October 23rd
 

The Devil's Rejects (2005)

The skill of director Rob Zombie is truly at work here has he weaves a kind of magic that makes us in the second half of the film both root and care for the repulsive remnants of the Firefly clan (Captain Spaulding, Baby and Ottis) first seen in his debut feature House of 1000 Corpses (2003)

Despite a truly repellent first hour in which the three hold captive four country singers at a remote motel and brutalize them purely for the hell of it (Some of the stuff they do i'm surprised it got past the BBFC unscathed in the UK) what follows is somewhat surprising as they basically get whats coming to them thanks to an equally vile sheriff played by William Forsyth in some unflinching acts of torture and as the three escape across country to the strains of Skynyrd's Free Bird we are practically cheering until that bittersweet final moment.

It's the one film of his I revisit. Though I want to see Lords Of Salem again ....

Carry On Screaming (1966, Gerald Thomas)
A policeman's lot is not a happy one it seems ... not with a vitriolic shrew wife ... an assistant who's about as much use as a cotton wool truncheon ... and a baffling series of disappearing bints in the area!
Vamping (cough) on Hammer, the team run riot through the gothic scenery ... whilst leaving us in stitches. That's enough of that :skull:. Easily my favourite CO. I feel the film would have suffered having James at the helm as Corbett's barely repressed rage is the ideal foil for the usual onslaught of harmless filth imho.
Showed this to a CO 'virgin' as such (phwoaaar ... :doorscare:) and he loved it. Even became quite smitten with Fenella :ghostclap:.

All the colours of the dark.

Jane(Edwige Fenech) is not a happy girl after recently losing a baby and being tormented by bad dreams of a blue eyed maniac with a knife. and her husband(George Hilton) is not very supportive and is always buggering off supposidly due to work. she then gets even more neurotic when she sees the mysterious blue eyed man of her dreams actually following her. and then she meets her new neighbour Mary who suggests a good cure for her nerves is to join a coven of witches. just as you do, right? :lol:

I have to say that i am a big fan of Sergio martino and have loved all his giallos so far. and this supernatural Rosemary Baby type is excellent and full of top notch suspense and dream like atmosphers.
Edwige looks fantastic as usual and we get to see her impressive assets especially at the black mass orgy were shes drinking dogs blood and getting gang banged by a bunch of hippies. :laugh:

cult favorite Ivan rassamov is also good as the spooky blue eyed Satanist chap, and sexy Susan Scott who plays Jane's sister in the film. the ladies were certainly hot in those days. :loveeyes:

very good indeed and with superb groovy music. 90 out of 100.

Demons(1985).

A young girl named Cheryl is taking a train ride and gets given two tickets for a free film screening at the gothic looking Metropol by a mysterious masked man. And her and her friend Kathy get more than they bargained for when the patrons turn into demons after one of them gets scratched by a cursed mask.

Directed by Lamberto Bava and produced by the legendary Dario Argento, this is one hell of an entertaining movie that mixes non stop horror and action with pounding heavy metal and Goblin's Claudio Simonetti.

Most of the cast though are pretty forgettable and badly dubbed, but I did notice a couple of familiar faces like Dario Argento's daughter Fiore from Phenomena and Nicolette Elmi as a sexy usherette. And not to between old favourite Bob from House By The Cemetery who makes a small cameo at the end.

Well recommended, with stand out scenes including a helicopter crashing through the roof of the cinema and a guy decapitating demons with a samurai sword on a motorbike. 8/10.

Puppet Master 4
An ancient demon sends his minions to recover the formula Toulon has used to bring his puppets to life. An employee of a large corporation discovers the puppets and brings them to life.
So OK, this one isn't as good as the previous three but it is still enjoyable, some gammy acting but there is some nice prosthetics and the stop motion is great.

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The Reaping 2007.

A former Christian Missionary is sent to small town in Louisiana to investigate what seems to be the ten biblical plagues.

Hillary Swank and Idris Alba star as the two mean leads one being a believer and the other looking at science as an answer. It's not the best movie but it is entertaining, some of the CGI effects work on this better than other movies, there is a small appearance by Stephen Rea and William Ragsdale. 6 out of 10.

The Church 1989.

Medieval knights massacre a village believed to be devil worshipers, over a mass grave a church is built containing the evil, in the present day the evil is unleashed.

From Director Michele Soavi protégé of Dario Argento brings us this little classic movie of demons in a church, originally conceived as a third installment of the Demons movie this is a stand alone movie.

The film is beautifully shot from with a dark gothic atmosphere, there is decent lightning used so it's not a dark movie, the special effects are good and got creation of Boris Vallejo statue of the Vampire's Kiss.

Hugh Quarshie and Tomas Arana provide good acting aswell as Feodor Chaliapan as The Bishop who seems to be protecting the church and the evil, Italian actor Giovanni Lombardo Radice appears in this and a decent man of the cloth, young Asia Argento appears as the young rebel teen, aside from one or two flaws this is still a decent entertainment. 8 out of 10.

The Church features one of my favourite tracking shots :skull:

The Sect.

A bunch of Satanic bikers brutally murder a commune of hippies. Moving forward to Frankfurt 1991, Miriam( Kelly Curtis, Jamie Lee's sister) accidently knocks down a crusty old chap(Herbert Lom) who is carrying a magic box, and takes him home to her house to recover. not realising that he is the leader of a Satanic sect who plan for her to give birth to the Antichrist. :devilbanana:

Talented director Michele Soavi made this one and its kind of embarrassing that he was directing better films than his teacher Dario Argento at the time, even if Dario did produce some of his films.

The film isn't perfect though as its a bit long and confusing at times, but its still very entertaining with loads of standout scenes and atmospheres, with great sequences with a tree covered in magic charms and a man tied to it, a very creepy morgue with bizarre spooky coffins, and a strange well that is a gateway to Hell.

Actress Kelly Curtis is quite charming too and looks a lot like her sister, and gives a good performance despite having a bug shoved up her nose and getting raped by a giant bird. :lol:
Mariangela Deordano( who got her boob bitten off in Burial Ground) also co stars as a school teacher who gets possessed by a Satanic cloth and gets murdered when she becomes a hooker and picks up a man at a truck stop. :scared:

Definately a essential purchase, and look out for Kelly Curtis white rabbit who is a clever bunny that can change the TV remote. 80 out of 100.

Burnt Offerings(1976).

Ben and Marian Rolf, together with their son and Ben's elderly aunt, rent an old rundown mansion out in the country for the summer from an eccentric brother and sister. They get the house for an unusually low amount and soon discover that there is a catch when strange things start to happen.

One of several films made in the 1970's about spooky houses. This one is a pretty good effort, with a slow burning creepy atmosphere and great performances from the cast, including Oliver Reed, Karen Black, and Bette Davis. Karen Black is especially convincing as the wife becoming obsessed with the house and the mysterious old lady who lives up in the attic.

The scenes featuring a ghost hearse and a creepy smiling undertaker are particularly effective. And the fact that the house can repair itself was also an interesting idea. 7.5/10.