December 23rd
Lucker The Necrophagous (1986)
On its initial release Lucker had huge distribution problems thanks to its subject matter - murder and necrophilia. Deemed shocking, its master tapes were destroyed and the film was released only on hard to find grey market vhs tapes.
Here in 2012, Lucker can be seen for what it really is - low budget, poorly acted rubbish. Granted some of the gore effects are decent but the acts of necrophilia are nowhere near as shocking as the later Aftermath for example, even though the scenario is perhaps worse. Lucker murders a prostitute then waits four weeks for her corpse to decompose before having sex with it.
Due to the lack of film elements the dvd looks terrible in places, sometimes this can add to the effectiveness of certain films but not in this case, despite its meagre 68 minute running time i can't see me visiting this film again.
December 24th
The Uninvited (1944)
An absolute joy to watch. The Uninvited is a classic ghost story i'd never heard of until earlier this year. This seemingly unheralded film from Paramount is as effective and spine tingling as its more famous relatives - The Haunting, The Innocents etc.
Set in a brilliant Cornish clifftop location, the house the film is centred around is lovely and creepy allowing the film to achieve its frights through sound rather than effects. Distant wails in the night, and doors gently banging are two of its assets. Shadows dancing on the walls and the scene where the ghost manifests itself at the top of the stairs is as brilliant as anything in supernatural cinema since. Although the later part of the story is more gothic romance than straightforward horror The Uninvited rewards the viewers patience and the film has an effective conclusion. Superbly acted by its cast including Ray Milland i would easily recommend this to all lovers of classic horror.
The UK dvd from Exposure cinema is lovingly put together. It has a beautiful full colour 24 page booklet with essays on the film, poster reproductions lobby cards and such like. The disc also features two radio adaptions also starring Ray Milland.
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