OK, so Sunday, Post-Fest. We started with Vincent Price’s The Mad Magician, one of his early films that is pretty close to House of Wax in tone (if not in grandeur). It’s a hoot, and if you love Price–and obviously, we all do–I can’t see you not having a good time with it. I had never really seen it before, so I was pretty happy. It will also scratch the itch of all those who have ever wanted to see Vincent Price murder Eva Gabor.
Next we followed with another black and white film I’d never seen, the fantastic (as it turned out) film noir The Big Clock. The ever unlikeable Ray Milland is framed for a murder by his egotistical boss, publisher Charles Laughton. Who is great, as you’d expect. Milland (coded for the ’40s) cheats on his wife Maureen O’Sullivan, so as far as I’m concerned he deserves what he gets. The film is very well directed and tightly written and buoyed by two side character performances, comic actor Harry Morgan playing against type as a surprisingly ominous mute killer. The real star of the piece, though, is Laughton’s wife Elsa Lanchester as a daffy but still pretty sly painter. Man, she’s a hoot. Highly recommended.
The we finally got a monster (see above) when Sandy showed the first episode of 30 Coins, a Spanish horror series (on Hulu, I think). It’s the work of director Álex de la Iglesia, whose the guy who also made Day of the Beast, as shown by Sandy the night before. He met the fellow at a con and they apparently formed a mutual appreciation society, so Sandy’s on a de la Iglesia kick. I will say I find his later work quite a lot better than Accion Mutante, or rather I personally like it a lot more. As you might guess from the title, the show follows various occult factions trying to collect the 30 coins Judas received for betraying Christ. I imagine most people here would rather like it.
