THE COMEDY OF TERRORS (1963)

Director: Jacques Tourneur

Writer: Richard Matheson

Producers: James H. Nicholson, Samuel Z. Arkoff

Cast: Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, Basil Rathbone, Joyce Jameson, Rhubarb (the cat Cleopatra), Beverly Powers (as Beverly Hills), Linda Rogers, Joe E. Brown, Luree Holmes, Alan DeWitt, Buddy Mason, Douglas Williams, (and uncredited cast) Paul Barselou, Harvey Parry, Charles Soldani 

In 19th century New England, underhanded undertakers Waldo Trumbull (Vincent Price) and Felix Gillie (Peter Lorre) are so destitute that they have used a single coffin for the last thirteen years. Once the mourners leave the graveside after each funeral service, Trumbull and Gillie dump the corpse into the hole and bury it to keep reusing the same casket. In spite of such economizing, their rent is a year overdue. Trumbull decides that they must resort to murder to generate more business. 

The Flashback Fanatic movie review 

During American International Pictures’ heyday of Edgar Allan Poe story adaptations, they followed up their Poe-inspired horror-comedy The Raven (1963) with The Comedy of Terrors. The latter film is not a Poe-based project and, surprisingly, not even contrived to be marketed as one. After all, AIP was the studio that tried passing off an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s novel The Case of Charles Dexter Ward as a Poe adaptation by calling it The Haunted Palace (1963), merely using the title of one of Poe’s poems. Despite The Comedy of Terrors taking place in the Poe-appropriate setting of 19th century New England and dealing with that Poe-story peril of premature interment, AIP were content to just deliver another comedy dealing with period piece horror situations without a Poe reference. They probably thought that, between the gothic horrors of Britain’s Hammer Films and their own Poe adaptations, the popularity of classic horror was now firmly established and would contrast enough with humor for The Comedy of Terrors to create an interest all its own. 

The Comedy of Terrors has the talent to make it an absolute joy for the classic horror fan. Genre film stalwarts Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff, and Basil Rathbone are given the chance to play comedy to the hilt. It is clear that they are enjoying themselves bringing to life the morbid slapstick, crass behavior, and bumbling antics in Richard Matheson’s fun script.

Another surprise is that Roger Corman was not this film’s director. Corman had directed all of the previous Matheson-scripted Poe films. That team seemed to be a safe bet at the box office for AIP’s period piece horror films, including the recent horror-comedy The Raven. Matheson had suggested that Jacques Tourneur direct. Best known as the director for several of producer Val Lewton’s atmospheric and thoughtful horror classics of the 1940s, one of the greatest film noirs with Out of the Past (1947), and the intense British supernatural thriller Night of the Demon (1957), Tourneur may seem like an odd choice to direct a comedy, even if it has macabre aspects. Matheson had been impressed with Tourneur’s thorough preparation and efficiency when directing the Matteson-scripted episode “Night Call” of The Twilight Zone television series (1959-1964). Matheson’s instincts paid off. Tourneur’s direction must have agreed with the entire cast who give spirited performances that result in plenty of laughs. 

Vincent Price is every bit as accomplished in his comedy here as he had been with the horror that is a large part of his cinematic reputation. He is hilariously despicable as the unprincipled, sarcastic, and ill-tempered drunkard Waldo Trumbull. My favorite aspect to this comedy is the oh-so-refined manner that Price’s Trumbull knowingly affects that contrasts with the true crassness of his character. One of the funniest line deliveries I have ever heard is when Price says, “Remove the carcass.” 

As Felix Gillie, Waldo Trumbull’s oppressed and bumbling lackey, Peter Lorre has our sympathy while still earning laughs. Gillie’s lack of ability is apparent at all times. Whether trying to build a coffin, breaking into a house, or even correctly pronouncing Trumbull’s name, Gillie never manages to accomplish much more than irritating his employer. Trumbull keeps Gillie under his thumb because he knows of Gillie’s criminal past and thinks that Gillie has no choice but to remain as Trumbull’s unscrupulous, undertaking assistant. 

Boris Karloff makes a seemingly thankless role as a doddering and ineffectual old man into another comedy highlight. As Amos Hinchley, he is the senior partner of the Hinchley & Trumbull Funeral Parlor. Being hard of hearing, tired, and senile, Hinchley is oblivious to the treachery of his partner. Trumbull’s favorite drunken game is trying to offer the old man “medicine” from a clearly labeled bottle of poison. When Hinchley’s daughter, Trumbull’s neglected wife Amaryllis, keeps preventing her father from being poisoned, Hinchley whines that nobody cares whether or not he lives or dies since he can’t take his “medicine.” 

Making the despicable Waldo Trumbull even more unreasonable is his disdain for his voluptuous wife. The beautiful blonde Amaryllis tries to be faithful to her habitually drunk husband despite his insults and ill temper. Apparently, Amaryllis is stuck in this marriage to her father’s amoral business partner. It must be said that her ear-splittingly awful attempts at operatic singing would test anyone’s patience except her nearly deaf father and the love-struck Felix Gillie. As Amaryllis, Joyce Jameson adds to the silliness with her character’s total lack of self-awareness regarding her terrible singing voice and her ambition to be an opera singer. 

It is interesting to consider that in the 1962 AIP film Tales of Terror, during the segment adapting Poe’s “The Black Cat,” the acting trio of Price, Lorre, and Jameson also played out the situation of the destitute inebriate not appreciating his luscious wife who is charmed by an associate. Price and Lorre are actually almost playing reversed roles in The Comedy of Terrors. Peter Lorre’s role in “The Black Cat” was that of the crude, drunken lout neglecting Joyce Jameson as his wife who falls for the refined and appreciative wine taster played by Vincent Price. Lorre and Price were in fine, if more subdued, comic form there, as well. 

Another cast member from Tales of Terror is Basil Rathbone. Here his John F. Black is the landlord threatening Waldo Trumbull with eviction, which inspires the unsavory undertaker to commit murder to get paying customers in a hurry. Rathbone’s Black is a devotee of Shakespeare and indulges himself acting out with hammy excess scenes from the Bard’s plays. In Poe fashion, Black is afflicted with frequent deathlike spells from catalepsy that keep the audience and the shifty undertakers wondering if he is ever really going to die. 

I can’t recall ever seeing a film where it was more evident that everyone involved must have been having a great time making it. The Comedy of Terrors is a farce that should also give every fan of classic horror a great time watching it.

THE NORLISS TAPES (1973)

Director: Dan Curtis

Writers: William F. Nolan adapting Fred Mustard Stewart’s story

Producer: Dan Curtis

Cast: Roy Thinnes, Angie Dickinson, Don Porter, Claude Akins, Michele Carey, Nick Dimitri, Vonetta McGee, Hurd Hatfield, Bryan O’Byrne, Jane Dulo, Robert Mandan, Ed Gilbert, Stanley Adams, Bob Schott, George DiCenzo, Patrick Wright, Bob Harks (uncredited)

San Francisco, California writer and debunker of the supernatural, David Norliss (Roy Thinnes), is missing. Before his disappearance, Norliss made a distraught phone call asking to meet with his editor, Sanford T. Evans (Don Porter). At the empty Norliss home, Evans finds a numbered series of audiotape cassettes. Evans plays the first tape and hears David Norliss’ account of an investigation he conducted for Ellen Sterns Cort (Angie Dickinson). She is the widow of recently deceased sculptor James Cort (Nick Dimitri). Ellen is convinced that an intruder she encountered in her late husband’s studio was actually her dead husband. 

The Flashback Fanatic movie review 

Dan Curtis was the producer and director of many macabre made-for-television projects. One of his greatest claims to fame was his Dark Shadows gothic soap opera series that aired weekday afternoons on the ABC television network from 1966 to 1971. During the ’70s, Curtis would produce and direct many horror films for television. He had produced the ratings blockbuster The Night Stalker (1972) and would produce and direct its sequel, The Night Strangler (1973). Curtis thought that the storyline of the news reporter hero encountering the supernatural in both of those films was played out. He had also had some friction with star Darren McGavin. Therefore, Curtis wanted nothing to do with the subsequent Kolchak: The Night Stalker series (1974-75). 

However, that did not deter Curtis from immediately making The Norliss Tapes, yet another film about an investigator of the supernatural. This film was meant as a pilot for a television series that was never realized. The story hook that may have intrigued Curtis, and potentially a weekly series’ audience, was that the hero was missing and his whereabouts might be gleaned from his audiotaped accounts of his strange adventures. 

On the basis of this film, the potential series would have had a much bleaker tone than the Kolchak series. Not only is Roy Thinnes’ David Norliss a much more low-key character than Darren McGavin’s snide and energetic Carl Kolchak, but Norliss is introduced as someone who is apparently emotionally damaged in some way by the things he has recently discovered. Kolchak’s investigations were always driven by his righteous zeal to expose the truth, whereas Norliss’ attitude, represented by his voiceover narration, seems to indicate that the truth is so awful that he can take no satisfaction from his discoveries. That may have made for a real downer of a through line for a series, but it certainly would have been different. 

One advantage of credibility for such a series would be that, unlike reporter Carl Kolchak coincidentally running across all manner of supernatural horrors during his Chicago newsbeat duties, David Norliss is a writer and occult investigator specifically seeking out weird phenomena. His initial purpose was to expose the frauds behind many such incidents. It seems that more recent events he has experienced are far more frightening and dangerous. 

In the previous decade, Roy Thinnes had starred as protagonist David Vincent trying to expose a secret invasion by extraterrestrials in the ABC Network television series The Invaders (1967-68). No doubt, that was an influence on Chris Carter’s Fox Network television series The X-Files (1993-2002, 2016, 2018). Thinnes was even cast as an alien being for two episodes of The X-Files. During the early 1970s, Thinnes appeared in several other creepy telefilms. 

Thinnes’ David Norliss is shown at the outset of The Norliss Tapes to be a seemingly shattered individual. His swanky, oceanside premises are untidy, there are booze bottles kept handy in various rooms, and he seems disheveled and wasted. After his call to his friend and editor asking to meet with him to explain why he hasn’t done any writing and to share some disturbing knowledge, we only see Norliss in flashbacks that dramatize his audiotaped account of his frightening discoveries. During his investigation Norliss seems perfectly rational. Despite his recent writing goal of debunking the supernatural, Norliss is open-minded to occult possibilities once he encounters some very eerie events himself. 

Angie Dickinson was just over a year away from starring on NBC’s Police Woman series (1974-78). Here, as Ellen Sterns Cort, she accompanies David Norliss during much of his investigation. She has contacted Norliss to investigate her encounter with her deceased and dangerously reanimated husband, James Cort. It is curious that, while Ellen is shocked by the phenomena of her husband returning from the dead, she displays no grief about him reappearing in such a hideous condition and behaving so violently. One can assume that the honeymoon had probably been over for a long time in the Cort’s marriage. It is also rather refreshing that there is no indication of any sort of romance developing between the two attractive leads in this story. 

It is also curious that Ellen’s equally beautiful sister, Marsha (the underused, always magnificent Michele Carey), is never shown to be anything more than a friend to David Norliss. In fact, Norliss’ narration only refers to her as an “acquaintance.” While Norliss briefly holds Marsha’s hand as a gesture of assurance, there are no particularly affectionate sentiments expressed between them. Whenever we see two attractive, single characters dining together, our assumption is that they are romantically involved, though that is not ever indicated here. It is because of Marsha’s acquaintance with Norliss that she refers him as an investigator to Ellen. We are left to ponder the status of the relationship between Marsha and David. It is possible that Marsha’s eventual fate plays some part in what appears to be David Norliss’ eventual breakdown. 

In fact, every character in this film seems to have no close relationships we are aware of. Victims in this story are not even given the dignity of being missed or mourned by others. The one still-married couple we meet (Bryan O’Byrne and Jane Dulo), who run a motel, seems to be anything but happy. The very first relationship that we encounter is that of David Norliss reaching out to his friend and editor, Sanford T. Evans. Yet before they can meet, Norliss has disappeared. Aside from terror, the most persistent feeling throughout this film is loneliness. 

Nick Dimitri had a long film career as a stunt man. He would often be cast as thugs, boxers, and just about anyone meant to be physical and intimidating. One of his most memorable roles was as Charles Bronson’s final bare-knuckle fight opponent in Hard Times (1975). His James Cort character is only seen as a snarling zombie. We are never given any indication of whether he was a good or bad person before his death, and his wife seems beyond mourning or affection for him. Again, close relationships seem broken or obsolete in this film. We learn from others that the rare, crippling disease that would cause Cort’s premature death is what had motivated him to make arrangements for his reanimation. That’s when the trouble for everyone else begins. 

As in the two previous Curtis productions, The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler, this film’s villain has a need for human blood. That blood is put to a unique use. Just how the back-from-the-dead James Cort manages to remove all the blood from his victims is left to the imagination. Maybe he sucks it up Dracula-style and pukes it up for later use. Look, if morbid movie obsessives like me are left to our own devices, we will simply need to figure this stuff out. The answers won’t always be pretty. 

I was pleased to find out that The Norliss Tapes’ cult film reputation has apparently led to it getting some theatrical showings in the 2000s. Producer-director Dan Curtis not only delivers some jump scares, but William F. Nolan’s script leaves the viewer with a lingering sense of emotional desolation; even the weather is dismal. As the film has an open-ended conclusion, it may be frustrating for some. I think others may appreciate it reflecting that life is full of circumstances that remain mysterious and questions that go unanswered, even after they accept my blood puke theory.

SPIDER BABY (1964/released 1967), aka CANNIBAL ORGY, THE MADDEST STORY EVER TOLD, THE LIVER EATERS

Director: Jack Hill

Writer: Jack Hill

Producers: Paul Monka, Gil Lasky

Cast: Lon Chaney, Jr. (as Lon Chaney), Quinn Redeker, Carol Ohmart, Jill Banner, Beverly Washburn, Sid Haig, Mary Mitchel, Karl Schanzer, Mantan Moreland, Joan Keller Stern, Carolyn Cooper 

Due to inbreeding, many generations of the Merrye family have been afflicted with a genetic disorder. At about ten years of age, the Merrye Syndrome causes mental regression. Eventually, the Merryes devolve into a deformed, bestial state. Bruno (Lon Chaney, Jr.) is the chauffeur and caretaker for the last surviving members of the Merrye family line. Bruno swore to his late master that he would always look after the Merrye children, Virginia (Jill Banner), Elizabeth (Beverly Washburn), and Ralph (Sid Haig). Now fully grown, these three siblings have begun mentally regressing to become increasingly childish and emotionally unstable. They can also be quite dangerous if not supervised. When the distant cousins of the Merryes, Peter Howe (Quinn Redeker) and his sister Emily (Carol Ohmart), arrive at Merrye House to become heirs to the Merrye estate and the legal guardians of the Merrye children, there is conflict created by the inevitable upheaval of the Merrye family. 

The Flashback Fanatic movie review 

The term “cult film” gets thrown around a lot these days. Spider Baby is exactly the sort of movie that deserves such a label. It may have been ahead of its time, yet it was almost impossible for its merits to be noticed. It was not released for three years after its completion, and then it had only very limited theatrical releases. Much later it was subjected to years of subpar home videotape presentations. Despite all of these setbacks, Spider Baby mania spread slowly but surely. Decades after its production, Spider Baby was finally discovered and appreciated as a morbid, madcap classic. 

Familial phobia must have been highly contagious back in 1964. Writer-director Jack Hill was finishing the filming of his Spider Baby just as television debuted two classic series about creepy families: The Addams Family (1964-66) and The Munsters (1964-66). While much of the humor in those sitcoms is the result of the weird families either taking pride in their eccentricities or being completely oblivious to their “not fitting in,” Spider Baby’s humor is of a more dark and disturbing sort. 

In addition to the dangers in the dilapidated Merrye House, there are plenty of giggle-worthy, uncomfortable moments. The dinner scene is absolutely brilliant in its succession of one unsavory and inappropriate comment and incident after another. I bust out laughing every time I see the fresh garden greens being served. 

Lon Chaney, Jr., is the top-billed star bound to lure the horror film fans. This was probably Chaney’s last worthy film role. Chaney relished the chance to play the lead in a story laced with dark comedy. As Bruno, the Merrye family caretaker, Chaney displays paternal compassion, stress, and sorrow. He also makes statements that increase apprehensions about this crazy situation. Since his character is protecting the Merrye family by hiding their secrets and crimes, we are never sure what sort of threat he may pose. His Bruno certainly seems to have been affected by the isolation he shares with the strange Merrye family. 

The most oft-told behind-the-scenes anecdote about Spider Baby is the five-minute ovation Chaney received from fellow members of the cast and crew after the tearful talk that his character has with the Merrye “children” as things have gotten way out of hand. Even at this late stage of his career, the underappreciated Chaney could still be as touching as ever. He really adds heart to this creepy and crazy flick. 

In her very first film role, 17-year-old Jill Banner appears as the title character. Her Virginia is the spider-obsessed member of the Merrye family. Her favorite game is “playing spider.” This involves a net Virginia uses as her spider web and butcher knives. Whenever Virginia takes a dislike to someone they remind her of a bug, which means they are spider prey. 

Exploitation movie veteran Sid Haig was off to a running start playing unpleasant characters in his early film role here as Ralph, the oldest and most regressed of the Merrye children. He is mute, infantile, and makes every interaction uncomfortable. His manners are non-existent. Ralph never learned the lesson called “Don’t Stare.” Unfortunately, he indulges in even more offensive behaviors. 

With a long career as a child actor already behind her, Beverly Washburn plays Elizabeth Merrye. Poor old Bruno is always relying on her to be the most responsible of the three afflicted Merrye “children.” With every eye roll and tilt of her head, we know that she is not to be trusted for a minute. Despite Bruno’s admonitions not to hate, Elizabeth always finds reasons for others to be hated. 

Many years later, actor Quinn Redeker was still befuddled as to why Spider Baby was still remembered and revered by its fans. This may be a reflection of his ambivalence about his approach to his role of Peter Howe. Director Jack Hill thought Redeker played it just right, and I would agree. Peter Howe is supposed to be a “normal” and distant relative to the afflicted Merrye family. But he has a dense benevolence that seems to be in denial of the uncomfortable situations and consequences around him. Rather than being the one we expect to restore the social order, Redeker’s willfully ignorant Peter Howe makes us almost as uneasy as the Merrye House residents. 

Carol Ohmart was a former Miss Utah and the fourth place contestant in the 1946 Miss America pageant. Ohmart would go on to many film appearances and guest-starring television roles, but she is probably best remembered for her horror films House on Haunted Hill (1959) and Spider Baby. Here Ohmart plays the greedy, gorgeous Emily Howe, the older sister to the amiable Peter. When Omart’s cold and deliberate character lets her hair down to indulge herself in private by modeling vintage lingerie from a Merrye House closet, it’s an absolute showstopper. Unfortunately, eavesdropping Ralph likes what he sees… 

Karl Schanzer is the lawyer Mr. Schlocker, and Mary Mitchel plays his lovely secretary, Ann. Schanzer’s Schlocker never really does anything wrong, yet his manner is so stuffy and unctuous that you can’t help but dislike him. Of course, he is also facilitating the legal disruption of the Merrye household. Small wonder that spider-fixated Virginia considers him another bug, which is never a good sign. However, everyone seems to like Mitchel’s Ann. That still doesn’t mean that Mitchel won’t have to prove her worth yet again as what director Roger Corman considered “the perfect victim.” 

Old-time film comedian Mantan Moreland had provided comedy relief in plenty 1940s mystery and horror films. He was chauffeur Birmingham Brown to Sidney Toler’s Charlie Chan in the detective film series from Monogram Pictures. Moreland makes an appearance in Spider Baby’s first creepy scene. This establishes the unpredictable and uneasy vibe for the rest of the film. 

Composer Ronald Stein’s music deserves a special mention. He had scored plenty of ’50s and ’60s sci-fi and horror film favorites. In the first of this film’s many offbeat highlights, Stein’s opening theme for Spider Baby is accompanied by Chaney’s lines of demented poetry to really set the crazy pace for this warped film. 

With a cast like this and an eccentric and inspired script by director Jack Hill, it’s a damned shame that it took so long for Spider Baby to get its due. It is a variation on the old-dark-house thrillers of the past while anticipating some of the corruption of family values to be seen in later films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), The Hills Have Eyes (1977), and The Unseen (1980). I think Carol Ohmart was onto something when she wondered if Spider Baby would be nominated for an Oscar. Sure, I may be twisted, but Carol Ohmart can do no wrong!