Happy Halloween! I hope yours was a good one. Pearl and I had fun even though there were no Trick or Treaters this year. We still carved a pumpkin, and went for a walk around the neighborhood to check out the decorated houses, of which there were many. I don't know if other folks were doing trick or treat, or if they just decked their houses out for the fun of it, but in our area at least, there were actually more Halloween Houses than usual. I think people just wanna have some fun after all we've been through this year. Elizabeth, I hope you had a good Halloween, and were able to do something fun. Post a pic if you dressed up!
Shakespeare By The Sea streamed a live performance of "Titus Andronicus", one of The Bard's gorier plays. As you know, I'm a big fan of SBTS. I really missed seeing them live in the park this Summer, so it was cool to watch at least part of the broadcast, which I did in between my usual evening duties. If they leave it up on Youtube, I'll watch it uninterrupted next week.
But the piece de resistance for this Halloween was a screening of another Hammer Studios classic, "The Devil Rides Out"(1968), based on the novel of the same name by the late English occult author Dennis Wheatley. In a quick aside, it says on Wiki that some of his books, featuring a character named "Gregory Sallust", were a main inspiration for Ian Fleming's James Bond, a poignant connection to discover on the day Sean Connery died. At any rate, it appears that Wheatley was a best-selling writer during his career. I've only heard of him through this movie, but if it is any indication of the quality of his writing, I'll be looking into his work very soon. As for the movie, it was yet another film I came across through the constant hounding Amazon does, via it's recommendations. If you buy stuff or even click on a dvd from Hammer, for instance, Amazon will then hammer you with recommendations for Hammer. You already know this, of course, having your own list of recommendations I'm sure. But for me, two that they Hammered Home were "Plague of the Zombies" (reviewed in the last blog) and "The Devil Rides Out", which, like "Plague", was a rare find and high priced collector's item until Shout Factory released it, too, on Blu-ray a year ago.
Because I got such a good deal on "Plague" (as noted in the last blog), I figured "what the hell". It was Halloween and I needed to finally obtain both of these movies that have been bugging me for a few years. So, I kicked George Bush to the curb and went ahead and bought the Blu-ray of "Devil Rides Out", full price but free shipping (because Amazon), and even though it wasn't cheap, I'm pleased to say it was money well spent. I am new to Blu-ray, but these things look incredible.
The colors and photography alone on "Devil" are worth the price of admission. In another aside I must mention that both "Plague of the Zombies" and "Devil Rides Out" are Color By Deluxe, and when those films were made, in 1966 and '68, my Dad was vice president at Deluxe, so that was kind of cool to see.
But the thing is, we've been sticking to only the most evil films this Halloween, and "The Devil Rides Out", while very beautifully filmed and well acted, and made by a highly respected British studio, is nevertheless a sick and twisted story of a devil worshipping cult, led by a maniacal sociopath who has the power to call up old Splitfoot himself.
Christopher Lee stars as a good guy for once, which made me happy because I just saw "The Wicker Man" on TCM, and he makes me so mad as "Lord Summerisle" in that film. If there was ever a horror villain you wanted to punch, it's him. But he redeems himself as the Duc de Richeleau, who at the beginning of the movie has met up with an old army buddy from the Lafayette Escadrille. I don't know what they're doing in England if they're supposed to be French, but they're gonna go meet up with the son of a former third colleague who is now deceased. The trio had fought together in WW1. The third man was killed. Christopher Lee and "Rex", the second friend, have sworn to take care of the dead man's son.
But when they arrive at his house in the English countryside, they discover that he's caught up in a Satanic Cult. This happens right at the beginning of the movie. Christopher Lee, as the Duc de Richleau, recognizes on the spot what is taking place. He's a hardcore Christian but has experience in black magic, so he immediately tries to pull the young man out of the cult he's immersed in.
In doing so, he crosses the Grand Wazoo of the cult, played Charles Gray, whose ice-blue eyes show the temperature of his blood. As badass as Christopher Lee is, and with all his horror credentials, he's gonna have to call up everything in his power, including a long lost Latin invocation, to deal with this guy.
"The Devil Rides Out" plays like a thriller for much of the way, but retains that pastoral English feel. The movie takes place in the late 1920s, but England is timeless, because of it's landscape. While it doesn't have the unrelenting grimness of "Plague of the Zombies" (which is downright brutal), it does give you that sharpness of Brrrittish intellect, where they see themselves as naturally above all other humanity, at least in matters of resolving good and evil.
The last paragraph probably sounds like a bunch of jibberish. That's because I'm super tired after a long day. But, I had a blast and I love Halloween, and tomorrow we get an extra hour to sleep, so I should be slightly more coherent in the next blog. I will definitely check in before the election. See you in the morning.
Tons of love! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
No comments:
Post a Comment