PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: (1) *poor,* (2) *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: (1) *drama,* (2) *comedy*
Because
the first GHOULIES and the first GREMLINS were in production at the
same time, no outsider can be certain as to whether
director/co-writer Luca Bercovici’s low-budget horror-film was
meant to bite the style of the big Warner Brothers production.
Warners lost a court case against the GHOULIES franchise, paving the
way for three more low-budget entries in the series. Nevertheless,
while it’s possible that Bercovici may have utlitized diminutive
demons because he was aware of the GREMLINS project, the plot of the
initial GHOULIES outing resembles the Warners project far less than
the plot of H.P. Lovecraft’s “Case of Charles Dexter Ward.”
In
point of fact, none of the gross little creatures in the first
film—either the actual fetal-looking monsters called “Ghoulies,”
or a pair of benign magical dwarves—are the center of the story’s
action. That center is none other than sorcerer Malcolm Graves, first
seen about twenty years before the main action of the narrative.
Graves intends to make a ritual sacrifice of his infant son Jonathan
to gain Satanic power. The boy’s mother sabotages the ritual, so
that Malcolm can’t kill Jonathan as planned. However, the
far-sighted sorcerer has a henchman spirit the child away. Jonathan
is raised to manhood without knowing anything about his true
parentage, and apparently Malcolm passes away naturally before he has
the chance to perform the sacrificial ritual again. However,
Malcolm’s death sets plot-wheels in motion. The grown Jonathan and
his girlfriend Rebecca are informed that Jonathan has received the
bequest of Malcolm’s mansion, so the two of them take possession
with an eye toward leaning more about Jonathan’s heritage.
Unsurprisingly,
Malcolm’s spirit is still hanging about, and over time he usurps
Jonathan’s personality, causing the young man to dabble in the
occult. To make matters worse, the two young people hold a party for
their friends at the mansion, which results in many young people
meeting unremarkable deaths at the hands of the Ghoulies or other
demons—all so that Malcolm can take permanent possession of his
son’s body (and maybe his girlfriend too). The story culminates in
a magical battle between father and son, but though Malcolm is
defeated, he, not the Ghoulies, provides the narrative’s motive
force—whereas the focal characters of the sequels—none directed
by Bercovicci—are more about the Ghoulies themselves.
GHOULIES
will probably be the directorial work for which Bercovici will best
be remembered, but his actual best work came almost ten years later--
and ironically, in THE GRANNY, the writer-director really does lift
a page from the GREMLINS idea.
In
yet another short prologue, a young woman, apparently
demon-possessed, first tantalizes and then kills her own father. A
stranger with the “spell-it-backward” name of “Namon Ami”
shows up, and claims that the girl’s not possessed; she just made
improper use of the curative potion he gave her. He exposed her to
sunlight and she dissolves like a vampire.
Cut
to modern times, and the mansion of Anastacia “Granny” Gargoli
(Stella Stevens), who sits around moaning about her age and her lost
beauty. Her constant companion is Kelly, the illegitimate daughter of
one of Granny’s rotten grown children. Kelly, despite being played
by knockout Shannon Whirry, is a shy and retiring type, the better to
contrast her with the lousy relatives. All of them seem like refugees
from an Andy Milligan film festival—two brothers who want to see
Granny die to inherit her wealth (and who plot to poison her), a
niece who makes up to her uncle, and a nephew who challenges Granny
to a wrestling-match.
But
before the nasty brothers can commit matricide, Namon Ami shows up.
He gives Granny his special potion, giving her explicit instructions
about how NOT to take it. Of course Granny ignores the injunctions
and does what she pleases. As a result Granny dies and comes back as
a sort of zombie-witch, dealing out comical deaths to her rotten
offspring, replete with many Freddy Kruger-isms.
In
contrast to the “Nightmare on Elm Street” films, THE GRANNY is
about nothing except horrific gags, so in essence this is a more
explicit comedy-horror than GHOULIES. Stella Stevens, never known as
a subtle performer, apparently has a high old time wreaking havoc
with one-liners, and the deaths have a perverse edge that puts them
above run-of-the-mill films of this type. For her part Kelly has to
abandon her shyness just to survive, and proves to be, rather
improbably, a tough-ass fighter, taking on both the nasty niece and
her grotesque grandmother.
There’s
a suggestion of a sequel, but it’s just as well that THE GRANNY
never spawned a franchise. It’s definitely one of a kind.
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