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Showing posts from August, 2015

Videodrome (1983) - David Cronenberg

Videodrome came to us during the peak of David Cronenberg's work. It's a strange yet wonderful journey into the bizarre mind of David Cronenberg. Seriously, Cronenberg put some really weird stuff in this movie, but that just makes it all that much more intriguing. It's brash and sleazy. It's perverted and brutal. It's a tough movie for some to watch and a breeze for those very few that appreciate good solid gore. Max Renn (James Woods) is a sordid television producer that picks up a pirate signal of some brutal snuff clips playing virtually twenty-four-seven. Once he begins investigating the source of the signal he gets mixed up in a psychological and bio-deforming experience that may be driving him to murder. We get scenes of trashy explicit savagery mixed with scenes of extreme sadomasochism and body manipulation. The actual storyline gets lost as this movie rolls on. It takes you down a bizarre path led by Woods' character. It's wonderful. 

Black Friday (1940) - Arthur Lubin

This movie has a masterful mix of old-style gangster pictures and a mad scientist horror film. It's great! You get both Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff doing their usual thing. Giving the movie some street cred. It plays out really smoothly and packs a big punch. It's the kind of quality I have grown to love from Universal.  A criminal with a secret stash of hidden money is paralyzed and dying after being involved in a hit and run during a get-away from a heist. A surgeon, and friend to a victim of that hit-and-run, performs a very risky operation. He transplants the brain of the criminal into that of his friend in hopes of recovering the location of that hidden money. However, he awakens a murderous and treacherous fiend that has a love for murder! It can be argued that this has too much action to be a horror movie. Some parts feel like No Country for Old Men but others are thrilling and suspenseful enough to definitely be horror. People argue that this movie has se

Ouija (2014) - Styles White

Cliche supernatural event after event. This picture is far less than stellar than anyone could have hoped for. Especially one based on a board game. Every over stylized modern horror effect is on full display. From the strange supernaturally sped up movements of ghosts. To the high-pitched, generically creepy laughter of children. It's so predictable. So much so that some scenes seem downright stolen right out of other movies. They had problems during production and it shows. Re-Writes and Re-Shoots. However, they could have done much better.  Emotional teenagers find an old Ouija board and play with supernatural forces beyond their comprehension. Or at least beyond the directors comprehension. They have a friend that was killed after playing Ouija by herself. So they try? Stupid teenagers. This predictable and tired format should have died out long ago. But year after year we are fed these very safe and family friendly horror films that do little to amaze. Most of the

Inseminoid (1981) - Norman J. Warren

What can be said for mindless schlock pictures like this one. They were pumped out in droves during the eighties. Inseminoid !? give me a break! It sounds like some pre-pubescent teenage boys came up with the title. On the plus side the movie isn't horrible to look at and it has a decent amount of gore. If you can separate yourself from the political incorrectness, then you might have a perfectly decent Sci-Fi Monster Feature.  A research team exploring caves on Jupiter accidentally awakens an ancient alien that rapes and impregnates one of the team members. She suffers from terrible shock and trauma, leading to a complete mental breakdown as her pregnancy accelerates faster and faster. Feeling threatened she decides to kill anyone she deems a threat. Can the rest of the research team survive or will they all become victims of INSEMINOID! Apparently this movie had a million dollar budget. That's really shocking considering the outcome of the picture. The acting

The Mummy's Hand (1940) - Christie Cabanne

This film is noticeably a few notches below the original. It's not a sequel but more of a re-envisioning. So maybe it's just on a completely different path. From the beginning this movie looks and sounds really sub-par. It doesn't feature anyone of note and it suffers from tired acting. However, it runs at a fair and balanced pace. Plus it has a story line that actually makes it palatable.  This isn't in the same continuity as the Karloff original. In fact this movie stands on its own. Young quick-witted adventurers looking for the tomb of an ancient princess, Mistakenly awaken a murderous Mummy (Tyler) and get harassed by a strange old wizard (Zukko). Their group features the usual social make-up of a movie from its time. A straight-man (Dick Foran) and a fast-talking jokester (Wallace Ford) complete with beautiful dame (Peggy Moran) in tow. The story progression is pretty normal as well with just the right amount of cheesy romance laced in. The antagonis

Spookies (1986) - Genie Joseph, Thomas Doran, and Brendan Faulkner

It's impossible to get a decent movie when you take two films and just squash them together. That is essentially the story of how this movie came together. The film started as Twisted Souls. However, according to the financial backer they didn't have enough horror. So they ended up hiring another guy to come in and add a monster in virtually every scene.  This movie started out being directed by Brendan Faulkner and Thomas Doran. It basically is the tale of two sets of teenagers that arrive to a strange building surrounded by a strange cemetery. It was your usual tale of teenagers in a big hows with a few monsters. Then they brought in Genie Joseph and added even more. Like a haunted birthday party, a murderous cat-man, zombies, and an old wizard. It really became a smorgasbord of horror with a very thin plot-line leading it around. This movie is hard to summarize in a conventional way. It just packs so much.  The most interesting part of this movie are defini

Maggie (2015) - Henry Hobson

First off, I am a huge fan of Arnold. My favorite being Total Recall.  It's what drew me into this movie in the first place. Upon watching it I was pleasantly surprised that this was nothing like other Schwarzenegger movies. Explosions, catch phrases, and endless supplies of ammunition are sacrificed for fantastically dramatic acting and astute themes. In short. This movie isn't Total Recall.  Maggie has been bitten by a zombie and infected with the virus. Her transformation is slow coming but undeniable. Her father, Wade, decides to keep an eye on her and vows to do what needs to be done. He takes her out into the country, back to their home. He and his wife try to enjoy what little time they have left with her. However, the time is ticking. Maggie tries to come to grips with the reality of her situation while we watch her literally deteriorate.  This movie doesn't move as slowly as you would expect. In fact, it has a pretty steady tone and is so full of s

Doctor Cyclops (1940) - Ernest B. Schoedsack

Doctor Cyclops is a really interesting film. It's in color even though it was made in 1940. This is made possible through Technicolor. The film goes down the Mad Scientist route with Albert Dekker in that role, and its pretty perfect. Ernest Schoedsack is the director. His previous film had been  King Kong. So you know it's in good hands.  A group of scientists are summoned to Peru to assist a fellow expert, Doctor Alexander Throkel. Thorkel is a maniacal bastard. He has this whole thing planned that ends up with him capturing the group and shrinking them down to 1/5th their original size. He tries keeping these tiny people locked up but they end breaking out and running for their little lives! Now they have to try to figure out how they can get back to their regular sizes while surviving in this crazy, huge world.  The Doctor has an amazing look. He has this weird James Bond villain-type thing going on. It's pretty sinister. The movie has a really great l

A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge (1985) - Jack Sholder

This really strange sequel comes to us from Director Jack Sholder and not Wes Craven. Craven had shown disinterest in Directing another slasher film. He had soured on the genre. It's a pity. This film could have been huge. Instead, we get a strange cult horror picture with overt homosexual overtones. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Freddy is back in Springwood and has found a new teenager to torment. The young, sexually confused Jesse Walsh. Jesse and his family have moved into Nancy Thompson's old house on Elm Street. They start to notice some Freddy Kruger staples (nightmares, temperature control, dying pets, and possessed children) not to mention Freddy is "deep inside" Jesse. All of this is happening when Jesse should just be getting more serious with his "girlfriend" Lisa. Can the "true love" of his girlfriend be enough to tear Jesse away from the treacherous Freddy?  This film is pretty fast paced and has a numbe

Mama (2013) - Andrés Muschietti

Mama was really appealing to me. I am a big fan of Guillermo Del Toro's work (ex. Pan's Labyrinth, Hellboy, and The Devil's Backbone) But he isn't really all that involved. Other than that, this picture relies heavily on sub-par CGI mixed with low-budget effects. The story is frustrating and the main antagonist is so over-the-top, it's ridiculous. But I watched it. This movie is about two young girls that were abandoned in a cabin, far out in the woods. Their father had apparently went on a killing spree and then was killed himself. For five years they had been raised by a strange, vengeful spirit named Mama. When discovered, the girls were malnourished and very feral. They would lash out and hiss. It was quite a scene. The girls uncle takes them in and raises them with his punk-rawk girlfriend. Weird, semi-spooky events start to take place. Mama apparently doesn't want to let go of her "daughters".  This movie started out with very littl