Not strange enough to satisfy
Added 6/12/2004
There is a difference between strangeness and incomprehensibility. Lindsay Anderson's 'O Lucky Man!' is strange, but it makes sense throughout. This film is just bollocks most of the way through. I liked enough though, especially the bits with Michael Gothard. He's gorgeous, cold and irresistable to dumb birds in clubs. He's also got superpowers, fancies a bit of blood now and again, and knows when the game is up and they've got him nicked. Vincent Price is brilliant towards the end. He's controlled, capable and queerly visionary. Indeed, his monologue explaining his work is deeply moving. Cushing is hardly it the thing long enough to make an assessment. Christopher Lee vibrates with clear, orderly purpose. Unlike the rest of the coppers in the film, he maintains his dignity and his class. Not to mention, style. There are some really ugly scenes in this film that sully things overall. The crypto-fascist state could have been handled better. It could have been sexier. What is the point in having a dead-cool sex killer who comes on like the bionic man--if you are going to put lousy, flabby cops and "fascists" in the same film? Then there is the music: cheesy jazz that oddly works in the scenes with Keith and his pursuers. I don't know why it works, actually. It just seems to. Just like the car chase seems absolutely perfect somehow. Too bad the rest of the film lacks the energy of the scenes with Gothard, Lee, and Price. Overall, a few dynamic performances are wasted in a story that should have been fuller and more meaningful. As it is, the end isn't nearly as potent as it should be. Really, the last 10 minutes are fantastic. They just aren't set up properly. The results are rather empty, emotionally.
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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Awful film that I recommend you avoid!
Added 2/14/2002
The story, such as it is, of this incoherent "thriller" starts with a series of "vampire murders" in London. It turns out that these are being perpetrated by the creation of a mad scientist (Vincent Price) who is working as part of a global secret scientific society to create a superior human race through surgery. When the police refuse to investigate due to political pressure a young coroner (Christopher Matthews) starts doing his own investigation. He is soon in over his head and that's when things get really stupid. (Oh, and along the way we take side-trips to some military dictatorship in a vaguely east European country where a shadowy functionary is killing leaders with the Vulcan death grip! Ah, and then there's Christopher Lee in a board room with British intelligence officers discussing a downed spy plane. does it all come together Sort of.)As awful as this film is, all the actors put in good performances, considering the weak incoherent script and inane lines they deliver. While Cushing, Lee, and Price get top billing, Cushing is only in one scene (and it's a pointless one at that) and Lee's presence isn't much more than Cushing's. Both actors could easily have been left out and the film would probably have been stronger for it; they are associated with the "Eastern bloc country" plotline. Price's role is larger and very important to the story, but his screen time is still very limited and he doesn't have much to do. His presence is almost as big a waste as that of Cushing and Lee. And the score, the easy-listening rock/jazz fusion score, is almost too painful for words! All in all, this film should go on the "must-miss" list, except for those who might be looking for the worst "day-for-night" shots since Ed Wood stopped making Z-grade thrillers and turned to Z-grade pornos. It makes the worst of the Hammer Film efforts look like the work of Orson Wells. What's even more embarrassing for this film is that it looks like it probably had a bigger budget than several Hammer Films combined, based on the number of locations and aerial shots featured.
1 out of 6 people found this helpful.
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The biggest waste of talent ever on screen.
Added 8/2/2000
How can you unite the three greatest horror stars of our time in one film and then hardly use them? That is the big question in this muddle ludricrous tale from Hammer's rivals of the time Amicus films. Vincent Price appears in a couple of short scenes and then dissapears until the end. Christopher Lee pops up in four short scenes and Peter Cushing dies in his one and only scene. I expected this to be one of the best horror films ever but i was dissapointed beyond belief. The story concerns a scientist (Price) who has created a master race. One of that race being a superb Michael Gothard who keeps us mildly entertained between the brief scenes of the main stars but after he is dissolved in acid it falls flat completely. To sum it up is a simple waste. Check out the later "House Of The Long Shadows" for a better uniting of Price, Cushing, and Lee.
2 out of 4 people found this helpful.
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The best science fiction movie ever
Added 7/14/2000
This is very nearly my favorite movie ever, certainly the best SF film I've ever seen. The first movie to team Vincent Price, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, three of the greatest actors of the century, this is a brilliant and bizarre crime drama/espionage/political thriller/horror film. Indeed, one might say that what the X Files tries to do this film does perfectly. Several seemingly unrelated story threads gradually merge in a great climax. Lee and Cushing have limited screen time but play well written and very unusual roles. It would reveal too many surprises to review this film at length, so I'll only say that a series of strange crimes lead the police (and certain other characters) to a scientist engaged in secret research played by Price. This movie is a must if you are a fan of one or all of the three great stars, and features a tremendous performance by a nearly unknown actor named Marshall Jones. See it!
6 out of 7 people found this helpful.
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What a waste
Added 7/6/2000
If you got Vincent Price, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing in a horror film, you would think it would have to be good, right? Well, for the most part, this film proves that one wrong. Cushing is in this one for about four minutes, and Lee and Price are used sparingly. Christopher Matthews of Scars of Dracula gets a big role and trys hard, but he cannot get passed this confused mess about a race of super beings theater killing people for some unknown reason. The movie flops around a lot and tends to go nowhere fast. The story has a little promise early on, but sinks fast due some very inept directing and a script that tries to be too clever for it'd own good. The best part is at the end when we see Price and Lee together for a couple of minutes. Cushing just had a cameo, but I suppose they could only afford Price and Lee for part of a movie so they really spread out their parts and shoved filler in between. This is better than Lee and Price's first meeting in the Oblong Box, but not by all that much.
0 out of 3 people found this helpful.
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Not strange enough to satisfy
Added 6/12/2004
There is a difference between strangeness and incomprehensibility. Lindsay Anderson's 'O Lucky Man!' is strange, but it makes sense throughout. This film is just bollocks most of the way through. I liked enough though, especially the bits with Michael Gothard. He's gorgeous, cold and irresistable to dumb birds in clubs. He's also got superpowers, fancies a bit of blood now and again, and knows when the game is up and they've got him nicked. Vincent Price is brilliant towards the end. He's controlled, capable and queerly visionary. Indeed, his monologue explaining his work is deeply moving. Cushing is hardly it the thing long enough to make an assessment. Christopher Lee vibrates with clear, orderly purpose. Unlike the rest of the coppers in the film, he maintains his dignity and his class. Not to mention, style. There are some really ugly scenes in this film that sully things overall. The crypto-fascist state could have been handled better. It could have been sexier. What is the point in having a dead-cool sex killer who comes on like the bionic man--if you are going to put lousy, flabby cops and "fascists" in the same film? Then there is the music: cheesy jazz that oddly works in the scenes with Keith and his pursuers. I don't know why it works, actually. It just seems to. Just like the car chase seems absolutely perfect somehow. Too bad the rest of the film lacks the energy of the scenes with Gothard, Lee, and Price. Overall, a few dynamic performances are wasted in a story that should have been fuller and more meaningful. As it is, the end isn't nearly as potent as it should be. Really, the last 10 minutes are fantastic. They just aren't set up properly. The results are rather empty, emotionally.
2 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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Awful film that I recommend you avoid!
Added 2/14/2002
The story, such as it is, of this incoherent "thriller" starts with a series of "vampire murders" in London. It turns out that these are being perpetrated by the creation of a mad scientist (Vincent Price) who is working as part of a global secret scientific society to create a superior human race through surgery. When the police refuse to investigate due to political pressure a young coroner (Christopher Matthews) starts doing his own investigation. He is soon in over his head and that's when things get really stupid. (Oh, and along the way we take side-trips to some military dictatorship in a vaguely east European country where a shadowy functionary is killing leaders with the Vulcan death grip! Ah, and then there's Christopher Lee in a board room with British intelligence officers discussing a downed spy plane. does it all come together Sort of.)As awful as this film is, all the actors put in good performances, considering the weak incoherent script and inane lines they deliver. While Cushing, Lee, and Price get top billing, Cushing is only in one scene (and it's a pointless one at that) and Lee's presence isn't much more than Cushing's. Both actors could easily have been left out and the film would probably have been stronger for it; they are associated with the "Eastern bloc country" plotline. Price's role is larger and very important to the story, but his screen time is still very limited and he doesn't have much to do. His presence is almost as big a waste as that of Cushing and Lee. And the score, the easy-listening rock/jazz fusion score, is almost too painful for words! All in all, this film should go on the "must-miss" list, except for those who might be looking for the worst "day-for-night" shots since Ed Wood stopped making Z-grade thrillers and turned to Z-grade pornos. It makes the worst of the Hammer Film efforts look like the work of Orson Wells. What's even more embarrassing for this film is that it looks like it probably had a bigger budget than several Hammer Films combined, based on the number of locations and aerial shots featured.
1 out of 6 people found this helpful.
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The biggest waste of talent ever on screen.
Added 8/2/2000
How can you unite the three greatest horror stars of our time in one film and then hardly use them? That is the big question in this muddle ludricrous tale from Hammer's rivals of the time Amicus films. Vincent Price appears in a couple of short scenes and then dissapears until the end. Christopher Lee pops up in four short scenes and Peter Cushing dies in his one and only scene. I expected this to be one of the best horror films ever but i was dissapointed beyond belief. The story concerns a scientist (Price) who has created a master race. One of that race being a superb Michael Gothard who keeps us mildly entertained between the brief scenes of the main stars but after he is dissolved in acid it falls flat completely. To sum it up is a simple waste. Check out the later "House Of The Long Shadows" for a better uniting of Price, Cushing, and Lee.
2 out of 4 people found this helpful.
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