October Horror Movie Marathon

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Nightcomers (1971)

Brando, Beacham, bondage, bonking and brutality.

What's not to like?

Full review here - Demdike's Gothic Horror Thread.

[MrBarlow]

Burnt Offerings. 1976.

Oliver Reed and Karen Black play the happyncouple with 12 year old son Lee Montgomery who rent a house from Eileen Heckart and Burgess Meredith, unaware that there is a dark side to the house itself.

This is one of those films that gives off a scent of being a haunted house scenario, a big house in the middle of the country, victorian set era, creepy owners then gives out a nice little curve ball. Karen Black's slow decent into madness and obssession is played out well by decent acting and directing. Oliver Reed's character was very interesting. He was the reasonable one who instinctively knew something was "off" about the house. His scene with his son Danny in the pool was very scary as he seems happy then the mood changes. Bette Davis does pop up but her character is doesn't seem to be a major character and she does have a strong on screen presence and kudos to the make up dept for when her character seems to age dramatically. One film that has certainly grown on me big time.

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[peter alex]

Burgess Meredith is in the film the moment he turns up you know there is something not right about him he gives me the creeps' the moment I see him he makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up I don't know why he just does.

[MrBarlow]

Originally Posted by peter alex

Burgess Meredith is in the film the moment he turns up you know there is something not right about him he gives me the creeps' the moment I see him he makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up I don't know why he just does.

Have you seen The Sentinel Peter, he is quite good and creepy in that.

[MrBarlow]

Suspiria. 2018.

Tilda Swinton, who embodies Madame Blanc like a beast of a mother trying to protect her kin and imbues emotion as well as gusto into the role and as doing another two roles. Dakota Johnson manages to hypnotize the viewers with her captivating dance moves and subtle expressions without seeming bland in a tough role. The camerawork is nothing short of immaculate. Luca Guadagnino has given a distinct style that feels very lived in and retro with its' grainy 70's look and grey palette while also being surreal, dreamy and terrifying with flashbacks, dream sequences and the final act giving way to hallucinatory and nightmarish visuals steeped in red and blood.

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[MrBarlow]

The Beyond. 1981.

The film starts in flashback to 1927, Louisiana, the Seven Doors Hotel. A mob is convinced an artist is a warlock, so they crucify him, opening one of the Seven Doors of Death — allowing the dead into our world. Coincidentally, Liza our heroine from New York City, inherits the hotel in 1981 and her renovations reopen the door.

The make up effects are one of the main attractions. Despite the low budget, Giannetto De Rossi did some spectacular effects for this. The effects were done with flair and flamboyance. Giannetto De Rossi did his best work when working with Fulci. The effects for Joe the plumber are very good. The best effects is the scene where the young girl gets a chunk of her skull blown off.

The cinematography is spliced with atmosphere and style. Sergio Salvati gives the film its gothic flavour. The night shots are wonderful and the cinematography is flowing with grace. The music is my favourite horror score. Fabio Frizzi performs a score that fits perfectly with the visuals. A great classic Fulci movie that can never be ignored for October time.

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[Nordicdusk]

30 Days of Unseen Horror

Day 9

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Six extraordinary children with amazing telepathic powers have been discovered across the world and all six have been flown to London so they can be tested to see just how powerful they really are. Once in range of each other they start to communicate and they arrange to escape their Embassy's and stick together knowing the truth of what their governments have in store for them. The leader of the children David uses his Aunt to communicate what their demands and needs are while they hold up in an abandoned church. Realising just how powerful the kids are once they are together and working as one the military are called in and a tense stand off begins.

Unlike Village of the Damned Children of the Damned doesn't have that same creepiness but thats not to say the children are any less intimidating I actually think this time around the children are more vindictive especially David he isn't trying fit in he wants people to fear him there is no understanding he means you harm. The rest of the children are great too not in their acting because they don't really say much but thier expressions say more than enough.

I loved the whole stand off idea and the church itself is a brilliant setting giving the children a great vantage point perched up on the roof watching over everything ensuring no one gets in. It's not just a great strategic point either the rundown inside of the church makes the perfect place for a brilliant stand off involving the churches organ fantastic stuff.

Like Village of the damned there are some powerful dark scenes that once again took me by surprise and that ending is complete chaos and really left me speechless for a few minutes after the end credits rolled.

Village and Children although sharing the same theme are two different films in tone but both films I loved and they will be viewed again on the regular.

Fantastic.

[nosferatu42]

I was waiting for you to review these films and Castle of Blood after you bought them a few months back and am really pleased you enjoyed them Nordy, great reviews.

[Nordicdusk]

Originally Posted by nosferatu42

I was waiting for you to review these films and Castle of Blood after you bought them a few months back and am really pleased you enjoyed them Nordy, great reviews.

Thanks. I might be in trouble with tonights film I'm going modern again

[Frankie Teardrop]

BLACK CIRCLE – I’ve never been hypnotised. ‘Black Circle’ is about the potential dangers of hypnotic records put out by Swedish new age cults from the nineteen seventies. It starts with one of those weird Op-Art based optical illusions that you’re supposed to stare at for a minute or so, then look away at something else and watch it go all swirly. That works because then the film cuts to a shot of a horizontal corpse, which ends up looking pretty mashed if you’ve done the eye thing correctly. ‘Black Circle’ follows the difficult path of Celeste (played by Felice Jankel), who is trying to rescue her sister from all the weird shit wrought by this disastrous new age mind control record. It’s quite non-linear, especially near the start, and splices coolly rendered passages of low-key Euro angst with trippy visuals and ersatz seventies cinema reels of mindf*ck experiments, a jarring concoction that settles down a little after we meet aging hippie and evil record progenitor Christina Lindberg (just don’t call her One Eye, not these days) and her cronies, two of whom appear to be randomly psychic. It culminates in a drawn-out trance ritual that feels a bit like a poorly managed deep relaxation session at first, but then blossoms into the most mesmerising stretch of weirdness I’ve seen since I last watched the third season of ‘Twin Peaks’. Yes, maybe I lied about it getting more sensible. I like any film that genuinely doesn’t care about whether it makes itself understood or digestible or not, and I really like ‘Black Circle’. I’m not convinced it entirely ‘works’, but since I’m not completely aware of what’s going on with it for half the time, I can’t really say. Its oddity has the feeling of inner conviction about it, I think I can say that. Aesthetically, whether we’re talking about the weird visuals or not, it’s very nice. Director Adrian Garcia Bogliano made the quite feted ‘Late Phases’, a werewolf movie from last decade that is narratively more satisfying than ‘Black Circle’ but several leagues away in terms of uncanny weirdness. Give ‘Black Circle’ a spin if you’re into freaky movies that are mostly about ‘feel’.