Warning! Radiation Hazard.

There's not much to say about Atom Age Vampire. The name suggest some kick ass nuclear powered bloodsuckers (that would still be better than Superman 4). The film doesn't deliver. It's a Poverty Row horror movie obsessed with the time in was made in, but lacking both the quality to be good and the utter lack of quality to be "so bad it's good". It defines mediocre.

There are a few moments that shine in this movie that make it worth at least one watching. For one, the use of the "healing" properties of nuclear radiation. That had me laughing. Another thing is how poor and ineffective the doctor's monster is. He can barely even hold onto the girls he kidnaps so he can harvest their.....you know what, the reason is bullshit anyways, so it's not really that important. The one genuine character in the movie is the gardener who kills the doctor/monster at the end. I'm pretty sure a movie about a monster who is a doctor would be more entertaining then this movie. Anyways, he is an interesting character. He is mute, yet seems to display wisdom in his silence. He is torn between obeying his master and his knowledge of what he is doing. I really wish the movie showed me more about what makes this guy tick.

That's about it. Here's to hoping they actually make either a nuclear vampire or monster doctor movie.

Fuck! Now I'm Scared of Carnivals.

I'll get this out of the way: this movie is amazing!
That being said, I have to say I'm very impressed with what is essentially an over sized "Twilight Zone" episode. First off, the ability of the director, considering the budget, is inspiring. It really gives hope to the average joe out there with dreams of making their own movie. I've been reading a lot lately on the workings of Hollywood, and the way money can wreck lots of good projects out there is pretty disheartening. This movie cheered me up in that respect. Second, this is one of the few films where I got a palpable sense of psychological development with the main character. I feel Mary's pain and fear at the accident, but the strange way life goes on anyways, requiring you to act like you can ever go back to the way you were. Mary decides to take a job in another town, where she can live as some else. But it is an understandable desire, because she is someone else. She is changed. She didn't even need to be dead to become solitary and distant. She just needed to be live through the experience.

I kind of see the director, Herk Harvey, as the Harper Lee of film. This guy comes out of left field, makes a revolutionary film, and them disappears (artistically speaking) off the face of the earth (maybe the ghouls got him too). What your left with is a work you love and a sad yearning that he had made more films.

The ghouls were chilling, in the same way the Dog mask man in "The Shining" is. They are unstoppable, sinister forces that will succeed. They are the inevitability of death.

The last bit I have is the complaints I have with the film. First, the funny/WTF moment where the priest is offended by Mary's music being satanic?! I want to know how the hell organ music can be satanic, and what she was playing sure as hell wasn't (I got the point anyways). Also, maybe I'm miss reading the movie, but it seems to criticize Mary for not getting with the sleazy next door neighbor. I found that offensive, but also perplexing since the movie is also clearly against the neighbor for the way he objectifies her (which I might say is done in a nice, kind of subtle way without being preachy).

I give it 9 out of 10.

The Game Plan

I'll preface by saying that there should be a spoiler alert before anything I write, since I like meandering through my discussion.



If anyone who is reading this hasn't figured it out yet, Victoria and I are going to review each of the 50 movies in "Horror Classics DVD Collection". We may review other collections afterwards, but that's in the future.

Hope you enjoy.

Atom Age Vampire, An Obscure Bore

Atom Age Vampire is about a "mad" scientist who creates a youth formula for a disfigured stripper but must murder young women for the main ingrediant when in a Mr. Hyde state. It sounded interesting at first, possibly entertaining, but this Italian flick is dull and honestly not to be cared for. The acting was barely believable, but the effects were not too bad since this was a small budget Italian horror. I wanted to keep attention, but honestly, I did not have any care for a single character, although the gardener/assistant was a little interesting. I actually feel asleep during this flick, but I was a little tired before starting it. Again, there is not much to say for it. Rating: 3/10, 1.5/5, D.

Carnival of Souls- Dancing Through Saltair

Carnival of Souls, a 1962 horror cult flick, instilled my mind with respect to it's director(Herk Harvey) and staff for producing one of the finest small suspense/horror films of the past century. Made in only three weeks with a extremely small budget ( the biggest expense was a bridge scene that cost $17), COS allowed Harvey to flaunt his ability of budget. This film being his directorial debut in Holloywood, it was also his last. Before COS, Harvey worked at Centron, an educational film company in Kansas, but was struck with an idea after visitng an old skeleton of a carnival in Salt Lake City (named Saltair). He teamed up with writer John Clifford to produce a story about a woman who suvives a car crash (while two girls perished) and finds that she is haunted by a collection of souls after moving to secure an organist job. At times, the woman, played by Candace Hilligoss, is distant, cold and without any need to interact with people. The scenes of absolute silence in COS, allows the viewer to experience this coldness and distance that Mary Henry (Candace) solidifies on all who partake in her presence. While some editing and medicore acting are slight blemishes on COS, Harvey's creative directing and love of angle shots allow the film to be more enjoyable than originally thought. The natural beauty of the eerie carnival backdrop of Saltair is quite stunning. The use of makeup is minimal and special effects are at a low (budget didn't allow, but none is needed). The finals scenes with ghostly extras is quite effective in pursuing the viewer of Mary's terror. The effect I am most grealty affected by as a viewer (the use of speeding up individuals to a non-natural state) caused anxiety that I was looking for in such a film. This film is a cult that has inspired many more recent suspense films, but none will be mentioned in order not to give details away. The artistic talent of the writer and mainly the director allowed this film to become one of my top horror/suspense films. If I were to rate it, it would be a 7.5/10, a 3.75/5 or a B.