The Blood On Satan's Claw

I do love those understated titles.

When I was an adolescent, I stayed up late one night to watch The Blood on Satan’s Claw on the late movie. I assume my parents thought I was doing something else, so let that be a lesson to you parents: watch your kids constantly or they turn out like me. I remember being completely spooked by the eerie film, and was glad to have a chance to watch it again all those years later. When I was eight, I also liked Chocolate-Frosted Sugar Bombs for breakfast, but I outgrew that, too, so learn from that, too.

A famer (Barry Andrews) is plowing his field in England, in the 18th century (a reference is made to the exiled King James III, who claimed the throne from 1701 to 1766) when he uncovers a strange set of remains. He calls it a fiend – it looks like a skull with an eye still in it – but it’s gone when he fetches the Judge to see it. Oh, well. Or not well, since the remains seem to be of Satan (evidence in the title) or something else diabolical. Soon all the local young people, who range in age from early teens to late 60s, become more or less possessed and start misbehavin’, shown mostly by the female lead’s unplucked eyebrows. They seem to be trying to bring Satan (or someone) back, which they do by growing part of his flesh and then cutting it off. I guess when they have enough, they put him together like a jigsaw puzzle. Curiously, Satan, or possibly one of the Jawas from Star Wars, lurks around a bit, which makes it confusing that he needs to be reconstructed, when he’s already there. He doesn't seem to do anything but look mysterious, which makes him a fairly benign devil. Anyway, the judge figures out their fiendish plan, although he selfishly does not share it with the viewing audience, and it is thwarted.

The movie was made by Tigon, which was one of the companies that started in the 60s in imitation of Hammer. It wasn’t even the most successful of the copycats (that would be Amicus, which made some really good movies), and in one of those mistakes that make you shake your head ruefully, even misspelled their own name in the opening credits (“Trigon”). The movie was funded after the success of The Witchmaster General and was originally supposed to be three interlocking stories, which probably accounts for the difficulties in the narrative. Some events seem to have no relation to the rest of the story, and the direction shows no sense of time. I have no idea if the climax of the film comes a day after the opening or five years. Characters appear, disappear, and in at least one instance, I think two of them switched parts. The climactic battle is presented in a mixture of real-time, slow-motion, and stop-frame, and shot so disjointedly you can’t tell what’s happening.

The movie is based on the real superstition that people with birthmarks, strange moles or any other deviation from the physical norm were marked by the devil. It must have been tough to be different back in the day. Although there is a fair amount of sex (an extended nude scene by the female lead, a disturbing rape of a young girl), the gore is curiously muted, showing very little blood. A strange distinction, since we tend to freak out over sex in films much more than violence.

All in all, it worked better when I was ten.
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The Lost Continent

Although it broke new ground it terms of sex and violence, Hammer Studios tended to be a bit conservative with the source material for their films. They tended to use classic horror icons (vampires, mummies, Frankenstein’s monster, etc.) set against a more-or-less interchangeable gothic background. Occasionally, though, they ventured outside their comfort zone, and one example of this is the trippy 1968 film The Lost Continent.

A motley group of passengers fleeing from various indiscretions and tragedies sets sail on a run-down steamer for Venezuela. In addition to their personal problems, the ship is carrying (unknown to all but the captain) a hold full of a highly explosive phosphorus compound, which detonates when it gets wet. And is being transported on a leaky old rust-bucket. I’m surprised BP didn’t want to get in on that action. After the captain disregards a hurricane warning, the boat runs into a huge storm and begins leaking. In a head-scratching sequence, the passengers and part of the crew abandon ship, and are marooned in a small lifeboat, where they float for some time, losing two people in the process. Eventually, they are rescued when they find…the same ship they left in the first place. It seems it wasn’t in that much trouble in the first place, and they went through the lifeboat ordeal for nothing. Oops.

Back on board, they manage to run straight into the Sargasso Sea, which is a graveyard of trapped ships. There they are accosted by man-eating seaweed (!), giant crab monsters, and a society formed of the survivors of all the previous ships. Things look dire. If only they had some explosives or something. Wait…

A lot of people have pointed out that drugs were better in the 60s, and this movie seems to bear that out. The entire film seems like a strange trip, from the yellowish lighting (they apparently don’t have the same sun in the Sargasso) to the large balloons people strap to themselves to walk on the killer seaweed. If drugs weren’t taken to make the movie, perhaps they should be to watch it.

Yep.

The movie is actually a lot of fun, as Hammer always seemed to at least deliver entertainment, but a painfully low budget dooms it to being nothing more than cheesy. The ship doesn’t reach the Sargasso until the last third of the movie, so most of it is sort of a Ship of the Danged type of thing. While Hammer was hiring Ray Harryhausen for movies like One Million Years B.C., the creatures here are laughable, and look like deranged versions of the things from HR Puffnstuff. The creatures themselves are nearly immobile, so if one attacks you, you have to hang on tight to a tentacle lest you accidentally escape.

The movie is based on the novel Uncharted Seas, by classic British writer Dennis Wheatley. In a nice in-joke, this is the book one of the passengers is reading at the beginning of the movie. One of the sentences on the DVD box reads “Under cover of night, the terrified travelers encounter unspeakable monsters, man-eating seaweed, vicious mutant pirates and stupendously endowed women.” That last one has spelled doom for many a man.
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John Carpenter Has A Seizure

Several news sources have reported legendary director John Carpenter suffered a seizure while signing autographs for fans in Florida this weekend, and had to be hospitalized. The ailment described as not life-threatening, but this is still disturbing news. I hope one of my favorite directors gets well soon.
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Matt Cowan's 10 Favorite Ramsey Campbell Short Stories

As you can tell if you read this blog, I like lists. I even like those that aren't my one, if they're by someone whose opinion I respect. Speaking of which, Matt Cowan, whose opinions are invaluable, especially on vintage horror, has put together a list of his ten favorite Ramsey Campbell short stories, which you can read at the Vintage Horror website. I'm also a fan of Mr. Campbell, and Mr. Cowan knows what he's talking about. I'd be hard pressed to argue with any of these selections. Check it out. Vintage Horror is also a dependably good website for those of you interested in good horror writing that predates the 21st century. Browse around it, and you might find quite a reading list for yourself.
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Halloween in Spanish Fort

If you are in or near Spanish Fort, Alabama on October 22nd, Premiere Cinemas is having a special late screening of the original John Carpenter Halloween, with appearances by Tony Moran and Brian Andrews from the original cast. Sounds like a great time, and you can get more information by clicking here. I'd love to go, but although it's in the same state, that's about a seven hour drive from where I am.
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The Fall

[WARNING: The following post of necessity has spoilers about the preceeding book The Strain. If you haven’t read The Strain and still wish to do so, you might want to skip this.]

The middle book of a trilogy is always somewhat problematic. It doesn’t truly have a beginning or an end – the beginning was in the first volume and the end will be in the next one. So, if you read them as they come out, you have to resign yourself at the outset you will get neither the joy of discovery nor the thrill of the conclusion, instead the connective tissue between the two. Despite that, The Fall, the second book in the trilogy by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan began by The Strain, manages to be a pretty entertaining bit of fiction.

The book begins only a week after the mysterious plane landed on the tarmac of a New York airport and began the nightmare. New York City is fairly well lost at this point, with only pockets of human resistance, and the rest of the world is following suit. Our core group of protagonists, epidemiologists Ephraim Goodweather and Nora Martinez, Professor Abraham Sertakian and exterminator Vasily Fet, are searching for a way to fight back against the vampiric Holocaust, but hope is growing dim. Their best chance seems to lie in recovering an ancient book that supposedly details how to stop The Master, the leader of the vampires. They have an unlikely ally in The Ancients, a small group of incredibly old vampires who want to see The Master fail for their own reasons.

With the introduction of characters and setup of the conflict out of the way in the first book, The Fall is mostly a book of action sequences. This is not a bad thing. Since we know we won’t reach the end this time, we might as well have some excitement along the way, and del Toro and Hogan are adept at keeping the story moving.

If I have a quarrel with the book, it is the character of Ephraim’s son Zack. As is frequently done in this sort of book, Zack is less a personal than a living plot device. The danger that befalls him serves to distract his father from the main issues, and unfortunately, do the same to us. Not to discount fatherly love, or how danger to a child adds to the suspense, but when the central issue is the survival of the entire human race, Zack’s troubles seem a little inconsequential.

I would recommend the book. The action is fast-paced, the vampires are not only evil but disgusting (in contrast to the pale poets we get these days) and there is enough resolution to make it worthwhile. I’m very much looking forward to the conclusion of the story sometime next year.
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The Gorgon

In 1964, Hammer had successfully defined itself as a horror-oriented studio. Their gothic formula, and reliance on familiar lead actors such as Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, had proven lucrative, and behind-the-camera creative forces such as Jimmy Sangster and Terence Fisher were insuring quality features. This is the background for the studio at the time of the release of The Gorgon.

A small village in middle Europe is being plagued by a series of strange deaths. Although the village authorities, including the town doctor (Cushing), are doing their best to cover up the details, victims are being turned to stone. It seems the spirit of one of the legendary Gorgons, Megeara (actually one of The Furies, but you should learn mythology in school, not from horror films) has taken up residence in the countryside, and claims victims every full moon. When both his father and brother fall prey to the creature, Paul (Richard Pasco) comes to investigate. He falls in love with the doctor’s assistant (Hammer veteran Barbara Shelley) and brings one of his professors to town to help him investigate (Christopher Lee, in a delightfully eccentric role). Together, they must find and kill the Gorgon before it can claim any victims.

By this time, Hammer was expert at setting the proper mood for their films. The setting is dark yet beautiful, the direction is assured, the acting is good. Where the film fails is, ironically, the sight of the Gorgon. If you remember your mythology, a Gorgon (think the more famous Medusa) has hair made of hissing snakes. Hammer shot down one star’s suggestion of making a wig with real garden snakes to make it look realistic due to budgetary reason, and instead, the Gorgon has obviously plastic snakes sticking out of her bouffant hairdo. It’s ridiculous, and since a few of the snakes are mildly animated by an assistant following behind her, the Gorgon barely moves. In addition, the movie tries to build suspense as to who the Gorgon turns out to be, but if you haven’t figured out who it is about twenty minutes into the film, you don’t pay much attention.

Still, Hammer in those days couldn’t make a truly bad movie, and The Gorgon is an interesting diversion. No Hammer fan should miss it.

Speaking of Hammer fans, one of the things I found interesting was how specifically the place and time of the movie’s setting was laid out. Usually, hammer moves are set in some indeterminate part of Mittel-Europa in a generic European past. This always meant Hammer didn’t have to worry too much about historical continuity. In The Gorgon, you are told it is in Germany, and the year is around 1910. Also, no one in the movie ever says the word burgomeister, and I always look forward to when the characters would start talking about or to the burgomeister, since I find the word funny for some reason.
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