The Long Hair of Death

I really felt inspired by last week's entry, Mario Bava's Black Sunday, so when I found:

The Long Hair of Death (1965),

I watched it. Directed not by Bava, but by Antonio Margheriti who is known as the number two of Gothic Italian horror behind Bava, this movie also stars Barbara Steele. Also starring are George Ardisson, Halina Zalewska, Umberto Raho amongst others.

The film is set in the 1400's in what I assume is some Germanic country. A woman is being dragged to the stake, accused of witchcraft. Her older daughter Mary (Steele) rushes to the local lord, Count Humboldt, pleading for her mothers life. The count agrees if she sleeps with him, which she does, but her mother is burned anyway. Dying on the flames, the woman curses the house of Humboldt, as they tend to do. The count kills Mary as well, in the first of a series of moves the characters do that make no sense to me. The youngest daughter, Lisabeth, is taken in by the Humboldt's for some reason.

Cut to when Lisabeth is an adult. The count's son, Kurt is determined to possess Lisabeth, despite pretty much laughing as her mother burned to death. She makes it clear that she hates him so of course Kurt arranges for them to be married. After the wedding night, he is dismayed to learn that she still hates him... What a shock!

At this time, the dead mothers curse comes to pass and a gruesome plague sweeps the area. To make matters worse, Mary returns from the dead in a pretty damn cool scene. No one seems to recognize her except the old count as she introduces herself as Helen Rochefort, and Kurt is immediately smitten by her.

This is as much of the plot as I'm willing to “spoil”.

The Long Hair of Death is a mixed bag for me. On one hand it is a Gothic masterpiece, a delightfully dark dream of wonderful imagery. On the other hand it is a fairly predictable story dotted with some completely dumbfounded decisions and details that aren't explained at all. There is a priest in the castle, Von Klage, who for some reason seem to have more power than the count and no one ever explains why that is. There is a murder plot that is ridiculously convoluted. Things like that does detract from the over all enjoyment.

The actors do a creditable job, I can't complain, and the music is... passable but if it wasn't for the incredible scenery, this movie would be a complete joke. I mentioned last week that despite filming in black and white, Bava painted the set of Black Sunday in those colors to heighten the effect. The Long Hair of Death doesn't do that and it amazed me to see that I could tell the difference.

So, do I recommend this movie? To fans of the genre, yes, I liked it, but to casual movie watchers, no. I'd say that The Long Hair of Death is a bit of an acquired taste and if Gothic dramas aren't your thing, you'll probably be a bit bored. You can't compare a movie like this to modern horror, that would be unfair, but if that is what you want, this isn't for you.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great and safe week!

 

Black Sunday

This week we are following last week's Mario Bava entry with his arguably most famous movie:

Black Sunday (1960).

To be fair, I have seen this movie before but that was back in the early 90's or so, and I only remembered four things; it's in black and white, it stars Barbara Steele, there is a big metal mask with spikes on the inside and the fact that I liked it. So it was with a pretty neutral state of mind that I sat down and gave it a go.

The movie opens in Moldavia in 1630 with an eastern orthodox inquisitor (those were real I just learned) who is condemning his sister to death for trafficking with Satan. Princess Asa Vajda (Steele) and her lover and accomplice Igor Javutich are executed by having the above mentioned masks hammered on their faces but before the corpses can be burned, a storm breaks out making it impossible to do so. Other methods of burial are instead employed.

We jump two hundred years forward and meet Professor Kruvajan and his young handsome assistant Dr. Gorobec. They are on their way to a conference but are delayed due to a carriage malfunction. Bored and curious, they find Asa's tomb and accidentally release her. Later, they meet the beautiful Katia Vajda (also Steele) and become embroiled in the supernatural horrors that ensue as Asa resurrects her servant Javutich in order to get revenge on her family.

Black Sunday is still a really good horror movie. Sure, it is hammy at times and some of the dialogue is silly, but it was made in 1960 and movies were made very differently back then. Seeing as it is an Italian movie with an international cast, some things are slightly lost in translation as well. That said, it is incredibly atmospheric and actually really gruesome at times. Movie goers back then must have been pretty shocked at some of the imagery, some of which still holds up to this day.

Bava not only shot Black Sunday in black and white, he actually painted the sets black and white as well, to really lean into the stark imagery, and at times, it almost feels like a shadow play. The actors do a really good job and the plot is pretty smart. Nothing just happens, instead a small thing early on can have a big impact later and the movie builds up slowly and with good effect. The story drags a bit in the middle, but not so much as to become boring, and the end product stands tall.

The supernatural elements are interesting and deserves a mention. Asa seems to be more of a witch but her servants behave more like vampires, even though there are no fangs or typical vampire tropes. They are more generically undead than specifically vampires, and I wouldn't have made the vampire connection except for the fact that they use the word in the movie.

So, do I recommend this movie? Absolutely! Every horror fan should watch it but be aware of it's age. Yes it can be a bit silly, but put that out of your mind and enjoy a seriously good horror classic!

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great and safe week!

 

Blood and Black Lace

I took the opportunity to watch the second ever Giallo movie:

Blood and Black Lace (1964).

Directed by Mario Bava and starring Cameron Mitchell, Eva Nartok and others, Blood and Black Lace is a peculiar movie.

A young woman, Isabella, is murdered just before arriving at a fashion show where she is set to model. We see the murderer, a man in a black rain coat, black hat and a pale cloth mask that covers his face. Later on, her diary is found, and everyone starts acting suspicious, making it obvious that the diary is extremely important. More women are murdered by the above mentioned killer, and fair warning, one is beaten up quite badly in a pretty gruesome scene. Obviously I'm not going to spoil the ending, but it was pretty good.

Blood and Black Lace plays it straight, as in it doesn't cheat with the mystery, something that I always appreciate. I did solve a crucial part of the mystery, even though I failed to discern the killer's actual identity.

What makes the film peculiar is the fact that it is a joy to watch but the story is surprisingly pedestrian. The colors and the cinematography are first rate. Yes, it is a typical 60's movie, but Bava really managed to make the visual elements incredibly enjoyable. The story on the other hand is fairly lackluster. To be fair, most murder mysteries have fairly normal motives when you get down to the details, but in Blood and Black Lace I found myself wanting something more from the plot than what we get. Still, it's not really a complaint, but more of an observation.

The actors are fine, but it is an Italian film, so it is naturally dubbed, which sometimes makes it hard to really judge the actors. No complaints, but no stand out performances either. The music is 60's jazz so it is up to you whether you like it or not.

As mentioned, the movie has some fairly rough violence but little blood as such, and no real nudity either, possibly because it was made in 1964. Not that those things are needed to make a good movie, I just thought I'd bring it up.

So do I recommend the movie? Yes and no. Fans of murder mysteries could enjoy it, and fans of Giallo should watch it for it's place as the second Giallo ever, but casual watchers are likely going to be bored. I liked it, and I had a good time, but it is hard to really recommend it despite the lovely visuals.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great and safe week!

 

Professor of Rock

A couple of weeks ago, I found the Youtube channel Professor of Rock:

 

 https://www.youtube.com/c/ProfessorofRock

I felt like sharing it with you, since I have found it really relaxing, informative and very nostalgic to listen to his videos. He covers trivia on famous songs, what was in the top charts back in the day (with added trivia), interviews with some of the big names in rock and pop and much more. 

The professor, who I assume isn't an actual professor, is calm but passionate and he has a great way of talking about the subject without getting too preachy, even though some of his video titles are a bit... dramatic. The content covers mostly 70's, 80's and 90's music and I for one couldn't be happier.

So if you like that era's music, go check it out! I'll link a couple of videos below so you can get a feel for what his channel is about.

Beyond that, that is that. I have to keep it short this week, but do join me again next time and until then, have a great and safe week!

 

 

  

 

 

Red Sparrow - again.

Back in June I talked about the (sort of) spy thriller Red Sparrow. I have now read the book and feel like doing a bit of a comparison.

To no one's surprise, the basic story is the same as the movie. There is a mole in the SVR, Dominika is trained to be a spy, lots of tradecraft, the CIA etc...

However there are lots of differences as well. Take Dominika's training for example. In the book she is fully trained at the SVR academy before she is sent to the sparrow school. The movie really exaggerates the sparrow element for obvious reasons, but it also cheapens Dominika's skills. There is also the fact that she has synesthesia, or the ability to see sound as color. This is why she was so good at dancing, and why she is a human lie detector. The book kind of wears off a bit, treating her condition as more or less aura reading which is a bit much but it is an interesting element, so I didn't mind.

In the movie, a lot of the action takes place in Budapest which is fine, but in the book Nate and Dominika duel in Helsinki which really amused me as I live there. The author, Jason Matthews really did a good job, and described many places accurately. However, I did get a good laugh when a couple of CIA agents are described as knowing the city like the back of their hands, having even mastered the metro... The Helsinki subway isn't like London, Paris or Moscow. The book was published in 2013 and our metro at the time looked like a fork. One long line and a short fork on one end. Not all that impressive to master that... But it was fun to see my hometown through the filter of a spy thriller. Dominika and Nate even eat at a restaurant that I have eaten at a dozen times, at least. In fact, I didn't even know the place still exists, so that was a fun bonus.

The book also deals with espionage within the US, with a highly placed mole, which the movie ignored completely. There are scenes taking place in Athens and Rome that are likewise ignored. I get that it would have ballooned the budget, and it's not like the movie had to have these elements but it would have elevated the movie a great deal.

In a surprising twist, I actually prefer the movie's ending to the one in the book. The novel has a more realistic ending, but I found the movie ending more satisfying.

All in all, the novel really paints a more complete picture of Dominika which makes some scenes in the movie make more sense. It is only natural that a book can go deeper into detail than a movie, but the movie really messed up in so many small ways that they could have fixed if they hadn't been so focused on doing other things instead. In the movie, Dominika has to fend off the lecherous advances of the Russian station chief in Helsinki. In the book, he is a scumbag but he does not dare hit on the niece of the Deputy Director. Things like that I wish the movie could have just handled better.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed Red Sparrow. Jason Matthews writes well and his long experience in the CIA really shows. He manages to create believable and tense surveillance scenarios without loosing the reader in tech-babble. If you like spy novels, read Red Sparrow, it is worth it.