...This film should be essential viewing, for one reason only. It has the best cinematography I have Ever seen, and I am a big Bladrunner fan. the scene comes half way through the movie, when the Tera-force has killed the guy to reclaim the wolf sculpture, and her fiancé is walking through an alleyway, about to discover the body.
The camera tracks him slowly moving forward, toward a high street with a phone booth, and then tracks back with him to a junk yard where he sees the shadow of a wolf scurry away. 1) everything is in Vivid, Precise focus - the foreground, the subject, the far background - picking out every greasy smear and rough texture in that alley, and 2) its all in Heightened Saturated colour - a Gloomy rainbow of muted blues and invading greens, all created from scratch, in broad daylight in a pokey little British studio - lovingly crafted and set-dressed over what must've taken hours to get that outside look. But consider that the camera is moving a large distance as well - there's none of this shaky steadicam or abrasive cutting that used to plague budget old films like this - the whole scene is smooth, fluid and graceful, like only an Enormous Budget and the Best Crew could produce these days. And finally, and most importantly, 3) throughout the entire shot there is an isolated, hanging Miasma of Mist, slowly morphing and twisting in space, just in front of the Character, almost as if they have caught the apparition of a ghost live on film - it provides a shifting, sinister focus and, even today, I'm not sure most filmmakers would know how to begin creating such an effect, more less actually film a prolonged, kinetic sequence of acting around it. truly remarkable.
Hammer Studio's was always about Control like this - the loving care and attention to the sets and scenery and photography and staging of the scenes to be shot - and this film is the antithesis. Of course, it was also the studio's downfall, because tastes in the 70s then progressed to raw, rough and real-looking filmmaking, as in the Exorcist and Texas Chainsaw ... But for old school Mastery and Expertise, this film showcases some wondrous talent
The camera tracks him slowly moving forward, toward a high street with a phone booth, and then tracks back with him to a junk yard where he sees the shadow of a wolf scurry away. 1) everything is in Vivid, Precise focus - the foreground, the subject, the far background - picking out every greasy smear and rough texture in that alley, and 2) its all in Heightened Saturated colour - a Gloomy rainbow of muted blues and invading greens, all created from scratch, in broad daylight in a pokey little British studio - lovingly crafted and set-dressed over what must've taken hours to get that outside look. But consider that the camera is moving a large distance as well - there's none of this shaky steadicam or abrasive cutting that used to plague budget old films like this - the whole scene is smooth, fluid and graceful, like only an Enormous Budget and the Best Crew could produce these days. And finally, and most importantly, 3) throughout the entire shot there is an isolated, hanging Miasma of Mist, slowly morphing and twisting in space, just in front of the Character, almost as if they have caught the apparition of a ghost live on film - it provides a shifting, sinister focus and, even today, I'm not sure most filmmakers would know how to begin creating such an effect, more less actually film a prolonged, kinetic sequence of acting around it. truly remarkable.
Hammer Studio's was always about Control like this - the loving care and attention to the sets and scenery and photography and staging of the scenes to be shot - and this film is the antithesis. Of course, it was also the studio's downfall, because tastes in the 70s then progressed to raw, rough and real-looking filmmaking, as in the Exorcist and Texas Chainsaw ... But for old school Mastery and Expertise, this film showcases some wondrous talent