Red-Barracuda

Dieter Dengler is another typical subject for a Werner Herzog documentary, i.e. He is a man with an obsession, and that was to fly. Dieter was a child of World War 2 and grew up in the poverty of post-war Germany, which seemingly included eating wallpaper. He immigrated to the USA as a young man and joined the air force. He winded up being sent to the Vietnam War and was shot down over Laos on his first flight, resulting in him being captured by the Viet Cong. He went through various traumas here but winded up dramatically escaping.

Its quite a story this one and like other Herzog films, the protagonist is slightly strange, I mean the very fact we have a German fighting for the Americans in Vietnam is a pretty odd set-up to begin with! The details of Dieter's imprisonment and escape are pretty compelling in their horror and it is a crazy story overall, with his improbable escape giving it a sort of Hollywood ending (it was made into a movie after all). The focus is squarely on the personal, with little in the way of politics or considerations of the rights or wrongs of the war. I think the unbelievable slow-motion footage of the American bombing raids gives some point of alternative consideration though, given that Dieter was a pilot in the air force causing this horrendous carnage. So, you have a film which allows you to both marvel at one man's escape from a hostile enemy, while at the same time see the utter destruction the people on his side were inflicting on the very people who captured him. Its an interesting dynamic and another fascinating character study from Herzog.

This BBC teleplay, written by genre specialist Nigel Kneale has garnered an impressive reputation over the years. Like a lot of the most well-remembered BBC horror, it was initially released as a Christmas ghost story, despite not having any actual festive element. It concerns a group of scientists who purchase a large old Victorian building to be used as a research facility. It turns out the building has a long history of hauntings and exorcisms and almost immediately a ghostly presence is seen and felt. This leads the scientists to wonder if a ghost is in fact a recording stored within stone and so they set about trying to capture this using scientific methods.

The connection between science and the supernatural is the basis for this one. And it does benefit from an eeriness which many of the BBC teleplays of this era seemed to be good at capturing. I have seen this a couple of times now and I can't help feeling a little disappointed though, given the film's reputation, as while it does have some effective atmospheric moments and some interesting horror moments, it also had a few pacing problems and was often a little too shouty and stagey for its own good at times. Worth a watch if you appreciate old BBC horror though.