The Lair of the White Worm, directed by Ken Russell 1988

Often you see people not being interested in watching older films. For me, however, films of all ages can be of interest. I am particularly interested in films of days long gone, for often more reasons than you might think. When I watch films, I then also watch films that currently may long have been forgotten. The Lair of the White Worm is one of those films. Ken Russell, the infamous English director of films such as THE DEVILS, TOMMY, ALTERED STATES and CRIMES OF PASSION, wrote and directed this film in the late 1980s.  The Lair of the White Worm was a film written and meant to be a relatively cheap film. Nevertheless, it has its moments.

Amanda Donohoe

When a Scottish Archeology student, Angus (played by Peter Capaldi), finds a strange looking skull in an excavation at a Bed & Breakfast run by Mary and Eve Trent, strange things start to happen when Lady Sylvia (a very sexy yet creepy Amanda Donohoe) unexpectedly returns. A local myth, the slaying of  the d'Ampton Worm, is the background for the current events as it seems that an ancestor of the current Lord of the Manor, James d'Ampton (played by Hugh Grant before he became a comedy star), slew this snakelike creature in days long gone. All hell seems to break loose when the strange looking skull is stolen.

Lady Sylvia shows her true nature

While the original story of the Dracula author Bram Stoker is considerably different, this film also now finds itself a curiosity, not only by having been directed by one of England's most eccentric directors, but also because the film stars actors in serious roles long before these actors became famous in some other role. It is very interesting now to see the current DR. WHO act in a serious horror film when he was 30. Also Hugh Grant playing a serious role in itself has become a bit of a joke, so please, don't take my word for it. Check the film out yourself.

Peter Capaldi way before he became Dr. Who

If you know a little of Ken Russell and his earlier films, the subject matter of this film will not shock you. Russell had strange tastes in his films but nevertheless, as a horror film, The Lair of the White Worm is definitely worth a look. And please forgive the slightly dated look. A film of the 1980s may look fairly modern, but the world you are looking at was a world of 30 years ago.

Ken Russell's The Lair of the White Worm

The Greatest Tragedy of the Twentieth Century: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy

For some people, the Second World War eternally holds their interest. For other people it is the Days of the Wild West. Other than an interest in modern cinema and related subjects, a number of subjects have always been of interest to me. One of these was the Greatest Tragedy of the Twentieth Century: the Assassination of John F. Kennedy. John Fitzgerald Kennedy was the 35th President of the United States, serving from January 1961 until his death in November 1963. He succeeded Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had served two terms of Presidency from January 1953 to January 1961.

John F. Kennedy

It is not in my intention here to tell the ultimate truth. Part of that truth will probably never be revealed. But the allure of John F. Kennedy was simply based on his boyish charm, as "Jack" was very successful with the ladies and he was at that time the youngest man to become President in the history of the United States. Kennedy's period in the White House was not without it's problems as he had to contend with problems on many aspects that were difficult to overcome. The Cuban Missile Crisis, the bay of Pigs invasion, the building of the Berlin Wall, the development of the Space Program and the Civil Rights Movement all took place in his term. But this American President, with his record of having been a War Hero, let his ambition take him to almost unknown levels of success as he successfully steered the Western World thru one international Crisis after another. 

John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie on the cover of LIFE magazine

On November 22, 1963 in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas, John F. Kennedy and his wife Jackie were going thru Dallas in a presidential motorcade with Governor John Connally and his wife Nellie for a promotional visit to the people of Texas. Kennedy was there to improve his standing as the numbers in Texas were problematic and to smooth over some frictions between members of the Democratic Party. (Kennedy never had a big support in the Southern states and for that reason the southerner Lyndon B. Johnson had been selected as a running mate, so he would have some more appeal to the people of the southern States as well as a political counterbalance to the idea's that JFK favored.) The decision was made therefor that the President and his wife would visit the State of Texas and show themselves to the people, in order to leave a positive impression. The events that followed were, to say the least, dramatic. 

Dealey Plaza, with marked in Red: the JFK motorcade and locations

The official reading (which, after the fact, was published in the Warren Commission reports) was that Lee Harvey Oswald, a former US Marine who had moved to Russia and returned to the United States, was the sole assassin. He supposedly used an old Mannlicher Carcano rifle, to shoot Kennedy from one of the windows of the Texas School Book Depository building (the light brown building in the upper picture, where he worked) when the presidential motorcade would go past Dealey Plaza. Considering however that Governor Connally was also hit by a bullet, the sole assassin theory was quickly considered controversial as the Mannlicher Carcano rifle simply was not capable of rapid firing. Other witnesses around Dealey Plaza also spoke of more shots being fired, when the presidential motorcade was passing, so the lone gunman theory easily left room for people to start thinking of a conspiracy.

One of the last photos taken of JFK, minutes before the shooting.

As many people were witnessing the motorcade, many were also witness to the whole tragic event taking place. Many pictures were made with their photo-camera's and among them, Abraham Zapruder, an American clothing manufacturer, happened to be filming it on 8 mm film with his home movie camera.

 

Abraham Zapruder and his Bell & Howell 414 PD movie camera

The film that was shot by Zapruder would now forever be called the Zapruder Footage and it proved that there could not be just one single shooter. The whole event was over and done with in 26 seconds, but the images last more than a life time. (Zapruder was not the only person to record the assassination but his is the most gruesomely dramatic of them all as it records the actual killing in reasonable quality, which also is a reason I am only presenting One Shot from it. The shot you see below is presumed to be where JFK was hit in the throat, a shot that could not have been made from the Texas School Book Depository building, suggesting therefor the presence of other shooters.)

One of the shots from the Zapruder footage

The motorcade was immediately diverted to Parkland Memorial Hospital where President John F. Kennedy was observed to be in a moribund condition, meaning he had no chance of survival. John F. Kennedy was given the last rites and was pronounced dead at 01.00 PM CST. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was then sworn in as President on the plane back to Washington. And Mrs. Kennedy, Jackie, was witness to it all, still wearing her blood-soaked coat.

Jackie Kennedy standing next to Johnson as he takes the oath 

Lee Harvey Oswald had always been a suspect character, because he had lived in Russia for a few years and had come back to the USA with a Russian wife. But before he had a chance to tell his story, he was shot to death on live television two days after the JFK assassination by night club owner Jack Ruby. For as far as Oswald had been able to say anything, he told the press he was a Patsy, meaning that he was set up to take the fall as the murderer, but it was others who had arranged it all.

Oswald, the eternal Patsy.

For a more in-depth analysis of everything that took place , please check out the wikipedia page, which tells to much greater detail about everything, as well as why it was very quickly untenable to uphold the official reading that Kennedy had been assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald.

It is therefor also very understandable that Oliver Stone, director of PLATOON, would choose to make JFK and not only make a riveting thriller but also a direct accusation of the official reading of the assassination propagated by the Warren Commission reports.

JFK was the first film to openly discuss the many discrepancies found in the official reading. Oliver Stone's film starred Kevin Costner as investigator Jim Garrison, who only several years after the fact started his investigation and found plenty of falsehoods, even in the other investigations done at the time. Oliver Stone made a wonderful film, but it proved controversial even when it was released in 1991. But where Stone's JFK focused on the assassination and the investigations, it was Peter Landesman's film PARKLAND, that looked at the tragedy left behind for the actual people involved on the scene of the crime in Dallas, Texas. This very powerful film shows everything happening from the very moment of the assassination, the arrival at Parkland Memorial Hospital and everything afterward. It also focuses on the family of Oswald ( because he left behind a brother, a wife, two daughters and an extremely idiosyncratic mother) and shows what the doctors at Parkland had to contend with upon the arrival of the motorcade.

Also, Abraham Zapruder and Jackie Kennedy come into the picture in this masterful drama, but it would be not until Pablo Larrain would direct Natalie Portman in the film JACKIE, that the story of the widow of the murdered President would be told. And Natalie Portman is fabulous in the part as she shows the ordeal Jackie was going thru in the six days from the assassination to her exiting the white house. 

However, it would be an error to think that only after Oliver Stone's JFK the conspiracy theories would have started emerging. On the contrary, conspiracy theories have surfaced since the actual assassination and in 1973 the film EXECUTIVE ACTION dared to look at an attempt to assassinate the President. Although it proved an unsuccessful film, it did certainly help to raise suspicions in the early days.

Executive Action was directed by David Miller and starred Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan and Will Geer. It was not only unsuccessful, it also dared to look at an assassination attempt from the eyes of the assassin. For that, even now, it is an interesting film, even if not based on any real names involved in the John F. Kennedy assassination.

For those of you who want to read more, I cannot emphasize it enough. Please continue with the link provided below and feel free to do your own research.  For people who are interested, there is plenty to read. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_John_F._Kennedy