Shudder Saturday: The Queen Of Spades (1949)

A British horror film from the 1940s, The Queen Of The Spades may not be something you think you should prioritise ahead of many other choices, but it's not one that you will regret making time for. A film full of intrigue and atmosphere, the nearest comparison point for this would be one of the wonderful tales featured in A Ghost Story For Christmas. If you want jump scares and overt chills then look elsewhere, but if you want something that builds an impressive sense of dread, culminating in a moment that's very reminiscent of coming to from a fever dream then this will hit the spot.

It begins with the explanation of a card game featured in the film. The card game is mentioned as being similar to Snap, but someone is a dealer and the other person has three main cards that they try to play at just the right time. I won't lie, I didn't entirely understand the mechanics of the gameplay, but viewers are shown enough to get the gist of things. Herman (Anton Walbrook) stumbles across a tale of a woman who once made a deal that allowed her to win a fortune at this game, her soul in exchange for great wealth, and he becomes obsessed with finding the woman, and of having her reveal her secret to him. Convinced that it is actually an elderly Countess (Edith Evans) who lives nearby, Herman puts a plan in motion to get close to her, which involves him pretending to be falling in love with her young carer/companion, Lizaveta (Yvonne Mitchell).

Clocking in at a shade over 90 minutes, The Queen Of Spades may feel a bit creaky and tame to modern viewers (because it IS a bit creaky and tame), but it's an undeniably well-crafted tale that is leading to a great finale we can sense coming from the very beginning. Herman isn't a sympathetic character, which is why we are just waiting for his plan to go awry at some point, but Walbrook plays him with an entertaining deviousness and intensity. Mitchell is sweet and innocent throughout, and Ronald Howard is very good as the kind and earnest Andrei, someone who is genuinely interested in Lizaveta. Evans may seem as if she doesn't have too much to do, but every part of her performance helps to keep her character at the very centre of a dark and dangerous web.

Based on a short story by Alexander Pushkin, the script, written by Rodney Ackland and Arthur Boys, mixes some lovely character study moments with the con artistry, and using a British cast to portray people and events who are clearly supposed to be Russian gives the whole thing an extra layer of strangeness that helps to make it so memorable.

Director Thorold Dickinson may not be a familiar name to many, although he also directed, among other films, The Arsenal Stadium Mystery and Gaslight (the near-lost original that MGM attempted to wipe out of existence when it bought the remake rights), but he does an excellent job here of maximising the impact of what is essentially a rather slight tale. 

Ironically, I only just heard about this film when it was being discussed on a podcast this week, but I then jumped at the chance to see it when it appeared in the Shudder line-up. I wasn't disappointed, and I don't think others will be. It's pretty ace.

8/10

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

The Curse Of The Mummy's Tomb (1964)

As mentioned in my review of The Mummy, I'm not a big fan of mummy movies. So the fact that I enjoyed that film and, to a lesser extent, this one too should bode well for those who like to see their bad boogeymen shuffling around while swathed in bandages.

Michael Carreras directs, and writes, this time around and the first half of the movie is very familiar territory. A tomb is opened, treasures are removed and deaths start to occur. The second half brings in one fresh idea but by then all the fun is to be had watching the mummy go about its business anyway (and I, for one, thought that this particular mummy had a great look to it . . . . . in as much as a mummy CAN look good).

The cast are a real mixed bag. Ronald Howard is the standard Hammer hero, a solid gentleman always ready to help a damsel in distress in between his academic pursuits. Terence Morgan is smooth as Adam Beauchamp, Jack Gwillim is okay in the first half of the movie but doesn't really convince in the latter half as his character becomes a bit of a drunkard, Fred Clark is great fun as an American entrepreneur wanting to make big money from the discoveries and George Pastell plays a character very similar, superficially, to the one he played in The Mummy. And Michael Ripper pops up, too. Oh, then there's Jeanne Roland, one of the most irritating women I have watched in a Hammer movie. I'm sorry to say it but her accent felt like nails on a blackboard to me. That may seem unfair, considering the fact that she was dubbed but her acting wasn't all that good either.

It's definitely not up there with the better Hammer horror movies but The Curse Of The Mummy's Tomb is a decent enough, consistently entertaining, entry in their extensive catalogue. Boredom never sets in and the ending provides a satisfying mix of tension and tragedy. Worth a look.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Curse-Mummys-Tomb-DVD/dp/B000HWXQHU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350997685&sr=8-1