Welcome back to my Dark Corner of this Sick World.
‘I hear the nuns really love it.’
Those of you who have subscribed to our channel will be familiar with the folk horror sub-genre of
‘visitors to a remote location arrive seeking a missing friend or relative and fall foul of local traditions’,
and whether it’s as good as The Wicker Man or as bad as Land of the Minotaur, Young Hannah,
or Blood Tide, which is what we’re looking at today,
the plot can be summed up in one sentence.
‘Please do not interfere with our local customs’
preferably delivered by Jose Ferrer,
who makes visitors welcome on their arrival.
‘Goodbye’
The visitors are Sherry and Neil, played by Karate Kid’s Martin Kove.
There is no fear in this hat.
And the location is flying cat island.
#CAT SCREECH#
Not really.
‘That’s a very dumb thing to do to a cat you know’
They’ve come looking for Neil’s sister Madeleine who’s been gone 4 months.
‘I’m fine. I paint, I draw. I’m fine’
Well that was easy, roll credits.
‘I kiss thee ere I killed thee’
But they also meet archaeologist Frye,
Played by James Earl Jones
'it is the cause,'
who gets the Dark Corners Oliver Reed award for giving a performance for the totally different film than the one his co-stars are in.'
'He played Othello once in college and never got over it.'
Frye has discovered an underwater cave, in which...
And he proceeds with a care and caution of which Howard Carter himself would be proud.
#BOOOOOOOOOOM!#
And like Carter, who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun,
I bet Frye can’t wait to get in there and see the ‘wonderful things’
‘Another day’
Archaeological history is filled with stories of people opening vaults that have been closed for centuries
and might contain anything, and then going ‘Well this’ll keep’.
Although in his defence...
Now, we know from an opening flashback to ancient times
that whatever is in there used to be placated in the traditional way,
‘Virgin sacrifice’
not him like most monsters this one prefers it’s virgin sacrifices to be pretty girls what ain’t got no clothes on.
Although you do wonder how long they made these sacrifices before someone said...
‘Why don’t we just wall it up?’
‘Don’t even think about it.’
Back on land, Neil and Sherry try to reconnect with Madeleine.
‘He said that he’d missed your last 2 birthdays, so we decided to get you something.’
Boy that was a long 4 months.
Frankly very little happens in this film.
Although if you’re a bikini enthusiast.
‘It does have its compensations.’
Yes it does.
‘Perverts!’
This is Frye’s sort of girlfriend, Barbara,
and I have a bad feeling about her.
Maybe I’m pre-judging but I don’t think Barbara is the virgin sacrifice the creature is looking for.
She seems too… footloose.
You don’t have to be a fortune teller to see where this is going cos we’ve got fun-loving Babs,
newly married Sherry, and living in a nunnery restoring religious icons Madeleine.
‘What I’ve started, I must finish’
That’s a line that kind of applies to the movie
cos the only reason you might keep watching is to see if it does actually go anywhere.
Maybe we’ll get more than a glimpse of the monster before it’s blown up.
#BOOOM#
We don’t.
The virgin sacrifice must be willing and present herself and this is supposedly Madeleine’s destiny,
but there’s no hint of why. Why someone who’s not from here should be the chosen one.
She got Frye to come here specifically to blow open the door.
‘Madeleine was the one who brought me to this place’
Why? Usually the sacrifice is the one being lured and then at the end,
when Martin saves her she seems happy about it.
So happy she apparently forgets he’s her brother.
Point is; there’s no local conspiracy,
she just turns up to be eaten, which means that the other deaths...
Kind of on her.
So, if you were sticking with the film in the hope it goes somewhere… just more disappointment.
'Time is running out for all of us.'
Thanks for watching.
For another story about local people and local monsters, check out my book The Werewolf of Priory Grange,
there’s a link in the description below.
Virgin sacrifice is the standard but what films do a good job of subverting that cliché? Let us know in the comments below.