I don't know if was just me, but I forgot that the plot about 'The Rat' wasn't actually the main story plot and was surprised when that bit was solved and there was still like 30 minutes to go lol...

I enjoyed it though.

Wanted to cheer my wife up (as she had sprained her knee) so picked up a Willow blu-ray from the local Cex. I knew she had the novelisation despite not owning the film. I hadn't seen this film for absolutely ages and remembered very little about it. I actually had a blast watching it with her, thought the film was great fun and was very happy to have bought it. :) btw The OOP 20th Century Fox bd looked excellent, that was also a nice surprise.

Man on a Ledge (2012)

An excellent thriller that ratchets up the thrills as it goes on. Any possible flaws in the plot are completely forgotten during the last half hour as the tension becomes almost unbearable.

Great performances from Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Jamie Bell, Ed Harris, Ed Burns et al.

Brilliant stuff even if the increased detail on the Blu-ray made my legs wobble every time Worthington and the camera peered off the ledge onto the street below.

The Curse of The Crimson Altar (1968)

The legendary Boris Karloff in what was deemed his final film role plays Professor Marsh, an academic in Witchcraft. Marsh along with Robert Manning played by Mark Eden, who is searching for his brother, investigate the possibility that Witchcraft is still being practiced in the sleepy English village of Greymarsh, by descendants of a powerful Witch burned alive at the stake centuries earlier.

Based on H.P. Lovecraft's tale Dreams in the Witch House and made by Tigon Films who at the time were seen as competitors to Hammer in the Gothic stakes however their mere six years as a production company meant they never really achieved that goal despite producing some absolute gems such as The Blood Beast Terror, Witchfinder General (Both 1968), Neither the Sea Nor the Sand (1972) and the terrific Blood on Satan's Claw in 1971.

Unfortunately for Boris Karloff he was wheelchair bound for the production but still encapsulates each scene he is in with a huge sense of gravitas. Ably supported by an excellent cast - Christopher Lee, Eden, an unusually good Michael Gough and Barbara Steele, and first rate production values especially the eerie occult scenes which are lit with a green hue and involve some genuinely strange characters including a big breasted dominatrix, a goatman and a strong man in a leather thong.

Whilst the film is probably bot top tier British horror it's entertaining enough and i've enjoyed it several times over the years. It also includes one of the best lines of dialogue from the period in which Mark Eden's Robert Manning is talking to Eve Morley (Virginia Wetherall) about the house he has just been invited to stay in by JD Morley (Christopher Lee)

Eve Morley - Its like a house from one of those old horror films..
Robert Manning - It's like Boris Karloff is going to pop up at any moment

The Screenbound Blu-ray is stunning in the quality of it's picture. There's real depth and the image is beautifully sharp. One of the best Blu-rays i've seen recently.

Just read DvD Beaver's review of the disc and they say it's 'adequate' in picture quality. WTF were they watching it on? A black and white portable?

The House (2022, Various)

Probably my film of the year then (until I see something more captivating ahem ... )

3 stories, not all set in the same house I hasten to add of the animated nature pleased and charmed the demon greatly (well, you've seen what else I've been watching recently :lol:). A slight case of deja vu with the last story I merely put down over familiarity with tropes :rolleyes::laugh:
A lovely thing. Recommended.

The Curse Of The Mummy's Tomb. 1964

Archaeologists and a American investor ship a sarcophagus from Egypt to London, containing the remains of a prince, someone has a amulet that can bring the dead mummy back to life.

This was a interesting take on the Mummy genre from Hammer, from the first half it's more talking than anything, disagreements and killings, then we get the background story of the Prince and then the pace speeds up a bit to the Mummy going on a killing spree. The dark fog of the scenes in London add in the gloomy atmosphere. This may not be the best mummy film in the franchise but certainly not the worst and worth a watch for the set back grounds, great cinematography, surely though the makers could have gave the main character some more screen time.

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Scum of the Earth! (1963)

HG Lewis exploiter which is said to be the first 'roughie' film about an innocent an naive college girl who is cajoled into doing glamour modeling to earn money in order to stay in college, however she is soon blackmailed by an unscrupulous gang leader who illegally sells nude photos of girls and ends up in deep shit.

Not as scuzzy as you might imagine, it was only 1963, but this is still a sleazy slice of smut. It's Lewis's first film following Blood Feast and whilst this is no masterpiece it's so much more compelling than Blood Feast. Some of the acting isn't great, however the black and white photography gives it an air of cheap degradation and i was always invested in the story and was desperate to find out how she'd escape her captors. As a study of underground female exploitation this was pretty good.

Anyone thinking this might be a gore fest be warned. It isn't. Not in the slightest.

Werewolves Within (2021, Josh Ruben)

Undemanding horror comedy.
When a disparate group have to band together after nature turns sour, the weather is the least of their problems :nod:
Yes, I could disparage the woke element and what not, but sue me I laughed at most of it and that's all I ask tbh. This is not in anyway a recommendation. :nod:

Mr. Sardonicus. 1961.

A cruel Baron sends for a brilliant doctor to travel from London to Gorslava and help restore his face that is frozen with a grin.

After being recommended this film and Mr Dem's review, this did peak my interest and curiosity from the mind of William Castle who gave a decent introduction in a fog clagged surrounding of London sets the tone of the film nicely.

Aside from having a beauty contest in the basement and the "Punishment Poll" these were the only downfall to this film for me. From when me meet Sir Robert Cargave played by Ronald Lewis performing his method of muscle relaxing and stimulating to receiving a mysterious letter from a recluse Baron Sardonicus played by Guy Rolfe, who wants his face restored. It's more half way through we get the back story of Sardonicus and what he keeps in a locked room that makes it more suspenseful. The dark gloomy atmosphere is done perfectly, set in a Gothic style house in the middle of nowhere. This was highly entertaining and best watched in a low dim or no lights on.

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Terror (1978)

An oddity from Norman J Warren inspired by Dario Argento's Suspiria, Terror doesn't appear to have much in the way of plot and plays out like a string of murder set pieces some perhaps loosely connected to a three hundred year old witch named Mad Dolly.

Terror was a proper independent film, made on the cheap from the profits of Warren's previous success Satan's Slave and various people pitched in with ideas for scenes and set pieces to which writer David McGillivray produced a script, so it's easy to see why the film lacks narrative drive. Despite this the finale is surprisingly effective and quite the shock on first viewing.

However what it lacks in storytelling it makes up for in exploitative gory close up killings as well as the totally bizarre sight of a police car levitating in tree tops. With Warren widely acknowledging the influence of Suspiria on the film in general, it would be interesting to know if Dario Argento saw this film because the death of Phillip (James Aubrey) by a falling sheet of glass is mirrored in Argento's 1980 film Inferno, the follow up to Suspiria.

So whilst it lacks cohesion at times, Terror is still a fun piece of British exploitation trash cinema which topped the UK box office for a single week in 1978. It's also a film i watch on a regular basis.

The Indicator Blu-ray gives the film a new lease of life with it's vibrant picture quality.