MACABRE(1958) in '50s Horror and Sci-Fi Forum

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MACABRE(1958)

Author	Comment
Alias the Scarecrow	MACABRE(1958)	Lead	[-]
Oct 3 09 11:54 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Although there are many references to this on other threads, I coudnt find one that discussed this film specifically. After hearing things about this film for years, I was finally able to watch it last night on DVD. I have to say that I was rather disappointed...I do like most of William Castle's other films but there just seemed to be something lacking about the whole plot, the rushed final explantion excluded. The cast as a whole seemed just unlikable as characters, not very nice people for the most part with the exception of Jacqueline Scott. Jim Backus really got on my nerves as the morally bereft cop. This has been in the works as a remake for years from DARK CASTLE films. I'm sure the script will be updated and some things more closely examined. The whole subplot of the blind sister being pregnant and then nothing comes from it other than her eventual death as well as her scenes of getting very friendly with the new chauffeur and still leading nowhere should definetely be either examined or removed from any retooling of this. Anyone else have thoughts on this?
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Ted Newsom		#1	[-]
Oct 3 09 12:58 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	My thoughts-- it'd be interesting to read the book. Wasn't this based on a group-written murder mystery of some little notoriety? And that would certainly account for plot threads jumbled like an Afghan quilt.
Alias the Scarecrow		#2	[-]
Oct 3 09 1:06 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I wasnt aware that there was a book that this was based on. It probably would be interesting to read it, as you say..no wonder the threads were so mixed up.
Monsterpal		#3	[-]
Oct 3 09 10:24 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	It's based on a novel supposedly written by Theo Durant, who was at one time president of the Mystery Writers of America. Apparently a number of MWA members collaborated in a round robin. The film does have a few creepy moments, but I was disappointed in it even when I first saw it at age nine, especially after the saturation promotion which promised the scariest movie ever. The cartoon credits were cool, though.
Zombie Dad		#4	[-]
Oct 3 09 11:40 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I missed this one when I was a kid. I don't know what I would have made of it. I didn't see MACABRE until it was shown on TNT back in the 80s. It was aired twice, but it was cut for time on the second go around--and it's so short to begin with! I like a lot of the atmosphere. I always enjoy movies set in cemetaries--go figure! Jim Backus turned up again Castle's ZOTZ! ZD Zombie Dad's Online Art Store www.zazzle.com/zombiedad
Red Gargon		#5	[-]
Oct 4 09 9:52 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Jacqueline Scott is vastly and deeply annoying in this, her hammy histrionics seem right out of a very bad INNER SANCTUM radio episode, but otherwise it's a really fun movie. It's not as baroque as HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL or THE TINGLER, but a little more raw and nasty.
Alias the Scarecrow		#6	[-]
Oct 4 09 11:00 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	After all the hype I've heard on it over the years, I prefer HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL or THE TINGLER, hell, even 13 GHOSTS had a more coherant plot.
DonM435		#7	[-]
Oct 5 09 12:48 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Some critics said that the closing credits were the best part of the film. Funny how stations would cut these off to save time! I think the film exploits morbid sensationalism to good effect, for what that's worth.
TomWeaver999		#8	[-]
Nov 1 10 2:12 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The great Greenbriar site tackles HYPNOTIC EYE and MACABRE: http://greenbriarpictures...for-2010-part-two-i.html
Robert Laughlin		#9	[-]
Mar 27 12 11:41 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I went to the trouble of obtaining THE MARBLE FOREST, the round robin novel on which MACABRE was based. It wasn't worth it. Some of the chapters were well-written, but the denouement was even more contrived and ridiculous than the one in MACABRE. I guess that's inevitable in a book whose last chapter must somehow tie up the loose ends left by nineteen other writers.
opticalguy	Mr Showmanship	#10	[-]
Mar 31 12 1:20 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	John Waters was right to idolize William Castle as "MISTER Showmanship!" Those old-fashioned ballyhoo techniques really must've made seeing these flicks a ton O' fun on initial release. I did catch Macabre in a theater (the Coley Theater in Norfolk, Virginia) as part of a Saturday morning "kiddie matinee" and it showed a few times on one of the local stations as well. I hardly remember anything about the film other than it was slow, it looked very dark and dreary (you could almost feel the dankness and smell the damp basement odor), and the idea of a child buried alive seemed very unwholesome to all of us grammar school kids. I will have to put it on my Netflicks queue when I return to the old USA. Oh and to Tom Weaver … thanks for the link to the Greenbriar Picture Shows article. Macabre outperformed The Horror of Dracula on initial release?!?! Holy Shite! Now that was salesmanship! Of course the rather bland 1977 film Slithis (to be fair … the climax on-board the boat was OK … if memory serves after 35 years) cleaned up with similar ballyhoo so it does work. opticalguy1954@yahoo.com (Spencer Gill)
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Monsterpal		#11	[-]
Mar 31 12 3:05 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Yes, the promotion really worked. Everyone wanted to see MACABRE. I remember seeing it in a packed house on a Saturday afternoon.
Zombie Dad		#12	[-]
Mar 31 12 10:00 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Really wanted to see this when it first played, but nobody took me. Had to wait until I was in my forties to finally see it on tv. ZD Zombie Dad's Online Art Store www.zazzle.com/zombiedad
TomWeaver999		#13	[-]
Mar 31 12 11:37 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Having gone through childhood thinking HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL was one of the best and scariest movies ever made, I just ached to see MACABRE, I'd have given my right arm. When it finally came around on (where else?) NY's Channel 9 when I was in my late teens, or older ... oh, what a snoozefest. I still can't warm up to it. Sentiments I still cling to!
WalesGuy		#14	[-]
Jun 29 12 8:00 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Watching the Italian DVD, so-so print. Image seems squashed though. Leading man William Prince is dreadful. Vincent Price would have made it so much better.
WalesGuy		#15	[-]
Jun 29 12 8:16 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Wow the end credits are almost identical to COMEDY OF TERRORS in style and music Last Edited By: WalesGuy Jun 29 12 4:27 PM. Edited 1 times.
Monsterpal		#16	[-]
Jun 29 12 4:03 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Jim Backus's nasty turn was fun.
WalesGuy		#17	[-]
Jun 29 12 4:27 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Nice to see the Italian DVD also has the 80min William Castle documentary
TomWeaver999		#18	[-]
Jun 30 12 9:39 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	<< Wow the end credits are almost identical to COMEDY OF TERRORS in style and music << Les Baxter composed the scores for both.
MacXoftheMounted		#19	[-]
Jun 30 12 10:04 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Count me as one who was really disappointed with this one. It probably didn't help that I watched it in an exhausted state and was constantly fighting to stay awake. I think I actually nodded off at the end. I'll try it again at some point, but I'll need some good, strong coffee to prep for it. MacXoftheMounted.....................formerly known as Professor Von X
WalesGuy		#20	[-]
Jun 30 12 10:06 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	It's not a brilliant film. Would have helped for some better casting. Backus and Ellen Corby are acceptable, but the rest are pretty lousy.
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MACABRE(1958)

MACABRE(1958)