filmboychris

What was Stephen King thinking writing this dull, derivative yawnfest? A really un-interesting four hours was made out of the simple story of a man caught in an explosion at a factory who starts to get younger, and the various agents of the government who chase him wanting to know what happened. The whole thing could have fitted into an hour, but no , we have to witness every long winded chase and escape plan, plus endlessly tedious scenes of no relevance concerning a completely over the top mad doctor, and un-funny comedy relief provided by an irritating general dogsbody character. To top it all, the thing doesn't even end-just sort of peters out to nothing-no payoff-zilch. Derivative and not worthy of Stephen King's normal high quality-avoid this like the plague. You'll be bored senseless if you watch it, and at 4 hours it is a criminal waste of time.

This is a real waste of time. Only 74 minutes long, but seems much more, a dreary, sanitised "Exorcist" style plot is trotted out in typical seventies TV movie style. That means no violence and very little action as a group of satanists plot to stop their chosen disciple from falling in love with any man who will stand in the way of her union with the god Astoroth. Even Hammer's "To the devil a daughter" which was weakly plotted along similar lines, had more going for it than this tedious offering. Too much chocolate box romance and too little horror sinks this one. Not suprisingly, this pilot movie didn't launch a series. I guess the producers realised that there wasn't much they could do with the format of a priest and a lovesick man mooning around the country looking for his lost love and throwing in the odd exorcism every week .A few TV movies from the seventies managed to stir up some shudders, Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, The Night Stalker, Gargoyles, Trilogy of Terror spring to mind, but this anaemic offering deserves to remain anonymous.

A bleak recreation of a real life murder duo-this is filmed cheaply in black and white but shows the facts of the case realistically. Quite bold and unflinchingly nasty in places with a shocking hammer murder of an old woman whilst she begs for mercy, this won't be to all tastes, but as a real life crime reconstruction it works well. The two leads are excellent.

It's nice to see an influx of British made horrors as a change to the endless stream of American ones. This one has an unusual flavour, and it takes a while to get going, but does hit a few of the right buttons along the way. The film seems to have divided people on this site pretty much 50/50 in the love it or hate it stakes. I won't reiterate the plot again, as so many of you have already done this, but would agree it is pretty far fetched and hard to swallow. The things we do for love indeed. It is sedately paced and low on shocks, but instead this film slowly grips you with a firm , steady build up. It's the shame the final revelation of what has really happened wasn't kept from the viewer until the very last moment-rather than 15 minutes from the end. The awkward explanation scenes bring everything to a grinding halt, rather than having one big shock surprise, and then the end credits roll. Still, not bad as a time filler, and more worthy than a dozen Scream style movies that we are all sick of. For those seeking the unusual.

This is one of the most interesting and entertaining fantasy movies ever made. Unfortunately, it is relatively unknown, (especially in the UK where it cannot be found on DVD or video, and it has never seen a release on either of these formats to my knowledge- it does however, show up every 5 years or so on Channel 4-so look out for it there.) It also seems to be compared unfavourably with "The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad", which is a shame, as it surpasses this admittedly fine film in many ways. The story is typical fairy tale stuff, a poor farmers' son rescues a princess from the evil clutches of a sorceror, but it somehow transcends this simple tale and becomes something so much darker, and scarier than it's more famous rival. There is a cruel streak running through this film which is totally absent from "The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad", and which makes this movie more like a horror film than a childrens fantasy.This fact was obviously picked up on by the film censors in the UK who gave it an "A" certificate (children to be accompanied by an adult) way back in 1967 when it hit the cinemas here- it was also cut by around two minutes of the more violent moments. On the down side, the monsters in "Jack" are rubbery and unconvincing- which is unfortunate, and does make some of the scenes look very fake indeed, and in this respect, the film is no match at all for the beautiful models on display in "Voyage"- but the optical colour effects when spells are cast, and especially the nightmarish blue tints during the scary witches' attack on the boat, are breathtaking and look very magical, and there is also a fabulous finale when the evil "Pendragon" turns into a dragon and fights to the death with Jack. Younger children will find this movie too frightening, even now when kids see a lot of things they should'nt. Older kids will probably find it a bit too corny for their tastes. Which only leaves nostalgic adults and the 6-10 age group left to enjoy this movies' many charms- a shame.

I really don't understand the people who have seriously tried to describe this movie-they really don't understand camp or spoof or comic-strip at all. First of all, a movie called "Danger Diabolik" is only likely to attract the curious or already informed viewer in the first place. Secondly, people who think that Mike Myers in films like "Goldmember" and "The spy who shagged me" are funny, are presumably laughing at the over the top sixties costumes and sets, along with the corny dialogue,(and not at Mr Myers himself who is painfully unfunny.)Such people need to look at films like "Danger Diabolik" to see where the inspiration comes from, and then to appreciate why they are laughing and enjoying the movie. Diabolik is so over the top, it is almost out of sight. Cool pop art imagery fills every frame, the colour is gorgeously drenched on the screen to the point of psychadelia,(thanks to the wonderful Mario Bava's directorial touches,) The music score is fantastic and symbolises the swinging hippy 60's era exactly. The sets are a pop art designers catalogue of camp. Everything about this film spells excess, and anyone with a sense of humour and a liking for kitsch should find it completely irresistable. Serious types looking for spy movies along the lines of James Bond will probably find this way to silly for their tastes, as it is more in line with "Barbarella" and "Batman",than "You only live twice". But anyone who appreciates simple minded but glossy entertainment, who can appreciate a spoof when they see it, and can forgive movies dubbed poorly from Italian into English will have an absolute ball with this title. Just don't attempt to analyse it like some film school student, as movies like this were never intended to be taken seriously for one second.