When I talk about “pure horror,” I’m talking about horror that includes nothing else. It is pure terror. Think of the final sequence of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre as Sally runs from Leatherface as he waves his chainsaw. The context doesn’t matter. It just is horrific. But I don’t think a feature film could maintain this. As it is, first-time viewers of Chain Saw are generally worn out. (In fairness, you could justify moving the pure horror all the way back to the dinner sequence.)

Curve

No film to my memory is as good an example of pure horror as the short film Curve. It premiered at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival. It is the product of three principals: writer-director Tim Egan; producer Ahren Morris; and actor Laura Jane Turner. And it runs about nine minutes.

You should watch it! But I’ll provide the overview here. Basically, nothing happens. A woman awakens on the curved edge of a concrete wall. As soon as she gets her bearings, she slides down. She stops her slide and moves back up. We see blood on her fingers. She is used to being in this position. But there is literally nothing she can do except maintain her position. Up is impossible; the further up she goes, the steeper the wall. And down is death. That goes on for eight more minutes — only interrupted by mounting evidence of unseen others who have fallen.

Avoiding Meaning

The whole thing reminds me of a Samuel Beckett play in its unrelenting bleakness. But also in how it almost dares the viewer to find some concrete meaning in it. And if you look around the internet, you will find a lot of people trying to understand it. But I think that is a mistake.

It is much like the ending of The Conversation. You know the scene where Harry Caul (Gene Hackman) goes mad looking for the bug that he thinks is in his apartment? People love discussing where the bug must be. But it just doesn’t matter. It isn’t the point of that scene.

And here, there is no point to this woman on a ledge. What is this ledge for? Who is she? How did she get there? I don’t care; I simply empathize; I share her terror!

If you want meaning, you can certainly see it as a modern version of Sisyphus. But I think that tells us a lot! After all, pretty much everyone knows who he is: the guy who pushes a rock up a hill over and over. What few know is why he was cursed to do this. Why? Because no one cares. What matters is his punishment, which we all identify with.

And so it is with pure horror and Curve. We are affected in a deep and powerful way. Go read Schopenhauer if you want to think about it. Otherwise, go watch a great horror film!

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Image cropped from a frame of Curve via YouTube under Fair Use.

Denholm Elliott was born on 31 May 1922.

He was more what we consider a serious British actor. Had he lived longer, he certainly would have starred in Hot Fuzz and the Harry Potter films. Today, people remember him best for the Merchant-Ivory film A Room with a View. In it, he plays the sweet and liberal Mr Emerson. But I know him best for the brilliant comedy A Private Function. In it, he plays the vicious and snobby Dr Swaby.

But Denholm Elliott is widely known for many American films like Trading Places where he was the very proper and helpful butler Coleman. And, of course, he was the museum curator Marcus Brody in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

This would be enough to mention him today. But I’m most interested in him because of two Amicus films and another with Hammer. These were: The House That Dripped Blood, The Vault of Horror, and To the Devil a Daughter. The first two are anthology films. In the first, he plays a horror writer who thinks his psychopathic strangler character has come to life. In the second, he plays a dishonest art dealer who gets his due.

To the Devil a Daughter was the last Hammer horror film. It is along the lines of The Devil Rides Out. I’m not that fond of these films, but they’re fine. Elliott plays a father trying to save his daughter from a Satanic cult.

The House That Dripped Blood is by far my favorite of these three films. And I most like Denholm Elliott when he plays a nice guy — as good as he is at playing a terrible guy! So let’s watch it now to celebrate Elliott’s birthday!

Other 31 May Anniversaries

Filmmakers

• Clint Eastwood (1930-): Actor everyone knows. We especially like A Fistful of Dollars and High Plains Drifter.
• Jim Hutton (1934-1979): Star of the Ellery Queen TV show.
• Gregory Harrison (1950-): Star of the short-lived Logan’s Run TV series. He was also the star of Don Coscarelli’s first film, Jim, the World’s Greatest.
• Jonathan Tucker (1982-): Actor known for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Ruins, and more.
• Colin Farrell (1976-): Actor known for Seven Psychopaths, some superhero films, and lots more.

Films

• The Black Raven (1943): Old dark house murders.
• Horrors of the Black Museum (1959): A journalist has crimes committed to make his stories more interesting.
• The Evil of Frankenstein (1964): One of the essential Hammer Frankenstein films.
• Invaders From Space (1965): Superhero saves Earth from space invasion.
• Fletch (1985): Investigative journalist chases down drug trafficking conspiracy.
• The Arrival (1996): A scientist contacts space aliens but they have a secret.
• DragonHeart (1996): A dragon and dragon-slayer team up.
• TheCampusHouse.com (2002): College students document their lives online in a murder house.
• DeVour (2005): Young people play a game that gets out of hand.
• Jolly Roger: Massacre at Cutter’s Cove (2005): Pirate ghost is unleashed.
• American Mary (2013): A young medical student is forced to do illegal surgeries, and the authorities are after her.
• Chilling Visions: 5 Senses of Fear (2013): Anthology horror.

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Denholm Elliott via Wikimedia. It is in the public domain.

Michael J Pollard was born on 30 May 1939 in beautiful Passaic, New Jersey. He died at the age of 80 in 2019 in equally beautiful Los Angeles, California.

Pollard is a great actor and he has been in a lot of great films. I will get to that shortly. But there is one role I most associate him with. He’s great in it. But it really is almost insulting. I always think of the Star Trek episode “Miri.” Despite being 27 years old, he plays a (barely) prepubescent boy. And he steals the whole episode. But nothing new there! He tends to steal every scene he’s in everywhere!

Right around this same time, he guest-starred as another boy on an episode of Lost in Space, “The Magic Mirror.” If you get a chance, check it out. It is poignant in a way the show was rarely.

Pollard had an excellent career in TV up to that point. But he had a breakthrough the following year in the 1967 feature film Bonnie and Clyde. It was a pretty typical role for him. He tended to be typecast as a likeable idiot.

He next starred in the motorcycle film Little Fauss and Big Halsy. But he mostly provided spice as odd characters for films he was in. He did this in a number of notable films: Melvin and Howard, Roxanne, Scrooged, and many more — including House of 1000 Corpses.

But my favorite Pollard film is Four of the Apocalypse. It is also probably my favorite Western. He plays a weak drunk who can’t be counted on. But he’s ultimately a good guy. You can watch the whole thing at the link. If you haven’t seen it, I hope you do!

I know of only one film that Michael J Pollard starred in. But it’s a good one! Dirty Little Billy. It tells the story of the early days of Billy the Kid. Leslie Halliwell hated it (of course), but rightly noted that “it presents its hero as the mentally retarded delinquent which history says he was.”

So let’s celebrate Michael J Pollard’s birthday by watching Dirty Little Billy.

Other 30 May Anniversaries

Filmmakers

• Howard Hawks (1896-1977): Director of tons of notable films. He directed one of my favorite non-psychotronic films, His Girl Friday. And, of course, he directed the classic The Thing From Another World.
• Mel Blanc (1908-1989): Voice actor known for voicing most of the iconic Warner Bros characters like Bugs Bunny.
• Clint Walker (1927-2018): Actor who worked a lot and played the title character in the long-running TV western Cheyenne.
• Keir Dullea (1936-): Actor known most as Dave in 2001: A Space Odyssey. He also starred in Black Christmas.
• Mark Sheppard (1964-): Actor best known to me as Badger, the ruthless but insecure crime boss with a Cockney accent on Firefly.

Films

• Undersea Kingdom (1936): Atlantis-based serial.
• Fright (1972): A babysitter is attacked by the child’s insane father.
• Embrace of the Vampire (1995): Vampire romance.
• Wrong Turn (2003): College students get stranded in the woods and attacked.
• El Chupacabra (2003): Animal control officers find a gored dog and figure it is the title monster.
• Cemetery Gates (2006): A genetically modified Tasmanian Devil is on the loose.
• The Strangers (2008): Home invasion film.
• The Italian Job (2003): Heist film with none of the charm of the original.

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Michael J Pollard via Wikimedia. It is in the public domain.

Empire Pictures released Dolls throughout the United States on 29 May 1987.

It was the third of the Brian Yuzna and Stuart Gordon films. The first, of course, was Re-Animator. Then they made From Beyond. Both of those films were loosely based on HP Lovecraft short stories, although the latter at least maintains the tone.

Dolls is a departure. I wouldn’t say that it was better than Re-Animator. But I watch it a lot more. Because I enjoy it more.

As I recall based on the writer-director commentary on the Shout Factory Blu-ray (now ridiculously expensive), Charles Band had the poster made first. This was incredibly common in those days. He then asked Ed Naha to write a script for it. And he wrote a perfect script!

But the film is more than the script. Everything works in this production. The casting is great. The production design and art direction create the perfect old dark house. David W Allen’s stop-motion animation is as good as anything he ever did. And the filming and editing are energetic enough to keep things interesting. It is, after all, a single-location story.

Of course, the film could be rendered much worse and I’d still like it. Over the years I’ve come to see the world as utterly devoid of justice. Evel Knievel died at 69 from breathing problems and not one of his many stupid (some would say calculated) stunts. Children commonly drown because of tsunamis. People can increase their chances but that’s all: increase their chances.

So I love Dolls because everyone gets what they deserve. The horrible people become dolls (and that doesn’t seem like such a bad life). And the good people live happily ever after. And the “gods” in this case (really a witch and a warlock) are simply beyond charming. What’s not to like?

This is, of course, why a lot of horror works!

If you haven’t seen it, you must. Right now! Here it is!

Other 29 May Anniversaries

Filmmakers

• Bob Hope (1903-2003): The best part in all those road pictures.
• Kevin Conway (1942-2020): Actor known for The Funhouse and as the evil doctor in the excellent TV movie The Lathe of Heaven.
• Danny Elfman (1953-): Lead singer of Oingo Boingo and composer of all the films you already know.
• Tony Randel (1956-): Director of a number of horror films including the second and third Hellraiser films.
• Ted Levine (1957-): Actor best known for Monk but also the films The Silence of the Lambs, The Fast and the Furious, and The Hills Have Eyes.
• Rupert Everett (1959-): Actor who starred in Cemetery Man.
• John D LeMay (1962-): Star of Friday the 13th: The Series.
• Ashley Laurence (1966-): Actor known mostly for the Hellraiser films.

Films

• Dial M For Murder (1954): Hitchcock film about a man trying to murder his unfaithful wife.
• King Kung Fu (1976): Hilarious combination of King Kong and the Kung Fu TV show.
• Witchcraft IX: Bitter Flesh (1997): The sequel to Witchcraft VII. Really! Witchcraft VIII was a one-off. Here, the ghost of William Spanner (played a second and final time by David Bynres) must protect his girlfriend.Witchcraft X will again not feature the series’ main character.

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Dolls (1987) poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.

20th Century Fox released Visiting Hours in the United States on 28 May 1982. Astral Films released it in Canada the week before. Normally, I would have picked the earlier date, given that it was a Canadian production. But today is such a terrible day for anniversaries! So I’m putting it here.

The year 1981 brought us two notable hospital-based slasher films: Hospital Massacre and Halloween II. So Visiting Hours came late in this trend. But I think it’s the best of the lot. It at least offers a more interesting plot. Critics did right by Hospital Massacre. They ignored it. Had they bothered to watch it, they would have hated it. And that is the problem with “critic as ombudsman.” Too many of these professional trolls watch films that aren’t made for them.

Critics had to review Halloween II given how much they praised the original (which is just okay). And, of course, they found it wanting. It was too violent. Too bloody. Too mean. I know many people will disagree, but I think it was also less boring. I’m not a big slasher fan. And there is much to admire in the original film. But it’s mostly a bunch of waiting around.

But the critics had their knives out going in to see Visiting Hours. It had a fairly big budget. And it featured two bona fide stars and psychotronic favorite Michael Ironside — just off his success in Scanners. And what were its problems? Leslie Halliwell, always the open-minded viewer, wrote, “Tedious shocker wasting a reliable idea.” Leonard Maltin called it an “extremely unpleasant and distasteful shocker,” which was “needlessly sadistic.”

More recent (almost exclusively negative) reviews highlight Michael Ironside’s performance. This wasn’t true of contemporary reviews since Ironside wasn’t the icon he later became. But this is unfair. All the actors in Visiting Hours are terrific. But this is an old critic’s trick: highlight one performance over the rest so that readers think you are knowledgeable and were paying attention.

Not that I don’t have my own criticisms. I think the plot is needlessly complicated. And (as usual) I think the film could be cut down by at least 15 minutes. I do, however, think it is one of the better slasher films. But who cares what I think? As I said, I’m not that into them. But I think Visiting Hours is worth checking out — for slasher and non-slasher fans!

Other 28 May Anniversaries

Filmmakers

• Ian Fleming (1908-1964): The creator of James Bond.
• Edith Massey (1918-1984): Actor known for her work with John Waters.
• Zelda Rubinstein (1933-2010): Actor known especially for playing the medium in Poltergeist.
• Sondra Locke (1944-2018): Actor in Willard and many of her husband’s films.
• Patricia Quinn (1944-): Actor best known for the role of Magenta in The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
• Ashley Laurence (1966-): Actor in various things but particularly the Hellraiser franchise.
• Monica Keena (1979-): Actor in a number of horror films, including Freddy vs Jason and the remake of Night of the Demons.

Films

• Rocky III (1982): Like with Die Hard, the third film was one too many.
• Cliffhanger (1993): Mountain claimbers forced to help criminals.
• The Thirteenth Floor (1999): Virtual reality nonsense — similar to many films of that time like Dark City, eXistenZ, and The Matrix.
• An Erotic Vampire In Paris (2002): A girl goes to Paris and is taken in by a vampire; horror-adjacent softcore porn.
• The Day After Tomorrow (2005): Roland Emmerich disaster film in a freezing world.
• Spectres (2004): A depressed teen gets ghosts stuck to her.

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Visiting Hours (1982) poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.

Today, 27 May, is the birthday of Vincent Price (1911) and Christopher Lee (1922). What’s more, Peter Cushing was born on 26 May 1913.

Three titans of horror. Three excellent actors. Three tall men. All born around the same date.

I guess they were also all friends, although it’s very hard to tell when it comes to actors who are always playing a part when a camera is rolling.

Collaborations

Everyone knows that Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing starred in a lot of films together. Watching a collection of Hammer films is a lot like watching “The Cushing and Lee Show. “

I know of only two films that featured Price and Cushing. The first was Dr Phibes Rises Again although Cushing is barely in it and probably wasn’t even on set at the same time as Price. Much better is Madhouse where they work together closely and brilliantly. It’s a great part for Cushing!

And there’s only one film I know of with just Price and Lee: The Oblong Box. It’s a great film but the two men don’t work that much with each other.

All Three Men

There are two films that feature all three men. The first was 1970’s Scream and Scream Again. It’s a good film that has you confused until the very end. The problem with it is that Peter Cushing is hardly in it.

If you want to celebrate this occasion, you should watch House of the Long Shadows. It’s an ensemble film but the three men are all primary. And as a special extra it also features John Carradine!

So here’s to Peter Cushing, Vincent Price, and Christopher Lee! Let’s watch House of the Long Shadows.

Other 27 May Anniversaries

Filmmakers

• Harlan Ellison (1934-2018): Science fiction writer who has been much used in the film industry for films like A Boy and His Dog and the Star Trek episode “The City on the Edge of Forever.”
• Linnea Quigley (1958-): Actor known for Return of the Living Dead. She has worked widely in psychotronic films and especially with David DeCoteau in films like Creepozoids and Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama.
• Paul Bettany (1971-): Actor known for the action-horror films Legion and Priest.
• Ben Feldman (1980-): Actor known mainly for the TV show Superstore but also had small parts in Cloverfield and Friday the 13th.

Films

• Africa Screams (1949): Abbott and Costello vs the Cannibals.
• Crypt of the Vampire (1964): A rich girl has nightmares that may indicate she is possessed by an ancestor.
• Desperate Living (1977): Society woman murderer is on the run in this John Waters comedy.
• Smokey and the Bandit (1977): Two drivers try to win a race delivering unlicensed beer in record time.
• The Monster Club (1981): Much-hated horror anthology with musical segments. I like it!
• Possession (1981): A woman gets divorced and gives birth to a tentacled creature that becomes her lover. Other stuff happens but that will give you an idea of what you are getting yourself into.
• Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988): Circus clowns from outer space kill small town humans for later consumption. Essential viewing.
• Blood Ties (1991): Basically a family dispute among vampires.
• The Flintstones (1994): Live-action film of the cartoon.
• Freeze Me (2000): Sort of a Japanese I Spit on Your Grave.
• Horror (2003): Out of the drug rehab into the demonic farmhouse.
• The Longest Yard (2005): Faithful remake of the original, which works well.

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Image from House Of The Long Shadows via Amazon under Fair Use.

Peter Cushing was born on 26 May 1913. For most people, he is Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars. He brings gravitas to a thankless role. Who else to end Darth Vader’s choking trick? A lesser actor couldn’t pull it off — especially at his age and gauntness.

Although English, Cushing started his film career in Hollywood. He got small roles, like his first in the James Whale film, The Man in the Iron Mask. But he seemed to do more theater work there. When World War II started, he returned to England. But he did not fight in the war due to an injury. I find this curious since I know him to do minor stunts in various Hammer films.

Peter Cushing at Hammer

After the war, he was relatively successful in TV. And he probably would have continued like that and ultimately appeared as one of the critics in Theatre of Blood. But it was not to be. Hammer decided to make a go at horror and cast Cushing in the title role of The Curse of Frankenstein. That led directly to a two-decade relationship and 19 films. Note that not all are horror films.

Peter Cushing at Amicus

In addition to Hammer, Peter Cushing made 15 films with Amicus. Of course, he wasn’t as big a part of them. That’s partly due to his age. But it’s more due to six of them being anthology films (marked with †). Here they are:

Shock Waves

These two production companies explain why everyone knows Peter Cushing. I doubt seriously that he would have been cast in Star Wars without them. But the film I most associate with him (despite his importance in the Hammer Frankenstein series) is Shock Waves. And since I don’t think nearly enough people have seen it, let’s watch it to celebrate Cushing’s birthday!

Other 19 May Anniversaries

Filmmakers

• Robert Morley (1908-1992): Character actor known for The Old Dark House and Theatre of Blood.
• James Arness (1923-2011): Actor best known for the Gunsmoke TV series but also known for The Thing From Another World and Them.
• Pam Grier (1949-): Blaxploitation icon in films like Coffy and Foxy Brown.
• Bobcat Goldthwait (1962-): Director-writer of Shakes the Clown and God Bless America.
• Musetta Vander (1963-): Actor known for Oblivion, O Brother, Where Art Thou? and more.
• Helena Bonham Carter (1966-): Actor known for Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
• Rocky Costanzo (1973-): Low-budget writer-director of films like Hallowed and A Psycho’s Path.

Films

• The Gorilla (1939): Investigators look for a serial killer named The Gorilla but then a real gorilla shows up.
• The Scarlet Claw (1944): Another Roy William Neill Sherlock Holmes.
• Batman and Robin (1949): The duo fights against The Wizard who controls cars.
• Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970): The second and best of the series, including a group that worships the atomic bomb!
• The Other (1972): Rather good evil twin film.
• Tower of Evil (1972): Phoenician archaeology leads to death.
• Mother, Jugs & Speed (1976): Unfunny comedy about ambulance companies.
• Casper (1995): Sweet children’s horror-comedy where none of the ghosts are scary.
• Johnny Mnemonic (1995): Data courier needs to get data out of his brain implant before it kills him.
• Doppelganger (1993): The new girlfriend seems to have an evil doppelganger, but then it turns out to be a conspiracy. But then she really does have one!
• Curse of the Puppet Master (1998): More fun with the puppets at a doll museum. A middling effort from David DeCoteau.
• Shanghai Noon (2000): Comedy western starring Jackie Chan.
• Beneath Still Waters (2005): A town is drowned to kill an evil force, but 40 years later, it comes back. Brian Yuzna directed this Spanish production.
• Beneath the Flesh (2009): Anthology horror from Randall Kaplan.
• The Devil’s Tomb (2009): A military unit goes to an underground structure to rescue a scientist, but unwittingly enters a war between God and the Nephilim. You’d think God wouldn’t need help…
• The Offerings (2009): A new housekeeper is harassed by angry ghosts.

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Peter Cushing via Wikimedia. It is in the public domain.

20th Century Fox released Star Wars on 25 May 1977.

I first saw the film on 4 July 1977. I was in no rush to see it because the commercial for it sucked. It seemed to depend upon the fact that there was already a lot of buzz about the film. And that was true. The nerd class in middle school was indeed abuzz! This made me less inclined to see it. Yes, I was a nerd. But I considered myself a higher level of nerd. I was a little prick!

I liked the film. But I didn’t go crazy for it. And I still find it hard to believe just why it was such a big deal. I guess it was the special effects. The plot was standard — pretty much the same as dozens of genre films. The characters were primative stereotypes. I’m not complaining. The film works. I just don’t understand why so many people lost their minds over it!

Since its release, of course, the film has been renamed Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope. Because it was the first film of the second trilogy of a trilogy of trilogies. I think the renaming is stupid and annoying as hell. But I will forgive George Lucas for the rest. Before The Empire Strikes Back, he was already pushing the trilogy of trilogies. So it was not, as many have told me, a later cash grab.

But what most annoys me is that Lucas has gone back and changed the special effects. All works of art are products of their time. Star Wars is now the product of the late 1970s — and the late 1990s. And there is no way that the film would have had such primative characters and stories in the late 1990s. So the film is, as it stands, a kind of Frankenstein’s Monster of a film.

What’s more, it wasn’t enough for Lucas to get his ultimate vision produced. He has also done everything he can to limit anyone from seeing the original film. That’s the kind of narcissism that comes from having far too much money, fame, and power.

I’d embed the film if that were possible. But it’s hard to find even a restored copy online. After all, George Lucas is only a billionaire. And Disney is just scraping by! (Much of Lucas’ billions are in Disney stock.)

But you know who the real villains are? People who don’t read this site. These are the people who make rich men richer because they just want to watch what everyone else is watching. Star Wars is psychotronic. There’s no doubt about that, though.

Instead of watching it, check out this clever Chris & Jack skit about who really wrote Star Wars.

Other 25 May Anniversaries

Filmmakers:

• Charles Barton (1902-1981): Director known for Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein and Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff.
• Claude Akins (1926-1994): Character actor I mostly know from The Night Stalker.
• Ann Robinson (1929-2025): Star of the 1953 The War of the Worlds.
• Ian McKellen (1939-): Actor known for the major films based on X-Men and Lord of the Rings.
• Frank Oz (1944-): Best known as the man behind Miss Piggy, he is a solid film director of such hits as The Dark Crystal and Death at a Funeral.
• Neil Marshall (1970-): Writer-director of many psychotronic films including Dog Soldiers and The Descent.
• Cillian Murphy (1976-): Actor known for 28 Days Later.

Films:

• Behind the Mask (1946): The second of The Shadow films.
• The Stranger (1946): Orson Welles’ most banal film about a Nazi hunter who suspect a school teacher.
• The Cabinet of Calagari (1962): Premiere of the classic story.
• Dead Planet (1972): An overpopulated dystopian society bans pregnancy.
• Return of the Jedi (1983): That’s right, it was released exactly six years after Star Wars. For the record, The Empire Strikes Back was close to being exactly in the middle. The premiere was 17 May. It went into limited release on the 21st. But didn’t see wide release until 18 June.
• Dead Calm (1989): A married couple pick up a shipwreck survivor who turns out to be insane.
• Possessed By the Night (1994): A mutant embryo controls people.
• Witchcraft X: Mistress of the Craft (1999): British vampires go to California to get a Satanist needed for a ritual.
• Bug (2007): Two weird people fight bugs in a motel room.
• Destination: Outer Space (2010): Space pilot must find his way home from Christopher R Mihm
• Attack of the Moon Zombies (2011): Plant-based horror on the moon — again from Christopher R Mihm.
• House of Black Wings (2010): Two women refurbish an aging appartment but there are ghosts.
• Crimes of the Future (2022): More sex, surgery, and conspiracy from David Cronenberg.

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Star Wars (1977) poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.

On this day, 23 May 1985, Indipendenti Regionali released the Italian horror film Rats: Night of Terror!

I’ll admit, when I first heard of this film, I was skeptical. I like rats, and I don’t like to see them as antagonists in films. (They aren’t in Willard. There, they are just meting out justice.)

But at least the rats are presented as smart. And it has a very happy ending!

Rats was co-written and directed by exploitation master Bruno Mattei. He’s mostly known for never doing anything new. If a film was doing well at the box office, he’d make his own version.

Salon Kitty was a big deal in 1976. So in 1977, Mattei brought the world SS Girls. How do you not love that?!

Night of the Living Rats

Rats is more or less Night of the Living Dead — but with rats. Michael Weldon says it has more or less the same plot as Chosen Survivors, but I haven’t seen it so I can’t say for sure. And clearly, I’m sure it’s also ripping off Willard.

The basis of the movie is that there was a nuclear war in 2015. The survivors head underground and live there. After a hundred years, some of them decided to live above ground. Thus, humanity was divided into two groups. The film takes place 110 years after that in 2225.

The story centers on a biker gang (with a tank and a truck) living in a barren land, scavenging to survive. They are a stylish bunch with cool names like Chocolate, Lucifer, and Video!

All is going well after they come to an abandoned town. They find a bunch of food that has somehow survived for 210 years. But then they discover various dead bodies. And the rats start to attack. And then they start to die.

Rats Is a Good Time

Rats is filled with great practical effects. And it does a particularly great job of combining real rats with fake ones. Although the river of rats can be a bit much at times. Of course, one of the treats of this film is that it is always at least a little over the top.

What’s most remarkable here, however, is how compelling the story is. The characters are a lot more real than they have any right to be. That’s especially true of Chocolate (Geretta Geretta) and Video (Gianni Franco).

Everything about the film seems better than it should be. The sets are really good. The lighting is always interesting if sometimes a bit too dark. (This may be a video artifact; projected film always has much better contrast.) The camera work is lively without being excessive. And the editing pulls the story along mostly, although there are moments when it seems like there wasn’t transitional material.

I highly recommend seeing Rats: Night of Terror if you get the chance. It’s not great. And one of the female characters is too much like Barbra in the original Night of the Living Dead. But it’s quite an enjoyable hour and a half.

Other 23 May Anniversaries

Filmmakers:

• Kenneth Strickfaden (1896-1984): Electric effects expert known for Frankenstein.
• Scatman Crothers (1910-1986): Actor in The Shining and Twilight Zone: The Movie.
• Joan Collins (1933-): Actor known for Tales from the Crypt and Empire of the Ants.
• Felissa Rose (1969-): Actor known for many horror films like Sleepaway Camp and Silent Night, Zombie Night.
• DJ Cotrona (1980-): Star of From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series.

Films:

• Stanley (1972): Willard but with rattlesnakes.
• The Shining (1980): Kubrick does King.
• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984): Sequel to Raiders is even more extreme.
• Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986): The family moved, but… They’re back!
• The Era of Vampires (2002): A team takes on Chinese vampires.
• Vampire Noir (2007): A vampire hunter tries to save his friend.

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Rats: Night of Terror DVD cover via Walmart under Fair Use.