[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Dark Eyes of London (1939)

A classic slice of British Grand Guignol starring Bela Lugosi as the head of an insurance company who commits murders in order to claim their inheritances aided by his henchman, the ghoulish Jake.

Lugosi is excellent here, holding back from his typical excesses in a role that exudes creepy menace whilst for once he isn't playing a vampire or mad scientist. The script serves him well, in fact he's better served than in the majority of his Hollywood movies.

Aside from Lugosi the film stars Hugh Williams as a Scotland Yard inspector trying to get to the bottom of the murders and Edmon Ryan as a New York cop helping out. The pair have some terrific dialogue together and this early movie could be seen as a precursor to later films such as 1959's Jack the Ripper which has the exact same almost buddy cop / fish out of water set up as well as non horror films such as 1975's John Wayne vehicle Brannigan and it's loose 1993 remake The Young Americans.

Norwegian actress Greta Gynt also has a meaty role as the film's heroine, she's especially good and not simply there to scream in terror.

Whilst the first half of the film is taken with the police investigation which isn't surprising seeing as it's based on an Edgar Wallace story who himself wrote German Krimi stories (Think Giallo but German), it's the second half where the film becomes a delightful and atmospheric horror film with an attack on Gynt particularly well realized.

Breeders (1986)

Ultra gory, low budget, T&A gore fest about grotesque looking aliens who rape the female virgins of New York in order to breed.You'll be surprised to discover that practically every girl in Manhattan appears to be 'saving their selves'.

Yes, it is as tacky and exploitative as it sounds with some dumb writing, dumb acting and even dumber decision making but also some of the gloopiest gore ever seen in an MGM production. Ending with a climax that seems to feature a group of naked girls squirming about in a hot tub full of alien jizz in the sewers of NYC as our wooden heroes battle gorgeous eighties slime monsters in a fight to the death.

All in all, a hugely enjoyable double bill of contrasting movies.