Kuroneko (1968)

A group of Samurai happen upon two women in a small house, steal their food, rape, and murder them. The women soon return as vengeful ghosts, luring passing Samurai to their death.

The Japanese title is “Yabu no naka no kuroneko” which translates to “In the Grove of the Black Cat”. It taps into a Ryûnosuke Akutagawa story as well as the folklore of cats taking human form to avenge the wronged.

This film could have been just a series of revenge killings of the institutionally corrupt Samurai, but it’s more complicated than that. I won’t go into detail, but things become complicated.

There's not much else I can say lest I spoil. Kuroneko is a very satisfying watch. It’s beautifully photographed and the ethereal story draws the viewer in. It’s been on my radar for quite some time but schedules or circumstances always seem to conspire. I’m very glad to have finally seen it. AMRU 4.

Witchfinder General (1968)

or The Conqueror Worm.

While civil war rages in England, Lawyer Matthew Hopkins (Vincent Price) travels around offering his services to extract confessions from people accused of witchcraft.

Hopkins is assisted by Stearne (Robert Russell) who does the tortuous dirty work while Hopkins concerns himself with securing payment and listening to the arguments of the accused back in his bedchambers, specifically the young ladies. It’s tough work.

Director Michael Reeves didn’t get along with Price, whose casting was insisted by AIP. They also changed the title in America to confuse it with the Corman/Poe films. This was Reeves third film and tragically his last. His trajectory went from poor, to middling, to pretty good. Some excellent films may have been in his future. He died of an accidental overdose at 25. And so it goes.

Very loosely based on the Historical Matthew Hopkins, this film serves as an excellent portrayal of the evil perpetrated by those convinced of their righteousness. Known for his theatrical, almost campy horror performances, Price was uncharacteristically menacing. Disturbingly so. He was, in a way, cast against type.

Witchfinder General’s use of mannered acting and dialog attempts to import a “Look, I’m a legit historical biopic” vibe when clearly it’s not. But this fair revenge story is elevated by Price’s performance and some story elements not seen in films of the time. AMRU 3.5.

Prescription: Murder (1968)

A well-to-do doctor (Gene Barry), with the help of his young girlfriend, kills his wife. Then they follow an overly complicated plan to make it look like a failed burglary. Thirty minutes later the disarming Lt. Columbo (Peter Falk) is on the case.

Something of an anti-mystery, we see all details of the murder then watch Columbo puzzle it out. Based on a play, it was intended as a stand-alone TV movie. It was a huge hit but Falk wasn’t interested in television. It would be three years before another was made, followed by seven seasons of the regular TV series, then twenty four more TV movies.

For those too young to remember Columbo or Falk, he was the grandfather in The Princess Bride. For those unfamiliar with the Princess Bride, you are living your life wrong. Gene Barry played the lead in the good version of War of the Worlds.

There isn’t much to say about the story. Columbo is annoyingly persistent and Barry’s Dr. Flemming is confident he can outwit him. Guess how it turns out. Prescription: Murder is a fairly amusing if unspectacular watch. I watched a fair amount of Columbo as a kid so it was pretty nostalgic for me. I watched the next TV feature, but I don’t think I want to cover TV movies here. Suffice to say it hit all the same beats. As for this one, AMRU 3.

Romeo and Juliet (1968)

The rich Capulet and Montague families are feuding for some reason, but young Romeo (Leonard Whiting) and younger Juliet (Olivia Hussey) catch each other’s eyes, and therefore fall madly in love. They marry in secret, people are killed, things get complicated, and everyone lives happily ever after.

Everyone knows the story, even those who never read it nor watched it performed. This is me. I’ve seen a few of the Bard’s plays, but I somehow missed this one. Here are my thoughts.

Romeo and Juliet is a stage play. To be performed on a stage, with stage props, for a play-going audience. As such, the flowery language and outsized behaviors fit the intended medium, the unreality of a theater stage. When the play is performed on location in gorgeous Tuscany, with real props and costumes, there becomes a certain dissonance between the real and theatrical. And the fact that all audio was recorded after filming and looped in during post adds to this dissonance.

Now, let’s talk about the infamous scene. Our heroes finally get together in the second act to consummate their marriage. Our director decided that the scene needed a little something extra. That something was nudity. I have no issue with that in principle, and the scene was done tastefully, but it is problematic for a couple reasons.

First, the leads were seventeen and fifteen. Special permission had to be granted for Hussey, who long downplayed the controversy. But to up the creepiness factor, Hussey did say that the 45 year old Zeffirelli fell in love with her during filming. He later called her his “unrequited love of my life”. Secondly, one week after I watched the film, Hussey and Whiting sued the studio, saying they were coerced into appearing nude. Coercing a minor to be filmed nude makes you a predator.

Controversy aside, I couldn’t get past the chasm between style and setting. It’s a hard thing to post a negative review of a work by the most influential English language writer, but a play is a play, and a movie is a movie. If you must craft one into the other, certain choices need to be made. AMRU 2.5.

Rosemary’s Baby (1968)

A struggling actor and his young wife (Mia Farrow) rent a fancy Manhattan apartment with weird neighbors. She becomes pregnant and then is slowly convinced that her neighbors are Satanists intent on killing her baby.

Arguably the most iconic horror film I had left to cover, Rosemary’s Baby casts a long shadow. Schlock director William Castle got the rights to the book but realized he was not up to the task of putting it on the screen. This task was given to rising star Roman Polanski, but allowed himself a Hitchockian cameo. Filmed at the Dakota Apartments, that would later be the location John Lennon would meet his fate.

This may be the first film to lean hard into the occult. Castle felt the production was cursed. His health started failing and was getting hate mail for bringing the devil back. 23 year old Mia Farrow’s fifty two year old husband didn’t approve of the subject matter so he served her divorce papers on the set. Polanski’s wife and unborn child were later brutally murdered by cultists, causing him to start finding thirteen year olds irresistible.

Here we see some old friends. Eliza Cook Jr. visits us once again, as does that Ralph Bellamy fellow. We see a young Charles Grodin, rest in peace, but the standout performance goes to Maude herself, Ruth Gordon. She was amazing as the nosy, annoying neighbor. Who might worship Satan.

Adult life can be terrifying. Economic uncertainty, pregnancy, new situations are frightening enough without the specter of neighbor satanists with designs on your unborn child. Polanski and the source material exploits this theme expertly. The Take YouTube channel did an excellent video exploring elements of control and lack of it. Rosemary is young, frail, and pregnant, and alone in her fight. Check it out.

Rosemary’s Baby is a slow burn, and quite frankly did feel a bit long. Also, traditional horror elements are noticeably absent. The production designer called it the greatest horror film without any horror in it. While not exactly true, it’s close enough to not be wrong. But it is iconic for a reason, influencing The Exorcist, The Omen, and many others. AMRU 4.

"Shut up. You're in Dubrovnik, I don't hear you."

The Odd Couple (1968)

When the wife of neat freak Felix (Jack Lemmon) leaves him, he becomes suicidal, causing his poker buddies to worry. He stays with slob Oscar (Walter Matthew) while he gets over the shock. They do not get along.

It is impossible for me to separate the movie from the 1970’s TV show I watched as a kid. I will refrain from contrasting the two works except to say that it is impressive how Tony Randall and Jack Klugman successfully created a personalized but very recognizable version of the same characters.

Ostensibly, The Odd Couple is a film about men’s relationship with women. Oscar and Felix’s ex-wives, who are never seen, and the Pigeon sisters, whom they attempt to engage. Women, or the desire of them, drive much of the action. But in reality, this is a story about men’s relationship with each other. They bicker, but are genuinely concerned when one is in jeopardy. Felix and Oscar cannot stand living together, but grow close through the experience. Closer than what they can comfortably communicate.

Not laugh out loud funny, at least for me, but funny and engaging. Particularly the coo-coo Pigeon sisters, Monica Evans and Carole Shelley, who reprised their roles from the stage play and would again for the TV series. They would also play Maid Marion and Lady Kluck in the Disney version of Robin Hood, a childhood favorite of mine.

The Odd Couple depicts adult male life in a very different and in many ways more realistic way than films to that point. That’s the hallmark of stage to film adaptations. They are not the idealized manly men of some films, but men in a very recognizable and sometimes unflattering way. The crisis forces them to confront a situation they are not capable of handling very well. In the end they learn and grow, play poker, and bicker with each other. AMRU 4.

The Green Slime (1968)

An asteroid is headed straight towards Earth, so an emergency plan enlists the dashing and handsome Commander Jack Rankin to save the day. First stop is a space station commanded by his former friend, Vince Elliott. I wonder if a hot, Italian red-head has anything to do with their personal problems.

Anyhow, our team takes another rocket to the meatball ... I mean asteroid, to carefully place explosives into a six inch hole they dug. You can’t just put them anywhere. I mean, science and all. The mission is a success, but a drop of green goo is carried back to the space station. But this is no ordinary green goo. Energy of any kind causes it to grow at an alarming rate. Wiggly rubber monster mayhem ensues.

This film is notorious for it’s campiness. Released the same year as 2001: A Space Odyssey, it was never going to get much respect from the Sci-Fi crowd. Burdened with a very 1950’s story and done at a sliver of 2001’s budget, this is a film out of time. Knowing this I think the studio intentionally targeted the camp angle. The film’s title and matching theme song clearly don’t take the material seriously, but there is no indication that the cast and crew were in on the joke. They played it straight and the set pieces and corresponding miniatures were interesting and well designed, although they would occasionally look like they were made by a high school theater troupe on a craft store field trip.

Which takes us to the film’s biggest problem. A space station being menaced by Japanese children in green rubber suits. This might fly in a 1955 drive in, but science fiction was now an artform. Audiences would, at best, giggle at this. I think the filmmakers tried to make a serious film, but they didn’t have the material, the monster, or the timing. And there are more problems here. The character’s confused and annoying backstory, for example. Interestingly, this was a Japan/Hollywood collaboration and the Japanese release omitted the tedious love triangle, shortening the film by about twelve minutes. This could not have been a bad choice.

I wanted to like The Green Slime. But even while ignoring the shadow of Kubrick, we still don’t have a terribly interesting film. It didn’t bring nothing to the table, but still, it didn’t bring a whole lot. It could have been so much closer to mediocre. AMRU 2.5.

The Devil Rides Out (1968)

Some rich dude (Christopher Lee) and his buddy Rex discover that a young friend has joined a satanic cult. Our hero uses every method illegal to save him from a fate worse than freedom of religion. He calls up all sorts of arcane knowledge and artifacts to rescue him. And some chick.

Seldom did Lee play the hero (although I’d argue he was the hero of The Wicker Man) and here I could argue he was the villain playing a confidence game convincing his dim-witted friends and relatives of a non-existent danger. He asserts with authority how every action and object is part of satanic activity without providing much evidence, and bullies the doubters. Of course Satan IS at work. Hammer isn’t that deep, but for a while I was tempted to doubt the premise.

Renamed “The Devil’s Bride” for American audiences so we wouldn’t think it was a Western. Here as the lead satanist is Charles Gray who also played Blofeld in Diamonds are Forever (1971) and a Criminologist in some other film.

The Devil Rides Out was released at the start of a satanic panic that spanned the 1970’s and 80’s. Fanatical Christians went crazy seeing the work of the devil behind every activity, starting baseless lawsuits and ruining reputations. Mediocre films like this fed into the nonsense that sometimes rears its ugly head today.

But to be fair, it’s not a terrible film. It had a larger budget than most Hammers and Lee’s favorite of his films. But it is very two dimensional story-wise. Bad guy is bad, good guy is good, and the action is moved forward by the other characters being stupid. Also, they are menaced by a spider that is translucent in the wide shots. In the tight shots they did a close up of a tarantula crawling on a miniature set, which looked exactly like a close up of a tarantula crawling on a miniature set. Sometimes it’s better to forgo the effect if it doesn’t work.

Not scary, not terribly interesting. Just passable by my standards. AMRU 3.

Bullitt (1968)

Steve McQueen is Frank Bullitt, a San Francisco cop who doesn't play by the rules! He lives hard, loves hard, and harder still on his car. Seriously, the dude should really calm down.

Steve McQueen had been in several successful films, but this is the role that made him a legend. The story is little more than a framework for him to act cool. He doesn't say much and despite his name, doesn't fire his gun much either.

Frank Bullitt is assigned to protect a valuable mob witness. When that doesn't work out too well, he does battle with hit men as well as the ambitious Senator (Robert Vaughn) who staked his career on the case. Frank has a hot girlfriend (Jacqueline Bisset) who does't understand his life and a Ford Mustang that doesn't understand why it must be punished.

Hey, look at this supporting cast! Robert Duvall in a tiny roll, Normal Fell (you know, Mr. Roper), Simon Oakland (Black Sheep and Kolchak), Vic Tayback (Mel), and just about every heavy in Hollywood.

Sally Fields, who introduced the film with Robert Osborne, took exception to the Bisset character, saying she had nothing to do but look pretty. I understand her concern but I think she missed the point. She served as a foil for McQueen's character. She is young, pretty, and full of life, while he is old, older still for his time, hard, and emotionless. She does not understand his life and he has nothing to say about that. She's an object, but so are the hit men. And in a way, so it McQueen.

There is a little more to the story than I let on, but not a ton. It'll keep your interest, but the real story is how understated McQueen acts. Very subtle for an angry cop. Also interesting are the camera angle choices. No sets were made for Bullitt, so they filmed in real locations, where stuff gets in the way. Director Peter Yates chose to shoot through the obstructions. He did this also when the situation didn't demand it. Frank speaks with someone while his car is washed, so we see the scene through the rear window as water, suds, and brushes obscure the view. Interesting choices.

But people don't watch this film for the camera angles, or to hear McQueen not talk. It's the almost eleven minute car chase that makes it famous. That and it's excessive use of squibs and blood packets. For me, it's an interesting film and worth the watch. AMRU 3.5.

"Come on, now. Don't be naive, Lieutenant. We both know how careers are made. Integrity is something you sell the public."

Barbarella (1968)

In the distant future, the scientist Durand-Durand (Milo O'Shea) invents a terrible weapon. His last whereabouts was Tau Ceti and the President of Earth sends Barbarella (Jane Fonda) to retrieve him. What follows are her absurd adventures. There really is no point describing the story any further. It's just foolishness. So, what shall we talk about?

How about the bit part by mime Marcel Marceau. For the youngsters in the audience, it's important that you understand two things. One is that there once was an art form called mime, and two, that people actually thought that was a good thing. One could argue that, at least as far as modern pop culture is concerned, Marcel Marceau was the king of mime. Here he was, playing a regular role, no makeup or nothing. Yea, I know. Only I find that interesting. I've come to terms with that realization.

Something else I found out. This movie was released several times, and rated PG. I watched it back in my college days and this version differs in one specific way. While Barbarella on Netflix had fairly little nudity, the video store VHS copy from the 80's had none. Vive la difference.

Barbarella is an absurdist, Flash Gordon-inspired space comedy peppered with cheesy dialog, dated music, and campy innuendo. And, after the 9 minute mark Jane puts her clothes on and it becomes much less interesting. But we did get to see Fonda's boobies back when that was a good thing, so I give it an AMRU of 3.

"What's that screaming? A good many dramatic situations begin with screaming..."

The Crimson Cult (1968)

or Curse of the Crimson Alter. Have I mentioned that I hate it when they pointlessly change movie names?

Randy antique dealer Robert Manning (Mark Eden) is looking for his missing brother so he visits is last known location, a spooky mansion that appears to have an orgy going on. Lord Morley (Christopher Lee) never heard of him but he was welcome to stay and have a look around. He spends half his time looking for his brother and the other half trying to nail Morley's hot niece Eve (Virginia Wetherell), even though she's fifteen years younger than him.

So there's this legend of the blue witch Lavinia (Barbara Steele), Karloff as a witchcraft expert (along with his trusty man servant Kato), Alfred as a weirdo butler, and strange cut sequences to some bizarre S&M cult. At first the movie makes little sense, but it all works out, I suppose. As unremarkable as this Lovecrafty story is, it did hold my interest. Maybe it was the teaming of legends Karloff and Lee, maybe the supporting cast (underused Steele and Michael Gough), or maybe it was the chick in pasties with the whip. Who can say? Not a quality flick by any stretch, but I'm certainly glad I saw it. AMRU 3.

"It's like Boris Karloff is going to pop up at any moment."

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Ooh, this is a tough sell. On the one hand, my son was (prior to his current military obsession) a Sci-Fi nut. And no Sci-Fi film comes close to the pedigree of 2001. One of America's greatest directors teaming with one of the world's greatest Sci-Fi writers have produced arguably the greatest movie in the genre. AFI clearly thinks so. IMdb, for what it's worth, ranks it 13th, but let's face it. IMdb isn't the most scholarly of sources. Besides, two Star Wars movies rank higher despite that they are principally fantasy. Anyhow, Peter and I sat down to watch this monster.

What a wholly unwatchable movie! Now, it was amazingly innovative. They were producing this BEFORE the moon landing and getting a lot of interesting details right. They showed how advanced technology would be actually used by regular people. That stuff was great. So, what is it all about?

Well, there's this giant black block that teaches monkeys to kill each other, then it turns up under the surface of our moon. Trying to figure out what it does, they discover that it is transmitting a signal to a moon of Jupiter. So they send a team armed with an awesomely reliable computer to take a look-see.

Along the way, Astronauts Dave and Frank get this silly idea that HAL is faulty, and decide to shut him down. HAL no likey this idea, so he takes matters into his own ... um ... hands.

Kubrick's 2001 is a magnificent accomplishment. The visual imagery, the choreography, the soundtrack, it's a singular experience. However, from a purely entertainment standpoint, it's an endurance test. The first dialog is spoken 24 minutes into the movie. And the back end, the last half hour or so, well, drink a cup of coffee or two. I nodded off and had to rewatch it.

So, what's it all about? I mean, what is it REALLY all about? What is the ultimate message of the movie? Read the book. It makes some sense and is a lot less tedious. It's an amazingly well crafted movie and intensely influential but, man, AMRU 3 is all I can muster.

"My god, it's full of stars!"

Spider Baby (1968)

or, The Maddest Story Ever Told.

Written, shot, and edited one afternoon back in 1964, this movie sat on the shelf for four years while everyone associated with it filed for bankruptcy. It was finally released in 1968. Spider Baby is significant for me because three actors I've noted in my blog-life come together for one of their last films. Lon Chaney Jr only had four movies released after it, Mantan Moreland had five (one uncredited) and hottie Carol Ohmart had but one. Of course those numbers go up if we use the 1964 filming date, but hey, I'm manufacturing a theme here, people!

This is the story of the Merrye family. They live is a large rural home, have a faithful family chauffeur, and are apparently fairly wealthy. The bad news is that they are sick, degenerate, murderous, inbred cannibals. Think The Addams Family, only more so.

A messenger (Moreland) arrives to deliver a letter from a lawyer. The lawyer, his secretary, and two distant cousins will be arriving with the intent on claiming the family fortune. Mr. Messenger is promptly hacked to death.

The Merrye family consists of two hot sisters, Elizabeth and Virginia, and brother Ralphie, who is in advanced stages of Merrye Syndrome, a degenerative disease causing them to regress mentally, socially, and physically. Chaney Jr is their caretaker.

The unusually short, cigar chomping lawyer with a Hitler mustache arrives with his pleasant-enough looking secretary, along with Emily and Peter (husband and wife? Brother and sister?), who are distant relatives with a claim on the estate. They insist on staying the night. Does anyone here see that as a bad idea?

At the moment I can think of one example (Temple of Doom), but I know that the "disgusting dinner" scene has been done several times. Here it was not done well, methinks. Roasted cat, garden fungus, and weeds. Maybe if the video was clearer it would have had a bigger impact.

Apparently the key for the Merrye sisters to act as menacing as possible is for them to act as outrageous as possible. And, quite frankly, as bad as possible. Even Ohmart isn't buying the script. Not until she finds creepy Ralphie spying her goody-goody yum-yums that she realizes she's in trouble.

The sub-title was a reference to The Greatest Story Ever Told, which would have been cool had they been able to release it in a timely manner. Renamed and re released several times, it has been given names like Cannibal Orgy and The Liver Eaters. Yum. A couple of the characters mention liking horror movies and express their fondness for The Wolf Man, which, of course starred Lonnie.

It's hard for a comedy/horror to strike a good balance. Slightly too much humor destroys the horror. Spider Baby was creepy. Was it funny? Kinda. Spider Baby did some things right. Unfortunately, it did a lot wrong as well. Parts of the script absolutely sucked. There is a remake in the works. I'm curious if they can right the wrongs, or if they will simply screw it all up.

AMRU 3.

The Swimmer (1968)

It's funny. I sometimes browse IMDb, progressing from one thought to another. Eventually I was reading about Joan Rivers. I discovered that she appeared in a 1968 film, The Swimmer. I was curious.

One thing is new since the last movie I watched for this blog. I subscribed to Netflix. The clincher was they now support the Wii. I'll be damned if I sit in front of my computer and watch a feature length film. It seems that The Swimmer is available for streaming, so I watched it. In front of my computer. 

Burt Lancaster is Ned Merrill. He shows up at someones splendid country home in a bathing suit and jumps into the pool. The homeowners are very happy to see him and offer him a drink. They talk and it is clear that Neddy is a very popular dude. He's been out of touch with the social scene for a while and it's not clear why. Talk turns, as it frequently does, to swimming pools. He gets the idea that he will swim home. He will jog from house to house and swim their pool until he gets home. Every boys dream.

With every house he visits we learn a little more about his situation and character. Slowly, the reception to the interloper in the pool gets chillier and chillier, and drinks become harder to come by. I will say no more, lest I spoil.

It was the forth of fifth house that I get to see Joan Rivers. I remember the Joan from the 80's back when she was convinced she was bigger than Carson. I also know the Joan from today, the bizzaro alien creature with the desiccated face. What did Joan from the 1960's look like? She was about 33 during filming. I'll have you know she appeared like a regular member of the species. Not a babe by a long shot, but, well, depending on the situation and alcohol consumption, not out of the question.

Who was a babe was Janet Landgard, who played hot baby-sitter Julie Ann Hooper. She was a teen when the movie was filmed and looked great in a two-piece. Her movie career dried up something quick.

When the movie was done, I was thinking totally a 3.0. But as time passes, I actually have considered seeing it again. It's rather haunting how the progression was handled. The odd looks people give Ned when he says some things, the details that come out. All of it builds rather well. AMRU 3.5.

Doing the math, Joan turns 77 next week. I'm guessing Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work was filmed two years ago.

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

A ditzy chick (Judith O'Dea) and her duche-bag brother (Russell Streiner) drive several hours to put flowers on their grandfather's (or father's) grave. Bro starts teasing sis that the boogie men are out to get her, when whadda ya know. They ARE out to get her. Johnny saves Barbra, but, alas, gets eaten by the zombie.

Barbra runs into a house and more zombies come around. Enter: heroic black man. He kills a couple zombies then boards up the house, while sissy runs around like a lunatic. This goes on for a while when I realize that my eyes are closed. I open them and wonder if I missed anything. Can't tell. Main characters run around, while the zombies slowly advance on the house. I nod off again. Hey, there are more people in the house? Where did they come from? Oh, they were in the basement. They argue. I nod off. Some of the people are gone. I guess they were eaten. Whatever.

I was awake to see the famous ending. Man, this movie moved slower than the zombies. I feel I should see it again to see what I missed (some important parts, I understand) but I just don't want to. I know it's a cult classic, I found it a bit of a bore. This sucker is in the public domain because George Romero forgot to include a copyright notice. That's gotta suck. AMRU 3. You have weird dreams when you fall asleep to a zombie movie.