Movies: Films I’d like to see again

I’ve just been speaking to my GESF (Green-Eyed Southern Friend) again – we’ve spoken quite a number of times this week in fact, but due to some potential confusion over what was said earlier in the week I decided not to write anything down as I might have been thinking the wrong thing and “jumping the gun”.

Anyway, as we were finishing the conversation, I promised that I’d send her the link to the Naked Quidditch Match, but she complained that she had no idea what Quidditch was as she hadn’t read any of the Harry Potter books as she thought it was just a blatant rip-off of Jill Murphy‘s “Worst Witch” books (and film and, more recently, the TV series).

That then started me thinking which films (that I haven’t already got) I would really like to see again. Ok, it’s now getting a little bit late for Christmas and some of them are “really oldies” or didn’t “take off” in a big way – but this is my blog and I wanna blog about these so there 🙂 I’ll just do two for tonight and two another night…

So: Why do I want to see “The Worst Witch” and “The Asphyx”?

The Worst Witch [1986] [Amazon/IMDB]

Starring:

Diana Rigg, Charlotte Rae, Tim Curry, Fairuza Balk, and Sabina Franklyn.

Synopsis:

Mildred Hubble is one of the newest members to “Miss Cackles International Academy For Witches”. She can’t seem to do anything right (even when black cats are being handed out at the start of term she receives a grey and white one!). Then it moves onto just “school days” style stuff (where Mildred and her friend Maud Warlock [played by Danielle Batchelor] are picked on by “school bully” Ethel Hallow [played by Anna Kilping]).
At one point Mildred gets so fed up at being picked on by Ethel (at the end of a “hide and scare” game) that she turns her into a pig: of course Ethel (once she’s been turned back to human again) isn’t too happy about this turn of events. She curses her spare broom (which Mildred has to borrow) and when they are putting on a display for the Grand Wizard (Tim Curry) at Halloween – everything goes wrong (the curse “when I say faster, I order disaster” is one not to forget!). Ok, the Tim Curry “music video” section was a bit psychedelic, but the song is memorable at least.
However, whilst this has been going on, Miss. Cackles’ evil twin sister Agatha (both ‘sisters’ are played by Charlotte Rae) is planning to take over the entire school and turn everybody into toads. Mildred flees from the school, discovered their plan and turns the evil witches into snails.

Reason why I want to see it again:

I really enjoyed this film when it came out, and whilst I know my parents have a copy (recorded off the TV) I wouldn’t mind seeing it again. Ok, admittedly it didn’t have high quality special effects (SFXs) but I enjoyed (and still do) “Hitch-Hikers Guide To The Galaxy” and “Dr.Who” so… To me, SFX come into three categories: “So well done you can’t tell they are special effects”, “Ok, they are crap SFX, but we know it and don’t try to hide it’s been done on a budget” and the worst category of all “We just chucked (threw) money at the SFX to get them to work – they didn’t, but we’ll just pretend they did”.
The main reason why I want to see this film again is mainly because of it’s catchy songs: which I can partially remember to this day. Plus it is quite funny in parts.
Did you know that Fairuza Balk then went on to continue starring as a witch in The Craft [1996] (she played Nancy Downs).

Other sites coverage of The Worst Witch:

X-Entertainment: a funny review of “the most disturbing movie ever”.

The Asphyx (1973) (aka “The Horror Of Death” and “Spirit Of The Dead”) [IMDB]

Starring:

Robert Stephens, Robert Powell, Jane Lapotaire, Alex Scott and Ralph Arliss

Synopsis:

Sir Hugo Cunningham (Robert Stephens) is a brilliant Victorian scientist who likes taking pictures, but he’s mystified why the mysterious apparition is shown when he photographs dying subjects. He then takes his newest invention – a motion picture/movie camera – to a family boating party when disaster strikes. His wife and son drown in the boat.
When the film is replayed later, the same ghostlike presence shoots from the shore towards his son and vanishes in the dying body. Since the ghostlike presence went towards the body and not from it, it couldn’t have been his son’s soul – but what was it? Further investigation is needed and Hugo sets up a motion camera capture at a hanging.
Just before the person is hanged, Hugo decides more light is needed and turns to his adopted son Giles (played by Robert Powell) to increase the light available via a “long lasting flashlight”. A monstrous apparition is caught in the light for all to see – but whilst it’s stuck there, unable to move, the woman is hanging by her neck still alive. Giles turns off the light, the apparition disappears and the woman suddenly dies.
Hugo figures out that this apparition must be the “Asphyx” – a Greek mythology spirit of the dead. A spirit which lives in constant agony, not finding rest until it takes possession of it’s human body – which it can only do at death?
He manages, with the help of Giles, to first capture the asphyx of a guinea pig – and succeeds: the guinea pig cannot die whilst the asphyx is trapped. But will a man’s asphyx be trapped in the same way? An attempt to find out with a near-death tramp shows it is possible, but the tramp is so scared at the ghostly apparition that he throws acid towards Giles – causing him to cut off the light and allowing the asphyx to kill the man.
Giles then manages to capture and trap his own asphyx which he locks away in a combination-lock protected basement. He then tries to capture Christina’s (his daughter – played by Jane Lapotaire) asphyx by nearly killing her with a guillotine: but with disastrous consequences…

Reason why I want to see it again:

First of all – the look of the asphyx! I don’t think anything else has managed to “chill me” to the bone like that look of pure death has! Especially when the asphyx of the old tramp goes to attack him and we see it from his viewpoint – it is a terrifying sight to behold!
Its also got a good story line that manages to give you quite a bit of background about the characters, the build up to how it all happens – and a quite poignant sad ending. I’ll love to see it again, but apart from infrequent showings on television it seems a very difficult film to get hold of.
Even though it wasn’t a “Hammer Horror”, it does bring back slight memories of that era.

Other sites coverage of The Asphyx:

• DVD Review: A good plot description and review of the film
• DVD Talk: Good background of the movie (in the monochrome and re-coloured variants) and synopsis.