1964 – 7 Faces of Dr. Lao
This was just a really fun movie with a lot of fanciful special effects. It was a true fantasy with a definite magical element. To achieve these effects, a number of different techniques were used. Now, I understand that many of them were accomplished through specific directing choices, great sets and costumes, and incredible makeup, in addition to the traditional visual effects methods. But it all combined to make a film that was simply fun to watch.
There was so much going on. There was a man changing his face from one actor to another, a woman being turned to stone by Medusa, a magician creating flowers out of thin air, a talking snake with an all too human head, animated fireworks, and the movie’s climax, a fish that turns into a giant sea serpent. And those were just the highlights! It was really a feast for the eyes. Now, all that being said, the effects, though done well-enough, were very dated. By today’s standards, the Claymation, the hand-drawn animation, and the puppets, were pretty obvious.
For example, there was a scene in which Merlin the Magician was creating flowers. In a wide shot, he waved his wand and real flowers began to climb up the sides of the proscenium. It seemed to be accomplished by covering the flowers with a blue-screen, and then lifting it, allowing them to smoothly appear. But then they cut to a close-up of the magically manifesting plants, and they changed to Claymation. The stop-motion animation was a little clunky and looked completely different than what was on the screen only a second before.
But the scene where the woman turned to stone actually looked pretty good. When the lady looked into the Gorgon’s eyes, the actress went stiff. They threw up some half-way convincing hand-drawn animation on the screen that covered the actress, as she transformed, and then cut to a wide shot which contained a mock-stone figure. For the 1960’s it was not a bad effect.
But it was the film’s big finish that really used the Claymation and blue-screening together for some pretty cool effects. Not only did the giant sea-serpent visibly grow and grow, but it picked up people in its mouth and swiftly crawled across the ground, knocking over tent poles and shredding canvas. It chased the witless thugs across the field and nearly devoured Dr. Lao, himself. At one point it even sprouted six extra heads resembling the various faces of the enigmatic Chinaman. Then, to recapture the beast, a magical rain machine was used which sent a hand-drawn shower of rainbow sparks shooting up into the sky. Did the film’s climax look way too much like clay figures and cartoons? Absolutely. Was it a lot of fun to watch? Again, absolutely.
But I have to roll my eyes at one effect. During the scene when Dr. Lao tells the story of Woldercan, the film’s director, George Pal, took volcano and lava effects footage that he created for and used in a previous film, The Time Machine, and blatantly inserted them here. Come on, Mr. Pal! Did you think we wouldn’t notice?