October Horror Movie Marathon

[Inspector Abberline]

Anaconda (1997, USA / Brazil / Peru)

In the big rubbery snake genre ,Anna Karenina er um Anaconda is pretty much the daddy of them all,boasting a rather impressive cast of nearly A-list actors,with Jon Voight nearly out acting the snake in the baddie department.Jennifer Lopez ,Ice Cube and Owen Wilson are making a nature documentary about a lost tribe in the Amazon,(yes this film does indeed boast some ludicrous casting) with Eric Stoltz as lead scientist.Not for getting a young looking Danny Trejo,if that is at all possible.While Anaconda is definitely a fun creature feature it does suffer from taking it self to seriously at times,with Lopez only proving she is no Sigourney Weaver in the tough female stakes and Ice Cube,well just being Ice Cube.As for the snake in question,well at times he looks like a rather realistic rubbery giant monster,and at other times it looks like a rather shit CGI rubbery snake like the kind you would buy in a toy shop.And maybe this is why the snake does not get as much screen time as the rather insidious Jon Voight and his rather unconvincing Portuguese accent,Mr Voight does all manner of emoting and to say that he chews the amazon scenery would be the understatement of the decade,how did such a marvellous actor end up churning out such rubbish,see also DeNiro and Dennis Hopper.In fact Voight did at times remind me of DeNiro's Max Cady from Cape Fear,seemingly indestructible neanderthal man,well up until he is swallowed by a bloody great snake that is. Not as entertaining as Snakes on a Plane,and nowhere near as good as the other giant creature flick like Alligator and Lake Placid,Anaconda is a decent enough entry in the monstrously big animal versus humans,although I was wishing throughout that Lopez would get eaten.#

[trebor8273]

Two which I class as Halloween themed.


Pumpkinhead. 8/10





Sleepy Hollow. 9.6/10

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Psychomania (1973)

Utterly bonkers but completely brilliant British horror that packs everything but the kitchen sink into it's 90 minutes. From maniacal biker gangs terrorizing British shopping centre's to outrageous mass suicide attempts, to Nicky Henson riding his motorbike out of the depths of his grave at Avebury.

Not only that but you've got Beryl Reid and George Sanders as a couple of toffs who seem to worship a toad God in Occult ceremonies whilst inspiring Reid's son to commit suicide so he can rise again as the undead.

Look, stop reading this. Psychomania is a near impossible film to sum up in a few lines. Just go out and buy the recent BFI Blu/dvd combo and enjoy one of the maddest, baddest British genre films ever.

[J Harker]

Was hoping to get through some films this weekend but thanks to an elderly relative picking Halloween weekend to leave this mortal coil it's just not happening.

[trebor8273]

Originally Posted by J Harker

Was hoping to get through some films this weekend but thanks to an elderly relative picking Halloween weekend to leave this mortal coil it's just not happening.

Sorry to hear that hope your OK.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by J Harker

Was hoping to get through some films this weekend but thanks to an elderly relative picking Halloween weekend to leave this mortal coil it's just not happening.

Sorry to hear that, J.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Very sorry for your loss, J.

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

Sorry to hear that, J.

Originally Posted by trebor8273

Sorry to hear that hope your OK.

Thanks chaps. Wife's grandmother so it's not really me, been a bugger of a weekend though and the woman still won't let go.

[trebor8273]

After the last fee days viewings up for something a boot more lighthearted

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Houses of Halloween (2014)

Utterly dreadful shaky cam non-horror about a group of friends searching for the ultimate Halloween horror experience. From the opening moments it's plainly obvious how the film is going to end and getting there is such a chore.

The film is bloated and overlong with endless shots of dreary driving and wandering round Halloween theme park houses where there are no scares as we know it's all basically an extreme fun house, at least until the end which as mentioned already was so, so predictable.

The dvd case proudly boasts 'From the producers of Insidious and Paranormal Activity' - well they sucked as well. The Houses of Halloween is the worst film i've watched in quite a while. Avoid like the plague.