The Dunwich Horror

 Year:  1970

Director:  Daniel Haller

Screenplay:  Curtis Hanson, Henry Rosenbaum and Ronald Silkosky, based on the short story The Dunwich Horror by H. P. Lovecraft

Starring:  Sandra Dee, Dean Stockwell, Ed Begley, Lloyd Bochner, Donna Baccala, Joanne Moore Jordan, Sam Jaffe

Running Time:  90 minutes

Genre:  Horror

At the Miskatonic University in Arkham, Massachusetts, student Nancy Wagner (Dee) becomes fascinated with the strange Wilbur Whateley (Stockwell) who is desperate to get his hands on the University's copy of a very rare and valuable book knows as the Necronomicon.  Nancy accepts Wilbur's invitation to spend some time at his mansion in the nearby small town of Dunwich.  At the mansion, Nancy is disturbed by Wilbur's grandfather (Jaffe).  It turns out that the Whateley's have a very bad reputation in the town.  Wilbur is obsessed with using the Necronomicon to bring back the "Old Ones" who used to rule the earth, and plans to sacrifice Nancy in an occult ritual.

American writer H. P. Lovecraft has been hugely influential in the fields of horror and science fiction.  In particular his brand of cosmic horror known as the "Cthulhu Mythos" which postulates that long ago, Earth was ruled by monstrous creatures known  as the "Old Ones" who, due to their evil ways, were banished to another dimension by the yet more powerful "Elder Gods".  The immortal Old Ones still exist and are eternally desperate to get back and reclaim their dominion over Earth.  They can be summoned by various rituals and incantations, which have thoughtfully been written down in various ancient grimoires, most famously the Necronomicon.  While Lovecraft has certainly been influential his work has proved challenging to filmmakers.  His conception of creatures that can drive to madness any human unfortunate enough to so much as look at them is difficult to render on film, even with CGI.  Lovecraft is also controversial due to his blatant racism and misogyny.  There have been successful Lovecraft adaptations, however, such as Re-Animator (1985), From Beyond (1986) and Color Out of Space (2019).  This film, from the stable of B-movie maestro Roger Corman, is enjoyable enough, but not one of the best.  Incidentally, Roger Corman previously directed one of the first Lovecraft adaptations, The Haunted Palace, which was officially part of Corman's series of eight films based on Edgar Allan Poe, but the plot is actually from the Lovecraft story The Case of Charles Dexter Ward.  Loosely based on the 1928 short story by Lovecraft, The Dunwich Horror does a decent enough job of putting Lovecraft onto the screen.  Although Sandra Dee never really seems particularly frightened by the goings-on around her; Dean Stockwell gives an intense, quiet performances as the wicked warlock, and is really the film's highlight.  Veteran actor Ed Begley, in one of his final roles, seems slightly embarrassed in his role as the heroic professor who races to save the day.  Talia Shire (here credited as Talia Coppola), who would go on to appear in The Godfather and Rocky series, appears in a small role as a nurse.  The film is full of bizarre psychedelic effects, which are lively if unintentionally funny, and frequent dream sequences, which just really seem shoehorned in to get some nudity into the film.  The film is watchable enough, and there is enough going on that it never really gets boring, however it is likely to disappoint Lovecraft fans and is probably not enough to convert non-fans.  

Dean Stockwell in The Dunwich Horror

To Live and Die in L.A.

 Year:  1985

Director:  William Friedkin

Screenplay:  William Friedkin and Gerald Petievich, based on the novel To Live and Die in L.A. by Gerald Petievich

Starring:  William Petersen, Willem Dafoe, John Pankow, Debra Feuer, John Turturro, Darlanne Fluegel, Dean Stockwell

Running Time:  116 minutes

Genre:  Action, crime, thriller

When his partner is killed investigating a counterfeiting operation, corrupt Secret Service Agent Richard Chance (Petersen) is determined to bring down master counterfeiter Rick Masters (Dafoe) by any means necessary.  However, Chance is forced to team up with by-the-book agent John Vukovich (Pankow), who opposes Chance's anything goes philosophy.

Adapted from the 1984 novel by Gerald Petievich, this gritty crime thriller returns director William Friedkin to the seamy world of amoral cops and brutal criminals that he previously explored in The French Connection (1974), the film that made his name.  In fact, aside from being set in Los Angeles rather than New York and dealing with counterfeiters rather than international drug runners, there are some similarities between To Live and Die in L.A. and The French Connection, both deal with ruthless cops (or, more accurately, Secret Service agents in To Live and Die) who will break any rules they have to to bring down a powerful enemy,  and To Live and De in L.A. also features it's own spectacular car chase set piece.  Despite being set in December and January, Los Angeles seems to burn under blazing sunlight, and beautiful pink evening skies (I don't know, I've never been to Los Angeles, maybe it really is like that in the bleak midwinter).  The film looks beautiful throughout, and has a pulsing score from British new wave band Wang Chung.  There is a gritty, authentic feel to the proceedings, which are filmed in some of the less glamorous parts of the city.  The cast is impressive with a number of actors who weren't well known at the time, but later went on to become major stars, notably Willem Dafoe and John Turturro.  William Petersen is believably callous as the repellant Richard Chase, who is the film's nominal hero and extorts his informer Ruth (Darlanne Fluegel) for information and sexual favours, under threat of having her parole revoked.  Willem Dafoe is good as the murderous counterfeiter,  John Turturro is convincingly desperate as the member of Dafoe's gang who Chance arrested and tries to make a deal with.  Darlanne Fleugel takes the acting honours as the unfortunate collateral damage in Chance's war on crime, and her desperation to break free and make a fresh start is heartbreaking.  The big problem with the film is, as good as it is, there is really no-one to root for here.  The ostensible "heroes" aren't much better than the crooks they are chasing.  However, this is an involving and exciting slice of '80s action thriller.

William Petersen and John Pankow in To Live and Die in L.A.

Tucker: The Man and His Dream

 Year:  1988

Director:  Francis Ford Coppola

Screenplay:  Arnold Schulman and David Seidler

Starring:  Jeff Bridges, Joan Allen, Martin Landau, Frederic Forrest, Mako, Elias Koteas, Christian Slater, Dean Stockwell

Running Time:  110 minutes

Genre:  Comedy, drama, biography

The Man:  Preston Tucker (Bridges), ambitious engineer who made his fortune designing and building gun turrets for aircraft during World War II.

His Dream:  To manufacture the 'car of the future'.  His "Tucker Torpedo" features an engine mounted in the rear of the car, and revolutionary safety features, such as seatbelts.  

However, the manufacture of the car is plagued with issues, and as enthusiasm for the car mounts, Tucker runs afoul of the "Big Three" car manufacturers (Ford, General Motors and Chrysler) as well as accusations of fraud from the U. S Securities and Exchange Commission.

You might not think of Francis Ford Coppola, director of such films as The Godfather (1973) and Apocalypse Now (1979), as the person to direct a gentle, charming comedy-drama based on real-life failed automobile entrepreneur Preston Tucker.  Coppola had first conceived of the project in the 1970s, and originally envisioned Marlon Brando or Jack Nicholson in the title role, and later planned to make the film as a musical, although the plan collapsed.  With Coppola's friend, George Lucas, serving as executive producer the project eventually came to fruition in 1988, to good reviews but poor box office receipts.  Jeff Bridges brings all of his considerable charisma to bear as the charming, confident Preston Tucker, and Joan Allen is very good, in the slightly underwritten role as Tucker's loyal wife Joan, although she has a great scene where she confronts a boardroom full of patronising men.  Martin Landau was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as financier Abe Karatz, who helps Tucker raise funds for his dream, and Christian Slater has a small role as Tucker's teenage son.  Dean Stockwell has a memorable cameo as a creepy Howard Hughes.  The film looks great with a real feel for the 1940s style, and the action is punctuated by amusing 1940s style adverts for Tucker's car.  While this is not a great film by any means, and far from Coppola's best, it actually deserves to be a lot better remembered than it is, because it is a good film.  In the end, Tucker made 51 of his Tucker Torpedoes.  Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas each own two.

Jeff Bridges in Tucker: The Man and His Dream

Dune

Year of Release:  1984
Director:  David Lynch
Screenplay:  David Lynch, based on the novel Dune by Frank Herbert
Starring:  Kyle MacLachlan, Francesca Annis, Jurgen Prochnow, Jose Ferrer, Kenneth McMillan, Sting, Sean Young, Everett McGill, Dean Stockwell, Patrick Stewart, Virginia Madsen, Max von Sydow
Running Time:  131 minutes
Genre:  science-fiction

This adaptation of Frank Herbert's 1965 science-fiction novel is generally considered a disaster, and right off the bat I have to say that it's really not that bad.  The story is set in a distant galaxy and involves two feuding families from two different planets:  The Atreides from the planet Caladan, ruled by patriarch Duke Leto (Prochnow), with his concubine Lady Jessica (Annis) and their son Paul (MacLachlan); and the Harkonnens from Geidi Prime, ruled by the sadistic and grotesque Baron Vladimir (McMillan) and his nephews, Feyd-Rautha (Sting) and the Beast Raban (Paul Smith).
The Atreides and Harkonnens are both desperate for control of the desert planet Arrakis (nicknamed Dune), a world devoid of natural water, riddled with deadly, giant subterranean sandworms,  and sparsely populated by a mysterious people known as the Fremen.  Arrakis is however vital, because it is the only source of the "spice melange", the most valuable substance in the universe, which can extend life and expand consciousness.  It's most important property is the ability to "fold space" thereby making interstellar travel possible.

This is a deeply frustrating film because there is a lot about it that is really great, and so much that is really bad.  It's worse problem is that it tries to condense Herbert's long, complex novel, which involves an intricate back-story into a too short a time, and this isn't a short film.  In the event much of the film's dialogue is purely exposition to advance the plot, with a lot of voice-over narration to explain what the hell is happening.  However it is a visually stunning film, with some of the most striking sets and production design that I have seen, and it does create a number of unique worlds and at it's best creates a genuine sense of wonder.  It also hasn't dated too much, except for some special-effects shots, and the very 1980s soundtrack by Toto and Brian Eno.  Watching it is a unique and unforgettable experience, with Kenneth McMillan creating, in Baron Harkonnen, one of the most memorable screen villains in history.  In fact, the Harkonnen scenes are genuinely nightmare fuel.  Again most of the good-looking characters are heroic, and evil is depicted by physical ugliness.  Francesca Annis is impressive as Lady Jessica, who provides the emotional heart of the film, but otherwise there are a lot of great actors standing around in fantastic costumes and sets, struggling to make an impression.

David Lynch famously repudiated the film, and dislikes even discussing it in interviews, and given the fact that he has never made any secret of the fact that he dislikes science-fiction, he was kind of an odd choice to direct it, but there is a lot of Lynch in it's visuals and style.

You may love it or you may hate it, but it is such a striking and unique experience, it is well worth checking out.

 Kyle MacLachlan versus Sting, while Patrick Stewart looks on in Dune                  

Blue Velvet

Year:  1986
Director:  David Lynch
Screenplay:  David Lynch
Starring:  Kyle MacLachlan, Isabella Rossellini, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern, Hope Lange, George Dickerson, Dean Stockwell
Running Time:  120 minutes
Genre:  Mystery, thriller, crime

This was the film with which David Lynch finally found his niche after the bizarre Eraserhead (1977), the striking success of The Elephant Man (1980) and the disasterous critical and commercial flop that was Dune (1984).

College student Jeffrey Beaumont (MacLachlan) returns to his home town of Lumberton after his father collapses in the back garden.  Taking  a walk trhough a patch of waste ground near his house, Jeffrey discovers a mouldering, ant infested human ear on the ground which he takes to the police.  The detective's daughter, Sandy (Dern), reveals to Jeffrey that the ear may be connected with an ongoing case involving a singer, Dorothy Vallens (Rossellini).  Hiding in Dorothy's apartment, Jeffrey soon discovers that she is being brutally tormented by the violent and deranged Frank Booth (Hopper).  Before long Jeffrey is drawn into their nightmarish underworld of sadomasochistic sex and violence.

This film opens with the credits, elegantly written in copperplate writing, over undulating blue velvet curtains.  We then see a succession of stylised images of a perfect all-American small town while Bobby Vinton sings the song "Blue Velvet" on the soundtrack, then the camera moves deeper into the neatly manicured lawn to reveal a seething netherworld of insects tearing each other apart.  This sequence encapsulates the principal theme of the film, that just below the perfect facade of small-town life, lurk violent undercurrents. 

Jeffrey Beaumont, the clean-cut all-American boy, has to choose between the nice, normal surface world, represented by wholesome, squeaky-clean Sandy, and the dark, violent, sexual underworld, represented by sultry, tormented Dorothy.  Jeffrey has a pretty big dark side right from the start ("Are you a detective or a pervert?" Sandy asks him fairly early on.  "That's for you to find out," he replies), however for the most part he prefers to watch from a closet until he is drawn in against his will. 

The film's most memorable character is Dennis Hopper's completely unhinged Frank, sucking in some unidentified gas through a mask, bellowing obscenities and threats, he manages to be both horrific and hilarious often at the same time.  Reportedly, Hopper rang up David Lynch, who he had never met, exclaiming "I have to play Frank!  I am Frank!"  Which apparently quite frightened Lynch.  Isabella Rossellini gives a powerful performance as the seductive and troubled singer.  After the film she and Lynch dated for a while.

Resonances from the film recur throught Lynch's subsequent work, most notably in the television series Twin Peaks (1989-1991) and the resulting film Twin Peaks:  Fire Walk With Me (1992) which also deal with the dark underbelly of American small town life.   

Blue Velvet is a funny, dark, horrifying, erotic and deeply powerful film.  It is one of the most impressive American films of the 1980s and is the quintessential David Lynch movie.

"It's a strange world."
- It certainly is for Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan)

Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini) sings the blues in Blue Velvet