People with disabilities are often the subject of horror movies. Films like “The Spiral Staircase,” “See No Evil,” “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre,” “Mute Witness” and many others have featured this combination. I guess “Hunchback of Norte Dame” is probably the common ancestor here. Though the sensitivity of this trope is obviously questionable, it’s easy to see why it’s such a common concept. Non-able-bodied people are presumably more vulnerable when faced with monsters and murderous maniacs, so it’s an easy gimmick to ratchet up tension. Among the most popular examples of this type of story is “Wait Until Dark.” The cinematic potential of Frederick Knott’s original 1966 stage play was immediately recognized, with the film rights being purchased right after its broadway premiere. The film version, directed by “James Bond” specialist Terence Young, would play on theater screens the very next year. It would quickly become accepted as a classic not long afterwards.
Susy Hendrix, recently blinded from an auto-accident, lives in a basement apartment in New York City. Her photographer husband is often away from home, leaving Susy alone and forcing her to quickly adapt to her new condition. Unbeknownst to either, the apartment has been targeted by a criminal conspiracy. A doll with a bag of heroin sewn inside it has been hidden in the apartment. Three men - conmen Tallman and Carlino and the unhinged Rout - are determined to retrieve it. They attempt to trick Susy into trusting them, in hopes she’ll lead them to the doll, but the blind woman is harder to fool than expected. Soon, Rout’s game turns deadly.
Lee Remick originated the role of Suzy Hendrix on stage but Audrey Hepburn stepped into the role on-screen. It was a wise bit of casting. Hepburn projected vulnerability like few actresses could. You immediately feel the desire to protect her, as she's so adorable and sweet. Yet this is not Hepburn's only quality. The way she notices tiny details – like the con men signaling with her blinds or the sounds a pair of suits makes – catches her attackers off-guard. As the film goes on, Suzy increasingly shows how much of a fighter she is, cleverly counteracting everything Rout throws at her. In this scene, you can even see Suzy as a predecessor to the slasher movie final girl, as the audience both desires to keep her safe but also delight in seeing how strongly she fights back against the villain.
“Wait Until Dark” also strikes a modern viewer as a time capsule of the late sixties. Alan Arkin plays Rout as a slithering, sinister villain who is willing to do absolutely anything to achieve his goal. His eyes almost always hidden behind reflective sunglasses, Arkin also affects a stoned-out speech pattern in the part. In other words, Rout is a weirdo beatnik, a then-relevant cultural outsider appearing to threaten a nice, vulnerable little lady. If the film had been made only a year or two later, he probably would've been a hippie. Yet “Wait Until Dark's” viewpoint is less conservative than its main villain implies. Tallman – played with utmost stiffen authority by Richard Crenna – and Carlino pose as cops to convince Suzy to locate the doll. This also reflects the cultural upheaval of the late sixties, where cops were beating protesters and racial minorities. In “Wait Until Dark,” we see the normalcy of the stay-at-home housewife being attacked on all sides, by established forces of authority and countercultural foreigners.
Producers Steve White, Barry Bernardi, and Republic Home Video must've made money on “Amityville 1992.” A year later, the same team would reunite for a seventh entry in the increasingly convoluted haunted house saga. Once again, John G. Jones' “The Evil Escapes” collection would provide a bead of inspiration. After showcasing a demonic lamp and an insidious clock, the “Amityvile” franchise would focus on... An evil mirror? At least lamps and clocks have moving parts! What can a reflective sheet of glass do? Filmmaker John Murlowski – previously of South African slasher “Return of the Family Man” and later of several Hulk Hogan collaborations – would be drafted to turn this latest ridiculous premise into a creditable horror picture.
Keyes is a successful photographer and conceptual artist. He lives in an apartment with other artsy-fartsy types, the group forming a collective of sorts. A chance encounter with a homeless man brings Keyes into possession of a particular mirror. The mirror has a strange sway over everyone who looks into it. Once under its spell, the victims fall prey to what seem to be grisly suicides. (But are, in fact, demonic incidents.) Keyes soon discovers that the mirror is from the notorious Amityville murder house. Moreover, he has a personal connection with the mysterious man who gave it to him.
Despite the different focus of “A New Generation,” the sequel does engage with some of the reoccurring themes of this misbegotten franchise. The subtitle isn't just a catchy phrase but actually pertains to the story. The homeless man, we learn, is Keyes' dad... And the person who committed the murders in the Amityville House. (Neither the DeFio or Montelli names are used and the timelines don't line up, suggesting this is yet another mass murder that happened in the house. Or, more likely, nobody was paying attention to that stuff.) Through the mirror, Keyes' murderous father attempts to possess him and repeat history. Keyes' long repressed memories of the deaths recur, forcing him closer to the breaking point. Quite unexpectedly, the seventh “Amityville Horror” movie attempts to grapple with the weight of trauma and familial guilt. Hammy though the film's approach is, it's actually handled pretty well.
Even outside their “possessed object” stories, “A New Generation” is clearly patterned after “Amityville 1992.” Both sequels spice up their goofy premises with gory, elaborate special effects. A guy slashes his own face up. A zombie with putrefying skin reappears throughout various visions. A flashback to the murders in Long Island is especially graphic, featuring a close-up of an exploding head. The movie even tosses in a briefly glimpsed demonic entity. Making these moments zippier is Murlowski's colorful direction. Quite impressively, the director even manages to make the stationary mirror somewhat intimidating.
It seems the further away from the original house the “Amityville Horror” franchise gets, the more I like the movies. While not quite as inventive with its silly premise as “Amityville 1992” was, “A New Generation” is way, way better than a direct-to-video sequel about a haunted mirror had any right to be. Perhaps low expectations have a lot to do with that. Or maybe my fondness for direct-to-video nineties trash is corrupting my perspective here. Still, here's the facts as far as I see them: The gore is cool, the cast is likable, and it wraps up with a surprisingly tense climax set in a memorable art gallery. That makes “Amityville: A New Generation” worth your time in my opinion. [7/10]
I've decided watching select episodes from various spooky anthology shows is a new Halloween tradition for me. And, even though it wasn't the first, starting with “The Twilight Zone” only seems natural. “The After Hours” is often voted among the creepiest episodes of the classic series, so it seemed like a reasonable pick for the Blog-a-thon. “The After Hours” follows Marsha White. She arrives at an ordinary department store to buy a simple object, a golden thimble. Instead, the elevator operator takes her down to the basement level where a cashier acts very strangely towards her. The store managers do not believe her when she tells them, especially after she identifies a mannequin as the rude cashier. After falling asleep in the building, she awakens after it's closed and makes a disquieting discovery.
“The After Hours” comes directly from Rod Serling, who wrote this episode. Serling understood that the uncanny is born out of the familiar. A department store is a location we've all been to many times. Mannequins, similarly, are something any of us have seen hundreds of times. Yet these commonplace images are rendered uncanny simply by a change of time. At night, the cavernous interior of a department store becomes isolated and eerie. Which the episode conveys with a wonderfully spooky shot of Marsha walking through the darkened store. In the dark, the frozen faces of the mannequins, when you're by yourself, are similarly unnerving. Subtly subverting the everyday is the foundation of strong horror. Douglas Heyes' direction is fittingly moody, adding to the spooky atmosphere.
Since trash talk shows where having a real cultural moment in the early nineties, it was inevitable that “Forever Knight” would put its stamp on the subject. A woman appears on The Jerry Show – this was around the same time the infamous Mr. Springer was becoming popular – claiming that her boyfriend is a vampire. Later that same night, she is brutally stabbed to death by a strange man. The mention of a bloodsucker interests both Nick and Tracy. The victim's wacky claims are quickly debunked and, instead, our heroes are drawn into the behind-the-scenes drama on the talk show. Though the case reminds Natalie of her own quasi-romance with Nick.
This episode's mystery-of-the-week is not very compelling. From the first scene, you can figure out who the killer is. “My Boyfriend is a Vampire” does feature a pretty graphic beating, via crowbar. The show is still trying to get us to care about Tracy, as the talk show producer talks her into appearing on a segment about female cops. This episode is most interesting because of the dramatic position it puts the heroes in. Obviously, Nick is a vampire but Tracy doesn't know that. Meanwhile, Nick doesn't know that Tracy knows all about vampires, due to her friendship with Vachon. That leads to some fun conversations with double meanings here. Also, the melodrama surrounding Nick and Natalie's still-ongoing flirtation is nice, as it seems she's finally getting sick of waiting for him to make a move. Over all though, it's another middling episode. [6/10]
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