It’s rare that a title misleads as much as this one does.
With a name like BLOOD MANIA you would expect blood to be dripping from the
celluloid. In fact there is little blood and most of it comes out in the final
20 minutes of the film which drags at 81 minutes. This is one of those movies
that is just bad from the get go.
Dr. Ridgley Waterman (Eric Allison) is bedridden in his
mansion accompanied by his neglectful daughter Victoria (Maria de Aragon). She
has no use for her father nor him for her. He’s being treated by Dr. Craig
Cooper (Peter Carpenter) who Victoria has set her eyes on. But Cooper is
already attached to Cheryl (Rebecca Wilson).
Cooper finds himself in a predicament when an old partner
shows up demanding $50,000. It seems Cooper performed illegal abortions while a
medical student to make money. This could ruin him. When Victoria learns he
needs money but not why she seduces Cooper and using info he provides her comes
up with a plan to kill her father for her inheritance.
But the plan goes awry when her sister (not seen in the film
until the last third if not less) shows up and inherits it all. Of course this
means Cooper now sets his eyes on her and Victoria is left to come up with a
new plan. Sound entertaining? It isn’t.
What we have is a particularly bad TV movie of the week with
plenty of nudity thrown in to make it a film drive-ins would be willing to
screen. There is little to be enjoyed here with nothing exceptional about
anything going on. The cinematography is dark at times, the music feels canned
and the acting is barely passable.
And yet there are those out there who enjoy movies like
this, films that once would garner a Golden Turkey Award and little else.
Somehow these movies are making their way to disc in special editions like this
one once did from Vinegar Syndrome. I love the company but had you paid top
dollar for this film then you were had. Instead you might consider this version
from Cheezy Flicks. It may not be blu-ray or contain spectacular extras but
then the movie really doesn’t deserve those anyway.
Documentary films aren’t always the most popular item when
it comes to choosing a movie to watch. Those at the box office rarely achieve
much notoriety with the exception of politically motivated films. But when I
began hearing about FREE SOLO it wasn’t about how bad it was doing but how good
the movie was. I heard Dana Perino on THE FIVE say it was one of the best
movies she’d ever seen and one of my friends in film making said it was
amazing. When it won the Oscar for best picture I decided maybe it would be
worth checking into. It was.
The movie focuses on a mountain climber by the name of Alex
Honnold whose claim to fame is as a free solo climber. If you’re not aware of
what that is, these are climbers that climb what appears to be mountains or
rock formations with apparent flat surfaces without the use of ropes,
harnesses or other protective equipment. It’s just a person with their own
natural abilities, their feet, hands and sometimes entire bodies climbing to
the peak.
Honnold is well known in the climbing
community but this film focuses on his greatest challenge to date, El Capitan
in Yosemite Park. El Capitan is a 3,200 foot vertical wall that Honnold has
climbed with the aid of equipment several times. Each of those times there were
moments when he fell. To climb without these aids seems like madness.
The film takes a look at everything that goes
into his story spending most of its 1 hour and 40 minute running time on that
with only the final portion of the film focusing on the actual climb. We learn
about Honnold’s past and his family. We learn what drives him. And we learn
about his personal life.
Most of the year he spends climbing, driving
from one location to another and living in a van. That’s the life that he has
chosen. His love life is composed of women he’s met in the past but as he says
in the film if he had to choose between a woman and climbing, climbing would
always come out on top. In spite of that he has a girlfriend as he is about to
prepare for the climb, Sanni McCandless.
Part of the movie tells us of how they met and her
acceptance of the career he has chosen. Yes, she knows he could die any day
that he chooses to climb, but she accepts that. Or does she? While a climber
and outdoor person herself, the stress of what he intends to do does take its
toll on the couple to the point she doesn’t stay for the moment he makes his attempt.
The film takes us into the making of the feature as it is
being shot. Directors Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Vasarhelyihas filmed other
climbs that Honnold has attempted documenting his abilities. This time around
we watch as the crew must deal not with the potential loss of their subject but
how to film the expedition as well. How will they overcome recording the sound
as he climbs being unable to place a regular microphone on him? How will they
get the shots they need of him climbing from all angles? Their solutions are
nearly as harrowing at times as his climb with the exception that they are
rigged.
Injuries nearly put Honnold on the wait list. If he misses
his opportunity it will be another year before he can make the attempt again.
He wonders if his personal life with Sanni will affect his ability to
concentrate as does she. He notes that until the two of them came together he
never suffered injuries and how he’s had more than one since being with her.
It’s just another stress item to carry with him as he climbs.
The pacing of the movie will be slow for those who are used
to car chases and shootouts when it comes to their movies. But the payoff is
well worth watching the entire film. Like a well-crafted puzzle the film takes
the pieces and puts them in proper order to understand and celebrate the
achievement that comes at the end. We learn about Honnold, we see how he gets
here, we watch him prepare, we learn about the film crew and their struggles,
we see his personal life and then we watch as he climbs attempting to make
history. It’s no spoiler to know the ending since had he failed headlines would
have proclaimed that far more than the success he achieved which is kind of
twisted to think about.
National Geographic is behind this film and their claim to
fame has always been the ability to capture on first photographs and late on
film the most amazing natural sights a person can imagine. This film is no
different presenting the most hair raising and stomach churning moments as
Honnold makes the climb. The Oscar the film received was well deserved. The
film played on the National Geographic channel but for those who don’t get that
it is available for purchase or rent right now. I would highly recommend this
film and to pay attention to it rather than having it just be on. Some will
find Honnold crazy and others inspiring. How you feel about him will be
determined only by watching the film.
Growing up in the sixties the selection of horror films
broke down into three categories. There was the classic Universal horror films,
the low budget drive-in horror films and then there were the Hammer horror
films. All of these played non-stop on the late night horror host circuit and
were discovered by those of us who snuck out of bed and pressed our eager faces
up against the cathode ray in hopes of being frightened, the sound turned down
low as to not wake anyone up.
In the case of Hammer films we had another reason not to
wake anyone. As most of us were hitting puberty Hammer provided enough cleavage
that we were glued to the set for reasons other than being frightened. What we
didn’t realize at the time was that we were being treated to some of the
greatest horror films made since those early Universal classics.
As the sixties bled into the seventies though Hammer found
that the typical period horror film no longer drew in the audiences that they
once did. In keeping up with the times they began to include not just cleavage
but actual skin in their films. This led to more their films popping up in
drive-ins again if not cut down versions of their films on TV. Which brings us
to COUNTESS DRACULA.
Made in 1971 following the mild success of THE VAMPIRE
LOVERS and LUST FOR A VAMPIRE Hammer turned towards another blood craving
villain that actually had nothing to do with Dracula. Based loosely on the true
Countess Elizabeth Bathory who was said to bathe in the blood of virgins here
we have the story of Countess Elisabeth Nadasdy (Ingrid Pitt) whose husband has
recently died. When the will is read his horses and stable have been left to
Imre Toth (Sandor Eles) the son of a fellow warrior, his library to historian
Fabio (Maurice Denham), his armor to his right hand man Captain Dobi (Nigel
Greene) who’s been having an affair with the Countess for years and the
remainder of his estate is to be divided between his wife and daughter Countess
Ilona Nadasdy (Lesley Anne-Down).
Both the Countess and Dobi are less than happy with the
outcome of the will. After scolding (and scalding) a servant girl who gets her
tub too hot, the Countess cuts the girl on accident. After she leaves though
she notices that the blood has made her skin youthful again. Seeing this as a secret
to eternal youth she forces her handmaiden to bring the girl to her. Killing
her she bathes in her blood and now looks as young as her daughter.
Conspiring with Dobi they capture the girl on her way home
and imprison her in the forest. The Countess takes on the disguise of her
daughter and beings flirting with young Imre much to the displeasure of Dobi.
But as time passes the effects of the blood bath wear off and more blood must
be spilled for the Countess to retain her youthful appearance. As the body
count rises so do suspicions as to where the girls are disappearing to. Before
the final reel secrets are revealed, escapes are made and the death toll
includes more than just the girls.
The movie works well as a horror film with a slight twist to
the vampire legend mentioned in the title. There is no drinking of blood, no
throats bitten nor bats flying about. Instead we just have women killed and
their blood bathed in, only seen once on screen along with the exposed flesh of
the voluptuous Pitt. But it was enough to make the film a money maker, not
quite as well as the original Hammer Dracula films but still decent box office
numbers. It also solidified Pitt as a star and popular with the horror crowd.
What I found most interesting here while watching was how
great the production value of the entire movie was. If the name had been
changed and the horror angle not played up for attention the movie would have
been a decent period piece on its own. The sets, costumes, acting, direction,
cinematography all combine to make a sumptuous film that deserves to be seen
and praised more than it has to date.
The movie has been released for a while now from Synapse
Films who have specialized in restoring so many horror, cult and drive-in
movies to blu-ray. They’ve done a fantastic job here that proves their
dedication to preserving movies without trying to take on too much has done
them well. They’re a name to be respected with this and many other releases
they’ve brought out.
With this release the picture is amazing and their blu-ray
edition is gorgeous. If that weren’t enough they’ve added a number of extras
that should interest fans as well. Those include an audio commentary track with
Pitt, director Peter Sasdy, screenwriter Jeremy Paul and author Jonathan Sothcott,
“Immortal Countess: The Cinematic Life of Ingrid Pitt” a short documentary on
the actress, an archival audio interview with Pitt, a still gallery, the
theatrical trailer and reversible cover artwork. All of this combines to make
the most comprehensive copy of the film you will find.
With releases like this it is no wonder that Synapse is a
force to be reckoned with. Along with a few other specialty companies theirs is
one that will continue to supply those of us who still believe in owning
physical copies of movies like this. Their Hammer titles are all worth adding
to your collection and one can only hope that they gain the rights to more.
