WEIRDNESS THROUGH THE AGES

For every classic film ala "The Godfather Part II" there are hundreds of others which are pure trash. Trash doesn't always have to stink though. Many of us intentionally rent movies like Ed Wood's "Plan 9 From Outer Space" just to savor its odd brilliance. What follows is a review of some strange and enjoyable films from the fringe. They may not all be to your tastes, but hey, this is America. Viva la difference.

WITCHCRAFT THROUGH THE AGES (HAXEN)

      In 1922, Norwegian filmmaker Benjamin Christiensen wrote, produced directed and starred in one of the most offbeat, bizarre documentaries ever made. This history of witchcraft purports to be an expose of religious persecution fueled by an ignorance of science. Even today, Haxen is highly entertaining. Full of innovative special effects, naked women and child sacrifices, Haxen would go well flashed on the wall of a rave party. There are several versions available. The one I saw was a 1966 restoration with narration provided by William Burroughs and a new jazz score by Jean Luc Ponty. The narration by the author of "Naked Lunch" adds greatly to this wild movie.

      The film takes place in three sections. The first section gives an overview of demons and witches by showing artwork from several sources. The second section deals with the inquisition during the middle ages. This section alone is worth the price of admission. The third portion takes place in modern times in which psychological explanations are given for the actions of the women in second portion. To tell the truth, I fast forwarded over this useless and pointless epilogue. The middle part rocks.

Baby Sacrifice

      Filled with grotesque and surprisingly erotic imagery, the middle portion of "Haxen" deals with witch hunting in a medieval European village. Two old crones are shown making a potion to drive the local priest wild with lust. One of the hags pulls the rotting arm of a man hung on the gallows from a bag. She remarks that it has putrefied to much to be of any value. Of course she adds, some "cat shit" should remedy the problem. Needless to say, the church is informed that there are witches about, and the inquisition begins. After several long scenes of torture, which no doubt are still an inspiration to the makers of adult bondage movies, the elderly woman being tortured begins to confess. This long scene is filled with surprisingly good special effects. There is an impressive traveling shot of hoards of witches flying through the night on broomsticks. There is also a stop-motion animation scene of a demon walking through a wall. As the old woman spews forth her

A Demon Orgy

confession (and implicating the very women who accused her!) we see a midnight bacchanal presided over by Satan himself. The women of the town line up behind Old Scratch and kiss his ass literally. A naked women writhes on the ground as her demon lover approaches. All enjoy a stew made from a sacrificed child before settling down to a hot orgy. Demons sit back in a masturbatory frenzy as each of these mortal women drop trousers for the devil. As the confession continues, the priests carefully transcribe everything. They are also shown to be aroused by this. To purge their own lusts, they partake in flagellation. When that doesn't work, they enthusiastically renew their purification of the harlots that cause them to sin. This is some wild and crazy stuff. The imagery is still powerful today. That is quite an accomplishment considering this movie is 78 years old.

Satan (Benjamin Christiensen) tempts the Inquisitor

      The final act is a condemnation of the medieval techniques which were based on an ignorance of science. A boring doctor shows that modern women had the same symptoms as their ancestors but that their problems were not due to demon possession but rather mental illness. It's all a load of hogwash, because not matter which side is valid, the movies portrays women as hysterical beasts who need to be dominated by men in order to know true happiness. Like I said before, I fast forwarded through the final part. "Haxen" stands up today because of the incredible sets, erotic content, and shocking images. It is the most bizarre docudrama you will see.

CASINO ROYALE (MADE FOR TV)

      Most movie fans know that the first cinematic version of James Bond was a live television dramatization of "Casino Royale" which originally aired on October 21, 1954. This episode of the "Climax" television show, starred Barry Nelson as James (Jimmy) Bond, Petter Lorre as Le Chiffre and Linda Christian as Valerie, the sexy French agent. I had always wanted to see this, and recently got a chance to. What were they thinking?

     Maybe I've become jaded by seeing all of the movie versions of James Bond (including George Lazenby's 2nd appearance as Bond in the TV movie "The Return of the Man From U.N.C.L.E.!). The first James Bond was nothing like his cinematic brothers. He drinks scotch! That's down right sacrilegious. He's an American! I guess TV audiences in the 1950s wouldn't go for a suave British agent.

Barry Nelson as Bond, James Bond.

      The plot concerns an attempt to financially ruin the toadish megalomaniac Le Chiffre, by fleecing him at Baccarat. MI6 sends their sophisticated agent 'Clarence' Leiter (Michael Pate) to aid the American agent Bond. Most of the action takes place in a casino. Bond matches wits with Le Chiffre and the free world is saved from ruin.

Valerie (Linda Christian) and Le Chiffre (Peter Lorre)

      Nelson must have been on a steady diet of bacon at the time, because his performance is pure ham. This American Bond comes across as a cross between a Sam Spade wannabe and a river boat gambler. During the big Baccarat showdown with Peter Lorre, Nelson comes across like a half witted "Wheel of Fortune" contestant trying to solve a puzzle that everyone but him knows. He employs every cliched look and mannerism from high school acting classes to evoke the tension of the situation. He cracks wise as Le Chiffre pulls his toenails out with a pair of pliers. Peter Lorre is good, but he always was. This is a curious piece of Americana which is worth seeing for its novelty.

REVENGE OF THE VIRGINS

     Long before hard-core porn, or even soft-core porn there were nudies. Russ Meyer is probably the best know of the directors of the harmless pieces of trash that used what ever plot device they could to show topless women. "Revenge of the Virgins" is a 1961 black and white B-western which concerns a tribe of beautiful topless Indians in the old west. The men of their tribe have been wiped out by the pale face. These women spend the bulk of the movie doing battle with a group of prospectors who are up to no good. Naked archery abounds. I remember learning in mythology class in high school that the Amazons would cut off one breast so as to not interfere with their archery skills. They didn't want to lose the battle because the string got caught up on anything. They must not have seen this movie because these ladies fired their arrows just fine.

     Anyway, "Revenge of the Virgins" is a curio. It's interesting to see that what once was shocking is now tame even by television standards. This movie might be good as a double feature with one of my friend J. Michael McCarthy's modern sexploitation movies. These old movies were the inspiration for his strange cinematic vision. My personal favorite McCarthy film is "The Sore Losers" (you know the one, it's about hot rod Myans from outer space who come to earth to kill hippies!).

      I picked up these three movies at Woody Wise's "Hollywood's Attic." For these movies and thousands of other classic, rare, silent, hard to find, burlesque, horror and science fiction films, "Hollywood's Attic" offers prompt delivery at excellent prices. His website list many of the thousands of movies available. I received Mr. Wise's catalog and can promise that there are many, many more not listed on the website. Mr. Wise does a large volume of business with video stores and other distributors. For better prices than those listed on the web page click on his "Preferred Customer Access" link. Your logon word is "preferred" and your password is "customer." Type both of these word in lower case letters. Doing this will result in substantial savings on all of the thousands of videos that can be found at "Hollywood's Attic."

Haxan photos courtesy of Kip and Kimball at "The Missing Link."

Rusty White