Following the excellent Starship Troopers feedback last week, here’s a selection that might be a little less controversial.

Kidding.

The Party (1968)

Who’s in it?

Peter Sellers, Claudine Longet, Steve Franken, Denny Miller

What’s it about?

Hrundi V. Bakshi (Sellers) is an up and coming Indian actor who dreams of the big time. Unfortunately, being prone to mishaps leads to him blowing up a very expensive film set, and he is fired on the spot. Due to a clerical error though, he ends up on the guest list to a party being thrown by the film’s producer, and he attends in the hope that he can apologize in person. Through no fault of his own, Bakshi stumbles through one surreal incident after another, ultimately leading to the partial destruction of a Hollywood mansion, and a blossoming romance with a young French starlet.

Why do I love it?

A perennial family favorite and endlessly quotable; “Birdie num num,” and “I would have been most disappointed if you had not crushed my hand,” are a couple that we use in any given situation.

Of course we should address the painted elephant in the room — Sellers is playing an Indian actor, complete with brown-face and head gestures, so incredibly taboo in this day and age, and there’s nothing I can say to defend it. I will venture one small snippet though with the fact that this film was a huge hit in India, and a favourite of the then PM, Indira Gandhi, who was prone to quote it herself. So there’s that.

Moving on, Sellers’ performance aside (he is, of course, Jacques Tati-inspired perfection), for me the star of this daft slice of celluloid is Steve Franken, who plays Levinson, the increasingly inebriated server. While Levinson is keeping the party guests lubricated, he is also secretly draining any leftovers he happens upon, and is soon three sheets to the wind. Franken’s physical comedy chops are on full display here as he staggers and weaves around the house, baffling guests and infuriating his boss who finally snaps and tries to throttle him in the kitchen, a tableau only revealed to us in a living triptych as the kitchen door swings open and shut during the struggle.

I can’t forget the beautiful score by Henry Mancini either, especially the dreamy song ‘Nothing to Lose’ wistfully sung by Longet at the midway point. A sheer delight.

Sleeper (1973)

Who’s in it?

Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Jon Beck, Don Keefer

What’s it about?

Miles Monroe (Allen), a mild-mannered owner of a health food store, goes into hospital for a routine operation, which goes wrong. He is placed in a cryogenic chamber and forgotten about, only revived 200 years later when rebel scientists need an unidentifiable citizen to infiltrate the tyrannical government in an effort to bring down their ‘Leader.’ Monroe is forced to go on the run after the rebels are captured by the police state, and ends up entwined with socialite slacker, Luna Schlosser (Keaton). Through a series of misadventures they both end up back with the rebels, where Luna falls for the rebel leader, Erno (Beck). After accidentally foiling the government’s efforts to clone the Leader from his only remaining body part, his nose, Monroe and Luna go back on the run again, knowing that staying with the rebellion would only lead to more political power grabbing.

Why do I love it?

Speaking of questionable films and filmmakers, if I found it hard to separate the artists from their art then I wouldn’t have read half the books I have, so I have no problem shoving a Woody Allen comedy onto this list.

Sleeper is one of a trio of his early films that I adore (the others being Bananas (1971) and Love and Death (1975)), and it’s the Allen film I return to time and time again. I’ve seen other reviews of Sleeper describe it as Allen’s most Chaplin or Keaton-like, and it’s hard to disagree. The physical comedy, running around, balancing on a ladder, certainly channels Buster Keaton at his best, and he reserves the Charlie Chaplin influence for close-ups to great effect, but it’s not all fighting off sentient puddings or slipping on genetically mutated banana peels. Allen peppers the script with his usual wry observations and self-deprecation and, as was his wont in the early films, usually ties it all back to sex (or lack of it).

It’s the physical comedy for me though; the hapless police and their useless weapons, the flying machine (which made me laugh like a drain when I contemplated him being stuck, rotating in a tree’s branches until the battery ran out), and the ‘Orgasmatron’ plus bonus ‘sex orb’. Diane Keaton showed what a brilliant comedian she was, holding her own in improvised scenes and perfecting the vacant stare, and Allen’s jazz soundtrack is to die for.

Also, did you ever realize that ‘God’ spelled backwards is ‘dog’?

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Who’s in it?

Richard O’Brien, Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, Barry Bostwick

What’s it about?

An innocent young couple, Janet Weiss (Sartandon) and Brad Majors (Bostwick) are on their way to their university professor’s home to celebrate their new engagement when their car suddenly breaks down in a terrible thunderstorm. They run to the closest house in the hopes of finding a phone, but this house is inhabited by an assortment of glorious weirdos who appear to be dedicated to partying and free sex. This throng is led by the fabulous Dr. Frank N. Furter (Curry), a transvestite scientist in the process of building the perfect man. As Brad and Janet try to survive the night, their innocence is shattered by the highly charged energy of the place, and they both undergo sexual awakenings thrust upon them by the aliens who run the place. Hijinks ensue.

Why do I love it?

I’m not a fan of musicals, although I make an exception for this one (and Little Shop of Horrors (1986)), purely because everyone seems to be having a lovely time, and the lyrics are hilarious. I saw Rocky Horror in 1983 at a good age, 16, when teens are legally obliged to be discovering who they really are, and it turned out that I was a kid in love with Susan Sarandon who rather enjoyed wearing fancy clothes to the subsequent stage productions I took myself off to. Confusing times!

Still, the main reason I adore this film is, of course, Tim Curry. I had seen him as the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance one year earlier and his stage presence, let alone his astonishing voice, was still fresh in my mind. What a whiplash when I saw him not as an overtly rogueish ne’er-do-well, but as a maniacal, fragile, highly sexual ‘sweet transvestite.’ Cue more confusion for teenage me.

Curry is hypnotic, and as much as I enjoy all the preamble and set-up at the start of the film, when I watch his stomping high heel descending in the elevator I know I can finally settle in and let myself go with the flow. I watched it again recently after quite a break, and it truly felt like slipping on a comfortable old pair of fishnets. Ha! Take that, slippers. The songs were as fresh as ever (my personal favourite is the beautifully haunting ‘Over at the Frankenstein Place’), the frantic direction was energetic and subversive, and it still made me feel like I shouldn’t be watching it. Time to show my kids.

The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973)

Who’s in it?

John Phillip Law, Caroline Munro, Tom Baker, Martin Shaw.

What’s it about?

When Sinbad (Law) intercepts a homunculus messenger from the evil sorcerer Koura (Baker) it leads him to the Grand Vizir of Marabia, who requests Sinbad’s help in stopping Koura from acquiring the three pieces of a golden artifact that will lead the owner to the Fountain of Destiny and provide them with immortality, invisibility, and riches. A servant girl, Margiana (Munro), joins them on this quest, as she was born with the mark of an eye on her palm, which seems connected to the artifact. So off they sail, encountering several Harryhausen beasties along the way, in an effort to defeat Koura, protect the kingdom of Marabia, and uncover the secret of the eye.

Why do I love it?

Two of the films on this list of thirty are true comfort films for me (you’ll meet the other in the final spot) — films that feel like old friends, always there to cheer me up when I’m down, or distract me when I’m sick. Like any sensible child, I adored all of the films that featured Harryhausen’s wizardry, but this one is my absolute favorite, due to arguably his best bit of stop-motion, Kali (yes, I’m putting her over Jason’s skeletons), and then there’s the little rubbery homunculus, the wooden ship figurehead (the sound design here is fantastic, all squeaks and splinters), and a battle royal between a cyclopean centaur and a (sadly underused) griffin.

Golden Voyage has the best cast of any of the films. Law is a fantastic Sinbad, masculine, respectful, wily, and he is ably supported by a crew that is not just there as fodder for monsters. Shaw’s Rachid feels like a true shipmate, you get the sense they have seen a lot together, and he acts as the voice of reason to Sinbad’s whims. Then there’s Tom Baker’s tortured turn as Koura, all wild eyes and gnashing teeth. Baker sells it in his usual extravagant manner, but never takes it too far, and then we have Caroline Munro. Good lord. I recently made a list of all of my comfort films from every genre, and Munro appears in seven out of twenty of them! I’m sure it’s just a coincidence.

Fun fact: that weird, goat-faced oracle that Sinbad and his chums confront in the temple well? That’s an uncredited Robert Shaw.

Fright Night (1985)

Who’s in it?

Chris Sarandon, Roddy McDowell, William Ragsdale, Amanda Bearse

What’s it about?

Charlie Brewster (Ragsdale) is a horror nut, obsessed with a cheesy TV show that features old horror flicks, introduced by second-rate actor Peter Vincent (McDowell). When he suspects that a vampire (Sarandon) has moved in next door, Charlie eventually recruits Vincent to help him eradicate the monster before it can put the moves on Charlie’s girlfriend, Amy (Bearse). Armed with an encyclopedic knowledge of vampire lore, and some hokey slayer tools, Charlie and Vincent enter the vampire’s lair, ill-prepared and unready to face the monsters within.

Why do I love it?

I was at art college when this was released, and had a best friend who was as heavily into horror films as I. We had a mutual love for Hammer and Amicus, hosted regular video parties, and used college resources to practice make up effects. Our first love however was vampire flicks, and every teased image from Fright Night just whetted our appetites even more. Plus, it featured Roddy McDowell, and as huge Planet of the Apes fans, we would watch anything he was in.

The film was playing for one week in the cinema closest to the college, The State Cinema, a 1930’s picture house complete with a wurlitzer organ and scary ticket booth lady. We went to see the film every night that week, steeping ourselves in its gently humorous lore and seductive undertones, to the point that we scared ourselves stupid one night when some leaves rustled in the cemetery we had to walk through to get to the train station. Ah, happy times.

Everything about this film hits the spot; Brad Fiedel’s aggressively boppy score, McDowell’s cowardly custard actor and his redemption arc, Charlie Brewster being a horror freak ‘just like us,’ and the gnarly, blood soaked effects. However, the film belongs to Chris Sarandon. I would argue that there has never been a sexier vampire than his portrayal of Jerry Dandrige. Every word, every move, is precise and effortless (until he gets thoroughly miffed at the end), and he oozes sexual confidence, whether cozying up to his live-in familiar, Billy Cole, or ensnaring Charlie’s girlfriend, Amy, in his nightclub sweater.

The make up and creature effects, headed by Steve Johnson, also make me extremely happy, and this was at a time when we were spoiled for vampire prosthetics (see The Lost Boys (1986), Vamp (1987), Lifeforce (1985) et al). At once hilarious and horrifying, the plethora of creatures on show, vampires, giant bats, an almost cute werewolf, look great and are filmed with appropriate energy by horror legend Tom Holland.

Another one to finally show my kids.

Previous Murky Movie surveys from Neil Baker include:

My Top Thirty Films, Part 1
My Top Thirty Films, Part 2
The Star Warses
Just When You Thought It Was Safe
Tech Tok
The Weyland-Yutaniverse
Foreign Bodies
Mummy Issues
Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
Monster Mayhem
It’s All Rather Hit-or-Mythos
You Can’t Handle the Tooth
Tubi Dive
What Possessed You?

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See all of Neil Baker’s Black Gate film reviews here. Neil spends his days watching dodgy movies, most of them terrible, in the hope that you might be inspired to watch them too. He is often asked why he doesn’t watch ‘proper’ films, and he honestly doesn’t have a good answer. He is an author, illustrator, teacher, and sculptor of turtle exhibits.