The Spooky Finale (The End)

It feels as though I've been on an Italian kick this month. We've been consuming vast amounts of pasta, pizza, chicken parm, chicken marsala, cannoli's, and tomorrow we're meeting friends for lunch in Palm Beach at yet another Italian restaurant. After looking at this month's posts, I see that I've been consuming a significant number of Italian horror movies, too. Just when you thought I was done with spaghetti horrors, along comes Dario Argento's 1975 classic, Deep Red (aka Profondo Rosso). If you're at all familiar with 20th Century horror films, or the disreputable genre known as giallo, you've undoubtedly heard Argento's name mentioned, even if you haven't seen his work (Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Cat O'Nine Tails, Suspiria, Inferno, Tenebrae, Mother of Tears, Opera). Deep Red is, by most accounts, the pinnacle--or at least one of the pinnacles--of the illustrious director's (lately uneven) career. Star David Hemmings, essentially reprising his role in Antonioni's Blow-Up, plays a young arts professional who inadvertently witnesses a crime and suspects he missed an important detail that might help identify the murderer.   

The film opens with a bit of Christmas interruptus. There's a brutal stabbing in front of a Christmas tree, after which the weapon is tossed next to a small boy's feet while a creepy la-la-la children's song plays in the background. Cut to present day (i.e. 1975) Italy. A parapsychology conference hosted by Professor Giordani (Glauco Mori) is in progress in an auditorium full of fanboys and girls. Onstage is a panel that includes Giordani and psychic Helga Ulmann (Macha Meril), who breaks down in hysterics after sensing that someone in the audience is a dangerous homicidal maniac. Can her psychic visions single out this person? Unnerved by her experience, Helga heads home to her apartment. As luck would have it, Helga's apartment is located in full view of an empty square where jazz musician, Marcus (Hemmings) and his good friend, Carlo (Gabriele Lavia) are hanging out with a bottle of hooch (probably J&B). Hearing noises in her flat, Helga attempts to phone for help but is attacked by a cleaver-wielding intruder. Her screams attract the attention of the men in the square and Marcus races to try and rescue her. He happens to know who Helga is since he lives in the apartment directly above her. Unfortunately, Helga is hacked to death and has her head smashed through a large glass window before Marcus can get there. 

When Marcus enters the apartment he walks down a long hallway lined with paintings on one side and a mirror on the other. After pulling the dead psychic out of the window he phones the police. If you know anything at all about Italian movies, you already know that your second cousin's brother's goat is better at solving crimes than the police. Nevertheless, they question Marcus and advise him to give them a call if he comes up with any helpful information. Arrivederci!  Still, he's certain there was something--something he saw or heard when he was alone in the apartment. If only he could remember what it was. Correctly deducing that the lead detective on the case can't find his ass with both hands, Marcus is motivated to investigate on his own after a brash female journalist publishes a photo identifying him as an eyewitness to the murder, naturally making him a target for the killer. When the killer comes a-calling, Marcus hears that creepy la-la-la song outside his locked door. The journalist, Gianna Brezzi, decides to assist Marcus in his investigation since she put him in the assassin's crosshairs in the first place. And this is where the movie comes very close to losing its way. Daria Nicolodi, (Argento's then-wife and frequent collaborator), as Giana Brezzi, is way too silly and fluffy to be taken seriously as an investigative journalist in this movie. She'd have made a better Hildy Johnson in a 1940's screwball comedy with Cary Grant. Deep Red takes its horror very seriously. Every time Nicolodi is onscreen with Hemmings it completely throws off the tone of the movie. There's supposed to be a sort-of flirty frisson between the two but it doesn't work: they have zero chemistry. Hemmings, in fact, seems a bit put-off by Nicolodi's aggressively unfunny antics. I actually found myself hoping that the killer would get her long before they finally did. (FYI: Nicolodi played the character as written, so is not solely to blame for this misbegotten portrayal. Luckily, everything else about the film works perfectly.)

Marcus speaks to the conference host, Professor Giordani, and learns that Helga heard that children's tune while she was having her onstage freak-out. The prof also informs Marcus that there's an abandoned villa--rumored to be haunted--where passers-by often hear that same music coming from inside the house. To get the location of the villa, Marcus will need to locate a book at the local library which offers background information on the place. On completing this task, Marcus decides to track down the author of the book, who just happens to live in a remote house on an isolated road in the boondocks. Of course she does. Unknown to our protagonist, the killer has been monitoring Marcus's every move, which doesn't bode well for his interviewees, confidantes, or even his own friends. In short order, we have a near-life-size mechanical doll who scampers into a room as a prelude to murder, a baby doll hanging from a doomed woman's ceiling, teeth being bashed against a desk, a face-scalding, an uber-spooky little girl who sticks pins in lizards, a hidden chamber in the haunted villa, and that damn kiddie tune that plays whenever the killer is about to strike. It's a gruesome movie, even by today's standards, but the central mystery, as conceived by Argento and his team, plays fair and is completely riveting. If you pay very close attention to the first 15 minutes of the film, you may be able to figure out who done it, but you'll need a sharp eye and the ability to think outside the box. As an added footnote, Dario Argento was one of the few Italian directors of his time to feature LGBT+  characters prominently in his movies (in Deep Red, Carlo lives with his boyfriend). True, these figures were sometimes stereotypical but Argento allowed them to have distinct personalities, and integrated them into his scenarios as vital players instead of relegating them to brief bits of comic relief. 

Comic relief is exactly what you get with Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, a 1948 movie that pits the comedy duo against Bela Lugosi's Dracula, Lon Chaney Jr.'s Wolfman and the Frankenstein monster (Glenn Strange). Due to the enormous popularity of this film, several future films would find the two meeting up with various other Universal monsters, pirates and even the Keystone Cops. Apparently, Abbott and Costello had appeared in a number of box-office hits before their shtick began to grow a little stale and demand for their movies declined. I should have probably said this earlier, but I'd never seen an Abbott and Costello movie until two good friends who live almost 2000 miles apart (and don't even know each other) recommended that I give this a watch. Honestly, I did not have high hopes for Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Through the years I've seen any number of creaky old films featuring comic duos who were more tiresome than amusing and, in some cases, downright awful enough to ruin the movies they were in. Abbott and Costello are not those guys, although there is definitely way too much slapping and squealing for my tastes. In fact, although I didn't actually love this movie, I didn't hate it like I feared I might. A&C are fairly entertaining as two idiots working as baggage clerks at a railway station in Florida. A miserable old crank named McDougal intends to exhibit the original Frankenstein monster and Dracula's body at his House of Horrors in town. 

Meanwhile, Larry Talbott (the Wolfman) calls from Europe to demand that the clerks not accept delivery of the crates because of the danger the occupants pose. However, Abbott is much too busy smacking Costello upside the head and ordering him around while he (Abbott) doesn't seem to do much of anything. There's also a beautiful woman with a vaguely European accent with whom Costello is involved. Abbott can't figure out what this lady wants with his chubby partner, especially when she could have Abbott instead. Amid all the goofing around at the train station, no one is able to pay much attention to Talbott's phone call so naturally the crates are sent off with McDougal to his museum. Larry sets off for America, determined to thwart Count Dracula's attempt to reanimate the Frankenstein monster. I don't know why he wants to reanimate the Frankenstein monster but perhaps it's better that way. After Costello discovers the exhibits to be genuine, he attempts to relay the information to Abbott and McDougal but, he's such a bumbling schmuck that no one believes him. So, with the monster halfway revived, the bloodthirsty count relies on a local doctor to help him complete the brain transplant he has planned. Of course, the local doctor turns out to be none other than Costello's girlfriend. And then Larry Talbott arrives fresh from Europe just as the moon is at its fullest. What could go wrong? When Larry is his normal self, he's reliable, strong and heroic; but when the wolfbane blooms, watch out. So, there are these three monsters and Abbott & Costello engaging in a lot of physical hijinks--some funny, some not--and that is the entire film. A few scenes seem to drag out way too long even though the movie clocks in at 82 minutes, but I never thought it so boring as to be a waste of time. But what do I know? According to Wikipedia, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein was named one of the 100 funniest American films of all time by the American Film Institute, and was selected for preservation by the Library of Congress. 

Universal's 1925 cinematic milestone, The Phantom of the Opera, is the granddaddy of all Phantom movies (and a ghastly musical that is still making the rounds almost 40 years after it opened). Starring Lon Chaney Sr. as the mysterious Phantom, the film is based on Gaston Leroux's popular 1909 novel about a masked fiend haunting the Paris Opera House. The Phantom of the Opera's troubled production history, alone, makes for an interesting blog entry but this post is already running much too long so I'll save that for another day. 

In the 1880's, the Palais Garnier is sold to new owners who are told, upon taking possession of the building, that they should keep an eye out for the fearful Opera Ghost who is known to haunt Box 5. The legend of the Opera Ghost has terrified workmen and ballerinas for decades, but the incoming management laughs off any suggestions that the stories might be true. Meanwhile, Christine Daae (Mary Philbin), understudy to the imperious soprano, Mlle. Carlotta, heeds a mysterious voice in her dressing room--the Phantom, aka Erik--and learns how to further improve her singing. Erik also sends letters to Mlle. Carlotta, demanding that she step aside and allow Christine to take over the role or else. When Carlotta refuses, the Phantom causes the great chandelier to crash down upon audience members during a performance. Christine's boyfriend, Raoul, is concerned for her safety once she tells him about the strange male voice and his apparent obsession with her. Christine then tells Raoul to go away and never see her again because the Phantom wants her all to himself. But, the show must go on and Christine winds up performing in Carlotta's place the next night. Try though they might, the young lovers can't seem to keep their eyes (and hands) off each other. 

So, Erik spirits Christine away to his subterranean lair where she winds up ripping off his mask while he's busy playing the organ. He's already warned her against doing this, so he turns on her, mighty ugly and mighty pissed. This scene is probably the most famous scene in the entire movie, although the Masked Ball--enhanced by the early use of Technicolor--is amazing! Decked out in a splendidly scarlet cape and plumed hat, the Phantom descends the stairs and spies Christine and Raoul hurrying out of the auditorium. Another sinister figure (wearing a fez) has been lurking in the shadows for much of the movie and advises the fleeing couple to head to the roof. This scene is shot in black and white, with only the Phantom highlighted in lurid color as he hovers on top of a statue listening to the conversation below. It's a gorgeously operatic moment that highlights a turning point in the film. Once Erik absconds with Christine again, Raoul and the fez-wearing stranger--who turns out to be a secret policeman--head underground, turning this into a rip-roaring action movie. Raoul's brother, the brother of one of Erik's victims, and an angry mob of stagehands join in the festivities, and suddenly it's an exciting free-for-all, complete with chases and deadly traps, rampaging horses and last-minute escapes. 

Lon Chaney famously did his own hideous makeup for this film, and his Phantom's face is unforgettable and nightmarishly grotesque. No Phantom that followed--and there have been a few--could hope to match the scarifying visage conjured up on a Universal Pictures soundstage. The movie is silent, which would seem to be a problem with a film set in the opera world, but I honestly got so caught up in the story that I never noticed the lack of arias. The superb Kino Lorber Blu-ray I watched features new music by Alloy Orchestra, Gabriel Thibaudeau and Gaylord Carter, which greatly enhanced my viewing pleasure. The performances are excellent (if a bit exaggerated, as was the manner of the time) and the cinematography is outstanding. A great final flick for my Halloween 2024 film festival!

Stay tuned for the real-life spooky shenanigans that will get underway in 3 days. 3 days!! The 2024 election will come and go, the results might not be immediately known, but the fallout, regardless of who wins, will undoubtedly be with us for weeks, months and possibly years to come. All because of a cut-rate villain who, 8 years ago, escaped an Austin Powers movie and stepped into the White House.