Arnold

Arnold is everything a black comedy should be! It has the all the cynicism and wit of a Gogol novel. Another terrific performance by the incomparable Roddy McDowell...if only I could find out where to buy one of his "shrink wrap suits" to send to all of my "favourite" people.

Despite being a cheaply made pot-boiler, this is amazingly brilliant. One might mistake this as a romantic comedy but it's a murder mystery with a creepy atmosphere throughout and some horrific moments that make its PG rating somewhat eyebrow raising. The story is solid and satisfying and there is some great dialogue. Even the minor characters have good lines and there own story arcs. The journeymen actors all put in good performances particularly Bernard Fox as the incompetent Constable Hooke who is supposed to be investigating the murders. If this was produced by Hammer, it would probably be a cult classic by now.

This is a pretty black little film, and I actually really like it. It makes you wonder how they got the money to put it together and got all the celebrities to be in it. Roddy McDowell and Stella Stevens were fresh off of "Poseidon Adventure." Was this a good career move? Who cares? They were both actors who were willing to work, even if it meant doing dumb movies.

Stella Stevens plays a woman carrying out the wishes of her lover, that she marry him after he is dead. That's how the movie STARTS, and it keeps going from there! What follows is a combination of campy 70's sitcom humor, a "And Then There Were None"-style "whodunnit" mystery and some grisly, inventive death scenes.

The pace is brisk as it moves to a surprise ending that is both satisfying and pretty disturbing for a "comedy." I respect a film that is willing to pretend to be all light and funny, then end so hatefully! The theme of this film is that everyone is money-grubbing, selfish and weak. Nasty, black-hearted, TRULY WEIRD (the opening song just kills me) and I love it! And Stella Stevens is gorgeous and amazing, as always.

Arnold may be the most active corpse in the history of movies (we're not talking about zombies here). There he is, lying in his casket throughout the movie, and yet his presence dominates the world of the living, and his sardonic smile makes him look pretty darn alive. This highly original horror comedy has a morbid sense of humor and will keep you guessing all the way, but ultimately has one twist too many, becoming excessively illogical by the end. It's still recommended, perhaps as a double feature with "Terror In The Wax Museum", another 1973 film by the same director, with many of the same stars, with even the same "they never set foot outside the studio" feeling. (**1/2)

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed by George Fenady; produced by Andrew J. Fenady for Cinerama Releasing. Screenplay by Jameson Brewer and John Fenton Murray; photography by William Jurgenson; edited by Melvin Shapiro; assistant director: Daniel McCauley. Starring Stella Stevens, Roddy McDowall, Elsa Lanchester, Shani Wallis, Farley Granger, Victor Buono, Bernard Fox, John McGiver, Patrick Knowles, Jamie Farr, Norman Stuart, Ben Wright and Wanda Bailey. Original title was: "Family Plot".

Ridiculously TV-oriented in its pablum script and direction with bland TV lighting to boot. This great step backward in ultra-phony, sloppy studio anti-realism takes off on horror/mysteries of "The Old Dark House" genre with insipid, tedious attempts at humor -for one of the most embarrassing of the modern horror films. Especially for its fine (on paper) walk-through cast.