Druids! Druids! Druids!: Ivanlandia Visits Summerisle--to roast some pigs!

Ivanlandia is jumping on the Final Girl Wicker Man Blog-a-thon Film Club, providing its own entry about that classic film, The Wicker Man.



In junior year high school English class, the teacher told us that the reason the Romans has such a hard time conquering England and Ireland was because the inhabitants of those islands were Druids, and, as old Mr. Hayden asked the class rhetorically, “How can you defeat people who worship trees?!?”

With its close affinity to the cycles of nature, Druidism often seems more “logical” (or natural) that the monotheistic Desert Religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam) with their seemingly arbitrary, random, contradictory and often cruel rules.

Xmas is around the corner, so let’s not forget that much of this supposedly Christian tradition was swiped and co-opted from “pagan” rites and rituals.
Christians didn’t invent the Christmas tree: crazy heathen krauts living in the Black Forest came up with that.
And there’s a reason why Easter (yea, He is risen) is situated near the vernal equinox….


With that in mind, one approaches the story of The Wicker Man with no small amount of dread…



The Wicker Man (1973)
Directed by Robin Hardy
Written by Anthony Shaffer
It’s unnerving watching a noose tighten for about 90 minutes, but that’s my metaphorical description of The Wicker Man.
It’s probably one of the smartest horror flicks ever made, more about cross-cultural collision, than any sort of monster, and it’s a heck of a lot of food for thought.

The cast is swell, but Christopher Lee (in what’s really an extended cameo) is marvelous, and Edward (RIP) Woodward is fantastic as the virginal cop who gets in well over his head.

Sui generis, it’s a mystery with music (!), and
The Wicker Man certainly challenges your feelings about religion and sexuality, almost uncomfortably so.

If you have any seriously religious relatives, you can easily image them being quite shocked by the movie’s seemingly pro-druidic viewpoint and casual nudity.

But it's a flick all fans of "fantastic" cinema need to see.

Check HERE for a synopsis/plot….

And is the movie’s viewpoint truly pro-Druidic? Facing death, Howie finally gets around to mentioning science, warning the villagers that crop failure is natural in their region, especially since the fruits being grown are not indigenous to Summerisle, then what happens if the crops fail again?
Howie screams that Lord Summerisle will have to be sacrificed next if the crops fail again, and Lee’s expression tells us that that may be true.
When Howie (a child’s name, or better yet: a childish name) is informed that his sacrifice for the Druids means martyrdom as a Christian, it’s essentially the same for the viewer: who wins? Perhaps no one. The massive joke played on Howie may be for naught---but Howie’s such a close-minded jerk, that it’s hard to feel sympathy for him, but after a while, you do—because you know he’s doomed.

When Howie’s plane is sabotaged, that’s the point we know the noose is tight around his neck, and it’s only a matter of time: we’ve been given no indication that the cop has any idea of how to get off the island, even if he does find Rowan Morrison.

For more about Druids, make sure and watch Halloween III: Season of the Witch…

Author Anthony Shaffer also wrote Sleuth (the original from 1972 is one of my faves; I won’t watch the remake, just like I forget that there’s a Wicker Man remake out there—even though some are it calling camp-o-riffic)
and Hitchcock’s Frenzy (which a lot of people love, but that, well, my review’s below….).

Shaffer is the master of the brilliant and twisty script, and but his output wasn’t that prolific, which is too bad, but if you enjoy brain-teasing puzzles, you must check out his films.

Additional review:

Frenzy (1972)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Written by Anthony Shaffer
Based on the novel by Arthur La Bern

I get the feeling Frenzy was Hitchcock’s attempt to show those young upstarts who were popping up in the late-1960s/early-1970s who was boss and how it was done.
But compared to Targets, Last House on the Left, Rosemary’s Baby, Night of the Living Dead and others, Frenzy is a contrived mess.
The actors are given mannerisms and attitudes only to the extent that those personality characteristics push the plot in a certain direction. In no way are the characters fleshed-out or fully drawn people.

Because of that, the film’s clinical and cold style becomes an annoyance. I don’t mind if a flick is mean-spirited or ruthless, but it absolutely needs some depth and logic, something Frenzy doesn’t seem to have.
For a film called Frenzy, it’s hardly very frenzied. A generic title, dull.
I rented the movie wanting to like it, but after seeing it, I’m starting to think Hitchcock is overrated.

(I’m not really a fan of Strangers on a Train, either….)

Lately, I’ve been finding myself re-assessing all of Hitchcock’s films. On the whole, I’m not as impressed with Hitch overall like I used to be.

Except Psycho.
Ahhhhh, there’s a different story:
Psycho....
Sigh!

It’s still an almost perfect movie—even with the goofy psychiatrist scene at the end.

Psycho (1960)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Written by Joseph Stephano
Based on the novel by Robert Bloch

Autopsy Turvy

Ivanlandia has been very busy of late, making bucks as a stooge for the chemical industry.

Here's the Dr. Jekyll to Ivanlandia's Mr. Hyde; check 'em out!

Reviews and madness to resume soon enough...

Ivanlandia Goes to the Movies

Going crazy apartment hunting
Got a baaaaaaaaad hangover
and
the pen in my shirt pocket has leaked/nice black stain on my fave green shirt:
Shit-shit-shit-shit!



Here are some short write-ups of some of the flicks I’ve gotten to see lately:

The Lineup (1958)
Directed by Don Siegel
Screenplay by Stirling Silliphant

An awesome and twisted police procedural from the late-1950s that all fans of noir (and fans of Don Siegel) should check out.

Sure, if you pick apart the film, you’ll find lots of flaws--but it’s technically perfect, and The Lineup’s overall energy, pace and sociopathic tendencies (which makes the movie much more contemporary than most films of that time) totally makes up for it.

And the commentary by crime novelist James Ellroy? Hoo-hah! What a profane masterpiece: funny as heck, but it’ll burn the ears of the more sensitive viewers.


Zathura (2005)
Directed by Jon Favreau
Screenplay by David Koepp and John Kamps
Based on the book by Chris Van Allburg

While the SPFX were adequate, and the production design had a nice retro-1920s look, it was not enough to save Zathura.

Not being a parent, I cannot say whether I think kids will like this flick. But as a nerd-boy and geek, let me tell you: This movie is dreadful! The protagonist children are rotten brats that needed to be thrown out the airlock, and the shrieking little monsters completely emphasize the script’s very weak points.

A train-wreck of a movie that often approximates the feeling of listening to supersonic nails on a blackboard. Horrible, horrible stuff.


Chato’s Land (1972)
Directed by Michael Winner
Screenplay by Gerald Wilson

Bronson’s almost a cameo in this flick, but he’s perfect as the Apache tricking a posse into its own destruction.

Chato’s Land is a unique western, spending more time examining the sociology and character of the people who were willing, or crazy enough, to settle the land, instead of focusing only on the action.

The flick treats the Native Americans with respect, without resorting to mythologizing or “nicing” them up.

Gosh, there was a time when Michael Winner was a really good director, and this flick shows it. (And it’s surprising how much the introductory Rambo movie, First Blood, owes to this film.)


Whisky Romeo Zulu (2004)
Directed by Enrique Piñeyro
Screenplay by Enrique Piñeyro and Emiliano Torres

Yes, the whistle-blowing and the airplane footage are fascinating, but the rest, like the “old flame” subplot, could have been ditched: That stuff is paced like molasses, and ruins any tension or momentum the film has picked up. Overall, Whisky Romeo Zulu is dull.


Trick ’r Treat (2008)
Screenplay and directed by Michael Dougherty

Like an old pre-code E.C. horror comic book structured like the improvisational comedy forms “The Harold” or “The Evente,” stories that intersect, loop around, and then go back on themselves, Trick ’r Treat is an awesome horror anthology that deserves to be seen and experienced by all fans of twisted horror movies.

But I can see why lunkheaded studio execs would try and dump it: they just couldn’t “get” the flick. 'Cause they're stupid.



BTW, the holidays and the military-industrial complex will be keeping me from the shores of Ivanlandia for a while—please go through the archives and enjoy.


And no, most of these photos have nothing to do with the movies I've reviewed/talked about. Except in my mind...

New on DVD: Sam Fuller’s UNDERWORLD U.S.A., and Sandy Harbutt’s STONE—Watch them NOW!

Underworld U.S.A. (1961)
Written, produced and directed by Samuel Fuller
Cinematography: Hal Mohr
Editing: Jerome Thoms
Music: Harry Sukman

Cast: Cliff Robertson (Tolly Devlin), Dolores Dorn (Cuddles), Beatrice Kay (Sandy), Paul Dubov (Gela), Robert Emhardt (Earl Connors), Larry Gates (Driscoll), Richard Rust (Gus Cottahee), Gerald Milton (Gunther), Allan Gruener (Smith).
B&W, 99min.
DVD letterboxed


Here’s my quickie N-flix-style review:

Samuel Fuller’s incredible hard-boiled tale of revenge is finally available on DVD, and it’s a must-see. Try not to read too much about the movie beforehand (and don’t watch Scorsese’s intro until after seeing the movie—he reveals too much info), just rent it and be exhilarated by Underworld U.S.A.’s intensity.


It’s a rotten world for juvenile delinquent Tolly Devlin, made worse when he sees his dad brutally beaten to death by four shadowy figures in the first minutes of the film.

Rather than use his remarkable talent to lift himself out of the cesspool, Tolly dives further in, seeking to exact revenge on the killers—
and thereby seals his own doom.

Tolly’s got no use for anything that isn’t related to killing these guys—
Because his life is nothing without revenge.

(Of course, it’s never asked or mentioned about Tolly’s dad maybe deserving to get iced? Like, what does someone have to do to get beaten to death? Something big, you’d think.)

Sam Fuller’s incredible Underworld U.S.A. is finally available on DVD,
as part of the
Samuel Fuller Collection—
and it’s even better than I remembered it!

A perfectly constructed machine of nihilism, filmed in fantastic B&W, Underworld U.S.A. is like
White Heat
Or
The Phenix City Story—
Or
Kiss Me Deadly:

It’s one of those Noir Bridges between the Old School (“social problem”) Crime Films (Little Caesar, Scarface) and the 1970s Neo-Noir Madness (Dirty Harry, The French Connection, The Outfit, Scarface) that essentially ignores Film Noir’s “Fallen Noble Hero” subset, like most of Bogie’s movies.


At DVD Talk, Glenn Erickson writes:
Cinematographer Hal Mohr may be the key factor in Underworld U.S.A.'s enhanced impact; the modestly budgeted film can boast superior imagery. The mob's glass and steel offices equate organized crime with big business, while some of Dolores Dorn's close-ups are breathtakingly beautiful. Fuller blocks his compositions the way an editor blocks out a page of newsprint.

And what about this: Fuller describes a crime syndicate hiding behind a legitimate business façade, but what if he’s alluding to crime in the US being supported by big business? Not just “equating,” but pointing-the-finger: Big Business has its fingers in the dope & whores racket!(or am I looking too hard for subtext? Heck, that’s what Samuel Fuller movies do to you!)
Underworld U.S.A. has a feral energy that’s infectious/
the darn thing never stops moving—
all credit to the late, great Sam Fuller, an Ivanlandia favorite!

Co-star Dolores Dorn (who plays the prostitute who falls for Tolly; in the photos up top, gazing into Cliff Robertson’s soulless, revenge-hungry eyes; and at right)
went on to be in the awesome The Candy Snatchers (1973)
(good band, too!—not that Ms. Dorn was in the band…),
then later became a noted acting teacher for the American Film Institute in 1977, and with the Lee Strasberg Institute in 1983, according to IMDB.

Click here for a good essay on
Underworld USA
By Richard Harland Smith (but one that gives away some surprises, as well)

By the way, Sam Fuller’s Underworld U.S.A. is not specifically related to James Ellroy’s Underworld U.S.A. trilogy, now concluded with the recent publication of Blood’s a Rover, an excellent novel, worthy of being mentioned in the same sentence with Samuel Fuller.
(I think I remember reading that Ellroy got the title for his trilogy from, and is said to have liked Fuller’s movie, but I couldn’t find any links… Sorry.)




BUT WAIT!
There’s MORE!



Stone (1974)
Directed, produced and production designed by Sandy Harbutt
Screenplay by Sandy Harbutt and Michael Robinson
Cinematography: Graham Lind
Editing: Ian Barry
Music: Billy Green



Cast: Ken Shorter (Stone), Sandy Harbutt (Undertaker), Helen Morse (Amanda), Hugh Keays-Byrne (Toad),
with Rebecca Gilling, Vincent Gil, Bindi Williams, James H. Bowles, Bill Hunter, Garry McDonald
99 min.
DVD Letterboxed

As you well know, The United Provinces of Ivanlandia loves it some biker movies, and this week we were lucky enough to get hold of the recently-made-available-on-DVD-in-the-US Australian biker classic Stone (1974).

It’s an absolute must-see for fans of biker movies!
Inspired by the biker exploitation flicks Hollywood was churning out in the late-60s/early-70s,
Stone is an Australian biker (or “bikie”) movie that really rings true—
primarily because the film was a labor of love made by and for bikies.

Because of that, Stone is one of the best motorcycle gang B-movies made,
much better than 99% of its American counterparts,
with a semi-documentary feeling that keeps things raw and authentic.

Forget about the plot—
it’s the flimsiest of excuses to allow the viewer to groove on the exclusive world of the Gravediggers Motorcycle Club—
and unlike US biker films, Stone is very sympathetic to the gang, without emasculating them or turning them into clowns and harmless goofs.

(In fact, I’d say Stone has more in common with its fellow Aussie B-movie masterpiece Mad Max and the English biker/ horror movie Psychomania, than with any of its Yankee equivalents.)

While Stone is very docu-like, the movie also has a very strong stoner aesthetic (or “trippy vibe”) that really passes on the feeling that you’re smoking as much dope as the bikers are on-screen (which makes sense since the flick is called “Stone” and the tagline from the poster was
“TAKE THE TRIP”).

And it’s true: Stone has a great ending.

Lots of credit should be heaped on writer-director-actor-designer Sandy Harbutt—
if anyone deserves to be called an auteur, it’s him.