Simon Club 7 sounds a bit different!

I've been listening to the four commentary tracks on the 101 Films Blu-ray release of David Cronenberg's Rabid, one from him, one from the Soska sisters, one from two people who knew or write about Marilyn Chambers, and a more general one. Needless to say, I'm now much more informed about this film, Marilyn Chambers' career, and Cronenberg's thoughts on the film than I was last week!

I watched The Prowler and Ghostbusters yesterday, two very different films. Joseph Zito's slasher is a very watchable and well-made movie: the score adds a lot to the tension, the kill scenes with the pitchfork are appropriately gruesome thanks to Tom Savini's superb special effects make-up, and there are sufficient red herrings to create suspense. The acting is particularly noteworthy for a film like this, with the cast including Farley Granger and Lawrence Tierney. When I bought the DVD (called Rosemary's Killer) From Music Magpie, I had forgotten I brought the Blue Underground Blu-ray release back in 2011 and still have it!

Ghostbusters is, as it was in 1984, a wonderful blend of comedy, science fiction, horror, and fantasy. Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Sigourney Weaver, Ernie Hudson, Rick Moranis, and William Atherton are all memorable in this wonderfully written, performed, and directed movie. The 4K Ultra HD release looks outstanding and the Dolby Atmos soundtrack enhances some of the action sequences, making the sound fill the room in a way the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack doesn't.

30 Days Of Unseen Horror

Day 15


Attachment 228634

Dr. Callistratus is sentenced to death by the villagers who believe he is a vampire. His badly disfigured helper acts quickly after the burial of his master and enlists the help of a very drunk doctor to carry out a heart transplant to bring the doctor back to life. The operation is a success but there are dire consequences to this act. Years later and the Doctor is the head of a prison for the criminally insane where he carries out blood experiments on the inmates to true and cure is own affliction where his cells are working against each other to slowly kill him. When John Pierre a doctor himself is sent to prison for medical malpractice Dr. Callistratus makes sure that he is sent to his prison so he can aid him in his research.

The thing to note right away about this film.is how misleading the title is there are no vampires in this film its just a mad scientist film the only parallel with Vampires is blood. The acting is great and the sets including the hand drawn ones all look great. I have to say what starts off as an interesting film quickly started to feel like it went on too long for me it had some good moments but overall its pretty forgettable and non eventful apart from those smashing dog collars the hight of satanic 80s metal fashion :lol:

5/10

Warlock (1989)

https://decider.com/wp-content/uploa...6&h=335&crop=1

Another video shop classic crossed off the watch list.
Julian Sands and Richard E Grant totally hamming it up as 17th Century Warlock and Witch Hunter transplanted into 20th Century LA.

Interesting story and some great horror scenes (tongue bitten out of another person's mouth anyone??) made this an enjoyable watch. However, it did feel a little bit long, perhaps 15 minutes could have been cut out.

Looking forward to see how the sequel works out!

30 Days Of Unseen Horror

Day 16

Attachment 228635

A doctor living with his wife who suffers from an illness of the mind is treating her with snake venom to cure her. One night his wife is uneasy and refusing the treatment worried about their unborn child and the damage it must be doing to the child. The doctor only cares about his research and is more than willing to sacrifice the lives of his wife and unborn child. During childbirth the wife dies but the child is saved but the doctor and midwife delivering the child are alarmed by the appearance of the child its stone cold with serpent like eyes the whole village is terrified and they are convinced they are cursed until the snake child is killed. When people start dying from poisonous snake bites the snake child is no longer a legend it becomes an evil cloud that hangs over the village.

A great little tale short and sweet with plenty of atmosphere the worst thing about this is the short runtime its only 67 minutes and it feels like its over before it began. There is nothing fancy no make up effects just a good film thats carried along nicely by strong acting and a great story. I was a little disappointed by the ending it was just too quick just like the film itself.

6/10

October 14th
 

The Woman in Black (2012)

An excellent adaptation of Susan Hill's classic ghost story from Hammer Films. Daniel Radcliffe fresh from his Harry Potter gig is superbly cast as Arthur Kipps, the young lawyer summoned to Eel Marsh House to sort through the books of the deceased Alice Drablow.

The film looks superb and is a real throwback to the classic Hammer horrors of their golden 57-74 period. The film has atmosphere in spades and is delightfully creepy with Eel Marsh House and it's surrounding area a perfectly depicted unnerving location. In addition the film has some beautifully crafted scares. Scares created without the need for musical cues, scares that actually work, especially the face that appears at the window as Kipps stares out over the house's garden.

If you've never seen this for whatever reason, especially if you think it will be derivative of Hammer's legacy, then i can assure you it's definitely top tier Hammer horror.

The sequel, The Woman in Black: Angel of Death, is appalling.

October 15th
 

Night of the Demons III (1997)

Known as Demon House in the UK, the film concerns a group of youngsters who hole up in an old mansion believed to be haunted following a shooting at a petrol station.

Demon House is flawed but it's also an entertainingly fun ride. Although it takes a good third to get to the house the characters are engaging (as in not all completely annoying) enough to maintain interest. Once at the house the group meet Angela the demon from the first two films in the series and all hell breaks loose in an orgy of sex and violence. The scene as Angela performs fellatio on a hand gun then spits the bullets into her palm is a hoot.

As the film wears on the youths do tend to become more irrational in their behavior as Angela (Amelia Kincaid) seduces and offs them one by one. Luckily there's a stand out turn from established character actor Vlasta Vrana as a veteran cop in his final hours of duty who manages to hold it all together.

As with the original Night of the Demons (1988), the film romps along and proves an engaging but undemanding ninety minutes. As the dvd can be picked up for the price of postage it's one that is definitely recommended.

Love The Snake Woman, Nordy. It's one of those unheralded Gothics that came out and pretty much got lost in a wave of Hammer and AIP chillers.

Highly reminiscent of The Reptile and The Gorgon in a way.

It can be picked up pretty reasonably (or it could when i bought it for a fiver) on one of those Shout Factory / MGM Timeless Horrors sets accompanied by The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake, I Bury the Living and The Face of Marble.

ASSAULT! JACK THE RIPPER – A dewy eyed moment today when this rolled out of my bagful of dusty memories. Maybe that’s not how I should frame a flick as unsentimental as ‘A!JTR’, which takes us into the heart of a love affair based on genital mutilation via cake knife. It’s about a moody chef and a mean waitress who fall for each other after they accidentally run over and kill an escaped mental patient; some kind of weirdly contrived vag-impalement happens when they try to drag the body away, apparently so arousing that romance is born. They develop an addiction to… rekindling the moment. A!JTR was made in seventies Japan by Nikkatsu and has all the strangeness and ickyness that one might expect from the more way-out stuff from that era. ‘Way out’ here means, not only the amped up tastelessness, but the wackiness that went into the soundtrack – breezy jazz drifts along, occasionally tilting towards a more yearnsome melancholy, as cake blades crunch and scrape. It’s basically a string of murder scenarios, but it’s neither callous nor particularly shocking. The atmosphere is one of a haunting kind of sadness, undermined by bits which seem almost knowingly absurd (the waitress’s reaction to chef going it alone with his cake knife – “but that’s like having an affair!”). Actually, rewind that last bit, A!JTR is definitely at least a little bit callous, but my, what an odd film.

Dead Souls

Upon his 18th birthday; Jonny gets a letter telling him he has inherited a house, he travels to it when his mother collapses due to anxiety (i think?). He then notices strange goings on and learns the truth about his family.
Probably the best in the boxset this was in. If for anything just for Bill Moseley as an ex sheriff everyone thinks is crazy.

https://horrornews.net/wp-content/up...12-movie-2.jpg

I was going to watch that last night funny enough. Still planning to view it before the end of the month though.