TOMB OF NOSTALGIA: THE TOWERING INFERNO (1974)

THE TOWERING INFERNO (1974)

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Another Irwin Allen production, The Towering Inferno is one of the all-time great 70s disaster epics that I was privileged to see in a theater…the now long gone Park Lane…as a kid. The flick follows the formula of an all-star cast of characters embroiled in their own personal melodrama until a disaster brings them together…or tears them apart. Here,  the setting is the world’s tallest skyscraper in San Franscico. While the building is enjoying it’s dedication ceremony with a massive party, the shortcuts taken by owner James Duncan (William Holden) and his jerk son-in-law Roger (Richard Chamberlain), catch up with them when an electrical fire breaks out on the 81st floor and quickly spreads. Now it’s up to angry architect Doug Roberts (Paul Newman) and Fire Chief Mike O’Halloran (Steve McQueen) to figure out a way to stop the blaze before it reaches the 300 guests at the penthouse floor party, who are now trapped.

Another movie that is well-written by Stirling Silliphant based on two books, The Tower by Richard Martin Stern and The Glass Inferno by Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson. As with his Poseidon Adventure script, he keeps the melodrama to a minimum and maintains a claustrophobic setting inside the building for most of the film. While John Guillermin directs the film fairly by-the-numbers, the script affords him plenty of opportunity for suspenseful action, daring escapes and some nail-biting rescues. The fact that we also have some well-written characters and the dialog stays remotely grounded, makes for a more realistic and relatable drama. The fire scenes are really intense and well orchestrated, as are some of the sequences outside the building, such as one involving a teetering glass elevator. The action is solid and while the film is moderately paced, it is never dull. If the film has any main flaw, it’s that at 165 minutes it is about 30 minutes too long and thus there is some repetition in the action and subplots that really don’t further the story. For example…Robert Wagner’s entire character and scenes with his secretary (Susan Flannery) could have been removed without effecting the film and trimming it by a good 15 minutes. There is also some weak model work during the climax, but it’s brief and not enough to tarnish a first rate thriller. Back on the plus side, there is yet another effective score from master composer John Williams and Fred J. Koenekamp provides the vibrant cinematography.

There are a lot of characters in this flick With Newman, McQueen and Holden being the top three spots. Newman is a legendary performer and is solid here as the architect who finds out his specs were changed to cut costs and now it has caused a disaster. He dives right in saving lives and assisting McQueen’s fire chief and is a memorable hero. Same said for McQueen. His fire chief is tough, but remains cool under pressure and he is put through the ringer with this out of control blaze in the worst possible place. He and Paul Newman work well as a team and the flick smartly gives them numerous scenes together. Holden’s Duncan is interesting as he is not an outright villain, a role reserved for Chamberlain. He admits he made mistakes and shows remorse and sorrow over the death and destruction it has caused, so we don’t readily hate him like we do his son-in-law. Supporting them are Faye Dunaway, Robert Vaughn, Susan Blakely, Fred Astaire and the infamous O.J. Simpson as the head of security.

Definitely one of the best of this type of flick due to a toning down of the cheesy melodrama and some very intense action and suspense sequences. It maintains a large cast well and presents a very straightforward depiction of what a disaster like this might be like. If it has any flaws worth mentioning, it’s that it could have lost about a half hour and still been a solid action thriller. The leads are legendary performers who give it their all and the support is generally strong too. There are the usual disaster clichés, but that’s why we watch these flicks! Another 70s disaster movie classic!

-MonsterZero NJ

3 and 1/2 towering infernos.

 

 

 

 

MONSTERZERO NJ’S SATURDAY NIGHT DOUBLE FEATURE: THE AMITYVILLE HORROR and AMITYVILLE II: THE POSSESSION

 

I watched this double feature recently and found this classic and it’s prequel to be a lot of fun together!

THE AMITYVILLE HORROR  (1979)

The Amityville Horror is renown as a horror classic and I certainly won’t argue that. While I find it more corny than creepy…even when I saw it at the Rialto Theater in Ridgefield Park, N.J. back in 1979…it is a lot of fun and created many of the clichés that now permeate today’s haunted house flicks.

Based on a supposed true story, the film has newly married couple George (James Brolin) and Kathy (Margot Kidder) Lutz moving into a large house that was the site of a grizzly murder the year before. The Lutzes are hesitant, but they can’t beat the price. Soon after they move in, strange things begin to occur…and always at 3:15 a.m., the time of the murders. George’s behavior also seems to start to become more and more odd, as he appears sick all the time and the peaceful man has developed a bad temper almost overnight. A priest, Father Delany (Rod Steiger), comes to bless their home and is made to flee as some unseen entity forces him from the house. Now under attack from some malevolent force, the family begins to realize they are in great danger from something inside that house that certainly means them harm. With a history of murder, Devil worship and Native American burial grounds, can the family escape this Hell they call home with such powerful forces aligned against them?

Whether it’s believed this actually happened or not, is still being argued today. Demonologists, the Warrens, who have been brought back to attention with The Conjuring, were the investigators on the case and their legitimacy is debated about as much as this incident. A recent investigation on the TV special Real Fear: The Truth Behind The Movies, revealed new facts that George Lutz practiced the occult and validated that the house was build on Native American burial grounds. So is it real? Who knows? As a movie it is a lot of fun and even though I personally don’t find it very scary, director Stuart Rosenberg and writer Sandor Stern do concoct an entertaining and sometimes innovative horror that established some supernatural elements that now have become movie standards. They take their film, based on Jay Anson’s book, and make a very theatrical horror with bleeding walls, bloody hallucinations, threatening voices and a house that does seem to ooze evil. It just looks spooky, even in daylight. Rosenberg gives it a moderate pace and there are some chilling moments, but to me it’s more fun than actually scary. The film is a bit overly melodramatic, which holds it back for me. The dialogue is corny, especially from Rod Steiger’s very over-the-top holy man and while Brolin and Kidder perform their roles with stark seriousness, they do lean toward over-the-top, too, on occasion. I will admit it has lots of atmosphere, though and Rosenberg is helped in that department by a very chilling score by Lalo Schifrin and there is some moody cinematography by Fred J. Koenekamp. Maybe not very scary, but it is a good time especially with some added nostalgia from it being very 70s.

So while I don’t think this is quite the scare-fest it was meant to be, I do enjoy it as much now as I did when seeing it in 1979. It portrayed some haunted house elements in a way that have now made them tradition in these films and treated what could have been a silly story with dignity and respect. It’s atmospheric and just plain fun. Maybe not one of my all time favorites, but a film I recognize and acknowledge as the classic it now is.

-MonsterZero NJ

Rated 3 (out of 4) haunted houses!

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AMITYVILLE II: THE POSSESSION (1982)

(Clicking the highlighted links brings you to corresponding reviews and articles here at The Movie Madhouse!)

Even in the 70s and 80s, if it made money, there was usually a sequel. While The Amityville Horror told the complete story of the Lutz haunting, legendary producer Dino De Laurentiis found a way to give us more. The film was a prequel and based it’s story on the real-life DeFeo family murders that occurred in the house before the Lutz family moved in. They changed the names in Tommy Lee Wallace, and an uncredited Dardano Sacchetti’s (Luci Fulci’s Zombie), script and now we get the tragic story of the Montelli family. As with the Lutz family, the Montelli’s, Anthony and Dolores (Burt Young and Rutanya Alda) move in with their kids and almost immediately strange things start to happen. As dad Anthony is an abusive jerk, there is already tension between he and older son Sonny (Jack Magner) who the entity targets as it’s vessel. Also, like with the last flick, there is a priest involved, Father Adamsky (James Olson), who detects an evil force in the house and vows to take it on. The film chronicles Sonny’s being broken down and possessed to the point where he murder’s his family and then Father Adamsky’s attempts to drive the demon from him to prove his innocence.

I actually enjoy this sequel, but this time, for all the wrong reasons. Director Damiano Damiani presents everything with such a dire seriousness that it just accents how silly it all is. While the real-life crime was tragic and horrifying, the film just comes across as campy despite the solemn tone. We get some really cheesy levitation effects that are flagrantly over-used, delightfully corny dialogue and intense over-acting by most of the cast, as well as, some well-executed, but out of place make-up effects to simulate Sonny’s possession. The addition of an incestuous relationship between Sonny and pretty sister Patricia (80s film hottie Diane Franklin) also adds an uncomfortable creepiness, but not of the good kind. It is, however, supposedly a plot point based on a factual relationship between Ronald DeFeo Jr. And his sister. Lalo Schifrin returns to score and it gives the film some atmosphere, as does Franco Di Giacomo’s cinematography. Having the murders occur about two-thirds of the way through and then turning the last act into a routine possession/exorcism flick, also hurts what could have been a very intense finale. The film should have been leading up to the murders, which are very effective, but then the film goes on for another half-hour for Adamsky’s attempt to free Sonny of the demon and that just get’s silly…but it’s fun to watch and entertainment is the point.

The cast all over-act. Burt Young is just doing another version of his “Paulie” though one that likes to smack around his wife and kids. Having one of the leads being intensely unlikable also doesn’t help the film overall. We actually don’t have much sympathy when Sonny guns him down. Rutanya Alda does some really over the top facial expressions and James Olson’s priestly dialogue seems made up as it goes along and never convinces as legitimate prayer. Magner is actually somewhat fine as Sonny. He has his over the top moments, but isn’t quite as flagrant as some other cast members despite having to act out demonic influence. Rounding out the leads, Franklin has some pretty bad dialogue to utter and the script has her way too accepting of her brother’s sexual advances…demonic influence or not. The scene doesn’t have the shock value it needs because she goes along with it way too easy…and it makes her later guilt seem a bit insincere. Maybe not the actress’ fault, but some of her dialogue does invite some generous chuckles….sorry, I don’t envision a demon ever saying “make love” it’s just laughable.

I have fun with this flick. It’s cheesy, corny and has some laughably fun bits. It tries way too hard to top it’s predecessor, so much that it goes over-the-top and neuters a lot of the effect the story should have. It takes what could have been a dramatically intense and disturbing climax and serves it up about an hour in, leaving the last act to fall into a routine and silly exorcism flick. All this does make for an entertaining movie though, but definitely for all the wrong reasons. Also, despite taking place before the late 70s set Amityville Horror, the film has a definite 80s vibe to it. Nostalgic and entertaining in spite of itself.

-MonsterZero NJ

Rated 3 (out of 4) “so bad it’s good” haunted houses!

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