For It Is Man's Number: william grefé

Showing posts with label william grefé. Show all posts

Friday, 28 October 2022

Sting Of Death (1966)

If you are going to watch some low-budget nonsense about people being terrorised in watery environments then I think you owe it to yourself to watch at least one of the memorable features directed by William Grefé. I am not saying they are memorable for the right reasons, but I cannot bring myself to dislike his goofy attempts to entertain viewers. His films feel dangerous, he often has ambition far outweighing his resources, and they at least try to do things that are, for better or worse, a step removed from the norm.

Sting Of Death is a title that comes close to evoking what the movie is about, but doesn’t quite give you the full picture. If you expect some dangerous jellyfish then you would be correct. You probably wouldn’t expect someone to have figured out a way to become half-human and half-jellyfish though, and that is the extra silliness that is served up here.

Valerie Hawkins plays Karen Richardson, a young woman who is visiting her father, a doctor (played by John Nagle), with a group of friends accompanying her. There is another doctor present, the handsome John Hoyt (played by Joe Morrison), and there’s also an “Igor”-like assistant named Egon (John Vella). And numerous jellyfish, of course.

If you want some real scares, lively dialogue, and something that feels as if those involved had more than $50 available to them then this isn’t for you. The script, written by William Kerwin (credited as Al Dempsey), is flimsy, and also laughable, and Grefé doesn’t let any limitations stop him from showcasing his special effects, which seem to be a number of plastic bags being used in place of various jelly creatures.

The acting is generally quite poor, although Vella is hugely entertaining with his over the top performance, and there is a random sequence that has cool kids dancing to a groovy tune and partying in a lifeless way that feels exactly like what it is, filler, but the strange mix of weak performances just adds to the charm. Grefé seemed to rope in anyone he could (I am not staying this as fact, but he certainly seemed to go for availability ahead of talent), knowing that the focus would be on the creature(s).

Again, I need to finish with an emphasis on this, Sting Of Death isn’t a good movie. And I would still rewatch it ahead of many other films. What it lacks in skill and polish, it makes up for in a sense of pluckiness, charm, and DIY derring-do.

5/10

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Thursday, 11 February 2021

Mako: The Jaws Of Death (1976)

If you're a film fan who will watch anything then you inevitably start to work your way through a lot of films that others may consider . . . not very good. Some films are so infamous that you assume you've already seen them, and finding out that you haven't can end up being quite a surprise. That's what happened here, the result of me confusing Mako: The Jaws Of Death with The Last Shark. I have finally corrected my error.

Richard Jaeckel plays Sonny Stein, a man who wears a strange medallion that allows him to have a telepathic connection with sharks. This makes him angry at the humans who try to profit from hunting the creatures, and he can either deal with the situation by confronting the shark killers himself or he can ensure that they end up in the water alongside some ferocious fins. Jennifer Bishop plays Karen, a woman who is about to end up swimming with sharks as some kind of weird attraction in a bar, run by a man named Barney (Buffy Dee). Various people interact with Sonny, who becomes more and more irate about the way sharks are being mistreated, and it all leads to an impressively downbeat third act.

Directed by William Grefé, who also came up with the idea that was turned into a screenplay by Robert W. Morgan, Mako: The Jaws Of Death is somehow both exactly what you expect it to be and also quite different from almost every other "sharksploitation" movie I can think of. You get all of the underwater footage, and the quality of it varies wildly, you get business interests clashing with the local ecosystem, and you get a potential bit of romance between Sonny and Karen, although it's really more about just setting up the chain of events in the third act.

Jaeckel isn't the best actor to ever appear onscreen, but he doesn't do too bad in the role of Stein. He's certainly better than Dee, who feels like he belongs in a very different movie (maybe something with Burt Reynolds as a charming rogue getting the better of him). Bishop isn't bad as Karen, although she's required to be understandably confused by Sonny's obsession. The other main stars are the sharks and Harold Sakata, billed as Harold 'Odd Job' Sakata (because of his most famous role).

It's just a shame that the script cannot do a better job for the cast of characters because the main premise, as silly as it seems, is at least interesting and unique enough to help this stand out from a crowd of movies that came along in the wake of Jaws (no pun intended). It's a pro-shark movie that still has them featured as a main threat, and it juxtaposes their uncomplicated shark ways with some of the uglier aspects of human nature.

I liked Mako: The Jaws Of Death, yet I also see it as a cheap and crude work. It's a low-budget exploitation movie with some great ideas being explored. That puts it ahead of many other, more polished, films you could choose to watch instead.

6/10