Valiant John Moulder-Brown puts the “cross” back into “crossbow” in VAMPIRE CIRCUS.
Anthony Corlan, Elizabeth Seal, Thorley Walters. Produced by Wilbur Stark. Directed by Robert Young.
We reviewed a domestic laserdisc release of this title in
VW 45:46, and a British import DVD release in VW 103:10. There is now also a German DVD import, Circus der Vampire, in English with optional German subtitles, available from Koch Media (
www.kochmedia.com).
THE WEREWOLF OF WASHINGTON
Novel plotline about werewolf presi- dential aide loose in the capitol should get this lugubrious spoof by for fast playoffs in ballyhoo-action situations and possibly, in campus markets where student trade might consider it campy. Rated PG.
The novel idea of a satirical horror film about
a presidential press aide who turns into a werewolf and bites the president’s enemies to death may sound promising, but its potential is botched in this inept Long Island-made mini- budgeter from Diplomat Pictures. The intended humors are pretty thin, and only easy-to-please teenage audiences will find it even barely tol- erable. Uniformly poor writing, direction and editing by Milton Moses Ginsberg (COMING APART) makes it seem more like a bad hor- ror film, which is how it must be eventually played off. Business looks spotty at best, even
on hard-sell ballyhoo dual bills. To enhance its post-Watergate topicality, several sequences have been added and others deleted, impart- ing a swiss-cheese consistency to the plot. A brief appearance by the late Michael Dunn as a midget mad doctor assembling monsters be- neath the White House seems to belong in some other movie. Bitten by a werewolf in Budapest, press aide
Dean Stockwell is having an affair with the President’s daughter (Jane House) when that hirsute urge overcomes him. After killing vari- ous liberal types, he even attacks Nixonian President Biff McGuire. Stockwell is dispatched by silver bullet, whereupon the press is told it won’t have the werewolf to kick around any- more. McGuire starts howling at the moon over the end credits. The dialogue is a total loss, depending entirely on the sort of jokes that confuse “pentagram” with “pentagon,” and ill- chosen camera angles continually negate the effect of a good werewolf makeup. There are a few nice shots of the moon, though.
1972. Diplomat Pictures. Eastman Color. 90 minutes. Dean Stockwell, Biff McGuire, Clifton James, Beeson Carroll. Produced by Nina Schulman. Directed by Milton Moses Ginsberg.
Available as a budget DVD from Alpha Video, priced under $10.
19
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84
