The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Released in a glorious year that also saw my shining soul gifted to the world, The Rocky Horror Picture Show is the film that you already know all about. Initially a stage show, the success of the film started to grow and grow when it became an adored audience participation event.

I have walked by theatres that were putting on a production of the show, admiring all of the audience members in their variety of costumes (wearing everyday clothes to one of the shows would surely leave you sticking out like a sore thumb), and I am aware of the various cues that get the audience involved with the unfolding events on stage/screen. It looks as if every fan has a bloody good time, letting their hair down and just enjoying the company of kindred spirits who are all there for the full experience.

This is why I have watched the movie about three times now, with this being my third viewing. And, I'm sorry for those who are about to be upset with me, I still don't enjoy it.

Brad (Barry Bostwick) and Janet (Susan Sarandon) are a pair of young lovebirds who end up stranded on a dark and stormy night, leading to them asking for help at the home of Dr Frank-N-Furter (Tim Curry). It's a very special night for the doctor and his friends, and Brad and Janet may wish they had never crossed over his doorstep.

Okay, I wasn't entirely honest when I said that I don't enjoy this movie. There are parts of it that I enjoy. The first 4-5 songs are great. In fact, the film maintains a decent amount of momentum right up until Tim Curry sings the last notes of "Sweet Transvestite". It then dips, before lifting back up again with both "I Can Make You A Man" and "Hot Patootie - Bless My Soul". And then it dips again. And just keeps dipping, slumping further and further down towards a whimper of a finale.

The cast all do well enough, with the three leads all fantastic and nice turns from Richard O' Brien (who wrote the show, and adapted it to the screen with director Jim Sharman), Patricia Quinn, Charles Gray, Nell Campbell, and Meatloaf. Everyone stands in the mighty shadow of Curry, who gives one of his most iconic performances, performing every line with great gusto and a sense that he is savouring the taste of every single syllable.

The big problem here is the material. While it's often said that The Rocky Horror Picture Show is a musical parody tribute to the b-movies that all came before it, I have never found enough here to put it in line with those films. Yes, the silly plot and individual elements here and there will ring a bell to anyone who has watched sci-fi and horror films, particularly from the '50s and '60s, but it's all TOO silly and slapdash to feel like a well-crafted homage. The opening title song and details of the closing sequence aside, there's very little in the main body of the film that feels affectionate or indebted enough to the wealth of source material that O'Brien had to draw on.

Everyone will rush to tell me that I am missing out by not watching this with the intended audience, and it's something I will happily try out one day, but a film should also work as, well, a film. This doesn't. It's not absolutely awful, thanks to a few good songs and that amazing turn from Curry, but I have never thought it as anything great. Which didn't stop me buying it, AND Shock Treatment (an odd sorta-sequel that I will be checking out in the next few weeks, hopefully).

Fans can buy the film here.
American fans can buy it here.

The Beast Must Die (1974)

The film that anyone who has seen it remembers for one reason - The Werewolf Break - The Beast Must Die is a strange mix of whodunnit, lycanthropy and some funky blaxploitation from Amicus. Unfortunately, it doesn't get any of the elements right, leaving viewers with an amusing curio instead of a genuinely interesting, unique movie.

Calvin Lockhart plays a rich asshole who gathers a number of people to his home, with the express intention of revealing one of them as a werewolf. That's not WHY he's an asshole. No. That's just something that he's able to do because he has the money to set up a lot of surveillance equipment around his home, and he gets to invite some prime suspects. He's an asshole because of the way he then treats those guests (only ONE of whom should/could be a werewolf, bear in mind). Anyway, the guests (Peter Cushing, Charles Gray, Michael Gambon, Ciaran Madden, Tom Chadbon, and Marlene Clarke, as the wife of Lockhart's character) all get to know one another while waiting to see who gets hairy and howly because of a full moon.

Directed by Paul Annett, this is based on a story by James Blish, and it puts itself forward more as an interesting conceit than anything that can make for a fully satisfying movie. It all builds to that aforementioned werewolf break, a device that audiences are told about at the very beginning of the movie, and it's the mystery element that succeeds more than the werewolf side of things.

The wildly varied acting of the main cast doesn't really help, with the likes of Cushing and Gray acquitting themselves with aplomb alongside lesser performances from Chadbon, Gambon (he's not bad, but it's far from his best performance) and, crucially, Lockhart hamming it up in the lead role. Marlene Clark and Ciaran Madden don't really get a lot to do, although the former is suitably exasperated by her husband throughout.

Werewolf fans beware, there's also a big mark against the movie due to the fact that any shots of the titular beast are clearly just shots of a dog, and not even a big, scary dog. Nope, budgetary restraints meant that the closest thing to a werewolf would have to be . . . . . . . . . well, just see it for yourself. And have a chuckle.

The Beast Must Die remains worth a watch, especially for fans of Amicus or any of the cast members involved, but it's not one of the best werewolf movies ever made. Although it remains one of the most unique.

6/10
If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share 

The Devil Rides Out (1968)

Hammer provides an entertaining, and actually quite brilliant, adaptation of Dennis Wheatley's work and although I have not read any of Wheatley's work, sadly, I am familiar with his themes and tone and cannot imagine that this movie lets down fans of the literary great either.

Christopher Lee and Leon Greene play Duc de Richleau and Rex Van Ryn, respectively, two gentlemen trying to help their friend (played by Patrick Mower) move away from the tight clutches of a local Satanic cult. Easier said than done and problems come in the shape of Tanith Carlisle (played by Nike Arrighi), an alluring female also caught up in the web of the dark arts, and confrontations with the cult's charismatic and powerful leader, Mocata (wonderfully portrayed by Charles Gray). People close to the daring duo are placed in peril and things go from bad to worse before the finale . . . . . but will it be good or evil triumphing as the sun rises?

The cast here all do a fantastic job. As well as those mentioned, with Lee and Gray being particular standouts, there's some solid support in the latter half of the movie from Paul Eddington and Sarah Lawson.

Terence Fisher directs (from a tight screenplay by Richard Matheson) with an assured hand, throwing us directly into the action and letting us find out a little more with each scene as things move from slightly puzzling to mysterious to dangerous to deadly. Though I do not know enough about the rituals and accoutrements portrayed in the movie it all has a sense of authenticity about it, strange considering how far-fetched the movie actually is in its depiction of a struggle between good and evil.

Considering its age, it holds up very well to this day. There are two major "materialisation" scenes that still hold the power to unnerve; in fact, the very first one actually made me want to look away from the screen as I was getting a bit freaked out by the imagery. There are lots of details in the effects and acting that you could poke fun at if you wanted to (one scene featuring an over-sized spider is about as bad as anything in Empire Of The Ants) but if you forgive the "ravages of time" then you will be letting yourself in for a cracking British horror movie aimed distinctly at adults.

9/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Ultimate-Hammer-Collection-DVD/dp/B000HN31KQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379426721&sr=8-1&keywords=hammer+box+set