Ist ja irre – Alarm im Gruselschloß (1966)
27KIst ja irre – Alarm im Gruselschloß: Directed by Gerald Thomas. With Harry H. Corbett, Kenneth Williams, Jim Dale, Charles Hawtrey. The sinister Dr Watt has an evil scheme going. He’s kidnapping beautiful young women and turning them into mannequins to sell to local stores.
“This delightful spoof on the contemporaneous and equally popular Hammer Horror style is undeniably a highlight of the u0026quot;Carry Onu0026quot; series: the film is remarkably evocative with respect to color scheme, sets, lighting, even the score (though the rocku0026#39;nu0026#39;roll title track is somewhat unwarranted)…but, then, itu0026#39;s regrettably neglected whenever genre parodies are discussed (in my opinion, itu0026#39;s a must for any Hammer devotee)! u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe presence of series stalwarts Sidney James and Kenneth Connor is missed here; however, atypical u0026#39;recruitsu0026#39; Harry H. Corbett (in his one and only u0026quot;Carry Onu0026quot;) and Fenella Fielding (as a Morticia Addams-type nymphomaniac she had appeared in CARRY ON REGARDLESS [1961] as well as Hammeru0026#39;s own spoof, THE OLD DARK HOUSE [1963]) more than make up for this. Among the typical horror elements we find here are Kenneth Williams as Mad Scientist, Zombie and Invisible Man all rolled into one, two Frankenstein Monsters named Oddbod and Oddbod Jr. (a nod, no doubt, to Oddjob from the James Bond adventure GOLDFINGER [1964] itu0026#39;s interesting that the second creature is generated when electricity is applied merely to the missing finger of the first), two separate Hydes, a Mummy, plenty of wax figures, a sinister-looking butler, etc. Incidentally, the police investigation is redolent of a Holmes/Watson mystery (after all, Hammer themselves had filmed a version of THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES [1959]) with Corbett and Peter Butterworth making for a great bumbling pair of sleuths.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSeries regular Charles Hawtrey only has a bit part here as a tell-tale lavatory attendant/gardener, but his messy death is hilarious; ditto future Dr. Who Jon Pertwee as an eccentric police-lab technician ironically, thereu0026#39;s a u0026quot;Whou0026#39;s On First?u0026quot;-type routine concerning Williamsu0026#39; character (called Dr. Watt)! Jim Dale and Angela Douglas are again the young lovers, while Joan Simsu0026#39; role is practically a repeat of her nagging wife from CARRY ON CLEO (1964). By the way, the flustered mannequin shop owner is played by Frank Thornton, later of the ARE YOU BEING SERVED? (1972) TV series. As expected, Talbot Rothwellu0026#39;s script contains a lot of unsubtle puns but the film itself is capped by quite a terrific (if hysterical) climax to rival Hammeru0026#39;s best efforts.”
