THE STRANGLER OF BLACKMOOR CASTLE

 

Another German crime film, or Krimi, from 1963. This one is based not on an Edgar Wallace story, but one by his son, Bryan Edgar Wallace. This movie was produced by Artur Brauner and CCC Film--the company made a series of black & white krimis based on the works of Bryan Edgar Wallace to compete with Rialto's "official" Edgar Wallace series. (If the Rialto Edgar Wallace films are the equivalent of Hammer, then CCC could be compared with Amicus.) 

Blackmoor Castle, located somewhere near London, is being rented by esteemed government official Lucius Clark (Rudolf Fernau). Clark is going to be knighted very soon, but he's also been threatened by a mysterious black-gloved hooded figure. It turns out that years ago Clark came into possession of some stolen diamonds, and this figure--known as the Strangler--wants the stones. The Strangler also threatens to expose Clark's past and to bring harm to his young niece (Karin Dor). A stalwart Inspector from Scotland Yard (Harry Riebauer) is on the case, but there's plenty of murder and mayhem before the Strangler is revealed. 

THE STRANGLER OF BLACKMOOR CASTLE has most of the requisite elements one expects from a 1960s Krimi, including the usual sneaky suspects, red herrings, secret passages, and greedy folks who will do anything to get their hands on the cache of diamonds. This entry is a bit more gruesome than most, with the Strangler not only choking his victims, but cutting off the heads of a couple of them as well, and then carving an "M" into their foreheads. 

Among the suspects are Dieter Eppler as Clark's butler, who really enjoys his actual work as a diamond cutter, Ingmar Zeisberg as a duplicitous barmaid, and Hans Nielsen as the silly-ass Lord Blackmoor. The Lord has had to rent out most of the castle to pay off a tax debt, and he now spends his time wandering the grounds studying birds. The kilt-wearing Lord is fitted out with a ridiculous pair of whiskers, and if Rialto had made this film, there's no doubt their comedy relief regular Eddi Arent would have been cast in this role. 

BLACKMOOR CASTLE benefits from having the Queen of Krimi, Karin Dor, in the lead female role. She was constantly being chased around and put in danger in this type of picture, but she was still able to make her characters appealing and realistic. At the time this film was made Dor was married to its director, Harald Reinl. Reinl helmed the very first film in the entire German Edgar Wallace cycle, THE FACE OF THE FROG. Reinl directs BLACKMOOR CASTLE effectively and efficiently, but I felt he might have gotten more atmosphere out of the title location. One of the scriptwriters on this project was Ladislas Fodor, who had worked in Hollywood for a few years. 

The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle and Karin Dor

The German Krimis are collectively known for their unusual music scores, and BLACKMOOR CASTLE has one of the strangest, courtesy of Oskar Sala. For most of the running time Sala uses a number of weird tonalities that seem to be borrowed from the FORBIDDEN PLANET soundtrack--it's as if the composer was expecting a flying saucer to show up. 

THE STRANGLER OF BLACKMOOR CASTLE is one of the better entries in the non-Rialto group of German Krimis. It's also one of the many titles in this genre that sorely needs a proper restoration and North American home video release. Ironically a few years after this movie was made Rialto would produce an Edgar Wallace film titled THE HOUND OF BLACKWOOD CASTLE. 

THE SPANISH MAIN On Blu-ray From Warner Archive

 

Warner Archive brings out another fantastic restoration of a Technicolor classic with its Blu-ray release of the 1945 RKO pirate adventure THE SPANISH MAIN. 

Paul Henreid plays Laurent Van Horn, a 17th Century sea captain who is transporting immigrants to the New World. Van Horn's ship is caught in a hurricane and winds up wrecked at Cartagena, where the bullying local Spanish governor (Walter Slezak) insults him and throws him in jail. Van Horn escapes, and in a few years time, becomes known as "The Barracuda", a notorious pirate who preys upon the Spanish fleet. When the daughter of the viceroy of Mexico (Maureen O'Hara) is being transported to Cartagena in order to marry the governor, Van Horn sees this as another opportunity to get his revenge against the Spanish, but things become more complicated when he starts to fall for the proud lady. 

THE SPANISH MAIN gets shown fairly often on TCM, but seeing it the way it is presented on this Blu-ray is a revelation. The colors are bold, bright, and sharp, and one realizes that this was a major production for RKO at the time. The sets, costumes, and production design are all top notch, and it's easy to understand why George Barnes' cinematography was nominated for an Academy Award. The sound quality is impressive also, highlighting Hanns Eisler's epic score. 

Paul Henreid is a rather unlikely choice to play a swashbuckling adventurer, but it was the actor himself who instigated this project (he wanted to get away from usually being cast as suave romantic types). Henreid is better than one would expect--he's obviously having fun, and what actor wouldn't? (The increased visual detail on this Blu-ray does reveal that Henreid was doubled by a stuntman for a number of scenes.) 

If any actress was perfect for Technicolor, it was Maureen O'Hara. She's an absolute knockout on this Blu-ray, and her appearance is accentuated by the many gorgeous costumes she gets to wear. Her role in THE SPANISH MAIN is very much like the one she played in THE BLACK SWAN (another pirate adventure that sorely deserves a Blu-ray restoration). There's no way you can believe that O'Hara is the daughter of a Spanish nobleman, but THE SPANISH MAIN is so fun and entertaining it's not that big of a deal. The supporting cast has plenty of faces familiar to film buffs, with Binnie Barnes deserving mention for her performance as legendary pirate Anne Bonney. Walter Slezak is a decent enough villain, but he's too much of a strutting buffoon to be in the same dastardly class as a Basil Rathbone or a Claude Rains. 

Director Frank Borzage was as unlikely to helm a story about buccaneers on the Caribbean as Paul Henried was to star in it, but Borzage handles all the action elements quite well, and he gives the tale the sweep and rhythm it needs. 

The only extras on this Warner Archive Blu-ray are a couple of pirate-influenced Looney Tunes, and a original trailer for THE SPANISH MAIN that has not been restored and shows in comparison how magnificent the movie looks on this disc. 

Warner Archive once again shows how much life there is in classic Hollywood features when they are restored and presented in such an amazing fashion as THE SPANISH MAIN is on this Blu-ray. 

THE BELOVED ROGUE On Blu-ray From Kino

 

The latest title in Kino's excellent series of classic silent movie Blu-ray releases is THE BELOVED ROGUE, a 1927 historical adventure starring John Barrymore and Conrad Veidt. 

THE BELOVED ROGUE is set in 15th Century France, where vagabond poet Francois Villon (John Barrymore) gets involved in thwarting a plot by the Duke of Burgundy to usurp the throne from King Louis XI (Conrad Veidt). During his various antics Villon still finds time to woo Charlotte (Marceline Day), a member of the royal court. 

This is a movie which has John Barrymore's attempt to play a Douglas Fairbanks-type of role. Barrymore highlights Villon's love of wine, women, and fun, and tones down the swashbuckling elements. (Villon defeats his foes using wits and pluck instead of athletic prowess.) There's no doubt that Barrymore had a lot of fun playing Villon as a raggedy rascal. In the later part of the film, when Villon gains the favor of the king and is "cleaned up", the poet spends a lot of time romancing Charlotte, and these scenes are the weakest in the picture. 

Barrymore almost gets upstaged by Conrad Veidt (making his American film debut) as the grotesque King Louis. Veidt portrays the king as a living gargoyle (his eyes literally gleam with madness). It's great watching Barrymore and Veidt hamming it up in their scenes together. (It's a sure bet that Barrymore probably wished that he could have played Louis XI.) 

One example of the lightheartedness of this film's approach is the fact that two of Villon's closest companions are played by comedy veterans Mack Swain and Slim Summerville, and another is played by Angelo Rossitto as "Beppo the Dwarf". There's also a number of stunts and gags that wouldn't be out of place in a Harold Lloyd picture. 

The movie may be silly at times, but the production values are top notch. The legendary William Cameron Menzies was involved in the design elements of this feature, and the various sets, shot compositions, and costumes are consistently eye-catching. What makes this film even more notable is that most of the action takes place in a snowy, wind-swept Paris (one almost never sees winter shown in a classic historical epic, especially during the silent era). Universal's silent THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME was also set in 15th Century France, but while that film was stodgy and slow, THE BELOVED ROGUE has an energy and a sweep to it. 

As expected, Kino's release of THE BELOVED ROGUE looks magnificent visually. The picture quality is very sharp, and the movie is augmented with plenty of dramatic tinting. This release features a rousing music score by Robert Israel that perfectly matches the film's tone (the score is available in either 2.0 stereo or 5.1 surround). 

The main extra is a new audio commentary by Anthony Slide. He goes into the background of the production, such as William Cameron Menzies' effect on it, but he spends most of his time giving biographical info on the cast & crew and reciting the names of films those people were involved with. There's also an introduction to the film by Orson Welles that was produced for TV in the 1970s. 

I wouldn't put THE BELOVED ROGUE on the same level as the best Douglas Fairbanks silent epics, but it's still very entertaining. It's worth seeing mainly for the work of John Barrymore, Conrad Veidt, and William Cameron Menzies. 

DANGER MAN--"The Man On The Beach"

 

My buddy Michael Eugene Wilson happens to be the biggest Barbara Steele fan I know. (Mike has his own blog: michaelsmovieworld.blogspot.com.) He recently sent me a YouTube link for an episode of the 1960s British TV spy series DANGER MAN, in which Steele was a guest star. The title of the episode was "The Man On The Beach", and it was originally broadcast in 1966.

In the episode British agent John Drake (Patrick McGoohan) is sent to Jamaica under secret orders to ferret out a double agent. Drake winds up being accused of being a double agent himself, and while trying to avoid his own superiors, attempts to discover who has set him up. During the mission he encounters the slinky Cleo (Barbara Steele), a mysterious woman who goes out of her way to attract his attention. 

I haven't seen very many episodes of DANGER MAN. It has never played in syndication on any of the channels I've had access to over the years. Watching "The Man On The Beach", I can see why the show doesn't have the lasting cult status of, say, THE MAN FROM UNCLE or THE AVENGERS. DANGER MAN is a more dramatic and lower-key look as espionage--it's far from James Bond territory. Patrick McGoohan's John Drake isn't a charming, heroic ladies man--he's quirky, acerbic, somewhat insolent, and he manages to rub just about everyone he meets the wrong way. (According to some sources, McGoohan had those attributes in real life.) DANGER MAN deals with the grubby, non-glamorous world of intelligence gathering. (In America, the show was retitled SECRET AGENT MAN, and the title sequence was changed to include Bobby Rivers' song, which is probably more well-known now in the U.S. than the program it inspired.) 

Patrick McGoohan and Barbara Steele

Barbara Steele's best attribute was her unique screen presence, and "The Man On The Beach" makes full use of it. We first see her sitting at a hotel bar, languidly smoking a cigarette, the epitome of the exotic, intriguing woman. Steele's Cleo doesn't waste time making herself known to Drake--but her interest in him has more to do with espionage than romance. (Patrick McGoohan, a married man who took his personal life very seriously, didn't want John Drake to be the typical bed-hopping secret agent.) 

Seeing Steele in this episode makes one realize how gorgeous she was in contemporary clothes--the actress didn't get any chances to wear modern-day fashions during her many Italian Gothic horror stints. Viewers watching this episode will also get the opportunity to hear Steele's actual voice, which is always a plus. I wish Steele had gotten more to do in the episode, but she did get main guest star billing, which was important back in 1960s television. 

Unfortunately Steele's character isn't around for the last segment of the story, and I have to say my interest waned a bit without her presence. (This episode of DANGER MAN was an hour long, and one can tell that there was some padding added to the main story to fill out the running time.) The plot of "The Man On The Beach" was diverting enough, although it's quite obvious the episode was shot on indoor sets in Britain instead of outdoor Jamaican locations. Director Peter Yates (who would go on to helm features such as BULLITT) goes out of his way to bring some visual vitality to the story, despite the low budget and the studio sets. There are a couple fight scenes, but these are presented in a realistic manner, and after them Drake is shown as worn out and disheveled--he doesn't come out of them with perfect hair and clothes. 

Considering how well Barbara Steele fit into this episode, and considering how much time she spent in Italy in the 1960s, one wonders why she wasn't involved in the many 007 Eurospy kncok-offs made during the same period. (Perhaps she was approached to be in some of them, and she turned them down for whatever reason?) With her exotic, almost mystical quality, Steele would have perfect as a Bond lady or a femme fatale involved in international intrigue. "The Man On The Beach" proved that Barbara Steele could do much more than Euro Gothic. 

My Top Five Blu-rays Of 2024

 

Another year, and another huge chunk of money that I spent on movies most people have never seen or ever heard of. The main theme for 2024 appears to be "Italian Gothic". Three out of my top five releases of the year fit that category....and it might have been nearly a clean sweep if I had included Radiance's special edition of Mario Bava's PLANET OF THE VAMPIRES. 

Once again I must remind everyone that I'm only picking from discs I myself purchased in the last 12 months. 

1. THE HORRIBLE DR. HICHCOCK from Vinegar Syndrome

One of the most bizarre and disturbing of the Italian Gothics finally gets the special Region A release it deserves, with two excellent-looking versions of the film and all sorts of extras. I wrote a full post on this in February. 

2. LAUREL & HARDY: YEAR TWO from Flicker Alley

Flicker Alley's L & H YEAR ONE made my top five list last year, and this set might be even better--it's chock full of goodies. I wrote a post on it a couple of weeks ago. 

3. I VAMPIRI from Radiance

This is another Italian horror classic that has long needed a special release for English-speaking viewers, and this one more than fills the bill, with three versions of the film and plenty of extra material. My post on this was written in November. 

4. CASTLE OF BLOOD from Severin

Another Italian horror classic, and another magnificent Severin release that provides more evidence that the company is hard to beat when it comes to presenting European cult cinema on home video. My complete review of it was posted in November. 

5. EL VAMPIRO from Indicator

The legendary Mexican horror classic EL VAMPIRO and its fine sequel THE VAMPIRE'S COFFIN get deluxe treatment from Indicator, a company that has wound up contributing to my annual top five lists the last few years. My post on it was also in November. 

NOSFERATU (2024)

 

When I first heard that Robert Eggers was going to do his own version of NOSFERATU, my immediate thought was that he would be better off if he made an original Gothic vampire tale instead. Of course if he did do that, the production wouldn't have had the brand name recognition that is considered essential for any project made in these times. 

Whether we need another Nosferatu or not, we've got one. The 2024 version generally follows the storyline of the 1922 and 1979 versions, except for one major detail. In the 2024 NOSFERATU the character of Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) is established as having a mental connection with the ancient Count Orlock (Bill Skarsgard) long before her future husband Thomas Hutter (Nicholas Hoult) journeys to Transylvania to secure a real estate deal with the undead fiend. 

This connection makes Lily-Rose Depp the real star of the film, and she gets to go through all sorts of physical ticks and mannerisms which allow her to act as bizarre onscreen as her real-life father usually does. It also leads one to venture that Ellen might actually be the real villain of the story, since it is she that inspires Orlock to leave his ancestral castle and travel to Germany, spreading death and devastation along the way. (The relationship between Ellen and Orlock has a lot of ambiguity to it--this isn't a Terence Fisher-style straight up Good vs. Evil type of vampire story.) 

Robert Eggers' strengths are visuals and atmosphere, and that certainly holds true here. The production design, art direction, and cinematography are all impressive. This NOSFERATU is very well made, but it didn't have the same effect upon me as the F. W. Murnau or Werner Herzog versions did. The supporting characters are not very interesting, even Willem Dafoe's "unconventional" Professor. 

As for Nosferatu himself, I thought Bill Skarsgard's portrayal resembled a comic book movie special effect rather than a true avatar of darkness. What made Max Schreck's and Klaus Kinski's versions of Orlock so powerful is that they were still recognizably human. 

I also felt that the movie was (stop me if you've heard this before) too long. There's a lot of dialogue scenes where the male characters discuss and argue about what is going on (ironically, the presumed male heroes in this film wind up being somewhat weak). 

The best way I can sum up the 2024 NOSFERATU is that it reminded me of Coppola's BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA--another vampire film with plenty of visual flair and larger-than-life attitude that, for me, wasn't as notable as many of the lower-budget, lesser-known tales of the undead that I've seen over the years. 

SANTO VS. THE VAMPIRE WOMEN

 

Robert Eggers won't be remaking this movie. He doesn't need to, since this is one of the better entries featuring the silver-masked Mexican adventurer/professional wrestler. (The film's original title is SANTO VS. LAS MUJERES VAMPIRO.) The production was made in 1962 and it is in black & white. 

A coven of vampire women have been awakened after 200 years by one of their number called Tundra (Ofelia Montesco). Tundra plans to resurrect the Queen of the Vampire Women and then seek revenge against a descendant of a lady who foiled the undead's plans centuries ago. This descendant (who is a beautiful young woman of course) is the daughter of a Professor, who, due to his knowledge of ancient writings, is well aware of the fate that awaits his child when she turns 21. The Professor calls upon El Santo to protect his daughter from the vampiric brood (apparently Peter Cushing wasn't available). 

SANTO VS. THE VAMPIRE WOMEN opens with a very atmospheric sequence showing the undead ladies rising from their coffins. The Vampire Women are quite creepy in their desiccated state, but once they get some blood in them, they become voluptuous white-gowned lovelies. The Queen Vampire, Zorina, played by Lorena Velazquez, is quite a looker as well, but she doesn't get nearly enough to do as Tundra (it must be beneath a vampire queen to run around after mere mortals). 

Because of the setting up of the vampire women and their plot, Santo doesn't show up until later than usual, and he even gets somewhat overshadowed by the lethal ladies. Tundra also resurrects three muscle-bound slaves to handle the ladies' dirty work, and one of these fellows actually disguises himself with a mask and takes on Santo in the ring. After a vicious battle, Santo pins his opponent, and pulls off the slave's mask....to reveal that the brute has turned into a werewolf!! As Santo and the local police try to stop the rampaging beast in the ring, the creature turns into a bat and flies away. (Needless to say, Santo has his work cut out for him in this outing.) 

As in nearly every Mexican classic horror, SANTO VS. THE VAMPIRE WOMEN takes familiar genre tropes and gives them a bit of a twist. There's the obligatory scene where investigators puzzle over the two tiny marks on a victim's neck, and there's plenty of extreme Lugosi-like close-ups of Tundra's eyes before she hypnotizes someone. One nice touch is that the vampire women can be seen in a mirror--but the reflection reveals their true decomposed, corpse-like state. 

I watched the American version of this film on Tubi, which was titled SAMSON VS. THE VAMPIRE WOMEN and redubbed by the infamous K. Gordon Murray. The visual quality of this version wasn't great--one can only imagine how good the scenes of the vampires in their castle hideout would look in a restored and remastered HD print. 

I'm not going to claim that SANTO VS. THE VAMPIRE WOMEN is an impressive vampire tale--but it is fast-moving fun, and it does have a few atmospheric moments. One might even venture to say that the story might have worked even better if Santo had not even been in it. The silver-masked man would go on to have plenty of encounters with the undead onscreen--he even faced off against Count Dracula a couple of times. A lot of folks scoff at Santo and his adventures, but I've found that most of the ones I have seen are a lot more entertaining than the two-hour plus CGI filled remakes and reboots churned out endlessly in today's times.