The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005)

I'm not going to lie, this film has freaked me out, there is a running motif of people waking up at 3am, disturbed by some unseen force. 3am being the time that evil is at its strongest in a perversion to 3pm being the holiest time. Pretty much every night this past week I've woken up around 3am...

:candle:

Other than that, I enjoyed this one. It's part court room drama, part terrifying exorcism and possession movie. Some of those horror sections are really unsettling. They really made me feel on edge and a little nervous, that's rare these days and at only one point did I roll my eyes a bit, which was mainly down to the way some on screen subtitles were displayed.

https://www.screamhorrormag.com/wp-c...-carpenter.jpg

Another good £1.50 spent on the DVD from Music Magpie.

That's the one with Dexter's sister innit?

Never be afraid of the dark Justin...just be afraid of what's in the dark :skull: good movie and i'm in the same club this film did freak me out on first watch, what freaked me out more, just after watching it YouTube recommended the Anneliese Michel audio tapes that the story of Emily Rose was based on.

I've never seen Dexter, but yeah, that's her in the picture! :samara:

Yeah... I'm not going to listen to those...

I really don't blame you, If the film freaked you out, hate to think what the audio tapes would do to you

Also watched Halloween four and five , have too say with all the negativity these receive I wasn't expecting to enjoy them as much as I did . Some nice kills , the little girl was bit annoying in the part four and I did expect them to cop out of the ending of four in someway but they didn't.

Loomis was more deranged than Michael in part five!


Now watching everyone's favorite :jaws:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q786UsnOcsY


Might watch Henry portrait of a serial killer afterwards.

Sounds like a fun night in with those tapes :skull:

Halloween 4 is an excellent film I love it I had not watched it for years until during one of the lockdowns I rewatched it and I have seen it a few times since just to check out the 4K from scream factory gives me an excuse to watch it again soon :skull:

Yeah especially when your sat with someone who doesn't like horror films :skull:

October 9th
 

The Wolf Man (1941)

Lon Chaney's finest performance and perhaps my favourite werewolf film. A genuine classic monster movie from Universal.

There's a beautiful foggy atmosphere throughout and the film's watchability is helped no end by Claude Rains who is on top form and Evelyn Ankers a fine actress who was one of the first scream queens, not to mention a wonderful cameo from Bela Lugosi as Bela the Gypsy.

It also features one of the great timeless quotes from the forties which along with the scripted ideas regarding werewolves went on to become pretty much the template for every werewolf film since..

30 Days Of Unseen Horror

Day 10

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Cemetery of Terror


Halloween night and a group of medical students head to a party but when they arrive there is no party just a creepy abandoned house. The girls are not best pleased when they discover there was never a party just a plan from the boys to lure the girls away and have their wicked way with them. One of the boys finds an ancient book containing incantations and they decide to get their own back on the moody girls by carrying out a fake ritual on a body they steal but unfortunately for them the incantations are real and the body they snatched was that of a serial killer and now he has returned from the grave thanks to their foolishness.

This story has been told many times over the years and while it's not new it didnt take away from my enjoyment. I loved the look and feel of the abandoned house it looks scuzzy filthy and nasty I could actually feel it on me I could almost smell the damp and the dust on me they really did a great job making it look realistic not like it was staged in any way. The whole film is bursting with atmosphere as I already said the house itself the thick fog everywhere and the cemetery is overgrown and the wooden crosses used for headstones are all broken and falling apart with the paint peeling off of them just like everything else everywhere else in the film.

The killer himself did just look it he was from a 70s prog rock band with some blusher in his cheeks but the kills are awesome slashing faces and ripping out people's guts with his claws his preferred weapon of choice. Usually a group of young kids would wreck my head in a film but these kids were really good they were scared and screaming but at no point was I annoyed by them they really did a great job with a special shout out the the little guy in the cool Michael Jackson jacket back when it was ok to like old MJ :skull:

After a little bit of a slow start and too much time spent on very long make out scenes the action really ramps up and gets more and more frantic right up to the end especially the kids in the cemetery is fantastic with so much going on no spoilers so you will have to see it yourself to find out what's happening . They even use the whole oh no the car won't start and the killer is closing in but here it gives a good reason why the car won't start not the sort of I have fallen over myself and can't get up type stupidity.

Great gore great atmosphere great setting and a great soundtrack absolutely loved this.

Book Of Blood. 2009.

A paranormal expert discovers the house she is investigating is more than just haunted.

Second time seeing this in so many years...can't remember when I Last saw this but do remember being in a empty building and although I do and some of us like the works of Clive Barker, this wasn't exactly his best work on the screen. Based on short stories that are stretched to a full length feature, John Harrison does his best with this and creating at dark atmosphere with great cinematography but I felt the acting was just dull, maybe a third viewing may help.

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Up next Stigmata.

Stigmata. 1999

Father Andrew Kiernan a Vatican investigator is given a case to look into, a young girl Frankie begins to show signs of Stigmata, the wounds of Christ.

This is quite interesting and a topic that can be questionable so please be gentle with me. People believe that the Stigmata can only happen to those that are very religious but director Rupert Wainwright goes in a different way that a Atheist person can receive the wounds of Christ.

Patrica Arquette plays the happy go lucky hairdresser who becomes the target that those around her thinks that she is loosing her marbles or suffering epilepsy. Gabriel Byrne plays the investigator who didn't have to do much acting as he did study to be priest before the acting bug got him and both them on screen are brilliant. Jonathan Pryce plays the Cardinal who disproves of the news and tries to deny the events yet he seems to think a exorcism is the answer.

The film can b quite tense in some places and especially towards the end with the final confrontation between, The Cardinal, Kiernan and Frankie. One film definitely to watch, (anyone with epilepsy be advised there is one or two club scenes with flashing lights)

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Up next City Of The Living Dead.

City Of The Living Dead. 1980.

A psychic and a reporter try to close the gates of hell after a priest commits suicide that caused them to open.

A film that was released by Vipco on VHS and piratically ruined it, Arrow Blu-Ray release made me love it. There is really no explanation on how the clergyman's death opens the gates but reporter Christopher George and Katriona MacColl race against time to find the grave of the fallen man and close the gates. I love a simple tale with a good dark atmosphere and the usual Fulci gore.

Sergio Salvati did a great job with the cinematography even with the empty streets that you know some shit will hit the fan and even when our stars and Carlo De Mejo are walking through the cemetery in a slight fog with Fabio Frizzi background score playing just gives it that tense moment that you get the feeling something is going to happen then you get a curve ball.

The gore is done the way we like with Giovanni Lombardo Radice meeting a power tool, future horror director Michele Soavi watching his date literary puke up her own guts while bleeding from the eyes, and cringe worth moment with our three stars and Janet Argen getting covered in maggots.

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Up next Sleepaway Camp 2

Sleepaway Camp II: Unhappy Campers. 1988.

Angela who is now reformed and under a new identity begins working at a new camp, when the campers begin to misbehave she reverts back to her old ways.

Pamela Springsteen plays the Angela in this and seems a bit more mature, happy and more vocal but still a unbalanced person in life and more creative with some kills or i she just thinking on her feet? Unlike the previous film this does have some black comedy moments blended in but still entertaining even with some cheesy moments.

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Have a good day all

Cult of Chucky
 

October 10th
 

Just the one film last night. My first viewing of the two hour twelve minute directors cut of 1973's


Wonderful. If i have one criticism it's the additional scenes often simply cut away rather than playing out to a conclusion. Regan's spider walk down the stairs really stood out in this way.

It's powers to terrify may have diminished over the years with multiple viewings but i was completely engrossed from the first minute to the last.

The Blu-ray looked and sounded tremendous.

The director's cut is just William Peter Blatty's cut, no?

Yes, but it does give the film more depth on the whole and actually adds atmosphere i thought. Plus a new scene at the end between Dyer and Kinderman kinda sets up The Exorcist III.

It's the 6:1 sound that's the deal breaker and hits you from all angles. Even simple little things like rustling leaves on the street and subway trains (Ok not so little) sound to be in the room with you.

I do like that final scene, but I not too pushwd about the other stuff. Even though the final scene is brilliant, I understand why Friedkin cut it. The job is done. We move on with our own inderstanding of the events.

I'm interested to read what Nos thinks of the directors cut seeing as it's his favourite film.

Well, both versions have their merits, but it's worth looking at what happened in 1972 and in the years leading up to the release of the alternate version of the film.

By all accounts, the editing process was a battle of wills between William Friedkin and William Peter Blatty with Friedkin, who wanted a more cut-down film, prevailing over Blatty who was in favour of a longer movie with more scenes and additional dialogue. The two men didn't speak for a long time after but, in the late 1990s, they buried the hatchet and Friedkin agreed to look again at the film. What followed was an attempt to placate Blatty by creating a 'writer's version' including all of the scenes that Friedkin removed in 1973. The version released in 2000 was marketed as 'The Version You've Never Seen' and that line was on every DVD version but, on most Blu-ray boxes, it is now called the 'Extended Director's Cut'.

By taking advantage of CGI, there are numerous shots of the demonic face that is seen briefly during Karras' nightmare in the theatrical version plus, near the end, a very brief glimpse of Karras' mother on Regan's bedroom window just before he plunges through it to his death on M Street. As well as these shots that are incorrectly termed 'subliminal' (they aren't as you can actually see them), there is an additional 10 minutes of extra material plus a different beginning and ending that is more in line with what Blatty expected from the film.

The release of the extended cut (just as every re-release of the theatrical version had been and continues to be) was a massive hit but the financial success of every subsequent screening of The Exorcist makes it hard to distinguish which version audiences prefer.

I can only speak for myself but I think that Friedkin was right the first time and Blatty was looking at the film with his writer's hat on, being very protective of the screenplay he wrote based on his bestselling novel. There are certain scenes that don't really need to be there, adding nothing to the sense of growing unease and horror and the conversation between Fathers Merrin and Karras in the middle of the exorcism only reinforces what the audience (well, most of them anyway) already knew. Given a choice, I will always go for the 1973 theatrical version even though Friedkin gave the 'Extended Director's Cut' his seal of approval.

Brilliant breakdown, Nos!

:thankingyou:

Great read Nos :ghostclap:

THE REJUVENATOR – With a title like that, an eighties vintage and gimmicks that include an injectable serum that could be revolutionary but ends up being the cause of some tacky prosthetic special effects, it’s not hard to see where ‘The Rejuvenator’ is coming from. An aging actress thinks that putting her money behind a newly discovered elixir of youth will wipe away her sorrows and worry lines; the mad doctor in her employ is no Herbert West, but he’s willing to stoop to murder to sort it all out. ‘The Rejuvenator’ should be a pleasant enough diversion for VHS completists looking for another dose of nostalgia. I’m kind of surprised it hasn’t undergone some kind of Hi Def rejuvenation of its own. All the elements are there, but don’t get your hopes up if you’re after something that really captures the spirit of all that stuff, its excesses are as reined in as the workmanlike style, the delivery and performances wouldn’t be out of step with soap operas and commercials from around the time, and for every moment of nicely grotesque expanding monster head freakery there’s a couple of stretches of people in lab coats arguing. There are a few funny bits, though. What about that glam goth cockney grave robber? He seems more interesting than the rest of ‘The Rejuvenator’ put together, and why is he carrying a fishing rod? Perhaps that’s the one question that can never be asked of a film where all the answers are basically “it’s a third-rate eighties B movie”.

Another great review of a "terrible" film FT. :ghostclap::ghostclap::ghostclap:



Hellraiser (2022, David Bruckner)

What I don't need during my genre film watching is the reminder that the rich always get what they want.
A pile of shit.
I ruminated overnight about whether twas actually worse than that Black Xmas thingy. It is.
This is from someone whom actually enjoyed the last Hellraiser flick btw.
Some nice moments doth not a great cohesive whole make, more like a different kind of hole.

NEXT. :skull:

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MARK OF THE VAMPIRE (1935)

After a murder, everyone is convinced there are vampires living in the castle in the shape of Count Mora and his daughter Luna..

Watched this movie on the new Blu ray from Warner Archive.
The film looks awesome! Cracking picture makes this super atmospheric movie even better.

The Devil Inside. 2012.

A young woman Isabella is making a documentary on her mother who killed two priests and a nun. In Italy, Isabella meet two priests who think that her mother may be possessed and investigate it without the church knowing.

Another found footage on the paranormal with some demonic possession or demonic transference, this was made on a $1 million budget so I did have some high hopes. Honestly this gave me a slight headache with the shaky camera, the makers did try something new but at the end you know what's going to happen.

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Up next The Devil's Men

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q786UsnOcsY

I've always loved this film , ones of those films is part of the 80s, great characters and great soundtrack with some cool kills

A 80s classic

Now watching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxxZ8yspQyw


If not too tired will watch this afterwards.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhLQ_Hm3n_o

Didn't Vipco call this Zombie Nosh? If they did, surely keeping its original title would have been better, let people think it's a Zombie Flesh Eaters Sequel.

Yeah they did Nicholas

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The Devil's Men. 1976.

Here we have Peter Cushing as a extradited Baron living in a castle and also practising devil worshipping and people somehow vanishing. Donald Pleasence plays the local police reporting these disappearances to the local constabulary and all he gets is "Do I tell you how to do your job or what can I do"? Thank god this guy isn't our Chief of police or we all be screwed.

We have two great screen actors/legends, playing opposite sides of good and evil, this was a blind watch for me (I was looking for a different film and this popped up) this has very little going for it. Did Satan possesses a statue and breath out fire while talking? There is some suspense moments but not played out well, Luan Peters decides to have a bubble bath while being perved on (not by me) and chased. Go into this with a open mind.

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Lair Of The White Worm. 1988.

We got a future Dr.Who star Peter Capaldi as a archaeologist who has unearthed a shrine that belonged to a convent. Hugh Grant playing the local Lord D'Ampton who's ancestor slayed a giant worm and may believe the legend to be true and the worm still exists in the local cavern caves. Sammi Davis and Catherine Oxenberg who play the sisters than run the B&B and parents disappeared by the local woods or grove. Amanda Donohoe as the Lady of Temple House who seems to disappear and come back and is never shy of showing off her body.

Ken Russell's take on the story by Bram Stoker, the film is never really been taken seriously especially with fantasy sequences which are decently done, I don't know of people have hallucinations after being bitten by a snake. If the film The Devils offended anyone then one sequence will offend, the acting is done decently and everyone does take their part seriously.

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Hope everyone has a great night :coffin:

I had that very tape when I was 15 :lol: I loved the title back then but i'm a bit unsure about it now haha. Keep meaning to re-watch it, I bought the DVD from Music Magpie 2 or so years ago. I haven't seen it since that video tape.

October 11th
 

Satan's Blood (1977)

"Terror, sex and Satanic rituals on a one way ride to Hell"...

This Spanish entry certainly lives up to its billing as an erotic horror film. A young couple on holiday are invited to stay at a nearby mansion for the night. After a satisfying meal they are enticed by their hosts to partake in a bit of fun with a Ouija board. This being too much for the couple they decide to leave and look for lodgings elsewhere but become trapped by a heavy storm. After retiring to bed the couple are wakened by strange noises and become entangled in a web of orgiastic demonic practices.

The film is chock full of sex and full frontal nudity that has rightly earned it a reputation as one of the sleaziest Gothic films of the seventies. Together with its lurid portrayals of black masses and ritualistic horror make it an unforgettable experience with an ending i really enjoyed.

Satan's Blood is very Jess Franco in it's execution you'd be forgiven for mistaking it for one of the Spanish auteur's better efforts.

Pity the Screenbound Blu doesn't port the doc by Gavin Baddeley about witchcraft over from the Mondo Macabro dvd. I'll have to keep that now.

That one sounds right up my street :)

INTRUDER WITHIN – The seventies and eighties are thought of as the golden age of the horror film, but what about TV horror? There’s a roll call of indisputable goodies from the time, the likes of ‘Something Evil’, 'Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark’ etc etc The supernatural was always very much a stock-in-trade, but, present company excepted, I’m not aware of there being many TV ‘Alien’ rip-offs. ‘Intruder Within’ therefore enters the scene with a bit of novelty up its sleeve… what about the rest of its hand? It’s set on an oil rig, a nicely grimy location that covers the ‘hemmed in, dark corridors and no obvious means of escape’ bases all at once. There’s an attempt at paranoia, divisions within the team and so forth, and the requisite unusual life-form, this time dredged up from the depths of the ocean, that will infect crew members one by one and eventually mutate into a fully grown guy in a monster suit in the final reel so that the punters get their license fee’s worth. Unfortunately, it’s lumbered with a total style deficit. Whereas the makers of ‘Alien’ had clearly absorbed the era’s cinematic cutting edge and knew how to make the same moves, ‘Intruder Within’ looks like it belongs on old TV – stiff cinematography, stilted acting, step after step a conventional plod. There’s even a romance between a rugged oil dude and someone who’s pretty but assertive. I like ‘Alien’ clones as much as the next geek, in fact I prefer some of them to the real thing, but that’s usually because they do something excruciatingly bad or weird; ‘Intruder Within’ is just palatable really, maybe the sort of thing you could put your feet up to forty odd years ago, maybe less so now (although I do get the nostalgia value when looking at bygone TV). Maybe a fairer comparison would be to stick it alongside another seafaring Alien rip such as ‘Deep Rising’ instead, but it would still lose out.

The Vinegar Syndrome transfer is incredible.

What the film lacks in quality acting and budget more than makes up for in enthusiastic splatter.