The Bloody Pit #199 - JUNGLE WOMAN (1944)

Troy Guinn and I return to Universal Land for the sequel to CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN – JUNGLE WOMAN (1944)! Is this the worst film the studio produced in the 1940’s? We’ll let you decided as we give our opinions and posit ways the film could have been better. Much better!

 

Attempting to imitate the successful Val Lewton productions at RKO, the producers of this non-jungle epic seemed to feel that simply aping the structure of CAT PEOPLE and copying the memorable set-pieces from that classic would be a winning formula. Sadly, that is far from the case as JUNGLE WOMAN comes up short in every category. Troy and I try to puzzle out the reasons for certain choices and debate the qualities of the acting in the titular role. Of course, any film with J. Carrol Naish has points of interest just because of his talent, but he seems to have been given a number of obstacles to creating a memorable ‘mad’ scientist. A rushed production and a sub-par script are rarely a combination for a classic. On that point, we discuss the film’s dialog with a certain line becoming a reoccurring audio drop in the show. Sorry about that!

  

If you have any comments about this film or any of the movies we’ve covered thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to send them. Thank you very much for listening. We’ll be back soon. 

The Bloody Pit #176 - KING OF KONG ISLAND (1968)

Bob Sargent joins Troy and I to discuss KING OF KONG ISLAND (1968). Or is it just KONG ISLAND? And what connection to King Kong does this movie actually have? Spoiler alert – none!

Because Mr. Sargent has a soft spot in his heart (and head) for this bizarre Italian production we examine it for signs of sanity. None were found, but along the way we learned a little about ourselves. Sort of. And for some reason we also talked about 70’s rock group StoneGround. I can’t understand why.

For the curious, KING OF KONG ISLAND (1968) is a movie of many parts. It is roughly 20% jungle mercenary movie; 20% mad scientist tale; 20% revenge story; 20% jungle girl adventure and 20% family melodrama. It is also 100% nuts! While much of the advertising for the film centers around the jungle girl sections of the story we come to the conclusion that Eva (or the Sacred Monkey as she is referred to most often) could be removed from the film with little detriment to the story. Of course, this would have eliminated the film’s nudity so I don’t think anyone involved would have agreed to do this. But the film has so much going on that it is difficult to stop watching as the madness unfolds. We see stuntman turned actor Brad Harris beefcake up the place with his exciting dance moves and flinty abs. We see veteran Hollywood tough guy Marc Lawrence play a mad scientist/Bond villain using surgically altered gorillas to control a jungle cave. We witness plenty of animal stock footage. It all adds up to a featue length movie. Really.

Even if you haven’t seen this cinematic epic there are things in the episode to entertain you. Troy’s alternate title suggestions are inventive and arguably better than any of the ones actually used. Bob’s attempts to explain his lifelong fascination with this whacky film lead us from a sweaty apartment in the 1980’s to modern 21^st century life – pity his poor wife! And bonus points to the listeners that can pinpoint the moment when I gave up on presenting a plot synopsis. Eventually you have to accept that things have gotten away from you.

If you have seen KING OF KONG ISLAND and have something to add to our discussion thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to send your thoughts. Thank you for listening!

Video - KING OF KONG ISLAND (1968)

Podcast on the way!

The Bloody Pit #98 - MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE (1932)

Mark Maddox returns to the show to talk about one of the more overlooked of the Universal horror films of the 1930’s - MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE (1932). This movie’s lack of attention may be because it doesn’t have one of the classic monster characters as a draw or, possibly, because it is one of the darkest, nastiest sixty-one minutes the studio ever released! Luckily, I don’t think it will remain as underseen in the future as it has just gotten a tricked out new Blu-Ray release which gives the film the best visual presentation it’s ever received on home video. The picture is so sharp that you can almost see the evil thoughts as they flicker in Bela Lugosi’s eyes!

We start the episode with a brief discussion of some of some of the projects Mark has coming out soon including some fun information about the genesis of his cover art for the upcoming Blu-Ray of Hammer’s EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN. We then move into a rather scattered discussion of MURDERS IN THE RUE MORGUE, jumping from one topic to another as we explore the qualities that make it a unique part of the decade’s horror output. Lugosi’s masterful acting is examined along with his bizarre uni-brow. That is one strange look! The not-so hidden strain of bestiality embedded in the story is touched on as well as the fears of a Darwinian view of the world that the script uses to terrify its audience. We disagree about the inserted chimp scenes but both of us find some generally held ideas about this movie to be a bit silly. We bring up the legendary first edit of the film along with Tim Lucas’ Video Watchdog article (in issue #111) in which he proposed a way to re-edit the existing film to approximate the director’s original version. It’s a shame there wasn’t an attempt to include such a variation for the new Blu.

If you have any thoughts about this film or any other that we’ve discussed on the show, write to us at thebloodypit@gmail.com or over on the Facebook page. Mark will return in a few weeks to talk about another movie so you could even ask him some questions directly, if you wish. Thanks for listening!

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Trailers From Hell - MIGHTY PEKING MAN (1978)

Brian Trenchard-Smith explains why this Hong Kong produced King Kong rip-off is worth your time.

KONGA (1961) Poster Art & Lobby Cards

KONGA is one of those movies that I love regardless of it's less than excellent level of quality. It has a giant killer ape and that seems to be about all I need sometimes. 

One day I have to read the Steve Ditko comics that this film spawned. I hear that they are much better than their inspiration. 

PLANET OF THE APES (1968) Poster Art

Still one of my all time favorite films! 

WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES (2017) - Thoughts on Silence

The first thing I noticed about WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES is the silence. At first I feared that the quiet opening and subdued aural composition of the first few seconds of the film was a technical glitch but then the natural sound effects of people walking through a forest became audible and I realized that it was intentional. Soon it was clear that sound was going to play a major role on the way the story was going to be told.

The rest of the movie demonstrated that director Matt Reeves fully understands how to use sound to tell his story as well as draw an emotional response and a quickening of interest in the viewer. Often he drops specific, expected noises out from underneath images in such a way that it draws attention to violence or action. He is cleverly using his soundtrack to underline character traits the same way a visualist will use costuming or lighting to color our perceptions. At one point a character is crouched in snow with tears trickling down his face and what we hear is his slightly stifled sniffle. This shows his pain better than any conversation could. At another point two antagonists scream while attacking each other as slow motion machine gunfire tracks across a floor and wall seeking a target but all we hear is breathing and the score. The tension is unnerving and I don't think I could have had a more emotional response if all the fury and rage were blasting my ears.

This use of silence often  seems wholly natural because of the wintertime setting. Given that the majority of the story takes place in the harsh cold it's easy to suppose that the general hush over the story comes from that choice alone. I would be curious to know if the filmmakers chose to set the film in the colder months or if it were mere happenstance. Silence over snowy landscapes and cold frigid vistas is a standard movie visual but Reeves and his team clearly know that silence is also something useful in both contemplative sequences as well as scenes of frantic action. On more than just the one occasion described above gunfire, explosions and screams all drop away and we're left with only the music or incidental sound effects giving us an expressive and often profound  view of the emotional content of the violence on screen. This isn't the first film to use silence in this way but, as a technique, I thought it had gone the way black & white photography. I'm glad to see a modern director employ the lack of sound creatively where bombast seems the standard.

Production Art for KING KONG (1933)

Amazing! 

What I Watched in March

The X-Men film series and all it's offshoots have been a mixed bag, to say the least, but I've enjoyed more of them than I've disliked. But if we had to suffer through convoluted messes like the third X film and that hideous Origins Wolverine disaster to get to LOGAN (2017) then it may have been worth it.

Set in an apocalyptic future America in which the rest of mutant-kind has been hunted to extinction, Logan hides his identity trying to earn enough money get a sick Charles Xavier out of the country. Xavier's illness makes him unintentionally dangerous and the plan is to get him far away from people. Enter a woman on the run with a child that just might be another mutant with a connection to Logan. Soon, a business financed paramilitary force is after them and Logan has to decide if he has any of his past heroic nature within.

The strengths of this film are many and often surprising. I expected great performances from this cast but the depth of emotion in the story was stunning. I expected well done action sequences but I didn't expect each action scene to cause so many intensely distressing feelings for me. This is a finely written, beautifully crafted and - dare I say it - brilliant film with much to say about life, humanity, friendship, duty and love. This is a great movie and if it is ignored at award time then the Academy can burn in Hell.

I'm a fan of Vin Diesel and have followed his screen career since seeing his self-made short film Multi-Facial in 1995. He's a big beefy guy with an remarkably resonant voice  who can actually emote and has taken control of his career in a way that is impressive. As insane and over-the-top as the Fast & Furious films have become they are still great fun action movies and play by their own loopy rules (and physics). It was in the hope of just such silly fun I went to see XXX: THE RETURN OF XANDER CAGE (2017).

I saw the first XXX film and did not like it. If I had remembered this fact a bit more clearly I would have skipped this matinee screening and done something more productive with my time. But ten minutes into this third entry in the series the memory came flooding back and I said out loud 'Oh, yeah. This is going to suck.' What I had forgotten was that these movie have no sense of reality but not in the fun, wink-wink slick manner of the Fast & Furious franchise. Here all is supposed to be super serious with Cage being the smartest man in the room at all times. The problem is that the script is never up to a level higher than a cartoon so for Cage to be that smart guy everyone around him has to be as dumb as a stack of peat moss. There is almost no attempt made to present the other characters as credible threats, thinking human beings or even anything other than game play obstacles to be overcome.

That is the biggest problem of this film and this sad series in total. Nothing matters because nothing is creditable and therefore there are no stakes in the story. Without a viable sense of danger we have no reason to care about the thinly drawn characters or their fate so it's all just a silly and eventually tiring bunch of kinetic crap. A movie about a group of extremely talented, adrenaline junkie spies should not bore it's audience into yawns. It's easy to see Diesel is trying to build another franchise around a core group that will expand into a 'family' but I suspect it will fail. Or, it should.

KONG: SKULL ISLAND (2017) has been lauded and castigated in almost equal measure among monster fans. The 'thumbs up' crowd claim it's a fun, exciting monster epic that builds a new Kong story from elements of Apocalypse Now, the original 1933 Kong and the 1976 remake. This is true, to a certain point. The 'thumbs down' side argue that the film is bereft of decent characters, the action overwhelms the story and pace is too quick. This view is also true to a degree. Where do I stand?

I ended up enjoying KONG but with reservations. Most of the objections I've heard from the Nay side seem a little silly but I do think there are some valid criticisms to be made. First, there is precious little time spent letting us get to know the characters. The only actors that really get a shot at crafting meaningful characterizations are Sam Jackson and John Goodman but even they are given less time than is necessary. John C. Reilly's WWII pilot is somewhat amusing and talks a lot but we don't really get to feel much for him. Everyone else is merely a cipher moving through the tale doing what is required to advance to the next plot point.   

That would be my main criticism of the film - there is not enough time spent letting us soak up the beauty and grandeur of the Skull Island they have created. It's as if they learned only one lesson from the Peter Jackson mess from 2005 - don't let things drag out to David Lean lengths. And don't get me wrong - that's a damned good lesson to take from that film! But when you're creating a whole new fantasy world location you need to let us look around for a while before tossing us into the conflict. Let us wallow in the visuals and then gradually introduce the monsters and tension. Or introduce the monsters in a shockingly quick manner and then let us look at the world you've built in the second act so we grow to understand the environment and it's people a bit. We needed much more time with the human natives without Reilly's babblings to show us their village and how they live in this mad place. This is where the film could have let us get to know the characters well but it doesn't.

I suspect that there were several scenes left on the cutting room floor that would give the movie the extra characterization I feel it is lacking. Perhaps we'll get those in some future extended edition on Blu-Ray. But it would have been nice to have seen them on the big screen making the exciting action sequences more emotionally involving. I like what is there, but I hope for more.

GET OUT (2017) is one of the best horror films of recent years and takes some great older ideas into fascinating modern areas. Jordan Peele's debut as writer/director shows that he is a student of the genre as well as a clear-eyed observer of humanity and society. It is his vision of American culture that I found most refreshing. He lets his audience gradually see, one incident at a time, how a black man interacts with and carefully negotiates a world where he is always suspect. We see how his natural fear of white people and their inherent position of power informs his thoughts and actions and how he has to remind himself that the family of his girlfriend feels no malice toward him. But while his normal defenses are sometimes too sensitive to small things is he right to sense a dangerous undercurrent of racial superiority in his weekend hosts' attitude? Is the predatory vibe he gets from certain comments a misread of a culture he knows only as an outsider or a warning sign he should heed?

I won't reveal anything more than to say that this is a brilliant film and heralds what I hope is a long career in the horror genre for Peele. 

The List 
X-RAY (1981) - 3 (terrible slasher)

LOGAN (2017) - 9

SPECTRAL (2016)- 5 (derivitive SF tale)

THE WITCH'S MOUNTAIN (1972) - 5 (odd Spanish horror effort)

THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED (1969) - 8 (rewatch)

XXX: THE RETURN OF XANDER CAGE (2017)- 3 (miserable)

DEATH WISH 3 (1985) - 5 (cheesy, ridiculous BUT entertaining trash)

PULSE (1988) - 4 (electricity is evil!)

KONG: SKULL ISLAND (2017) - 7

HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB (1973) - 8 (rewatch)

THE NIGHT OF THE WEREWOLF (1981) - 7 (rewatch)

LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR (19677) - 7

GET OUT (2017) - 9

HATE FOR HATE (1967) - 5 (spaghetti western) 

THE MONSTER AND THE APE (1945) Poster and Lobby Card Art

Every now and then you just need to watch a chapter from a classic serial. A robot and a killer gorilla - what more do you need? 

Trailers From Hell - Joe Dante on BELA LUGOSI MEETS A BROOKLYN GORILLA (1952)

Not Bela's finest hour but one that his fans kind of need to see. Dante lays out the facts here in a concise way. Poor Bela. 

PLANET OF THE APES (1968) concept art

I stumbled across a few of these online and then went hunting for more. Of course, some of these are from before they decided to conserve budget by scaling back the level of technology used in the Ape society but those are even more fascinating to me. Some of those ideas were eventually used in the Saturday morning animated series years later.