Horror Movie Project

This movie was wrongly presented to me as a horror feature. Reviews and synopsis' of the film promised Voodoo Zombies. I was hoping for a movie a-la White Zombie and  unfortunately I was left with this racist piece of garbage. The movie is about a young mixed-race girl named Chloe, that returns to the bayou with her mother. Her mother is a voodoo witch named Mandy that has come back to take her revenge on the white plantation owner that killed her husband Sam some years back. Chloe, is being pined after by her handler Jim. A white guy that seems to be employed by Mandy or, for some reason, is just accompanying them on their journey. When Chloe runs into other white men in the movie they portray her as unclean and not pure. The movie has that certain eugenic flair that plagued a ton of American releases from this time.  I waited for the horror to start throughout the entire movie and it never came. I feel like this was nothing more than a racist romantic comedy that trie

Predictable and over the top. It's another old dark house movie that throws the crowd for a loop with... gasp! Twists! Actually a ton of twists with a lot of shill screaming! That doesn't necessarily equal a thrilling feature that can keep you on the edge of your seat. The playwright Prescott Ames, his secretary, and Producer get into a car accident and need to find shelter for the night. They come upon Dr. Kent's house and he gladly takes them in. While at the house, Prescott Ames discovers his fiancee there already along with Terry Grey and his psychic sister Beatrice. The latter being treated by Doctor Kent for hysterics. However, something appears to be in the house with the group and it is killing people off left and right. Or is it all an elaborate hoax?   This movie blends right in with all of the other horror movies released in the twenties and thirties. The old dark house storyline is tried and true. At least to this point in time. I have to hand it to

Western's were popular in the thirties. The Internet Movie Database lists only 14 horror movies from 1934 with 72 westerns. It was only a matter of time before there was a bleed over film. This is that movie. Horribly acted and produced. This forty-five minuet short felt like it had a great deal of potential. I felt as if the filmmakers were confused when they made it. The garb was a mix of modern-for-the-era-chic and western wear. It was pretty horrible. A band of thieves and bandits take over a town and murder their way to power. They start with an innocent family and go from there. Years later, many of the members are being murdered in some pretty vicious ways by a killer known as ' The Rawhide Terror'. Riveting, no?   The acting is oblivious to the nature of the scenes in which they were filmed. It's like the movie has no direction. Some of the actors would over sell their lines and the others would sound too nonchalant in the delivery. The ten gallon ha

Black Moon is something else. It's not really a scary horror movie. I feel that the movie was made to make white people second guess their take on black people. The movie is highly bigoted and narrow minded. It is argued that this is just a product of the time but that's bull. Plenty of people had their heads on straight back then. Just not the majority of them. So yeah, this movie is pretty racist.  The plot revolves around this woman named Juanita and her family. Her parents were massacred in a Voodoo ritual when she was a little girl. She narrowly escaped then. However, now she finds herself strangely drawn back to the remote island where this all took place. All of this is unknown to her husband Stephen played by Jack Lane, who sends Juanita, their daughter, and his mistress secretary to the island to help Juanita relieve stress. That's when things start to go wrong.  If you can get past all of the blatant racist remarks then you might actually see a pretty

Dr. Boris Borodoff formulates a plan to prove his own theory of evolution. He needs live orangutans from the jungle to experiment on. The film stars Mae Stuart, John Preston, and Eugene Sigaloff in utterly forgettable roles. The sets are creative and fun but the flow of the movie is jagged and rough. Bland writing and a thin plot reveal the true chops that these actors don't have or at least don't utilize. This came from a time when gorillas and apes were the scariest thing on the planet. These killer ape movies were a dime a dozen and they all fell flat.  This movie suffers in a lot of different ways. The sound effects are completely off. I had seen another post earlier about the growl that this gorilla lets out. It is laughable. It sounds more like my uncle clearing his throat after smoking a few packs. It's disgusting more than frightening. This movie could really do from a decent soundtrack. Something. Otherwise it just comes up short! Literally nothing grabs my

A solid attempt at the usual haunted house film. That sets itself apart with its cinematography and well written scenes. The film has no soundtrack and does a good job of setting the scene. I had more fun watching this than I had with a lot of films from this year. The filmmaker doesn't want this to be just another Old Dark House so he added the element of a sadistic survival game. It has a great twist that keeps things moving along at a decent pace. I started the movie with pretty low expectations and ended up liking it a lot.  The movie has the perfect amount of humor and a lot of intrigue. It plays out like an early production of Clue and Saw. Not a bad feature. Eight people are invited to a mysterious party at a strange penthouse in the city. The guests sit around speculating about each other and realize that no one knows who is throwing the party. Then the fun begins. Their host introduces them to a game in which each one of them will be murdered unless they can outsma

This movie is extraordinarily mediocre. Nothing about it stands out, not even the witty banter. Which there is an abundance of. A stereotypical cast of characters is trapped inside of an Old Dark House type story line with an escaped Ape knocking people off one by one. A horrible constable comes to investigate, but does a horrible job and people keep dying off. This isn't a story line that that we haven't seen before. In fact nothing about this movie is that original. Aside from the origin of  the Ape is haunting this house. The story-line deals with a guy that kills an Ape in India in 1910. He gets cursed and his curse is "supposedly" killing off anyone that comes in contact with their inheritance. Because of the curse a giant Ape is running around snapping necks. The acting is horrible and forgettable. There is almost no character development and the development that happens is boring and stupid. Yes, stupid. The lead actress is so bizarre looking. Just lo

Maniac (aka. Sex Maniac) from 1934 is a grindhouse pre-code exploitation film that really pushes the boundaries of decency in the early days of film. It has nudity and vulgarity done in the best possible way. This is the first example of modern horror. Done years ahead of its time. The film is, of course, very independent and has its charms. However, that is also it's biggest downfall. The lack of funds is apparent from the start. It drags down a lot of things including the acting. It should be something that you expect when your watching these types of pictures. One thing is clear throughout this flick, Dwain Esper is fucking weird.  The plot revolves around a mad scientist that figures out a way to bring dead corpses back to life. He brings a young woman back to life for... reasons. However, he is murdered by his assistant who is the unwilling recipient of a reanimated heart-in-a-jar. The assistant assumes the mad scientists identity by putting on a beard and glasses. The

So I decided to watch... well the next movie that came across my desk. Never heard of this little gem before. It seems like a pretty big deal movie too. Where had I been? We have both Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi! Both! Like I need to say this but they are tremendous actors in this genre and both preform incredibly. Hugely iconic. The story is bizarre and loosely biased on an Edgar Allan Poe tale. Yes, this is yet again another Poe inspired movie. These movies are a dime a dozen right now. However, this one does it right. The story is memorable and fun. A couple meets a weird Doctor (Bela) on a train. They get into a pretty horrible accident and people are killed. It's pretty obvious, but they never speak of this again. Instead The doctor and the couple continue on. They all stumble, pretty conveniently, to the Doctors destination. A house owned and built by Boris Karloff's character, a psychotic and Satan-worshiping architect. The story states that the architect st