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The Hand of Night
Beast of Morocco / Der Todesengel
UK 1968
produced by Harry Field for Pathé (Associated British-Pathé)
directed by Frederic Goode
starring William Sylvester, Diane Clare, Aliza Gur, Edward Underdown, Terence de Marney, William Dexter, Sylvia Marriott, Avril Sadler, Angela Lovell, Maria Hallowi
written by Bruce Stewart, music by Joan Shakespeare, John Shakespeare
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
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Having lost his wife and child in an accident he feels responsible for,
Carver (William Sylvester) travels to Morocco to clear out his mind - but
even on the flight there he has a weird and morbid dream that feels a bit
too real for comfort. Once in Morocco, archeologist Otto Gunther (Edward
Underdown) is quick to take him under his wing. But at Gunther's house,
and even more so at his digging site and a decaying castle attached to it,
Carver is only reminded of his nightmares, and he even meets characters
from them, like the sinister Arab Omar (Terence de Marney) and the
beautiful Princess Marissa (Aliza Gur). At first everyone thinks he's
slightly unhinged, and it's just the grief of having lost his wife and
child that's weighing on his mind, and especially Gunther's assistant
Chantal (Diane Clare) tries to distract him as she has fallen in love with
him - and for a time it works even, but it seems Omar and Marissa follow
Carver everywhere. Gunther and his partner Leclerc (William Dexter)
eventually come to the conclusion that Carver's illusions might be rooted
much more in reality than initially thought, as the grave they're
excavating turns out that of a Princess Marissa - something Carver could
not have known -, and whatever they find out of her is very much in line
with Carver's dreams. But things get troubling when it's found out Marissa
has been considered a vampire. When Marissa, Omar and their underlings
though kidnap Chantal, it's up to Carver to take action ... Ok,
the plot of this movie is slightly silly and not at all cliché-free - but
it's filmed in a very dreamy way, heavy on atmosphere and strong on
visuals, expecially in the far-fetched bits of the movie. And the movie
really takes its time to let the horror grow without feeling overly long
(and clocking in at about 90 minutes), and refusing to give the viewer
definite answers for the longest time. Sure, the final reveal that
Marissa's actually a vampire is a bit of a letdown after all the buildup,
but doesn't destroy the film, which might not be a classic or even hidden
gem, but still really cool, in the best way old-fashioned horror cinema.
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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Thanks for watching !!!
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Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
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