October Horror Movie Marathon

[Inspector Abberline]

Psycho III (1986)

Psycho 3.jpg

Anthony Perkins sits his boney back side in the directors chair for this third outing,about nutty Norman Bates and the Bates Motel.With what seems to be a Vertigo homage,the film starts out with Diana Scarwid accidentally causing the death of a nun and then doing a runner,sort of nuns on the run,she then gets a lift from sleaze Dwayne Duke,only to end running again and ending up at the Bates Motel.Perkins direction of the third film is pretty solid and although he has none of Hitchcocks skills of suspense,its a competent effort and he certainly had some skill as a director.The film pretty much kicks off straight after the second film,where he kills Mrs Spoole,and its nice to see a few of the same characters from the last film appear again.There are some nice moments especially when Norman is doing his favourite past time of taxidermy,where he poisons the local birds to fulfils his hobby. Anthony Perkins looks as always youthful as ever,and seems to relish his part as nutty Norman,with all the twiches and side ways smirks he can muster. There is no real suspense to be had as we all know the story,so the film revels in Norman's voyeurism and occasional cross dressing.And in a nice twist when Mother Bates goes a calling on Scarwid to recreate a certain scene from the first film only to find Scarwids character has beaten her to it and has slashed her wrists in act of religious rebellion. I really enjoyed Psycho 3,it has some nice touches (the scene where the sheriff is scoffing down bloody ice cubes) and a few rather well directed scenes that im sure Mr Hitchcock would be proud of.Story wise there no great surprises,it pretty much keeps to the themes that Richard Franklin introduced in the second film.

Dead and Buried, (1981)

dead_and_buried_poster_01.jpg

Gary Sherman's film is such a darkly strange film,it comes no surprise that its was originally intended more as a black comedy,but was later decided to concentrate more on the horror angle.And it is a pretty brutal film,the scene where the photographer is tied up and set fire to,while the perpetrators stand and watch is very chilling and reminds me of the trend where people now a days film some tragedy or horror on there phones rather than actually do something about it,at least in the film they have an excuse.Also the mortuary scenes have that cold atmospheric feeling,that really do not want to experience at first hand ,and the scene where the girl hitch hiker has her face restored is amazingly effective and gruesome at the same time.Sherman shows great skill at portraying a dank and wet environment that has atmosphere dripping from the scene,his early film Raw Meat (Death Line) has that scene where it pans over the dead and decaying corpses in the underground,its grim and yet weirdly amusing and has a real EC comics feel to it.It should also be said that there are some marvellous performances amongst all the dread and fear,James Farentino and Jack Albertson are both great one the dogged cop the other an eccentric mortician,with Melody Anderson as local school teacher.I remember seeing the TV adverts when it first came out in the cinema,and the film has been a favourite since the days of rental video tapes.

[bizarre_eye@Cult Labs]

Keep My Grave Open (1976)



Whilst not as good as his 'Don't' films, Brownrigg's Keep My Grave Open is still an enjoyable slice of schlocky madness. Camilla Carr puts in a great performance as our crazy sword-wielding woman who lives in an old mansion with her brother/lover who may/may not exist.

Whilst a little predictable, that doesn't stop this one from being a lot of fun, particular the final act where the derangement reaches its peak.

60/100

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Scream Park (2014)

The workers of a fun fair, closing down due to lack of funds, decide to stage an all night party in the grounds. Unbeknown to them the fair's owner (Doug Bradley) unleashes a pair of masked killers on the group in a bid to keep the park open through notoriety.

The films' plot was given away on the back of the box. It might have made a nice twist had we not known the fun fair's owner was behind it all. However even this plot spoiler wouldn't have saved a disappointing modern slasher.

The film does a lot of good things. The empty fun fair made for a good location and some of the gore was grossly well done. The soundtrack featuring unknown industrial and death metal bands was also rather tasty. However the acting was hit and miss, unfortunately all but Bradley and the two leads were at times amateurish. It didn't help that the microphones didn't seem well positioned at times as one person spoke clearly and others seem muffled, fortunately this only happened a couple of times, but it smacks of being under funded when it can't be rectified.

To sum up, Scream Park was a good idea let down by lack of budget or i suspect the creativity to get round budgetary issues.

[platostotal]

Poor Coopersmith goes gonzo in tonight's ABUKtober flick...

[trebor8273]

This First Power. 7/10




Tonights viewing one of the most controversial films on cultlabs.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by trebor8273

This First Power. 7/10




Tonights viewing one of the shitest films on cultlabs.

I think you should tell us about The First Power, Treb.

I've never seen it and am wondering if it's worth getting at £7.99

[Inspector Abberline]

Originally Posted by trebor8273

This First Power. 7/10




Tonights viewing one of the most controversial films on cultlabs.

Im sorry Treb im not gonna like your post till you get rid of that lost boys shite.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Inspector Abberline

Im sorry Treb im not gonna like your post till you get rid of that lost boys shite.

When i quoted him above it seemed okay.

[Inspector Abberline]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

When i quoted him above it seemed okay.

I bet he invites Rik round to hold his hand......

[trebor8273]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

I think you should tell us about The First Power, Treb.

I've never seen it and am wondering if it's worth getting at £7.99

Its OK nothing spectacular but its worth 7.99 not a film I would go back to often. The subject matter has been done better in many films but are worse ways to spend 90 miuntues( lost boys for one,because someone is bond to say it)

Talking of lost boys will be watching the sequels which I've not seen but to even things out will be watching near dark first, let's be honrest even I'm not expecting much from the sequels