Review for American Horror Project - Volume 1

To avoid any confusion, Arrow’s ‘American Horror Project’ has nothing to do with the ‘American Horror Story’ TV franchise. In their own words “… American Horror Project, is a new series of box-sets which sees a variety of rarely seen and long-forgotten cult horror films being restored and returned from obscurity and risk of being lost forever due to fragility of original film material. American Horror Project will ensure that these unique slices of the American Nightmare are brought back into the public consciousness and preserved for all to enjoy in brand new High Definition transfers from the best surviving elements.”

Of course, ‘rarely seen’ and ‘long-forgotten’ might also mean ‘cheap as chips to licence’, although that would seem an unfair observation given the effort that Arrow put into their releases.



So Volume 1 offers up three strange movie bedfellows – all hailing from the early 1970’s. Although the first of the three is unarguably ‘horror’ in the traditional sense of what that genre typically encompasses, the second two do not.



Each has been reconstructed from the ‘best surviving elements’ which translate sto wildly variable quality; from tram-lined and speckled to almost pristine, often within the same movie. Despite these great rescue efforts, the films still lack contrast and detail, generally looking a little washed out, and with that chocolate-box lid softness often favoured by Director’s at the time.

Having received the check-discs without any packaging or a physical booklet, it’s difficult to get a sense of how cohesive the set feels in its context. Without it, the films do feel somewhat disconnected and, combined, far from a formidable start. In truth, they reminded me more of the types of films you get in those 200 cult movie box sets from Mill-Creek, only here you get a bit more quality as opposed to quantity.



But don’t expect to be blown away by any of these films. They are certainly each worthy of a watch (for very different reasons) but none will make your top 100 movie list .

Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood

Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood (Christopher Speeth, 1973) is by far and away the most surreal of the the three and one which most easily sits in the ‘cult arena’ (to coin an Arrow phrase).

A family arrive at a creepy, dilapidated fairground in search of their missing daughter, only to find themselves at the mercy of cannibalistic ghouls lurking beneath the park. From the get-go it’s clear that all is not right in the semi-deserted theme park. All the staff look positive cadaverous, and the freaks look, well, freaky.



The net result is like a psychedelic mix of The Munsters, the original Willy Wonka (with its dwarves) and The Texas Chain Massacre – on a budget.

Produced, written and directed by Christopher Eric Speeth, a man who felt one movie was enough and who has since produced documentaries only, it’s a film chock a block with ghouls, vampires and carny freaks, all meeting the turgid dialogue with great camp and gusto.



Using psychedelic lights, inflatables and an old print of Lon Chaney’s ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ to manage the majority of the interior shots; a virtually disused old theme park was used for all exteriors.

The whole shebang is managed by a cadaverous looking chap called ‘Mr. Blood’ (subtle) who in turn works for the mysterious Mr. Malatesta who has a troupe of misfits, freaks and dwarves run things for him, feeding them the flesh of his human victims by way of sustenance.



It’s confusing and delightful in turns; a complete acid nightmare of a film where a cohesive narrative is eventually tossed to one side in favour of a giant collective gross-out.

Although the film starts off in pretty bad shape, after the film settles in the gate, the transfer is pretty decent – far better than the sixth generation VHS style transfers that had done the rounds previously.

Worth a watch, but maybe just one.

The Witch Who Came from the Sea

The Witch Who Came from the Sea (Matt Cimber, 1976) is a weird, slightly mean-spirited little film that, despite a decent cast, never quite gels. Whilst it might tentatively be called a ‘horror’ (it’s a pretty nasty slasher picture after all) it’s more in the ‘psychological thriller’ category; quite popular in the early 1970’s. It’s also a kind of revenge picture, with its lead harbouring deep seated issues as a result of being sexually abused by her own father, a rugged sailor. Sadly even this doesn’t quite work as the child (in reconstructions) doesn’t bear even the remotest resemblance to Mollie Perkins (The Diary of Anne Frank) who takes the lead here.

It’s a film where the Millie (played by Perkins) embarks on a spree of gruesome sexual encounters with men who she meets during her job as a waitress in a seaside bar. These include famous footballers who, having watched them train on the local beach, she finds herself fantasising about, although always in violent and sadistic terms.

The films deals with an important and (at the time) pretty taboo topic, but its nasty air and mean-spirt make it an uncomfortable and queasy watch, for none of the right reasons. I note from a little background research that Mark Kermode rates it as “…one of the best video nasties of the era” which it clearly isn’t.

The transfer is so-so too. Nothing to get too excited about.

The Premonition

The last film of the set, whilst nothing particularly special, is perhaps the best of the three. It makes a pretty good job of it’s weird, almost X-Files like subject matter, joining two popular movie themes of the day; psychic phenomena (mind-reading and prophetic visions) with child abduction (think ‘Don’t Look Now’ set in mid-west USA.


Five year old Janie is snatched away by a weird woman, claiming to be the child’s mother, aided and abetted by a very solemn looking circus clown. But what’s weirder than that, if indeed anything could be, is that Jane’s ‘mum’, Sheri, has a strong premonition that it was going to happen – a psychic connection to the girl’s ‘real’ mother, who is as nutty as a fruit-cake.



When her mother eventually snatches here, she crashes their car and Janie wanders from the wreckage to the very same carnival site that Sheri’s lover, the clown, lives in.



Her foster parents enlist the help of a parapsychologist to help them interpret the foster mother's terrifying dreams and psychic connection to the girl to find her before it is too late.


 
Extra Features

The films come with some very illuminating special features, in some regards every bit as interesting as the films themselves, principally in the form of cast and crew interviews.

· Reversible sleeves for each film featuring original and newly-commissioned artwork by the Twins of Evil
· American Horror Project Journal Volume One - Limited edition 60-page booklet featuring new articles on the films from writers Stephen Thrower(Nightmare USA: The Untold Story of the Exploitation Independents), Kim Newman (Nightmare Movies), Kier-La Janisse (House of Psychotic Women) and Brian Albright (Regional Horror Films, 1958-1990: A State-by-State Guide with Interviews)

MALATESTA'S CARNIVAL OF BLOOD
· Introduction to the film by Stephen Thrower
· Audio Commentary by film historian Richard Harland Smith
· The Secrets of Malatesta - an interview with director Christopher Speeth
· Crimson Speak - an interview with writer Werner Liepolt
· Malatesta's Underground - art directors Richard Stange and Alan Johnson discuss the weird, mysterious world of Malatesta's underground
· Outtakes
· Draft script (BD/DVD-ROM content)
· Stills gallery

THE WITCH WHO CAME FROM THE SEA
· Introduction to the film by Stephen Thrower
· Audio commentary with director-producer Matt Cimber, actress Millie Perkins and director of photography Dean Cundey
· Tides and Nightmares - brand new making-of documentary featuring interviews with Cimber, Perkins, Cundey and actor John Goff
· A Maiden's Voyage - archive featurette comprising interviews with Cimber, Perkins and Cundey
· Lost at Sea - director Cimber reflects on his notorious cult classic

THE PREMONITION
· Introduction to the film by Stephen Thrower
· Isolated score
· Audio commentary with director-producer Robert Allen Schnitzer
· Pictures from a Premonition - brand new making-of documentary featuring interviews with Schnitzer, composer Henry Mollicone and cinematographer Victor Milt
· Archive interviews with Robert Allen Schnitzer and star Richard Lynch
· Three Robert Allen Schnitzer short films: 'Vernal Equinox', 'Terminal Point' and 'A Rumbling in the Land'
· 4 Peace Spots
· Trailers and TV Spots

Overall
I love the idea of this project, I just didn’t particularly love any of the films here. My least favourite was ‘The Witch Who Came Out of the Sea’ which, despite what Mark Kermode might think, is just a mean-spirited, nasty little movie that fails in its attempt to address dual issues of child abuse and ‘girl power’. I guess ‘Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood’ was nutty enough to be passable, and ‘The Premonition’ a reasonable, if unremarkable film. But whether this is enough to justify the price, I’m not so sure. Ever so slightly disappointing.