She Killed in Ecstasy (1970)

What decides when to move forward with experimentation that may be considered unethical or taboo but could better humanity? Debates on the ethics and consequences of the research are usually conducted. But what of the consequences of the idea being turned down? One possible answer to this is provided in Jess Franco’s SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY, where a physician, who believes his experiments hold the key to making humanity far more resistant to disease, is condemned, on moral grounds, by his colleagues, insulted and has to endure his precious documents being ripped and thrown aside.

   

With Jess Franco, I don’t necessarily think it's a simple matter of taste but more a matter of acquired taste. I mentioned a while back in my write-up for A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD that I wasn’t too impressed with Franco at first. In fact, I started watching his movies just to see if they are as bad as some people say they are. But the impulse to continue to explore his works stayed with me, and I’m glad I didn’t lose interest, otherwise, I really would’ve missed out on some gems, like this one.

A married couple lives a blissfully happy existence together, until the husband’s controversial research on human embryos results in him being expelled from his occupation by the medical association. He is driven to suicide, and his wife swears revenge on those she believes to be responsible.

This story contains no real surprises, and it ends up being easy to see where everything is going, and so, it instead becomes more important that we at least enjoy our time in the world that the film creates for us and the company of its lead character. The pleasant company in SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY is Soledad Miranda, who I’d like to describe as being like a fragile doll with enticingly dark features and doughy eyes that stare seductively. In a room full of people, she stands out like a beautiful black rose in a garden of weeds.

The House That Screamed / La residencia (1969)

From Antonio Margheriti’s NAKED YOU DIE to Lucky McKee’s THE WOODS, the all-girl boarding school setting in a horror/thriller film is sort of an inviting and seductive guilty pleasure for me. The obvious appeal is the excuse to overflow the film with attractive female actors, but localizing storyline events into a gloomy and Gothic architecture has a lot of potential, especially when it is a claustrophobic and oppressive place with an overwhelming feeling of being cut-off, as if the outside world doesn’t even matter or exist anymore.   

What sets Narciso Ibáñez Serrador’s LA RESIDENCIA, aka THE HOUSE THAT SCREAMED, apart from most boarding school horror is its authentic nineteenth century setting, several interesting themes to explore, and an ambition for exploiting violence and odd sexual themes that seemed ahead of its time for 1969. The ambiance as well as the characters' costumes and mannerisms effectively transport the viewer to a different and melancholic world in an older era. The film’s body-count may be a little low, but things are exceptionally macabre and grim, with a certain character’s late night demise in a greenhouse being unexpectedly crowd pleasing and so beautifully and artistically filmed that Dario Argento would likely be impressed. Void of pomposity while having a lot of interesting character interaction and depth, and surprisingly little faults to identify, LA RESIDENCIA is a really well-made, classy, and high-quality movie. It did get the Elvira treatment, though, but we won’t go there.   

Something unusual but commendable is the manner in which the film proceeds after the protagonist attempts to escape the school. Due to a particular event that occurs, the final twenty-two minutes roll on in a way that is a very bold and risky move by the filmmakers and is usually something that is generally avoided in storytelling. I’ve only ever seen it happen in one other movie, which I won’t name because I don’t want to give it away, but it definitely adds to the unique flavor of the film. 

Alice Sweet Alice (1976)

Anyone else ever feel down when you follow a bunch of new blogs and none of them follow you back? I mean, sure, bloggers have a right to not follow back, but seriously, where’s the support? “A stat for a stat”, so to speak… But not to worry, I don’t mind. New followers should be people who are actually interested in reading your blog, and I’ll admit to being a little jealous of other blogs sometimes, especially ones that have followers I’d love to have, but I’m not so jealous that I’d do anything rash, or at least I hope no one thinks I would. I don’t want to end up like Alice, the main character to an insane slasher film known as ALICE SWEET ALICE, whose little sister turns up murdered after being showered with gifts and attention. Naturally, the suspicion is thrown on poor little Alice. 

ALICE SWEET ALICE is a child themed murder mystery that feels influenced by the popular Giallo films of its era and features a masked killer, a creepy doll, bloody knives, and religious iconography. Despite nearly every scene being shot during the day, ALICE SWEET ALICE also contains a dark ambiance unique to horror films of the time that was prevalent in films like THE EXORCIST. I think what I’m trying to say is that this is a pretty good slice of the best that 70s horror/thrillers has to offer. 

The film initially paints the main character 12 year old Alice (played by a then 19 year old Paula Sheppard, who is a much more convincing child character played by an adult than Peter Bark from BURIAL GROUND) as neglected and with good reason to be jealous of her younger sister Karen (Brooke Shields in her first ever role). After standing by with a “what about me expression” on her face while Karen receives a pretty crucifix necklace from the priest Father Tom (Rudolph Willrich) and a brand new white dress for “First Communion”, it really starts to feel like Alice is being left out, and her frustration and teasing towards her little sister almost feels understandable. Whether or not Alice went through her first communion in the same manner is unknown, but being that this is a pretty religious family, I imagine she did. So maybe she’s just a brat who doesn’t know when it’s other people’s turn for attention.