POSSIBLE SPOILERS:
Where else are you going to see a scary movie with both the incomparable Margaret Hamilton (as a good guy) and the hero of Adam-12 (as the bad guy??)
This movie was an absolute staple of the yearly Halloween scary-movie marathon when I was a kid. No, it's not scary by today's standards, but it's strangely disturbing in some way, which puts it ahead of about 90% of the gorefests out there. The plot device that makes it work is extremely clever: a special pair of glasses made from a special glass that enable the view to see ghosts, while the others can't see the danger that looms over them. There's a great subtle moment that would never be found in today's hack bloodfests; the scientist who made the glasses puts them on his desk for the night, & a fly buzzes over them; only to disintegrate.
The embarrassing remake had Everyone wearing the glasses; so the entire suspense of being the only one that can see them is gone! The movie is directed so that the viewer has the experience of being the one wearing the special glasses; so the "Look Out Behind You!" factor is very high. If the effects weren't so campy, this would be very effective even today; and still could, in the right hands (this would've made a great idea for the X-Files or similar original show). However, some of the effects are still disturbing, it is atmospheric as heck for those who have an attention span, and you get to see a great ending that put a smile on my face (only because I love Margaret Hamilton so much). It's a crime this great actress wasn't starring in more films of high caliber; a true waste of talent. Check it out on Halloween for your kids if it isn't on TV. If they haven't been desensitized by chain saws & decapitations yet, they'll like it. Then again, maybe I'm just nostalgic.
Where else are you going to see a scary movie with both the incomparable Margaret Hamilton (as a good guy) and the hero of Adam-12 (as the bad guy??)
This movie was an absolute staple of the yearly Halloween scary-movie marathon when I was a kid. No, it's not scary by today's standards, but it's strangely disturbing in some way, which puts it ahead of about 90% of the gorefests out there. The plot device that makes it work is extremely clever: a special pair of glasses made from a special glass that enable the view to see ghosts, while the others can't see the danger that looms over them. There's a great subtle moment that would never be found in today's hack bloodfests; the scientist who made the glasses puts them on his desk for the night, & a fly buzzes over them; only to disintegrate.
The embarrassing remake had Everyone wearing the glasses; so the entire suspense of being the only one that can see them is gone! The movie is directed so that the viewer has the experience of being the one wearing the special glasses; so the "Look Out Behind You!" factor is very high. If the effects weren't so campy, this would be very effective even today; and still could, in the right hands (this would've made a great idea for the X-Files or similar original show). However, some of the effects are still disturbing, it is atmospheric as heck for those who have an attention span, and you get to see a great ending that put a smile on my face (only because I love Margaret Hamilton so much). It's a crime this great actress wasn't starring in more films of high caliber; a true waste of talent. Check it out on Halloween for your kids if it isn't on TV. If they haven't been desensitized by chain saws & decapitations yet, they'll like it. Then again, maybe I'm just nostalgic.