Only now does it occur to me... PERVERSION STORY (1969)

Only now does it occur to me... that Lucio Fulci staged one of the most outré striptease numbers to ever appear in a third-rate VERTIGO remake.

The film in question is PERVERSION STORY (a.k.a., ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER), a clumsy, proto-giallo, trashtastic reimagining of Hitchcock's classic. It's even set in San Francisco (though, it must be said that when Fulci films in America, i.e., THE NEW YORK RIPPER, MANHATTAN BABY, he can make even the most iconic American locales feel extraordinarily Italian in flavor). The scene in question is meant to be the equivalent of "Jimmy Stewart spotting Kim Novak again as 'Judy the Shopgirl,' post-fall." It's set at a strip club on Montgomery Street, and depicts the poor man's Bardot (Marisa Mell, of DANGER: DIABOLIK) in a snow leopard-print tracksuit lounging on a motorcycle:

then stripping down to reveal a preponderance of stickers advertising European car races (such as Le Mans):

 and ultimately providing the punchline (?) of a bizarro, googly-eyed codpiece:

all while the poor man's Alain Delon (Jean Sorel, of BELLE DU JOUR) looks on, completely horrified and entranced.

It's a particular avant-garde highlight in a film which includes such beautifully wacky Italo-dialogue as "You just dropped in for a few BUMPS and GRINDS? Or maybe a few... KICKS?!" and "Bye, girls, I'm gonna go see a Mickey Mouse flick!" God bless you, Lucio Fulci.

Only now does it occur to me... SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY (1991)

Only now does it occur to me... that SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY tries to do for drinking fountains what PSYCHO did for showers!

To illustrate my point, here are a few screen captures from two separate scenes in the film, both featuring the delightfully psychopathic Irish character actor Patrick Bergin (PATRIOT GAMES, LAWNMOWER MAN 2), of whom I had never taken particular notice.  My mistake.  This guy is fantastic.





He's fully and incredibly committed to his scary fountain slurping. Those are, I dare say, Eric Roberts levels of commitment.  In one scene, he screams "LAURA!  LAURA! LAURA!" over and over, probably thirty times, each time as impassioned as the first.

There's another drinking fountain scene with Julia Roberts in raggedy drag, unaware that (her stalker ex-husband) Bergin is in line behind her.


Immediately thereafter, the drinking fountain (who by now is, for all intents and purposes, a character in the film) takes revenge by squirting Bergin in the eye.

Whereupon he reacts with appropriate menace.

Scary stuff!  In case you were wondering what all this is about, SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY (directed by Joseph Ruben, who did THE STEPFATHER) is one of those early 1990s "domestic thrillers" that were so ubiquitous to the period (see also: MALICE, PACIFIC HEIGHTS, PRESUMED INNOCENT, PAST MIDNIGHT, BITTER MOON, THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE, CONSENTING ADULTS, etc., etc.).

Julia Roberts plays a bored yuppie housewife who is not merely bored, but in fact the captive of her terrifying OCD yuppie husband (Bergin) who is equal measures "violent Bret Easton Ellis character" and "militant neat freak."  Here he is discovering a slightly misaligned bathroom towel.  (Spoiler alert: it was Julia's fault!)




There's a surprisingly solid Jerry Goldsmith soundtrack in here too, but mostly SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY is a vehicle for Bergin to glower into the distance with a deranged expression.

This deranged expression.

Honestly, I only rented this movie because I was hoping for some "schmacting" flourishes from Julia Roberts (in the vein of THE PELICAN BRIEF) but the truth is she puts in a solid turn.  Instead, I ended up one Bergin the richer!

Only now does it occur to me... THE LONGSHOT

Only now does it occur to me...  that in one of his films, Paul Bartel once slipped in a cameo appearance worthy of old 'Hitch himself!

THE LONGSHOT's not too great a movie– it's a Zany with a capital 'Z' 80s horse racing comedy that lacks the subtlety and mean streak of my favorite Bartels, like DEATH RACE 2000, EATING RAOUL, and SCENES FROM THE CLASS STRUGGLE IN BEVERLY HILLS.  I'd put this one more on par with LUST IN THE DUST.

Anyway, Bartel pops up– uncredited and in silhouette, no less– for about ten seconds as a blind man wandering the race track,

thus cementing his Hitchcock-worthy auteur status.  Or something.

(Also, I can't resist mentioning a choice appearance by 80s über-nerd Eddie Deezen (CRITTERS 2, ZAPPED!, WARGAMES, PUNKY BREWSTER, SURF II, GREASE, HAPPY HOUR) as a parking attendant.)

Film Review: LAST EMBRACE (1979, Jonathan Demme)

Stars: 3.5 of 5.

Running Time: 102 minutes.

Notable Cast or Crew:  Roy Scheider (JAWS, ALL THAT JAZZ, MARATHON MAN), Janet Margolin (ANNIE HALL, GHOSTBUSTERS II), John Glover (52 PICK-UP, BATMAN AND ROBIN, GREMLINS 2), Christopher Walken (THE DEAD ZONE, MCBAIN), Charles Napier (RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II, THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS), Sam Levene (SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS, CROSSFIRE).  Music by Miklós Rózsa (THE KILLERS '46, BEN-HUR, SPELLBOUND).  Cinematography by Tak Fujimoto (THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, THE SIXTH SENSE, FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF).

Tag-line:  "It begins with an ancient warning.  It ends at the edge of Niagara Falls.  In between there are five murders.  Solve the mystery.  Or die trying."
Best one-liner:  "You gotta do better than that, Jack!  WHO SENT YA?!"

LAST EMBRACE is one of acclaimed director Jonathan Demme's (THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, PHILADELPHIA, RACHEL GETTING MARRIED) first commercial efforts, and though it's reputation is nearly nonexistent (I hadn't even heard of it until this week), it ranks somewhere between "fairly okay Roy Scheider vehicle" and "lost De Palma film."

Based on the novel THE 13TH MAN by Murray Teigh Bloom, LAST EMBRACE stars Scheider as a CIA-ish secret agent who sees his wife gunned down in Mexico by a gang of dudes including MANIAC's Joe Spinell, a character actor who I've described as "Ron Jeremy meets Vincent Price."

In the wake of her death, Scheider undergoes a nervous breakdown and spends several months in a Connecticut sanitarium.  Upon his release, he finds a stranger (Janet Margolin) subletting his apartment, receives cryptic Aramaic messages, and encounters all sorts of people who are probably trying to kill him, including his own agency.  ...Or is he simply delusional?
And so that's the set-up– Scheider tries to stay alive while attempting to unravel this conspiracy which may or may not actually exist.

How is the film?  It's pretty good.  It's got a great hook, some nice Hitchcockian suspense, and in Scheider, an excellent star.  Scheider really knows how to carry a movie.  The man's one of the best actors of the 1970s.  If you haven't already– go see ALL THAT JAZZ.  Do it now.  
Anyway, the plot of LAST EMBRACE begins to degenerate around the halfway mark, and it builds to some hilariously bad melodrama that may or may not involve the white slave trade.  But Scheider never stops giving it his all, and he will in all likelihood convince you that you're watching a much better movie than you actually are, and that's okay with me. 

His intensity has rarely been matched.  In the scene pictured above, he needs to speak with Janet Margolin, who happens to be taking a shower.  He whips back the shower curtain (with Norman Batesian panache) and begins saying what he needs to say.  There's no hint of lasciviousness or peeping Tomitude– he's got the precision and matter-of-factness of a surgeon.  Scheider has played a lot of CIA and military types before (MARATHON MAN, TIME LAPSE, THE RUSSIA HOUSE, THE FOURTH WAR, etc.) and you absolutely believe him.  His acting choices are simple and understated- when he wants to indicate that ice water runs though his veins, he doesn't showboat around, he just becomes that hardened man.   Incidentally, I recently found out that Roy Scheider was a boxer, long before he was an actor.  He went 12-1 before moving on to theater.  Who knew?

In any event, a few of the signposts and highlights of LAST EMBRACE are these:

#1.  Tak Fujimoto's cinematography.  A long-time Demme crony, Fujimoto is a master craftsman whose first film was fuckin' BADLANDS.  Along the way, he slummed for Corman (DEATH RACE 2000 and others), lensed a few John Hughes classics (FERRIS BUELLER and PRETTY IN PINK), shot the MACGYVER pilot episode, and worked with Demme 17 times.  Somehow he's never even been nominated for an Academy Award.  What the hell!?

#2.  Scheider is waiting for the MetroNorth train to take him from Connecticut to NYC.   On the platform, he's pushed from behind and nearly tumbles into the oncoming train.  He grabs the nearest guy (a young Mandy Patinkin!), puts him in a stranglehold, and begins to question him ("You gotta do better than that, Jack!  WHO SENT YA?!"), all the while poised to deliver an insane karate throat blow, or maybe even the throat-rippin' move from ROAD HOUSE.  God bless Roy Scheider.

#3.  Christopher Walken's brief appearance as a CIA handler.  As always, he's hilarious, creepy, and enunciating unexpected syllables.

He's also wearing ginormous glasses.

#4.  Junta Juleil Hall-of-Famer John Glover as a religious scholar who helps Scheider ascribe meaning to his cryptic Aramaic messages.

He's not particularly given a great deal to do here, but he still imbues his character with the amazing, eccentric energy we've come to love and expect from Glover.

#5.  Hitchockian setpieces.

There's a chase/shootout scene up a bell tower that recalls VERTIGO, and the final showdown takes place at Niagara Falls, referencing Hitchcock's propensity to end films at national landmarks (like Mount Rushmore in NORTH BY NORTHWEST or the Statue of Liberty in SABOTEUR to name a couple). 

In the end, it's a sort of lackluster thriller with some great character actors and brilliant, anchoring lead performance by Roy Scheider.  Three and a half stars.

–Sean Gill

Film Review: CAPE FEAR (1991, Martin Scorsese)

Stars: 4 of 5.

Running Time: 128 minutes.

Notable Cast or Crew:  Nick Nolte (EXTREME PREJUDICE, FAREWELL TO THE KING), Jessica Lange (THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE '81, TITUS), Robert De Niro (RAGING BULL, THE ADVENTURES OF ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE), Joe Don Baker (THE OUTFIT, THE NATURAL, WALKING TALL), Juliette Lewis (FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, STRANGE DAYS), Illeana Douglas (GOODFELLAS, GHOST WORLD), and Fred Dalton Thompson (real-life failed presidential candidate, THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER).  Cameo appearances by Robert Mitchum, Gregory Peck, and Martin Balsam (PSYCHO, DEATH WISH 3).  New screenplay by Wesley Strick (ARACHNOPHOBIA, WOLF).  Cinematography by Freddie Francis (THE ELEPHANT MAN, DUNE).  Non-original music by Bernard Herrmann.  Herrmann score adapted by Elmer Bernstein (THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, GHOSTBUSTERS). Credits sequence by Saul Bass.  Uncredited executive produced by Steven Spielberg and Frank Marshall. 

Tag-line: "There is nothing in the dark that isn't in the light.  Except fear.  Cape Fear."  (emphasis added)

Best one-liner:  "Counselor!"

Alright, folks.  CAPE FEAR '91 has kind of a bad reputation.  Now, Scorsese went all out:  I think he thought this was going to be his "Hitchcock" film.  He even updated the Bernard Herrmann soundtrack and had Saul Bass (!) do the credits sequence.

As it turns out, it ain't Hitchcock, but let me put it in perspective.  You know that clichéd high school yearbook quote, "Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you'll land among the stars?"  I think a slightly modified version of that can apply here.  I surmise:  "Shoot for Hitchcock('s moon-shaped belly), even if you miss, you'll land among the De Palmas."  And that's exactly what this feels like– a mid-range De Palma film!  And there are much worse things to be– because I happen to love mid-range De Palma (BODY DOUBLE, DRESSED TO KILL, RAISING CAIN, etc.) .

So without further adieu, and though I do prefer the original, here are seven quick reasons why CAPE FEAR '91 is a place worth visiting:

#1.  The inverse cameos.  CAPE FEAR '91 brings back three of the principals from CAPE FEAR '62, and in strange bizarro versions.
 
First, we have 'ol Rumple Eyes himself, Bob Mitchum, helping the Nick Nolte character protect himself from De Niro's version of the original Mitchum role.  Whew.


Then, we have Gregory Peck as an apparently evil version of Atticus Finch, defending De Niro from Nick Nolte's version of the original Peck role.  Damn!

Finally, we have Martin Balsam playing the judge who sides with De Niro, because he hates "vigilante justice."  Now, I know that's not true– given that I've seen him mow down legions of gang members with WWII-era machine gun in DEATH WISH 3.

#2.  Joe Don Baker drinking a combination of Pepto-Bismol and Jim Beam for the duration of the film.

If that doesn't warm your heart, then I personally forbid you from ever again watching a Joe Don Baker movie.

#3.  De Niro makin' creepy phone calls in gravity boots. 

Because... 1991.

#4.  The "clinging to the underbelly of a rapidly moving vehicle for several hours" plot twist, which feels EXACTLY like something that'd be in a De Palma film. 
  

#5.  Ditto on "murderous De Niro in drag."
 
It's really one of those strange performances where you can't quite tell if he's phoning it in or not.  There's often a fine line between "bad" acting and "genius" acting (see: the career of Steve Railsback, for example), and I kinda can't tell if this is a performance of nuanced intensity, or if it's a practical joke on the audience.  Either way, I love it.

#6.  Continuing in this vein:  in 1991, nearly one hundred years of motion picture history culminated in the subtle beauty of Robert De Niro singing a line of Tiffany's "I Think We're Alone Now"

while offering a joint to orthodonitia-encrusted teenage Juliette Lewis:

Truly fantastic.

#7.  Nick Nolte crazy-face!

I've discussed this in-depth before, but there are few things more frighteningly exhilarating than seeing a crazy-faced Nick Nolte in his native habitat.

SWEET DREAMS, KIDDIES!


P.S.  It always struck me as bizarre that the theatrical poster's placement (see above) of the torn photo and De Niro's creepy gaze build a subliminal image of a keyhole, especially since I can't recall keyholes being relevant to the plot whatsoever.  Thoughts?

–Sean Gill

Film Review: HOMICIDAL (1961, William Castle)

Stars: 4 of 5.
Running Time: 87 minutes.
Notable Cast or Crew: Written by Robb White (THE TINGLER, 13 GHOSTS). Starring Joan Marshall (SHAMPOO, THE HORSE IN THE GRAY FLANNEL SUIT), Patricia Breslin (TWILIGHT ZONE episode "Nick of Time"- she's Shatner's gal), Glen Corbett (PIRATES OF BLOOD RIVER, MIDWAY).
Tag-line: "THE PICTURE WITH A 'FRIGHT BREAK!'"
Best one-liner: "If you do not leave this house in the next minute, I will kill you!"

I'll continue the Hitchcock pastiche/rip-off week with a William Castle flick I saw for the very first time last week (and which has already become a favorite):

“A WORD OF WARNING! Please don't reveal the ending of this picture or your friends will kill you - IF THEY DON'T, I WILL!”
- William Castle

You have to love William Castle. Master showman and consummate glad-hander, the man would stagger his releases so that he could personally present them to Podunk theaters across the land. Hey, it's all about asses in seats, and Castle embraced that. The newly released DVD of HOMICIDAL offers a glimpse of this as he speaks to theatergoers after a screening in Youngstown, Ohio.

Viewer after viewer compares the film to PSYCHO, saying it’s far better- Castle smiles and humbly thanks each patron as they gush (one might even think perhaps that Castle’s entourage told them all to make this comparison).

You kind of get the idea that Castle thought he was running neck-and-neck with Hitch as they raced to win the title of ‘Master of the Thriller,’ and that there was a good chance that Hitchcock had no idea who this Castle guy was. Today, your average cineaste dismisses HOMICIDAL as a film designed entirely to cash in on the successes of Norman Bates and his zany mother, but, in its own hamfisted way, I believe that Castle’s film is even bolder than PSYCHO. (It’s certainly gorier, as well, not that it really matters.) I can’t go into the 'why' of it, as it would unleash spoilers that would cause Mr. Castle’s ghost to kick the livin’ shit out of me (as per the above quote), but here’s 5 spoiler-free reasons why HOMICIDAL is effin’ terrific.

#1. William Castle’s introduction. This is the kind of thing that made a lifetime fan out of little John Waters. Castle introduces his film with glee and absurdity (“We've been to Haunted Hills, and through Tinglers, and even Ghosts... but now we're going to meet a group of people who just happen to be... Homicidal.”) and he sews a piece of needlepoint as he does it. He pricks his finger, sucks it, and- BOOM- reveals the main title, neatly sewn into a grandmotherly “HOMICIDAL.”


#2. I know it was common for films of the day, but I love how “homicide” and “homicidal” are consistently pronounced “home-icide” and “home-icidal.” And each of those words is uttered about twelve thousand times in this movie.

#3. HOMICIDAL is the kind of movie where a character will mutter to themselves, “Well…what have I got to lose?” right before something terrible happens to them.

#4. Joan Marshall. (Credited as Jean Arless.)

As the off-kilter caregiver Emily, Joan makes some seriously great acting choices. Plus, she wears evening gloves in the daytime, and has the artful poise of, say, a well-coiffed bird of prey. Again, I can't reveal anything about the plot under penalty of death from William Castle, but after the film is over, you'll be wanting to induct her into your personal 'Hall-of-Fame.'

#5. The FRIGHT BREAK.

It comes at the point in the film, where, if it were PSYCHO, it'd be right before Vera Miles goes into the cellar to see Mother Bates. A 45 second timer allowed you time to exit the theater if you were "too frightened to see the end of the picture."

You were then allowed to go to the theater lobby (where a 'Coward's Corner' had been erected) and turn in your certificate (which commemorated your cowardice) to get your ticket money back.

Note that you must follow the 'yellow streak.'

Pretty fantastic. Furthermore, for the sake of a cheap gag, Castle is willing to sacrifice the pacing of the finale and shatter any filmic illusion/suspension of disbelief that had been built up by the narrative. Not only did he do it anyway, he was clearly elated with his decision. And that, in a nutshell, is why I love William Castle.

I fully advise anyone watching HOMICIDAL at home to set up, in advance, a little Coward's Corner in the kitchen or the bathroom or something so that roommates/family members may feel the appropriate weight of the decision-making during the FRIGHT BREAK.

-Sean Gill