THE OBLONG BOX (1969)

Director: Gordon Hessler

Writers: Lawrence Huntington, Christopher Wicking, Michael Reeves (uncredited), Edgar Allan Poe (claiming to be based on the Poe short story, though using only its title)

Producer: Gordon Hessler

Cast: Vincent Price, Alister Willamson, Peter Arne, Christopher Lee, Hilary Dwyer, Carl Rigg, Harry Baird, Godfrey James, Maxwell Shaw, Uta Levka, Sally Geeson, Rupert Davies, Michael Balfour, Danny Daniels, James Mellor, John Barrie, Ivor Dean, John Wentworth, Hira Talfrey, Betty Woolfe, Martin Terry, Anne Clune, Jackie Noble, Jan Rossini, Ann Barrass, Tara Fernando, Zeph Gladstone, Tony Thawnton, Colin Jeavons, Richard Cornish, Anthony Bailey, Martin Wyldeck, Hedger Wallace, Barbara Kellerman, Andreas Malandrinos, the Oh! Ogunde Dancers 

On a nineteenth-century African plantation, Englishman Sir Edward Markham (Alister Wiliamson) is subjected to an occult African ritual that has disfigured him and unhinged his mind. His plantation co-owner and brother Sir Julian Markham (Vincent Price) returns him to the family manor in England and keeps him chained in an upstairs room. The mad Sir Edward plots to escape and seek revenge.

The Flashback Fanatic movie review

Throughout the '60s, American International Pictures specialized in fright flicks based upon the works of Edgar Allan Poe. Although director Roger Corman decided to stop making Poe-based pictures, AIP was not ready to abandon this lucrative horror film subgenre. They retitled their fine and economically produced British film Witchfinder General (1968) as The Conqueror Worm to suggest a Poe connection. The Oblong Box would be their next hardly-Poe-based production.

This was to be the up-and-coming British director Michael Reeves’ follow-up to Witchfinder General. Along with writer Christopher Wicking, Reeves did a lot of reworking on Lawrence Huntington’s original script. However, director Reeves was suffering from drug and mental issues and was replaced early on by Gordon Hessler, who also produced the film. Many lament that not only was young Reeves  soon to die from an overdose, but that he did not get the chance to direct The Oblong Box. I think that the project was turned over to a very capable director, as Gordon Hessler gives us a very bleak and unsettling film. Its success convinced AIP to sign Hessler to a three-picture deal to direct more horror films for them.

While having nothing to do with the Edgar Allan Poe short story its title is taken from, The Oblong Box film still manages a Poe-like feel with its nineteenth-century era and its themes of madness, murder, revenge, family sin, and premature burial. It is a convoluted tale of skulduggery that exposes the often-unjust foundations beneath family fortune and reputation. It also reveals the corruption and lack of ethics behind those of the upper crust. Both the aristocracy and the professional class resort to illegal means and exploit the lower class to achieve their ends. All of this scheming and treachery creates conflicts and complications in the lives of the well-to-do that leads to their ruin. Sir Julian Markham suggests that the fate of his brother Edward is retribution. There is plenty of retribution to go around in The Oblong Box.

As in most of the AIP Poe-based films, The Oblong Box stars Vincent Price. His Sir Julian Markham is not an obsessive neurotic like many of his earlier Poe characters, yet he has his share of emotional baggage and ethical lapses. He presents a very dignified and genial front while being able to manipulate and coerce his dishonest lawyer to commit a crime. Two of Markham’s servants are also privy to his scheme. Despite the risks, this is apparently acceptable to those involved, as it will maintain the dignity of the Markham family image. 

Price’s beautiful co-star from Witchfinder General, Hilary Dwyer, has a much more wholesome relationship with Price’s character this time around as his betrothed Lady Elizabeth. She helps to make Julian Markham a more sympathetic character rather than just a guilty and entitled aristocrat. 

Peter Arne is fine as Samuel Trench, the unethical Markham family lawyer. Trench is instrumental in many of the underhanded shenanigans that result in so many deadly complications. He is also part of the film’s mannered British wit when being offered a drink or ordering tea at the end of scenes involving criminal schemes. He has one of the best moments in the film that typifies director Hessler’s intense and subjective approach to horror. From the mad Sir Edward’s viewpoint, we see a close up of Trench being throttled. Peter Arne’s eyes actually get increasingly bloodshot during this uninterrupted take. 

Many horror buffs are stunned that in a film starring those two terror titans Vincent Price and Christopher Lee, the only scene they share is so brief that Lee barely gets out a single word. That nit to pick aside, Lee has terse and amusing scenes with nearly everyone. His Dr. Neuhartt is another unethical professional that unwittingly contributes to the horror to come. 

Alister Williamson is both scary and sympathetic as the menace of Sir Edward. Williamson spends most of the film with his ruined face off camera or hidden beneath a crimson hood. Perhaps much of the credit for his performance belongs to the vocal performance of another actor that it is rumored to have dubbed his lines. That voice is rich and distinctive while suggesting the pain and madness that drive his character. 

The Oblong Box is one of those films that I appreciate much more after repeat viewings. The intricate and unforeseen consequences of the Markham family crimes and the attempts to maintain class conscious dignity while a madman threatens to destroy it all is very satisfying to this humble and hardworking flashback fanatic. This film also has one of the best finishes that any fright flick could hope for. The direction, dialogue, performances, editing, and music all mesh perfectly to deliver that great last-minute chill. 

LIFEFORCE (1985)

Director: Tobe Hooper

Writers: Dan O’Bannon, Don Jakoby, Michael Armstrong (uncredited), Olaf Pooley (uncredited), based on the novel The Space Vampires by Colin Wilson

Producers: Yoram Globus, Manahem Golan

Cast: Steve Railsback, Peter Firth, Mathilda May, Frank Finlay, Michael Gothard, Patrick Stewart, Aubrey Morris, Nicholas Ball, Chris Jagger, Bill Malin, John Hallam, Nancy Paul, John Keegan, Jerome Willis, John Woodnutt, Derek Benfield, Peter Porteous, Katherine Schofield, Russell Summers, Jamie Roberts, Owen Holder, Haydn Wood, Paul Cooper, Sidney Kean, Patrick Connor, Milton Cadman, Rupert Baker, Chris Sullivan, Edward Evans, Nicholas Donnelly, Gary Hildreth, Julian Firth, Carl Rigg, Peter Lovstrom, Elizabeth Heery, John Golightly 

Britain’s space shuttle Churchill discovers an enormous alien vessel in the coma of Halley’s Comet. Inside the derelict ship, shuttle commander Colonel Tom Carlsen (Steve Railsback) and his crew find three transparent cases containing three perfectly preserved humanoid bodies, one female and two males. They bring the lifeless aliens back aboard the Churchill to return to Earth. When Earth loses contact with the Churchill, a rescue mission is sent. The Churchill is found gutted by fire and with all of its crew dead. The undamaged bodies of the three aliens in their cases are brought to the European Space Research Centre in London. Soon, the female alien (Mathilda May) comes to life and begins draining energy from humans she comes in contact with. This space vampire escapes and her victims also become vampires draining energy from their own victims and threatening to spread the deadly contagion throughout the world. 

The Flashback Fanatic movie review

Lifeforce has a strange dynamic going for it that makes it quite distinct from the many big-budget, special effects laden, sci-fi and fantasy extravaganzas that were becoming more frequent during the '80s and are as common as cold sores today. This film has no contrived daredevil heroics, no snarky humor, no personal relationships, and no character back stories or conflicts. There is only the strange phenomenon causing death and chaos that must be stopped by the authorities in the government, science, and military establishments. That is probably why no big name movie star of the day appears in the film. They can’t flaunt their celebrity persona if they are just supposed to play someone doing their job.

What the film seems to be striving for is to immerse its audience in its science fiction concept and its horrific consequences that threaten the entire world. Lifeforce certainly manages quite a bit of awe and dread, particularly in its opening scenes in outer space when the eerie and immense alien spaceship is discovered and explored. I also appreciate the sci-fi link to an old-world horror in this story. That is a tried-and-true angle used in many other British productions such as the film Quatermass and the Pit (1967), aka Five Million Years to Earth, and some great episodes of the Doctor Who television series. 

I usually get impatient with entirely concept-driven sci-fi. I feel such stuff is often the vanity project of someone showing off their supposed intellectual ingenuity by waving around all the scientific claptrap they can to distract from the fact that they can’t create characters of any interest and any situations to engage the emotions. That is not to say that I want the latest movie hunk or babe of the moment slinging their catchphrases and affecting phony attitudes; I want something sincere. Most genre films can’t do that anymore. They need to appease the attention-span-challenged masses by convincing them they are getting something fast, sophisticated, and state-of-the-art. Once you get past today’s CGI effects, shaky-cam shots, and quick-cut editing, you often find nothing more than insincere rip-offs. 

The makers of Lifeforce are dangerously close to making exactly the kind of film I have absolutely no use for: the special effects orgy. Effects alone are never enough to keep me involved and entertained. Although it is certainly trying to impress us with its many special effects, Lifeforce stays focused on its cataclysmic menace and the efforts of humans to stop it. It is not also trying to be an action film with ridiculous stunts, snarky leads, and feel-good setups and resolutions for its characters. Since all of the characters in this film are not revealed in any depth, we in the audience might engage with the situations on a more personal level. 

I suppose that the total lack of knowledge we have about any of the characters in Lifeforce can make for an uninvolving experience for many. Again, it is the situation that is meant to involve us. We only see what these people do in response to the menace they encounter as they try to do their jobs to deal with it. The one person going through constant emotional turmoil is Steve Railsback’s Colonel Carlsen. He is the only astronaut to survive from the Churchill space shuttle that discovered the alien craft. He is haunted by his memories of the Churchill disaster before he returned to Earth in an escape pod. He also shares a telepathic connection with the Space Girl that he doesn’t fully understand, but he can use it to help the authorities track her down. 

That’s all the drama you get in Lifeforce. Otherwise, it’s some eerie atmosphere, the intrigue of trying to understand and locate the alien menace, ever-escalating chaos, and a bunch of wild special effects. 

As anyone who has seen this film can attest to, Lifeforce is unforgettable due to the spectacle of the often nude Mathilda May as the Space Girl. Despite being an ideal example of human female beauty, she convinces you that she is truly alien. She has a great presence that is simultaneously serene, sexy, superior, and sinister. No one confronted by this siren stands a chance. 

It must also be noted that the great Henry Mancini composed the musical score. He opens and closes the film with a rousing theme that evokes the awe that the best sci-fi horror films should achieve. 

Due to its epic scale, large cast, and sci-fi razzle-dazzle, Lifeforce may seem like an anomaly in director Tobe Hooper’s filmography. However, this movie still pulses with Hooper’s typical horror and hysteria. This was the most expensive film that Tobe Hooper ever directed and it sure seems like he put all of those bucks up there on the screen. This was part of a three-picture deal that Hooper had with Cannon Films. Unfortunately, it seems that all three of those productions underperformed at the box office. Nevertheless, Lifeforce seems to have developed more respect and a devoted cult following over the years. Mathilda May cannot be denied.

KISS ME DEADLY (1955)

Director: Robert Aldrich

Writers: A. I. Bezzerides, Robert Aldrich (uncredited), based on the novel Kiss Me, Deadly by Mickey Spillane

Producer: Robert Aldrich

Cast: Ralph Meeker, Maxine Cooper. Gaby Rodgers, Cloris Leachman, Nick Dennis, Paul Stewart, Marian Carr (as Marion Carr), Wesley Addy, Albert Dekker, Jack Elam, Jack Lambert, Juano Hernandez, Leigh Snowden, Percy Helton, Strother Martin, Paul Richards, Fortunio Bonanova, Kitty White 

Shortly after Los Angeles private eye Mike Hammer (Ralph Meeker) picks up a hitchhiker named Christina (Cloris Leachman), they are run off the road and abducted. While Hammer is unconscious, Christina is tortured to death. Hammer is put back into his auto with Christina’s corpse and the vehicle is pushed off the road into a deep ravine. After weeks in the hospital, Hammer recovers. Sensing that there is a very important motive behind Christina’s death that he could profit from, Hammer is determined to find out who killed Christina and why.

The Flashback Fanatic movie review

Introduced in the 1947 novel I, the Jury, Mickey Spillane’s iconic character of private detective Mike Hammer was a transformative influence on mystery fiction and paperback publishing. Spillane’s hard-hitting prose full of sex and violence featured a hero as ruthless as the villains he stalked. This content made Spillane and his Mike Hammer novels incredibly popular and very controversial. As with rock ‘n’ roll music and comic books, Spillane’s fiction became another scapegoat for the rise in America’s juvenile delinquency. However, in the post World War II era, the public was primed for just this kind of fiction. After the long years of the Great Depression and war, many were still left apprehensive about the next big threats that seemed to loom ahead: the spread of Soviet Union communism and the potential for nuclear Armageddon. Desiring security, yet still bracing for the next calamity, many readers welcomed the opportunity to vent their anxieties with Spillane’s ferocious mysteries.

It was inevitable that a character as popular as Mike Hammer would be adapted for other media. He was featured in radio, television, comic strips, and movies. Oddly, while Kiss Me Deadly is the most revered of the Mike Hammer film adaptations, it is also the most irreverent of its hero’s prose origins. Well, that is until the lousy 1994 TV-movie Come Die with Me. 

Producer-director Robert Aldrich and writer A. I. Bezzerides capture all the Spillane prose nastiness while refuting his hero’s righteousness. The plot of the original novel is greatly altered, and the setting is moved from New York City to Los Angeles, as if to declare that the values and intent of the filmmakers is as far removed from Mickey Spillane’s literary universe as possible. 

Nowhere is Aldrich’s and Bezzerides’ criticism of their source material more pointed than in the antihero they provide us as the protagonist of Kiss Me Deadly. The Mike Hammer character they portray demonstrates their disdain for the violent macho idealism and conservative individualism embodied in Spillane’s private eye. The Hammer that Ralph Meeker plays is a selfish opportunist. His detective racket is primarily concerned with divorce cases. Both he and his secretary Velda (Maxine Cooper) manage to coerce their clients into compromising positions that can be used against them by their spouses. This film’s version of Mike Hammer retains all of the brutality of his prose origins but none of those values. Aldrich and Bezzerides seem to believe that those behaving as Spillane’s Hammer does would be self-serving barbarians and not heroes that would save society as they defy its rules. 

It is interesting to note that this film’s sleazy Mike Hammer is not just a one-note jerk anymore than he is a noble hero. Despite his brutality and selfishness, he can express an occasional and surprising bit of sentiment and knows emotional pain when those close to him suffer. In contrast to his apparent success, he mingles with the common man. He lives in a posh apartment and drives expensive sports cars afforded him by his apparently successful detective business, yet he associates with an auto mechanic, a shady prizefighter manager, and a bartender. Surprisingly in the very segregated '50s, he is a white man perfectly at home as a regular in a jazz club that is otherwise populated entirely by African Americans. He also will extend favors large and small to those common people that he associates with. However, it could be argued that the favors he extends are only meant to help him gain information to assist him in his current investigation. He is just as likely to throw some cash at someone to get answers or, if that fails, start beating them up. This apparent hero of the story is shown to be a rather unsavory character, yet one having some positive qualities. This makes the audience relate to Hammer and ponder the ethics of his character and their own. 

It is also made clear to Hammer and the audience that his selfish individualism brings harm to himself and his friends. This may bring about a change in Hammer’s character and give him a chance to redeem himself, though that is never made clear. During the course of his investigation, he mentions the desire to avenge the deaths of two people. At the climax of the story, Hammer seems to be motivated solely in trying to rescue someone close to him. 

Ralph Meeker is perfect as the Mike Hammer that director Aldrich and screenwriter Bezzerides want us to pass judgment on. He has the easy confidence, strength, and aggressiveness that many Americans admire; yet these attributes do not make him a worthwhile human being. We may appreciate his ability to defend himself against attacking thugs, but he will also slap around decent people half his size to get information. We may envy him when sexy women throw their selves at him, but he exploits the woman most devoted to him as a tool for sexual blackmail. This Hammer’s nice apartment, fine clothes, and fast cars are the fancy wrappings around a very empty soul. 

Cloris Leachman makes an unforgettable feature film debut. Wearing only a trench coat, she opens the film running barefoot down a deserted highway at night. As the doomed Christina, she quickly sums up the shallowness of the American male ideal that Hammer represents. 

Nick Dennis plays Nick, the little, Greek dynamo of an auto mechanic. You can’t help but smile every time he makes an appearance. With this fun and energetic character being Hammer’s friend, we are given a bit of hope that maybe the antihero Hammer has some redeeming qualities.

There are plenty of other fine performances in roles large and small throughout the film. However, I must make special mention of Marian (Marion) Carr in her fun and sexy role as Friday, the gangster’s half-sister that flirts with Hammer. She provides a bit of saucy levity in her all too brief scene. I had already fallen for her in the sci-fi horror film Indestructible Man (1956). 

Kiss Me Deadly is one of the most paranoid films ever made. This is evident in the behavior of almost every character. Almost no one can simply state clearly and directly what they mean. If they are not lying, then they all seem to be conditioned to only hint at meanings. People never seem able to agree to communicate. Hammer twice makes the point that even the simple words “yes” and “no” do not have clear meanings. The paranoia of the times seems to have rendered human language a liability. Even the deadly prize of this mystery that so many people are searching for can’t be clearly explained by the characters that know exactly what they are dealing with. There is a common dread of the sought after object, and of the criminal and government forces seeking it, that seems to oppress all of civilization. This breakdown of honest and clear communication is the gravest threat to humanity.