When it comes to cult Italian horror films, a few notorious names instantly spring to mind. From Lucio Fulci to Ruggero Deodato, Dario Argento and Mario Bava; there’s no doubt that these directors are some of the best names in cult Italian cinema. But with Shameless Screen Entertainment’s upcoming release of one of the greatest and most atmospheric gialli, The House With Laughing Windows, what better time than now, to look at the man responsible for this eerie thriller; Pupi Avati. Having directed...

Before you watch this, you need to understand that German splatter is basically about taking everything that is bad about filmmaking and, with the exception of Jorg Buttgereit, you’re unlikely to find any real cinematic masterpieces. I’ve suffered through various Olaf Ittenbach movies and that was basically enough to tell me I was on to something pretty awful. So, having fairly low expectations of Nikos The...

It is our sad duty at this time to report the tragic death of esteemed new orleans physician and good samaritan Dr harris who died yesterday evening in what police are describing as a 'freak glazing accident'. Originally named simon hull the good doctor changed his name to Harris to avoid any connections with his now famous yautsman brother Brian hull (pictured below) who died in a now legendary Zombie outbreak on the remote carribean island of matool.


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CLIPS FROM THIRST

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From the Annals of DVDisgo (RIP) and DVDresurrections


Possession








Another film caught up in the UK's draconian Video Nasty clampdown of the early ‘80s, Possession is in fact more of an extreme art house movie than the exploitative hard gore horror films it was lumped in with on the Department of Public Prosecutions banned list.

First of all, a word of caution - viewers expecting bloody thrills...

Duel Project




A unique Japanese film experiment, The Duel Project features two movies, both made under strict rules given by the two films producer. The films were to be shot in a single location, feature no more than three actors, one of whose character had to die. The budgets had to be small and a maximum eight days of shooting was allowed.

I've always been intrigued by filmmakers imposing strict criteria on their work; Lars Von Trier's work...

The Xtro Franchise





Sold as an adult version of ET on it's release in 1983, the first of the series is a British made cheapy about a family man who is returned to Earth by his alien abductors after three years. The unfortunate man is now in possession of ungodly powers...

Appearing briefly on the Nasties list back in the 80s, Xtro has a few shocking scenes such as a pregnant woman who dies giving birth to an adult male, a trick Takashi...

Three on a Meathook





A lonely country boy called Billy lives on an isolated farm with his smothering and slightly mental father. Billy needs to be hidden away because he can't be trusted around other folks...especially women.

Billy is convinced that he murders them in a blind frenzy but has no memory of the crimes afterwards. This terrible fate will befall four young women who have car trouble and seek shelter at the farm. Soon each will...

Phantasm





Phantasm: the delusion of a disordered mind, a phantasm, a spirit, a ghost!


Early outing from Don Coscarelli (Beastmaster, Bubba Ho Tep) in which a sinister undertaker known as "The Tall Man" steals people, shrinks them down and sends them through a portal into a hell dimension where they work as dwarf slaves. Anyone getting in the way gets chased by his silver death balls, shiny spheres with spikes that attach to your...

Danger Diabolik





Well, here it is, one of the greatest slices of kitsch 60s pop-art cinema ever produced.

Directed by Italian genre expert Mario Bava, this comic book tale of crime capers and daring heists is the source the Beastie Boys video for Body Movin', in which they use footage from the movie.

Telling the OTT story of Diabolik (John Phillip Law), a masked international thief and his blond bombshell girlfriend as...

Hell gate





This is one of those weird low budget 80s horror movies that helped to fill the shelves of video store horror sections back in the day. Treading a strange line between the horrific, the dreamlike and the comedic, it's definitely a product of it's time featuring lots of splashy gore , rubbery monster effects and soft focus dreamy bits. Like so much 80s US horror product, it's seems to steal it's surreal, fever dream atmosphere from Suspiria,...

Hellraiser





Clive Barker's seminal horror movie Hellraiser, is a gore drenched yarn about a man, Frank, who becomes trapped in a hell dimension of perfect pain when he messes around with a cursed mechanical box. On solving the puzzle of the cube he his dragged into the realm of the Cenobites, a race of S&M demons who pierce and tear at his flesh with spiked chains, torturing him to a state of agonizing ecstasy. Our violent anti-hero returns to the earthly...

Madman





"Deep In The Woods, Lurks A Hideous Evil... Don't Even Whisper His Name!"

A minor classic of the stalk 'n' slash movie explosion that followed in the wake of Halloween and Friday the 13th, Madman plays to every cliché in the slasher movie book but pulls it off thanks to it's streak of nasty gore, a suspense filled atmosphere and a fast pace, a must when your dealing with illogical horror movies. So many films of the era suffered...

Dreaming of Screaming

Sam@Shameless writes...

"My friend's Lee & Tuesday Burgess along with John Ninnis have made a movie. Hopefully I can persuade them to post regularly on Cult Labs, as they're always busy with some weird movie or other, but until then, here's Lee's piece on their project..."

"Well hello all perverted gore fans.

I have been asked to write a few words on the debut feature from Lee Burgess, John Ninnis and Tuesday Burgess,...

City of the Living Dead





Judging a Lucio Fulci movie by the usual standards of a mainstream film magazine or academic criticism is a useless exercise. You either get these flicks or you don't. Fulci's movies are weirdly paced, shoddily dubbed and, in a lot of cases, hard to love, but, whatever genre he was working in (and he covered the whole range of Italian B picture trash), he always bought a certain flair and imagination to his low budget enterprises...

Rosemary's Killer





This trailer is under the alternate title: The Prowler




This film is a minor classic of the Stalk 'n' Slash genre and is going to praised accordingly. However, the positive points I'm going to raise depend on the reader enjoying the cliches and archetypes of the style. So, If you hate any of these stalwart slasher features, please disregard this write up...

* Leering, lurching Point-of-View...