THE HAUNTED STRANGLER 1957

The Criterion Blogathon hosted by Criterion Blues, Speakeasy and Silver Screenings

(a very big thanks to the above hosts for organizing this !)

"Their wild beauty marked them for death by ..... The Haunted Strangler" 

     During the later half of the 1950's Boris Karloff's movie career was seeming winding down. Entering his early 70's he worked mostly in television and in theatre with only his only forays into motion pictures being projects such as the odd VOODOO ISLAND from 1957 and 1958's goofy but entertaining FRANKENSTEIN 1970.

    In 1957 producer Richard Gordon and approached Karloff about doing a pair of horror films in England, with the result being THE HAUNTED STRANGLER and 1958's CORRIDORS OF BLOOD. Harking back to the Gothic horrors of Karloff's earlier genre work they also bear a nodding resemblance to the Boris's Val Lewton films (in particular CORRIDORS in relation to Lewton's THE BODY SNATCHER), with STRANGLER also mixing in a bit of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and a dash of Tod Slaughter. Being filmed in England on sets at the MGM British studios and beautifully shot in B&W by Geoffery Faithfull (VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED) both films have handsome look to their productions that belay their small budgets.
     In both films Karloff plays sympathetic characters who are drawn in to dark circumstances beyond their control (whether by their own fault or not) which leads to their downfall. In THE HAUNTED STRANGLER (which went out in Britain as GRIP OF THE STRANGLER) Karloff plays James Rankin, who would be best described as "social reformer" in 1880's London. He begins investigating a case involving a serial killer known as "The Haymarket Strangler" and a one armed man (as it's explained the victims were "half strangled, then slashed to death !") named Edward Styles who was executed 20 years earlier after being convicted of the crimes.

     Believing that the judicial system is rigged against people of lower economic standing and convinced that Styles was innocent, Rankin along with his assistant Dr. Kenneth McColl (Tim Turner) begin investigating the crime. Also lurking on the sidelines is Rankin's doting wife (Elizabeth Allan MARK OF THE VAMPIRE) and step-daughter Lily (Diane Aubrey VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED). Lily also serves as the love interest for Dr. McColl - when he's not ogling dance hall girls.
     Rankin begins butting heads with Supt. Burke (an unusual "good guy" authority role for Anthony Dawson from DR. NO and CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF) and his investigation soon leads to a Dr. Tennant (who preformed the autopsy on Styles after his execution) and to a cabaret with the wonderful name of The Judas Hole where several of the victims had worked. Rankin then discovers Dr. Tennant's medical bag which has the scalpel missing and makes the rather quick and unconnected deduction that the scalpel is located in Styles casket (a sequence which was shown in the film's prologue).
     Finding no one to believe his theory that Tennant himself was the murderer Rankin bribes a guard and sneaks into the creepy prison graveyard and upon finding the scalpel in Styles coffin he immediately twists his arm to his side and contorts his face into a lopsided grimace. Karloff does the entire transformation without the benefit of make-up and while his exaggerated gestures and leering expression might elicit a few chuckles today (it made quite an impression on me as a child) it's still quite a performance and it is wonderful to see Karloff at this stage of his career scuttling amongst graveyards and diving with gusto into a true Gothic horror.

     The script by producer John Croydon (DEAD OF NIGHT and THE PROJECTED MAN - here under a "John C. Cooper" pseudonym) along with Jan Read (JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS) has a couple of nice twists while attempting some pseudo psychology for the cast to mull over and gives forth some wonderful dialogue for Karloff's inmedible vocal delivery. Released the same year as Hammer's CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, STRANGLER seems almost quaint with it's moody B&W photography and lack of blood (CORRIDORS OF BLOOD as befitting its title is far more bloody - albeit still in B&W) as in the next couple of years British producers would continue to ramp up the blood and sex (with sometimes extra "spice" added for the Continental market). The next year Karloff would appear in the daffy FRANKENSTEIN 1970 for Allied Artist before returning to primarily TV work until the 1960's brought about another round of film work mainly for A.I.P. (including the masterful BLACK SABBATH for Mario Bava) along with the odd Euro/British or Mexican project.
    Labeled here as "King of the Monsters !", Karloff although 70 years old at the time and somewhat hobbled with the arthritis and back problems that continue to plague him (and escalate) throughout the remainder of his life gives gives a wonderful & sympathetic performance here, seemingly buoyed by working in his home country and back on familiar ground in period B&W horror. Really getting into the physicality of the transformation (as mentioned a bit over the top) he seems to relish the role of "the monster" with some as expected body double for the more strenuous stunts including Rankin doing his best John Wilkes Booth as he leaps to the stage after a murder.  

    Moving from fog shrouded graveyards to shadowy prisons and Victorian drawing rooms THE HAUNTED STRANGLER is a beautiful looking film and with Karloff front and center most of the other roles seem to fade into the background with the exception of the great Anthony Dawson (you keep waiting for him to switch gears and do something evil or unsavory) and although the film does partly take place in a dance hall there is quite a bit more energetic can can dancing then required for the plot.

    Much of the same crew (and Boris) were also on hand for Richard Gordon's companion piece CORRIDORS OF BLOOD which is more of a historical drama dealing with Karloff as a pioneering surgeon (and an appearance by Christopher Lee) experimenting with anesthetic who unfortunately becomes addicted to drugs and gets involved with grave robbers. These two films along with THE ATOMIC SUBMARINE and FIRST MAN INTO SPACE are in the nifty Monsters and Madmen from Criterion.
     THE HAUNTED STRANGLER originally went out on a double bill with Gordon's crawling brain opus FIEND WITHOUT A FACE (also available from Criterion as a standalone release).

     

LET'S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH 1971

"Something is after Jessica. Something very cold, very wet.... and very dead"

     One of the highlights of 1970's horror, this low key and creepily hypnotic 1971 film was part of that wonderful era of American films that seemed to merge European art house film making sensibilities with the then booming horror market for product to fill drive-in screens and genre markets that resulted in such films as MESSIAH OF EVIL and THE WITCH YOU CAME FROM THE SEA.
    Savaged by most critics and fading into quick obscurity at the box office, LET'S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH later slowly gained in stature mostly as a result of late night TV viewings, which because of its absence of nudity and sparingly use of blood made it one of the few horror films of the era that could be played unedited on TV. The film unfortunately was also the recipient of a hyperbole filled ad campaign and a title that promised a more "jump scare" type of plot that included the above poster and gimmicks such as hearses parked outside of theatres - all of which was a severe oversell for the low key atmosphere and psychological horror that the film brought to the screen.
    After suffering a nervous breakdown and spending time in a hospital Jessica (Zohra Lampert) moves to rural Connecticut village from New York City, along with her husband Duncan (Barton Heyman) and a mutual friend named Woody (Kevin O'Connor). While on their way to their destination they stop at an old graveyard for Jessica to indulge in her hobby of making headstone rubbings. This sequence also immediately put forth the premonition of death which permeates throughout the course of the movie. While at the graveyard Jessica glimpses a mysterious young woman (Gretchen Corbett from THE ROCKFORD FILES) in white beckoning to her and who quickly disappears. Jessica speaks to herself,(a motif used throughout the film to reflect her growing estrangement from the other characters) that she shouldn't tell Duncan or Woody as they might believe she's having a relapse.

     Arriving in town while driving a hearse (which seems to incur the suspicions of the townsfolk as "hippies") they arrive at an isolated Gothic farmhouse by a cove that they've purchased and discover a young woman Emily (Mariclare Costello) squatting there. Referring to herself as a "traveler" the group is initially suspicious of her, but soon invite her to stay at the house as a guest. The group sets up a commune like arrangement (even having the obligatory 1970's seance at one point) but soon some underlying tensions begin to develop amongst the four the group as it becomes obvious that Duncan and Jessica's marriage is somewhat shaky because of her recent mental problems and that they've used up all their money to buy the property. Jessica also begins to sense a growing attraction between Duncan and the vivacious Emily with Woody also being attracted to her, all of which heightens the tension within the household.
     On a trip to local antique store to sell some items from the house they learn from the owner of a legend concerning their house in which a young women named Abigail drowned in the lake on the eve of her wedding and that her spirit still roams the countryside as a kind of succubus. The local village is seemingly populated entirely by men who all bear an ominous open wound like a razor slash somewhere on their body. Later during a swim in the cove a spectral figure resembling Emily seemingly tries to drown Jessica and later Jessica sees a mysterious figure of a women lurking below the surface of the water.

     With its vague allusions to vampirism first time director John Hancock (who also wrote the screenplay under the name Ralph Rose) seems to draw inspiration from J. Sheridan Le Fanu novella Carmilla (along with Carl Dreyer's 1928 film adaptation VAMPYR). It's interesting to contrast JESSICA's handling of the same type of material as Hammer was then exploring in its "Karnstein Triolgy" with those film's bare bosoms & bright blood splashed about. Although filmed almost exclusively in the daylight hours LET'S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH creates a decidedly creepy atmosphere with half glimpsed figures and a feeling of isolation as even a visit to a brightly lite attic crates a feeling of unease. The theme of isolation plays heavily in the proceedings with gaunt farmhouse in the middle of nowhere almost becoming a character in itself.

    Literally defining the term "slow burn", its filmed with a hazy dream-like ambiance with the plot meandering (although never dragging) through its 89 minute running time and with its vague hints of a greater underlying horror then is actually shown it, leaves the viewer with a haunting sense of ambiguity. It's a shame that Zohra Lampert never really broke out as an actress (although she's an actress that one can't think of existing outside of the 70's) as she's quite wonderful here, bringing a quiet reserved performance as fragile women desperately trying convince her companions (and herself) of her sanity. Mariclare Costello also puts in an intriguing performance, in fact the two central female leads regulate the two males to the background.
   Originally released theatrically by Paramount, it was issued on DVD back in 2005 and was recently re-released on Warner's Archive MOD label. With the majority of the principles still with us it would be nice to have a new blu-ray edition with commentaries/ interviews and hopefully give this long neglected classic the stature it deserves.