THE BRIDES OF DRACULA w/ guest Ian McKinney
When I was asked to do this review I was initially reluctant, as it would mean re-watching a movie I remember fondly from my childhood. And rather than viewing it with a sense of nostalgia I was being asked to be analytical, and I was concerned that it would be found wanting. Often the passage of time can be unkind to treasured memories, especially when they are examined in the cold light of day. Luckily my fears were unfounded, I watched it – and loved it.
Over the years, the popularity of Hammer Horror Movies has ebbed and flowed with the fashions of the times. Horror has become more realistic and often sadistic, consequently the theatrical, and somewhat simplistic morals of the Hammer Horrors seemed antiquated and naïve. Although after watching this movie, I can recommend it to anyone who enjoys entertainment more than prolonged scenes of torture and mutilation. Continue Reading
Creature Features in Review: Jeepers Creepers (2001)
Maybe I’m a bumbling fool to have forgotten to post this most excellent addition to Creature Features in Review…or perhaps a certain kind of mad genius. For those State-side and for those abroad, our neighbors to the north and our neighbors to the south, from the Atlantic to the Pacific (and it’s not all that terrific), the world awaits the inauguration of our (America’s) 45th President. Controversy. Disunity. Anger. Resentment. Strife. Uncertainly. It all feels at the moment to seep from the fabric of our country. That hidden fear of the unknown, the same fear H. P. Lovecraft spoke of in his many works, has captured, or should I say strangling, our attentions. This same mood thrives in the electrical grid of most Creature Features, especially Jeepers Creepers. There may be some criticisms and creepiness surrounding the infamous director Victor Salva, but separating the art from the artist, Jeepers Creepers (for me) is a perfect example of a modern American gothic tale. You can literally watch this movie in black and white and still enjoy it, probably more so. The moral compass of puritanism and rational versus irrational is present throughout the entire film. And it’s one of Justin Long’s best performances. Here to help us navigate these precarious times and this very precarious movie is our esteemed guest writer, Chad Clark.
Jeepers Creepers
By: Chad Clark
When Jeepers Creepers came out in 2001, the cinematic horror landscape seemed to be in an interesting place, and not all of it was necessarily good. My memories of this time period were of mainly reboots and PG-13 horror films. Other than Final Destination, there seemed to no longer be such a thing as horror franchises anymore and even in the case of FD, there had only been one installment. So it was within this environment that I was generally suspicious of Jeepers Creepers. The way it was marketed and the vibe I got from it was that this was just another glossy, hollow interpretation of what made horror movies great. I remember seeing ads for this while it was in the theaters but I wasn’t sold and gave it a pass.
Spoiler alert: that was a mistake.
I finally took the plunge with Jeepers Creepers, via the newly created online rental company at the time, Netflix. There wasn’t any streaming, only waiting for the physical DVD’s to arrive in the bright red celebratory envelopes. I was skeptical but to be honest, the first half hour or so of the film is one of the best openings I have ever seen. It starts out so innocently with a brother and sister leaving for the long drive home from school. Before they can get there, the movie takes a turn for the dark side and they quickly find themselves the target of a powerful creature that they don’t fully understand.
The monster in Jeepers Creepers is fantastic and it seemed like they took a lesson from Jaws in that we don’t see it in its full glory until late in the film. What is great though is that even seeing quick flashes of it early on, it’s still scary as hell. I love the image the brother and sister arguing and then the brother (Justin Long) sees this thing dumping what looks like human bodies down a huge pipe in the yard of an old church. By all appearances, it’s just a tall guy wearing an overcoat and a large, wide-brimmed hat, but the design of that costume is incredibly creepy and evocative.
The pacing of the movie is very well done as the monster proceeds to chase the two of them across a rural landscape. Along the way, they get some bits and pieces of information that may give them some insight into the thing and how powerful it is. But mostly, I think we just gradually figure out how screwed they really are. I can tell you this, before seeing this movie, I would have never guessed that the song, Jeepers Creepers would ever feel foreboding. That said, they managed to accomplish that very thing, to the point that I can’t help but think of the film whenever I hear that song.
The movie also has some pretty good acting, something that is occasionally glossed over in the horror franchise as being less important. The cast of actors was pretty much unknown at the time but I thought they all managed to fit in together pretty well. This was especially true with the main players, in that they managed to create two characters that I genuinely cared about and rooted for. It’s a cliché, but I felt like I was on the edge of my seat for these two all throughout the movie, all the way up to the ending, which was brutal and brilliant. I don’t want to give anything away but the movie ends with a slow zoom out to a point and a perspective that left me with my jaw hanging open. It really was that good.
I’m not normally a viewer who pays a lot of attention to things like costume and makeup but I thought they did a phenomenal job making the monster authentic and scary. In a world that was increasingly becoming about CGI, this was a monster that felt physically present and the makeup department did a great job bringing a feeling of grittiness and gore to the monster.
In short, if you are looking for a great example of the modern monster movie, I would definitely start with this one. Jeepers Creepers is a fun film that gives you all the visceral escapism that great horror movies should provide. I can’t recommend it enough.
There is an elephant in the room here, namely that of Victor Salva. He was the director of Jeepers Creepers. Salva was convicted early on in his career for child molestation. I am not going to go into the specifics of his crime. If you are already aware of it, I don’t want to take column inches rehashing common ground. And if you happen to be unaware of what he did, Google can get you there in less than a minute.
The reason why I bring it up is because it has been commonly argued that Salva’s movies should be boycotted. And I want to make sure one thing is clear before I go on to state my position on this. I think that what Salva did was despicable. In no way would I ever want to imply support for or endorse that kind of behavior. I want to make sure that is absolutely clear before I move on. I also believe that he should have received a harsher punishment. The sentence passed down by the court was laughable and that doesn’t even take into consideration that he didn’t serve the full sentence that he was given. I think that a reasonable case could be made for not allowing him to work in movies, mostly due to the fact that he used his power and position as a film director in order to do the things he did.
All that said, he was convicted in a court of law and he served the sentence that was passed down to him by our judicial system. I don’t think that this was right. I don’t think it was justice. And I absolutely support the victim and everything he does to try and make himself healthy again.
Still, I cannot bring myself to support the notion of a boycott, and my reasoning is as follows.
If there was a way to financially hurt Salva and only him, I think that would be one matter. But the fact is that when you were talking about a big budget Hollywood film, we aren’t talking about just Victor Salva anymore. There are literally hundreds of people employed in the process of developing and releasing a feature-length film. Obviously, there are the actors but also all the individual departments that are responsible for the physical look of the film as well as the process of filming. You have the people who spend countless hours with the actors in their studios applying makeup and costumes. There are the people who take the time to set up and dress the sets, keeping things in motion as production moves along. There are the musicians who develop a score for the film, one of the most important parts and record all of that music. Even the caterers who provide food and the marketing firms who promote the movies. There are a lot of people here.
I have always thought that directors got a little too much credit for what ends up on the screen. They function as an organizing force with a global perspective, but there are a lot of different people who work hard at the ground level to make that finished product. The director is responsible for the totality of the thing but it is rarely their hands actually on the product, crafting it. So if I felt like a boycott would be destructive to Salva and only Salva, I might be more inclined to go along. But because of the countless other people who worked their butts off in order to create this film, I can’t support it.
Jeepers Creepers is a brilliant film, and my compliments go to all the cast and crew that dedicated themselves to the creation of it.
Chad Clark is a frequent flyer here on Machine Mean. He has reviewed for us before with commentary on House of Dracula (1945) and House of 1000 Corpses. Mr. Clark is a midwestern author of horror and science fiction. His artistic roots can be traced back to the golden era of horror literature, Stephen King, and Robert McCammon being large influences. His love for horror began as well in the classic horror franchises of the eighties. He resides in Iowa with his wife and two sons. Clark’s debut novel, Borrowed Time, was published in 2014. His second novel, A Shade for Every Season was released in 2015, and in 2016 Clark published Behind Our Walls, a dark look at the human condition set in a post-apocalyptic world. His latest book, Down the Beaten Path, released in September 2016. You can keep up with all of Mr. Clark’s works by following him on Amazon here.
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La maschera del demonio: Or my review on Black Sunday (1960)
La maschera del demonio (Black Sunday) is an 1960 Italian gothic horror film directed by Mario Bava (Black Sabbath, Planet of the Vampires, Rabid Dogs). The film has a wide range of talent, including the beautiful English actress Barbara Steele who played due roles as both Katia Vajda and Princess Asa Vajda. Barbara is best known for her work in a shit load of Italian gothic flicks, but also for her work in Roger Corman’s cinematic adaptation of The Pit and the Pendulum (1961). She also stared as Betts in David Cronenberg’s sexual-liberation epic Shivers (1975) and in Joe Dante’s Piranha (1978). Barbara was most recently in The Butterfly Room (2012) as Ann. Among the cast of Black Sunday we also find Andrea Checchi (Dr. Thomas Kruvajan), John Richardson (Dr. Andre Gorobec), and Arturo Dominici (Igor Javuto), among others.
The film follows the story of Katia Vajda, a vampire-witch hybrid who is put to death for witchcraft (basically, her brother hammered a Scold’s Bridle, a mask with sharp spikes on the inside, onto her face and then buried her, presumably alive. Nice, right? But hey, that’s amore! Here’s a fun fact: Scold’s Bridle’s were used as punishment for nagging women during the Middle Ages). 200 years later, by happenstance, Doctors Kruvajan and Gorobec stumble on the tomb of Katia Vajda. Kruvajan accidentally cuts his hand and blood drips into the coffin of Vajda. The blood reawakens the vampire-witch and she goes about exacting revenge on her descendants.
While watching the film, I was actually rather impressed with the practical effects. The rejuvenation scene with Katia Vajda coming back to life was very stylish and gory, considering the movie was released in 1960 and censored by American International Pictures. It would take another 8 years, during the era of Savage Cinema (also the same year as the Tet Offensive, the assassination of MLK and RFK, and the massacre in My Lai) for those guys at AIP to loose traction in the whole film censorship business when the violence on the big screen struggled to match the violence seen on the daily news. The voice overs in the film are expected and not any kind of hindrance. And there are some rather spooky scenes in the flick. Some of my favorite included Igor and Prince Vajda. Igor’s eyes gave me a real feeling of dread while he slowly approached the princes bedside. But, most of the best scenes were with Katia Vajda. Barbara Steele had this crazed-manic look in her eye that made the movie both enjoyable and fun.
The ending and overall message of the film is something striking. This time around (SPOILERS) when Katia Vajda is put to death, a mob of villagers led by a Christian priest burn her at the stake. The film is most certainly atmospheric and gothic, drawing from Bava’s love for the classic 1930 Universal features. And perhaps, this is where he got the whole “mob” destroying the “monster” trope. But it makes you wonder about the religious connotation. I mean, this is an Italian feature after all. The two doctors represent the world of science and rationality, but both science and rationality fail to slay the beast, as it were. It was the Cross and the mob who saved the princess and defeated the growing darkness. And it is also interesting how successful Black Sunday was during its theatrical release in 1961 America. Looking at the history, it all kinda fits together. This was pre-1965-68 chaos, before the era when horror cinema really focused on drawing down introspectively, as with such films as Psycho (1960) and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane (1962) In Black Sunday,the monster is still “out there in the woods” and can be defeated through religious purity. Regardless, the movie was a colorful black & white feature full of fun gothic atmospherics.
My rating: 4/5
Machine Mean 