(1992)

"Trapped in time.  Surrounded by evil.  Low on gas."

The last in the trilogy of "Evil Dead" films takes Bruce Campbell's character, Ash, into 1300 A.D., in an even more over-the-top (if you can believe that's possible - well, anything is possible with Sam Raimi) adventure. He has to fight  "Deadites", to retrieve the Necronomicon, so he can return home.  As always with Sam Raimi/Bruce Campbell collaborations, the result is endlessly quotable, with favorite sound bites being the classic "This is my BOOMSTICK!"

The film is basically a very simple plot centered around medieval-themed action sequences. The shoot proved to be overwhelming in many unexpected ways, the stunts and fight scenes, which take up the bulk of the film, proving to be problematic, originating with Campbell's lack of any horseback riding experience.  Horseback riding, staff, and sword lessons were necessary.

"Army of Darkness's" original running time was 96 minutes long, with a depressing ending - the final version is 81 minutes, with a happier finale. In addition, Bridget Fonda, a fan of the series, asked for a small role and portrays Linda, Ash's girlfriend - her part was created for the new beginning and ending.

The long-time friends (they met in high school) and collaborators Raimi and Campbell were given a much larger budget, after the success of the film "Darkman", and included many more stunts than before, testing Campbell's patience, physical strength, and agility. As Campbell himself says in his book "If Chins Could Kill - Confessions of a B-Movie Actor", it "became an awkward challenge of reconciling high school with Hollywood." Fight scenes were carefully choreographed, including a battle with skeletons - an obvious homage to Ray Harryhausen's classic scene in "Jason and the Argonauts" (1963).  It's a fun film full of great one-liners, as were the first two films in the series.

"Army of Darkness" is screening as part of the Cool Classics at the Colony series (proudly presenting 35mm for all their films, with classic trailers before the show) and will be showing on Wednesday, March 21st, at 7:30pm at The Colony, at 5438 Six Forks Road, Raleigh, NC. (919) 856-0111.  Tickets are $5.50 at the door (The Colony is cash-only).

Dead Ringer

(1964)

"Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the fairest twin of all?"

Nobody in film has yet portrayed evil bitch, and sometimes crazy evil bitch, as well and as often as the late great Bette Davis, as evidenced by such films as "Of Human Bondage", "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane", and "The Nanny", just to name a few that come immediately to mind. Capable of spitting out lines such as "Ah'd luv tuh kiss yuh, but ah jus' washed mah hair" (from "Cabin In the Cotton", 1932), "Every time you kissed me, I had to wipe my mouth! Wipe my mouth!" (from "Of Human Bondage", 1934) to "But Blanche, yuh ahhh in that chair, yuh ahhhhhhh!" (from "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane", 1962), Bette Davis made a lucrative living with her hip-swinging sashaying stride and her mannerisms that still make her a favorite of drag queens everywhere.

In "Dead Ringer", Bette was once again cast in the dual role of good sister/bad sister (Edith Phillips/Margaret DeLorca) similar to her dual roles in "A Stolen Life" (1946, with Glenn Ford). Paul Henreid, her co-star in "Now Voyager" (1942) - remember him in the classic scene that involved his lighting two cigarettes and handing Davis's character one of them - directs.

"Dead Ringer"'s premise is simple: good sister impulsively tries to step into shoes of deceased bad sister in an ill-conceived move to improve her own quality of life, without thinking of the inherent consequences. In this case, as in the case of "A Stolen Life", Davis's character inherits the dead bad sister's myriad mix of self-imposed problems, but with worse consequences.

And as veteran filmgoers have realized for many years, the family dog always knows who's who.

Karl Malden, as Davis' earnest boyfriend and cop Sgt. Jim Hobbson is basically re-enacting his earnest boyfriend characterization from "A Streetcar Named Desire", and Peter Lawford, who was a real-life playboy and alcoholic, (in addition to allegedly acting as a bit of a pimp for the Kennedys, circa the Marilyn Monroe/John F. Kennedy/Robert Kennedy liasons era), plays Tony Collins...the alcoholic playboy boyfriend of the dead bad sister, Margaret DeLorca.

"Dead Ringer" was made in an era of more rudimentary special effects, so Davis's two characters interacting almost face-to-face in some scenes was quite innovative for the time, well-done (better than the obvious stand-in used for some scenes) and still holds up well.

Fun times ensue for all. Classic Bette melodrama.

Drop Dead Gorgeous

 

(1999)

The battle between the good and the bad is bound to get ugly. 


"Drop Dead Gorgeous" is a masterpiece of modern dark comedy at its best: hilariously biting satire directed Michael Patrick Jann, with the perfect cast - including Kirsten Dunst, Denise Richards, Kirstie Alley, Amy Adams (in her first film role), Ellen Barkin, Allison Janney, Brittany Murphy and Sam McMurray.

It was regarded by some as being "mean-spirited" when it first came out - the very quality that propels it to its level of ingenuity, and it received mixed reviews - people either loved it or did not like it at all.

The mockumentary style film centers around the annual beauty pageant in a small Minnesota town named Mount Rose, and the rivalries, pettiness, and murders that occur over the chance to become the "Mount Rose Teen American Princess", who receives a scholarship from the contest sponsor, Sarah Rose Cosmetics, which enables the winner to leave the tiny town and hopefully become a success.  The heroine, sweet and talented Amber Atkins (Dunst), lives in a tiny trailer with her chain-smoking, beer-guzzling, good-hearted mother Annette (Barkin), whose best friend, flirtatious Loretta (Janney) resides a couple of trailers away. As the contest nears, people who might interfere with the Leeman girl winning, or with her emotions, mysteriously and violently die. Amber, after finding a not-so-subtle note in her locker proclaiming "You're next!" wants to pull out of the pageant after her mother is almost killed in an explosion.

Amber practices her tap-dancing while making up the dead in her part-time job at the local morgue, and dreams of becoming like her idol Diane Sawyer. In sharp contrast to Amber is Rebecca Ann Leeman (Richards), her poisonous and wealthy rival, who lives with her parents, one-time Mount Rose pageant winner and stage mother-monster Gladys (Alley), and owner of the local furniture store,  abrasive and crass Lester (McMurray).

"Drop Dead Gorgeous" is a masterful exercise in satire, not to be missed by anyone who appreciates the genre.

Christmas movies

Time for this reviewer to set aside her practically terminal sarcasm, to reflect on favorite Christmas films.

It's A Wonderful Life (1946)

This reviewer's all-time favorite Christmas film.
Jimmy Stewart is George Bailey, who, when he is about to commit suicide, is prevented by the sudden appearance and intervention of his "guardian angel", Clarence (Henry Travers). Clarence gives George the chance to see what life would have been like had he never been born. The beautiful Donna Reed is Mary, his wife.  The audience sees George's life evolve up to the very point that he becomes desolate and turns to suicide as a last resort, and then as he is taken by his guardian angel through events as they would have occurred had he never existed, how he "really had a wonderful life, wouldn't it be a shame to throw it away?"  Lionel Barrymore stars as the town's evil slumlord Mr. Potter, who famously yells at George "Merry Christmas!  IN JAIL!"

A commercial flop when it was initially released, although nominated for five Oscars, and often referred to as "Capracorn" at the time, Frank Capra being the director, and because it was considered so "corny", it has since become a much-loved classic. It's also the movie with the most romantic scene of all time: the phone scene. When Jimmy Stewart is listening in on the phone call with Donna Reed, and they end up kissing....the whole buildup to that moment when he grabs her...THE BEST EVER ROMANTIC MOVIE SCENE, bar none, in this reviwer's opinion. However, the part where the audience is shown that Reed's character would have become a dowdy, shy, nearsighted old maid librarian, with bushy eyebrows, no less, if she hadn't met Stewart's character, is ludicrous, not to mention sexist. Sam Wainwright would have married her! ;P

Other recommended Christmas films...

Elf (2003)- funny and creepy and festive...all at the same time

Badder Santa (2003) - great to offset "It's A Wonderful Life"

Miracle on 34th Street (1947) - a timeless classic

A Christmas Carol (1951) - Alistair Sim - 'nuff said

How The Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)- perfect story - perfect animation - perfect narration

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)- Tim Burton's strange and wonderful take on the season

Spellbound

(1945)

Will he kiss me or kill me?

"Spellbound", starring Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Leo G. Carroll, loosely based on the novel "The House of Dr. Edwards", was Alfred Hitchcock's somewhat surreal vision of a film about psychoanalysis. 

The story: Peck's character, claiming to be Dr. Anthony Edwardes, appears at the mental hospital where Dr. Constance Peterson (Bergman) works, to replace Dr. Murchison (Carroll) as head of the institution. The young pair immediately fall for each other, but Constance's professional abilities also bring her to face the reality that something is terribly wrong with "Dr. Edwardes".  She loves him and tries to help him, while at the same time fearing that he may be a murderer.

"Spellbound" is mostly remarkable for being a visual delight, not only of course due to its master director, but also because the film's famous surreal dream sequence Hitchcock created in collaboration with Salvador Dali.  This surreal tone is helped by the inclusion of other heavily symbolic scenes such as the line of seven doors opening when Bergman's frigid character becomes "thawed" by her first kiss with Peck.  The heavy-handedness of the sexual symbolism in the door scene (violins start up as the doors begin to open) is a little over-the-top but does fit in with the otherwordly feel of the film.

"Spellbound" will be showing in Raleigh at The North Carolina Museum  of Art, at 2110 Blue Ridge Road, Friday, November 18th, at 8 pm.  The film is part of the Fall Film Series at the Museum focusing on surrealism.  Tickets are $3.50 for Museum members, students, Cinema Inc. and Galaxy Cinema members, and $5 for all others.  Tickets may be ordered by phone by calling 919-715-5923, and in person (East Building) during regular hours:  Tues.-Thur., Sat.-Sun. 10 am-5pm, Fri. 10 am-9 pm.

Photo credit: Selznick International Pictures

Favorites for Halloween Viewing

Favorites for Halloween viewing, in no particular order after the first one:

The Haunting (1963)
Psycho (1960)
What Lies Beneath (2000)
Mr. Sardonicus (1961)
Trick 'R Treat (2007)
The Picture Of Dorian Gray (1945)
Westworld (1973)
Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
The Evil Dead (1981)
The Exorcist (1973)
Halloween (1978)
Creepshow (1982)
Whatever Happened To Baby Jane (1962)
Phantasm (1979)
Alien (1979)
Trilogy of Terror (1975)
Frailty (2001)
The Return of the Living Dead (1985)
The Grudge (2004)
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
Night Of The Living Dead (1968)

Creepshow

(1982)

"Just call me Billie! Everyone does!"

Director George Romero ("Night of the Living Dead", 1968) and author/screenwriter Stephen King teamed up for this collection of 5 gruesomely funny horror tales. Combining comic-book panels, melodramatic lighting/coloring and camera angles, with the linking sequences in between the tales animated in the style of 1950's E.C. comics, the results will also remind many of classic comic books such as "Eerie" and "Creepy".

Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, Fritz Weaver, Ted Danson, Leslie Nielsen, Ed Harris, Carrie Nye, Viveca Lindfors, E.G. Marshall, and even Stephen King are in the great cast. The tales are titled: "Father's Day", "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill", "Something to Tide You Over", "The Crate", and "They're Creeping Up on You". They are all top-notch (with the exception of the just plain silly "The Lonesome Death Of Jordy Verrill", which stars King in the lead role).

"The Crate" is this reviewer's personal favorite, not because the name of Adrienne Barbeau's vulgar, coarse character is Billie (in her case, Billie is short for Wilma), although Barbeau raucously blaring "Oh, just call me Billie! Everyone does!" several times does induce outright laughter in this reviewer's home. Hal Holbrook, a very accomplished actor, gives a wry and subtle performance as Billie's beleagured, henpecked husband, and Adrienne Barbeau is spot-on as the trashy, trampy, loudly drunken Billie. And while this segment has the same morbid humor of the rest of the tales, it is also pretty scary at times, with a very satisfying ending.

Personal second favorite is "Father's Day", with the bastard of a father yelling "Bedelia! It's Father's Day! Where's my cake? I want my cake, you bitch!" and there's nothing quite like seeing Ed Harris doing what this reviewer likes to call his little "chicken dance", which is rivaled in hilarity only by Jessica Harper's onstage jig in Brian DePalma's underappreciated cult classic "Phantom of the Paradise" (1974).

"Something To Tide You Over" is third personal favorite ("I can hold my breath a long, long time!"), and "They're Creeping Up on You" is for those who are scared by insects, with the great E.G. Marshall as a mean and reclusive germ-phobic millionaire.

Great campy horror fare from Romero and King, worth re-watching several times a year (especially around Halloween - the beginning shots and music are reminiscent of John Carpenter's classic "Halloween").