October 10th
 

Halloween Night (2006)

Halloween Night offers exploitation at it's best, both exploiting the studios by ripping offer a better film in Halloween and exploiting the punters with very gruesome violence and naked lesbians ... now i have Nordy's attention!

It's derivative and at times ridiculous but it's well made or at least clunkily made with great effects and some fun intricacies to the storyline outside the basic derisory premise not to mention a nicely outlandish looking killer, less burn victim and more zombie tree dude.

The Pumpkin Karver (2006)

I rather enjoy this Halloween set slasher and tend to give it an airing each October. It's got a decent budget and has some fun murders including a poor chap who ends up on the sharp end of a farm drill with his intestines swirling round. Added to this is a decent cast of unknowns and a scary pumpkin masked killer...yeah! i like this one even if the final scene doesn't make too much sense.

That's two trashy exploitative Halloween set slashers from the same year. Good times.

I'm still trying to figure out how to review Saturday's movies. Argento's Inferno and Chaney classic The Wolfman. A few lines doesn't seem appropriate when in all these years i've never reviewed them before. A case of Holy Grails methinks.

Being a Julie Strain film this is one i'd love to see,

October 9th
 

Inferno (1980)

For a long long time my favourite Dario Argento film was Inferno's predecessor and first of the Three Mothers Trilogy, Suspiria, however during the last decade it's Inferno, the second of the trilogy that has become my favourite from the Italian maestro. The story follows a young man's (Leigh McCloskey...that was almost my review - The one with Mitch from Dallas) investigation of his sister's disappearance from her New York apartment, an apartment that was allegedly home to an ancient witch, one of the three mothers Mater Tenebrarum (the other two being Mater Lachrymarum and Mater Suspiriorum ). I wonder why Dario didn't call this one Tenebre? A title he used for an unrelated film two years later.

Inferno has everything Suspiria has and more. There's the trademark Argento gore, shot as stylishly as ever, like watching a painting created out of blood, together with a terrific score from rock legend Keith Emerson and there's the colours.

Suspiria is rightly lauded for it's use of colour. Reds that prove so vibrant that they are integral to the film's aura, yet Inferno is very much the same yet nowhere near as acclaimed in that respect. Inferno's use of bright pinks and blues, often in the same shot are every bit as stylish as anything Suspiria offers up, in fact to my eyes even more so as i think the colour palettes work even better here so much so that even dark night time scenes have a day-glo vibrancy to them.

As a whole the film is a hypnotic nightmarish descent into hell, perfectly encapsulated by the opening scenes as Irene Miracle's Rose takes a swim in a water filled basement trying to reach her keys and coming across a putrefying corpse in the submerged cellar. It's unnerving and highly claustrophobic and sets the scene of the terrors to come.

The Wolf Man (1941)

Universal's classic chiller is as influential as any horror film ever made as it pretty much sets the background lore of the entire werewolf genre. So much so that a verse quoted more than once in the film - "Even a man who is pure in heart, and says his prayers by night; May become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright" - isn't an ancient poem from centuries earlier but a couple of lines at the time probably thrown together by screen writer Curt Siodmak.

Lon Chaney Jr in his most memorable role plays Lawrence Talbot who is attacked by a werewolf one evening and under the full moon himself transforms into the slavering beast.

The time-lapse make up of the werewolf transformation by Jack Pierce is outstanding whilst Siodmak's script beautifully explores the terror, torment and trauma of lycanthropy in a very sympathetic fashion as director George Waggner paces the film beautifully.

My favourite of the seven original Universal Monsters films.

Two of my absolute Favs there! Actually last time I saw Inferno was 4 maybe 5 years ago during October when a local small run cinema did a double bill of Blood and Black Lace and Inferno, definitely about time for a rewatch.

As for the colours you mention, I think what it is, Suspira was shot using the last available reels of Technicolor from the 60's and was one of the last films to be processed that way. Inferno was just filmed on the bog standard film, so while it's still colourful it doesn't pop like Suspiria. However, I'm keen to see a new remaster of it finished in 4k, the blu, while it looks good, I think has room for improvement.

I thought the Arrow blu looked stunning on a 4K tv. The depth to the image was amazing coming across like 3D at times.

I'm not sure it was sourced from a 4k remaster, the disc is from 2010 and Arrow weren't doing that kind of thing back then, but I would have to look at the transfer notes in the booklet to be sure. Also I haven't watched it for a long time so it's not fresh in my memory :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x3QGzrnMG8

Really not a horror more a thriller with supernatural elements. A young medium who travels around America with her alcoholic farther comes to the attention of a reporter after she predicts the assassination of man which leads her to come to the attention of the police, the mob and the assassin. As said more thriller with some supernatural elements ,but well acted from the three leads Jason Robards , Rosanna Arquette and Tom Hulce. We have a supernatural twist at the end.

The Shout

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...out-poster.jpg

Not one I really enjoyed years ago. But upon a rewatch a really enjoyable viewing this time. One I'd recommend people to watch (or at least try).

30 days of unseen horror

Film 1


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Years after the high rises of Cabrini Green have been torn down the area is no longer a project but filled with up market apartments full of career people and artists a far cry from its run down crime riddled past. Anthony and his girlfriend live in a fancy loft apartment where Anthony spends his days trying to come up with some fresh ideas for his next art exhibition. After bumping into an old man who tells him the true story of the Candyman Anthony draws inspiration for his new works resulting in a series of extremely macabre paintings and ideas. It doesn't take long before all the newfound interest on Candyman brings him back to terrorise the residence of the new Cabrini Green.

As someone who absolutely loves the original film i was looking forward to this when i saw the first teaser trailer but after the second full trailer was released i was a little worried it looked like it lacked atmosphere but i remained a little optimistic and more than willing to give it a chance but i was right to be worried. For me the whole thing lacked tension and atmosphere some parts were shot really well but honestly that's one of the few upsides of this. The soundtrack was pretty disappointing too it had its moments but when you listen to the whole thing in one go it falls pretty flat. There are plenty of kills but the camera cuts away everytime it was so bloody infuriating.

I won't come back to this i liked what they were trying to do but it could of been done much better. Im sure there is some deep meaning and social commentary as i have seen with some reviews i even saw reviews and not one or two plenty that said if you didn't enjoy it or get it then you are racist :lol:

My favourite review was Im sure Sammy Davis Jr saw scarier films :lol:

5/10

The Innkeepers. 2011.

In the final days of a hotel, two employees try to uncover real ghosts that may be roaming the hotel.

This is one of those rare haunted house movies...or in this case haunted hotel that goes back to basic ghost story, there is no CGI involved, a bit of blood, but the two main actors Sara Paxton and Pat Healey who play the staff and amateur ghost hunters help create the atmosphere with some good jump scenes and a small role by Kelly McGillis. The story is told in three chapters and can be a bit slow paced but enjoyable for me.

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