Look, it’s more stuff of which Barb approves! (And I, Park, do, too!)
—Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (1974) (also known as The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue)
I am not usually a fan of zombie films. They bore me. All zombie films have the same plot: zombies eat a bunch of people, humanity is screwed, the end.
Yes, there are exceptions. I love the original Night of the Living Dead, Hammer Studios’ Plague of the Zombies, and the obscure radio production of a Halloween one-off called “The Peoria Plague.” But unless a zombie film has something different to offer me like the Blind Dead films or, I just have no interest in the walking-dead-type films.
So, I was surprised how deeply affected I was by Let Sleeping Corpses Lie. It had such a stupid title, just for a start. But Kill Baby Kill has a silly title, and I like that film, so, what the heck, I decided to poke those sleeping corpses with a stick to see what gives.
I was chilled to the bone. Honestly, the only other zombie film that did that to me was Night of the Living Dead. There is something about Let Sleeping Corpses Lie that’s so fatalistic, so dour, so solemn, and so matter-of-fact that I was honestly disturbed by the film.
Well done, you sleeping corpses!
–Kate Rusby: “Who Knows Where The Time Goes”
Sandy Denny’s iconic song gets a traditional Irish folk music rendition. Lovely as the purple heather.
—Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell (1978)
Ridiculous fun. A dog gets the Rosemary’s Baby treatment, producing a bunch of cute demonic puppies. Goofy as can get, but watchable. Features Yvette Mimieux as the mom and the great Martine Beswick in a brief cameo at the start as an evil villainess-gal. Here’s the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnQF-CFWrBk
—Dust Be My Destiny (1939)
One of the sillier John Garfield movies. John Garfield and Priscilla Lane are on the run because of a crime the Garfield character didn’t commit. Yet Garfield plays his role with a strangely sweet cynicism and desperation, while Lane shows amazing pluck and optimism. They have great chemistry, so the results are entertaining and sometimes downright compelling.
—The Ghost of Flight 401 (TV 1978)
I’m a sucker for old made-for-TV movies of the 1970s. The Ghost of Flight 401 is one of the better supernatural tales of that era. Based on a semi-true story/urban legend, the tale has a most unusual ghost: the spirit of a former pilot who went down in a plane crash, who has come back not to scare people, but to make sure that such tragedies don’t happen again.
What makes this story work is the low-key nature of the script and the performances. Yes, characters get scared of the ghost, but they still act in logical, reasonable, adult ways. They always keep their heads about them.
This is a rare made-for-tv movie that deserves a modern remake.
–The Legend of Lizzie Borden
Speaking of great, intelligent made-for-TV movies of the 1970s, “The Legend of Lizzie Borden” is top-notch. While there is some shocking-for-the-TV-of-the-era violence toward the end, the majority of the film consists of trying to figure out what really happened. Whoever did the research concerning this film deserves a medal.
Added bonus: Elizabeth Montgomery is scarily good as Lizzie.
–Stephen Vincent Benet: The Devil and Daniel Webster
I first read this story when I was thirteen years old and enjoyed it quite a bit.
It wasn’t until later, when I was watching the Walter Huston movie of the same name, that I realized, “The Devil and Daniel Webster,” as much as “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” or Eyes of Fire, is American folk horror at its finest. So, I decided to revisit the story.
Yes, the plot is a shaggy-dog story: Yankee guy down on his luck sells his soul to the devil for success, only to have the famous lawyer Daniel Webster defend the guy. Yes, it’s funny and folksy, but there’s a real tone of menace to the story, especially when the Devil says that he has always been in America. That speech made my mouth drop.
—Joe Macbeth (1955)
Joe Macbeth is a strange movie. Someone took the plot of the Scottish play and transferred it to a gangster setting. It works a lot more than it doesn’t work. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, wondering, how the heck the movie could pull off its conceit. It did so by taking the whole thing as serious as the grave. I found it to be fascinating. Also, Ruth Roman is awesome! We’ve never seen her give a bad performance, and she doesn’t disappoint here, either!
–Don’t Go to Sleep (1981)
This film may possibly be my favorite made of TV horror film. It has strong competition: When Michael Calls, The Spell, and even Bad Ronald (what a weird film!). But Don’t Go to Sleep, about the destruction of family after a tragedy is truly disturbing and devastating. The performances, the script, and even the direction are all top-notch.
–Ruth Manning-Sanders: “Tatterhood”
Many people, including myself, like fairy stories that get reconfigured to be horror stories. We talk about Angela Carter and Tanith Lee, but we don’t talk even about Ruth Manning-Sanders, who finds the creepiest fairy tales then tells them in the most matter-of-fact ways.
I like Ruth’s work very much. Highly recommended.