JackFavell

> {quote:title=CineMaven wrote:}{quote}Yeah, I kind of surmised that. Your sensibilities are more gentle than mine. I can do gore and blood and guts very easily. But I love the old classic horror films. The ones where Sound is so new, you can hear the spaces. Oh yes! That's a great description! I am definitely sensitive... I have only watched these more modern creature features in the last ten years. You'd have to pay me to watch *Halloween* and I still probably wouldn't do it. *Carrie* was enough to make me jump out of my skin. > *Theatre of Blood* ( Ha! Saw it a whole bunch of times for Diana Rigg ) I just love the idea of a ham actor coming back to kill his critics. It's so delightfully morbid and cheesy, and really funny. > *Pit and the Pendulum* - is that Hammer? ( That's Roger Corman ) Aaah. I'll have to try more of Corman's stuff. > *Mr. Sardonicus* ( I love it! Krull...you've GOT to love Krull! A true Homolkan performance ) Yes, I love my Krull. And leeches. ewwww! > *Psycho* ( IT IS PERECT!) ) Exactly. > *The Haunting* ( My sister ran out of the living room and back into our bedroom as a kid. Love it ) I only had the guts to watch this one last year. It turns out to be more talky than I thought. But I still won't watch it at night. > *Willard* (Eeeeeeew!!! Couldn't take it. Had a big problem with Bruce Davison for *years* b'cuz of this movie. It creeped me out!) I think it's funny. It made me like Bruce. Now who's the sensitive one? > What surprised me was having a problem with *"VERTIGO"* one of my all-time favorites. I wonder if it was because it was a dark and stormy night when I saw it. I think Vertigo is one of those movies that has so much in it, that one could have many different reactions to it, over a long time. *Citizen Kane* is like that for me. > *Edited by: CineMaven on Oct 30, 2011 2:32 PM - 'cuz I'm stilll bummed over my popcorn!* Switch to Twizzlers, stat!

Wow! That's so interesting, how your reaction to this movie changed.... have you seen it on the big screen before? I'm going to assume you have, so that isn't why it affected you this way this time. Now when I watched it the first time, that is exactly how I saw it... I saw Scotty's cruelty and though I thought the film was a masterpiece, I didn't want to watch it again for a long time... it was far too painful and disturbing to me. Did sweet Scotty change? or was that inside him all the time? If it is, that means that we all have that pathology inside us. I really enjoyed your post here. You expressed your feelings honestly, just trying to work out why it was different. It was all very simply put, but filtered through your feelings about the film from before.

They're great as snacks. I am not too into the Hammer horror films...but I have to admit to not having watched any all the way through. The modern ones I do like are: Theatre of Blood Pit and the Pendulum (is that Hammer?) Mr. Sardonicus Psycho The Haunting Willard

That's so funny, I watched White Zombie this morning almost completely without sound, and it worked too. I think that is part of the charm of these horror films, at least the early ones. They really are very visual.

Thanks, Maven. Just knowing you are out there somewhere, with your tongue sticking out, makes me feel better.

Karen Black is CREEPY.

> {quote:title=CineMaven wrote:}{quote} > Why don't you Jackaaa*A*aay? Don't make small people... write a book. (This way you don't have to deal with family looking for their relatives, or trying to stuff their Aunt Martha in their vest pockets). Haha! I would probably have more luck making little people than I would writing a book. I have no big ideas. I imagine making little people is like baking, which I love to do. Writing is sometimes a chore for me. > Speaking of Maureen O'Sullivan, I took *"DRACULA'S DAUGHTER"* and Francis Ford Coppola's *"DRACULA"* to the bar Friday for Halloween. Yes, there was still music popping and hubbub...uhm...hubbing. But I was in my glory watching the movies, especially "Dracula's Daughter." Gloria Holden was handsome and sexy and great. I also kept wishing that Maureen O'Sullivan would have replaced Marguerite Churchill. She is the most unappealing actress I think I've ever seen. What Otto saw in her is beyond me. And Otto was a doll in that movie. > I know...two words you don't often hear in a sentence: "Otto" and "doll." I am ashamed to admit I've never seen Dracula's Daughter! But it's on my list, second from the top right after Mark of the Vampire. And Otto is a doll in at least one other movie.... I can't for the life of me remember what it is, he plays the second lead who helps out Mary Astor(?) get her hubby back when he's strayed... gosh what the heck is the name of that film? > Now...where can a girl find a good Dracula when you need him, and don't want to feel guilty. After all...he'll bend you to his will. If I knew that.....

OMG! What horror film has dancing poodles in it?

LOL! I don't know! cause they can stab you in the ankle? Cause they can hide out in your Christmas tree without you knowing it? I had one moment of fear for the little guy who was going to stab Robert Greig in the neck... Greig is already big enough to hurt you if he rolled over on you at normal size.

I like forgetting things, it makes everything seem new. >Love Boyer in BITP, because he's not cutesy-old. The funniest scene for me (in the whole movie, not just that clip) is when the belly dancer flings her black hair into Robert Redford's face, lol. Yes, heaven save us from cutesy old people, or the touristy ones like in Summertime. Redford gets so uncomfortable it's a riot. He deserves to be made uncomfortable after the way he treated poor Daisy Clover. Boyer is great. He's the perfect foil for poor Natwick. Don't you think that the real story was probably the opposite? That Natwick was a free spirit, and Boyer was the homebody? I somehow feel that was true, though I have no proof. I was thinking about Chaney while watching Devil Doll, wondering if it had been tailored for him, but I am glad that Barrymore got the role, he's just super in it. And NO I certainly don't want to make little people who are going to stab me in the eye! I like the cute little doggies! Just think of the savings on doggie waste bags! I have never seen Berserk before, It's a hoot! I haven't been paying a lot of attention since I had to clean the fish tank out this afternoon. I just love seeing Joan walk into a scene and say, "You blundering imbecile! You worthless IDIOT!" every time. Uh oh! Catfight! Edited by: JackFavell on Oct 30, 2011 12:40 PM

Is there anything more horrifying than the look on Donald Crisp's face as he looks over Stella's shoulder at the ghost of Mary Meredith?

I think I know that still of Gable at the bar... It's ridiculous how much movie memorabilia one mind can store. Notice I posted pics of Gable and Cooper from that book? That was no accident. :x I totally buy the English countryside here even if it is Hollywood...it just works. I love these old 30's and 40's horror films, they have such warmth about them... you can feel the breath on the back of your neck....but there is something gentle and nature oriented, almost soulful about them. The more recent films just can't capture that at all.

Oh my god, I never noticed before! In *The Uninvited,* the doctor's name is Dr. Scott! Just like *Rocky Horror Picture Show!*

Oh, fred, that was beautiful.... you choked me up! I'll never forget that story.

There are literally hundreds of thousands of pictures in it, some promotional stills and studio portraits, but the bulk of it is scenes from the actual movies. Maven, Goddess, I used to just pore over that book, long before I saw any of the films in it, dreaming away of the beautiful people in those pictures. I think what caught my eye the most was the way the photos are arranged - and Blum does it quite purposefully - there is a page with photos of Ginger Rogers from *Flying Down to Rio*, *Secrets* with Mary Pickford, and Margaret Sullivan in a film I can't remember. All of them are lined are up in a row with their gorgeous frilly white dresses .... I am quite sure that THAT page was one of the ones that I would stare at for hours.....they were so impossibly beautiful and different. Add to that Lillian Harvey from *Congress Dances*, or Joan from *Letty Lynton*, or Kate from *The Little Minister*... it was overpowering. I then made a conscious effort to watch any and all the movies I was fascinated by. Oh, and I forgot, I am solitary still, but instead of having 50 friends, I have a core group of maybe ten people I hang with now, there are only a few, but they are closer. I do wish I had more friends, but Connecticut is a closed minded place, and I am still the odd man out here. People seem quite judgmental here, or standoffish, or something. They don't share themselves easily. I'm sitting here watching *The Uninvited*. These warm old horror films are so wonderful and quaint. They warm my soul on this chilly day. Ha! I forgot that line - - the maid just came in and said with a lower class English accent: "Excuse me sir, but dinner won't be for a few hours yet. It's the lamb bein' awwkward..." I gotta use that one next time I can't get dinner to come out on time! Edited by: JackFavell on Oct 30, 2011 11:00 AM

In *The Devil Doll,* H. B. Warner's laboratory hood looks just like my stove hood...... I wonder if I could make people small under there? This is now one of my favorite tales at Halloween. The acting is uniformly good, although the young taxi driver played by Frank Lawton has an impossibly stupid name - dodo or toto, I'm not sure... and an accent that he stole from Doug Fairbanks, Jr.! Lionel is just great in this film, and I love the whole story. The ending speech to his daughter, Maureen O'Sullivan (I wish I looked like her, she's so beautiful and gamine), always brings me to tears... Lionel is so understated in this movie and it works, especially against crazy Raffaela Ottiano. There is something warm and comforting, very humanitarian about these old horror films, the monster or criminal is often the most sympathetic of characters.... if not, there is a sexual undercurrent, something thrilling about the idea of taking people's will and bending to your desires....or losing that will in some way. In fact, desire is often the catalyst in these stories - *Cat People*, or like in *White Zombie*, where one man's spurned desire is the opening that Lugosi needs to gain control over everyone.... I like to wrap myself up in these warm dark stories like a blanket, stare into the firelight and cozy up to my deepest fears.

OMG! That's hilarious! I can see a through line from one to the other. Charles Boyer could do anything. "Jimmy Crack Corn and I don't care." It's not even a great line, but he makes it one.

OK! It's taken me two days to read through this thread completely. _MissG -_ Alex D'Arcy is in *Soldier of Fortune* ? I love him, I have to see it. Plus I'm on a Gable roll lately, I watched *Adventure* the other night. I was knocked out by Gable. Greer Garson should have shot the writers, they made her seem so unattractive. _Frank-_ I hate to ask what happened with *Brief Encounter* ? Be gentle with me. I am glad you liked Franchot Tone. I like him more and more lately. I never realized how good he was till he played that maniac in *Phantom Lady.* OMG! That Martin Scorsese interview is nuts! I cannot believe how close his experience was to mine. Whats even crazier is that you remembered his story and posted it for me. My book was this one:

Love the harpsichord! Yeah, Karl Malden is never going to be a sophisticated bon vivant. I can't believe you watched *Hot Blood!* I actually recorded it and watched it all the way through, but that's because I'm crazy! It IS directed like a topical musical! I totally get that. Some of the shots on the street were just like West Side Story - I noticed some of these long angle shots from far down the street that made you feel as though either something bad was going to happen, like a fight; or that the Sharks and Jets were going to come dancing toward you into closeup.... I also saw that irony in that vivid color, and the way it was filmed. Even though it was all patently ridiculous, it felt like a documentary on modern day gypsies, lol. As Ray pleaded for tolerance in his directing style, the stereotypes were flying! Old Johnny was hilarious, but such an awful "type". It felt like a split personality of a movie. I actually liked it far more than I thought I would, but Joe had far too little to do. I almost wished he had played the other old man, stereotype and all. Edited by: JackFavell on Oct 29, 2011 7:31 PM

Just to put it to rest, I am not sure that the dad had ever tried something with young Elsa , to me it seemed like an undercurrent that lent an even creepier side to his control of her. For him, man's natural sex drive was tied up in some extremely twisted things in his own nature. I got the distinct feeling that his obsessing on the evil way men were with women was just a projection of his own confused and rather lurid, nasty feelings which he wanted to obliterate. Whether those feelings were about his own daughter is left maddeningly unclear, but the suggestion is there for me and that's enough. I am actually glad it is not addressed more fully. I like these kind of subtexts, but I like them to remain as such.... they add depth, but in the end they aren't too important to the main plotline, only in motivation of the characters. >*It couldn't be enough to just let it go. You'd think that her death would have been enough punishment for her if she had done what you suggest. It would be a good reason for him being like he is but even more hypocritical for him to impose the sins of the mother on the daughter. Never mind whether there was an incestuous relationship.* > *In this instance, the father is right and then wrong. Heck did have bad intentions with Elsa (dad's right), but then he grew as a man (dad's wrong). Joshua isn't giving anyone the chance to be right or wrong, because he views himself to be nothing but right. That's where it gets dangerous. That's why the "black and white" worries me so. The doors shut quick with that thinking, and it's almost always one-sided.* I did think he was a hypocrite - especially if his own sexual feelings were the reason he kept such strict reign on Elsa. For him, sex and love were totally separate entities, in fact, they were mutually exclusive.....like parallel lines, they could not meet each other and combine within his strict religious convictions. A very sad thing, and almost the opposite of what I think the bible says. I got the idea that over time, his convictions became more and more strict, as he became more bitter and hateful, and as his daughter grew to womanhood. He didn't want to think about what the right thing was, he let fear of himself /or of her inner workings guide his actions, not his reason. He let his feelings lead him into the very evil he despises. > {quote:title= > FrankGrimes wrote > *Deep down, Gil is the same as Steve. It's probably their greatest link.* > > > > > > > > > > > > > We all know what it is to stray, and we all know what it is to see a friend stray. It's beautiful the way this movie works it all out. In the end, it's the friendship of these two old men that provides the gold. I like that McCrea isn't all high and mighty at the end. There is no greater thing than to show a friend that you respect them, to let them know that YOU knew all along that they were worth something. Forgiveness is left out of the last scene, there is no need for it. Look at that last shot, McCrea is down low - he puts Scott up high in his esteem..... his estimation of his friend is where it should be...Scott is riding the High Country now. _Ride the high *SPOILERS*_ I LOVE that last scene. It is SO simple, eloquent in it's understatedness. No need to blow trumpets or make more of it than it is. I can't think of a director who wouldn't have intruded himself onto the scene, but Peckinpah relates the story so modestly, no elaboration. No belaboring the point. It's perhaps his finest moment for me, outside of Robert Ryan's final scene in The Wild Bunch. The gunfight itself is very old fashioned - like we are told in history books how battles were fought, eye to eye, standing tall. The way Peckinpah shows us the two friends, dropped where one was wounded, the camera at eye level, making their last small talk. Then it moves up with Scott as he stands....he looms high in the sky for a moment. As he turns to walk away, he says, "I'll see you later.", Scott's laconic tone is pitch perfect, it's a quiet double entendre, he's showing the kids there is nothing wrong, and at the same time he means he'll be going too, sometime soon. As Scott walks away in long shot, we return to McCrea, who turns his head and we follow his gaze. It's not a bad place to die, quite beautiful, in fact, with the mountains in the distance and the trees showing a crisp autumn coloring.... it looks clean and clear and good. Edited by: JackFavell on Oct 29, 2011 6:26 PM

That's right! I remember the previous conversation now! Oh, that french voice, it made him sound toujours gai, not sleazy, like a down and out reprobate. I just love the scene where Bette has to undress and trade jewelry with her twin. It makes you realize how difficult it is to manipulate a dead body, and to keep from leaving any clues. Did you get to see The Black Room? I fell asleep during it, nothing much was happening, but I loved the feel of it. I found the buildup to be really fun. It felt like a later film than 1935. I only saw up to the point where the dog attacked one of the townspeople, and the good Boris twin jumped in between - while the evil Boris twin yelled out, "Kill him! Let him tear the fellow to pieces!" Ha! I wonder what kind of name de Berghman is? Part German, part French?

This way is a very nice way....

Hey, it's evil twin night tonight! Has anyone seen *Dead Ringer* ? I seem to remember a small conversation about it somewhere. I really liked this movie last time it was on. A nifty, tense little thriller, directed by Paul Henreid. I've never liked Karl Malden as much as I did here, and hated Peter Lawford more. Bette is of course, perfect. Edited by: JackFavell on Oct 28, 2011 10:10 AM

Hey, even I liked Will Penny!

I gotta watch this movie again! What a great question.