Kwaidan
Beautiful, if a little uneven due to the varying lengths and quality of the stories. Kwaidan is a visual treat, combining Japanese folklore and theater with what were modern filmmaking techniques, gorgeous costuming, and some wonderful makeup effects. The performances are spectacular all around, with each sequence skillfully conveying a sense of growing dread.
Unfortunately I find the film dominated by one story, Hoichi the Earless. It's the longest of the four stories present in the film and feels like a mini-movie. If anything, it could probably have been broken out into a film in it own right. I would be ok with this, as Hoichi the Earless was also my favorite story of the lot and feels like it possesses the most weight, both from its emphasis on actual Japanese history as well as its pulling from the Japanese epic
The Tale of the Heike (and the acting of Takashi Shimura. I love Takashi Shimura). It's gruesome and beautiful at the same time.
For me, the other stories play lesser roles that, while still effective, serve more as a build up and cooldown for Hoichi the Earless. The Woman of the Snow is eerie and beautiful, The Black Hair is shocking in its horror and dilapidation, and In a Cup of Tea features a half-finished story that results in madness and a sudden shock to punctuate the end.
Mark of the Vampire
One's opinion of this film and its worthiness within the horror genre will likely depend entirely on how one views the twist ending. Mark of the Vampire pulls a lot from other 1930s horror, which is understandable considering its directed by a post-
Freaks Tod Browning and features a post-
Dracula Bela Lugosi. It's a spoof/remake of
London After Midnight, but the script has problems with the transition into the ending, and some important information was edited out of the film due to the Hays Code, which had been put into effect in 1930 but really enforced after 1934. As a result, I see Mark of the Vampire as more of a sign of the decline of both Browning and Lugosi's careers.
The Toolbox Murders
Yeah, that's an exploitative movie poster all right, but my favorite part is the pun in the tagline. It's the primary reason why I occasionally mix this one up with
The Driller Killer in my mind.
Anyway, The Toolbox Murders starts as a slasher film, but after about half an hour turns into a thriller as the killer kidnaps a 15-year-old girl and her family and the police begin to investigate. What follows is a gruesome story of murder, incest, and family honor, before finally falling back into a slasher film at the end with a serious final girl having just been through Hell. The transition between the two parts is pretty sudden, so if you go in expecting a gore fest, you're pretty much done after 30 minutes. It's a shocking film, both in its brutality and in the mental states of its characters, and I'm pleased to say that this movie has held up. It is still disturbing, horrific, and exploitative, with moments that will make you cringe. It does drag in the middle but eventually picks up to a rapid and horrifying close.
