The Man With X-Ray Eyes

Not as existential as I thought it would be but still pretty good.

This was one of Roger's more ambitious films with a budget around $300,000 dollars with a large emphasis on optical effects and experimental cinematography, following the experiment of a Dr. Xavier who develops a drug to enhance the human eye. Of course nobody would test it but himself as we watch his spiral downwards from skilled doctor, to carnival attraction, to card shark with an appropriately eerie ending. For a film at about 80 minutes long it doesn't take long for the experiment to occur and it certainly kept me guessing until the absolute end where it would go, and I feel in my bones this is a plot that could be expanded upon in a much more existential and horrific way but the touches we do get while understated are still unsettling. Imagine never having the respite of closing your eyes, imagine light being unbearably painful, imagine seeking peace when none will come to escape the far reaching gaze that pierces cloud, shadow, earth, and flesh. That's a different kind of horror, not quite body horror, not quite cosmic horror, but something people would not want to experience. The movie is carried exceptionally well on the back of Ray Milland as James Xavier, it's almost a performance based on his voice alone which is fantastic by the by, because it's hard to express the scope of such an unnatural power in the eye of the beholder but you can hear the pain and desperation he has. The experimental liquid is akin to a narcotic with him taking more and more culminating in a broken and dazed monologue at the end. I heard he wasn't keen on this movie but he performs very admirably! Diana Van der Vlis plays Diane another doctor brought in to explore the validity of the experiment and I have to give credit that no romance was written in, she's a colleague and a friend to this doomed man who tries to talk reason into him, though not a prominent part she plays it nicely. A surprise appearance by the great comedian and ball buster extraordinaire Don Rickles appears as the carnival manager Crane and my God is he great at playing this money grubbing scoundrel, again not around for very long but adds a unique element to the story and I gotta admit was great to see. The early 60s production gives a nice flair from time to time with set design, costuming, and dance moves but the beauty of the story is it really could be set during any time but the time capsule element is cool. The special effects are really damn interesting, seen entirely from the point of view of James with muddled colors, cross dissolves to see the interior working of man and machine, the choice of contact lenses for Ray, it comes together very dang well for my money. And for a person who has a substantial fear of unearthly eyes I'm happy it didn't freak me out too much but that doesn't mean eyes can't be a fair bit scary still. It's pretty impressive what Roger and the crew accomplished with such a budget during shooting and in post production, but Roger was a wild card in the deck of filmmakers that really did stuff his own way and was cost effective at doing so. It's not one of his most well known movies but it's a neat story that people can enjoy. 3 stars, 7.5/10 from me, and we got one more directorial effort from the great man himself before the week is out so stay tuned.

It Conquered The World

Damn I miss you Roger.

No way I couldn't have a little week dedicated to Roger Corman and no better place to start than a good old fashioned B-movie! Shot in a whopping 5 days this classic staple of goofy monster movie history follows a crashed alien craft with it's pilot slowly conquering...a town and not so much the Earth (hey man they had to get butts in seats somehow) with the help of a resident scientist leading to the military and the scientist's friend to stop the menace. It bears some similarities to Invasion Of The Body Snatchers which coincidentally came out the same year of 1956, and though it's far from air tight in terms of plot and it's absolutely one of those movies where you don't fully see the monster until pretty much the end I gotta admit I didn't hate it! I got involved in the story with the humans and can kinda applaud it for taking some dark cold moments from time to time. The acting is solid across the board, a lot of love was heaped upon Beverly Garland as the evil scientist's wife Claire who is far from a fainting worthless woman, in fact though it would have made the movie only about an hour she has the balls to go charging into the alien's lair with a rifle to take care of business and that is fucking awesome. Best known from shows like Mission Impossible and the host of A&E Biography along with movies such as Airplane, Peter Graves is a pretty solid yet basic lead as Paul. I'm not expecting deep writing in a monster movie but he gets the job done and has a real strong voice that I like listening to. Lee Van Cleef the legend himself plays the baddie Tom and he probably has the best written material viewing the invader as a benefactor and cure to all man's problems even fully knowing it takes over people's minds and has less than altruistic motives leading to many conversations about it. Also shoutout to Dick Miller as one of the army officers, it's always kick ass to see him in any movie whether in a major or minor role! A line that struck me hard in this movie is from Paul during one of the discussions of the wrongs the alien would put to right, "I'd have to take a long hard look at anything that was gonna change the world and me so completely." and man! That needs to circulate majorly in this day and age! Some may point to it as just a cheesy sci-fi movie but I think there's more to it, and it's not an incompetently made film either! The dialogue is good, the setting is basic but has logic, the production values of the sets are believable, and even the alien himself though slightly funny is without doubt a memorable design. Hailing from the planet Venus this red crab-like monster was laughed at even on set with particular shade being thrown from Beverly Garland, and yeah it's not that major a threat or anything but it has charm to it like any rubber suit monster has. Is it a forgotten classic? No. Is it atypical of the 50s B-movie? Yeah. But for a small budget and a run time of barely over an hour it isn't a waste. It's a sure fire recommendation if you're having a 50s monster movie night and you like them on the cheaper side. I give it 2.5 stars, 6.5/10!

Gremlins

Yes, I'm serious! Gremlins is a great Christmas movie.

Directed by horror master Joe Dante, Gremlins is a bizzare, violent, and disturbing movie all set around the most wonderful time of the year. Makes sense to me! It starts in classic science fiction fashion, in a small town where a young teenager receives a most interesting pet for Christmas. Known as a Mogwai, this cute furry little fellow seems innocent enough as long as you follow these 3 rules: 1. Never put it in bright light, 2. Never get it wet, and 3. Never feed it after midnight. Unfortunately, the Mogwai named Gizmo accidentaly gets wet and actually multiplies, creating several other Mogwai's all with different personalities. Not very long after, through a simple slip of time the multiplied Mogwai's eat after midnight causing them to mutate and transform into red eyed, scaly, sharp toothed little demons from hell who take no time to start terrorizing and attacking the locals. So as it is in these movies, it's up to our main character, his crush, and his pet to stop all the hell raising critters. Pretty great movie in execution although not being highly original in concept. The main highlight of the movie are the gremlins, they are completely nuts. They just want to party all night, kick ass, and are not afraid to severely hurt people. This movie has to be seen to be believed man. I cannot even elaborate on the proceedings without sounding like I am on five different kinds of hard drugs. Watch this movie! Zach Galligan is a great protagonist, Phoebe Cates is a heart throb if I've ever seen one, all the supporting cast is great, especially Dick Miller. Dick Miller is the man. The sheer shenanigans in this movie are too many to count, the horrific creature deaths are a sight to behold since all the gremlins are animatronics, it is unreal how great the effects are! It is very Christmas in atmosphere, and it surprises me how many people pop this movie in around December. I mean who doesn't want to see creepy creatures brutally attacking people and seeing them die in fantastic gruely ways? I know I do. And maybe you should too, so give it a watch. Just don't let the Santa speech sink too deep, that's some heavy stuff man.