Homework Movie - Vertigo

When your old friend asks you to watch his wife to find out where she's going, you know something's going to end up all wrong. Such is the case for detective John "Scotty" Ferguson played by James Stewart in Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock in 1958. I've had such a hard time following the muddled plot to this movie, now matter how many times I've watched it, it still takes too long to get the point across why Galvin Elster has his friend watch his wife to observe her behaviors. Is it a plot to rid Ferguson of his Vertigo issues? Does Galvin's wife really die?

Making a duel appearance is Kim Novak as Madeleine Elster, the wife of Ferguson's friend and then later as Judy the plant that looks exactly like Madeleine. In the climax of the film I was not sure if it was Madeleine or Judy that threw herself off the bell tower. No matter who it was, it sure made an impression on Mr. Ferguson, as he was completely infatuated with her looks, despite having to figure out which woman she is.

His quest was doomed from the beginning as his friend knew his condition would impair his ability to travel to anywhere with heights. On top of that, his relationship with his best friend and former fiancé was more than enough female interaction he should have needed, however his attraction to Mrs. Elster led her to her ultimate demise.

I've enjoyed more of Alfred Hitchcock's movies, but for some reason this doomed man story just doesn't hold up like the others. As for the other clips we watched in class, I was more interested in how the doomed character was involved with artistic choices in The Big Knife than Stewart's obsession with someone

Homework Movie - Black Sunday (1960)

When you start off messin' around on your significant other, you just have to know that something wrong is going to come of it. Such is the case in Black Sunday Staring Barbara Steele and directed by one of Horror's best-known directors, Mario Bava. Barbara plays multiple characters that can't seem to keep their hands off the other men in her life when she's supposed to be married as both characters. In both cases it ends very badly for more than one guy. Infidelity doesn't just end with Mrs. Steele's character.

Dr. Gorobec is messing around with the older woman in the beginning, who it turns out to be a younger woman later on in the story that wants the Dr. to take over the estate of the wife/Jenny characters. He then hires a competent doctor that has been looking after Jenny at an asylum before the story takes place and has him move in for a while to study Jenny's behavior to see if she's suitable for the estate or if Dr. Gorobec should watch over and inherit the money/property of Jenny's.

This movie marked the first of many horror genre films for Barbara Steele, including in the 80's the original Piranha for Roger Corman's New World Pictures. Steele has worked on everything from dramas to some comedies, but she's always made time for the horror genre.

Starting off as a cinematographer, Mario Bava didn't rise so quickly into the role of the director until almost 20 years into the business. Sure he'd directed some documentary films and shorts in that time, but his first major film being Black Sunday, this makes watching this film especially fun to see his style start to emerge on the scene. Since the 60's, Bava has rarely strayed from the horror genre, being named one of the godfathers of the modern horror film.

Watching some of his other works in class, Black Sunday is a good start to anything he's done over the years. The whip and the body we watched in class and it was cheesy is some parts and somewhat laughable. Thinking about Black Sunday in the terms of when it was made, it could have scared the pants off of you if you weren't keeping track of where people were in the house.