The Bloody Pit

205 - STRANGLER OF THE SWAMP (1946)

Author David Annandale joins me for the second time to talk about another 1940’s horror film! This time we wade through STRANGLER OF THE SWAMP (1946) which is one of the more interesting examples of the output of the smallest of the Poverty Row studios - PRC (a.k.a. Producer’s Releasing Corporation). This is a fascinating low budget film that manages to make its lack of resources a virtue by leaning into the creepy fog and mists to hide the set limitations. It’s a favorite of both of us and we love getting to talk about it.

STRANGLER OF THE SWAMP is actually a remake of a German movie made by the same director a decade before. We start the show by digging into the earlier film to compare the two and delineate their many differences. The American film is much more a horror tale than the 1936 German original with a dark foreboding hanging over the characters living in an isolated village. The 1946 film has the vengeful ghost of a wrongfully accused man stalking and strangling the men responsible for his death and extending his attacks to the male children of the families as well. Having watched this moody little gem repeatedly over the years we were surprised to only now take note of the heroic town mothers the movie presents. While the men flail around trying to find a ‘reasonable’ excuse for the horrific events the female population works to deal directly with the problem. We note that this story element might be related to the changing view of women’s place in society during the second world war and wonder if this was a conscious choice by the filmmakers. We may never know, but it shows just how intriguing this little film can be and points to how creativity can make a movie endlessly rewatchable. There are always thought-provoking things buried in this swamp to drag out of the muck!

Mr. Annandale and I last discussed THE MONSTER MAKER and that episode can be found here. If you have any comments about this film or any other Poverty Row horror film thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to send them. Thank you for listening!

204 - REANIMATOR (1985)

REANIMATOR (1985) was a pivotal moment in horror filmmaking for several reasons. First among them is that it announced the arrival of a major talent behind the camera – director Stuart Gordon. His screen career remains a wonder and with this episode we start a series in which we will examine the entirety of his directorial efforts. We might even take a look at the projects that he was involved with but were directed by others.

I am joined by John Hudson to talk about this amazing film. We touch on the original 1922 H.P. Lovecraft story ‘Herbert West – Reanimator’ and the creation of this adaptation starting as a possible television show to eventual big screen incarnation we now know. The cast is discussed with a general amazement at the near perfect choices made for each role. We note that even though this was Gordon’s first feature film, his years of stage experience seems to have allowed him to understand both actors and audience in ways that translate well to cinema. It would be difficult to find a more sure-footed first movie. We talk about the dark humor that permeates the story including what has been called the world’s first visual pun. Mostly we spend our time heaping praise on this one and explaining our love for it so be aware!

If you have any comments thebloodypit@gmail.com is where to send them. We’ll return to the films of Stuart Gordon as soon as possible. Thank you for listening!

203 - THE MUMMY'S GHOST (1944)

Troy and I return to the quartet of mummy movies that Universal released in the 1940’s! This time we examine one of the best of the lot, THE MUMMY’S GHOST (1944). The film has a number of great elements including an underappreciated heroic dog named Peanuts! As with all of these movies, the limping rhythms are the same but it’s the style and energy of the piece that makes it a standout.

 
We discuss the three decade time jump from the previous movie and marvel at 1970’s technology. The age of college students becomes a source of amusement as does the ineffectuality of the local police’s attempts to capture the rampaging mummy. We talk a bit about the cast, noting where we’ve seen a number of the players before in Universal horror pictures. There is some speculation on the possible health effects of being shot at point blank range given that George Zucco’s character from the last film is still alive decades later. And we are pleased to point out the rare chance to physically emote that Lon Chaney is afforded in a few scenes. Is this his best performance as a mummy?

 
If you have any comments on the Universal mummy movies or any other film we’ve covered thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to send them. Thank you for listening. 

202 - THE RETURN OF CHANDU (1934)

My friend Chris Herzog joins me to talk about a serial from 1934 – THE RETURN OF CHANDU! Chris hasn’t been on the show since we discussed the Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan films back in episode #15. It was Bela Lugosi’s starring role that enticed him to come back for a conversation about this fantasy adventure in which the legendary horror actor plays the heroic lead! That’s right - Lugosi is the hero in this twelve-part serial. Will wonders never cease?

 
We discuss the radio show Chandu the Magician, from which this was adapted and the 1932 film that preceded this production in which Lugosi played the villain, Roxor. Neither of us can think of another sequel that recasts the hero to be played by the actor who portrayed the bad guy in the original, but that’s what happened with Chandu. We talk about the director’s work in Hollywood and his other serials as well as his work with the great William Whitney. We point out the reused sets from KING KONG and marvel at the giant cat statue in the Lemurian temple set. Cool stuff! And we lament that Chandu’s family seems to have been put on this earth to serve as eternal victims in need of rescuing. You think he could have let one of them die just to get the others to stay home next time!

 
If you are a Bela Lugosi fan or a fan of his various serials thebloodypit@gmail is the place to let that flag fly. And if you enjoy the show let us know. Thanks for listening. 

201 - BLAKE'S 7 (1978-1981)

Author John Kenneth Muir returns to the show to discuss another science fiction television show! BLAKE’S 7 aired in Britain from 1978 to 1981 and was a major hit but was not renewed for a fifth season. That the show remains beloved decades later points to the typical short sighted BBC decision making process in such matters. With the recent announcement of Blu-Ray releases we decided that the time was right to talk about the show and our years long love of it. Since Mr. Muir has written a book on the subject, he is the perfect person to speak to about the show which was sold as ‘The Dirty Dozen in Space’. If you’ve never seen the series, we try to avoid most spoilers but a couple of things do leak through as we go along.

Our conversation starts with how we each discovered the show and our initial reactions to the ‘anti-Star Trek’ with the adult nature of the storytelling being our main focus. We discuss the dystopian universe presented and give a brief overview of the ‘rebels vs the federation’ structure of the story. The dark and often cruel tone of the characters and the events they have to deal with is a topic we return to throughout the episode. We also fit in an examination of some of the classic science fiction tropes that the show uses and the creative spin the writers employ to include them. We had a great time digging into BLAKE’S 7 and we hope you will enjoy what we have to say even if you’ve not yet seen the series.

 

200 - FROGS (1972)

Today the pond – tomorrow the world! Author Mark Clark returns to the show to talk about the epic (?) animal attack film FROGS (1972). We discuss that genre as well as the ecological horror sub-genre that this movie falls into comfortably. The goal with this episode was to limit ourselves to a single movie as a way to control the conversation, but that did not happen. Listing other 1970’s eco-horror movies leads to a slippery slope that has us spending a little too much time talking about GODZILLA VS THE SMOG MONSTER. There is no reining us in!

We discuss the cast and crew as we examine the film’s rather relaxed pace. Mark lays the blame for most of the film’s faults at the feet of the director and I have a hard time disagreeing. I admit to being shocked at the naked upper lip of Sam Elliot and remain convinced his character’s name is significant in describing his place in the narrative. I mean, when the rich family being besieged by frogs is named Crockett the writers were clearly playing with descriptive nomenclature. Or they were just having a laugh. But the most interesting part of the show has to be Mark’s theory about why the movie is named Frogs instead of after any of the more deadly creatures that assault the humans in the story. He may have something there but it had never occurred to me before.

 
If you have any thoughts on FROGS or any of the other ecological horror movies of the 1970’s thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to send them. Thank you for listening! 

199 - JUNGLE WOMAN (1944)

Troy Guinn and I return to Universal Land for the sequel to CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN – JUNGLE WOMAN (1944)! Is this the worst film the studio produced in the 1940’s? We’ll let you decided as we give our opinions and posit ways the film could have been better. Much better!

 
Attempting to imitate the successful Val Lewton productions at RKO, the producers of this non-jungle epic seemed to feel that simply aping the structure of CAT PEOPLE and copying the memorable set-pieces from that classic would be a winning formula. Sadly, that is far from the case as JUNGLE WOMAN comes up short in every category. Troy and I try to puzzle out the reasons for certain choices and debate the qualities of the acting in the titular role. Of course, any film with J. Carrol Naish has points of interest just because of his talent, but he seems to have been given a number of obstacles to creating a memorable ‘mad’ scientist. A rushed production and a sub-par script are rarely a combination for a classic. On that point, we discuss the film’s dialog with a certain line becoming a reoccurring audio drop in the show. Sorry about that!

 
If you have any comments about this film or any of the movies we’ve cover thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to send them. Thank you very much for listening. We’ll be back soon. 

198 - HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD (1980)

HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD (1980) is no normal Italian zombie film. Coming hard on the heels of both George Romero’s genre-defining DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978) and the now classic ZOMBIE (1979) from director Lucio Fulci this Bruno Mattei/Claudio Fragasso effort ‘borrows’ elements from both. In some cases, the things recycled are surprising, such as the chunks of music composed by Goblin for Romero’s film being inserted into the soundtrack. Other things that get borrowed are to be expected, like an attempt to one up the famous Fulci eye trauma sequence that made audiences worldwide to shudder. But the things that cause HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD to stick in most viewers’ memories are the strange asides, terrible dialog, unexpected nudity and slow-motion stock footage of animals. Oh – and the bizarre tutu scene! No one ever forgets that. Three stalwart defenders of this twisted zombie epic join me to discuss the haphazard, sloppy film that was produced. They want to call it a classic. I just want to call it over!

Troy Guinn, Jeff Nelson and John Hudson vigorously lay out a series of justifications for what I see as cinema crimes and finally manage to get me to admit to a few points of agreement. We examine the odd actions that characters in zombie film make for no discernable reason. We spend some time trying to figure out if the script was working its way through an exploitation checklist or if there was a less mercenary reason for the way things unfold. Each of us relates out history with the film and pick out favorite Bruno Mattei films from across his career. At some point we get lost in the possibilities of a 21^st century BetaMax rental business but we retreat from that financially doomed idea soon enough. And we end the show with a unique musical contribution from Troy’s oft-mentioned brother!

If you have any comments about HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD or any Italian zombie films thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to send them. Thank you for listening!

197 - A BOY AND HIS DOG (1975)

Writer Randy Fox returns to discuss a classic science fiction film from the 1970’s. A BOY AND HIS DOG (1975) was a box office flop initially but became a beloved cult movie pretty quickly. It is one of the very few adaptations of a Harlan Ellison story that got the author’s 95% approval and we dig into the reasons for that in our discussion.

Hugely influential, the film stands as a still relevant template for post-apocalyptic cinema all the way up to the recent TV series FALLOUT. Made for less than half a million dollars it is the rare low budget science fiction film that doesn’t show its financial constraints and manages to turn some detriments into positives. Featuring a fine central performance from Don Johnson and excellent supporting work from his canine companion (voiced by actor/musician Tim McIntire) the movie brings the original story to life brilliantly. We discuss the differences from the novella and the reasons for them as well as the few smart improvements the script weaves into the tale. Randy and I share our histories with the film and our own encounters with the legendary Ellison over the years. We dig into the charges of misogyny and misanthropy that are often leveled at the movie pulling apart the details to search for defenses. We find a few.    

If you have any comments about A BOY AND HIS DOG or other 1970’s science fiction films thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to send them. Thank you for listening!

196 - SONS OF STEEL (1988)

John Hudson and Bobby Hazzard join me for a raucous discussion of this bizarre Australian oddity. Are we able to figure out the story? What do we think of the main character? Do we maintain our sanity before the invisible chimp rears his furry head to fling poop everywhere? Thank goodness for the laughing audience in the room to keep us on track and aware of how silly we can be.

 
SONS OF STEEL (1988) is a film built out of bits & pieces of earlier films but without the budget necessary to pull it off. It seems to be assembled from random parts of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Blade Runner, Back to the Future, Max Headroom and a little barbarian imagery for texture. The film follows Black Alice, a pompous singer strutting around a dystopian near-future momentarily mourning his dead girlfriend and trying to become a rock star. Strangely, he is also somehow an environmental peace activist – or at least we are told this by agents of the Oceana government. (Did I mention that 1984 is ripped off as well?) The movie is a series of music videos struggling to tell a tale of revolution, love and violence but the most memorable moments are the very 80’s songs scattered across the soundtrack. In Spiritus Wank’em!

 
If you have any thoughts on Black Alice, SONS OF STEEL or the sequel novels penning by the writer/director, thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to send them. Thank you for listening to the show!