Universal 1935B

Ah, not "based on", not "from the story of", but "suggested by". Why are we not using that term more? Anyway, this is the suggestion of The Raven.

A doctor is called upon to save a young woman, and falls in love (more likely lust) with her. But her father has other ideas, and when a genius has a woman taken away from him, we get our thin connection with the poem that is quote by Lugosi throughout the movie. Lusogi is the doctor, and gets his own servant in the form of Karloff (see below), with the idea of kidnapping the woman and killing the father (via the pendulum of the pit). But, wait, the monstrous servant feels betrayed by his supposed saviour/master and turns against him! And quickly have a less than minute scene to wrap up the leads living on.

This is removed from the story (suggested by!) and so becomes largely a basic run on "stay at evil person's lair, then escape". No-one really feels like they are putting in a huge effort. It's not terrible, but it's not great either.

As this seems to be a common image (although this was my own screen cap).

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Batmanning 66.1

I didn't just pick up the Batman 66 episodes, I picked up the big deal pack with cards and a Batmobile! And I didn't get any old versions, I got the BluRays!

So, who is the first villain Batman faces? The Clown Prince? The Felonious Feline? The Bent Bird? No, it is the Prince of Puzzlers, the Riddler! (As opposed to the Puzzler, who would turn up later.)

In fact, Joker would be after Penguin, who's up next. In this first season we get such classic villains as Zelda the Great, False Face, and Bookwyrm... and whole one of whom would be in more than one pair of episodes.

What is interesting here is how the format of the show is still settling. We are used to the "Same Bat Time, Same Bat Channel", but it isn't until about halfway through the season that it sticks around. And the beginning of the second half is a full recap of what happened in the previous episode, instead of just "Batman is in this trap". And remember the classic person sitting up sticking their head out of the window? We get that only once, at the end, in this season.

That aside, this is still the classic series we remember. The most remarkable thing is just how much the actors commit to their bits. Adam West points out that the comedy comes because they treat everything so seriously, despite it being Bateverything and Holy everythingelse.

Camp? Yep. But fun? You betcha!

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Muvver!

It seems that the most important fact about this movie is that it is by Darren Aronosky... I'm not sure I have seen his other films, so that doesn't matter to me.

It seems this is one of those movies where you can't talk about the plot because spoilers. If you say so. What I will say is: that escalated quickly.

I will also say that I didn't get the imagery that was alluded too all over the place until the end, and now I'm over-trying to fit everything into the movie.

So what can I say? The point of view of the movie is Jennifer Lawrence, and the camera follows her exclusively. This does help ramp up the tension as there is a lot of reassuring things happening just out of her view, so we get the knock on effect of "that's good over there, but we are over here where that isn't happening", and that gets unsettling. Not so much that I believed she wasn't a proper adult who could take care of herself, but the movie is very much putting her in the endangered position.

So yes, a good movie. But don't expect an easy watch.

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TELOS: Eye of the Tyger

“So we can set stories during any part of the tv series right?” “Yes, exactly, so how about a-” “Then have I got an Eighth Doctor story for you!”

Fyne is a proper Britishman, in that he is in India, in charge of the natives, and imposing his view. As it happens, he is attacked by a tyger and gets a nano-tech virus in him that turns him into a Tyger-man. The Doctor takes him away and they end up in a fight between officers and farmers. Of course Fyne decides that the officers are the ones in the right, and does what he can.. although not what he should.

This feels like more of a lightweight story, especially after the last few. This moves along, although jumping from India to an asteroid is a bit jarring, and feels more like Paul McAuley wanted to establish a companion before getting to the adventure he wanted to tell. And possibly imply furry sex, I’m not sure.

This is very “novella”, on one hand it’s too lightweight, on the other it’s good to have something more straightforward.

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Universal 1935A

Is this the first case of an unwarranted sequel? Despite everyone dying, they still all live! This is Bride of Frankenstein.

For those of us who can't remember what happened, we start with the three authors, Mary, Shelly and Byron, talking about the previous movie. Mary then goes on to say what happened next. Fortunately Henry and the monster weren't dead, phew, so we can go on. Henry's pupal, Pretorius, comes to him asking to join with him, and create a woman, but Henry isn't interested. The monster, meanwhile, roams the countryside, befriends a blind man, and learns how to speak. He then captures Elizabeth, forcing Henry to work with Pretorius. And with five minutes to go, they whip up a bride, and everyone lives happily ever after! Or die, because that worked so well last time.

Okay... so we have that Henry lives, unlike the book, Elizabeth is still alive, unlike the book, someone else knows how to create life, unlike the book, and a female monster is made, unlike the book. Other than that, yeah, a perfect sequel!

Aside from that, Karloff makes the monster far more interesting once he can speak. And Ernest Thesiger is great as Doctor Pretorius. Although the movie never names who plays the bride, so we'll never know it was Elsa Lanchester (who plays Mary the author).

This has a fine last act. It's just the first two that drag this out.

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TELOS: Frayed

Remember how Kim Newman blew our minds for daring to set a story before the series? Stephen Cole says “hold my beer”. I mean, Tara Samms… yes…

It’s an outpost under siege, so we are in familiar territory. Into this situation comes an old man and his granddaughter. Who is that? They are given the titles/names the Doctor and Susan… Yes! Bam! How did they get their names? This is how!

The under siege aspect is fairly commonplace, with the humans being trashy to each other as well as trying to fight the enemies. There is a second plot as well about a strange dream space where people lose their mouths. It takes a while for the plots to connect, but they finally do… and in fact the enemies have nothing to do with the dream plot, which is kinda unusual. Usually plots are tied together, but Tara takes a brave step away from that.

But basically, the gimmick of the names makes this story annoy me far too much.

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Universal 1934

Another Edger Allan Poe adaptation, and while I haven't read the original story, I'm guessing this is adapted even more abstractly than Murder on Rue Morgue. This is The Black Cat.

A couple and a random doctor are on a bus that tips over, so they seek shelter for the night at the local castle, which happens to be owned by the frenemy of the doctor. The owner has this habit of turning women into statues, and has designs on the latest woman, having previously done this to the doctor's wife and marrying the doctor's daughter. The man just wants to leave, but the butler stops him, and the woman is taken for evil purposes. The doctor barely manages to get her to safety, and capture the mad owner, but gets shot by the guy trying to leave. The couple does eventually leave, with the castle blowing up behind them.

You may have noticed a certain conspicuous absence in that recap, namely that of a cat. There is a black cat in a few scenes, and the doctor is terrified of it, but that's about it. Aside from being held, it parts no part in the narrative. I'm guessing, given Poe, it had more of a role to play, but here it is rather superfluous.

Although what we do have is Lugosi (the doctor) and Karloff (the owner) in the same movie and at odds with each other. That is great stuff, and the scenes they share have a definite frisson to them. I hope this happens more in the movies to come, but it is quite enjoyable here.

Better than I was expecting.

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