The Bad Seed (1956)

Directed by: Mervyn LeRoy

Starring: Nancy Kelly, Patty McCormack, Henry Jones, Eileen Heckart, Evelyn Varden, William Hopper

1/2  (out of 4)

I Yam What I Yam!

The nature versus nurture debate takes center stage in director Mervyn LeRoy’s The Bad Seed, which came out in 1956 and was based on the popular play of the same name (written by Maxwell Anderson), which was itself based on a novel by William March. Predating “evil kid” movies like The Omen and The Good Son, The Bad Seed stars a young Patty McCormack as a prim and proper 8 year old blonde with pig tails named Rhoda who just happens to be a complete sociopath. (McCormack had previously played the role on stage). Nancy Kelly plays her mom Christine Penmark, who at first doesn’t want to believe that her precious little Rhoda killed her classmate down by the water because he won the school penmanship medal and she didn’t. After some laughable melodrama involving the dead boy’s mother (Eileen Heckart), who periodically barges into Christine’s household drunk and tosses around J’accuse! at anybody who happens to be in the vicinity, Christine confronts her father only to find out an unfortunate bit of information involving her lineage (you know - she’s adopted, her real mom was a serial killer, etc).

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The Machine Girl (2008)

Directed by: Noboru Iguchi
Starring: Minase Yashiro, Asami, Nobuhiro Nishimura, Honoka, Kentaro Shimazu, Ryousuke Kawamura

(out of 4)

Wow, don’t I feel inadequate!

About 13 minutes in to Noboru Iguchi’s Kataude mashin gâru (from here on referred to as The Machine Girl), teenage yakuza/ninja in training Sho (Nobuhiro Nishimura) is made to drink his father’s (Kentaro Shimazu) blood, which flows from dad’s wrist to son’s mouth in copious amounts of crimson, to “strengthen their bond”. Of course, by this time, we’ve already seen our heroine Ami Hyuga (a cute and tough Minase Yashiro in her first acting role) take revenge on multiple teen yakuza bullies by blasting them to pieces with a machine gun attached to the stump where her arm used to be.

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There is an interview with Caroline Munro in the June edition of ZANI.

You might remember Caroline Munro from Dracula A.D. 1972, Maniac, Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter, and The Spy Who Loved Me.

Excerpts:

ZANI – Do you think, by then, the whole Hammer Horror genre was coming to an end? … maybe there was a natural change in people’s taste.

Caroline Munro – Maybe the Hammer thing was coming to a natural end, but I wasn’t partially aware of it, as I had just signed a year’s contract with Hammer. Which did run for a year. I just think maybe Kronos didn’t have enough of the stuff that had made Hammer famous. You know, heaving bosoms and blood and guts

…

Caroline Munro – There are a few people I would like to work with now, in the genre that appeals to me, in which I could do something for and I would love to work with.

ZANI – I take it Russell T Davies is one.

Caroline Munro – Yes and the others are Quentin Tarantino, a big one I know. Tim Burton and Rob Zombie. Rob Zombie produces interesting work for me, and he uses old girls and boys.

Caroline Munro – Lots people of think Peter (Cushing) just did horror, but he was a serious actor. Yes he was a serious actor, but very funny. I got the chance to work with him twice. Dracula 1972 AD and 2nd time At The Earth’s Core with Doug McClure. Where I got to have a lot of dialogue scenes with Peter. I got to know Peter well off the set. He was the sweetest and loveliest man you could hope to meet.

Christopher Lee is a big man, very handsome. I think when I did Dracula 1972 AD with him that was a big turning point in me, in realising that I wanted to be an actor. A lot of that was down to working with Christopher. I believed that I was Laura. I had never experienced anything like that in my life before. I was inspired by sprit of the young people there, like Christopher Neame, Stephanie Beacham, and Marsha Hunt.

…

Caroline Munro – I loved the Mod scene, I remember going with my friend Anne Hamilton on a top of the bus, to Brighton, to watch the Mods and the Rockers fight. We were very young, we had to stay on the bus because all the police were there. We weren’t meant to be there, as we were only 13, or 14. I remember watching the Mods fight, and thinking that’s very cool.

…

Read the whole interview here.

Friday the 13th, Part 2 (1981)

Director: Steve Miner
Starring: Amy Steel, John Furey, Adrienne King, Kirsten Baker, Stuart Charno, Walt Gorney, Marta Kober, Betsy Palmer, Tom McBride, Bill Randolph, Lauren-Marie Taylor, Jack Marks

(out of 4)

After the enourmous success of Friday the 13th (almost $40 million), a sequel was inevitable. This was quite alright, as horror sequels weren’t so prevalent in 1981 as they are now. Nowadays it seems all we get is sequels and remakes, but try to imagine a time where Jason was still just a legend and Freddy Krueger was merely a gleam in Wes Craven’s eye.

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The Devil Rides Out (1968)
Director: Terence Fisher
Starring: Christopher Lee, Charles Gray, Nike Arrighi, Leon Greene, Patrick Mower, Sarah Lawson, Paul Eddington, Rosalyn Landor

(out of 4)

Can you count, suckers?

The Devil Rides Out is a Hammer film about a group of friends fighting against devil worshippers led by a powerful priest named Mocata (Charles Gray). Taking a rare turn as the good guy, Christopher Lee plays Duc de Richleau, the worldly expert on the occult who must summon all his knowledge to defeat the forces of darkness. Thrown in the mix is Richleau’s niece Marie Eaton (Sarah Lawson), her husband Richard (Paul Eddington) and daughter Peggy(Rosalyn Landor), Richleau’s longtime friends Rex (Leon Greene) and Simon (Patrick Mower), and Rex’s love interest Tanith (Nike Arrighi).

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