American Gothic Week: Balkanized

BLOOD BATH or PORTRAIT IN TERROR

aka Operation: Titian or Track of the Vampire

1966 or 1968

Directed by Rados Novakovic or Jack Hill or Stephanie Rothman

Written by Vlastimir Radovanovic or Jack Hill or Stephanie Rothman

Spoilers: moderate

Some new nadir in sordid behavior

THE WILD ANGELS

1966

Directed by Roger Corman

Written by Charles B. Griffith and Peter Bogdanovich

Spoilers: moderate

Channing Tatum's least favorite movie of all time

GAMBIT

1966

Directed by Ronald Neame

Written by Sidney Carroll, Jack Davies, Alvin Sargent, and Shirley MacLaine

Spoilers: well, I'm going to discuss the beginning whether they like it or not, so—apparently—"catastrophically severe"

I'm a society burglar—I don't expect people to rush about shooting me

HOW TO STEAL A MILLION

1966

Directed by William Wyler

Written by Harry Kurnitz (based on the story "Venus Rising" by George Bradshaw)

Spoiler alert: moderate

G-d Week: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

THE BIBLE: IN THE BEGINNING

1966

Directed by John Huston

Written by Christopher Fry (based on the book by P, D, and J)

Spoiler alert: oh, inapplicable

Cardboard Science: 20,000 leagues under the skin

FANTASTIC VOYAGE

Slow (and surprisingly dumb for a movie as pompous as this one often is), it nevertheless absolutely lives up to that title, even fifty years after the fact.

1966

Directed by Richard Fleischer

Written by Otto Klement, Jerome Bixby, and Harry Kleiner

With Stephen Boyd (Grant), Arthur Kennedy (Dr. Peter Duval), Raquel Welch (Cora Peterson), William Redfield (Capt. Bill Owens), Edmond O'Brien (Gen. Carter), Arthur O'Donnell (Col. Reid), and Donald Pleasence (Dr. Michaels)

Spoiler alert: high

Pool by pool, they form a river

THE SWIMMER

Less obscure than it used to be, this cult classic curio deserves every look it gets.

1966/1968

Directed by Frank Perry and Sydney Pollack

Written by Eleanor Perry (based on the short story by John Cheever)

With Burt Lancaster (Ned Merrill), Janet Landgard (Julie Hooper), Michael Kearney (Kevin Gilmartin), and Janice Rule (Shirley Abbott)

Spoiler alert: mild

Frankenheimer pops the clutch, and tells the world to eat his dust

GRAND PRIX

The last great stand of our beloved Old Hollywood, Grand Prix is offered up with tantalizing premonitions of the New.  It is everything you could ask it to be: a romantic, stylishly entertaining picaresque that darts across Europe, delivering literal high-octane thrills, such as only real Formula One footage shot from the cars themselves could provide.  And it is far more than you'd have any right to expect it to be: an investigation into the spirit of the sportsman, epic and elegiac all at once, forever searching for a meaning within itself—meaning that was never there to be found, beyond the roar of engines, the crash of metal, and the excitement of pure velocity.

1966
Directed by John Frankenheimer
Written by Robert Alan Arthur, William Hanley, and John Frankenheimer
With Yves Montand (Jean-Pierre Sarti), James Garner (Pete Aron), Brian Bedford (Scott Stoddard), Antonio Sabato (Nino Barlini), Eva Marie Saint (Louise Frederickson), Jessica Walter (Pat Stoddard), Francoise Hardy (Lisa), Adolfo Celi (Agostini Manetta), Jack Watson (Jeff Jordan), and Toshiro Mifune (Izo Yamura)

Spoiler alert: moderate

We've been eating Gamera, part II: That rainbow's bright

Gamera isn't the most important, or the most influential, or the most popular Japanese monster.  That just means the Guardian of the Universe may have to content himself with simply being the best.  This series of reviews is dedicated to my very favorite turtle. 

GAMERA VS. BARUGON
(Daikaiju ketto: Gamera tai Barugon)

The first Gamera sequel demonstrates Noriaki Yuasa's growing competence in the special effects genre; to our regret, however, he only directed about a third of it.  The rest is credited to someone who had never made a monster movie before and, for reasons that will become clear, would never make another one again.

1966
Directed by Shigeo Tanaka
Written by Nisan Takahashi
With Kojiro Hongo (Keisuke Hirata), Kyoko Anami (Karen), Koji Fujiyama (Onodera), Akira Natsuki (Ichiro Hirata), Yuzo Hawakawa (Kawajiri), and Teruo Aragaki (Gamera)

Spoiler alert: high