Deranged (1974).

Review #2264: Deranged.

Cast: 

Roberts Blossom (Ezra Cobb), Cosette Lee (Amanda Cobb), Leslie Carlson (Tom Simms), Robert Warner (Harlon Kootz), Marcia Diamond (Jenny Kootz), Brian Smeagle (Brad Kootz), Arlene Gillen (Miss Johnson), Robert McHeady (Sheriff), and Marian Waldman (Maureen Selby) Directed by Jeff Gillen and Alan Ormsby.

Review: 

"One of the things that I was fascinated in the making of this film and the process was the parts that Alfred Hitchcock totally chose to ignore or overlook and only used a very minimal part and that was the amount of dress-up and disguise. The actual Ed Gein's actual putting on bits and pieces of skin and flesh and making musical instruments and useful tools. He was extremely fascinated by the bits and pieces of bones and flesh that he put together and I thought this part was fairly interesting. We made a point out of trying to make this scene as frightening as possible and in the process, there is a very fine line between what is funny and what is horrible. I think we were able to cross that line back and forth a few different times in the film when you were absolutely at the height of your laughter and then all suddenly, we would hit you some horrible image and that was the sort of the thing we were hoping to do." - Jeff Gillen

Sure, you've heard of a film based on the serial killings of Ed Gein. The Psycho novel (and ensuing film) was inspired by the situation that arose of a small-town seeing murders without anyone suspected...which happened to be the discovery of just what Gein had been doing that had rocked the nation in the late 1950s (even hearing the words "skin keepsakes" is an understatement) in Wisconsin. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (released in October of 1974) took loose inspiration in the same year Deranged came out. This film actually was made on a higher budget than the aforementioned Chainsaw film, one that was funded by a concert promoter (Tom Karr) that was made with Canadian crew members in Ontario. There was also a Ukranian film studio used for filming. Somehow, Deranged (sometimes referred to with a subtitle of "Confessions of a Necrophile", which is better than the original working title of "Necromania"), a film distributed by American International Pictures in March 1974, was just a mild hit that languished away with mild curiosity. Ormsby had gotten his start in movies by working with Bob Clark on Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (1972), which he wrote and provided the effects for.  Clark was an uncredited producer on the film. Ormsby would direct just two further films: The Great Masquerade (1974) and Popcorn (1991). He was mostly known as a writer for a variety of films, such as My Bodyguard (1980), the 1982 remake of Cat People and Porky's II: The Next Day (1983). This was the only film directed by Jeff Gillen, who actually was an actor in a handful of films prior to his death in 1995, most notably as Santa in A Christmas Story (1983); coincidence or not, Gillen also wrote one film in She-Man (1967), which as with Story, were directed by Clark. Footage was deleted from the film in order to avoid an X-rating (such as scooping around a head with a spoon), which only came out on home video nearly two decades later. Evidently, Karr was later found to have committed fraud against AIP and a partner when he didn't disclose a partner prior to making a deal with AIP; Karr would produce just one further film. 

This actually is a pretty grim movie when you get down to it, one where the madman really can live among us in a small town. The framing device of the reporter gets a bit old after a while, mostly because it seems almost amusing to see him in the shot as if he was about to be hit himself. This was actually the first major role for Blossom, who actually had made his feature debut with The Hospital (1971) after doing a handful of stage and TV work since the late 1950s; there is a certain Christmas-related feature he is likely best known for in films, but this was basically his one main role all for himself, having been cast by Karr over guys like Harvey Keitel and Christopher Walken. I would say he did a tremendous job in this unnerving portrait that dominates the film in crisp form. His loneliness and methods to try and cope with his broken nature makes for such a strange creature to watch for a whole film (82 minutes) because of his cadence. The trouble that affects someone who sees all women besides his mother as part of the wages of sin ("gonorrhea, syphilis, and death!”) is handled with gusto in the second half more than anything. Ormsby wrote the film, albeit with a suggestion by Karr, who suggested that the main character brought the corpse of his mother home to feed and talk with her, which deviated from Gein. Ormsby was the head of the makeup department, with Tom Savini serving as his assistant for his first film credit (which had a bunch of effects created through chicken wire and model kits); he worked for Clark and Ormsby with Deathdream, also released in 1974. They do pretty well in such grisly detail that reminds one just how death really can look one in the face. Lee is mostly present in voice to remind Blossom of the lessons that are unnerving enough when one remembers the others are mostly there to serve as set pieces for the ordinary,...except for Waldman, who is amusing in the sequence where she tries to maneuver Blossom with tales of her dead husband and her needs. In that sense, this is a worthwhile feature in the horrors that arise from a town that doesn't think too much about the oblivious man with seemingly polite silence. The deep horrors that lie beneath the ordinary is a strange one to watch play out for a movie that deserves to be acknowledged in its 50th anniversary year.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

The Fly (1986).

Review #1712: The Fly.

Cast: 

Jeff Goldblum (Seth Brundle), Geena Davis (Veronica "Ronnie" Quaife), John Getz (Stathis Borans), Joy Boushel (Tawny), Leslie Carlson (Dr. Brent Cheevers), George Chuvalo (Marky), and David Cronenberg (Gynecologist) Directed by David Cronenberg (#816 - Crimes of the Future, #1127 - eXistenZ, #1220 - A History of Violence, #1239 - Stereo, and #1624 - Shivers)

Review: 

If you remember correctly, The Fly originally came from a short story, which had been written by George Langelaan in 1957. A film followed a year later that starred David Hedison, Patricia Owens, Vincent Price, and Herbert Marshall. The idea for what became this film started with producer Kip Ohman, who thought of the idea to make a remake and have Charles Edward Pogue write it - Stuart Cornfield (who had served as a producer on The Elephant Man) liked the idea; Pogue elected to take a different path from making a straight remake, going for evolution rather than an instant transformation. 20th Century Fox (the company behind the production and distribution of the original along with distributer of the two subsequent sequels) did not show great favor to the script that came out, but Pogue made an agreement that they would distribute the film if another source of financing was found - enter Mel Brooks and his company Brooksfilms, who if you remember correctly had produced films such as The Elephant Man (of course Brooks would also not have his name credited in this film either, aiming to not lead audiences into thinking it was a comedy). Pogue would go from being removed from the project to brought back when Walon Green's rewrites failed to impress. Robert Bierman was the choice to direct, but a family tragedy put a damper on that plan. Cronenberg (the original director in mind) was brought in to direct after his attempts at making Total Recall came and went. The differences between the scripts by Pogue and Cronenburg are considerable without being completely different: in the original script, it featured a married scientist working on a project with two employers that is on the verge of losing its funding before he uses the teleportation device on himself (the climax involves him killing the greedy employer by vomiting and feeding on him before he destroys the teleporter along with himself). Cronenberg would modify the dialogue alongside morphing the two entrepreneurs into the one ultimately played by Getz while keeping aspects of the transformation intact (with an intent on making the film as an analogy for disease such as cancer or the aging process); both Cronenberg and Pogue would receive credit for the script, as per the insistence of Cronenberg.

It is a grand thing to say that a film is better than the original. And yet, here we are with a movie that readily improves on what was already a fairly watchable sci-fi movie with the 1958 original with something quite spectacular in its great tragedy of romance and folly. It serves as a great achievement for all parties in surpassing what had been done before without becoming a shell of corporate dealing, succeeding from Cronenberg to Goldblum all the way down. It is disturbing yet emotional in a way that reaches beyond the usual expectation from horror. In other words, it is a grand body horror film that has plenty of depth from a director who knows where to go to make it more than just a movie for gross-out ghoulishness. Perhaps it was a coincidence to cast Goldblum, who was already part of a remake that  is perceived to be better than the original with Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978). There were a plethora of actors considered for the role that ranged from Richard Dreyfuss to John Lithgow (who thought it was too grotesque), but Goldblum ended up being the one cast (having slowly become cast as the lead after a bunch of supporting roles). He is exactly the man required for the role, filled with confidence and curiosity that never seems to waver when the makeup starts to show; even when he starts to go around the bar and chase folks around, he still manages to evoke interest that never seems like blatant pity-play. Davis matches well with him in sensibility, having useful chemistry with Goldblum that inspires curiosity for someone who has to act within romance and horror that at one point involves reacting to an ear falling off - she has to match his eccentricity without just coasting along, and that works out well. For a film that really has just three main characters, Getz does well with not falling behind the main group, a welcome coarse contrast that isn't utilized merely as some sort of evil establishment yuppie (especially with the climax, which is masterful). 

Goldblum is the talent needed for the film, but one knows that when the effects come into play, they shine just as well as they should without burying the actor. Chris Walas (and his crew, which is why the credit lists "Chris Walas, Inc") was behind the design while the makeup art was done by Stephan Dupuis. The designs and constructions all had to be done in the span of three months to execute for its various stages. It is a delight for effects, grotesque but perfectly fitting for what is needed in depicting the troubles of aging and disease. Of course, not every effect got into the movie, with one scene involving a baboon and cat being fused together that ended up being on the cutting floor because...yeah, I think you know how that can alter one's perspective (incidentally, that scene was also in Pogue's script, but it didn't have the lead beating it to death). The swift climax does exactly what is needed to make it a worthy horror tragedy without any easy outs, which really could have happened with the discussions about how to end it, since speculation is more interesting than what you need to see sometimes. The film turned out to be a hit, one that Cronenberg could certainly hang his hat on (one doesn't necessarily go for commercial hits, but this ranks as one of Cronenberg's most successful), with Walas and Dupuis winning an Academy Award for their work on the film, the first and only Cronenberg movie have won an award by the Academy; a sequel was constructed in 1989, but it would be Walas that served as director while Getz was the lone actor to return. The popularity of this film even reached into the world of opera, which was done by composer Howard Shore (with libretto by David Henry Hwang) in 2008. As a whole, the film clicks well for 96 minutes on how much it can pull you into with these characters despite what you already know is going to happen, and it does so with resourceful depth that makes for wonderful horror and resounding tragedy from a director who knows where to go with it. As a whole, this is one of the best remakes ever made, and it certainly is one of the more interesting body horror tragedies ever made, one that has certainly lasted for all time in the 35 years that have passed since its release.

Overall, I give it 10 out of 10 stars.