October Horror Movie Marathon

[Demoncrat]

I like it J. It's very "camp" imho

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

The Village in the Woods (2019)

An excellent low budget slice of English Folk horror that may reference seventies folk horror classics like Blood on Satan's Claw, Robin Redbreast and A Place to Die (1973) and have more swirling fog and mist than 1960's City of the Dead as well as genre tropes like creepy corn dolls hanging from trees, strange cloven hoofed creatures in the woods and even stranger crooked mouthed locals giving warnings not to be ignored, but it's all achieved with an understanding rather than contempt for the genre.

There's a sense of Wyrd England right from the off and it never lets up. Helped by a strong cast of largely unknown actors alongside tv regular Therese Bradley as a sexy Lady Summerisle type.

If i have a complaint it's that the ending was either not thought out well enough, rushed or simply under funded, but it was a small price to pay for a thoroughly enjoyable, beautifully atmospheric addition to the folk horror genre.

[MrBarlow]

catacombs. 1965. (AKA The Woman Who Wouldn't Die).

A business woman completely devoted to her faithless husband who is infatuated with her niece plots to kill her, when the plan goes ahead, the husband and niece believes she is not actually dead.

Decently plotted dark atmospheric tense film that only us Brits can pull off that makes it worth watching even today and in a storm that causes a power cut and makes one just about suffer a heart attack The story is almost identical to other films that this has a few twist and turns added in that Hitchcock would be proud of. The acting is done brilliantly even though there is one or two noticeable goofs and errors but they can be ignored, this was certainly worth a watch, Cheers Dem for this recommendation

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[bleakshaun]

Pumpkinhead 2: Blood Wings
A group of teenagers awaken the demon pumpkinhead who then proceeds to kill people all linked to a tragic crime in the past.
Crap, apart from a small appearance from Kane Hodder. The creature looks awful in comparison to the previous film as well as that the kills look so clunky.
First real bad film of this marathon.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

The Case of the Scorpion's Tail (1971) ★★★★

When Lisa Baumer's (Evelyn Stewart) husband is killed in an aeroplane tragedy, she discovers that, as the beneficiary of his will, she is now very wealthy. Unfortunately, other people know about her inheritance and are after the money to the point that her life is in danger. Meanwhile, the insurance company wants to check out the legitimacy of the claim and dispatch PI Peter Lynch (George Hilton) to investigate. Joining forces with a reporter, Cléo Dupont (Anita Strindberg), Lynch is determined to discover the truth about Baumer's death before he is killed by the razor-wielding killer who has taken an interest in Lisa Baumer.

This is a really well written giallo by Ernesto Gastaldi and Sergio Martino provides taut and stylish direction, smartly using the locations (London, Athens, and the Greek coast) to make the film seem exotic and exciting. With a cast of European cult film stalwarts (Stewart, Hilton, Strindberg, Alberto de Mendoza, Janine Reynaud, and Luigi Pistilli), this is a cleverly plotted and interesting giallo.

This is the first time I'd seen it since 2011 and, to be honest, I'd completely forgotten how events unfolded and even the killer's identity and motive so it was, to all intents and purposes, like watching it for the first time.

I thoroughly enjoyed and put it on again to listen to the commentary. I have put the disc to one side for now because I want to watch it in a few weeks with the English language track (I watched it with the Italian audio) – it'll be interesting to see how I find a second viewing in the span of a month or so and what difference a change in language makes.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

The Fifth Cord (1971) ★★★★½

Released the year after Dario Argento's groundbreaking The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, this checks all the boxes for the giallo template: a mysterious killer on the loose; black leather gloves; J&B whisky; an informal detective; mistaken identity.

With a brilliant lead performance from Franco Nero, who superbly plays the barely-functioning alcoholic journalist who is on the case (and then on the trail) of the mass murderer taunting the authorities and threatening people around Rome with a murder every Tuesday, this is a very special film.

Based on a novel by David McDonald Devine, this is a brilliantly written and engrossing giallo, a film with a very good story and characters (although he's a journalist rather than a PI, Andrea Bild isn't too dissimilar to detectives like The Long Goodbye's Philip Marlowe), and stunning cinematography by Vittorio Storaro – this is probably the most intelligently designed and filmed giallo I've ever seen, and that includes those by Dario Argento. As well as the superb visuals, this has a brilliantly moody and suspenseful soundtrack by Ennio Morricone. It's a film where Luigi Bazzoni, the director who would go on to make the brilliant Footprints on the Moon, is a master of mise-en-scène – this is a film which could be part of a film studies syllabus at university and is one I don't think I fully appreciated what I saw it a decade ago.

It's another film which I'll put to one side and rewatch with the other language track; I watched it this time with the Italian track and want to see what it's like with the English audio.

I recognise these two gialli are not horror films, but I've been putting off watching them through September because I thought they would fit with the October horror/thrillers.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

And Now The Screaming Starts (1973)

One of Amicus' few non anthology horror films. Peter Cushing, Ian Ogilvy, Stephanie Beacham and Herbert Lom star in this gory film about the Fengriffen family curse in which a disembodied hand avenges a Fengriffen ancestor's rape of a servants bride.

Herbert Lom playing Henry Fengriffen steals the film but is ably supported by the wonderful cleavage of Beacham. Unfortunately Peter Cushing's role is not much bigger than two cameo appearances.

Its a luscious looking movie thanks to superb camera work and art direction. Director Baker manipulates quite a few shocks such as blood flowing from eyes and the severing of hands. Douglas Gamley also must be mentioned for his terrific musical score. This film is one of the best from the final years of British Gothic cinema.

[Justin101]

Friday the 13th (2009)



It was fine, nothing too exciting.
Although I think that the film makers kind of missed the point with the cast, everyone was pretty unlikable so when they get killed you kind of think 'meh'. It's also quite nasty and cold. I didn't hate it though and it's not as boring as the 1980 original...

Bonus points for Dick Casablancas getting an arrow through the head!

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

i also finished the last two (out of three) episodes of supernatural drama The Green Man (1990).

A bizarre tale starring Albert Finney as the owner of secluded country inn, The Green Man, which he claims to his guests (such as Nicky Henson) is haunted.

This was very enjoyable with some surprising scenes, in fact the opening moments where a young woman is 'captured' by trees and then graphically gutted by the branches is more akin to the Evil Dead or the bloody excesses of Lucio Fulci than it is a BBC tv drama. The end result is a thought provoking and adult ghost story with more than a few nods to folk horror and Wyrd England.

[Demoncrat]

A quickie

Untitled (2011)

UK FFer. 4 idiots blithely wander into their doom. Risible fun. Found on YT. See, told you it was quick.