Movie Review - The Cassandra Crossing

The Cassandra Crossing

1976

The Cast

I haven't seen this one in years and it's surprising how much actually stays in your memory.  Luckily for me, a TV station that specialises in old movies and television dramas decided to show this flick.  It was the star-studded cast that drew me to it, along with the storyline - I do like a good disaster film.

The first thing I have to do is praise the opening sequence as being one of the best I've ever seen.  It's a flight across Geneva to the World Health Organisation.  It's such a steady and beautiful shot that it really sticks in my mind.  

We then find out why we're at the WHO.  A terrorist group are about to break in and try to blow up the building.  However, their attempt is foiled.  Though, in the process, a couple of them are doused in a liquid that contains a fatally infectious disease.  One of the two is shot on site, though the other makes it out of the building to escape into a nearby rail station and an awaiting train.  Once onboard the audience is privileged to watch the spread of the infection as the escapee stumbles through the carriages.

What adds to the power of the film is the interconnecting stories of the travellers on the train.  Some are hiding secrets, some are hiding from life, some are trying to make the best of the life they have, and some are falling in love.  The diversity of characters and their realism only adds strength to the story and film.  Though I will say that the strongest and best character, for me, was Herman Kaplan who is brilliantly portrayed by Lee Strasberg.

On the whole, the directing and story is pretty average, though there are a few good scenes, such as the helicopter pickup - this gets you on the edge of your seat.  Then when we're coming to the climax the continual flashes to the dilapidated bridge do add an air of expectation and tension.

If there is one drawback it's the length of the film.  It could have done with losing a few minutes, just to tighten up the pace a little.  But that's it.  The ending is superb and actually sent a shiver down my spine and left a sarcastic smile on my face.

This is a pretty good film to watch on a Sunday Afternoon when you're podged with Sunday Dinner.  I would recommend this one to all the thriller and conspiracy lovers out there in the world, well worth a view or two.

I give this a heart beating and train stopping 6.75 out of 10.

The Trailer

Video Nasty - Eaten Alive

Eaten Alive

AKA: Death Trap

1976

Mars Productions Corporations

M & M / Dark Sky Films / Video Instant Picture Company

7.5 / 10 

I've never been a great fan of Tobe Hooper's (I find him pretty average, though I do like quite a few of the movies he's shot) so I was happily surprised to find this was a treat to watch.  The thing which I was unprepared for was the stylish way that Hooper directed the movie, full of vivid and startling reds and blues.  Not the usual fair for Hooper though it does add an extra element to the atmosphere of the movie, as did the constant twangy country soundtrack about the most depressing things in life.

The story about a Motel owner and his crocodile.  Though, it's never stated you get the feeling that Motel owner Judd may be a veteran whose seen more than his fair share of action and has returned shell-shocked and schizophrenic, as some of his rantings have this impression.  Either way, this man is mentally broken.  When a runaway girl takes a room for the night he get's the idea that she's a hooker who worked at Miss Hattie's place and he doesn't like those types of girls.  She ends up being the entree for the crocodile who will be well fed before the end of the night.

There's not much to the story and it all takes place in or around the motel, what makes this a really watchable film is the characterisations and the actors and actresses who portray them.  In particular, Neville Brand who does a brilliant job with Judd from mannerisms to ticks to different personalities when the voices start speaking to him.  He was the right choice for this role and very strong within it.  Another strong actress is the beautiful Carolyn Jones (of King Creole and The Addams Family fame), though it's really hard to make her out as Miss Hattie.  To be honest, the cast is pretty top-notch and has the likes of a young Robert England, Mel Ferrer, and Stuart Whitman.

However, there is one family that turn up at the motel and the dynamic between the mother and father is damn strange, in fact, the father's personality is downright weird.  This does deter from the power of the film and it's characters, to the point of severing the link of believability with the audience.

Overall though this is a film that I would recommend to everybody who likes a good psychological thriller.  It is definitely one to watch with the curtains drawn and the lights turned off.

Nergling - The Video Nasties Scare - Eaten Alive

Video Nasty - The Witch Who Came From The Sea

The Witch Who Came From The Sea

(1976)

MCI / Matt Cimber Productions

7.75 / 10

After watching the film I can understand how it made the Video Nasty list; the director, Matt Cimber, chose to show Molly's sexual abuse at the hands of her father, who was mentally unstable.  Though most of these scenes are shot well and the abuse is suggested, sometimes very subtly.  It's the pivotal scene which is the most disturbing.  Robert Thom, the writer who also wrote Death Race 2000, added a nasty twist at this point.  It adds to the reason why Molly is so broken.  Cimber does tone it down a little but couldn't remove the scene entirely as, like I said, it's pivotal and adds to the story and character of Molly; it clarifies a lot of things for the audience.

That said, the film is felicitous and unfortunately still relevant today.  The film starts on the beach as Molly is babysitting her sister's children, Tad and Tripoli.  As she tells her nephews the stories of her seafaring father, their grandfather, she watches the men on the muscle beach, drinking in every inch of their bodies,   She drifts off into a daydream where they all die.

As the film progresses Molly keeps fading in and out of daydreams where the men in mind die, most in gruesome ways.  Then one morning she wakes up in her on-again-off-again lover's bed as he shakes her awake to tell her that two famous football players have been murdered.  One of her killer daydreams were of her sexual and murderous encounter.  This startles her but doesn't trouble her.

As the dreams keep coming, as do the deaths, the police start to close in on her just as she and her friends start to believe she's the killer.

Now, this is the strange thing for all but the last murder her dreams came before the murder, whereas the last killing is her dream - it occurs at the same time.  Apart from the last death you never see her commit them in her real life, just in her dreams.  This makes the film feel disjointed and I was left wondering if she really did carry them out or if some other force was at work.

Along with the memories of her abuse, which also appear in dreamlike sequences the entire film has an abstract impression.  This, in turn, gives the film more depth and power.  I'm not one for flashbacks and the like as they inevitably make a movie feel cluttered and sometimes incomprehensible.  So respect due to Cimber for making so many work comprehensibly to strengthen the story and film.

Millie Perkins, known for playing Anne Frank, does a splendid job of playing down her troubled past, though you can see the effects working free on her face.  You know she's troubled but not to what extent.

Lonny Chapman, who plays the bar-owner and on-again-off-again lover, is brilliant as the man who truly loves her and is worried for her but just cannot really help her.

There is so much in this film to like, I just wished that Cimber and Thom had gone for a more paranormal explanation for the murders since it appears impossible for her to have carried out a couple of them.  It may have made the film cleaner.  Even the poster, which when you first look at it emanates an exploitation vibe, is pretty true to the film and pulls images from a mermaid tattoo, Birth Of Venus by Botticelli, and her feelings towards men and her father.  The images are featured in the movie and once you see them the poster makes better sense.

Though I liked the film it did feel more like an art-house film than a thriller, though if you like revenge movies you may like this.  Just be warned, it may leave a nasty taste in your mouth, thanks to the aforementioned abuse scenes and the end sequence.

Not for everybody.

 Nergling - The Video Nasty Scare - The Witch Who Came From The Sea