TCM Underground: Yea or Nay? Maybe It Depends
Posted: May 6th, 2007, 12:50 pm
Okay, I'll bite, what new facet of TCM programming in the last year has caused more tears, laughter and remote controls thrown at the tube? Answer, hands down, I suspect, is the introduction of the Schlockfest that is TCM Underground at the very late hour of 2am in the East, (or as "we" like to call it, the right coast ).
Now that Rob Zombie seems to have flown that particular coop, stuff comes on apparently with little or no intro, almost as though TCM is kind of embarrassed by it all. And that is probably for the best, though I still do wish that they'd confine the ads for this feature to after 9pm, since kiddos and tender hearts don't really need to see those promos for Russ Meyers' oeuvre in such heavy rotation during the day and early evening, do ya think?
Anyway, my point is that while most movies run at this hour are supremely BAD, some of the cult films that have been run during this segment have been well, not bad--at least, by my admittedly sometimes jaundiced viewpoint. I wouldn't want such movies as the central portion of my movie diet, but some of the interesting features that I liked were:
Foxy Brown (1974): a seventies artifact totally intact, complete with polyester clothing, faux hipness, and the formidable Pam Grier, who is the living embodiment of that decade's cheesy anthem, "I am woman hear me roar..." Pam is a solemn, enigmatic figure in all the films I've seen, and her unarticulated, if feisty philosophy seems to imply that she didn't make the world the cesspool that it can be, but she's not gonna drown in it either. I can't help liking her spirit in anything I've ever seen her in.
I Bury the Living (1958): sci-fi movies would seem to be an ideal choice for the time of this film's airing, but in its own way, this early Richard Boone vehicle seems much more like a ghost story. The tagline for the film states, with grandiose hyperbole, that it is " the most spine-chilling cry that ever froze the blood..."
Well, hardly that, but nonetheless it is a bit haunting. The premise involves successful biz tycoon Boone taking on the stewardship of a cemetery at the behest of his older colleagues who see it as a public service. Boone asks for help learning the ropes from old caretaker Theodore Bikel, (who is unrecognizable under heavy makeup and a Scottish burr that requires subtitles). Bikel shows him around, including a map on the wall of the cemetery office in which black pins and white pins designate which plots have been filled by the dead and which are waiting for their future tenants. Trouble starts when Boone starts moving the pins around. Yes, it's absurd but it has something that's hard to shake. The reasons for this seem to be:
--Richard Boone's remarkable commitment to this material, even in one scene that requires him to skip through the gravestones of a cemetery he helps to manage. Also it's interesting to see him play a fellow with a conscience for a change.
--Character actor Howard Smith (big business type, prominently featured in tv shows such as "Bewitched" and a kajillion movies. He's kind of like Clarence Kolb without his style) appears in his pjs and robe in the office in a zombie state in the middle of the night. Not a sight I ever expected or wanted to see, but arresting in its strangeness.
--The starkly production design under the care of Edward Vorkapich and photographed by Frederick Gately shows what can be done with no money and alot of energy and talent by focusing on that cockamamie map of the cemetery. This aspect of the movie is exceptionally well done, (if overemphasized), and certainly memorable.
Curse of the Demon (1957): directed by Jacques Tourneur and featuring good performances by Dana Andrews & Niall MacGinnis, this film is probably the best of the lot that I've seen so far. In a manner similar to Val Lewton's work, it suggests evil and danger without being overly explicit, and builds suspense with alot of relatively low budget, but imaginative flair. Once again, I'm reminded that Andrews may be one of the best actors for displaying psychological uneasiness. It's in the way that he drops his voice at the end of a sentence or that way that he has of cocking his head while listening to another actor, or simply that thousand yard stare he adopts at times. I realize that this may actually be a decent actors attempt to remember his lines, or fill in where the script doesn't, or simply to keep himself from giving up on his career, but Dana does it well, no matter if he's in The Best Years of Our Lives or Hot Rods to Hell, but it is especially noticeable here.
Have you seen any TCM Underground films that you enjoyed? At all? Or just a little?
Now that Rob Zombie seems to have flown that particular coop, stuff comes on apparently with little or no intro, almost as though TCM is kind of embarrassed by it all. And that is probably for the best, though I still do wish that they'd confine the ads for this feature to after 9pm, since kiddos and tender hearts don't really need to see those promos for Russ Meyers' oeuvre in such heavy rotation during the day and early evening, do ya think?
Anyway, my point is that while most movies run at this hour are supremely BAD, some of the cult films that have been run during this segment have been well, not bad--at least, by my admittedly sometimes jaundiced viewpoint. I wouldn't want such movies as the central portion of my movie diet, but some of the interesting features that I liked were:
Foxy Brown (1974): a seventies artifact totally intact, complete with polyester clothing, faux hipness, and the formidable Pam Grier, who is the living embodiment of that decade's cheesy anthem, "I am woman hear me roar..." Pam is a solemn, enigmatic figure in all the films I've seen, and her unarticulated, if feisty philosophy seems to imply that she didn't make the world the cesspool that it can be, but she's not gonna drown in it either. I can't help liking her spirit in anything I've ever seen her in.
I Bury the Living (1958): sci-fi movies would seem to be an ideal choice for the time of this film's airing, but in its own way, this early Richard Boone vehicle seems much more like a ghost story. The tagline for the film states, with grandiose hyperbole, that it is " the most spine-chilling cry that ever froze the blood..."
Well, hardly that, but nonetheless it is a bit haunting. The premise involves successful biz tycoon Boone taking on the stewardship of a cemetery at the behest of his older colleagues who see it as a public service. Boone asks for help learning the ropes from old caretaker Theodore Bikel, (who is unrecognizable under heavy makeup and a Scottish burr that requires subtitles). Bikel shows him around, including a map on the wall of the cemetery office in which black pins and white pins designate which plots have been filled by the dead and which are waiting for their future tenants. Trouble starts when Boone starts moving the pins around. Yes, it's absurd but it has something that's hard to shake. The reasons for this seem to be:
--Richard Boone's remarkable commitment to this material, even in one scene that requires him to skip through the gravestones of a cemetery he helps to manage. Also it's interesting to see him play a fellow with a conscience for a change.
--Character actor Howard Smith (big business type, prominently featured in tv shows such as "Bewitched" and a kajillion movies. He's kind of like Clarence Kolb without his style) appears in his pjs and robe in the office in a zombie state in the middle of the night. Not a sight I ever expected or wanted to see, but arresting in its strangeness.
--The starkly production design under the care of Edward Vorkapich and photographed by Frederick Gately shows what can be done with no money and alot of energy and talent by focusing on that cockamamie map of the cemetery. This aspect of the movie is exceptionally well done, (if overemphasized), and certainly memorable.
Curse of the Demon (1957): directed by Jacques Tourneur and featuring good performances by Dana Andrews & Niall MacGinnis, this film is probably the best of the lot that I've seen so far. In a manner similar to Val Lewton's work, it suggests evil and danger without being overly explicit, and builds suspense with alot of relatively low budget, but imaginative flair. Once again, I'm reminded that Andrews may be one of the best actors for displaying psychological uneasiness. It's in the way that he drops his voice at the end of a sentence or that way that he has of cocking his head while listening to another actor, or simply that thousand yard stare he adopts at times. I realize that this may actually be a decent actors attempt to remember his lines, or fill in where the script doesn't, or simply to keep himself from giving up on his career, but Dana does it well, no matter if he's in The Best Years of Our Lives or Hot Rods to Hell, but it is especially noticeable here.
Have you seen any TCM Underground films that you enjoyed? At all? Or just a little?