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A Movie A Day: THE PIED PIPER (1972)
To take medicine from a Jew, my Lord, is to enter into a contract with Lucifer!

Drive in
by Jodet		Aug 9th, 2008
10:46:54 PM
I saw this at the 270 drive-in with my high school girlfriend. Can't say I remember much of the movie. Those were the days. Sigh.
I think I saw this at a drive-in, too...
by Snookeroo		Aug 9th, 2008
11:52:52 PM
There was a lot of drive-in fare about that time that was very unusual; if you're looking for boundary-pushing drive-in movies from the same era, Eddie Romero had a run of 3 or 4 movies featuring the Mad Doctor of Blood Island (and similar themes):

• Mad Doctor of Blood Island
• Brides of Blood
• Beast of Blood
• Beast of the Yellow Night
• The Twilight People

All of which were produced in the Philippines on an extremely low budget, and all featuring John Ashley of Beach Blanket Bingo fame.
Although very shlocky movies, they are notable for being key players in pushing the boundaries of ultra-gore/violence during that era. As far as I know, these only played the drive-in circuit.
Seen it too
by Screwhead		Aug 10th, 2008
12:20:16 AM
The Quint's assessment is pretty fair. The film is tedious in spots and comes off as a missed opportunity. Although there is that messed-up bit with the rats suddenly busting out of the wedding cake...
Donovan Leitch
by Napoleon Park		Aug 10th, 2008
12:53:38 AM
You know, Ione Skye's dad - began as a Dylanesque folky, then teamed with hitmaker Mickey Most (and some excellent session musicians and crafter some gret folk rock pop albums with a psychedelic tinge. For a while he totally went with the flower child image - playing sitar sitting barefoot and cross-legged on a carpeted stage, "Atlantis" and so on. He did the theme song for "poor cow" then took some time off to make this movie, which had some trouble getting distributed. The films anti-religious sentiment, the time he took off from his music career to make it, plus an anti-Catholic song on his "Open Road" album, pretty much completely derailed his career as a charting top 40 hit machine. So if you watch this film, think of it not just as a "pretty fucked up" fairly tale, but as something of a career suicide move for it's lead.
I've Always Wanted to See This
by fyrie		Aug 10th, 2008
01:03:51 AM
I somehow became a big Donovan fan in the mid 90s. Since that time I've wanted to see this movie. I had no idea it was in print again. To the top of the netflix queue it goes.
Re: Donovan Leitch
by Screwhead		Aug 10th, 2008
01:18:27 AM
I've always figured that Donovan fell out of favor just because his music was so quintessentially '60s that it seemed out of place in the Led Zep era. But I'm not knocking him. I even have a copy of Donovan's Greatest Hits in the next room. You have to love a guy who put Green Lantern in a Top 10 song.
Let me get this straight
by kwisatzhaderach		Aug 10th, 2008
02:20:50 AM
You've never seen Barry Lyndon? Holy shit Quint, it's one of the greatest films ever made.
waitaminute
by Bloo		Aug 10th, 2008
02:45:42 AM
Donovon is Ione Skye's daddy, I had no idea...mmmm Ione Skye
Not stylized enough to be for adults?
by Brendon		Aug 10th, 2008
03:26:16 AM
a) so THAT'S what separates a film for kids for a film for adults - the level of stylization....? b) no mention of Jacques Demy, the director, anywhere? Well, it's certainl;y odd to see somebody say one of his films ISN'T stylized. I love Demy's films, almost without exception. This is an interesting next step for folk who have seen only The Umbrellas of Cherbourg - though Donkey Skin is perhaps better.
I think I saw this when I was a kid on TV
by palimpsest		Aug 10th, 2008
04:40:50 AM
one of those faintly acid-generated late-period hippy affairs which kids TV was full of at those times - especially European co-productions iffily dubbed into English, which only heightened the odd factor. Not as batshit mental as THE SINGING RINGING TREE, but not far off.
Brendon
by Quint		Aug 10th, 2008
04:50:56 AM
Then maybe this is atypical of this director's work because it does look like a made for TV special.
You should see the animated one set in the '60s
by Anna Valerious		Aug 10th, 2008
06:19:23 AM
Or, for that matter, was an allegory for the '60s. The childrens' parents are stuck in their old-fashioned ways until a Jimi Hendrix-like guitarist leads them out to a cave. And it doesn't stop there.
Jacques Demy directed this?
by tonagan		Aug 10th, 2008
07:00:08 AM
Well I'll be damned. Worth a look, I think.
Re: DerLanghaarige
by Screwhead		Aug 10th, 2008
07:36:52 AM
Yes, it is kind of a spooky song, to the extent that you wonder if it came out creepier than intended, given the "uplifting" lyrics. Somebody should make The Hurdy Gurdy Project--documentary filmmakers alone in the forest...and that's when the Hurdy Gurdy Man comes singing songs of love...
Atypical Demy
by Screwhead		Aug 10th, 2008
07:41:30 AM
I'm not an authority on the director, but this film IS stylistically very different from the other Demy films I've seen.
Grim Grimm
by Shoegeezer		Aug 10th, 2008
08:24:38 AM
This film is a little overlooked, the plague ridden atmosphere is quite different for Demy who could make the mundane seem magical in Umbrellas Of Cherbourg and Demoiselles de Rochefort. His film before this, Donkey Skin, is pretty full-on fairytale with stunning colourful production design. This one seems a bit of a reaction to that, there's always been a bit of grit to Demy's musicals, here he spades it on. Great cast.
See how Fincher uses Hurdy Gurdy Man in ZODIAC
by palimpsest		Aug 10th, 2008
08:48:43 AM
For textbook creepiness
or Gus Van Zant's use in TO DIE FOR
by palimpsest		Aug 10th, 2008
08:49:30 AM
of Season Of The Witch iirc
bless 'em
by FamousEccles		Aug 10th, 2008
10:53:16 AM
I love how they proudly display their three and a half stars on the cover...
LUCIFER
by BringingSexyBack		Aug 10th, 2008
11:13:30 AM
"The Illuminati mocks and imitates God's 12 tribes. And this is why Jesus called the Illuminati, who say they are Jews but are not, the "Synagogue of Satan. Satan blessed the 12 bloodlines of the Illuminati. The Illuminati are the elite of Satanism. The 13th bloodline of the Illuminati is the bloodline from which comes the Antichrist."
I agree its a weird one...
by Circean6		Aug 10th, 2008
12:14:03 PM
I saw this on Showtime in the early 80's thinking it to be a kids flick, hoo boy was I suprised! One image that stuck with me was that all the church minions for full blown evil and opulant, with most of its minions facless in scary-ass red KKK robes. Potent stuff...
I'd actually like to see a new Pied Piper movie.
by Knuckleduster		Aug 10th, 2008
12:42:12 PM
It's the one story that really freaked me out as a kid. It's just so fuckin eerie. A new spin on the story would certainly hit the spot. I guess Tim Burton is the most obvious choice, but I'd like to see someone else do this. Jean-Pierre Jeunet would be perfect.
RIP Isaac Hayes
by KnightShift		Aug 10th, 2008
02:47:08 PM
Passed away this morning.
Quint - it's "Late, Great"
by Abhimanyu		Aug 11th, 2008
02:47:39 AM
Since you asked, Quint - you would use a "/" to imply a choice or an "either", like "he/she". If you want to use two adjectives that both apply, just a comma. The order depends on your style, though I think convention shows us "late, great" more than "great, late".
Hurdy Gurdy zombie children action
by Wilfy Fredericks		Aug 11th, 2008
03:07:48 AM
For anyone interested in the above check out Lost Hearts - an old (early 70s) BBC short film based on the M R James story. In fact read the story as well - it's also brilliant. Best zombie hurdy gurdy playing I've ever seen. Admitedly there hasn't been much competition for that title.
DerLanghaarige
by Snookeroo		Aug 11th, 2008
10:17:00 AM
"Hurdy Gurdy man" is indeed, very creepy. Listen to the Butthole Surfer's version sometime. It will completely creep you out.
"I'm the Pied Piper...
by Banzai Rootskibango		Aug 11th, 2008
11:52:02 AM
...and I want to be Pied...Paid...Paid..."
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