#1,037. The Devil-Doll (1936)

Directed By: Tod Browning

Starring: Lionel Barrymore, Maureen O'Sullivan, Frank Lawton





Trivia: The film's working title was The Witch of Timbuctoo








Director Tod Browning’s next-to-last film (his final being Miracles for Sale in 1939), 1936’s The Devil-Doll is also one of his best, a wonderful blend of horror and melodrama that features a strong performance by Lionel Barrymore, playing both an escaped convict and a little old lady!

After 17 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, banker Paul Lavond (Lionel Barrymore) escapes, intent on exacting revenge against three former associates who framed him. Joining him in the escape is Marcel (Henry B. Walthall), a scientist who’s perfected a formula by which he can shrink any living creature, human or otherwise, to one-sixth their normal size, which he believes will end world hunger (after all, smaller people won’t eat as much food). Shortly after the two of them reach his laboratory, Marcel dies. So, Lavond joins forces with his widow, Malita (Rafaela Ottiano), and heads to Paris, where, posing as an elderly woman, he opens a doll store and sets to work using Marcel’s formula to bring down his dishonest colleagues. By doing so, he hopes to both clear his name and win back the respect of his daughter, Lorraine (Maureen O’Sullivan), who’s been a social outcast ever since his arrest.

Lionel Barrymore is superb as Lavond, and even makes for a believable old woman (I liked how he went from full-on revenge mode to sweet little old lady in the blink of an eye). The special effects are strong as well, with Browning and company bringing Lavond’s “dolls” convincingly to life. In one scene, Lavond plants a female doll in a former associates house, which then wakes up in the middle of the night and steals a valuable necklace. Even knowing how these effects were achieved (using oversized sets and furniture to make the actors appear smaller than they are) doesn't make them any less impressive.

Equally as good are the film’s more dramatic moments, where Lavond, disguised as the old woman, interacts with his daughter, Lorraine, who, over the years, has grown to hate him. In the hands of lesser actors, these scenes might have come across as overly-sentimental, but Barrymore and O’Sullivan are subdued enough in their performances to generate real emotions during these encounters (their final meeting packs enough of a punch to bring a tear to your eye). By perfectly balancing fantasy with human drama, The Devil-Doll may just be the most complete motion picture Tod Browning ever made.

#2,819. The Brotherhood of Satan (1971) - Films of the 1970s

 

Shots of a wind-up army tank - a child’s toy - are interspersed with close-ups of a car being demolished by what we’re led to believe is an actual tank. We never see the destruction; from off-screen, we hear the occupants of said car, first their shock and confusion, then their agonizing screams as the vehicle is crushed with them inside. The chaos eventually subsides, and a young boy walks away from the carnage, strolling a short distance until he is met by three other children.

These are the opening images of 1971’s The Brotherhood of Satan, a horror film that ignores traditional narrative as it weaves the story of a Satanic cult and the mayhem it unleashes on a small desert community.

Widower Ben Holden (Charles Bateman) is driving down a secluded road with his daughter K.T. (Geri Reischl) and girlfriend Nicky (Anha Capri) when he happens upon the wreckage from the opening scene. Racing to the nearby town of Hillsboro to alert the police, Ben is instead assaulted by the sheriff, Pete (L.Q. Jones), and other locals. It seems that Hillsboro has been inexplicably cut off from the rest of the world for days now, during which time dozens of citizens were brutally murdered and a number of kids have gone missing. With Ben’s help, Sheriff Pete, his deputy Tobey (Alvy Moore), and kindly Doc Duncan (Strother Martin) try to figure out what’s happening in this normally peaceful town.

What none of them realize is a coven of Satan-worshipping witches has descended upon Hillsboro, and are luring the town’s children to a dilapidated mansion, where, in a few days’ time, they will participate in an ancient ritual. And the leader of this cult is none other than Doc Duncan himself!

Directed by Bernard McEveety and written by William Welch (credited) and L.Q. Jones (uncredited), The Brotherhood of Satan is a bizarre motion picture that, as its story unfolds, raises more questions than it answers. Yet I found myself drawn into it, and the weirder the movie got, the more intrigued I became.

And believe me, this movie gets plenty weird! While at home one evening reading from the bible, Hillsboro resident Ed Meadows and his wife Mildred are attacked and killed by their daughter’s doll; and the scene where the witches, all of whom are senior citizens, initially gather features both head-scratching dialogue and the brutal slaying of one of their number, Dame Alice (Helene Winston). The murder of Dame Alice is shocking in that it seemingly comes out of left field, with only a faint explanation of who this person was, and why they were killed. Then there’s Nicky’s peculiar dream, tinted in red and littered with dead bodies, that randomly pops up in the final act.

Yet as unusual as it all is, I never once believed the events unfolding in The Brotherhood of Satan were as random as they seemed. I trusted that every odd image, every fantastic killing, every random interaction between two characters was another piece of a puzzle, and regardless of how long it would take to piece it all together, I was in it for the long haul.

It took two viewings (both in the same night) of The Brotherhood of Satan for me to decide whether or not my faith in the filmmakers was justified. Happily, it was, but that’s not to imply the movie is perfect. The scene with the doll-turned-killer has a handful of unintentionally funny moments, and tonally the film never really comes together, teetering between arthouse and exploitation without fully embracing either. But its unique approach, coupled with an unforgettably creepy final scene (that also featured a twist I didn’t see coming the first time through) do their part to make The Brotherhood of Satan a unique addition to the late ‘60s / early ‘70s Satanic craze, ranking alongside The Devil Rides Out and Rosemary’s Baby as one of the subgenre’s most unforgettable entries.
Rating: 8 out of 10

#1,608. The Other Hell (1981)

Directed By: Bruno Mattei

Starring: Franca Stoppi, Carlo De Mejo, Francesca Carmeno




Tag line: "What happens when nuns become possessed by the devil?"

Trivia: This movie was also released as Guardian of Hell








A nun, alone and frightened, makes her way through an underground catacomb. All around her lie the skeletal remains of hundreds of people, stacked in piles along the catacomb walls. She eventually makes her way to a room in which another nun is preparing to embalm the remains of a third sister, whose dead body rests on a table in front of them both. Suddenly, the nun performing the embalming grabs a scalpel and slices the genitals of the deceased, calling the now-severed body part “The door to evil” that “leads to hell”. It won’t be long before the crazed sister turns the knife on her companion, stabling her first in the crotch, then several times in the back.

Thus begins director Bruno Mattei’s 1981 horror film The Other Hell. Unfortunately, it didn’t end here; this opening sequence is the best thing about the movie.

For years, the local abbey has had its share of problems, forcing the Bishop to send Father Inardo (Andrea Aureli) to check things out. After a few unexplained events, the good Father is convinced an exorcism is in order, but before he completes it, Sister Rosario (Susan Forget) experiences a religious phenomenon known as the Stigmata (her hands and feet begin to bleed, emulating the wounds Jesus received the day he was crucified). With the exorcism deemed a failure, the Bishop next sends in Father Valerio (Carlo De Mejo). More skeptical than his predecessor, Father Valerio clashes openly with Sister Vincenza (Franca Stoppi), the abbey’s Mother Superior, who resents his presence. Undaunted, Father Valerio continues his investigation, only to find that dark forces have taken up residence in the abbey, putting everyone within its walls in the greatest of danger.

The Other Hell has a handful of inspired moments; along with its opening, there’s a tense sequence involving the abbey’s groundskeeper, Boris (Franco Garofalo), and his kennel of vicious dogs, as well as a surprising scene where a character bursts into flames, burning to a crisp before our eyes. Aside from this, The Other Hell features a lot of walking, with characters (usually Father Valerio) strolling through the abbey, finding nothing more than a bunch of dolls hanging by their neck from the ceiling (the first doll is kinda creepy, but then it gets out of hand). What’s more, there are a number of scenes that make no sense (Sister Rosario’s Stigmata is well-handled, but never explained), leaving us scratching our heads, wondering what the hell is going on?

Who knows what’s really happening at the abbey? Who’s possessed, and who isn’t? In the end, the answer to these questions is itself a question: Who cares? The filmmakers surely didn’t, and as a result, instead of a well-thought-out horror film, what we get in The Other Hell are a few cool scenes mixed into an otherwise confusing, very boring motion picture.