Showing posts with label Oliver Reed. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oliver Reed. Show all posts
"I'm not a man of action. Perhaps I think too much to be brave."
Jason Standing (Andrew Kier), a magistrate at a 17th century Huguenot settlement on the isle of Devon, sends his own son Jonathon (Kerwin Mathews) to a penal colony for the alleged crime of adultery. Jason manages to escape and falls in with a group of French pirates run by a Captain LaRoche (Christopher Lee). Being assured that the pirates represent no danger to his people, Jonathon leads them back to Devon, and discovers you can't quite trust the word of a pirate. Other characters caught up in the action include Jonathon's sister Bess (Marla Landi), and her fella, Henry (Glenn Corbett of Homicidal). Michael Ripper and Oliver Reed [Paranoiac] play other pirates. This is a very handsome non-horror Hammer production, with Lee, unfortunately, being more subdued than usual in trying to avoid the stereotype of the fire-breathing pirate chief. There is an unconvincing attack by piranha, but Gary Hughes' score is a plus, as is the photography of Arthur Grant [The Terror of the Tongs]. Andrew Kier offers the most memorable performance.
Verdict: Not bad Hammer historical melodrama with an interesting cast. **1/2.
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| Oliver Reed |
In a prologue, we meet a miserable landowner, the Marques Siniestro (Anthony Dawson), who wrongly imprisons a mute servant girl (Yvonne Romain), simply because she won't respond to his repulsive advances. In her cell the poor woman is raped by another prisoner (Richard Wadsworth), and then dies in child birth. Her son, Leon (Oliver Reed), is raised by the gentlemanly and compassionate Alfredo (Clifford Evans). Leon goes off to work for a wine merchant, and falls for the man's daughter, Christina (Catherine Feller). Christina's father objects to their romance, but Leon has a more serious problem -- when the moon is full the cursed man turns into a werewolf, running home to commit flesh-tearing murders. Director Fisher has done some excellent Hammer horror pictures, but somehow this misses, a victim of awkward continuity and Reed's overwrought performance, although the other cast members are good, especially Feller, and Hira Talfrey as the servant Teresa. Benjamin Frankel's musical score is a decided plus. This was based on Guy Endore's "Werewolf of Paris."
Verdict: A lesser Hammer despite the talent involved. **.
Based on the Dr. Syn novels that first appeared in 1915 [also the basis of Walt Disney's Dr. Syn, the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh], this interesting Hammer feature takes place in the village of Dymchurch in 1792. British sailors led by Captain Collier (Patrick Allen) come to town hunting for smugglers who want to bypass the high taxes on liquor and other items. The whole town leads Collier and his men on a merry chase as they do their best to hide the taxable items and outwit the revenue men. The supernatural aspects of the film -- the phantoms of Romney Marsh or the "night creatures" of the American title -- are a bit of a cheat, but the film is suspenseful and entertaining enough in its own right. Peter Cushing is excellent, as usual, as the reverend Dr. Blyss, who may have a secret or two up his sleeve, and Martin Benson [The Cosmic Monsters] and Michael Ripper also offer superior performances as two of his co-conspirators; Allen is also fine as Collier. Oliver Reed [Paranoiac] is as intense as ever as young Harry, who has fallen in love with barmaid Imogene (Yvonne Romain), who is the secret daughter of the supposedly dead and notorious pirate Captain Clegg. Jack MacGowran [The Giant Behemoth] offers another of his flavorful portrayals as a villager who tries to mislead Collier and his band, and Milton Reid is vivid as the "mulatto" who hates Clegg and causes all manner of mischief. Dan Banks' exciting musical score helps keep things percolating.
Verdict: Something different! ***.
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| Oliver Reed, Alexander Davion and Sheila Burrell |
"Money doesn't matter as long as we have each other." -- Francoise
"You're more stupid than I gave you credit for." -- Simon
A wealthy couple, the Ashbys, were killed in a plane crash eleven years ago. Three years later, one of their children, Tony, committed suicide at 15. Now eight years have gone by since then and the survivors include emotionally disturbed Eleanor (Janette Scott), who hears her dead brother singing in the night; her brother Simon (Oliver Reed), who drinks copiously and is primarily concerned with the inheritance that will come his way in a couple of weeks; and their strange and stern Aunt Harriet (Sheila Burrell) whose face is an inscrutable mask. Another member of the household is Francoise (Liliane Brousse of Maniac), who is Eleanor's nurse. Out of nowhere there's suddenly a new/old arrival, a handsome man (Alexander Davion) who claims that he's Tony and that he only faked his death by drowning years ago [the body was never recovered]. Is this man for real, or is he an impostor after the family fortune? And who is that masked figure who goes about attacking people with a meat hook? Paranoiac is another post-Psycho British thriller with an unusual plot and absorbing script by Jimmy Sangster that, unfortunately, offers up some rather absurd developments as things proceed. [One amusing aspect is how more than one person notes how the adult Tony refuses a drink and remembers that "yes, Tony never drank." At 15 one would hope so!] There is one excellent sequence in which Eleanor nearly goes over a cliff in her car when the brakes fail, and in general Francis' direction is quite good. Paranoiac boasts good performances from the entire cast, although Reed does go a little over the top in a couple of sequences. Alexander Davion makes an extremely appealing leading man. The film also has an effective score by Elisabeth Lutyens [The Psychopath] and attractive photography by Arthur Grant [The Terror of the Tongs].
Verdict: Silly at times but entertaining. **1/2.