The Bloody Pit

182 - THE SCARLET CLAW (1944)

Beth Morris and Troy Guinn visit the show again to discuss another Sherlock Holmes film. This time out we fan away the fog to examine one of the gothic horrors of the series, THE SCARLET CLAW (1944)! Good timing, huh? After all, our detective duo start the tale by being hired by a dead woman! That is creepy. 

We talk about the production of the film which started out as a potential return of Moriarty but eventually became ‘Sherlock Holmes in Canada’ before the final bloody title was chosen. The story pulls heavily from The Hound of the Baskervilles but also seems to crib elements from the MGM film LONDON BY NIGHT (1937) as well. Of course, it also has a touch of Edgar Allan Poe evident in the name of the murder-stricken village. This is where the series leaves behind most of the modern details that were so much a part of the first three films Universal made. The traditional Holmesian Victorian period reasserts itself here with only the occasional 1940’s feature entering the frame to remind us of the real world. We point out several problems we have with the film including the need to show Holmes being a bit of a doofus on more than one occasion. There has to be a better way to extend the mystery than making the great detective seem incompetent! Of course, we love the cast and have a lot of fun trying to remember the names of the movies and obscure serials in which certain actors had memorable roles. For the record, Virginia Horne played a Chinese villain in SECRET AGENT X-9 (1945) but neither Beth or I could pull that title from our fevered brains!

 
If you have any thoughts on the Rathbone Sherlock Holmes films thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to send them. Thank you for listening and we’ll be back soon. 

181 - STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK

Mark Maddox returns for a discussion of the third Star Trek film – THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK! The odd number films are generally derided but both of us feel the positives outweigh the negatives in this one. Of course, we pick at every nit we can spot but we do also praise the film for the elements that stand tall and resurrect the dead!

 
We dig into the genesis (he he) of the story with Leonard Nimoy’s desire to step into the director’s chair leading to several interesting choices. We discuss what it means to be the middle chapter of a trilogy with Mark claiming that The Undiscovered Country is part of the story as well. I bring in details and story additions from the excellent novelization of the film by Vonda McIntire that enhance the story and the secondary characters. The casting of the Klingons is a point of contention with Doc Brown as an alien bad guy becoming an amusing cinema crossover I had not considered before. We lament the stage bound nature of the Genesis planet segments and agree that some location filming would have improved things overall. The special effects get some attention with the destruction of the Enterprise being singled out for praise and we also express our pleasure at having another performance from Mark Leonard as Sarek. This is turning into a fun revisit to this series of movies!

 
If you have any comments about Star Trek or anything else we’ve covered on the show thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to send them. We’d be thrilled to hear from you. Thank you for listening and we’ll be back soon. 

180 - CONQUEST (1983)

I am joined by Troy Guinn and Jeff Nelson to talk about a Lucio Fulci movie once again! This time we swipe away the fog and try to get a clear look at CONQUEST (1983). This was the director’s one entry in the brief 80’s resurgence of the sword & sorcery genre inspired by the success of CONAN THE BARBARIAN (1982) and THE BEASTMASTER (1982) and it has many more detractors than defenders. Where do you think we fall?

 
We talk about the history of bad VHS prints of the film and make a defense of the foggy, misty visual style of the cinematography. We do not defend the furry nunchakus, though. The film’s main characters and the mythological stereotypes they fall into causes much discussion with the older mentor and younger student reversal becoming our focus. Of course, considering the period of Fulci’s career in which this was made, we can’t help but notice the movie’s fascination with violence and depictions of the damage to the human body. We examine the puzzle of the villain’s odd choice of hallucinatory substance to snort and wonder how this odd effect was discovered in this cruel world. The various cool monsters and dangerous creatures in the film get some love from us but the inclusion of zombies is questioned as a possible late addition. It’s a lively conversation and we hope you’ll enjoy it!

 
If you have anything to say about CONQUEST thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to send your thoughts. Thank you for listening! 

179 - CALLING DR. DEATH (1943) and WEIRD WOMAN (1944)

Troy and I dive into the Universal Inner Sanctum films with a conversation about the first two of the series. There is much discussion of Lon Chaney’s pencil-thin mustache and some speculation about the role that Gale Sondergaard might have had in each movie if her casting had worked out.

 
CALLING DR. DEATH (1943) presents Chaney as a successful psychologist who uses hypnotism as a treatment method. His marriage is falling apart but his cheating wife has no wish to be divorced causing him quite a bit of mental stress culminating in a blackout weekend and murder by blunt instrument. Did the good doctor kill his wife or is something more nefarious going on? We wade through lots of whispered voiceover from Lon and watch a Columbo prototype played by J. Carroll Naish hound the obvious suspect until the guilty party makes the wrong move. This is a very well-directed film and we talk about the director’s clever visual choices as we go through the story.

 
WEIRD WOMAN (1944) is the first screen adaptation of Fritz Leiber’s story ‘Conjure Wife’ and gives us Lon Chaney miscast as an academic genius who returns from a book writing trip with a wife he robbed from the cradle. OK – the film doesn’t seem to want us to think about that fact except that Lon keeps referring to her as a child and they sleep in separate bedrooms. The 1940’s were a strange time. The film has an amazing cast with the great Evelyn Ankers cast against type as a mean-spirited ex-girlfriend. The misogyny levels are cranked pretty high and this is the start of the Inner Sanctum series’ cliché of Chaney’s character being the most desirable male on the planet which means there is some ‘cringe’ involved in watching this one. But the film is very good and we discuss the surprising hatred directed at it from some fan quarters.

 
If you want to give us your opinion of the Inner Sanctum movies thebloodypit@gmail.com is the address to send your notes. We’d love to hear from you and thank you for listening to the show! 

178 - RATS NIGHT OF TERROR (1984)

**Word of warning – the first fifty minutes of the show has less than great audio. For some reason a buzzing was on the track and the only way I could eliminate it was to crush some of the less loud portions of the sound out. Sadly, this dropped most of the laughter from the amused ladies in the room and causes the softer ends of some words to be lost as well. I’m sorry about this – I’ll work to make sure it doesn’t happen again.**

I am joined once again by Bobby Hazzard and John Hudson to roll around in Italian sleaze! This time I chose the film and, since I was in a post-apocalypse frame of mind, we end up talking about our first Bruno Mattei film. RATS NIGHT OF TERROR (1984) is probably my favorite of Mattei’s efforts, which some will claim is damning it with faint praise – I can’t disagree. 

We talk about how we first encountered this mad movie and its regular video companion HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD (1980). Tied into that, Huson notes the strong similarities of this film’s plot to the classic NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) siege scenario. Other post-apocalypse exploitation movies are used for comparison with this one coming in as a lesser effort in some way but not in others. The portentous ‘Star Wars’ inspired opening voiceover has us trying to square the supposed 225 years ‘After the Bomb’ timeline it provides but we do have a lot of un noting that the world ended in 2015. Actress Geretta Geretta has talked about this film on several occasions and we relate a few of her more interesting tales of working in Italian cinema without speaking the language. Other topics include dodging iguanas, buckets of rats and well-done fire stunts complete with some unfortunate animal cruelty. We do eventually end up spoiling the excellent ending, so you have been warned.

 
If you have any comments about this film or any other we’ve covered on the show thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to send them. We thank you for listening and we will do our best to avoid audio problems in the future. 

177 - STAR TREK II THE WRATH OF KHAN (1982)

Mark Maddox and I return to the Star Trek feature films! This time we tackle the big one – the one that kept the franchise alive – STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN (1982). It’s an important film for Trek fans and also an important part of the astonishing list of genre releases from that year. We briefly discuss the other films from 1982 to demonstrate the pivotal nature of the cinema of that time and its long-term effect on the genre. For this episode we assume you have some knowledge of the film and spoilers are in every corner of every deck. You have been warned.

 
We each relate our personal history with the film starting with theatrical viewings and then we dig into the details that make this one a classic. The selection of Nicholas Meyer as director is pointed to as the choice that probably guaranteed the project’s success with his melding of the various script ideas into a cohesive whole. The cast is discussed with Shatner, Nimoy, Kelley and Montalban singled out for praise for their excellent performances. Mark recounts his discouraging encounter with an odd form of homophobia when seeing the film for the first time and we compare the first film’s special effects to the smaller budgeted sequel. The story’s commentary on aging comes under scrutiny as both of us think about the changes in ourselves since this film came out. We ain’t getting any younger, that’s for sure!

 
If you have any comments about Star Trek thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to send them. We’ll be back in a few weeks to continue this journey with Kirk and the gang and we hope you’ll join us. 

176 - KING OF KONG ISLAND (1968)

Bob Sargent joins Troy and I to discuss KING OF KONG ISLAND (1968). Or is it just KONG ISLAND? And what connection to King Kong does this movie actually have? Spoiler alert – none!

Because Mr. Sargent has a soft spot in his heart (and head) for this bizarre Italian production we examine it for signs of sanity. None were found, but along the way we learned a little about ourselves. Sort of. And for some reason we also talked about 70’s rock group StoneGround. I can’t understand why.

For the curious, KING OF KONG ISLAND (1968) is a movie of many parts. It is roughly 20% jungle mercenary movie; 20% mad scientist tale; 20% revenge story; 20% jungle girl adventure and 20% family melodrama. It is also 100% nuts! While much of the advertising for the film centers around the jungle girl sections of the story we come to the conclusion that Eva (or the Scared Monkey as she is referred to most often) could be removed from the film with little detriment to the story. Of course, this would have eliminated the film’s nudity so I don’t think anyone involved would have agreed to do this. But the film has so much going on that it is difficult to stop watching as the madness unfolds. We see stuntman turned actor Brad Harris beefcake up the place with his exciting dance moves and flinty abs. We see veteran Hollywood tough guy Marc Lawrence play a mad scientist/Bond villain using surgically altered gorillas to control a jungle cave. We witness plenty of animal stock footage. It all adds up to a featue length movie. Really.

Even if you haven’t seen this cinematic epic there are things in the episode to entertain you. Troy’s alternate title suggestions are inventive and arguably better than any of the ones actually used. Bob’s attempts to explain his lifelong fascination with this whacky film lead us from a sweaty apartment in the 1980’s to modern 21^st century life – pity his poor wife! And bonus points to the listeners that can pinpoint the moment when I gave up on presenting a plot synopsis. Eventually you have to accept that things have gotten away from you.

If you have seen KING OF KONG ISLAND and have something to add to our discussion thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to send your thoughts. Thank you for listening!

175 - Buggy Emails!

This episode allows Troy and I answer a few emails and dart down a couple of rabbit holes that they bring to mind. We talk about giant bug movies, Brian Trenchard-Smith’s career and post apocalyptic movies. A past guest on the show writes in to point out a missed opportunity to discuss MAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME! I take the chance to offer a mea culpa about not discussing an important connection between two of the cast members of THE SPIDER WOMAN. I was aware the pair’s previous work together but I skipped that part of my notes during our recording session. My only excuse is that I’m a major fan of the film in question and if you think the conversation in this episode ranges far and wide – whew. Talking about one of the greatest adventure films of all time just in passing would have been very difficult! 

Thank you for listening and we’ll be back on track with a normal episode soon. If you want to contribute to the email-bag thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to write. 

174 - THE SPIDER WOMAN (1944)

We rejoin the Universal Sherlock Holmes series with the fifth entry, THE SPIDER WOMAN (1944). Long considered one of the best of the run Beth, Troy and I relate our opinions in this episode’s rambling discussion. Be aware that spoilers abound! Do we think it is one of the best of the Rathbone Holmes films? Maybe…..

We dig into this one pointing out our likes, loves and various concerns about the story. We point out the numerous elements taken from several of the classic Arthur Conan Doyle stories and revel in the reference to the giant rat of Sumatra! We discuss the logic behind Holmes faking his own death and the inherent cruelty of that move. Of course, THE SPIDER WOMAN is the first of the series to feature a female villain and the casting could not have been better. Gale Sondergaard is brilliant in the title role with her sly smile and her expert delivery of the sharp dialog putting her well above other baddies that have faced Holmes.  Fully half the fun of the movie is watching her glide her way through her evil schemes. The other actors get fine moments too with Nigel Bruce and Dennis Hoey especially given scenes that show their characters under emotional strain. This is a tight, well-made film but we do find some things in it that don’t work as well as we might wish. 

If you have any comments on this film or any other we’ve covered thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to send them. Thank you for listening and we’ll be back soon. 

173 - STUNT ROCK (1978)

I’m joined by Bobby Hazzard and John Hudson for our long-delayed discussion of STUNT ROCK (1978). Is it a movie with an actual narrative or is it an episodic mockumentary about stunts and rock & roll? And why is there a stage magic act happening at the same time? We go from the ‘shower thoughts’ genesis of the film all the way through a listing of our favorite moments. Since the film’s director has called it the worst film he ever made, we briefly talk about his other work for contrast and lament his inability to ever secure a big budget Hollywood project. But we also discover that he directed an almost completely hidden third sequel to a very popular 80’s teen comedy that none of us were aware existed. Some things might be better left unexplored. 

STUNT ROCK can be called many things but it can’t be called boring. It feels like two different movies clumsily mashed together forcing each viewer to decide which half they prefer. Is it the hard rocking magic stage show of Los Angeles band Sorcery or watching Australian stuntman Grant Page defy death in about two dozen different ways? I know which way I lean but this movie is a bit of a Rorschach test so you end up seeing what your expectations lead you to see. And that is more philosophy than I ever thought I would attribute to STUNT ROCK. It has to be a mistake. But you should check it out for yourself. 

If you have any comments or suggestions thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to send them. Thank you for listening and we’ll be back soon.