT -8
I found it in the DVDs under $10 section at Suncoast. I also got a $10 set of Nosferatu, Phantom of the Opera '25, and Metropolis. It appears that these aren't the cut versions either.
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Post by jamiemark on Sept 5, 2004 5:20:54 GMT -8
In Creature from the Haunted Sea, I got a laugh out of that sailor dude and his wacky island girlfriend  |
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Post by stareater on Dec 28, 2004 15:31:50 GMT -8
I bought this one for $5, mainly for "Beast From Haunted Cave". The film was one that had been stuck in my memory for 25 years. I saw the very ending as a child, with that whacked "Cousin It" spidery monster, and never knew what film it was. Hunted it down on the internet (I must say it again, thank the stars for the 'net!), and was very disappointed after viewing it again. The monster is in it for about 7 seconds, seemingly! Awful movie. Haven't watched the other films on the DVD yet.
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Post by amphiboid on Dec 29, 2004 13:05:29 GMT -8
I loved "THE WASP WOMAN." I only saw it for the first time a couple of years ago, but it's a pretty cool cheese ball.
I have Susan Cabot's autograph around here somewhere...got it at a convention a long, long time ago, before I was aware of anything she'd done.......
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Dec 29, 2004 14:12:16 GMT -8
she always did an excellent job. hang on to that!
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Post by stareater on Dec 31, 2004 6:45:06 GMT -8
Watched Wasp Woman last night. Boy, what a stinker! It did have a nice cast of attractive women, however.
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Post by amphiboid on Dec 31, 2004 10:02:46 GMT -8
I had been urged to see "The Wasp Woman" for some time by another Corman alumnus (yes, I have done my thing over at Corman's from time to time, too). He supposedly grew up with "The Wasp Woman," and says that it actually scared the hell out of him when he was a kid! He says the Wasp Woman looked real back then!!! I can't imagine that.
Well, yes, I can. There were lots of monster movies I saw that seemed so totally real when I was six or seven, but when I see 'em now, I sort of gasp at how fake they look. Like, you know, the baby Rodan cracking out of the egg looks so like a puppet now, and those giant catepillar-bug guys look like the suits they are, but when I was a kid, Eeeeyow! that stuff was too scary. ("Rodan" was one of those movies that REALLY gave me the heebie-jeebies when I was a youngun.)
Susan Cabot did look very beautiful. Except when she turned into the Wasp Woman, that wasn't so nice.
The "Wasp Woman" DVD I bought has a "Drive-In Experience" audio option that will add crickets, people talking, plane flyovers, and other ambient sound effects over the film soundtrack. Quite deliciously bizarre!
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Post by stareater on Dec 31, 2004 13:07:30 GMT -8
I agree with you on the time factor with movies. I recall many old monster movies that scared the beejesus out of me, or I remember as great movies, that come up really lame when I see them again today. Some examples are Maneater of Hydra, Beast From Haunted Cave, and The Creeping Terror. They were all films that either scared me as a kid, or I remember as being the greatest films ever, in that kid way we remember things.
Often, they end up very disappointing when I see them now, and I actually remember them differently than they are. Still, I wouldn't trade in the memories for anything. There was something very cool about rushing home every Saturday to watch the monster flicks, to me anyway.
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Dec 31, 2004 14:41:31 GMT -8
i agree about rushing home to see a movie- or waiting up, or setting the alarm to see it. it made a more complete experience for the movie. nowadays, people want their movies yesterday and at their convinience.
while i am happy we have DVD and home video, it's just not quite the same, is it?
i've rarely had a movie disappoint me when i've seen it again after many years. i can't say the same about seeing an older movie for the first time now though, many times i am only adequately charmed by it.
a few notable exceptions are:
ROBOT MONSTER
THE GIANT CLAW
those i have loved since seeing them in the more recent past.
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Post by amphiboid on Dec 31, 2004 18:57:18 GMT -8
THE CREEPING TERROR.
Now that's a GREAT movie.
Words cannot adequately describe that film!
Jaw-dropping.
Yeah, every week we'd get the TV Guide with the Sunday paper, and lots of kids would go through it, noting which films were playing. I remember always looking at the late night sections for Friday and Saturday night, that was when the really good stuff was usually on. Usually the best stuff was on at one or two in the morning......."Twisted Brain," "Creeping Terror," "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things," and other modern classics, sort of.
Having that stuff available at local video stores just isn't the same...it's too easy!
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Post by jamiemark on Dec 31, 2004 19:15:48 GMT -8
We're lucky here in Canada we have a channel called Drive-In Classics, it has that kind of stuff all the time.  |
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Post by Torgaman on Dec 31, 2004 19:30:28 GMT -8
Dang nab it!I'd move to Canada if it wasn't for the cold.
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Post by stareater on Jan 3, 2005 11:06:30 GMT -8
On the subject of "old school", I've been trying to view some films that have been sitting on my shelf for awhile that I haven't seen yet. I posted my opinion on Wasp Woman above, and I've watched two other films I hadn't seen yet last night: Atom Age Vampire and House on Haunted Hill. The first film falls into the Wasp Woman category as a dud. Mind you, I wasn't expecting the a film the on the level of 12 Angry Men, but thought it might be OK. One word: boring! Too much nonsense going on with the doctor's obsession with Janet, and not enough vampiring. The transformation scenes were kinda cool, but the rest was too dull to make it worthwhile. The film came from a nice set, however. It was one the Alpha Video "Classics of Horror Collection" box sets. The print quality is about what you've come to expect from Alpha, but the discs come in a nice hinged wooden box, and the set also included House on Haunted Hill, Night of the Living Dead, and Carnival of Souls. Nice Christmas gift from a friend. House on Haunted Hill was the film I enjoyed the most of the three I've watched the past two nights. While it certainly belongs in the mystery/thriller genre more than horror, it wasn't bad. Vincent Price, for me, gives a film at least two stars to begin with, and anything else is gravy. They did manage to set a few creepy moments, and throw in a few decent plot twists along the way. Hardly a great film, but at least enjoyable most of the way through. Has anybody seen the remake? Any good? I know most modern retellings fall short, but who knows? Anyway, I'm enjoying watching new films, good or bad. Nosferatu is on the list next, and I've ordered some Brentwood box sets and the 1979 version of Nosferatu with Klaus Kinski. Nice to sit back and relax with horror films I've never seen before.  |
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Post by stareater on Jan 28, 2005 5:59:24 GMT -8
Just to update and give a bit of warning, I got around to watching the 1979 remake of Nosferatu. Didnt' enjoy it that much. It starts out promising, with some eerie shots of mummified corpses in a crypt, but goes downhill from there. The title character is portrayed more as a victim than a monster, and the film is definitely from the Euro arthouse school, more about dreamy images than substance. It's okay when the dreamy images have impact, but when it causes the film to crawl at a snail's pace, it just ends up being boring.
Other than Klaus Kinski in the lead role, the acting is very wooden. Some liberties are taken with the interpretation of Stoker's story, and it ends up being one long borefest. I didn't find the sets very inspiring either. I'd recommend a version of the original if you're interested; there are a handful available on the extreme cheap, and Max Schreck is something that must be seen. His utter creepiness is the juggernaut that carries the film. I'm not really a fan of the silents, but I really enjoyed the original. It was the Goth Mix version, the one with a Type O Negative soundtrack laid under the film, which turned out to be very cool. They have this cut of the film in the Vintage Movie Classics set Trio of Terror, which I think is only around $5 and can usually be found in the WalMart cheapie bin.
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Jan 28, 2005 9:13:46 GMT -8
i too prefer the original version, and thought even the Anchor Bay tape (which was nice) of this movie was dull. glad i saw it, but man, it's not a horror movie, really.
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Post by marysgurl on Jan 29, 2005 5:30:49 GMT -8
thank you for the invitation...
this is a discussion David and I were having on another
board....
Marysgurl said
".....David.....thank you. That was driving me crazy. Clear as day now that you say the name. I only remember seeing that a couple of times when I was real young, but it was good enough to stick in my head for all these years. Your next assignment.....b/w flic about some hospital somewhere where they took women hostage & put them in a saline bath hooked up to a machine that zapped all the life out of them....to generate some sort of walking dead I think.... They always came for the women at night & it freaked me so bad I refused to let my room be set up the way the one was in the movie......silly huh? I just knew if I didn't have my room that way, then no one would come take me from my bed during the night.....I have never seen that movie in my adult life...."
David said
"hmm, i have NO idea about that one! i'll do the next best thing, and invite you over to MY board- you can ask there, people are geniuseseses over there, and know way more about obscure movies than i do.
i think all you have to do is click the logo and it should take you there.
David"
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Post by Xenorama ™ on Jan 29, 2005 9:34:43 GMT -8
hope we can help, MG! welcome!
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Post by Zone Fighter on Jan 29, 2005 14:08:46 GMT -8
Just avoid the Nosferatu version that's packaed as "SILENT HORROR CLASSICS" with The Phantom of the Opera and a Little Red Riding Hood cartoon for a $1.00. The problem with this DVD is that it really is silent, no dubbed in music. I found it impossible to watch. There's a reason the theaters played organ music. Fortunantly I rented a Nosferattu DVD which had music.
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Post by stareater on Feb 1, 2005 6:11:20 GMT -8
Just for a contrast, my wife & I watched the 1979 Dracula starring Frank Langella, Laurence Olivier, and Donald Pleasance last night, and it was so markedly better than Herzog's Nosferatu. The acting is outstanding, and the sets are fantastic. I hadn't seen the film in years,and was very pleasantly surprosed at how well the set pieces were done, and how good the film was. The only downer is that Langella, while very good in the role, looks strikingly similar to Z-grade actor Adrian Zmed throughout the film. My wife kept asking, "Wasn't Dracula in 'Grease 2'?" |
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