Brian Arnold: John Zacherle as Roland and Zacherley Dan Stumpf: Fury at Showdown
Ellen Datlow: Interview
Ed Gorman: David Thomson: "American Movies are not Dead; They are Dying"
George Kelley: Doctor Who series (season) finale
Iba Dawson: The Red House
Ivan G. Shreve, Jr.: The Court Jester (1956); The Millionaire and more
James Reasoner: Battleship
Jeff Flugel: Shotgun
Jerry House: Dashiell Hammett's "Two Sharp Knives" (Studio One) (see Elizabeth Foxwell, w/background info)
John Charles: Heavy Metal 2000 (aka Heavy Metal F.A.K.K. 2)
K. A. Laity: The Bride with White Hair (aka Bai fa mo nu zhuan)
Marty McKee: Android
Michael Shonk: The Most Deadly Game (ABC TV 1970-71)
Patti Abbott: Cat Ballou
Pearce Duncan, Mildred Perkins, David Schmidt, Jeff Segal: The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue (please see below)
Randy Johnson: It! The Terror from Beyond Space
Richard L. Pangburn: The Man with the Golden Arm
Rick: the 7 Best tv doctors
Ron Scheer: The Nevadan
Scott Cupp: Big Trouble in Little China
Sergio Angelini: Spaceways
Stacia Jones: Modesty Blaise; October Movies to Watch For
Steve Lewis: Swing Hostess
Walter Albert: Looking for Trouble
Yvette Banek: The Time of Their Lives
Discussion of
The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue
***Pearce Duncan:
I somehow did find time to watch a horror movie recently, the 1974 Spanish/Italian/English zombie movie The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue (aka Don't Open the Window, aka Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, aka at least a dozen other titles). This was quite different from most other post-George Romero zombie movies in that it was made before Dawn of the Dead; according to director Jorge Grau, he was specifically asked to make a movie like Night of the Living Dead, only in colour. I thought it was a remarkable movie, more serious than most zombie flicks and filled with atmosphere and striking imagery. Although there is a scientific rationale given for the zombie invasion, there is a dark supernatural tone throughout, and the zombies are among the most frightening I've ever seen. The lead ghoul, a bearded chap who committed suicide by drowning, keeps an intensely resentful expression on his face, as if he blames the world for not allowing him to rest in peace. Close-ups reveal eyes with scary "shattered" pupils. As with NotLD, the "social comment" of the movie had more to do with the relationship between the human characters than with the zombies. In particular, there was a strong generation gap conflict between Ray Lovelock's young antique dealer and Arthur Kennedy's hard-line cop, with Kennedy essentially holding Lovelock responsible for the deaths on account of his long hair. Or maybe it's because Lovelock acts like a complete prick towards pretty much everyone - he's one of the most unlikable protagonists I can think of. If the film feels a bit like the zombie movies that swarmed out of Italy in the wake of Dawn of the Dead, it's probably because some of the behind-the-scenes talent is the same, e.g. editor Vincenzo Tomassi, makeup fx designer Giannetto De Rossi, and of course dubbing director & voice actor Nick Alexander, all of whom worked on Lucio Fulci's Zombi 2, among others. Anyway, I enjoyed it quite a bit, even though it doesn't actually take place in the Manchester Morgue, despite the labelling on a truck.
My favourite scene involved the first zombie dipping his fingers in blood and dabbing it onto the eyes of corpses, bringing them to life. This anointing is plays almost as a religious ceremony - quite deliberately I'm sure, as it takes place in the basement of a church and is soon followed by a scene of the same zombie wielding a gigantic crucifix as a weapon. It was also interesting to see zombies being repeatedly shot in the head to no apparent effect. Apparently the only way to kill these ghouls is to set them on fire. They do indulge in typical Romero-esque gut-munching though.
***Mildred Perkins:
I put the movie you reviewed high in my (embarassingly long) Netflix queue. It's Let Sleeping Corpses Lie on Netflix. I'll probably be seeing it this weekend.
***David Schmidt:
I'm a big fan of this one, and it's on my list of most-over-looked films.
I'm fond of the title: Breakfast at the Manchester Morgue. It's terrific
stuff. Wonderfully atmospheric, great cinematography, fresh ideas and some
really damn-effective sound design.
First saw it under Don't Open the Window, and spent the movie wondering
which window they were talking about... :)
Although there is a scientific rationale given for the zombie invasion, there is a dark
supernatural tone throughout, and the zombies are among the most frightening I've
ever seen.
The mix of science and religious imagery is quite odd, but surprisingly
effective. And I totally agree on the zombie designs. Photos of that guy with
the autopsy incision creeped me even before I'd seen the movie!
***SPOILERS***
Pearce: My favourite scene involved the first zombie dipping his fingers in blood and dabbing it onto the
eyes of corpses, bringing them to life. This anointing is plays almost
as a religious ceremony - quite deliberately I'm sure, as it takes place
in the basement of a church and is soon followed by a scene of the same zombie wielding a gigantic crucifix as a weapon.
I really like that, too. I think the movie has an interesting and complex set of symbols. Man vs nature, science vs spiritual, authority vs. rebellion, etc. It's not subtle, but I thought it was pretty compelling stuff.
I haven't see Blood Castle, or any of other films (that I know of), but I
was pretty impressed by Dir. Grau from this one. Anyone else seen them?
***Jeff Segal:
I remember actually seeing the Don't Open The Window advertisement on tv
and only finding out about the movie's content afterward.
Despite the number of Eurohorror films released onto video in the US
during the eighties as product for small companies, Living Dead was not
one of them, despite the reputation it had acquired by that time.
Director Jorge Grau's uneventful courtroom drama, Pena de Muerta (1973),
starring Fernando Rey and Danger: Diabolik actress Marisa Mell, did hit
video as "Violent Bloodbath" but much better was Ceremonia Sangrienta
(1973), and even though the video print - Legend of Blood Castle - was
cut - it still made for a stylish and creepy experience. I later saw an
uncut Italian language edit of this bathos filled Bathory chiller and
Mya released still another version on dvd under the Legend of Blood
Castle aka to some viewer contention.
When I first got into gray market videos, The Living Dead at the
Manchester Morgue was one of the earliest I ordered from late great
gonzo horror cinema journalist Chas Balun. His source was a widescreen
Japanese subtitled, English language print culled from, probably, a
laserdisc. I think that there was a spot of censorship "fog" during the
opening sequence "social commentary" nudity flash. As I was finding out
with other Japanese sourced bootlegs, the colors, blacks and visual
quality were admirable but dark scenes (ie - the struggle in the
underground tomb, for instance) were murkier then they needed to be.
When the Sonny Chiba Streetfighter karate splatter flicks were brought
to US video uncut in the wake of some positive Quentin Tarantino-scripted True Romance dialogue about them, New Line went too far in the
opposite direction and released overly bright prints which were still
preferable to the really dark Japanese originals I had seen. Still,
Japan was the source of many obscure US, European and Asian titles
during the gray market video frenzy of the late eighties and nineties and the murky sequences were taken in stride.
My immediate reaction to Manchester Morgue when I saw that video one
Saturday afternoon was -
1. Gorgeous, well made, nicely acted and scripted film with actual
subtext. Rather eerie, with some of the film doing for slick lovingly
filmed countryside agrophobia what Romero's Night of the Living Dead
accomplished with its ragged monochorme claustrophobic settings.
2. What? There were so few zombies! I had been spoiled by Romero's Dawn
of the Dead and a few other horde-of-ghoul films. Upon reflection, I
soon realized that Manchester Morgue made very good use of every one of
its zombies, which individually were stronger and smarter, if just as
alien and contrary, as Romero's pusbags. From my perspective, Grau is
depicting the very beginning of a zombie plague, even before it reached
scattered Night of the Living Dead proportions.
I now rate the film at the top of my zombie list.
Do check out the two movies that Manchester Morgue directly influenced:
Jean Rollin's Grapes of Death (Les Raisins De La Mort, 1978 - this
title also found some inspiration in George Romero's The Crazies) and
the no-longer-obscure-to me Strange Dead Bodies (Goeshi, 1981), the
South Korean variation.
***Pearce Duncan:
Mildred L Perkins wrote:
I put the movie you reviewed high in my (embarassingly long) Netflix queue.
I should probably warn to that in true Euro-horror fashion, it takes a
while to get going, though once it gets into gear it really takes off.
David Schmidt wrote:
I'm a big fan of this one, and it's on my list of most-over-looked films. I'm fond of the
title Breakfast at the Manchester Morgue. It's terrific stuff. Wonderfully atmospheric, great cinematography, fresh ideas and some really damn-effective sound design.
Great title, though not my personal choice for the first meal of the
day. I should have mentioned that sound design, which is fantastic.
Apart from their extraordinary look (Grau seems to have a Fellini-esque
knack for finding great faces), the sound of the ghouls is
spine-chilling.
David: I've
seen worse protagonists, recently. But he's an almost hilarious example
of that late
60's "angry young man", who was apparently seen as "cool" because he was strong willed
and didn't give a flying.
At least in British movies & plays, "angry young men" tended to be
working class and railing against class oppression. This dude seemed to
own an antique shop AND a house in the country. I reckon his bizarre
Cockney accent contributed to the effect. Lovelock's a familiar face
from Italian westerns & gialli, but I've never heard him dubbed like
that before.
David: The most staggering thing for me is watching the female lead's reaction to him. "Oh, this
perfect stranger is behaving like a complete douchebag to me. Of course I'll let him drive
my car."
I know! I'm used to weird gender relations in old movies, but this was
particularly brain-damaged. "Please drop me off where I need to go and
then take my car for the weekend, obnoxious stranger, I'm begging you!"
Jeff Segal wrote: As I was finding out with other Japanese-sourced bootlegs, the colors, blacks and visual quality were admirable but dark scenes (ie - the struggle in the underground tomb, for instance) were murkier than they needed to be.
This is where DVD was such a boon to fans of horror, exploitation and
weird cinema. Where we were used to peering through smears at any kind
of dark scene, there was suddenly the opportunity for complete clarity -
to the extent that after a while if a transfer wasn't up to the
standards of a Blue Underground digital remastering, we tended to be a
bit snobbish about it.
Blu ray has spoiled us even more. I watched Profondo Rosso on a BD disc
the other night, and the images smacked me in the eye to an extent they
never did on VHS or even DVD, right from the striking red curtains that
dominate the second scene. And this is apparently taken from an older,
out-of-date HD transfer!
The British BD of Spirits of the Dead is similarly a revelation; as well
as an amazing transfer, it resurrects the mixed Italian/English track
for Toby Dammit, which restores Terence Stamp's terrific performance
while emphasizing his alienation. I felt ripped off when I bought the
DVD years ago only to find that they'd dubbed it into French! (I
seriously recommend this disc to anyone who likes the movie - it's
region-free, and I'm pretty sure that BD discs don't have the NTSC/PAL
problems that made importing DVDs into the US such a ropy proposition.)
I mean hell, blu ray has made even Vamp look great! ;)
Jeff: Upon reflection, I soon realized that Manchester Morgue made very good use of every
one of its zombies, which individually were stronger and smarter, if just as alien and contrary, as Romero's pusbags.
It's their strength of purpose that really got to me. The scene where
the first zombie stalks around the crypt, going about his business but
keeping his unblinking eyes on the human leads, particularly sticks in
my mind.
Jeff: Do check out the two movies that Manchester Morgue directly influenced : Jean Rollin's Grapes of Death (Les Raisins De La Mort, 1978 - this title also found some inspiration in George Romero's The Crazies) and the no-longer-obscure-to me Strange Dead Bodies (Goeshi, 1981), the South Korean variation.
Thanks Jeff! Deadly Raisins (and Rollin in general) has been on my
to-see list for years; to date the only movie I've seen of his is
Fascination, which was, well, fascinating. I've never heard of Strange
Dead Bodies though, so I appreciate the heads up.
and only finding out about the movie's content afterward.
Despite the number of Eurohorror films released onto video in the US
during the eighties as product for small companies, Living Dead was not
one of them, despite the reputation it had acquired by that time.
Director Jorge Grau's uneventful courtroom drama, Pena de Muerta (1973),
starring Fernando Rey and Danger: Diabolik actress Marisa Mell, did hit
video as "Violent Bloodbath" but much better was Ceremonia Sangrienta
(1973), and even though the video print - Legend of Blood Castle - was
cut - it still made for a stylish and creepy experience. I later saw an
uncut Italian language edit of this bathos filled Bathory chiller and
Mya released still another version on dvd under the Legend of Blood
Castle aka to some viewer contention.
When I first got into gray market videos, The Living Dead at the
Manchester Morgue was one of the earliest I ordered from late great
gonzo horror cinema journalist Chas Balun. His source was a widescreen
Japanese subtitled, English language print culled from, probably, a
laserdisc. I think that there was a spot of censorship "fog" during the
opening sequence "social commentary" nudity flash. As I was finding out
with other Japanese sourced bootlegs, the colors, blacks and visual
quality were admirable but dark scenes (ie - the struggle in the
underground tomb, for instance) were murkier then they needed to be.
When the Sonny Chiba Streetfighter karate splatter flicks were brought
to US video uncut in the wake of some positive Quentin Tarantino-scripted True Romance dialogue about them, New Line went too far in the
opposite direction and released overly bright prints which were still
preferable to the really dark Japanese originals I had seen. Still,
Japan was the source of many obscure US, European and Asian titles
during the gray market video frenzy of the late eighties and nineties and the murky sequences were taken in stride.
My immediate reaction to Manchester Morgue when I saw that video one
Saturday afternoon was -
1. Gorgeous, well made, nicely acted and scripted film with actual
subtext. Rather eerie, with some of the film doing for slick lovingly
filmed countryside agrophobia what Romero's Night of the Living Dead
accomplished with its ragged monochorme claustrophobic settings.
2. What? There were so few zombies! I had been spoiled by Romero's Dawn
of the Dead and a few other horde-of-ghoul films. Upon reflection, I
soon realized that Manchester Morgue made very good use of every one of
its zombies, which individually were stronger and smarter, if just as
alien and contrary, as Romero's pusbags. From my perspective, Grau is
depicting the very beginning of a zombie plague, even before it reached
scattered Night of the Living Dead proportions.
I now rate the film at the top of my zombie list.
Do check out the two movies that Manchester Morgue directly influenced:
Jean Rollin's Grapes of Death (Les Raisins De La Mort, 1978 - this
title also found some inspiration in George Romero's The Crazies) and
the no-longer-obscure-to me Strange Dead Bodies (Goeshi, 1981), the
South Korean variation.
***Pearce Duncan:
Mildred L Perkins wrote:
I put the movie you reviewed high in my (embarassingly long) Netflix queue.
I should probably warn to that in true Euro-horror fashion, it takes a
while to get going, though once it gets into gear it really takes off.
David Schmidt wrote:
I'm a big fan of this one, and it's on my list of most-over-looked films. I'm fond of the
title Breakfast at the Manchester Morgue. It's terrific stuff. Wonderfully atmospheric, great cinematography, fresh ideas and some really damn-effective sound design.
Great title, though not my personal choice for the first meal of the
day. I should have mentioned that sound design, which is fantastic.
Apart from their extraordinary look (Grau seems to have a Fellini-esque
knack for finding great faces), the sound of the ghouls is
spine-chilling.
David: I've
seen worse protagonists, recently. But he's an almost hilarious example
of that late60's "angry young man", who was apparently seen as "cool" because he was strong willed
and didn't give a flying.
At least in British movies & plays, "angry young men" tended to be
working class and railing against class oppression. This dude seemed to
own an antique shop AND a house in the country. I reckon his bizarre
Cockney accent contributed to the effect. Lovelock's a familiar face
from Italian westerns & gialli, but I've never heard him dubbed like
that before.
David: The most staggering thing for me is watching the female lead's reaction to him. "Oh, this
perfect stranger is behaving like a complete douchebag to me. Of course I'll let him drive
my car."
I know! I'm used to weird gender relations in old movies, but this was
particularly brain-damaged. "Please drop me off where I need to go and
then take my car for the weekend, obnoxious stranger, I'm begging you!"
Jeff Segal wrote: As I was finding out with other Japanese-sourced bootlegs, the colors, blacks and visual quality were admirable but dark scenes (ie - the struggle in the underground tomb, for instance) were murkier than they needed to be.
This is where DVD was such a boon to fans of horror, exploitation and
weird cinema. Where we were used to peering through smears at any kind
of dark scene, there was suddenly the opportunity for complete clarity -
to the extent that after a while if a transfer wasn't up to the
standards of a Blue Underground digital remastering, we tended to be a
bit snobbish about it.
Blu ray has spoiled us even more. I watched Profondo Rosso on a BD disc
the other night, and the images smacked me in the eye to an extent they
never did on VHS or even DVD, right from the striking red curtains that
dominate the second scene. And this is apparently taken from an older,
out-of-date HD transfer!
The British BD of Spirits of the Dead is similarly a revelation; as well
as an amazing transfer, it resurrects the mixed Italian/English track
for Toby Dammit, which restores Terence Stamp's terrific performance
while emphasizing his alienation. I felt ripped off when I bought the
DVD years ago only to find that they'd dubbed it into French! (I
seriously recommend this disc to anyone who likes the movie - it's
region-free, and I'm pretty sure that BD discs don't have the NTSC/PAL
problems that made importing DVDs into the US such a ropy proposition.)
I mean hell, blu ray has made even Vamp look great! ;)
Jeff: Upon reflection, I soon realized that Manchester Morgue made very good use of every
one of its zombies, which individually were stronger and smarter, if just as alien and contrary, as Romero's pusbags.
It's their strength of purpose that really got to me. The scene where
the first zombie stalks around the crypt, going about his business but
keeping his unblinking eyes on the human leads, particularly sticks in
my mind.
Jeff: Do check out the two movies that Manchester Morgue directly influenced : Jean Rollin's Grapes of Death (Les Raisins De La Mort, 1978 - this title also found some inspiration in George Romero's The Crazies) and the no-longer-obscure-to me Strange Dead Bodies (Goeshi, 1981), the South Korean variation.
Thanks Jeff! Deadly Raisins (and Rollin in general) has been on my
to-see list for years; to date the only movie I've seen of his is
Fascination, which was, well, fascinating. I've never heard of Strange
Dead Bodies though, so I appreciate the heads up.
Rick's The 7 Best TV doctors seems to be linked to my entry.
ReplyDeleteRunning late as usual, Todd. But a post will definitely be forthcoming.
ReplyDeleteThanks, folks! All fixed, Randy...and with luck, no more of those...
ReplyDeleteTodd, nothing from my end this Tuesday. My house internet connection is barely functional and I couldn't post anything from office as we had a holiday on account of Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary, an annual government-sponsored privilege.
ReplyDeleteWe'll catch you next week (and Friday for FFB?), then, Prashant...sorry about the home connectivity, and happy Mohandas Day!
ReplyDeleteTodd, I'll have an FFB this Friday, should have it posted by Thursday evening (IST). It helps being ahead of US of A by some 10-12 hours! Thanks...
ReplyDeleteOkay, Todd. I'm up and running. Thanks for your eternal patience. :)
ReplyDelete41Todd, I have an entry today.
ReplyDeletehttp://trackofthecat.blogspot.com/2012/10/tuesdays-forgotten-or-overlooked-film.html
The Man With The Golden Arm.
Thanks, folks! Hardly eternal, Yvette...there are folks involved here far more patient than (and perhaps even as busy as) I am...
ReplyDeleteWow! Great pic of Yvette Mimieux on the cover of Life magazine. Thanks again, Todd!
ReplyDeleteYes, that has (a rather peripheral) relevance to THE MOST DEADLY GAME...or at least its discussion at MYSTERY*FILE...
ReplyDeleteThanks for including me even though it's not a proper write up. I keep meaning to get to Sita's Blues...
ReplyDeleteI keep meaning to get to a lot of things...and this citation is both interesting and in a good cause! Thanks to you and you, too, Jeff.
ReplyDelete