Film Review--The Vampire Lovers

The Vampire Lovers
directed by Roy Ward Baker
adapted by Harry Fine
based on the short story by Sheridan Le Fanu
starring Peter Cushing, Ingrid Pitt, George Cole, Kate O’ Mara, Ferdy Mane, Madeline Smith, Dawn Addams, Harvey Hall, John Forbes-Robertson, Douglas Wilmer, Pippa Steele.



The first thing one must admire in this film are the lungs of Pippa Steele. She unleashes a series of shrieks that shock the senses and clarify any cloudy thinking that might have heretofore plagued the viewer. It’s a glorious thing and but one memorable moment in this slinky, seductive film from Hammer Studios.

The film is based around “Camilla”, the infamous short story about a lesbian vampire who sucks the life out of pretty, delicate things. The theme is exploited her as the film opens in late eighteenth century Styria. A Baron named Joachim von Hartog (Wilmer) has taken it upon himself to rid the area of vampires after one of them took the life of his sister. He sees a thrilling sight: a comely number sashaying her fine wares straight at him. She’s dressed in a see-through and he clearly gets an eye full of everything the girl has to offer. When she finally reaches him her fangs come out and he shockingly manages to cut off her head. It’s the first melding of sex and death and it sets the tone for a terrific ride. Von Hartog enterprises to finish off the Karnstein clan of vampires and he succeeds save one, the brutally efficient Mircalla (Pitt). It proves to be a ghastly omission.

Fast forward a few years and the kids are kicking up their heels at a ball. Admittedly these ball scenes go on way too long and manage to kill the mood after a while. Lovely Marcilla (Pitt, in one of three roles) comes to live with General von Spieldorf (Cushing) and his delectable daughter Laura (Steele). The two lovelies bond immediately but soon little Laura takes ill and she never recovers. Marcilla absconds at the precise moment when her terrible workmanship is revealed. Later we meet the splendid Carmilla (Pitt) and she too moves in with a man named Roger Morton (Cole) and his daughter Emma (Smith). Again, the two females become inseparable and soon darling Emma is on death’s door. She’s deliciously pale and her bosom heaves at just the right tempo. Naturally, cruel Carmilla is taking just enough to get her by but not enough to kill the wee lass. It’s exquisite to watch Carmilla and Emma together. They share an intense intimacy that is consumed with erotic energy and a primal force that informs every frame.

In this version of the vampire mythos those stricken by the arch fiend’s fangs can be killed or merely have the life drained from them. Carmilla proves capable by eliminating a number of personages who attempt to stand in her way. Her method is mainly sexual seduction followed by the ubiquitous love bites. Her prey become utterly transfixed and fatefully ensnared by Carmilla’s sexual web. A single coupling and they quickly become her slaves. These scenes of seduction are rife with the proper amount of tension. Carmilla is irresistible and Ingrid Pitt drains ever drop of sexual urgency out of those moments when she’s prowling for hot, glistening flesh. She is a tyrant who controls simply through the avenue of her body and it’s almost blinding to watch her work her magic over the unwitting. Carmilla’s perfect little slave comes in the form of the Governess, Mme. Perrodot (O’Mara) whom she seduces in a scene of delicate execution. The governess and Carmilla make eye contact in one of those smoldering moments where tiny pricks torment the skin. She follows Carmilla into her bedroom whereupon the seductress disappears into the shadows revealing but a silhouette of her naked flesh. It’s all about suggestion but one swoons at what one imagines will happen next. Indeed, from that very act Mme. Perrodot gives in entirely and her body quivers with anticipation. This is an example of the transforming potential of sex if it is applied with the proper amount of mystery. This one scene is as charged as anything that has ever been put on celluloid. It’s such a simple moment but it resonates for the entirety of the film.

The association of female sexuality with vampires is as old as time itself. This film exploits this dynamic with fluid urgency. The female vampire represents the fears of rampant female awareness of their powers of seduction and allurement. Carmilla becomes pure sex unadulterated by social mores and customs. She is the raging, carnal soul demanding and devouring whatever it pleases devoid of niceties that keep proper girls from actualizing their most secret desires to play the wanton hussy if only for a little while. Females who recognize their potential for sexual tyranny have always been a threat to the order. This film literalizes that fear by presenting the raw, insatiable appetite of its heroine and it’s ability to bring an ecstatic, messianic death to the sacrificed one. The cult of the avenging goddess is alive and well in those scenes where Carmila displays her fangs and eagerly plays out her role in the dynamic dance of erotic transformation.


Ingrid Pitt spends much of this film observing in the back of the frame. Intensely scouring her environs with her impossibly dark eyes she haunts the viewer and threatens to steal one’s soul. There is acute hunger in these eyes and once one is trapped the struggle for release is prolonged and exceedingly burdensome. Closeups bring an even more devastating dynamic to the fore and the viewer is further trapped in those cauldrons of unadulterated desire.

The cinematography by Moray Grant is dark and foreboding. It often creates claustrophobic set pieces that seem to close in and potentially devour. The late 18th century motif works throughout the film both in terms of design and style. It’s gloomy and threatening which means any terrible thing might emerge from it at any time. Indeed, images of Carmilla enshrouded by fog play succinctly on the imagination as the terrible specter come to mean us great harm. She has the ability to turn herself into an enormous cat and torments her victims with terrible nightmares. She lovingly teases them with her tongue before honing in for a small feast.

The performances in this film are often hinged on other faculties besides acting. As mentioned Pippa Steele does everything in her power to make her scenes memorable and she pulls it off merely by opening her mouth and caterwauling. Ingrid Pitt moves about with stiff gestures and robotic like movements. She shows no emotion throughout the film and possesses all of the dynamic range of a well cured zombie. Yet, she’s effective nonetheless as her character is meant to be something of an automatron. Peter Cushing is rigid, totemic, and authoritarian in this film. He’s officious and solid in a small role that nevertheless is impressively presented. Kate O’Mara as the Governess possesses an intensity that is brought forth via her buttoned up sexuality which is finally unleashed by Carmilla. She is a pent up mess before hand and is only in need of a dominant female vampire to give her the ride of rides.

Overall, this film expresses a foreboding mood while showcasing a deeply erotic story that takes advantage of the attributes of its female cast. There is something naturally thrilling about watching female sexuality divorced from the arrogant pretensions of intercourse. Of course it proves to be best when it’s bound up and just frothing at the mouth to be released as it is here with the character of the Governess. Despite their penchant for young girls Ingrid Pitt’s three vampire formations also have the yen for boy meat once in a while as illustrated when Carmilla expertly seduces Renton (Hall) and turns him into one of her slaves. This is an exaggerated example of sex’s power to take people over and put them under the spell of the stronger one. It suggests that in the right circumstances sex can be used tyrannically to utterly control those who easily slip into a mode of martyrdom between the sheets.

Film Review--Scream and Scream Again

Scream and Scream Again
directed by Gordon Hessler
written by Christopher Wicking
based on the novel by Peter Saxon
starring Alfred Marks, Christopher Matthews, Michael Gothard, Vincent Price, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Judy Huxtable, Marshall Jones



What we have here are three pistons of the macabre tied down in one singular production. Christopher Lee, Vincent Price and Peter Cushing all “star” in this odd little tale about mad science’s overarching longing to access godhead and make pretty with flesh to create life where none stood before. It’s a genuine conspiracy involving a pseudo fascist military order, the scientific community and many dead humans who provide the limbs and internal organs for these peculiar experimentations.

This film doesn’t know what it wants to be. It’s a spy thriller, vampire flick, action film, serial killer adventure, dystopia science fiction, futuristic mumbo jumbo, etc. The result is a tangle of plot lines that never quite realize a satisfactory conclusion. There is so much more to be explored.
The absolute best part of this film involves English actor Michael Gothard as a goodly killer with a sanguine fetish. We first meet him in a swinging disco and he’s just there taking in the scene. He’s cool and mildly disinterested. We already know that a pretty girl has been found butchered with her throat slit so we have a pretty fair idea that this is our man. Gothard is all Jagger lips and terribly penetrating eyes. With his sharp cheek bones and his tousle of blond hair he looks like every rock god who ever stained the underthings of school girls the world over. He invites a lovely girl for a ride in his convertible and she gamely accepts. He grips the wheel maniacally and quickly ushers her into a secluded area. It’s not long before the chase is on and it culminates in another strangling and throat slitting. Poor girl. She was a perfect sixties child, all bright eyed and swaying ever so slightly in the dimly lit corridors. She merely takes one wrong step and the end result is her body being savagely broken into for fun and dynamic thrills.

Well, the cops put in one of their own, a woman named Sylvia (Huxtable), and her job is to lure the killer to a spot where the boys can waylay him. It works all to well and when the fiend (named Keith–a wretchedly awful name for such an elegant killer) starts sucking blood out of the officer’s wrist they swarm in. He’s seriously strong and knocks them all out which leads to a massive chase sequence which is truly one of the longest ever filmed. Keith ends up on a rock quarry and climbs so fast up the face that the wee officers can only marvel. Unfortunately our man slips and falls all the way down and they handcuff him to the car. Unobserved Keith gnaws through his own hand and escapes which leads to yet another long chase. Ultimately Keith offs himself by diving into a bin of acid which is kept by the crazy scientist Dr. Browning (Price) to get rid of contaminated spores.

So, the scene with the rockin’ vampire makes perfect sense. Unfortunately there are three other plotlines that aren’t so clear. The great work goes straight to the top where the British Government have sponsored Dr. Browning’s work to create a race of super beings who will ultimately serve the benefit of mankind. But there are many uses for such beings and the military, who possess a strange symbol that evokes images of Schutzstaffel smiling and waving in their massive black cars. This is clearly a Nazi-like order and they possess a cyborg named Konratz (Jones) who is quickly working his way up the ladder via his special killing technique of the vulcan pinch. It’s never quite clear just how this particular man-machine is related to the final scenes but it is a thrill to watch him kill. Indeed, the pleasures in this film all come through the many moments when human beings are eradicated for various reasons.

The opening sequence relates a man who is jogging and quickly ends up in a hospital attended by a sexy nurse. There are many shots inter cut with other plot lines of the nurse coming in and adjusting something and leaving. Then the poor sap looks down and realizes one of his limbs have been hacked off and he screams.

Christopher Lee looks impossibly dashing and carries himself with a tremendous sense of class. It truly feels as if he is in another film altogether as his performance expresses a quiet dignity underneath the steely resolve. He plays British Intelligent Minister Freemont who is particularly engaged in Browning’s work. He’s up against the wall as well because a British spy plane was shot down by the pseudo Fascists. What this has to do with anything I am at a loss to say. Regardless it allows Lee to play serious and it’s a seething joy to behold.

The Frankenstein motif creates its own sort of blind magic as it feeds the longing to see Science take its machinations to the ultimate end. Body parts kept in cold storage are employed to realize a grave and sensational potentiality. Vincent Price possesses a strange innocence as he works to realize the societally-sanctioned transition into the brave, new world where only the choicest of all man-bots are given the keys to the castle. As it turns out Keith was one of his prototypes and he escaped into the void to embody the downfall of such experimentation. Why he is a vampire is not clearly stated. Indeed, his peculiar tastes for warm blood is not explained nor is his choice to terminate his existence in such grand fashion.

The eyes and ears of this piece come in the form of Supt. Bellaver (Marks) who is the head of the investigation into the murders of sweet, hot tender things. He’s no-nonsense and Marks gives him a genuine sense of meticulous order and common sense. Bellaver is the grounded, essential man of superior knowledge who is nevertheless flummoxed by the crime spree. Through his eyes we get a fine overview of the predicament the police force is in. Granted, once Keith is eradicated the film loses a bit of its luster. Still, Bellaver is present to remind the viewer of the vitality of police work and its dedication to get to the bottom of the cases that find their way to the station.

The film possesses a blatant sexuality that is exploited early on. It does romanticize the vampire mythos by casting such a pretty face to play the blood-sucker. There is something exquisite about the movements of Keith as he snakes his way through the disco relying on nothing but his charm and good looks to lure his victims to their untimely ends. It would have been a much more engrossing film if it stuck to Keith and his peculiar hobby. Of course it would have to include the whole cyborg element to create an attention-grabbing story of the perversions of science and how easily and necessarily they can create monsters who are utterly unable to feel anything whatsoever and subsequently can kill at will.

Dr. Sorrel (Matthews) is the inquisitive one who attempts to seek out the mystery and gets closer to it than any other character. His own curiosity leads him to witness the full scope of Browning’s work and he stares fascinated unable to take his eyes away. Still, once he realizes that Sylvia is about to have her brain removed for the creation of yet another cyborg, Sorrel is thrust out of the dream and acts to stop this truly diabolical act.

There is another element that is underplayed in this film but would certainly be useful in creating the new social order. Cyborg soldiers who cannot be killed could do quite a bit of work in hostile territories and could lead to a revolution within the construct of war games and occupations. Cyborg leaders devoid of emotions could enact draconian rule and tighten their grip on every facet of society. It certainly is an intriguing idea considering all the possibilities that could evolve from such a nasty set up. Good science, intending specifically to better the lot of mankind by eliminating defectives, fills valuable posts with its own who become the true leaders of mankind. It’s the great eugenics promise brought coldly and methodically to life. By eliminating genetically inferior organisms a holy perfect order of goodly men and women might lead mankind into the realm of the truly god-like. But the processes will not necessarily be implemented by those who share science’s utopian vision. Thus we have Keith raging through the vulnerable and sating his lusts on their tender flesh. This film might have unleashed a thousand Keiths wreaking havoc on a completely helpless population of eager, innocent lovelies and turned this thing into a true bloodbath.

There is one character whose name eludes me who represents much of what is possible in this cruel realm of science gone amok. She is a nurse who was created out of composite parts by Dr. Browning and her blank face and sense of pure routine suggests a cold order that might be exploded into a whole army of senseless creatures who could also create a whole lot of mayhem due to their superior physical strength and inability to be stopped by anyone at any time. An entire workforce could be engineered to control every sector, to administer grave punishments because they are not susceptible to any measures that would limit their behavior. It’s a charming idea and one that is only slightly hinted at here.

Peter Cushing is only in this film for five minutes but he leaves his mark. He plays a military officer who seems to have little to do with the actual plot. He’s offed way to early by Konratz but his character manages to haunt the rest of the film regardless.

Ostensibly everything is tied up at the end but the results is less than satisfactory. As mentioned the vampire aspect has nothing to do with the narrative as a whole. It’s delicious and formally executed but it adds nothing to the plot. Still, it’s the most thrilling aspect of the film and coupled with Dr. Browning’s work makes for a potentially superior film. Alas we are left with a rather confusing sequence of events that make for only a marginally enjoyable film in the end. But the performances are solid and it’s nice to see the three giants of horror united even if they scarcely spend much time on screen together. Ultimately it’s a flawed work that generates a great number of questions and possibilities. It works mostly as a science fiction/horror film even if it wastes the vampire dynamic too early and involves various aspects that do little to inform the basic premise.

Film Review--For Your Eyes Only

For Your Eyes Only
directed by John Glen
written by Richard Maibaum, Michael G. Wilson
starring Roger Moore, Carole Bouquet, Topol, Lynn-Holly Johnson, Julian Glover, Cassandra Harris, Lois Maxwell, Desmond Llewelyn, Michael Gothard



In the twelfth installment in the James Bond Series, a grittier aesthetic is hauled out and implemented to moderate effect. The film possesses a natural feel but occasionally it just looks plain ugly and dirty although there are some superb and terribly long sequences that are lovingly crafted.

The story involves the status of an ATAC system which British Intelligence uses to communicate with their subs. A massive mine crashes into a fishing trawler and blows it and everyone in it to bits. The film focuses on securing the device and avoiding the machinations of a sinister man named Aristotle Kristatos (Glover) who has dangerous plans for blowing up major cities worldwide.

There are some interesting long sequences that give the film a sense of purpose. There is a long car chase, a scene where Bond (Moore) and his lovely consort (Bouquet) are being dragged behind Kristatos’s yacht for a great distance, a scene where Bond climbs up the face of a mountain side to get to a monastery where Kristatos is hiding out and a long, tiresome skiing scene where Bond escapes down the side of a mountain. They all possess danger and the mountain face is particularly treacherous which the film handles well. As is usually the case with Bond, it’s his ingenuity that stands out in these scenes. He always knows precisely how to extract himself from treacherous situations and naturally he never makes a mistake. After all, it’s a film consumed with thrilling moments and it’s necessary for the featured character to have his game on all the time. In this series it is entirely predictable and the formula isn’t challenged in this film. There is a pattern which thusfar all Bond films have followed and at times it becomes rather tedious. Still, this one is exciting when it has to be and doesn’t drag too terribly much.

The character of Melina Havelock is underperformed by Carole Bouquet. She never seems altogether present although she does pose a challenge for Bond when it comes to the necessary art of getting into her panties and having the typical fun. Perhaps she is too wounded for Bond and he actually develops some scruples about bedding her in the usual fashion. Bond also shows some restraint when skating champion Bibi Dahl (Johnson) sneaks into his bed and announces herself ultra-ready for a fling in the sack. He actually manages to turn her down presumably because she’s too young. This would make sense as he offers to buy her ice cream instead.

As mentioned this film has a rawer look than many of the more recent Bonds. The colors are muted throughout and the overall impression is of an impoverished grandeur. It is a wide open film shot mainly in Greece and it retains something of an exotic air throughout.

The main point of this film is that Bond is mostly left to his own devices with no gadgets to cheat his way out of tight scrapes. He employ actual skills in order to survive the ridiculous number of difficult situations that he finds himself in. It’s rather glamourous in its way even if Bond doesn’t come a-blazin’ in with his finely tailored suits and supreme arrogance. His actions speak much louder than his mere poses in this film and it’s delightful to see Bond taken down a notch toward a less lavish hero. He doesn’t merely get by on his style points alone; he actually works to establish his appeal in this film and the production is all the better for it. He’s not even particularly dashing in this one although he still manages to exude the proper amount of charisma whenever the situation calls for it.

It all comes down to stripping all the finery away from Bond and forcing him to deal with his environment more primitively. He is grounded in this film and he actually manages to get his hands a bit dirtier than usual. It’s intoxicating to watch him come perilously close to death and this film offers many such scenarios which excite and engross the viewer completely. There is one particular scene that leaves one breathless if they consider just how close to falling 350 feet Bond is. Still, it’s really the stuntmen who deserve all the attention in these scenes as they do in every Bond film. Here we have the most hair-raising Bond stunt of them all although that is certainly debatable. It all comes down to one particular shot where we see what is supposed to be Bond falling down the side of a mountain relying entirely on the rope to hold him. It’s actually a moment that takes one out of the film slightly as the pure adrenaline of the scene takes root and it’s difficult to shake. This is a film filled with many similar moments.

Every Bond film tries to outdo its predecessors but this one doesn’t quite top 1969's “On Her Majesty's Secret Service” which is frankly never going to be topped by any film anywhere. It’s got the same style with Bond losing a ski and everything but the danger element is slightly relaxed and the end result isn’t as terrifying as in the earlier film. Still, it’s fairly dynamic and creates a nice buzz that is exploited quite effectively along the way. Again, the stunt work in this sequence is nothing short of exquisite and truly breathtaking. I always wonder just what these men are on when they decide to put there lives at risk like this. The design of all Bond films is to expand on earlier ideas and make everything more spectacular. Thus we see “Moonraker” taking Bond to outer space. This time, thankfully, they scale it back and return to the days when a great story, fantastic characters and thrilling locales (plus the flat out gorgeous women) were enough to sell the Bond mystique. We have here a Bond who is much more than a mere suave heel in a suit. He’s perhaps the closest to the pure action star of today in the series thus far.

We still don’t get anything in terms of his character but in this film that proves not to be a deficit. In the end we don’t need to know much about him. All we need is revealed in the first scene where he is putting flowers on his wife’s grave. It’s a continuation that again cements Bond in a very real time line and it enhances his humanity. In a very real sense this film was forced to literally bring Bond back down to earth. It also determines to make him more relatable to his audience and does so successfully because the final impression is of a man who has faced something within himself and triumphed over what he has found there. There’s also a spiritual aspect to the film which comes through in the thrilling view of the monastery perched high atop a mountain so remote and difficult to reach.

The antagonist in this film is a duplicitous character and the film does a great job setting him up as a likable personality who later turns out to be ruthless and deadly. It’s a nice switch around that lends a bit of mystery to the proceedings. Still, it’s difficult at times to sense just where the man is within the context of the film. He seems to disappear for great stretches so it’s confusing as to just what Bond is going up against. When we meet him he presents himself in a sensible, upstanding light. We are to believe fully in his generosity and that he possesses other fine attributes that any man would envy. He is elegant and at ease in every scene. This makes him into a formidable adversary because he is in many ways like Bond in terms of charisma and a personal code of style.

The performances in this film are uniformly excellent. Roger Moore discards many of the affectations that left him robotic and stiff in earlier films. He’s more natural in this one and his mental powers are more prominently put on display. This is the quickest thinking Bond of them all and it’s all the more enjoyable because of the danger he is placed in here. Carole Bouquet is certainly right up there with the Bond women. In fact she stands out due to her character’s tenacity to administer a personal vendetta again the man who had her parents killed. Her character has a will and an agenda all her own which makes her much more than a kill
er bod and a fine face. It’s actually to the film’s benefit that there are no cheap shots of her dressed down waiting for Bond to take her. Topol also manages to create a rather gruff but nevertheless strangely elegant character who is as charming as Bond and who is capable of great nuance. Lynn-Holly Johnson’s character Bibi is a tad too bubbly in this film as her character tends to jar the nerves just slightly when she’s on screen. She is, however, important because her overtures to Bond are not masked in clever wordplay. She clearly states what she wants from Bond and it’s thrilling to see such a superficially “good girl” playing naughty. Julian Glover as mentioned is cool and quietly relentless. Kristatos is snake like as he slithers through the film remaining elusive until the very end.

Overall, this film presents a return to the no-nonsense Bond that relies less on gadgetry and more on massive scenes of majestic beauty. There is a vastness to this one which lends itself to considerable more danger than some of the previous installments. The audience feels the severity of these scenes and the result is electrifying to the senses even if the story lags in places and can’t keep up to the sheer inventiveness of the long sequences where Bond is forced to think on his feet. Ultimately, it’s in the middle of the pack in relation to the Bonds that have come before it. The stunts are fantastic and the performances work well for the material. Roger Moore is more comfortable and the set designs are impressive.

Film Review--Bodies, Rest & Motion

Bodies, Rest & Motion
directed by Michael Steinberg
written by Roger Hedden
based on the play by Roger Hedden
starring Eric Stoltz, Tim Roth, Phoebe Cates, Bridget Fonda, Alicia Witt


It’s quite difficult frankly to determine just what this film is about. We have four twenty somethings who don’t really have much of a clue what they want to do next. They are stuck in the redundancy of their lives and each of them rationalize it differently.

Beth (Fonda) and Nick (Roth) as the film opens are moving out of their home in Arizona and heading off for Butte, Montana. Carol’s best friend and Nick’s former lover Carol (Cates) lives next door and like a good neighbor makes it a habit of popping by routinely. On Nick’s last day at work (he’s been fired) he decides to steal a TV but makes Beth do it by handing her a phony receipt. Nick abandons Beth and goes for a long drive to nowhere in particular. In the meantime Sid the painter (Stoltz) shows up and immediately begins lusting after Beth. When it’s apparent that Nick is not coming back, Beth and Sid becomes lovers and he doesn’t get very much painting done.

That’s it for the story as most of it deals with insecurities, pains, struggles, and various other types of anguish. It’s chatty and solves nothing in the end and works best as a road picture when Nick is out and about trying to find himself. The conversations in the house drag on and on and manage to go as nowhere as the main characters are heading. They serve the purpose of filling up space in the plot but they fail to reveal anything particularly telling about the characters. We learn that the kid Sid has lived in the same town his whole life and has never been in love and that Beth has had a series of relationships which she seems to have regretted. Carol and Nick are still close and seem to have a thing still going although there isn’t much evidence in the film that this is true.

Perhaps this film is about how people connect and how they stay connected over considerable lengths of time. Sid claims to be in love with Beth despite having known her for less than 24 hours. He believes that two people can meet and immediately realize they are perfect for one another whereas Beth is far more cynical. Sid is pretty much the only optimistic character in this film. The others are miserable and lay about doing nothing much of anything to combat their feelings of inadequacy. The only one who really wants to break out and try something new is Nick and he proceeds to do just that by driving off in search of his parents. When he arrives at the house he grew up in, an old deaf man and a creepy young girl named Elizabeth (Witt) are now living there and they have no idea where his parents are. They invite Nick in for a sandwich and Elizabeth tells Nick how both her parents died. She clings to Nick in such a way that one wonders just what she’s looking for. She seems old enough to understand the dynamics between boys and girls but young enough to be off limits. I wonder what it would look like if she tried to seduce him. Perhaps she is by holding on and desperately wanting him to see her. The old man is no company for such a budding young thing and one feels terrible and heartbroken when we leave her behind. This Elizabeth is lost in her own world and seems to be in a desperate situation longing for company of even the most illicit sort.

So, Nick drives and Sid moves in on his loose, easy woman. He’s hardly gone twelve hours and she’s already shacked up with the painter which only proves that nobody can truly love or know another. Each is free to make their own decisions and sometimes they end up wandering in strange new directions. For Beth it’s merely the same tired direction and she realizes it as soon as she wakes up from the carnal bliss of the night before. Beth is the most unsure of the group. She’s 28 and restless. She seems to come to a decision that accentuates her vulnerability and places her firmly out of her comfort zone. She appears more to know what she doesn’t want than what she does want.

Carol provides a strange cog in the relationship between Nick and Beth. She and Nick have a playful relationship that Beth sees as somewhat threatening. Carol comes across as world weary and less willing to make a break for it in order to gain elusive insight into her character. She isn’t obliged to look deep into her soul in search of answers revealing her proper place. She’s not so much the wanderer who is never comfortable and always yearning to find that something else that might be waiting just around the bend.

Beth and Sid spend a good portion of this film frolicking in bed. There is a long stretch where they are either making love, basking in the afterglow, or finishing up and moving on with their day. Sid wants to possess Beth with his adolescent, clinging love. He is not mature enough to realize that love is not so easily given especially to one who merely gave in to her animal needs and did not affix the experience with any significant emotional weight. It was simply a rather manipulative exercise on her part and she took full advantage knowing how much in that moment she was wanted and desired. In short she preyed on the simple mindedness of her conquest and satisfied her lusts without thinking twice of the ramifications of her actions. She approached the physical act of lovemaking with all the sexual economy of one who takes what is given because it is so easy to snatch it away and drain it of all meaning. Sid falls into her trap whereupon she provides him with just enough rope to hang himself. She leaves it open and Sid slavishly attempts to prove his steadfast rule about the nature of love to the test.

The performances in this film have a natural quality that is edifying in the end. Tim Roth plays a man who is fed up with the way things have been going. It was his idea to move to Butte and his idea not to go back to the house to help Beth pack away their things. Roth is quite good here at playing a character who is filled with a type of rage that he can not fully articulate. Nick comes across as the type of person who needs a great deal more than he is willing to admit. He’s a bit scared and his tolerance for acute misery or drama is exceedingly low. He leaves perhaps because the prospect of moving to Montana of all places suddenly seems absurd. Bridget Fonda captures the moodiness of her character. Beth is a woman who longs to be exceptional. She cannot bear to rot away in an environment just because it offers her safety and comfort. She is not satisfied with the common, uneventful life no matter how placid and easy it might be for her. Phoebe Cates plays Carol with a heaviness that is belied by a charming exterior that provides her with a false front. Eric Stoltz’s character possesses a tremendous amount of energy at first when he isn’t comfortable with Beth or Carol. As he eases into them he loses his veracity and merely slips into Beth’s pocket and disappears. Then he emerges all heartsick and Stoltz captures the longing in his voice. Alicia Witt is quietly dynamic as the spooky girl Elizabeth who may or may not require certain things from Nick. Witt plays her as having perhaps secret knowledge of things such a young woman is not supposed to know. It’s all in her eyes and posture. There is a willingness there and something potentially wicked but she’s gone too quickly and we never get a chance to find out.

Overall, this film occasionally seems as lost as the central characters. It meanders about, stumbling to and fro without really getting much of anywhere at all. But perhaps that’s the point. Lives to not follow a specific course. People get confused and backtrack or fall completely over and edge into a dank, oily pit. There are, this film would suggest, merely moments that are labeled as more significant than others. Anyplace is good enough until it isn’t and it’s time to move on. People move constantly in search of something they cannot name. Sid has never moved because he has never thought about there being anything else out in the world. Subsequently his view of love is naive as it has not been afflicted with experience. Ultimately, this film speaks to an entire generation of those agitated, restless sorts who can never settle down for a variety of reasons that they are not necessarily aware of themselves.

Film Review--Moonraker

Moonraker
directed by Lewis Gilbert
written by Christopher Wood
based on the novel by Ian Fleming
starring Roger Moore, Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale, Richard Kiel, Corrine Clery, Bernard Lee, Geoffrey Keen, Desmond Llewelyn, Lois Maxwell, Toshiro Suga, Emily Bolton, Blanche Ravalec



Yes, it’s starting to get a bit trite with these films. This is the eleventh Bond and it’s showing just how formulaic this series has gotten over the years. Nothing changes, nothing transforms. Bond is still a pig who happens to know the best way to eat away at the knickers of every female he encounters. It’s completely predictable but it matters not when the scenes are thrilling and seem to be construing something that hasn’t been seen before. That is not the case with this film as most if not all of the action seems to be merely mixing up the locations a bit from previous films. This one puts Bond (Moore) in space where he magically saves Earth from total annihilation with his rapid fire thinking and the help of his present lust object the comely, efficient and hysterically named Dr. Holly Goodhead (Chiles).

We have here the effete and maniacal Hugo Drax (Lonsdale) who makes shuttles and shuffles about like a tit. You know he’s powerful because he moves slowly with his hands behind his back. He shifts dozens or so genetically sound humans up to space so he can create a master race and repopulate the earth where his subjects will worship him like some sort of god. He’s not the most scintillating of Bond adversaries and it’s difficult to take him seriously considering how soft and ineffectual he comes across. He lacks the authoritarian command that previous arch-fiends have demonstrated in their equally preposterous attempts to wreak total havoc on the planet in order to satisfy their crude, megalomaniacal ambitions. Style is shoved out of the plane like Bond in the opening sequence. The elegance of the first Bond films has been replaced by a cold, inexplicable dullness that causes this film to drag on toward its predictable, flat conclusion.

Still, the last twenty minutes are exceedingly thrilling up until the point when Bond and his lady friend start to sort everything out. Then we merely have more of the same leading to the two makeshift astronauts abandoning their posts and going for the ubiquitous good hearted screw. Bond nails three women in this film with absurd ease and none of them even bother to put up a fight. It’s always been the ones who refuse him that retain their dignity in his callous eyes. Pussy Galore made it difficult for him but all that cool resistence has been obliterated. I can’t but help find it tedious and rather hackneyed even with the cheap double entendres that accompany many of these escapades. When it was all new it came on decidedly with pizzazz and Bond’s brilliance for divesting girlies of their pink striped panties was a glorious thing. Now we’ve seen it all too many times before and it has lost its luster.

Dr. Goodhead, another of the greatly named Bond vixens, is something of a whiz space scientist. She’s serious, buttoned up, and terribly cold at times. She melts like cheap wax whenever she feels the heat emanating from Bond’s secret hangar and can hardly wait to lay him down and grind her naughty bits in his face. It would have been nice to have her see through the ruse where Bond breaks them down due to his extraordinary humping skills but alas that does not happen. She’s physically demonstrative, savvy, heady and drop dead gorgeous which should pose something of a challenge but that is not what these Bond films have become. It wouldn’t be Bond without a whole lot of tail because the character has so much sexual potency that he can hardly stand himself if he doesn’t take it out in random encounters with every woman save Miss Moneypenny that he meets. It used to be sexy but now it’s merely perfunctory. It’s what we expect him to do and it’s all become so systematic that it lacks the allure it once possessed back when it was Sean Connery doing the seducing.

I admit to not having taken to Roger Moore in this role. He’s dashing enough and there is a vitality about him that is necessary. But he lacks the smirk that Connery put forth which said that his character was having the time of his life and was at ease in every situtation. Moore’s too serious in these films and comes off as merely a artless action hero without a semblance of poetry to his maneuverings. He’s almost robotic at times and lacks the ease of movement which was Connery’s trademark.

The great Richard Kiel reprises his Jaws role and brings a tremendous life to the film. Every one of his appearances on screen is threatening and exquisitely framed. He makes this film better than it ought to be and provides terrific energy whenever he takes out whomever is standing in his way. His work late in the film is tender and heartrending and he does it all without speaking although he finally does so at the very end of the film.

The performances in this film are all adequately presented. Lois Chiles is lovely and potent and has all of the qualities a Bond girl needs. Goodhead is a bit sly, sneaky, and exceedingly smart although she never truly comes on like a total sexpot. She’s more reserved and self-contained which makes her rendevous’s with Bond somewhat refreshing but not too much. Michael Lonsdale provides his character with a languidness that he plays with for the duration of the film. Sometimes it feels like he’s moving too slowly and he’s about to pause to give a long soliloquy about the messianic potentialities inherent in mass extinction and world domination. But he doesn’t and merely proceeds dutifully and unimpressively.

Overall, this film just seems to lack the energy of some of the better Bond films. There is danger just before the end but prior to that there are just countless moments where nothing of note happens. Admittedly, all the scenes in “space” are pretty dynamic and gorgeously shot. It’s an impressive feat of technology to bring such a glorious set to life and it adds a haunting quality to the film that is lost during many of the other scenes. Ultimately the film comes off flatly and is not possessed of the urgency that some of the better films demonstrated with clarity and precision. It isn’t a terrible film only disappointing when compared to some of the others in the series.

Film Review--The Punisher

The Punisher (1989)
directed by Mark Goldblatt
written by Boaz Yakin
starring Dolph Lundgren, Louis Gossett Jr., Jeroen Krabbe, Kim Miyori, Barry Otto, Zoshka Mizak, Nancy Everhard

Five years after a mob hit killed his family, a former cop named Frank Castle (Lundgren) continues his prolonged measures of revenge against various mafia families. As the story opens he has killed 125 people in five years and is wanted by the police to stand trial for these murders.

Frank Castle lives in the sewers and only seems to come up for air when he wants to off somebody. He’s convinced that ridding the world of the mafia will make him sleep better at night so he sets about eliminating as many of them as possible. The Yakuza step in and attempt to strongarm their American counterparts by kidnaping their children and potentially having exceedingly vile and awful things done to them for fun and profit. Castle as the Punisher manages to secure all of the children but boss man Gianni Franco’s (Krabbe) young son Tommy (Brian Rooney).

The film moves along at a steady pace but the action sequences are too cartoonish and boring to be of any use. There is quite a bit of violence in this film but it means nothing because one doesn’t quite feel it viscerally. Bodies fly all over the place but the plights of the victims prove to have no meaning in the end. They just drop dead from an unswerving amount of ammunition and they merely serve the purpose of offering up a shield that must be penetrated to reach the next level. Indeed, this plays like a video game with crap music and poor special effects.

Dolph Lundgren certainly makes for a legitimate contender in the action hero sweepstakes. He’s solid, believable, convincing, etc. He possesses all of the qualities that are necessary to create a character you can fall behind and believe in. Still, we don’t exactly get a real sense of his loss so subsequently his tirades do not make a whole lot of sense. There are moments revealed in voice over where he gets into the philosophy of his behavior but the film doesn’t expand upon these ideas and they are left unexplored. He is just a killing machine and it’s a real fault of the script that we don’t get to know more about this Frank Castle. He remains an enigma and this is something that does not serve the story at all.

The character of Lady Tanaka (Miyori) is a delectable side dish that proves to be as deadly as Nightshade. She is a cruel bitch who comes off as entirely elegant and graceful in her maneuverings. She is a bonafide ice queen who pierces the hearts of every man she encounters and can also ruin them physically through her ballet of martial arts moves that are quick, decisive and very painful.

The real problem with this film is that it has no soul. It’s just a series of violent acts for the sake of being violent. It is entertaining to a point but there is no reason to care about what happens to any of the characters save the Punisher whose sad plight generates perhaps a modicum of sympathy. The fight sequences lack a certain polish yet manage to come off as rudimentary and pedestrian. Plus there is too much wasted footage and the film could have used a more economical editing process to streamline the heavier scenes to make them more potent and necessary. Subsequently the energy is sapped out of the film leaving a husk that is filled with mere repetitions of carnage without end.

Tanaka’s daughter (Mizak) is a shining light amidst all the mayhem. She exhibits great skill and possesses the closest thing save her mother to artistry in her technique. She’s a worthy adversary and proves herself to be exquisitely capable of administering grievous bodily harm at every turn. Still, the film doesn’t use her enough and it satisfies itself with an endless array of cartoon brutality.

The story lacks nuance as it mainly comes down to the war between the American mafia and the Japanese Yakuza. It’s simply a matter of them murdering each other over the rights to certain territories. The Yakuza want to control every aspect of the Mafia’s operations and they are met with stiff resistence. So, the tots are nabbed and this leads mainly to the Punisher and Franco embarking on a suicide mission in order to wipe out the Japanese threat. These sequences are particularly laughable as hundreds of bodies pile up to save the life of a single child.

The real hero of this film comes in the form of the beleaguered head of the Punisher task force, Jake Berkowitz (Gossett Jr.) who was once Castle’s partner and has been pursuing him ever since he went underground. He’s a tough, no-nonsense cop who is determined to locate his great friend and to prove once and for all to himself that Castle is indeed the Punisher. Berkowitz is perhaps the only truly complicated character who is possessed by his hunt for Castle while attempting to maintain a semblance of a life. Again, we don’t get to know very much about Berkowitz as the film refuses to allow any psychological investigations into any of the character’s psyches. We are left with bare boned outlines that serve no real purpose in the end.

The performances in this film are adequate for this genre. Dolph Lundgren is vital and physically present throughout. His character lacks the depths that subsequent action heroes of our time have exhibited but essentially he carries the film rather effortlessly. Louis Gossett Jr. projects a calming decency throughout the film. His character conveys a sort of modesty coupled together with a tough guy exterior.

Overall, this film is passable but lacks any real purpose or meaning. There is a whole lot of violence here but it never moves above the level of even the most basic video game. It’s easily dismissible and the viewer is left to attempt to find something in the story that is worth believing in. Unfortunately, this search proves to be fruitless and all that is left is great swathes of carnage that do nothing in the end to transform silly gunplay into a film worth investigating. The characters generally come across as ciphers who are easily expendable. The death in this film is bland and not particularly thrilling in the end. There is simply no style here whatsoever.

Film Review--Bolt

Bolt
directed by Byron Howard, Chris Williams
written by Dan Fogelman, Chris Williams
starring the voices of John Travolta, Malcolm McDowell, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman, Mark Walton, James Lipton, Greg Germann, Daran Norris, Kari Wahlgren



Bolt (Travolta) is a superstar wonderdog who teases and prods a massive audience of humans every week as the star of a hit television program. He saves a young lass named Penny (Cyrus) from the sinister clutches of Dr. Calico (McDowell) and dutifully goes back to his trailer. He is flagrantly unaware that each adventure is staged and that he does not possess super powers. He escapes only to wind up trapped in a package destined for New York. He spends the rest of the film desperately attempting to get back to Hollywood to “save” his human.

The story is a journey of discovery where Bolt has escaped from the safety of the set to locate his precious Penny before the mad doctor does anything particularly untoward to her. Bolt finds a feisty feline named Mittens and a robust, enthusiastic fanboy hamster named Rhino and the trio set out to find Penny in Hollywood. Much of the film focuses on the various methods of transportation that is commandeered and Bolt’s disillusionment over finding out that he’s just another dog. He is taught dog skills by Mittens and discovers just how much joy can be extracted from the simplest, most mundane activities. Gradually an affection builds up between them which proves that the war between cats and dogs is utter bollocks.

The film is a hilarious sendup of the television industry where executives decide after consulting with a number of polls that the key 18-34 demographic is not happy and does not want to watch happy shows. Subsequently they force the producers to darken things up a bit which leads to the cliffhanger where Peggy is snatched away and Bolt is left behind to pine. Bolt bolts and finds himself in New York wondering how he got there and wishing he could relieve his anxiety and save Penny. He is determined to do what he has done so many times before and gamely sets out to complete the only task at hand that matters.

This film possesses a tremendous amount of energy throughout and there are numerous fast action sequences that leave one positively dizzy. The animation is stellar and produce a sense of terror on occasion as the various scenes for the show are played out. There is an intensity about the film which lends itself to many moments of giddy affirmation as the story continues.

Penny is presented as a talented young actress who wants nothing more than to have her trusty dog back in her life. She yearns for Bolt but is forced to accept a Bolt double so that the show might carry on. The sniveling agent (Germann) tries to trick Penny with another dog but she knows the score. There are several scenes of Penny looking all forlorn and miserable which provide the film with gravity which is important in order to sell the overarching sense of loss that plagues much of the film. One truly wants to see this pair reunited and the journey becomes one of hope mingled with not an inconsiderable amount of temporary despair. The film does a good job offering circumstances that put up barriers between Bolt and his goal. Through grit and ingenuity he is able to transcend them all on his way to the finish line.

The relationship between cat and dog is rather typical of how these two species interact. At first Bolt roughs Mittens around a bit by grabbing her about the throat and threatening to kill her if she doesn’t reveal the location of the Green-eyed man (Calico). Fearing for her life she goes along with him and proceeds to provide a map that will lead them to Hollywood. Mittens is a smart, wily thing and she maintains her steely exterior for a short period until Bolt proves his loyalty to her and she melts in his paws. It’s rather sweet to watch these creatures struggle to reach the promised land before Calico sells Penny into white slavery or something equally horrific. Mittens and Bolt together make a strange and interesting couple and one wonders just what a match up such as this would produce in the end. There is a tremendous amount of chemistry between them and it’s not difficult to imagine them falling for each other. Also, the way the hamster reacts to Mittens is quite telling. He equates her with every dark and satanic thing he can think of and she merely shrugs it off.

The performances in this film are all quite good. John Travolta captures the essential panic of Bolt as well as his growing confidence as he pushes on toward recovering Penny. Miley Cyrus does an outstanding job with Penny’s various modes of confusion and fear. She also taps into Penny’s strengths as a vital pre-teen with important life skills. Susie Essman creates a sexy kitty with a tremendous amount of gumption. It’s possible to hear some of the hurt in her voice as she’s been abandoned and left to fend for herself. Mark Walton is entirely enthusiastic as the rodent with a huge crush on Bolt. He possesses enough energy for all three and Walton gets to the core of his character’s manic outbursts. Malcolm McDowell does the whole evil rag quite effectively. He’s believable as the cruel, sinister lord of the underworld.

Overall, this is a high quality film that is served well by its stellar performances. The animation is routinely excellent and the story is heartfelt and genuinely fascinating throughout. There are moments of great beauty in this film and each of the characters are well rounded and consistently intriguing. The film plays with various ideas about the nature of friendship and the evils of the television industry. There is a dark undercurrent to this film which comes through in the heartache that Bolt feels when he cannot locate his true friend. Separation anxiety sets in as he has never before been apart from Penny or for that matter been off of the set. He is merely an actor who doesn’t know who he is or how he is supposed to be. Through trial and tribulation he learns valuable lessons that all humans can apply to their lives. Friendship and loyalty are truly two grand elements of life worth pursuing to the best of our abilities.