CONFESSIONS OF A BIKER - OR, HOW MY BLACK LEATHER JACKET BECAME A STAR EXHIBIT AND A MEDIA STAR!

 

Full cover of my official sell-thru VHS video of Black Leather Jacket (© Nick Mead/Paul Cowan/Mick Farren/Channel 4 Television Corporation/Polygram Music Video – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

As a biker ever since my late teens in the 1970s, my habitual and favourite garment of choice to wear has always been the classic black leather jacket, of the motorbike style beloved by bona fide, would-be, and on-screen bikers alike, not to mention rock stars, fashion models, punks, and rebels of every shape, size, and description.

So when while browsing in a bookshop one Sunday afternoon during the mid-1980s in the Warwickshire, England, town of Stratford-upon-Avon, world-famous as the birthplace of one William Shakespeare, I chanced upon a fairly large brand-new hardback book entitled The Black Leather Jacket, sporting an embossed, textured front cover designed to look and even feel like the real thing, and documenting the fascinating history of this truly iconic item of clothing, I lost no time whatsoever in purchasing it and reading it from cover to cover as soon as I arrived back home.

Written by English journalist Mick Farren and first published in 1985, this engrossing book reveals and extensively illustrates via a comprehensive selection of very distinctive glossy b/w photographs how its titular subject, the black leather jacket (or the BLJ, as I'll refer to it hereafter for convenience), has evolved and diversified since its origin during the early years of the 20^th Century.

The BLJ's progress is succinctly chronicled from the standard unadorned predecessors worn by the likes of WW1 fighter pilots and the Gestapo of WW2, through the classic 1950s Brando/Dean rebel styles, plus all manner of self-customised be-studded and badged-to-the-hilt individualized versions worn by outlaw bikers and 1960s rockers/greasers, to the slashed and safety-pinned punk gear of the 1970s, and the somewhat emasculated 1980s fashionista formats more at home on the catwalk than the highway, as well as every conceivable variation in between. So too is its enduring intrinsic appeal, traditionally daring, dark, even dangerous, regardless of its ever-changing external form. But that's not all.

 

The front cover of the original hardback First Edition of Mick Farren's book The Black Leather Jacket that I still own today (© Mick Farren/Plexus Publishing – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

In 1988, Channel 4, a terrestrial TV station in the UK, produced and screened a 60-minute docu-movie directly inspired by Mick Farren's book but simply entitled Black Leather Jacket (i.e. no The). It was directed by Nick Mead, co-written by him with Farren, and produced by Paul Cowan. Narrated by big-screen bad boy Dennis Hopper of Easy Rider fame, Black Leather Jacket stayed faithful to the contents of Farren's book but also featured clips from a number of classic movies relating in some way to the BLJ and motorbikes, such as the cult 1970s British biker/horror movie Psychomania, which I've reviewed here (on my Shuker In MovieLand blog, which also includes here a version of this present Eclectarium article re my black leather jacket).

Moreover, it contained an excellent rock soundtrack too, including contributions from famous BLJ-wearing performers such as Elvis Presley, The Clash, Gun, L.A. Guns, Zodiac Mindwarp (remember them?), Velvet Underground, Kiss, and Motorhead – whose song 'Black Leather Jacket' was used as this documentary movie's title song, accompanying clips of a teenage BLJ/Levis-wearing Michael Vartan (in his on-screen debut) riding a Harley through a neon-lit city centre at night and duly dubbed Motorcycle Boy in the credits.

Knowing full well that I would definitely enjoy Black Leather Jacket just as much as I'd done with the original book, I had the foresight to video-record it for future re-watchings at home, which was just as well, because I never remember it being re-screened. Tragically, however, as was so often the case with all but the highest-quality recordable blank videocassettes available back then, the picture quality of my precious recording of it diminished with repeated viewings down through the years.

Imagine my surprise but delight, then, when just over a year ago I discovered not only that Black Leather Jacket had actually been released as an official sell-thru video but also that there was a single example of it listed at that very same time on ebay, on a Buy It Now basis. So that's what I did, and just a few days later I was able to watch and enjoy it in its original top-quality viewing state all over again. But that's still not all.

Just a few miles from where I live in the West Midlands, England, is the prestigious Walsall Leather Museum, devoted to the history of the town of Walsall's long-established leather trade and manufacturing, and during summer 1993 I learnt from a friend who worked there that they were planning to stage a temporary public exhibition devoted exclusively to the BLJ!

 

Mini-poster produced by the Walsall Leather Museum advertising its BLJ Exhibition (© Walsall Leather Museum – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

As a local biker who had painstakingly customized several of my motorbike BLJs in the classic 1960s rocker/greaser style (having been inspired to do so after seeing and admiring original examples worn by various bikers featured in clips from Black Leather Jacket of London's famous biker/rocker-associated Ace Cafe and 59 Club during that decade), it occurred to me that the Museum may perhaps be interested in including one of them in their exhibition as a representation of that particular BLJ genre. So one afternoon shortly after learning about their plans, I rode there on my motorbike wearing one of them – and was delighted when they were indeed very keen to exhibit it!

 

My official invitation to the preview of the Walsall Leather Museum's BLJ Exhibition in autumn 1993 (© Dr Karl Shuker/Walsall Leather Museum – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

The Walsall Leather Museum's 'The Black Leather Jacket' Exhibition ran from 4 September to 14 November 1993 inclusive, but I was invited with other contributors to an exclusive preview, and when I turned up on my motorbike (wearing a different BLJ), there on display in a tall glass showcase was my very own jacket, fully labeled and fully visible from all angles. If pride is a sin, then I sinned very extensively that day!

 

The official b/w photograph of me wearing my exhibited BLJ that appeared alongside my jacket's showcase in the Walsall Leather Museum's BLJ Exhibition, and which also appeared in Mike Phillips's article 'Black Art', on the subject of the BLJ, published by the British monthly motorbike magazine Bike in its October 1993 issue (© Walsall Leather Museum (photographer unknown to me) – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

Moreover, perhaps because of how eyecatching it was, bristling all over with badges, studs, chains, and above all else its full official Easyriders back patch, it was my BLJ that attracted much of the media attention relating to the Museum's BLJ Exhibition.

 

Report from The Observer (London) for 5 September 1993 re the Walsall Leather Museum's BLJ Exhibition, and including a close-up photo of my exhibited BLJ – please click to enlarge for reading purposes (© The Observer/Guardian Media Group – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

It was pictured in a number of newspaper reports (including one by none other than London's eminent weekly broadsheet The Observer, the world's oldest Sunday newspaper, founded in 1791, and in which I am referred to as "a local biker with a vivid sense of design" - love it!), as well as in a special BLJ article entitled 'Black Art' authored by motorbike journalist Mike Phillips and published in the October 1993 issue of Bike, Britain's best-selling motorbike magazine.

 

Birmingham Post newspaper's 2-page magazine supplement report for 29 September 1993 re the Walsall Leather Museum's BLJ Exhibition, which includes a name-check and quote from me (arrowed in red) on p.4 and a picture of a model wearing my exhibited BLJ on p. 5 – please click to enlarge for reading purposes (© Birmingham Post/Reach plc – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

My exhibited BLJ also featured in two local TV news reports, and in one of them it was even worn by Midlands Today presenter Richard Ulridge while sitting astride a motorbike and then riding off on it, with my BLJ's Easyrider back patch fully displayed (click here to view both of these TV news reports – and my BLJ! – on YouTube).

 

Photo-still from the Midlands Today news report re the Walsall Leather Museum's BLJ Exhibition depicting presenter Richard Ulridge wearing my exhibited BLJ (© Dr Karl Shuker/Midlands Today – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

If you'd like to watch Black Leather Jacket, most of it can currently be viewed free of charge on YouTube, where it has been uploaded in nine parts (but, oddly, Part 3 is seemingly missing), though the resolution quality is not great. Click here to begin viewing with Part 1.

Finally: To view a complete chronological listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film/TV reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE, and please click HERE to view a complete fully-clickable alphabetical listing of them.

 

Photo-still from the Midlands Today news report re the Walsall Leather Museum's BLJ Exhibition depicting the back of my exhibited BLJ as worn by presenter Richard Ulridge (© Dr Karl Shuker/Midlands Today – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

 

DREAMCHILD AND VAMPIRES AND HOBBITS, OH MY! - (MINI-)REVIEWING THE MOVIES: SOME THOUGHTS UPON A SELECTION OF RECENTLY-WATCHED FANTASY FILMS

'Orfeo Negro' – Brazilian publicity poster for 'Black Orpheus' (© Marcel Camus/Tupan Filmes/Lopert Pictures)

Over Christmas last year and the early part of the New Year, I fulfilled a longstanding promise to myself and watched all eight of the Harry Potter movies, one a night for eight consecutive nights, on DVD, and I thoroughly enjoyed all of them – which has in turn inspired me to indulge periodically in further film-watching binges ever since.

The eight 'Harry Potter' films on DVD (© Chris Columbus/Alfonso Cuarón/Mike Newell/David Yates/Heyday Films/1492 Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures)

Consequently, during the past few months I've finally succeeded in watching a number of fantasy-themed movies that I've long wanted to see but had somehow never got around to doing so, plus a few new releases. I've posted my own mini-reviews of some of them on my Facebook wall, containing my thoughts, opinions, various related if somewhat random facts, and other allied ephemera. As these generally have attracted quite a degree of interest from FB friends and other movie fans, it seemed worthwhile gathering them together and preserving them in my Eclectarium. So that's what I've done, and here they are.

NB - All illustrations included in this blog article are copyrighted to the respective directors, film studios, and distributors that released and distributed them, and are included here on a strictly educational, non-commercial Fair Use basis for review purposes only.

22 March 2017: 'KONG – SKULL ISLAND'

'Kong: Skull Island' publicity poster and film still (© Jordan Vogt-Roberts/Legendary Pictures/Tencent Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures)

Another cinema visit today, this time to see 'Kong: Skull Island'. Whereas I felt that Tom Hiddleston (playing a British SAS captain leading the expeditionary party to Skull Island) had been unfairly panned by the critics, the monsters were zoologically implausible to say the least (but in any film featuring a gorilla the height of the Empire State Building or thereabouts, this fact was never going to be unexpected), yet thoroughly entertaining nonetheless.

My own particular favourite - other than Kong himself, naturally - was what initially appeared to be a fair-sized algae-covered hillock mysteriously rising above the water surface of a huge lake but which soon revealed itself to be the humped back of a truly humungous amphibious yak-like ungulate - a veritable bovine behemoth, in fact, but which proceeded to stare impassively at an armed-and-ready Hiddleston with cud-chewing indifference. I've been (semi-)reliably informed that it is officially known as a sker buffalo.

The giant Kong-sized skullcrawler (© Jordan Vogt-Roberts/Legendary Pictures/Tencent Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures)

As expected in all the best monster movies, there were the obligatory giant invertebrates (squid-octopus combo critter, spider, parasitised stick insect), mostly lurking unseen for much of their screen time but with murderous intent aplenty, and also some very weird giant flying beasts called leafwings. However, Skull Island's principal monstrous villains this time round were a grotesque two-limbed reptilian lineage known as skullcrawlers that lived underground but surfaced periodically to wreak havoc and horror upon their human victims, with the skullcrawler numero uno being a colossal monster of comparable proportions to Kong himself. Morphologically, the skullcrawlers were truly bizarre, looking something like what might be the macabre outcome if ever a gigantic tatzelworm (ask a cryptozoologist what that is) or a ginormous lindorm (ditto a dracontologist) and an immense wingless pterodactyl ever got it together - but without these latter beasts' charm!

The film purists have scoffed, are scoffing, and no doubt will continue to scoff, but I never go to monster movies to expect zoological reality, I go for awesome special effects and escapism, and this film more than delivered on both counts for me. Click here to check out this action-packed trailer, and see for yourself. As for the plot: look, guys, this is a monster movie - you weren't really expecting a plot, surely??

24 March 2017 – 'LORD OF THE RINGS' TRILOGY (2001, 2002, 2003)

The extended DVDs of the 'LOTR' trilogy (© Peter Jackson/WingNut Films/The Saul Zaentz Company/New Line Cinema)

I spent last weekend box-setting (lo, a new verb is created!) all 12 hours or so of the extended DVD versions of Peter Jackson's 'Lord of the Rings' film trilogy.

I loved the books and the three 3-hr cinematic-release versions of the films, but the extended DVDs each contain about an extra hour's worth of footage that helped to fill in a few notable gaps in the cinema versions, most notably showing what happened to Saruman (played by Christopher Lee) after the ents flooded Isengard and marooned him there.

In the cinema version, that incident happened at the end of 'The Two Towers', and nothing more was seen of him afterwards. But in the extended version of 'The Return of the King', Saruman is seen still at Isengard but treating his lackey Wormtongue badly there, who responds by stabbing him to death in the back. Why this pivotal scene was cut from the cinema version of 'The Return of the King' (and hence meaning that Lee never appeared in this third film at all), I shall never understand (true, it deviates from the books, in which they are in the Shire when Wormtongue stabs him, but at least it provides a resolution of sorts that was absent from the cinema version).

Anyway, glad to have seen these at long last. Next on my movies to-do list: box-setting the three extended DVD versions of 'The Hobbit'!

7 April 2017 – 'MALEFICENT' (2014)

'Maleficent' publicity poster (© Robert Stromberg/Walt Disney Pictures/Roth Films/Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

Many months ago, knowing that I've always been a massive Disney fan, a friend lent me her DVD of the 2014 movie 'Maleficent', which tonight I've finally got around to watching. It's the Disney live-action reworking of their earlier animated feature film version of the classic Charles Perrault fairy tale 'La Belle au Bois Dormant' ('Sleeping Beauty').

In 'Maleficent', the eponymous fairy is evil only because she had previously been grievously betrayed by her human lover (father of the future Sleeping Beauty, Princess Aurora), so she is actually misunderstood rather than malevolent. Yeah, right. The special effects are spectacular, as you would imagine from Disney's CGI department, but there is only so much reworking possible with anything, and I'm sorry but in the classic tale, and especially in Disney's original animated film, Maleficent is the absolute embodiment of evil. There is not a glimmer, not the slightest scintilla, of goodness in her, so for me it was impossible to suspend disbelief and pretend that she's really not that bad after all.

Having said that, it was an enjoyable romp, with Angelina Jolie playing Maleficent superbly (especially in her more sinister scenes), wonderful visuals, and a most unexpected twist on who actually wakes Sleeping Beauty with true love's kiss. Oh yes, almost forgot: a beautiful Tchaikovsky-based song and the vocals of Lana Del Rey really don't go together, honestly - just sayin'...

Anyway, if you haven't seen the movie, click here to view an eye-popping trailer for 'Maleficent'.

15 April 2017 – 'DREAMCHILD' (1985)

'Dreamchild' in VHS videocassette format (© Gavin Millar/PFH Films)

Last night I watched 'Dreamchild' on DVD, a classic 1985 British movie giving a fictionalised version of how the original Alice who inspired Lewis Carroll's 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' and 'Through the Looking Glass' books visited New York when she was 80 years old to receive an honorary degree from Columbia University in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Carroll's birth.

That did happen, but in the film it is interspersed throughout with flashbacks to when she was a child and also with several fantasy sequences in which Alice both as a girl and as the elderly lady (the latter played superbly by Coral Browne) encounters some of the Wonderland characters.

The characters are played by life-sized human-containing puppets produced by muppet creator Jim Henson's Creatures Workshop, but if you're expecting cute Kermit/Fozzie Bear-type creatures, think again! Instead, they're grotesque, sometimes hideous, monstrous entities that look, speak, and behave as if they've escaped from a Stephen King nightmare, most notably the March Hare and the (very) Mad Hatter.

Disney this ain't, that's for sure! But bearing in mind that the film was written by Dennis Potter, perhaps we shouldn't be too surprised by that.

16 April 2017: 'SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES' (1983)

'Something Wicked This Way Comes' publicity poster (© Jack Clayton/Walt Disney Productions/Buena Vista Distribution)

Back in my student days I devoured sci-fi and fantasy novels in innumerable quantity, and among my favourites was Ray Bradbury's mesmerising 'Something Wicked This Way Comes'. Now, after years of seeking it, courtesy of YouTube I've finally succeeded in viewing the sumptuously sinister, consummately creepy Disney film version (inexplicably all but unobtainable in Britain either on VHS videocassette or on DVD), and it was well worth the wait.

Jonathan Pryce is a superbly malign Mr Dark, carnival owner and leader of the Autumn People who grant greedy or unsuspecting visitors to the carnival all that they desire, then feed upon the fear and misery that their desires inevitably generate. Click here for a taster of what to expect.

27 April 2017 – 'EVENING PRIMROSE' (1966)

'Evening Primrose' on DVD (© ABC TV channel)

Not a movie this time but instead a one-off TV special. Just tracked down another long sought-after fantasy rarity. Ever since hearing Sarah Brightman singing the haunting song 'I Remember Sky' on her album 'The Songs That Got Away', I have always hoped that one day I'd get to see the obscure 1960s made-for-American-TV musical 'Evening Primrose', by Stephen Sondheim, from which this song originated, because it had such a weird storyline, yet had never been made available commercially (a DVD of it now exists) and never shown at all in Britain.

A group of people secretly live their entire lives inside a large department store, remaining hidden from all customers and staff during the day by posing as store mannequins, coming alive as it were only at night when the store is closed. None is ever allowed to leave this enclosed community in case they betray its presence in the store, and if anyone ever does try to escape they are visited by the fearful 'Dark Men' who transform them into mannequins permanently. One day, a very disillusioned-with-life poet (played by Anthony Perkins of 'Psycho' fame) decides to stay in the store after hours, whereupon he unexpectedly meets the closeted community, who accept him into it, but he also falls in love with one of its members, a young woman who has been there ever since she was accidentally separated from her mother while shopping there aged just 6 years old. She sings 'I Remember Sky' to the poet, in which she recalls memories from her life in the outside world, before she became part of the store's secret community all those years ago. The poet and the young woman plan to escape, to make a life for themselves outside the store and in the real world, but what happens? Do they succeed?

Now, like I've done, you can find out for yourself, by clicking here to watch this fascinating 51-min-long curiosity, originally screened as part of ABC's ABC Stage 67 anthology TV series, but currently accessible online courtesy of YouTube (it is in English but has Spanish subtitles). There is also an excellent webpage devoted to 'Evening Primrose' here.

29 April 2017 – 'KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN' (1985)

'Kiss of the Spider Woman' publicity poster (© Héctor Babenco/Embrafilme/Island Alive/FilmsDallas Pictures)

Finally watched another film that I've long promised myself I would – 'Kiss of the Spider Woman', a joint Brazilian-American production released in 1985, starring William Hurt (who won the Best Actor Oscar for his role in it) and Raul Julia.

Not a super-hero(ine) movie, lol, but instead a somewhat stark, prison-based, politically-themed film and hence not the genres that normally appeal to me, but its decidedly strange, surrealistic nature, interspersing reality with fantasy, drew me in and maintained my interest throughout. Pity the eponymous spider woman played such a very minor part in it, but it's certainly a one-off film wholly unlike anything that I've seen before.

It would be interesting to see the musical based upon it, and learn how such a singular, decidedly dark film (featuring as it does the torturing of political prisoners) has been transformed into a stage show with songs.

7 May 2017: 'BLACK ORPHEUS' (1959)

'Black Orpheus' English publicity poster (© Marcel Camus/Tupan Filmes/Lopert Pictures)

Friday just gone was a day from hell for me (major car trouble - don't ask!!), so to chill out and put it all out of my mind, I devoted Friday night/Saturday morning to watching a very special film that I'd wanted to see for many years – 'Black Orpheus' ('Orfeo Negro'), the celebrated, award-winning Brazil-set musical from 1959 offering a modern-day interpretation of a classic story from Greek mythology, Orpheus and Eurydice. It is in Portuguese, but a few days ago I was able to purchase an official DVD of it dubbed into English and also with English subtitles. So I sat back and watched it twice, once the English-dubbed version, and once the original Portuguese version with English subtitles.

A fascinating film, blending the wild samba-driven gaiety of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro with life in one of this city's famous favelas (much of the movie was filmed in a real favela), full of melodic music and colourful dance, with eerie supernatural overtones as Death stalks and ultimately claims Eurydice, followed by Orpheus's vain attempt to win her back by participating in a Macumba ritual taking place within an Underworld-redolent setting complete with a ferocious guard-dog called Cerberus (albeit only one-headed here).

In the English-dubbed version, the movie's most famous song 'Manhã de Carnaval' is sung in direct English translation from the original Portuguese, and was the first time that I'd ever heard these beautiful lyrics, as the two more famous English versions ('Carnival', and 'A Day in the Life of a Fool') are not translations from the Portuguese version but are entirely new lyrics, so that was a very pleasant surprise.

As a longstanding fan of musicals and Greek mythology and as someone fortunate enough to have visited Rio, I thoroughly enjoyed this most unusual but spellbinding film, and can readily recommend it to anyone seeking something very different and totally captivating in the world of movies.

9 May 2017: 'THE MONKEY KING 2 – JOURNEY TO THE WEST' (2016)

'The Monkey King 2: Journey to the West' publicity poster (© Cheang Pou-soi/Filmko Entertainment)

I've just watched the spectacular 2016-released Chinese fantasy movie 'The Monkey King 2: Journey to the West', with English subtitles. The special-effects were truly out of this world - not in any of the countless sci-fi/fantasy films that I've viewed down through the years have I ever seen anything to compare to them.

The monsters are as varied as they are numerous - everything from a pair of bloodthirsty aerial mermaids, an Oriental mothman lookalike, and a colossal white tiger that effortlessly defies the laws of gravity when attacking our heroes, to  skeletal wraiths, a pig demon, an immense Eastern dragon, and, as the film's villainess, a mercilessly evil female demon whose aerobatics, shape-shifting abilities, and chilling yet mesmerising malevolence renders the likes of Maleficent, Cruella De Vil, and Ursula the sea-witch mere toe-dippers in the deep, dark waters of evil.

And if you don't believe me, click here for a taster of what to expect from this stupendous film - there's certainly never a dull moment in Oriental mythology, that's for sure!

27 May 2017: 'INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE' (1994)

'Interview With The Vampire' film still (© Neil Jordan/Geffen Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures)

Weather too sultry for sleep tonight, so exactly 30 years after reading the original Anne Rice novel it seemed to me to be the ideal night for finally watching the 1994 Brad Pitt/Tom Cruise movie version of 'Interview With The Vampire' - so I did.

Although I much prefer the novel (Rice's flowery to the point of decidedly mauve if not entirely purple prose in places may not suit everyone but in relation to its subject matter I enjoyed it), the film certainly holds its own - though my all-time favourite vampire movie remains 'The Lost Boys' (overlapping as it does the rock'n'roll and biker genres guarantees that!).

Tom Cruise and horror was something new for me, but his Lestat was undeniably and wickedly malign, and a young Kirsten Dunst as the vampire world's answer to Shirley Temple was chillingly good too. Brad, conversely, seemed rather less enamoured by it all, which accords well with media accounts claiming that he was not overly enthusiastic about his role. And so, another long-promised-to-watch movie duly watched!

28 May 2017: 'NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE' (1979)

'Nosferatu the Vampyre' publicity poster (© Werner Herzog/Werner Herzog Filmproduktion/20^th Century Fox)

I've just expanded my vampire movie night of last night into a double vampire movie night double-bill, because tonight I've just watched the 1979 film 'Nosferatu the Vampyre' - Werner Herzog's art-house remake of the classic 1922 silent movie 'Nosferatu'.

As I expected from an art-house film, it's visually stunning, but with the very notable exception of Klaus Kinski, who is quite mesmerising in the title role of Nosferatu (i.e. Count Dracula), the acting is rather stilted and laboured, and I confess to being somewhat mystified by certain aspects of the plot. In particular, am I correct (or not) in assuming that the rats and the plague are merely a cover created by Dracula to conceal his vampiric activity? But if so, surely the death count is too high for even the most bloodthirsty vampire to achieve? Conversely, if this is all a misapprehension on my part, and the spreading of the plague via the rats was truly real and not a subterfuge, what was the point of it?

Also, the physical appearance of Nosferatu/Dracula is so grotesque, so unearthly, that how could Jonathan Harker not realise instantly that he was indeed a member of the undead rather than merely a castle-bound eccentric?? Such plot-holes aside, however, and suspending disbelief in relation to them, it is unquestionably a fascinating film, and yet another long-awaited one finally ticked off my list.

30 May 2017: 'PAN'S LABYRINTH' (2006)

'Pan's Labyrinth' publicity poster and film still (© Guillermo del Toro/Telecinco Cinema/Estudios Picasso/Tequila Gang/Esperanto Filmoj/Sententia Entertainment/Warner Bros)

I've just watched the Spanish fantasy/war movie 'Pan's Labyrinth', directed by the highly-acclaimed Guillermo del Toro, with English subtitles, and I can honestly say that it has been some time indeed since I have been so emotionally involved in a film, but this one incorporated so effectively and so evocatively such a diversity of universal themes that it would have been impossible for me not to have been.

It contained strange magic and dark fantasy (including a huge Pan-like faun, shape-shifting fairies that reminded me of Ray Harryhausen's winged homunculi in 'The Golden Voyage of Sinbad', a gigantic subterranean toad, a screaming writhing mandrake root, and a hideous child-murdering humanoid monster known as the Pale Man); beauty and barbarism; the futility of warfare (it features bloody aggression in 1944 Spain between Franco-supporting Falangist nationalists and a forest-protected outpost of Maquis republican guerilla rebels); self-sacrifice for the greater good of others; plus haunting music; and profound sadness, so much profound, pervasive sadness (as you'd expect, the traumatic scene in which the young heroine's mother died is one that I could scarcely even look up at, let alone watch).

But just like the original, this Pandora's Box also contained hope, sometimes faint but always flickering, and with that the viewer is ultimately sustained. A spellbinding masterpiece of a movie, and one whose images and emotions will remain with me, I'm sure, for a long time to come. Check out this trailer for it here, and you'll see what I mean.

10 June 2017: 'THE WICKER MAN' - The Director's Final Cut (1973/2001)

'The Wicker Man' – Final Cut publicity poster (© Robin Hardy/British Lion Films)

Just watched the Director's Final Cut (2001) version of the cult 1970s British horror movie 'The Wicker Man', containing 15 minutes of restored footage that had been cut from the original theatre-released version. Nothing spectacular in that additional footage, but it enhances the continuity of certain scenes.

It's a fascinating movie, unquestionably, but, ironically for such a famous horror film, there is a conspicuous lack of horror until the climactic 10 minutes or so, when all suddenly becomes hideously clear to the poor deluded police sergeant (played by Edward Woodward) from the mainland as he witnesses the gigantic Wicker Man awaiting him, in which he is to be imprisoned and then burnt alive within it as a human sacrifice. The people, and most especially the Lord (played by Christopher Lee), of the remote Scottish island of Summerisle, have been playing him for a fool, in every sense, ever since he arrived there in search of a supposed missing child. There was no missing child - she was simply the decoy to lure him, because he was the perfect sacrifice needed by them in their bid to gain the benevolence of the nature gods and thus procure from them a bountiful fruit crop next year - or at least, this is what they hope.

Prior to that dramatic scene, however, the film had played out in a very tongue-in-cheek, nudge-nudge wink-wink manner throughout, even veering dangerously towards 'Carry On'-style farce on occasions (particularly those featuring the gorgeous and frequently disrobed Britt Ekland as the pub landlord's voluptuous daughter, Willow) - but the truly horrifying Wicker Man scene fully vindicates what would have otherwise been an outrageously unwarranted 15 certificate.

So, not so much a movie of two halves as one of 9/10ths vs 1/10th, or thereabouts. Nevertheless, it is certainly a unique, enthralling film, totally compelling throughout, but above all in those scenes featuring Lee's suavely sinister Lord of this pagan dominion - think a Scottish Saruman, and you'll get the picture. Highly recommended.

11 June 2017: 'GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY' (2014)

'Guardians of the Galaxy'  publicity poster (© James Gunn/Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

I recently watched the original 'Guardians of the Galaxy' movie, one of my ever-increasing collection of videos and DVDs waiting to be viewed, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, not least of all because of the refreshingly-unstuffy Chris Pratt's engagingly laconic portrayal of the hero/anti-hero Peter Quill as a would-be (but in reality not always) ultra-cool, hip dude. Unlike so many po-faced 'what is my motivation?' actors currently purveying their thespian wares in Hollywood, Pratt never takes himself too seriously, actually seems to be enjoying himself, and therefore avoids mirroring his surname, unlike a fair few of his contemporaries whom I could (but won't) mention here. Unfortunately, the same cannot, I feel, be said of this film's leading actresses, whose character portrayals were, I felt, way too portentous, and pretentious (lighten up, ladies, it's only a super-hero film, it's not Citizen Kane!).

As one expects, nowadays, from any super-hero genre film, the story was ludicrous, but who watches this kind of film for profound plotting and lyrical depth anyway? What we want are spectacular special effects, and there were plenty of those throughout - which leads very neatly to two of my favourite characters, both CGI-generated. One was a genetically-engineered talking raccoon called Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), the other a huge sapient tree called Groot (not so talkative - his entire vocabulary consists of 'I am Groot', albeit enunciated very effectively in innumerable variations by Vin Diesel).

The soundtrack includes a wonderful selection of 1970s songs, including two that, inexplicably, were hitherto new to me (as a 1970s teenager), but which are now massive favourites of mine – 'Hooked On A Feeling', by Blue Swede, and 'Come And Get Your Love', by Redbone.

I plan to see 'Guardians of the Galazy 2', but meanwhile, click here to view my favourite scene from the original film, introducing to the audience during its opening credits the all-dancing all-butt-kicking adult Peter Quill, in which Chris Pratt showcases his character in the delightfully tongue-in-cheek, devil-may-care manner that continues throughout the movie, and all to Redbone's afore-mentioned, insanely-catchy 'Come And Get Your Love'. Enjoy it, and, btw, no small alien carnivorous bipeds were harmed during the making of this scene.

17-18 June 2017: 'THE HOBBIT' TRILOGY (2012, 2013, 2014)

The extended DVDs of 'The Hobbit' trilogy (© Peter Jackson/WingNut Films/New Line Cinema/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Warner Bros. Pictures)

Heaven help me but I've started ploughing through the extended DVDs version of 'The Hobbit' trilogy. Only viewed the first 2-hourish DVD of the 2-DVD extended version of 'An Unexpected Journey' so far, but I can see already that the compelling, close-knit Tolkien novel that I read with such pleasure back in my childhood has been turned into a vastly over-blown, mind-numbingly staggered pseudo-epic, which the original novel's storyline simply cannot sustain. Ah well, only another five 2-hour DVDs presumably featuring Martin Freeman's irritatingly-excessive mannerisms of confusion, fussiness, and displeasure throughout to go, plus nine DVDs of extras - Lord have mercy upon my soul!

Ok, I've now watched the extended DVD version of 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey', and the second half was certainly better than the first, especially when the gargantuan roc-reminiscent eagles appeared. But a camp goblin king rapping with the voice of Dame Edna Everage (or at least her alter ego Barry Humphries)?? I don't remember reading that in 'The Hobbit' novel!! Ah well... - bring on 'The Desolation of Smaug'.

The Goblin King and Dame Edna Everage - separated at birth...? (© Peter Jackson/WingNut Films/New Line Cinema/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Warner Bros. Pictures / Wikipedia)

Now watched the first of the 2 discs comprising the 2-disc extended DVD version of 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug'. Some memorable horror: the gargantuan spiders of Mirkwood, the ferocious wargs, Beorn in his rampaging ursine form, plus the biggest horror of them all - but that's enough about Stephen Fry's acting... Yet what about this movie's eponymous reptilian star? So far, 'The Desolation of Smaug' has been notable for the decidedly desolate, i.e. non-existent, presence of the Benedictine Cucumberpatch-voiced wyvern in question, but no doubt he'll set the scenes aflame when he does finally deign us with his appearance in this film's second half, otherwise it is really going to drag on (sorry, couldn't resist!).

Ok, I've now seen both halves of 'The Desolation of Smaug' in 2-disc extended DVD version, and I can see why Smaug as a wyvern (two wings, two legs) has attracted criticism. Basically, it just doesn't work, morphologically - especially as Smaug is also portrayed as exceedingly serpentine. It has to use its wings as a pair of legs in place of the pair that it should have had, in order to sustain terrestrial locomotion effectively with such an elongate yet only two-legged form. A shame, because its presence is so powerful, but let down by its form. Incidentally, is it just me or does Smaug's head and face look extraordinarily similar to that of the T rex in the 'Jurassic Park/World' series?

Smaug (© Peter Jackson/WingNut Films/New Line Cinema/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Warner Bros. Pictures)

I've now watched 'The Battle of the Five Armies' in extended 2-disc DVD version, the third and final film in 'The Hobbit' movie trilogy, which certainly lived up to its title and was a marvellous spectacle of CGI brilliance. However, as Tolkien purists will definitely confirm, apart from a few minutes here and there following the death of Smaug its storyline bore little resemblance to anything in Tolkien's original novel, constituting instead a sprawling wargame spawned by the fusion of the film-makers' own imaginations and notes written by Tolkien but contained in appendices at the end of 'The Return of the King', the third 'LOTR' novel. If the film-makers had faithfully adhered to 'The Hobbit' novel, it could have been told, as originally planned, in just two films, rather than in three, but of course three films make more money than two...

That aside, there were some very nice (crypto)zoological touches in this third hobbit instalment, notably the Irish elk Megaloceros giganteus serving as a most noble, imposing steed for the elven leader Thrandull, the giant wereworms that resembled Mongolian death worms writ very large indeed (click here to read a ShukerNature blog article of mine concerning this intriguing cryptozoological link), and the huge white bipedal anthropoids that looked like the misbegotten offspring of King Kong and the Great White Apes battled by John Carter on Barsoom.

Thrandull astride his Megaloceros steed (© Peter Jackson/WingNut Films/New Line Cinema/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Warner Bros. Pictures)

All in all, if taken out of the context of being supposedly based upon Tolkien's novel and viewed instead merely as films in their own right, the three Hobbit movies unquestionably make compelling viewing (albeit a little tedious and drawn-out at times for those of us who are not rivetted by extended battle scenes), but for Tolkien purists I can see why they were greeted with less than enthusiasm, unlike the 'LOTR' movie trilogy, which did largely stay true to their source material and were all the better for having done so.

24 September 2017: 'THE MONSTER CLUB' (1981), and 'VAULT OF HORROR' (1973)

Raven the shadmock, played by James Laurenson, from 'The Monster Club' (© Roy Ward Baker/Chips Productions/Sword and Sorcery Productions/ITC)

Amazing, isn't it, how in spite of having been seen just once, countless years ago, certain movies retain a tenacious grip on one's memory. Two such examples, both of which are British, have aspects of the supernatural as their theme, and take the form of a compilation of shorter, semi-autonomous segments, are the subject of this mini-review double-bill - if only because it is only now that I have finally viewed again from the first of these two films the segment that totally fascinated me when I saw it for the first (and until now) the only time way back in the 1980s and has stayed in my mind ever since; and it is, equally, only now, after many fruitless attempts, that I have finally identified the second of these two compilation-type films, which I watched on TV once during either the late 1970s or early 1980s but have never seen again. And by a remarkable coincidence, it turns out that both of these long-elusive films, albeit produced by entirely different companies and released by entirely different companies, were directed by one and the same person – Roy Ward Baker.

Jiminy Cricket advised Pinocchio to give a little whistle if ever he was in trouble, but that is the very last thing that you'd ever want a troubled shadmock to do! After more than 30 years since reading the original 1975 novel The Monster Club by British horror author Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes and seeing once on television the 1981 movie version of it starring Vincent Price, David Carradine, Donald Pleasence, Britt Ekland, and Patrick Magee among others, which consists primarily of three separate 25-minute segments interlinked by scenes at the eponymous monster club, I've finally re-watched the shadmock segment, courtesy of YouTube. A memorable invention of Chetwynd-Hayes, a shadmock is a fictitious, complex human hybrid of vampire, werewolf, and ghoul whose piercing whistle, emitted only in times of severe distress, has truly devastating effects.

The shadmock's segment in this movie is rooted very much in the bittersweet Phantom of the Opera genre, its uneasy coalescence of pathos and terror playing out beautifully against Fauré's hauntingly melancholic Pavane melody, and featuring a very moving, finely-tuned performance by James Laurenson as Raven, the reclusive, ashen-faced, poignantly-naive but fatefully-betrayed shadmock in question. If you've never seen this tragic little gem, watch it here on YouTube:

[Update, 3 November 2017: Sadly, the above video is no longer present on YouTube, having been removed for copyright reasons, so it was very fortunate that I found it and viewed it when I did.]

Publicity poster for 'Vault of Horror' (© Roy Ward Baker/Amicus Productions/20th Century Fox/Cinerama Releasing Corporation)

Many years ago, as in 30-odd years, I once saw on TV a horror movie consisting of a series of separate segments, each one telling how someone met a bizarre but invariably grisly end after committing some heinous crime as I recall, and most of them featuring some supernatural aspect. Of particular interest was that it featured a host of iconic British actors and actresses, including Terry-Thomas, Tom Baker, Terence Alexander, Denholm Elliott, Arthur Mullard, Daniel Massey, Anna Massey, and Glynis Johns, and I dimly remembered that the ending revealed that the villains were in fact ghosts doomed to retell their grim histories for all eternity.

I have tried many times to discover the title of this film, but all to no avail - until now when, finally, I tracked down some of its six segments on YouTube, and was then able to confirm it by reading its entry on Wikipedia. The film was 'Vault of Horror' (1973) - click here to read the detailed Wikipedia entry for it.

Also requiring a (very) honourable mention:

17 March 2017: LA LA LAND (2016)

'La La Land' publicity poster (© Damien Chazelle/Summit Entertainment/Black Label Media/TIK Films/Imposter Pictures/Gilbert Films/Marc Platt Productions)

This afternoon I watched 'La La Land' at my local cinema. I've read very different comments re it, but I absolutely LOVED it - wonderful music and songs, beautiful colours throughout, a great storyline well acted by its leads Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, and some bewitching fantasy scenes - dancing in the sky, a tantalising "what if..." imaginary alternate plot-line at the end, etc.

All in all a thoroughly delightful, charming homage to the golden age of MGM-style technicolor musicals, which if made 50 years ago would have probably starred Gene Kelly and Lesley Caron. Modern-day films rarely move me, but something about this one really resonated deeply within me, reviving distant memories of younger days, both happy and bittersweet, so many what had beens, what could have beens, what should have beens, and what never would have beens. An enchanting afternoon.

Click here to check out an excellent 'La La Land' trailer. And for anyone in heartfelt reminiscing mood who wistfully sighs: "Ah, the good old films, they don't make them like that any more" - yes they do, and here's the proof.

And finally: a short mini-review of the film, a longer mini-review of the book:

22 November 2016: 'FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM' (2016), the film

'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' publicity poster (© David Yates/Heyday Films/Warner Bros. Pictures)

Today I saw 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them', which I thoroughly enjoyed, although I must confess that for me the plot was definitely secondary to the afore-mentioned Fantastic Beasts, all of whose CGI engenderings were truly spectacular. My personal favourites were the giant four-winged griffin-like creature that turned out to be a thunderbird and the turquoise winged serpentine dragon called an occamy. I also liked the graphorns, as seen in the film still below. Highly recommended for cryptozoologists and magizoologists alike.

An adult female graphorn with her calf (© David Yates/Heyday Films/Warner Bros. Pictures)

18 June 2017: 'FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM' (2017), the book (updated, expanded edition)

From Tolkien to Rowling: A couple of days ago, I purchased the updated hb edition of Newt Scamander's 'Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them', which I'm reading through now, and finding to be a very enjoyable mix of entirely fictitious beasts invented by J.K. Rowling (such as the niffler, jarvey, kneazle, and graphorn), bona fide mythological creatures (e.g. unicorn, manticore, griffin, sphinx), and even some cryptids (yeti, sea serpent, the Loch Ness kelpie aka Nessie), plus at least one fantastic beast that is ostensibly invented yet may well have been inspired by a cryptid.

Namely, the nundu, described in this book as being a gigantic and very ferocious leopard from East Africa, which is very reminiscent of the similarly-named nunda, a feline cryptid from Tanzania said to be a huge brindled cat of ferocious demeanour that was blamed for the killing of several people in that East African country (or, to be precise, the region that subsequently became Tanzania) during the early part of the 20th Century. I've documented the nunda (aka the mngwa) in my two mystery cat books and also here on my ShukerNature blog.

Returning to 'Fantastic Beasts…': it's a delightful book, full of tongue-in-cheek descriptions, some very wry and arch, and amply supplemented throughout by exquisite line-drawing illustrations. A great companion to the film, which again I very much enjoyed when viewing it at the cinema last November.

'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them', the updated, expanded 2017 edition (© J.K. Rowling/Bloomsbury)