Category: 1960s

While I didn’t necessarily need to see another version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, this one does have some clever takes on the story. Paul Massie’s Jekyll is a submissive, repressed homebody whose wife is cheating on him. His Mr. Hyde persona is clever and conniving, allowing him to live solely for hedonistic pleasures, including trying to steal back his wife from his best friend. The sets and costumes are attractive period pieces and the makeup setting the two personalities apart is effective. 

In the beginning, this is just another incapacitated woman being terrorized film. As a member of that genre, it’s an acceptable entry. Susan Strasberg is a wheelchair-bound woman who is summoned to her father’s home only to be told he’s gone despite there being sightings of him on the estate. It’s a spooky setting where there are questionable motives and potential villains amongst the home’s denizens. But, the third act then turns everything on its head and it becomes an unexpectedly different but complementary tale. I personally was taken by surprise and that doesn’t happen often for me with films. 

This is a monster flick wrapped up in a murder mystery. After the death of a woman and her artist-boyfriend is ruled a murder-suicide, his father believes the truth is being suppressed and works to clear his son’s name. Their village has experienced seven mysterious murders in the last five years and someone, or something, is responsible. I truly dig the special effects the Gorgon brings to the film: the lovely undulating snakes in her hair, the creepy makeup, her gorgeously lit green dress, and of course the hardening of her victims as they turn to stone. There’s a bit of borrowing from other monster flicks to create the mythology of the modern Gorgon, but it’s extra satisfying that she’s a woman grappling with the changes in Edwardian society.  

I have a lifelong crush on Rock Hudson and it just continues here. He’s an American millionaire whose Italian girlfriend, Gina Lollobrigida, has decided she is sick of waiting for him and prepares to marry someone else, so Rock changes his plans and visits Italy in July instead of the usual September. Unbeknownst to him, the majordomo who looks after his Italian estate (played wonderfully by Walter Slezak) turns the villa into a hotel whenever Rock is away. It’s a hilarious romp where the older couple is forced to contend with the presence of a gaggle of teenage girls and the college-aged boys they attract. There’s also tons of beautiful Italian scenery to view while also watching Rock outmaneuver the boys while dealing with his own hypocritical views when dealing with the female of the species.

I managed to fit in a rewatch of this Don Knotts classic in the middle of my normal Halloween holiday watching. Knotts is a typesetter at the local newspaper who really wants to become a writer. He manages to find some success after writing stories about a local haunted house. That is until the former owner’s nephew sues him for libel. It’s Knotts at his skittishy best and the story has a perfectly charming spookiness. It’s a great family-friendly Halloween flick.

Another trio of stories starring Vincent Price, this time they are loosely based on stories by Edgar Allan Poe. In the first story, we have Price being visited by his adult daughter whom he blames for killing his wife in childbirth. In the second, Peter Lorre is tormented by his wife, her cat, and her lover in life and in death. And in the last, Basil Rathbone is a hypnotist who captures Price at the point between life and death in order to take advantage of him and his wife. There are neat special effects and bits of horror sprinkled between all three. The second tale is the best of the lot, infusing a bit of humor between Price and Lorre in between the tension.