Tonight's movie was an atmospheric thriller from director William Cameron Menzies called "The Maze"(1953). Sci-Fi veteran Richard Carlson ("Creature From The Black Lagoon") stars as "Gerald MacTeam," a young Scotsman engaged to the beautiful "Kitty" (Veronica Hurst). Gerald is descended from noble blood. His Uncle Samuel is the Baronet of Castle Craven in the Scottish Highlands. They haven't a close relationship. Gerald hasn't seen his Uncle since he was a child, but when he receives a letter summoning him to the castle, he leaves on the verge of his wedding day. Uncle Samuel is ill and Gerald - as his heir - feels a duty to be there for him.
He promises Kitty he'll write, and return home as soon as possible. Then they will marry as planned. It won't be long, he says. Uncle is only 45 and should recover from whatever is ailing him. But a week goes by, then two more. There's been no word from Gerald. Finally, six weeks after his departure, Kitty receives a hastily scrawled letter that amounts to a farewell message. Gerald says that he cannot return. He offers no explanation, but adds that Kitty mustn't come looking for him. "Forget about me and make a new life for yourself", he finishes. Kitty finds this awfully bizarre. Gerald has always been loving to her, his personality carefree. He didn't give a fig about his Uncle or Castle Craven prior to getting that summons. What could have happened in the meantime?
Kitty sees in the newspaper that Uncle Samuel has died, apparently of heart failure, so his illness was more serious than they'd thought. His death makes Gerald the new Baronet, but why didn't Gerald mention any of this in his letter? Why the secrecy about his Uncle's death? Kitty intends to find out. Something is very wrong at the castle, so she recruits her Aunt Edith (Katherine Emery) and the two of them travel by cab to the foggy highlands, to see for themselves what it is.
The castle is foreboding. Is it redundant to say that? I mean, castles by nature are gloomy, but this one looks particularly ominous. The door is answered by the estate's butler, a dour looking fellow named "William" (Michael Pate), who sports a thick, iron grey comb-back. William is so grim faced he makes Lurch look chipper. He curtly informs the two callers that Gerald does not wish to be seen, and they should leave the premises immediately. Kitty is not about to stand for such effrontery after traveling all that way. "I'm his fiancee and I know he'll see me", she announces, striding past William and into the castle's foyer. Aunt Edith is of a different opinion as she follows Kitty inside. "I don't think this is a good idea", she offers. "This place gives me a bad feeling. He made clear in the letter that he doesn't want to see you. I think we should go back home".
"Nonsense", says Kitty. "Gerald's not like this. Even if he was finished with me, he wouldn't have said so in such a vague way. I think something's happened to him and I intend to see what it is". She does see, as Gerald comes down the stairway moments later. His hair is now gray and receding, his skin sallow. His in the six weeks since he left, he looks like he's aged twenty years. Gerald's manner is unfriendly toward the love of his life : "I told you never to come here! Go home"! When Kitty replies that she can't - the cabbie having driven away out of fear - Gerald allows her and Aunt Edith to stay the night. "But you must leave first thing in the morning"!
The two women are locked into their room from the outside by William and his assistant Simon. They almost seem to run the place, though Gerald is ostensibly the Baronet. That night, Kitty explores her room, looking for a way out, and discovers a hidden stairway behind a curtain. It leads up to a window overlooking the castle grounds. Braving bats and cobwebs, Kitty ascends the stairs, looks out the glass and sees a Maze, standing in the darkness like a puzzle. The cabbie mentioned something about mazes, what was it........oh yes: "Every castle in Scotland had one. They've all been torn down except at Castle Craven". Why is this maze the only one standing? Kitty needs to buy time so she can explore it, so she uses Aunt Edith's cold as an excuse to stay another day. "My Aunt can't travel just yet", she tells Gerald. He relents - slightly - but William and Simon aren't buying it. They follow Kitty's every step, locking her in and out of sections of the castle like jailers. Gerald has left a book on Tetralogy in the study. I had to Google the term, which doesn't match what is described in the movie, but anyhow, when Kitty tries to read it, Simon snatches it out of her hand. "I'll take that for you, Miss".
Kitty finally decides that a distraction is needed to get to the bottom of the situation, so she writes to Gerald's old friend Bert, a doctor. She asks Bert to visit the castle in order to examine Gerald, who she fears has gone insane, but instructs him to bring along his wife and another couple, so it will seem like a social visit. Then Gerald and the two butlers will be outnumbered and perhaps the truth of what is going on will be forced to the surface. While they are waiting for the doctor and his friends to arrive, Aunt Edith sees something horrific in the hallway and passes out. Kitty likewise catches a late night glimpse of a figure moving through the maze. It looks unnatural, sloshing and slithering, but the vision lasts just a second. She knows she has to get inside the hedgerows for a closer look, but when she tries the next morning, Gerald is there to stop her.
That night at dinner, he announces that all the guests will have to leave the next day and has William and Simon lock them all in their rooms. But Aunt Edith has stolen a key, and in the middle of the night she and Kitty go upstairs to a darkened floor, one to which the two butlers are often seen ascending. From a corner, they watch as Simon leads someone - or something - back down the staircase.......on a leash! William follows behind, covering the individual with a sheet. Unaware of the women, they take this person outside and into the maze where they release him (or it, or whatever). Kitty and Aunt Edith surreptitiously sneak in after William and Simon are gone.
Now we will have the best Maze Scene since "The Shining", except.......well, I am going to have to ask you a favor at one point. I will come back to it, but for now, Kitty and Aunt Edith are inside the maze and trying to locate the direction of the Slithering Sound that will lead them to "the person" that was brought in before them. He, she or it will certainly be behind the secret of Castle Craven. The sound seems to be coming from all directions at once, so Kitty and her Aunt make the decision to split up to cover more ground. "We mustn't get too far away from each other", Edith says. "Okay", Kitty replies. "Just stay within the sound of my voice, and look above the rows for the light of my candle". As you can guess, this plan works only for a brief time. Then, the candle is extinguished by a Mysterious Gust, and Kitty's voice echoes from all directions.
Suddenly, Aunt Edith hears the Sloshing Sound. It's close by and getting louder. Then, from around a corner, something is coming at her, pulling or dragging itself across the path. Aunt Edith screams, and......here folks, is where I have to call in that favor. I am not going to reveal any more of the story or tell you what Edith has seen. But what I am going to ask is that you suspend your disbelief to the maximum possible extent, and just "go with it". If you do this, if you accept what director Menzies has given you, you will have a satisfying conclusion to a very suspenseful movie. If you refuse to accept it - or worse, if you laugh, as some IMDBers have mentioned doing - you will ruin the movie for yourself, and that would be a shame because "The Maze" is quite a Creepy Chiller. So please, just Go With What You See and let the ending play out. You might even find it touching. One other thing, and this I must insist upon : you are hereby ordered not to Google or seek out in any way, an answer to what I am referring to. You know how Gerald forbade Kitty to enter The Maze? Well I am forbidding you the same, prematurely at any rate. Do not go into The Maze via Google. Wait until Kitty and Aunt Edith go inside at the end of the movie and you can follow along then. And, if you suspend your disbelief, you'll get a nice little sci-fi explanation that will hopefully prove satisfactory. I myself was at first shocked by what is revealed, then was even momentarily disappointed, but my disappointment vanished as I continued to watch. Finally, I was.........amazed? Is that the right word? Yes I guess so. I was amazed that anyone would end a movie this way, especially a Creepy Castle flick that plays like a ghost story. But William Cameron Menzies did so, and for that I give him credit, because he must've known the risks.
I'll give "The Maze" Two Big Thumbs Up for that reason - the sheer chutzpah to go with such an ending - and also because the movie is very well done in the first place. Highly recommended for weirdness!! //////
That's all for the moment. I will see you later this evening at the Usual Time.
Tons of peace and love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
No comments:
Post a Comment