THE WITCH WHO CAME FROM THE SEA (1976) – The Dungeon Review!

I was completely unfamiliar with the title The Witch Who Came from the Sea until I picked it up at Black Dog Video last week. I did not read the back of the DVD to see what it was about only the comment written on a piece of paper taped to the front of the case; “This film is freakin’ awesome. It’s weird. It’s fun. It won most popular film at Cinemuerte 2004!” I lived in Vancouver in my twenties and moved back to Ontario for ten years. While I was away a short-lived film festival was concocted by former Black Dog employee Kier-La Janisse who was a huge horror fan. Black Dog Cambie was practically my second home back then. In a large part that was due to Kier-La’s presence. To this day I have met very few women who are passionate about horror films the way I am; very few women or men for that matter. Of course online I have connected with loads of folks but I am talking my everyday reality here. I used to enjoy just chatting with Kier-La, and she was always good for a solid recommendation. Unfortunately, I missed out on the awesomeness that was the Cinemuerte Film Festival which ran from 1999 to 2005 and featured such films as Massacre at Central High, School of the Holy Beast, Let me Die a Woman and Poor Pretty Eddie. I moved back to Vancouver in 2007 and while Cinemuerte was defunct I am happy to say that Black Dog Video is one of the few rental outlets still left standing. I rented The Witch Who Came from the Sea based on the aforementioned comment and what a fucking treat! What an unusual, hypnotic, fascinating journey this trippy psychological horror-drama was! I can’t thank the good people over at Black Dog Video enough for this brilliant recommendation! It’s just like old times.

Molly is spending some quality time with her nephews Tripoli and Tad at the beach. Molly is staring intently at two men working out. She is admiring their physiques. As Molly continues to admire the men the music becomes more frantic. Images are shot at the viewer like bullets as Molly eventually pictures both men dead. There was an animated image of blood drops pouring from one of the men’s heads that was so fantastic! The bloody image is flashed so damn quick however I was unable to catch it. I tried! For half an hour I tried! It just about drove me nuts!

Aunt Molly stays to watch the football game with the kids. Sam “the electric man” Walters and Austin Slade are the boys heroes. Molly speaks lovingly about her father to Tripoli and Tad. He was a Captain and according to Molly was lost at sea. Her sister Cathy, the kids mother has some different thoughts on dear old dad who she says was a real sonofabitch, an abusive alcoholic and an evil bastard. We learn early that Molly is in complete denial; powerful denial!

Molly has “episodes” but they are actually not really “episodes” at all. In Molly’s warped mind she believes she is imagining these events but in reality the are recollections of events that actually happened. Voice distortion is used when Molly is wigging out or recollecting an event which gives these scenes a particularly warped vibe. Molly picks up the two football players Sam “the electric man” Walters and Austin Slade. The trio go to a hotel together where they get naked and smoke pot. Molly ties them up and kills them. As a Captain’s daughter Molly knows how to tie a good secure knot.

“Do you shave with a straight razor? Or is this all going to be agonizingly slow?”

Molly works as a waitress at the Boathouse. The bar is owned by Long John who Molly is also sleeping with. Molly spends the night with Long John and is woken the next day by a newscast reporting the deaths of the two football players Sam Walters and Austin Slade. Molly is very upset and worried about her nephews. Molly is also becoming obsessed with a handsome man in a shaving commercial.

Molly has regular flashbacks to childhood. These flashback gets progressively creepier as the film roles along. In this flashback her and dad are building a boat and dad gets uncomfortably intimate.

Billy Batt is a movie star and regular customer at the Boathouse and has invited Molly and Long John to a party at his home. This scene explains the origins of the film’s title.

“Who is she?” -Molly
“She is a witch who came out of the sea.” -Billy
“She’s not a witch, she’s beautiful.” -Molly
“Venus.” -Billy
“Why did she come out of the sea?” -Molly
“Venus was born in the sea.” -Billy
“Why?” -Molly
“Her father was a god, they cut off his balls, his sperm got into the ocean and the sea was knocked up and Venus was the kid.” -Billy

Molly ends up in Billy Batts bedroom and bites his lip. Billy slaps her and Molly ends up getting pushed out the door by him into a room full of people. To those in the room it appears that Billy Batt was the aggressor; little do they know of Molly’s psychosis.

Back at the bar Molly complains she has a bad headache. Fellow waitress Doris offers her some pills.

“…and they’re two colors I’ve never seen in pills before; shocking pink and electric blue, and they’re a knock out.”

Molly meets the man in the shaving commercial, Alexander McPeak along with his girlfriend Clarissa.

“Do you love him?” -Molly
“McPeek? Gee, why?” -Clarissa
“Because I do. I want him.” -Molly

A very odd thing to just come out and say, but everyone seems to think Molly’s childlike wonder is charming. Well, Clarissa did not think it was terribly charming.

Molly gets a tattoo of a mermaid on her stomach; one just like dad used to have. She chitty chats with tattoo artist Jack Dracula and shares with him the name she gave herself as a child; Molly Contiki Polynesia Easter.

Molly will not get undressed in front of Long John on account of her new tattoo. Molly and Long John have a conversation about when Molly first had sex. Molly does not know the answer to that question. “How could you not know Molly?” Long John asks. This triggers a Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious trip out to an event where it appears that Molly has killed and chopped up several men on a boat! It is a very lovely and cool looking psychedelic colored-tinted segment!

Molly goes to see Alexander McPeak.

“Who are you? Did you shave this morning? I never see your face in color, I only see it in black and white.”

As she is speaking these words, warped circus music is playing in her head as a creepy looking clown is making silly gestures.

Long John wakes up to see Molly lying beside him covered in blood.

No one knows better than her sister Cathy what ails Molly.

Tripoli and Tad come by Long Johns for a visit with Aunt Molly. Molly’s facade of sanity if finally slipping.

The final and most disturbing childhood flashback.

All drugged up and Molly is floating on a calm sea.

I knew in the first five minutes that I was going to love The Witch Who Came from the Sea. The wacky opening scene with Aunt Molly and the kids at the beach was totally one of a kind! We are completely aware of Molly’s severe psychosis and there is no mystery for the viewer of who killed the football players. It is however a mystery to the film’s characters. Although we are aware of Molly’s mental state there is much we still need answered. The film leaves no loose ends and offers a few surprises also. Despite being completely loco, Molly is a likable and empathetic character. Molly appears to genuinely be unable to control her actions and her back story is so distressing it is easy to understand why her mind has become such a prison. A huge part of this treasure’s charm was the strange and compelling lead performance from Millie Perkins who plays Molly. Perky Perkins quirky performance, her child-like wonder and natural beauty had me enthralled. Molly is the film’s focus but there are some fun and eccentric supporting roles that are worth noting; especially Long John and the foul-mouthed waitress Doris. They add some humor to the proceedings. The Witch Who Came from the Sea has several surreal and hypnotic moments. Although I included pictures for several of these scenes they really can’t do them justice. It is the voice distortion, the camera tricks, the tinting, the sound effects and the music that accompanies these images that intensifies the trip. The Witch Who Came from the Sea is horror of the psychological persuasion and the violence is not graphic. It certainly offers up an array of disturbing moments but they are of the variety that get under the skin and messes with the psyche. The Witch Who Came from the Sea is definitely my favourite film of the year thus far, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so sad about returning a rental. Why isn’t this mine?! I am supposed to be easing off the DVD purchases to save up for a trip to New York later in the year but I MUST have this film in my collection. The Witch Who Came from the Sea gets my highest of recommendations; a perfect score.

Dungeon Rating: 5/5

Directed By: Matt Cimber

Starring: Millie Perkins, Lonny Chapman, Vanessa Brown, Peggy Feury, Jean Pierre Camps, Mark Livingston, Rick Jason, Stafford Morgan, Richard Kennedy, George ‘Buck’ Flower, Roberta Collins, Stan Ross, Lynne Guthrie, Barry Cooper, Gene Rutherford

NECRONOMICON (1993) – The Dungeon Review!

Hey! Hey! It’s another 90s film! You can expect a couple more before the month ends! How wrong could you go with an anthology based on the work of H.P. Lovecraft (loosely based as it might be) with Brian Yuzna directing a segment and the wraparound story and the great Jeffrey Combs playing Mr. Lovecraft? There was definitely potential for awesomeness! Well, awesome it is not, but it does have some admirable qualities. Necronomicon is three stories with three different directors. The story that connects the trilogy sees H.P. Lovecraft finding the Necronomicon and reading three of its gnarly tales. Warning SPOILERS ahead.

The Drowned

The Drowned is directed by Christophe Gans (Brotherhood of the Wolf, Silent Hill) and is quite impressive visually. A dilapidated old mansion is the setting for this story. Edward de Lapoer has inherited the old mansion and finds the diary of his relative that tells of how he resurrected his dead wife and son. This great opening flashback scene was promising but the rest of the film that focuses on Edward was rather tiresome. The Drowned really does lose its mojo something awful once its story returns to the present which makes up half of its runtime. Edward immediately seeks out the Necronomicon which is hiding behind a portrait and bad things happen. What saved The Drowned from being a complete wash were some pretty damn nifty creature effects. It has an awesome Cthulhu-esque sea creature thing that makes an appearance in the finale. The Drowned was definitely my least favourite of the trio but it was not without a few highlights.

The Cold

The Cold is directed by Shûsuke Kaneko (Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, Crossfire, Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack) and has the most cohesive story of the three. I enjoyed this tale despite its rather obvious final twist. A reporter is sent to the home of a woman they believe is connected to several murders. The woman tells the reporter how she came to be in the former home of Dr. Madden. The story she relays is that of her mother Emily and how she came to meet and fall in love with the doctor who learned the secret of eternal life. I wasn’t super crazy about the Emily Character played by Bess Meyer but Dr. Madden played by the talented David Warner was a real highlight. I didn’t think Warner and Meyer had any chemistry and I found it hard to buy that Madden would fall for this woman. There isn’t much in the way of special effects in this segment; what little is included didn’t look too bad though. The Cold is flawed, but I enjoyed the story and Warner enough to say I found it fairly entertaining.

Whispers

Whispers is directed by Brian Yuzna (Society, Bride of Re-Animator, The Dentist, Progeny, Return of the Living Dead III) and was my favourite of the three. It is definitely light on story but the visuals are something else! A pregnant cop named Sarah and her partner/lover Paul are in a car accident and Paul is pulled out of the vehicle and dragged away. Sarah frees herself and pursues the man they call The Butcher. This is definitely the nastiest and goriest of the segments. There are some really neato effects and creatures in this one. The building and its many room, halls and hidden passages are properly spooky and creepy. Nothing beats the cave scene with Sarah’s discovery of Paul and the ugly flying beasts! Oh and what a properly wonderful grim ending! Despite a flimsy story Whispers is a helluva lot of fun to watch!

Necronomicon ends with the H.P. Lovecraft connecting story. The finale did feel a bit rushed and I think they re-used the monster from the first segment, but it is energetic and Yuzna throws in some funky looking effects and a pretty cool creature! Jeffrey Combs is always some fun ain’t he?

Necronomicon is flawed all over the place but definitely has its share of memorable moments. Most anthologies have a weak link and that is certainly the case with Necronomicon’s first story The Drowned. Each of the films, even The Drowned has at least a little something to offer although I can not say any of these stories blew me away. As is the case with most Lovecraft adaptations I’ve seen they take plenty of liberties with the material and a limited budget prevents it from meeting the sheer spectacularness of Lovecraft’s written word. That said there are certainly a few Lovecraft adaptations that kick some rather serious ass; I would not call Necronomicon one of them. My feelings about Necronomicon overall are a bit lukewarm, but it is not a bad way to spend 90ish minutes. Lightly recommended.

Dungeon Rating: 3/5

Directed By: Christophe Gans, Shûsuke Kaneko, Brian Yuzna

Starring: Jeffrey Combs, Tony Azito, Juan Fernández, Brian Yuzna, Bruce Payne, Belinda Bauer, Richard Lynch, Maria Ford, Peter Jasienski, Denice D. Lewis, William Jess Russell, Vladimir Kulich, David Warner, Bess Meyer, Millie Perkins, Dennis Christopher, Gary Graham, Curt Lowens, James Paradise, Sebastian White, Signy Coleman, Obba Babatundé, Don Calfa, Judith Drake