We’ve all seen movies that deserve a dunking in the piranha pool, and a good review needs to look at the bad. That said, that’s not Fear, with Beer’s thing. I stepped onto that path too much when writing about The Forest, focusing on my frustration when cliche Hollywood scare tactics are used to the detriment of a good film. I also wasn't too kind to The Ruins.
Still, there are much better sites than Fear, with Beer for balanced reviews or comprehensive plot summaries. I’m not trying to duplicate them. As this site has been developing, I've realized what I am setting out to do is celebrate horror movies, looking for the connections and finding the intersections with real life. Fear with Beer is as much about the watching of a movie as the movie itself, if that makes sense. I feel the same with beer. You won't necessarily find which beer is bad or good, but you are invited to join me in my beer exploration and see what you think.
Which brings me to Atom Age Vampire and Double Mountain's Killer Red IPA. This pairing was about celebration and being able to enjoy what I like, about having the opportunity to watch a movie and drink a beer, which is never a given. This pairing worked only because I dig watching black and white horror movies and drinking hearty IPAs. I wasn't overly impressed with either one. So what? A kicked up beer and a cheesy Italian horror movie. I don't need a whole lot more. This is my element.
There is strangely a fair amount on the Internet written about this 1960's Italian black-and-white horror flick, possibly because it has moved into public domain. I own it on one of those dollar store compilation DVDs featuring low quality burns of movies you could easily stream for free.
I grew up on drive-in style low budget fare like this. Currently I'm working on a book about my experiences as a kid in the 70s growing up in rural Ohio as a horror movie fan, so indirectly related to the book, I thought I'd watch something similar to the type of stuff I watched then. My idea was to try to imagine how I would have seen it differently as a kid. It's possible this might have scared me as a nine-year-old, but it's more likely I wouldn't have known what was going on. Even as an adult, it was difficult to follow the goofy story line, especially with the awkward overdubs and poor sound quality.
It would be easy to slam this movie: it's not good. Approaching this with a reviewer-eye you'd blow a circuit and regret every wasted second you could never get back. This is the type of movie you watch because it's what you do. You watch it because you accept it on its own terms, without comparing it against anything else. At the risk of getting thrown out of the bar for being too artsy, it's like a summer day without work. The day just is, regardless of how it compares to other days. That's how I feel about vintage horror movies.
Call me a Pollyanna of horror, but I can drag at least one cool observation from the worst movie, and this was far from the worst I've seen. (I've watched Octaman, and assume you have, also. If not, go do that. NOW!) My factoid? The music for Atom Age Vampire was composed by Armando Trovajoli. You might not recognize his name, but if you watched Kill Bill Vol. 1 you'd know his music, such as "A Long Day of Vengeance." Unfortunately, the swanky lounge music featured in the opening credits Atom Age Vampire isn't used in the movie.
Also, while I didn't recognize the actors since I didn't grow up in Italy (many appeared in low-budget Italian horror movies from the 60s and 70s with enviable titles like So Sweet, So Dead), the minor character of the police commisario played by Ivo Garrani did play Prince Vajda in Mario Bava's awesome cult classic Black Sunday. That, however, was something I found by looking up his name and not by recognizing his face.
Finally, while I don't know who did the opening animation, it's pure 1960's fun. I featured a still from the opening at the top of this post.
This is the best I can do for interesting facts for this one.
Perhaps influenced by the movie quality, I didn't love Double Mountain Brewery's Limited Release Killer Red IPA, but I still enjoyed tilting the glass. I've got nothing condemning to say about drinking this 7.3% hearty IPA, it's just that it didn't work for me, even though it might for you. This beer has subtle pine notes, not a flavor I like. (I can't drink Deschutes Pinedrops IPA, for example, but Deschutes makes excellent beers). I was also more demanding since it was $4.99 for a single 500 ml bottle (a little more than a pint). I checked out the brewery's website and it's compelling; I would definitely visit if in Oregon. It appears they locally source a lot of hops, which is cool.
So I didn't love the movie and I didn't love the beer, but I didn't regret one minute or one sip. People may say something to that effect, but I write this with intense truthfulness. I didn't regret one minute or one sip. That's what I mean about celebration. When you're doing what you love, it's all part of whole.
By the way, I probably should mention, there isn't a vampire in Atom Age Vampire. Call that a problem, if you must. I think it adds a nice touch to the overall camp experience.
