Recently, we covered the patchwork acting career of Cameron Mitchell in which we noted that he made a series of low-budget Euro- horrors. Well, in all fairness, low budget does not necessarily mean "bad," and, to prove it, we offer the following Cameron Mitchell continental creepy classic for your kind consideration. It boasts a memorable music score, some great set pieces, a rousing acting tour-de-force by Mitchell, and a few nice, nasty murders. But the film's true contribution to classic horror films is a tree. Yeah, a tree. But no ordinary tree. It's one in which...
It would be more accurate to title 1967’s Maneater Of Hydra (aka Death Island, Le Baron Vampire, Island Of The Dead and Island Of The Doomed) The Bloodsucker Of Barcelona, as this atmospheric horror entry isn’t about a man-eating tiger at all, but concerns a deadly, dangling vampire tree. Nor was Maneater Of Hydra shot anywhere near the fabled Greek isle, but in an affluent suburb of the Spanish city of Barcelona. Perhaps the title was meant to capitalize on the recent success of Hercules And The Hydra, 2+5: Mission Hydra, Man-Eater and The Woman Eater.
According to Maneater Of Hydra’s director, Mel Welles, most of the film was shot in a textile magnate’s mini-castle in the Catalonian Mountains. The entire cast and crew lived in the castle during the shoot; all the interiors and exteriors were filmed on the grounds, except for a one-day shoot for the opening scenes set on the Mediterranean coast. (Welles is best remembered for his starring role in the ultimate carnivorous plant movie--The Little Shop Of Horrors. He was a scream as Gravis Mushnik, the skid row florist.) On an island in the Mediterranean, a group of tourists (enticed by a guide promoting a "Most Unique Tour to Botanical Wonderland") visit the estate of Baron von Weser (Cameron Mitchell), a suave, aloof and courtly gentleman whose specialty (and indeed his entire raison d’être) is the cultivation of carnivorous plants.
Among the tour group is a nerdy botanist, Prof. Jules Demerest, who notes that the soil on the island is rich in minerals but poor in nitrogen; as a result, many plants growing there are insectivorous and must obtain from their victims the nitrogen essential to their survival. Danger lurks everywhere on the island. The tour operator’s Bentley hits a man who comes running out of the woods. The man’s dying words are: "Arms of…" Strange marks are visible on his cheek. "I’d say he was scared to death," notes an older gentleman in the tour group.
The Baron arrives, identifies the road accident victim as his cook and then utters the priceless line: "In spite of the dreadful accident, I welcome you to my villa." (It remains unclear why the Baron invited the tourists to the island; perhaps he wanted to feed them to his voracious plants or simply needed their revenue to continue financing his research experiments.) The dead man’s twin--a mute and affectless butler-- frightens the guests...first when he shows up without warning to serve wine at the banquet table, and later as he skulks about the mansion. More danger: The Baron keeps a porcupine plant in his study. If a quill hits you, it projects a general anesthetic that paralyzes you for 48 hours. That’s a hell of a thing to keep in a room frequented by unsuspecting guests…
Prof. Demerest is very impressed by the Baron’s Agave muscipula--a Century Plant crossed with a Venus Flytrap. The plant smells and even tastes like fresh meat. The Baron feeds a mouse to it before his astonished guests--"all in the interests of science," of course. And then, one by one, the visitors are killed off by the Baron’s ultimate experiment in exsanguination--a vampire tree, a hybrid of horror with branches that wave like tentacles. Similar to a weeping willow, the horrible creation is able to extend whip-like branches and fasten a cup-like sucking "mouth" to the face of its victim, siphoning out the blood in a ghastly pulsating rhythm.
The special effects are quite well done for such a low-budgeter--especially a Eurohorror flick from this era. Producers George Ferrer and Ernst R. von Theumer spent $35,000 for the effects-laden plants, developing a prototype tree that could be operated by a person concealed within. This model didn’t work, so the crew reverted to a decades-old system of invisible wires to make the tree seem capable of voluntary motion as it ensnares its prey. The script seems to imply that the killer trees are able to walk. Perhaps the FX team failed to deliver on this concept. At any rate, the effects that did make it to the screen are surprisingly nasty--and very impressive.
I enjoyed Maneater of Hydra. Along with HORROR- WOOD’s Joe "Renfield" Meadows and Video Watchdog Magazine editor, Tim Lucas, I too would like to see a slick DVD transfer of this film (now only available as a DVD-R video). I missed Maneater Of Hydra when it played in my hometown of Ottawa, but I bet you it looked great on the massive screen at the old Centre Theatre back in 1967. Cameron Mitchell's performance was a surprise. That Pennsylvania boy was actually convincing as a European aristocrat (although his voice was dubbed by another actor)! The dubbing isn't bad, though, despite the faulty synchronization.
To reduce his tax burden, Mitchell left the States and spent most of the 1960s working in European potboilers. The talented and eccentric actor cranked out Nordic sagas (The Last Of The Vikings, Eric The Conqueror, Knives Of The Avenger), historical adventures (The Black Duke, Attack Of The Normans), toga epics (Caesar The Conqueror, In The Shadow Of The Eagles, Arminius The Terrible), thrillers (Dog Eat Dog) and spaghetti westerns (Minnesota Clay, Killer’s Canyon). Mitchell also turned up in Mario Bava’s horror classic Blood And Black Lace. For all its ramping up of the gore factor, Maneater Of Hydra harkens back to Boris Karloff’s mad doctor movies of the early forties. As the obsessed baron, Mitchell underplays his part in the Karloffian manner, delivering a splendid and nuanced performance as the Mendelian maniac. Mitchell holds himself back, but pulls out all the stops during the exciting finale, revealing the hard-core crazy behind Baron von Weser’s sleek exterior and aristocratic reserve.
One can plainly see that Mitchell revels in this villainous role, and it is understandable why a cult is now forming around this B-movie actor 11 years after his death. Other than the token American in the lead role, the cast of Maneater of Hydra (a Spanish-German- Italian co-production) consists of the usual polyglot assortment of no-name European actors. German actress Kai Fischer was some eye candy back then. Her alcoholic, man-chasing character is killed off way too early. Cowboy actor George (Jorge) Martin, the guy who played the hero, delivers a one-note performance. Yet he looks right for the part and is agile in his action scenes.
Especially worthy of mention are Rolf von Nauckhoff as Kai Fischer’s much older husband, who loves her despite her infidelity and wildness, and Hermann Nehlsen as the eager-to-please botanist. (von Nauckhoff died the following year and Nehlsen made only two more pictures before disappearing from view in 1969.) The orchestral score by Antón García Abril is compelling, with its sinister shadings (often using counterpoint to comment on the action), bombastic percussion and inspired use of xylophones. The animated opening credits are sketchy, but set the stage for the macabre proceedings to follow, with their images of glaring eyes, spiders running up candles, writhing tree branches and trapped mice.
Maneater of Hydra’s climax is well staged. The heroine is in the clutches of the vampire tree. The hero leaps to her aid with an axe. He slashes at the bloodsucking branches, then is attacked by the mad Baron, also brandishing a weapon. An axe battle between the two ensues, followed by a fistfight under the groping branches, in the middle of a violent thunderstorm and torrential downpour. The denouement (with the Baron captured by the tree he created) is outrageous, melodramatic and thrilling! In these fast-paced closing scenes of Maneater Of Hydra, Welles reveals himself to be an excellent action director. Unlike so many films made today, Maneater Of Hydra builds steadily to a powerful climax. Audiences of 38 years ago expecting a bit of fun may have been quite shocked by the gruesome ending.
Take it from me: Maneater Of Hydra is not your garden-variety horror picture. I was rooted to my seat throughout the film’s 88-minute running time. It should be seed by all Eurohorror enthusiasts. (Harvey F. Chartrand is a freelance writer based in Ottawa, Canada. His stories have appeared in The Globe And Mail, The National Post, The Jerusalem Post, Filmfax, Outré, Shock Cinema, Scarlet Street, Rue Morgue, and Take One Magazine. Chartrand is a regular contributor to HORROR-WOOD and the editor of Ottawa Life Magazine.} Thanks, Harv. Yup, Maneater Of Hydra is a sort of "guilty pleasure" for old Renfield... although, as time passes, he's not so "guilty" about it anymore. It delivers the shocks, keeps moving when other budget Euro- horrors usually bog down, features a great (and in some ways, quite subtle) performance by Cameron Mitchell, and the vampire tree is a must-see for classic horror fans. We true fans of the film will keep hoping that a sparkling clean, uncut, scoped print of it eventually arises and is transferred to DVD. Article copyright © Harvey F. Chartrand |
