Alice in Wonderland (1966)

4 / 5 Jul '11
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Jonathan Miller
Written by: Lewis Carroll
Actors include: Anne-Marie Malik, Michael Redgrave, Peter Sellers
Genre: Fantasy, Horror
Length: 71 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
This is a pretty fascinatingly surreal and psychedelic version of the Alice in Wonderland story. It's shot in black and white in a gothic style, and the cinematography is quite lovely. It features music by Ravi Shankar and a fantastic cast, particularly Anne-Marie Malik in the role of Alice. It was filmed as a TV play of all things, and it's surprisingly well made. What I found so unusual was the character of Alice who yes is a rather inquisitive but here she is stern and extremely flip...moreso than in any other version I've seen. She seems downright pissed off at the wacky people in wonderland and irritated by everything around her. At the same time the contrast makes the story and characters seem even more absurd which is pretty cool. I'm not completely sure how this qualifies as a horror film, but perhaps some of the imagery is a bit grotesque and it is maybe a tad creepy. Just the same a very interesting version of the classic story that really should be seen by any fan of the story, or for those who like unusual '60s flicks.

Availability:  on DVD

Goodbye Gemini (1970) aka Twinsanity

3.5 / 5 July '10
Tagline: In the age of Aquarius the twins Julian & Jackie share everything - Love, men and murder!
Directed by: Alan Gibson
Written by: Jenni Hall, Edmund Ward
Actors include: Judy Geeson, Martin Potter, Michael Redgrave
Genre: Horror, Exploitation
Length: 89 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
This is a weird exploitation flick that reminded me a bit of Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly [Girly] only it's not quite as good. The story revolves around unusually (disturbingly) close twins Jacki & Julian who have moved into house in London England. They seem to go in for the swingin' scene and go to parties, but they make a scene as they are a little too infatuated with one another. Jacki carries around a teddy bear and the two play games as though they were children. They sort of have their own little fantasy world where intruders are not welcome...okay so that's more of Julian's style than Jacki's but still. They make friends with a gambler named Clive and that's where things seem to take a turn for the worst. He has some debts that need paying so he tries to blackmail Julian and let's just say it's not a good idea to mess with these two. It's very strange all around and not exactly a bloody horror film or anything, but it certainly works and was entertaining.

Availability:  On DVD