October Horror Movie Marathon

[J Harker]

Originally Posted by 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 and he's all the better for it. The script serves him well, in fact he's better served than in the majority of his Hollywood movies. The fact that Bela... No. I won't say anything else regarding his role for anyone who might buy this new release from Network.

What i will say is don't look at the six beautiful double sided glossy art cards of which one side is of a film poster and the other lovely studio portraits from the film because one of them is one hell of a spoiler.

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 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, this 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.

Network's Blu-ray looks gorgeous and the sound is crisp and clear. The package itself is top quality. There's a commentary from experts Kim Newman and Stephen Jones which i haven't listened to and a half hour chat about Lugosi and his four British films filmed in London's Edgar Wallace pub. I did watch this after the film and thought it highly informative as well as highly entertaining with Newman and Jones very easy to watch and listen to.

There's a fourteen page booklet on the film as well as the aforementioned six glossy double sided art cards and it's all finished off with an embossed soft touch slip case.

For £11.50 this is a fantastic package.

Did this get sent out early Dem? It's still a preorder on Networks website.

Sent from my SM-G780G using Tapatalk

[Frankie Teardrop]

HALLOWEEN HORROR BINGE ROUNDUP #3

6/10/21

THE CANNIBAL MAN – Woefully mis-sold as a ‘nasty’, TCM follows the struggles of an accidental serial killer whose crimes are motivated more by happenstance and fear than bloodlust. Those still expecting sleaze and gore will be disappointed to find a subtext-driven thriller of a distinctly Hitchcockian hue; I can’t think of a more thoughtful film on that DPP list. Excellent, haunting stuff that I hadn’t revisited for a long while – I’m really glad I did.

7/10/21

THE BURNING – The kind of mean-spirited slasher that wouldn’t get made in the same way today – it’s pretty much about gawking at burns victims. That said, ‘The Burning’ still has an admirable sense of grand guignol ie watch that severed limb fall into shot at just the right moment, in just the right manner. Beyond that, the slow escalation of tension is quite effective, and even Wakeman’s duff soundtrack has an era-specific charm. Does it escape the taint of Weinstein? You be the judge.

8/10/21

BLACK SWAN – N Portman strives to find her dark side so she can pull off ‘Swan Lake’ – her approach misfires a bit, considering it evolves into full scale ‘Repulsion’-style psychosis. A very handsome and absorbing work from Aronofsky, which isn’t after all afraid to lay bare the ugly duckling at its heart; you could say its switch from arthouse drama to being a patchwork of horror quotes (notably from ‘The Fly’ and maybe ‘Carrie’) is pretty balletic in itself.

AXE – Bermanesque grindhouse from the seventies, and always a very firm favourite of mine. It doesn’t offer much by way of exploitative content – in fact, it’s nearly as mute as its grandfather character, who sits silently day after day, watching the snow on a faulty TV. No, ‘Axe’ is all about the stark, uneasy atmosphere that director Fred Friedel seems to conjure effortlessly from his minimal set-up (although a certain amount of its icy charm stems from the enigmatic axe-wielder at the film’s heart, farmgirl Lisa). A downbeat classic that I could watch endlessly.

[Justin101]

So, about 5 years ago I bought a Blu from America that had 4 of the Dimension Films Hellraiser sequels on it, yes 4 on one disc... And last night I finally watched the last one, I kind of wish I didn't.

Hellraiser: Hellworld or it should be called Hellraiser the Nokia Phone product placement one... I honestly don't even know what the plot was, it starts with the funeral of some guy who died, how, we don't know but it was mysteriously linked to some Hellraiser computer game, then it's suddenly 2 years and they (his 5 friends from the funeral) go to a secret party in a mansion and get killed off one by one ..

Honestly the only reason I watched it until the end is because Henry Cavill was hot as a late 90's / early 00's frat boy type in a white t-shirt. Not even joking.

[Demoncrat]

Another fine collection FT. Plus you've reminded me of something I haven't seen in long enough, and that's what it's all about really isn't it?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by J Harker

Did this get sent out early Dem? It's still a preorder on Networks website.

Sent from my SM-G780G using Tapatalk

Yes. I ordered it Tuesday and it arrived Thursday. Same goes for The Monster (I Don't Want to be Born)

Justin got his Singing Ringing Tree Blu dispatched two weeks before it's release date.

[MacBlayne]

Candyman (2021)

Who can miss the theory,
And condescend to you?
Stop the pace every two minutes,
And explain itself to you?
The Candyman!
And Nia DaCosta too!

Yes, the Candyman reboot sucks,
It replaces subtext with text,
Cause you're too thick to think complex.

Is this a remake?
Or maybe it's a sequel?
Or maybe it's a film
With nothing original to tell.
It's Candyman!
It has little to compel.

It's great they hired Tony Todd,
But it's all just a facade,
Because the film's a stinking sod.

It's Candyman!
In a script that is a slog!

[Justin101]

I didn't hate it but I also agree with all of that.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

I Don't Want to Be Born (1975)

It's difficult to suggest I Don't Want to be Born is a good film because it isn't. There are far too many travelogue scenes of London for a start as well as the general absurdities of the killer devil baby itself. What i love about the film are it's absurdities, there really aren't many films like it and the best thing is that proper actor types like Eileen Atkins play it so straight faced even adopting daft accents for no real reason. Joan Collins, as the mother who gave birth to the hexed child is great in madness like this - the scene where she's groped by a dwarf is a classic slice of seedy schlock - as is hubby Ralph Bates, so despite it's constant absurdities i do think it's a highly entertaining film with a level of cheesy campness that should pique any horror fan's curiosity.

Network's new Blu-ray is a definite step up from any of the dvd versions i have. The three interview docs including a twenty four minute one with director Peter Sasdy, are interesting and informative. Editor Keith Palmer said it was a great cast and everyone was really lovely. The only problem was Caroline Munro couldn't act so they overdubbed her with Liz Fraser. I thought it was her voice whilst watching and was chuffed Palmer confirmed my suspicions.

Sleepy Hollow (1999)

As good as ever, Tim Burton's brisk Gothic tale is just as fun to watch now as it was 21 years ago. The headless horseman is a classic supernatural spook and it has never been bettered before or after Burton's film. One i never get bored with.

I was inquiring about Blu-ray releases of this yesterday, however the US dvd i have looked pretty good especially seeing as it's a film that plays out under very muted colour palettes.

[trebor8273]

A writer who's having a breakdown goes off into a cottage in the countryside with her boyfriend and meet a bunch of local weirdos and she keeps having nightmares and that's about it till the last ten minutes when anything actually happens. Boring and dull the only good thing is the very gruesome werewolf transformation in which the guy melts into a puddle of goo and the werewolf climbs out.


Now watching one of My favourite films which has probably some of the best practical effects ever.

[MrBarlow]

The Ghost. 1963.

A woman and her lover plot to kill her husband, shortly afterwards strange things begin to happen, is her husband's spirit come back or was he really dead.

I'm sure we have all seen films like these, husband/wife with lover plot to kill their significant other half and live a happy life that basically karma can come back and knock on your door. This is another Italian Gothic horror filled with suspense with Barbara Steele as the female lead. This one is actually in color and it may seem the atmosphere was taken away but it just gets better and better as the film goes on.

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