The Wicker Man (1973)

Who's In It: Edward Woodward (TV's Equalizer, the best Ghost of Christmas Present ever), Britt Ekland (The Man with the Golden Gun), Diane Cilento (Hombre), Ingrid Pitt (The Vampire Lovers, Countess Dracula), and Christopher Lee (The Curse of Frankenstein, Horror of Dracula).

What It's About: A straight-laced, tightly wound policeman (Woodward) investigates the disappearance of a young girl on a remote island where the local sensualism is not at all to his liking.

How It Is: Unfortunately, watching The Wicker Man for the first time without already knowing the final scene is about as hard as doing the same for Planet of the Apes. I very much liked Woodward's investigation and his stuffy disapproval of Summerisle's mores, but my enjoyment was tempered by my knowing exactly how things were going to end up.

It was a journey worth taking though. I don't end up liking any of the characters, but I don't exactly dislike them, either. Woodward's Sgt Howie is irritatingly judgmental, but he's also a good man on an honorable mission and his resistance of vice doesn't come easily to him. The villagers, on the other hand, have controversial moral views that would be considered illegal in most countries (including, technically, their own), but they're so good-natured about it. And if the whole community has bought in to this set of rules, then who is Howie to come in and question them?

Except of course that someone has written to the police, prompting Howie's investigation, so clearly everyone has not bought into all the community's practices. The movie raises fascinating questions about morality and culture and I appreciated exploring and thinking about them. (Almost as much as I enjoyed the soundtrack, which is amazing. The maypole song alone is worth watching the film for.)

Rating: 4 out of 5 Christopher Lees in drag.

The City of the Dead (1960)

Who's In It: Christopher Lee (pretty much every Hammer horror film, Lord of the Rings, Attack of the Clones), Betta St John (Tarzan and the Lost Safari, Tarzan the Magnificent), Valentine Dyall (The Haunting), and Venetia Stevenson (Island of Lost Women)

What It's About: A young woman (Stevenson) investigates the history of witchcraft by visiting a remote village with a long, dark history. But practice of the occult may not all be in the town's past.

How It Is: Hard to talk about this one without SPOILERS, so beware.

The City of the Dead is a nicely atmospheric Satanic thriller with some cool performances. The structure threw me though, because I expected to follow Stevenson's character through the whole thing, but it turns out that she's basically Janet Leigh in Psycho. That was disappointing, partly because I liked her a lot, but also because the actual Final Girl (St John) is nowhere near as charming. In fact, she's downright dull.

The mystery of what's going on in the little village is predictable, but at least I was having fun watching Stevenson put the pieces together. Once she was out of the picture, I got impatient to wrap up.

Rating: 3 out of 5 midnight masses

31 Days of Gothic Romance | Hammer Films

It's amazing how much tastes can change in a decade. In the '40s, gothic romance movies were moody, shadow-filled things like Rebecca and The Uninvited. But in 1957, Hammer introduced a whole new way of doing it. Starting with adaptations of gothic romance staples Frankenstein and Dracula, Hammer told stories of young women being threatened by sinister aristocrats in spooky, old buildings, but in lurid, colorful ways.

They continued to glean from classic gothic stories like The Hound of the Baskervilles and Phantom of the Opera, but they so perfected the uncanny, fog-filled atmosphere that they were able to lay it over many different kinds of tales - everything from mummies to Satanists to Jekyll and Hyde - and still have them feel gothic.

The result was some confusion about the definition of gothic romance. For many, it's less about specific themes than just a particular atmosphere, usually in a period setting. We have Hammer to thank for that. Not that I'm complaining. One of the reasons I wanted to talk about gothic romances this Halloween was to help myself circle around a working definition, but there's no need to be snobbish about it. What follows is a long list of Hammer horror films with gothic elements; some much more authentic than others, but all of interest.

The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) | Villains

The highlight of The Man with the Golden Gun is Christopher Lee's appearance as Scaramanga. The brings ruthlessness to the role, naturally, but he also seems to be enjoying himself. It's not just that Lee's having fun, but Scaramanga himself loves his job. One of my favorite scenes is when he shoots the cork out of a champagne bottle that Bond's standing next to. It freaks Bond out, but Scaramanga's grinning ear to ear as he jumps out from behind the rock he was hiding behind. He apologizes, but he's totally not sorry.

He not only loves marksmanship and murder, but he's also never lost his flair for performing. I don't think he cares about entertaining other people, but he finds ways to keep himself amused. Hence the deadly fun house. That also could explain why he kidnaps Goodnight at the end, even though he doesn't know she has the Solex. Finding the Solex has nothing to do with that action; it's all about drawing Bond to the island.

Scaramanga's arrogant conviction of his own invulnerability is of course where he goes wrong. He's actually winning the "duel," which makes him even more cocky. But then Bond makes it to his lookalike mannequin and retrieves its gun. I don't think it's stupidity on Scaramanga's part to leave a loaded gun on the Bond mannequin; it's a calculated risk. An extra chance for his victims and an extra reason for him to be careful. The problem is that he's not that careful and doesn't check the mannequin's fingers.

Like in the novel, Scaramanga begins the story as a glorified henchman, but the movie lets him move past that by killing his employer and taking over the scheme. Which leads us to Hai Fat.



Hai Fat is the film's actual villain for most of the story and he's an excellent one... until he isn't.

The first time we meet him, he's very quick. He sees immediately that Bond is trying to impersonate Scaramanga, but he plays it totally cool. He lets Bond think he's fooled, drawing information from Bond and arranging to have him come back when Hai Fat is more prepared to deal with him.

When Bond does return, I understand why Hai Fat doesn't want him killed on the estate. But I don't understand why the dojo is a better place for it. The dojo is connected to Hai Fat, too, and Bond's dying there would be difficult to explain. It's not necessarily a dumb move on Hai Fat's part - I can see why it's at least preferable to having Bond killed at the house - but it is odd.

Where Hai Fat goes wrong is in turning on Scaramanga. I had to process this a bit, because at first it seems like Hai Fat's anger is misdirected. He's frustrated that Bond has escaped and now knows all about Hai Fat's involvement, but Scaramanga had nothing to do with the escape. However, it was Scaramanga who indirectly led Bond to Hai Fat and Hai Fat knows it. After all, Bond showed up at Hai Fat's house disguised as Scaramanga.

But still, it's Hai Fat's other henchmen who failed to kill Bond (and Hai Fat's wanting to have it done at the dojo in the first place), so he's more pissed at Scaramanga than he should be. I don't know if Scaramanga would have eventually murdered Hai Fat and taken over the operation anyway, but it's definitely Hai Fat's hissy fit that makes Scaramanga do it when he does. And it may even be what puts it into Scaramanga's mind.



Nick Nack is awesome. We get no backstory on him, but I imagine that he met Scaramanga in the circus. He jokes about being disloyal, but never is. In fact, he's so loyal that he becomes another in the line of villains who try to kill Bond after his boss is defeated.

That trend started in Diamonds Are Forever where it didn't make any sense and continued in Live and Let Die where it was more believable. It's most right in Golden Gun, but I'm getting tired of the trope. It's just a way to get a cheap sting in at the end, perhaps trying to recreate the ending of On Her Majesty's Secret Service in some lesser way. I'll be glad when the scripts cut that out.



Dojo-favorite Chula is barely a henchman and not that good, but he's cocky and funny and I like him enough to want to mention him. I just wish his fighting was as good as his set up.



This creepy dude is apparently named Kra, though I don't remember its being mentioned in the movie. He's in charge of running Scaramanga's Solex equipment and leering at Goodnight. His leering actually becomes touching and stroking until Goodnight beats him up and throws him into a vat of liquid helium. I like that she gets her own henchman to beat up and quip about, even if I don't like him.

Top Ten Villains

1. Auric Goldfinger (Goldfinger)
2. Ernst Stavro Blofeld (From Russia With Love and Thunderball)
3. Ernst Stavro Blofeld (On Her Majesty's Secret Service)
4. Francisco Scaramanga (The Man with the Golden Gun)
5. Dr. Kananga (Live and Let Die)
6. Doctor No (Dr. No)
7. Emilio Largo (Thunderball)
8. Rosa Klebb (From Russia With Love)
9. Kronsteen (From Russia With Love)
10. Hai Fat (The Man with the Golden Gun)

Top Ten Henchmen

1. Baron Samedi (Live and Let Die)
2. Fiona Volpe (Thunderball)
3. Grant (From Russia with Love)
4. Nick Nack (The Man with the Golden Gun)
5. Oddjob (Goldfinger)
6. Irma Bunt (On Her Majesty's Secret Service)
7. Miss Taro (Dr. No)
8. Tee Hee (Live and Let Die)
9. Professor Dent (Dr. No)
10. Whisper (Live and Let Die)

Scream of Fear (1961)

Who's In It: Susan Strasberg (Picnic), Ann Todd (The Paradine Case), and Christopher Lee (Horror of Dracula, The Curse of Frankenstein).

What It's About: A disabled woman named Penny (Strasberg) goes to stay with her father and step-mother (Todd) after her caregiver dies. But though Step-Mom claims that Dad is out of town, Penny keeps seeing his dead body around the estate.

How It Is: Scream of Fear would almost be more thriller than horror, but the reappearing body is pretty darn scary. That's partly because you never know when it's going to turn up, but partly because Fred Johnson just looks very creepy as a corpse.

If it's weren't for that element, the movie would go neatly into the sub-genre of psychological thrillers where the protagonist questions whether she's actually going insane or if someone just wants her to think she is. It's a really good one though, filled with great twists and turns and a fun appearance by Christopher Lee as a sinister doctor who keeps turning up at the estate as a guest. Don't want to say too much, but I highly recommend this one and the less you know going into it the better.

Rating: Four out of five paraplegic people in peril.

31 Days of Dracula | Christopher Lee (1958)

It makes me sad to admit that I've never seen the Hammer Dracula films as an adult. I used to catch them on TV every once in a while as a kid, but I keep waiting for someone to release a definitive DVD collection and it's just never happened.

Starting with Dracula in '58 (renamed Horror of Dracula for US release), Christopher Lee combined the suave handsomeness of Bela Lugosi with the ugly horror of Max Schreck. He was a tall, seductive vampire, but Hammer was known for blood as much as bosoms and Lee's time as the Count introduced the sanguine side of the story in all its gory glory.

The series was a hit and turned eight sequels: The Brides of Dracula (1960), Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966), Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968), Taste the Blood of Dracula (1969), Scars of Dracula (1970), Dracula AD 1972 (1972), The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1973), and The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974).