Dark and Stormy Night

Larry Blamire does it again with a film that not only pays homage to the great dark house films of yesteryear, but is able to stand on its own as a truly great and original film. The premise is all so familiar, but this take on it is surprisingly fresh.

The film is the first from Bantam Street to be shot in HD, and it really is beautiful to watch. The mansion miniature is amazing and the costumes are all perfectly done. The cast is made of Bantam Street regulars like Brian Howe and Jeniffer Blaire, all of whom really bring their A-game and do a great job of bringing the stock "dark house" characters to life and of course adding a totally different dimension of fun to them by following Blamire's unique style of direction.

If you like old dark house movies, you'll love this. If you like mystery thrillers, you'll love this. If you like to laugh, you'll love this. "Dark and Stormy Night" is great fun for audiences of all ages, and is one movie you definitely don't want to pass up!

I don't know about you, but I've become bored with the big budget Hollyweird movies that promise everything and deliver nothing. DARK AND STORMY NIGHT was such a refreshing change. I caught the movie at a premiere and laughed throughout. The acting was first rate. The sets were very well done, and the story never failed to deliver. Every time you thought Larry Blamire had packed all that he could into the movie, he surprises you by adding more.

Bob Burns as Kogar was genius. Daniel Roebuck as the intrepid reporter hit the mark. Mark Refield as the diabolical attorney was fantastic.

If this movie doesn't give you loads of belly laughs then you must be dead. Hollywood could take a lesson or two from Larry Blamire.

Writer-director Larry Blamire has a very distinctive comedic talent - genius, really - for spoofing movie genres not by throwing in everything but the kitchen sink (a la the great AIRPLANE!, the mediocre SCARY MOVIE, or the awful DATE MOVIE) but by recreating those movies, and all their endearingly dated conventions, in a manner so precise you could have a hard time telling them from the real deal. THE LOST SKELETON OF CADAVRA was a dead-on parody of grade-Z Ed Woodian sci-fi, and one of the funniest movies of recent years. THE LOST SKELETON RETURNS AGAIN added cheesy jungle adventures into the mix. And this wonderful picture, DARK AND STORMY NIGHT, heads into an entirely new direction for Blamire: 1930's and 40's murder mysteries (a la THE OLD DARK HOUSE, THE CAT AND THE CANARY, and AND THEN THERE WERE NONE) that were inevitably set in a spooky old mansion on a rain-soaked night where a motley assortment of characters are gathered for the reading of a will. Most of Blamire's brilliant cast of players from the two SKELTON movies (as well as the hilarious web series TALES FROM THE PUB) return, and they are deliciously in tune with each other and with Blamire's unique comedic sensibilities. Jennifer Blaire (aka Mrs. Larry Blamire) is particularly at home with the stylized, lightning-paced wisecracking written for her reporter character; in another era, Blaire could have been another Jean Arthur or Rosalind Russell. If you loved LOST SKELETON OF CADAVRA, if you're a fan of old movies, or you're just looking for 90 minutes of clever, rib-tickling fun, this one is a must.

Okay... "Dark and Stormy Night" is my new favorite movie. It's written and directed by Larry Blamire ("Lost Skeleton of Cadavra", "Trail of the Screaming Forehead") and it's a satire of Old Dark House horror movies. This movie is ten times funnier than "Murder By Death". I loved the movie version of "Clue" (sue me). This is better. I can't even begin to count the strange quotes you're going to be getting from me. The dialogue is rapid-fire and brilliantly off-the-wall. There is a love of and dexterity with language and a dearth of fart jokes.

It has the goddess Jennifer Blaire (Animala in "Lost Skeleton") as wise-cracking reporter Billy Tuesday. As far as I'm concerned, she's right up there with the goddess Jane Lynch.

This also has the goddess Fay Masterson (Betty in "Lost Skeleton") as a British ingénue so helpless she can't sit in a chair on her own and the amazing goddess Susan McConnell (Lattis in "Lost Skeleton") as a mad Scotswoman with the greatest heavily-accented vituperation this side of John Cleese as the French guard in "Monty Python and the Holy Grail".

If you like the Christopher Guest style of ensemble casting, you're going to love this movie. Andrew Parks (Kro-Bar in "Lost Skeleton") is the standard issue tuxedoed British fop. His mom, Betty Garrett (from "Laverne & Shirley") pops in and out of the story with her gorilla (Bob Burns. If you've ever seen a gorilla in a 1960s sitcom, it was Bob Burns.) Jim Beaver (Ellsworth on "Deadwood") is great as the deceased millionaire's safari guide ("Some of the toughest four days I've ever spent.") Actually, there isn't anybody in this movie who couldn't be singled out – which of course is what you're shooting for with an ensemble.

I completely love Larry Blamire. In a Non-Threatening, Manly American sort of way, I mean. I watched the film again with the commentary track on. His frame of reference is so like mine, it's frightening. Who else bases a character on William Demarest in "All Through the Night" (a Bogart comedy that flopped because it was marketed as an action film)?

This is a movie for anyone who ever wished the "Carol Burnett Show" had hired the writers from "Your Show of Shows".

Quotes:

"I'd LIKE a ducky."

"Hi everybody my name's Ray Vestinhaus – a stranger – and my car just happened to break down just outside, can I stay for the reading of the will? (BEAT) Oop."

"I am Dr. von Vandervon. Dr. Van von Vandervon."

"Let the puppy go!" – "Come to Nana!" "Let the puppy GO!" – "Come to NANA!" "LET THE PUPPY GO!" – "COME TO NANA!"

"Let us leave this room of death and mounted heads who once were friends."

"The reading of the will, on a dark and stormy night!" so the song goes. This is one of the many fun things in this B offering from Larry Blamire, he of Lost Skeleton of Cadavra and Return of the Lost Skeleton of Cadavra fame. It's a nice little spoof of the 1930s mystery-in-an-old-dark-house genre. It also appears to be hiding in plain sight but is, happily, available on DVD.

Mr. Blamire is interviewed by John Skerchock in Scary Monsters issue no. 79 and the subject is Dark and Stormy Night. I encourage you to find a copy and read.

This is a charming little film, my favorite of the Blamire productions. The performers seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves as we wait anxiously for the resolution to the mystery which is straight out of the 1930s. We have the rich man's will, a gloomy mansion, a couple of goofy reporters and a dysfunctional family full of cheats with at least one of them a sadistic murderer. Of course, they are banded together in a house they cannot leave because of a washed out bridge. This is a great spoof and tribute to the "Old Dark House" genre and is very enjoyable. View it with a cold drink on a lazy summer afternoon or with hot chocolate on a cold winter night. It would be best, of course, if the weather is dark and stormy with heavy rain pounding your windows.

The bonus features on the DVD are great. You may view the film in color or black and white and the behind the scenes production is fantastic. There is also a gag reel and audio commentary by Mr. Blamire and members of the cast. Don't expect a classic, that's not what B films are about, but don't miss this one!