Tag Archives: awesome

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973)

November 14, 2021 Ken Miller Leave a comment

Kali: one of Ray Harryhausen's greatest creations! — Kali: one of Ray Harryhausen’s greatest creations!

Sinbad (John Phillip Law), his crew, a Vizier (Douglas Wilmer) and a slave girl called Margiana (Caroline Munro) undertake a voyage to find the legendary Fountain of Destiny in Lemuria, but a master of black arts, Koura (Tom Baker), is also set on acquiring the Fountain’s gifts to conquer the land of Marabia.

Directed by Gordon (SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN) Hessler, this movie was the second of three Ray Harryhausen Sinbad films released by Columbia Pictures (the other two were THE 7TH VOYAGE OF SINBAD and SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER) and it’s my personal favourite.

Margiana is offered up to the God of the Single Eye... a centaur! — Margiana is offered up to the God of the Single Eye… a centaur!

For me THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD has the best ‘feel’ of the three Harryhausen Sinbad productions: the lighting is great, the sets are marvellous, it has the best dialogue, and the general atmosphere is a satisfying mix of seriousness, fantasy, adventure and humour.

Sinbad fights for his life in a fine-looking Lemurian temple set — Sinbad fights for his life in a moody Lemurian temple set

The score by composer Miklós Rózsa is wonderful, especially during the exciting sword fight between Sinbad’s crew and a statue of Kali. Rózsa had provided the music for THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (1940), a favourite film of Ray’s. THE THIEF OF BAGDAD had also featured green-skinned men and this Sinbad adventure has similar green tribesmen.

The main selling point of any Ray Harryhausen production is the chance to enjoy Ray’s stop-motion effects and THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD has a fine selection of animated adversaries, including the aforementioned many-armed Kali. Along with the Kali fight scene, the initial sequence that introduces Kali is also very well-done: the fact that Ray, through his stop-motion skills, imbues the six-armed statue with ‘life’ and then proceeds to show her dancing too is just amazing.

Other stop-motion creations include a wooden ship’s figurehead and winged homunculi. The scene in which Koura creates the second small homunculus from a jar of leaves and chemicals is effectively done, with the tiny creature acting as if it has just been born.

'Birth' of the homunculus — ‘Birth’ of the homunculus

Koura uses his dark magic to animate the figurehead on Sinbad's ship — Koura uses his dark magic to animate the figurehead on Sinbad’s ship

There is also an impressive cyclopean centaur, which kidnaps Margiana, then does battle with a griffin!

Some folks moan that the griffin just kind of strolls into the story to have a fight with the centaur and then gets killed. But this winged creature is performing a role set out in a prophecy told to Sinbad by the Oracle of All Knowledge (played by an uncredited Robert Shaw in striking makeup) and so, for me, the sudden appearance works fine because the griffin is functioning as part of the prophecy (which states “Destiny is a place where both good and evil wait” – the griffin obviously personifies the good) and when we see it get wounded by Koura so that the centaur can gain the upper hand in the battle, the griffin is again playing its part in the prophecy (“for it is the deeds of weak and mortal men that may tip the scales one way or the other.”)

The horned Oracle of All Knowledge is consulted

Lobby card shows Sinbad taking on the centaur

Tom Baker, as Koura, ageing every time he uses his magic, is the best villain in the Sinbad trilogy of films, I think. John Phillip Law is a fine Sinbad (the best!) and the lovely Caroline Munro adds glamour as slave girl Margiana, dripping sex appeal in all her scenes. Douglas (JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS) Wilmer, as the badly burned Vizier, is hidden by a mask for most of the running time, but his voice is a great contribution to the film.

Tom Baker as Koura, surrounded by green tribesmen

The Vizier reveals his scarred face to act as a distraction, so that Sinbad can escape the green men. — Douglas Wilmer as the Vizier reveals his scarred face to act as a distraction, so that the protagonists can escape the green men.

Sinbad offers the Vizier a crown of untold riches

Ultimately, I think this Sinbad film stands out because its story uses the overarching theme of Destiny very well, in a script written by Brian Clemens that includes lots of chat peppered with praise to Allah, humour and colourful aphorisms: “My heart is filled with courage! But I have very cowardly legs.”

“Trust in Allah, but tie up your camel!”

Kali will be a real handful in a fight! — Kali is a real handful!

Some posters for the film…

Lobby cards…

VHS, DVD and Blu-ray covers…

Marvel Comics did an adaptation of the movie…

Publicity photo…

Finally, here’s a Ray Harryhausen concept drawing that shows a proposed fight between the centaur and a giant Neanderthal Man…

The Neanderthal Man was replaced with a griffin in GOLDEN VOYAGE, but a Troglodyte would feature in SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER — The Neanderthal Man was replaced with the griffin in GOLDEN VOYAGE, but a big Troglodyte would feature in SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER

Bone Tomahawk (2015)

August 14, 2021 Ken Miller 2 Comments

Sheriff Franklin Hunt (Kurt Russell) leads a small posse into a desolate region to rescue some people who have been abducted by a cannibalistic clan of troglodytes.

I like horror westerns, such as DEAD BIRDS, RAVENOUS and THE BURROWERS, and this one is a really good example of the sub-genre.

First of all, this film stars Kurt Russell, who is always worth watching, and it has good characterisations, with Patrick Wilson, Richard Jenkins and Matthew Fox shining in their roles. Fox’s character, for instance, could’ve come across as quite unlikeable, but much of what he does and says is practical and is actually the right thing to do.

A closer look at Russell's very manly facial hair — A closer look at Russell’s very manly facial hair

The troglodyte burial ground (inspired more by a Native American medicine wheel, rather than a burial ground)

A large chunk of the running time focuses on the leads trekking across the desert, and I think these scenes work well, driving home how dangerous and arduous such an undertaking like that would actually be.

With Sid (SPIDER BABY) Haig in a cameo role, well-written dialogue throughout and Kurt Russell sporting a truly awesome moustache, this film also boasts some very disturbing, monstrous antagonists…

A nice lookin' poster — A nice lookin’ poster

The cave-dwelling tribe of cannibals featured in this movie are a truly nasty group of cinematic bad guys: they are covered in dry mud, have weird throat pipes that produce an eerie wail and they are utterly pitiless. The violent action at the end of this movie is jaw-droppingly savage, especially the scene where they scalp and upend a character, then start hacking him between the legs, bisecting him! This is something you don’t easily forget! My eyes are watering as I write about this moment!

Check out the bone throat pipes... — Cutting around the bone throat pipes…

...and pulling them out of the neck to inspect — …and pulling them out of a troglodyte’s neck to inspect

Sheriff Hunt has his belly sliced into... — Sheriff Hunt has his belly sliced open…

...and then a savage rams a red-hot metal hip flask into his wound. Ouch! — …and then one of the savages rams a red-hot metal hip flask into his wound. Ouch!

BONE TOMAHAWK was S. Craig Zahler’s directorial debut and he’s gone on to write and direct two other gritty, violent movies I like a lot: BRAWL IN CELL BLOCK 99 and DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE.

BONE TOMAHAWK is a well-made, brutal film that is really worth hunting down if you’ve not seen it yet.

Here’s Mauricio Ruiz’s concept design for the look of the troglodytes…

The troglodytes were eventually portrayed in the film with a different look compared to this design

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)

April 30, 2021 Ken Miller Leave a comment

At one point the creature is captured, at least for a while... — At one point the creature is captured, at least for a while…

An expedition heads into the Amazon jungle after the discovery of a skeletal fossil hand that seems to be an example of a missing link between sea and land creatures…

The expedition team, aboard the steamer Rita, speculate that the rest of the fossil skeleton could be located downriver, so they sail along a tributary that leads them to a lagoon…

…the Black Lagoon!

Once they are anchored in this mysterious stretch of water the team go diving and finally realise there is a living, breathing prehistoric, amphibious, humanoid Creature lurking nearby. And now the fun really starts!

The Creature on land — The Creature comin’ at ya!

Director Jack Arnold’s creature feature has lots of poking-at-the-lens moments that reflect the fact the film was shot in 3D (I once saw a 3D print of the film at a screening at my college and there were lots of shots of spearguns and claws looming at the screen!)

A claw reaches into a tent — The gill-man’s claw reaches into a tent… in 3D!

The story is pretty straightforward: scientists go hunting for missing link fossils in the Black Lagoon, the Creature attacks, they capture it, the gill-man escapes and tries to prevent them from leaving by blocking their escape with branches, the heroine gets abducted by the Creature, the rest of the team go to the rescue, etc. The very linear plot is fine, though, because it provides the foundation for a production that gels nicely and is endlessly enjoyable.

Julie Andrews & the Creature — Julia Adams screams!

To begin with, the film is great to look at: the underwater photography is really well done, the gorgeous Julia Adams is, well, gorgeous, and the gill-man is a brilliant monster suit design.

The gill-man rises from the waters — Gill-man alert!

The way the Creature ‘gulps’ at the air when it is on land is impressive: it looks like a gasping fish, which is such a cool touch for a movie from this period. The ‘underwater ballet’ sequence, where the Creature shadows Julia Adams as she swims in the lagoon, is rightly considered a standout moment and is unlike pretty much anything else seen in similar 50s creature features.

The creature shadows the heroine — The superb underwater swimming scene

The score is very bombastic which, added to the 3D-inspired photography, makes the film quite an in-your-face experience. Richard Carlson is a dependable leading man and Richard Denning, as Dr. Mark Williams, is a more interesting character, who vacillates between giving up the search early on when nothing is discovered to becoming overly obsessed with capturing or killing the Creature.

The Creature swims in the lagoon — The Creature in motion

The Creature is one of my all-time favourite screen monsters and it was played by Ben Chapman on land and by Ricou Browning for the underwater shots. It really is an amazing man-in-suit creation.

There’s been a lot of recent interest shown in the origin of the design of the gill-man, with much being made of the fact that Milicent Patrick designed the approved Creature look, but her role was then downplayed by lead makeup artist Bud Westmore. This is a shame, though it’s great that Milicent is receiving her due now, thanks to the book ‘The Lady From the Black Lagoon’.

The gill-man went on to appear in two sequels, REVENGE OF THE CREATURE (1955) and THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US (1956), its influence has extended to the likes of Guillermo del Toro’s Oscar-winning homage THE SHAPE OF WATER (2017) and it really deserves its place in the line-up of classic Universal monsters.