| ||||
I watched Creepers last night. I've seen Phenomena before, but never Creepers. I've always wanted to though, ever since seeing the Palace Pictures VHS in the video shop but never been old enough to rent it. What the hell... Even though I've seen the full length version all I have to say is I have no idea what was going on. I did enjoy the quickened pace for the first half of the film but that just meant that we weren't equipped with ANY knowledge for the final half. She sleepwalks into the professors house, next thing she's taking a fly to find the killer, next minute she's in Daria's house being hit on the back of the head. Pool of maggets, creepy gooey kid, sheet of metal, end. I wont be watching the Creepers version again
__________________ Triumphant sight on a northern sky |
| ||||
CATHY'S CURSE – I was made up when I heard Severin were going to be putting this one out on Blu-ray, having only ever seen cheapshit sub VHS-level transfers in the past. Watching it 'as it was intended' proved a slightly more coherent experience than I was anticipating, as my memories were of a real head scratcher of a movie. It's more subtle than that, although it is pretty weird. Basically part of the 'Exorcist' rip-off wave that dominated seventies horror cinema, it tells the tale of a young girl possessed by the spirit of her dead aunt via a creepy doll. I can't put my finger on what's so alluring about it, but it does have quite a strange, disjointed atmosphere caused in part by slightly 'off' performances, wonky editing choices and a few shots and scenes which have something of a 'huh?' factor about them. Maybe not for all tastes, and some may find that it drags a little, but I really recommend this to lovers of grindhouse era oddities. THE HUNGER – Imagine how much guts it'd take these days to begin a movie with a performance of 'Bela Lugosi's Dead'? Not a problem for Tony Scott, whose grasp of bombast never falters throughout his eighties vampire epic, 'The Hunger'. I'm quite a big fan of the kind of movie, typically a certain type of eighties horror flick, which seems perpetually on the brink of morphing into a high concept rock video. 'The Hunger' is a good example of this tendency, although these days I do find my patience running thin with it. Plus points, beyond unselfconsciously dumb-seeming arty pretension, are mostly to do with the presence of D Bowie, C Deneuve and S Sarandon, who are all very interesting to watch. But it does tend to float along without much 'happening' until the end, when it suddenly goes all 'genre'. I do like it, but I get a bit bored. THE OTHER HELL – I can never resist a good Bruno Mattei flick. But wait on, that doesn't even make sense, there ARE no good Bruno Mattei flicks! I do like them though, he was always so shameless about being nonsensical, and that's certainly the case here. I've seen 'The Other Hell' umpteen times, and I can never figure out the attraction. It's not overly graphic or exploitative, and it's certainly not an exercise in Italian stylistics. Maybe, like 'Cathy's Curse' above, it just has this pervasive low key sense of strangeness made up of slightly baffling production and narrative choices. It's set in a nun's convent, where some murders have been happening. A groovy young priest is drafted in to investigate, and he has no time for all the talk of devilry and possession and whatnot popular among the sisters. By the time you get to the weird explanation for it all, your eyes will probably have glazed over. But not before you ponder the film's languid, dreamy texture, its enigmatic ossuaries and stock shots of owls in flight which should just look silly and cheap, but instead seem somehow rich and atmospheric. Talking of cheap, 'The Other Hell' shares its soundtrack with 'Beyond The Darkness' – those guys sure knew how to economise. A threadbare yet hypnotic experience, you will probably already know whether this is your cup of tea or not. |
| ||||
The Bogey Man (1980) The story starts with a woman flirting with her man, she notices her 2 kids (lacey and willie) staring through the window and one of the kids gets tied up, his younger sister frees him and he kills his mothers lover. 20 years later and they are trying to get on with their lives, unfortunately they receive a letter from their mother wishing to see them before she dies which brings the sins of the past back. unable to cope lacey and her husband return to the house which the incident happens. she sees the man her brother killed in the mirror and smashes it, this unfortunately frees the man and he begins to kill people. so the opening scene where willie kills his mums lover is great, however the rest of the first half is dull however when the phantom proceeds to murder people it gets good. a couple of creative kills, the couple in the car getting the knife through their mouths is great. despite this it's not a great film, there was no real buildup and you have to sit through a good portion of nothing happening. 5/10 for creative kills and an interesting premise
__________________ It says here you're a HERETIC |
| |||
Dark Days(2000) Follows a small community of homeless people in a train tunnel beneath Manhattan. Compelling for the most part. 9/10
|
| ||||
Best of the best 1989 Alex graduate (Eric Roberts), Tommy Lee (Phillip Ree), Travis Brockley (Chris Penn), Virgil Keller (John Dye), Sony Grasso (David Agresta). Have been selected to compete in the United States Karate championship to face team Korea under the coaching of Frank Couzo (James Earl Jones) a veteran in the martial arts training. Along the way 5 strangers must bound together to stay strong. This is one good movie that is very entertaining with a mix of drama and good fight scenes to come out of the 80s. 7 out of 10.
__________________ " I have seen trees that look like tortured souls" |
| ||||
Get Out (2017) **** out of ***** The Last House on Dead End Street (1977) **** out of *****
__________________ My articles @ Dread Central and Diabolique Magazine In-depth analysis on horror, exploitation, and other shocking cinema @ Cinematic Shocks |
| ||||
Deadly Record (1959) Intriguing British thriller starring Lee Patterson as an airline pilot who arrives home to find his wife dead and his car smashed. Naturally police chief Geoffrey Keen makes him number one suspect so Patterson and airline colleague Barbara Shelley try and find the real murderer. This is definitely a B-picture. Clocking in at a mere 56 minutes. Deadly Record wastes no time in getting on with the story and it's all quite compelling as Patterson and Shelley uncover motivation and more motivation among his wife's social circle. As with so many of these British B-pictures it's beautifully restored by Network and well worth every penny of the £3 i paid at Fopp. |
Like this? Share it using the links below! |
| |