cinema history class: screamers

Session: Aquatic Horrors, Week 2
Movie: Screamers (1979)
Directed by Sergio Martino

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL

Plot:
In the Caribbean, a greedy sadist is using a race of fishmen to plunder the riches of Atlantis. Hilarity ensues.

Reaction:

I should mention at the outset that I don't like the title, Screamers. The original title, Island of the Fishmen is much better. When Roger Corman got his hands on the original Italian film, he cut out a half hour of footage that he felt slowed it down, added a new beginning (which really doesn't fit), and rebranded it. But, to my ears, Screamers sounds like a generic title that could be applied to a wide variety of movies. Island of the Fishmen is much more descriptive and evocative -- though it also may make the thing sound trashy. Which may be reasonably accurate.

As for why Corman's beginning doesn't fit, there are a few reasons, but what it comes down to is that his intro is more lurid and over-the-top than the rest of the film. There are shades of Return of the Living Dead, which set up the viewer to demand things of the plot which never get delivered. To a degree, Screamers is largely a retelling of Island of Dr. Moreau, but with fishmen. With that in mind, it's reasonably clear to follow.

I had a hard time seeing this as a 1979 movie, as it felt like something from two decades or so earlier. In some ways, my mind kept coming back to the classic monster movies from the 1950's except this was in color. Vivid color. And for some reason, when I wasn't thinking of those 1950's monster movies I was thinking of Jules Verne.

 

Ratings:

Me: 6.5

Christina: 9.1

Ethan: 7

Sean: 2 out of 4

space: 1999 -- season 2 episodes 18 and 19 -- the bringers of wonder

Season 2, Episodes 18 and 19: The Bringers of Wonder
This blog comes with the generalized warning that any post may contain spoilers. That is especially true of these Space: 1999 posts. So if you haven't seen this episode, intend to watch it, and therefore don't want spoilers, then don't read.

Plot Synopsis
An expedition has arrived from earth with the the news that, with new faster-than-light travel, they can bring the whole Alpha crew back home. But through Koenig's eyes these saviors are hideous monsters controlling everyone else's minds.

My Thoughts
The producers got ambitious, putting out a two-parter. Creatively, at least, it was a success, as this was one of the better episodes. The drama was quite effective, and they managed to pull off the suspense. And the moment where the first part ends is a good cliffhangery point, so kudos the them for that.

 But those costumes! For this episode they had to make the aliens very non-humanoid, and they succeeded at that. But what they ended up with were these blobs that kind of look like piles of vegetable refuse in back of a restaurant. And at some points they appear to shrug, which can be kind of comical. But I suspect that part of the problem is that I'm watching this on a high definition TV. These aliens weren't intended to be viewed in quite so crisp a format, and they probably looked better on TV's of the 1970's. Actually, that's true of a lot of the aliens in Space: 1999.

There's one way that I would have written this differently. The conflict in the show arises because the aliens need nuclear radiation; for them, it's food. When Koenig finds out he suggests that Alpha can just give the aliens their waste and it would be a win-win. But it's explained to Koenig that the aliens need an explosion, so they plan on detonating Alpha's nuclear waste dump (shades of the series premiere?), which will kill all the people of Alpha. What this means is that, for Alpha it becomes an "us or them" situation. If I were writing the screenplay, I would have worked it out so that Koenig's win-win can be worked out -- Maybe they build a protective shield; maybe they figure out a way to get the waste into space to explode away from Alpha. I don't know exactly how I'd do it, but I would do it. Now, that may be because I grew up watching Star Trek reruns. The way I would have it would be more in keeping with the Star Trek ethos. Of course, it's hard to say whether it's in keeping with the Space: 1999 ethos because, deep in the second half of the second season, there really isn't any coherent ethos.

I also notice that there's a certain flaw in the logic of the episode. The only reason Koenig doesn't fall for the aliens' mind control is that he had just undergone some kind of experimental brain therapy. The therapy was necessitated because he crashed an eagle. He crashed the eagle because the aliens were controlling his mind. They were controlling his mind because they wanted him to crash and die -- because they were concerned that, with his strong mind, he wouldn't fall for their mind control. Put simply, they controlled his mind to try to get him out of the way because they were worried they wouldn't be able to control his mind. So, that doesn't make sense. But, moreover, there's the irony that, if they had just left him alone, Koenig would have been taken in.

I have come to find that Maya, played by Catherine Schell, is increasingly annoying. Blair says she seems like a Dr. Who babe, but I can't really confirm or deny that -- I was never a big Whovian. But her shapeshifting is usually silly. They need someone strong, so she turns into a gorilla. Or a strong-looking alien. Or they need something strong and bitey so she turns into a tiger. It's tiresome. At least in this episode she turned into one of the aliens so she could spy on them. This led to one of the funnier moments, as the aliens realize that, though she looks like one of them, she is not. At any rate it's not clear to me why Maya found it particularly more repulsive to be one these aliens than any of the other things she's turned into.

At its end, the episode addresses the philosophical question which I believe underpins the movie, The Matrix. I say "I believe" because I have never seen that movie or its sequels. The issue? Suppose you could live out a full life of happiness, realizing your dreams and suffering no adversity. But it was all a lie -- a life you were living in your head while you were blissfully unaware of reality. Would it be better to have that life, or to live in reality? Koenig clearly prefers reality. I am not so sure I would.

As much as I have issues with it, this is really one of the best episodes in the series. Aside from the tension and suspense mentioned above, it got me thinking. And, despite a certain silliness, I kind of liked the aliens.

One final note: Part one contains the best quote from any episode of the show: "I haven't had so much fun since I burned grandma's wig!"

cinema history class: killer fish

 Session: Aquatic Horrors, Week 1

Movie: Killer Fish (1979)
Directed by Antonio Margheriti

As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL

Plot:
In Brazil, a team of jewel thieves just have to wait out the heat. But they can't trust each other -- or the lake where they've hidden their stash. Hilarity ensues.

Reaction:

It felt odd to see Lee Majors in this; he was fresh off of The Six Million Dollar Man, and (I assume) at the height of his star power. So it's kind of hard to understand why he chose to do an Italian-produced low budget horror film. Maybe he wanted a paid vacation in Brazil? No matter. One effect of this was that, every time he crouched or looked intently at something, I expected to hear that distinctive sound effect indicating that he was using his bionic powers.

Truth be told, though, he wasn't the only "name" in this film -- though he was the biggest*. There was also Karen Black, James Franciscus and Margaux Hemingway. And, for comedic effect, there was Roy Brocksmith. And, more truth be told, my dismissive description of the film (see prior paragraph) doesn't really do it justice. Yeah -- I've seen a few reviews, and people like to talk crap about this film, but it's actually pretty entertaining.

Billed (and marketed) as a horror movie, it actually starts out as a caper film. The horror element doesn't really enter picture until pretty late going. And even once it does, it's handled in a subtle-enough way (at first) to keep some suspense going. Until things go completely shitfucked near the end, anyway. And all that is done well, except for that weird animated tornado. What was up with that?

There aren't really any "good guys" in the movie, and it's fun to watch an onscreen demonstration of the adage that there's "no honor among thieves." Or is there? I'll leave that to other viewers to decide. The fact is, I like it when the protagonists are a bit morally dubious, and that's what we have here. Perhaps that's the influence of the Italian movie industry behind it -- spaghetti westerns appeal to me for the same reason.

There are reasons to criticize this movie, but it's still a fun watch.

Ratings:

Me: 8

Christina: 8

Ethan: 8

Sean: 3 out of 4

*I think so, anyway. Am I wrong?

tom seaver: rip

The Franchise is dead. There is no other Franchise.

I'm kind of torn about how to approach this. I'm not a big baseball fan anymore. Arguably, I was never a big baseball fan -- I was a Mets fan. And, in particular, I was a Tom Seaver fan. Growing up as a Mets fan in the 1970's, there was no way to avoid being a Tom Seaver fan.

I was just a couple years too young to appreciate the Mets' world series victory in 1969 -- capping an ascent to respectability (and greatness?) that Seaver catalyzed. But he was the  Mets' biggest star for the first several years of my awareness of baseball. And so I followed him, and memorized his stats.

I was heartbroken when the Mets traded him in 1977, but I remained a fan of his -- which did cause me some level of internal conflict when he pitched against my Mets. I continued to memorize his statistics. I was happy for him when he pitched a no-hitter against the Cardinals in 1978, though I felt sad that he wasn't wearing a Mets uniform when he did it.

I could go on, but to what end?

When I would play ball with Jimmy or Anthony (who lived down the block from me), I was always pretending that I was Tom Seaver. Same when I played ball with my schoolmates, Morgan and Joel. Joel, for some reason, liked to pretend he was Vida Blue. I never figured that out.

The thing is, sports stars come and go. In the day, I rooted for Rusty Staub, for Daryl Strawberry, for Dwight Gooden. And for so many others. But Tom Seaver was the first ballplayer I rooted for as an individual (as opposed to as part of a team). And in the annals of the Mets, he was more than just a star. He was the franchise.

A part of my childhood died on Monday.

it's zmedsday!! (lxxxix)