Ray Harryhausen (1920 - 2013)

 On May 7^th the world of fantasy film lost a true pioneer in movie magic. Ray Harryhausen was an innovator in the field of visual effects and of course is best known for his stop motion animation effects seen in such fantasy classics as The 7^th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), The Vally of Gwangi (1969) and the original Clash of the Titans (1981).

Awaken the Kraken!

My first exposure to Harryhausen was an airing of It Came From Beneath the Sea (1955) on local television. I was enthralled by the sight of a giant octopus climbing up the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Around this time I had also seen King Kong (1933) and so I was getting a good classic dose of stop motion animation.

Quite possibly my favorite creation of Harryhausen

 In 1975 my father took me to my first movie in a theater. It was a re release of The 7^th Voyage of Sinbad. I remember asking my father if the monsters were going to come out of the doors (the exit doors at the front of the theater on either side of the screen) and he chuckled and told me I would see the movie and the monsters on the big silver screen. At that moment the lights dimmed and I do not remember any trailers for coming attractions; all I remember is that classic and iconic musical score from Bernard Herrman. From that moment until the end of the film, I was completely hooked!

Multi-armed death!

I marveled at the Cyclops and how it moved around on the screen. I knew it wasn’t real but it had all the makings of what my mind could dream up. This is what Harryhausen’s work did for me. It had such a dreamlike feel to it that you couldn’t help but be captured by it. The sword battle with the skeleton and Sinbad is still to this day my favorite scene of the film. A few scant years later I saw Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977) in the theater. Again I was captured and mesmerized by Harryhausen’s creature creations and skill. The Trogdolyte and Saber Toothed Tiger battle was incredible to my young eyes and well honestly it still is 36 years later. This time around though I paid attention to the credits and discovered the name behind all these incredible creatures. I now knew the name Ray Harryhausen.

This creation actually only had six tentacles due to budget restrictions

That dreamlike feel of Harryhausen’s work that I mentioned earlier, to me is what set him apart from other stop motion animators. If you compare the effects in 7^th Voyage to that of Jack the Giant Killer (1962 which also starred Kerwin Matthews [Sinbad from 7^th Voyage]) you can see that Harryhausen’s work is superior. Harryhausen’s creations have personality and their movement is more smooth and realistic. This trait can be found on all of his work and it really appeals to me. His creatures are imaginative and full of expression, a trait that I believe is missing from most of the CGI effects of modern day cinema. 

Warriors of the Hydra!

It saddened me to hear the news that Mr. Harryhausen had passed away but when I look at his collection of film work, all the creatures that he has thrilled audiences with over the years and the stories he helped write and produce, there is no doubt that his work and his legacy will live on infinitely. 

Horror of the VHS Cover Art!

Time to resurrect a subject that I haven’t posted about in quite a while and that subject is VHS cover art from the long gone days of VHS rental. A recent addition to my VHS shelf made me a pretty happy collector. The Super Video release of Amando De Ossorio’s Horror of the Zombies is a very nice example of an era gone by. The cover shows a scantily clad woman being carried to her doom by a group of hooded skeletal faced zombies. In the background you can see that this moment is taking place on a boat. Even though the cover is a little faded, these former rentals saw a lot of sunlight on the shelves of video stores in the 80’s, the colors still pop out at you; a nice marketing ploy by Super Video in my opinion. First the cover grabs your attention with its colors and then the artwork itself is intriguing enough to get you to pick the box up and take a gander. Flip over to the box and what do ya know? It looks like the front cover actually is pretty spot on with the screen pictures on the back! So many times I’ve picked up a box with cool artwork, flip over to the back and see a picture or two from the movie and the pictures had nothing to do with what grabbed my attention on the front! This nice clamshell is spot on with selling you the goods and that is something I can appreciate. 

The pictures on the back of the clamshell are pretty cool too. You have the picture of the skeletal zombies backing away from a fire (because that’s what zombies do ya know) and of course a picture of a damsel in distress being pulled to her gruesome fate below the deck of the boat by skeletal hands. Certainly this is more than enough to say yes to a couple of bucks well spent for some Friday night entertainment!

The bad thing is that the movie itself has a bit of a hard time living up to some expectations. Hooded skeletal zombies attacking the living sounds great but the execution is a bit off. Horror of the Zombies is the third entry in Spanish director Ossorio’s quartet of Blind Dead films and it’s probably one of the more disappointing ones. There isn’t a whole lot of action but there is plenty of atmosphere and ridiculous dubbing to keep you interested until all hell finally breaks loose in the final half hour. There is also a beautiful shot of a toy boat in a bathtub surrounded by fog…..well probably cigar smoke. Still I have to give props when they are due and that would actually go to Super Video for their A+ execution not only in the packaging but the fact that they released the uncut (Yes there is a small smidgen of bloodiness) English language print of this goofy zombie flick.

Succubus (1969)

After taking a little break I decided to sit down with some more Jess Franco. I figured since I had subjected my brain to the ta tas of the Amazons the last outing (see Golden Temple Amazons post) that I would indulge myself into what I felt like was more of an interesting sounding film. Succubus proved just that and proved to me that Jess Franco knows how to make a great film.

Lorna (Janine Reynaud) is a dancer/performer at an erotic night club managed by her lover William (Jack Taylor). Lorna’s on stage persona is sadomasochistic as she portrays a woman who gets sexual pleasure from torturing both male and female partners while they are bound. Her stage persona begins to melt into her off stage life and Lorna begins a slow decent into madness that results in murder and a transformation into the film’s title.

"Hmm....maybe some Tide will take that out?"

The storyline, for me, is disjointed and it’s really hard for me to deliver a detailed synopsis. Franco fills the screen with great visuals however which is what I believe sold me on this film. Janine Reynaud is the center piece of the story but also the center piece visually as Franco focuses on her sultriness. There is no doubt that Reynaud is beautiful and Franco captures her natural beauty and eroticism with ease.

Making out with mannequins just isn't as fun.

 There are some interesting dream like sequences that are delivered in a soft focus that really captures the atmosphere and poses the question is this real or imagined? Two scenes accomplish this very well. One involves a dinner party in which begins to turn into an orgy which Lorna willingly participates in before William pulls her away in anger. Another involves Lorna and a collection of seductive mannequins which really pushes that dream state. 

I also liked the inclusion of a character that takes on a very Devil like persona who seems to be in control of Lorna.  This added an interesting angle to the storyline and helped fuel the question of what was real and was dream. Ultimately the film is about Lorna, her spirit that can’t be captured but is brought out of her psychical body and takes over. 

Howard Vernon? Of course he makes an appearance!

See I told you it very difficult for me to really pin this movie down. I am going to have to view it again and really take it all in. However when I do I will not go back to the Anchor Bay VHS presentation that was released in the late 1990’s. Although the transfer was beautiful it was unfortunately presented full frame.  Blue Underground however has a DVD release of this title presented in 1.66:1 / 16X9 aspect ratio. I am going to have to upgrade for sure!