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The Sorcerers (1967)
Topic Started: Nov 2 2007, 10:08 AM (96 Views)
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The Sorcerers
Tigon/Allied Artists, 1967
Directed by Michael Reeves

Starring Boris Karloff, Ian Ogilvy, Catherine Lacey, and Susan George

What say you that we continue on with Karloff films that I think should get more attention? Today's film is The Sorcerers, and it's one people seem to like -- but only if they've actually been able to SEE the darn thing. While there's a Special Edition anamorphic widescreen DVD available in England, it hasn't crossed the pond yet, and so America waits to view one of the final chances Karloff had to star in a really good movie.

Boris is stately old Professor Monserrat, who with his wife has created a means by which they can experience life through the senses of a willing young victim, sorry, "test case". The guinea pig is Mr. Ogilvy, a bored young man who's been talked into the experiment. Well, it works, and the Monserrats can indeed experience whatever he feels. Not only that, they have the power to manipulate him, too... and Mrs. Monserrat is hell-bent on experiencing a variety of thrills through the young man, including swimming, motorcycle racing, and murder. When Karloff tries to stop her, she beats the hell out of him(!) until he's powerless to intervene.

After the 1940s, it seems that Boris Karloff was an anachronism, rarely playing a modern-day character. He was either cast in costume dramas (The Strange Door, Corridors of Blood, Black Sabbath) or he appeared to be a 19th century character walking around (or wheeling around) in modern times (Die, Monster, Die). The Sorcerers puts him in modern dress, in modern times, and it's fascinating to see him dressed quite nappily in the beginning of the picture (he dresses in a Mr. Rogers' sweater later on), and he looks terrific in this film. According to the documentary on the DVD, Karloff thought the script had potential, and worked hard on the film, even contributing ideas for rewrites to improve it, suggestions writer/director Reeves gratefully accepted. Reeves famously did NOT get along as well with his next horror star, Vincent Price: they argued throughout the filming of WItchfinder General. Sadly, director Reeves -- a major young talent -- died of a drug overdose only a week after Karloff's death in February, 1969.

The Sorcerers is not a masterpiece, but it's a damn good movie, and how many of THOSE did Karloff get to make the last years of his life?
"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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