January 15th, 2007
Posted by
Ian W |
DVD Reviews |
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Star Dana Andrews made a few westerns but always seemed ill suited to them. Here he looks uncomfortable in western costume, walking around as if someone’s starched his long johns, although that could have more to do with his advancing years as he was well into his fifties when he made the film. He plays US Marshal Johnny Reno who arrives in a small western town accompanied by a prisoner he apprehended en route. He’s there to see old flame Nona Williams (Jane Russell). After finding that his prisoner is wanted by the townsfolk he holds up in the town jail, enlisting the aid of the town Sheriff to keep the outlaw safe when it becomes clear the Mayor wants him dead for reasons unknown.
I’ve never understood the appeal of Russell beyond the obvious and that appeal must have stared to sag by this point in her career. Like Andrews she was over the hill, just not quite as far over, only in her mid forties. Only Lon Chaney Jr. as the corrupt sheriff who gets a shot at redemption stands out from the supporting cast but he’s given little chance to really shine.
We’ve seen the lawman fighting off the mob who are trying to break the prisoner out of jail (either to hang or free him) far too often and this fails to offer anything new. It’s the sort of thing was done far better in Howard Hawks’ Rio Bravo and El Dorado but then Dana Andrews is no John Wayne.
January 15th, 2007
Posted by
Ian W |
DVD Reviews |
no comments
The House of Exorcism (1975) Region 2
I’ve never seen Maio Bava’s Lisa and The Devil but from the original footage used in this bastardised version it looks like a pretty standard giallo murder mystery. This re-edited version, featuring new footage shot by the producer Alfredo Leone to cash in on the success of The Exorcist, is another animal altogether.
The structure of the film has been completely altered so that Bava’s footage is used in flashback to reveal what happened to Lisa Reiner (Elke Sommer) that resulted in her hospitalisation and the subsequent involvement of a priest played by Robert Alda. This restructuring results in the film making virtually no narrative sense.
Bava was an inventive filmmaker who could do a lot with a minuscule budget, creating such stylish features as Black Sunday and Planet of the Vampires, the latter an obvious influence on Ridley Scott’s Alien. Sadly here his style is so diluted as to be all but unwatchable.
The performances are nothing to shout about either. Elke Sommer is there primarily to look pretty while Telly Savalas plays the lollypop sucking butler (or is he the devil?) as if he were Kojak.
So does the film have anything to recommend it? Well yes, sort of. If features some hysterical exorcism scenes that are far funnier than anything featured in The Exorcist spoof Repossessed starring Leslie Nielsen.
