Day of the Animals,*(1977) oct 3rd
 

Day of the Animals,*(1977)

On paper William Girdler's nature horror sounds about as goofy as they come,and you would be forgiven for thinking it was just another sub par Birds knock off. But underneath all the b movie list actors, Christopher George and Lynda Day George to name but two,is not a bad, if half baked idea about the ever depleting ozone making all the animals go loco ese!! Story wise a bunch of city slickers go hiking in the mountains of Northern California,ominously the radio keeps reporting that the ozone is having devastating effects on animals over the altitude of 5,000ft. Of course the biggest danger the humans face,apart from the bloody great grizzly bears and wild cats is themselves. we have seen this type of group before,across section of society with a liberal sprinkling of opposing political and ethnic views,its a bit like if Donald Trump went on holiday with Hilary Clinton,sadly we will not see these two eaten by wild animals. Inevitably all the bickering and back biting see's the disintegration of the group dynamic dwindle as they either spilt from each other or are eaten by veracious eagles and wild dogs. Girdler manages to produce not only an entertaining nature horror but a surprisingly thoughtful one to,I mean have you ever wondered what the effect the ozone would have on rats? well my friends it makes them super rats who can jump as high as a building,well as high as a man;s face any how.Also respect to the animals who appeared in the film,it must of been hard not wanting to tear the face off of Christopher George and eat his bowels for real,so well done guys.All in all a fun film,and one of those great 1970's PG rated horror films.

Necromancy (1972)

http://zardoz.a.ltrbxd.com/resized/f...g?k=17e222ea45

A twisty magickal cousin to Messiah of Evil, there's just something about these Wyrd, closed-off towns harbouring terrible secrets that fuels my pleasure nodes.

Orson 'King of the Witches' Welles presides over said town of Lilith, itself locked in an incense-bound magical space-time of it's own where the residents are self-admittedly 'owned' by their witchy overlord and forbidden to bear children.

Pamela Franklin shines (literally - she looks terrific in yellow) as our heroine, marked to die so Welles' son can be re-born. She provides a gleaming beacon of polar opposite when straddled alongside the creepy aesthetic and moody undertones flowing throughout this occult-charged slice of '70s eeriness... and this in itself adds to the off-kilter atmosphere nicely.

I've been wanting to see this one for about a decade and now that I have, I can safely say that it didn't disappoint.

74/100

The Curse of the Cat People (1944)

Directed by Gunther von Fritsch and Robert Wise, this Val Lewton production began life under the title Amy and Her Friend. However, RKO, delighted by the success of the previous years Cat People insisted Lewton change the title and film additional scenes to add black cats to proceedings. Lewton already had Simone Simon and Kent Smith on board so with some re-writing they were to resume their roles from the earlier film.

Had this film been made now i'm sure it would have turned out a disaster, however Lewton didn't deal in disasters and the finished product is a beautiful film about a child's loneliness and desperate search for a friend. Perhaps more Gothic fairytale than horror though the film has it's fair share of creepiness including the obligatory shadowy old house and several references to Washington Irvine's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Simon is brilliant as (the ghost of) Irena, following up her character from Cat People, stunningly beautiful and warm she's the sort of imaginary friend anyone would want...but is she imaginary? Kent Smith carries on his role and it was most welcoming to see Sir Lancelot - the creole singer from I Walked with a Zombie (1943) - in a much larger role as the famiy servant (it's all very dignified) and the nearest thing to a friend the girl has.

As with all Val Lewton productions the film looks stunning despite being low budget. It's almost cliched to mention the use of light and shadow in Lewton's films but it's so distinctive and makes each and every one of them something special and a real treat for classic horror fans. The Curse of the Cat People is no different, it's gorgeous to watch and a film i often go back to at this time of year.

Film No. 4

Attachment 183271

On the way to the hospital to give birth to their first child Amelia and her husband are involved in a car crash which costs her husband his life. Jumping forward six year and Amelia and her son Sam are still living alone and sam is a little terror obsessed with the presence of monsters his fear and determination to protect his mother makes him very violent towards her and kids at his school resulting in him having to be removed from the school. His behaviour gets worse and worse and even more violent towards his mother when he discovers a book called Mister Babadook.

Right from the get go The Babadook is a really annoying film and i was tempted to turn it off three maybe four times. First off the kid is constantly screaming his head off and the longer the film goes on the worse it becomes. This is a real mixed bag when ever The Babadook appears it looks pretty stupid and the mother's descent into madness is more annoying than terrifying the only time i felt uncomfortable was with the treatment of the kid even if to begin with he was an irritating little brat. I liked the use of colour to make it seem like they were living inside the Mister Babadook storybook the house they live in is almost completely black and grey and the kid is always dressed in black and grey.

Oh and that ending is a load of Bolladook

This was not for me it was really hard to sit through i couldnt wait for it to be over. Not one i will ever watch again. I have seen people say you have to understand the deeper meaning behind the film to get it but its hard to get over the amount of annoyances the films had for long enough to be able to dig deeper.

The Babadook gets a very unimpressive

4/10

I haven't read your thoughts on The Babadook as i have yet to watch my copy, Nordy but it's a very nicely presented review.

:lol:

I'm another who wasn't overly keen on this one Nordy, so I do emphasise.

There have been some very terrific review posts on this thread today. :thankingyou:

I am seriously ****ing impressed! :clap::clap::clap:

Think i better watch another Wrong Turn next to get things back on track :lol:

1 out of 4 so far is not good and still 27 to go :behindsofa:

The Barn of the Naked Dead (AKA: Terror Circus) (1974)

http://oblivion.a.ltrbxd.com/resized...g?k=3eb94ea6f0

Okay, let's get this out of the way. I'm a massive Andrew Prine fan so of course I was going to like this. It's no 'Centerfold Girls' and is perhaps more exploitation than traditional horror, but I need (and make) no excuses for shoe-horning it into my October horror viewing anyway.

Prine plays a maniac who kidnaps young women and takes them to his isolated 'barn' in the middle of the desert to 'perform' in a warped circus of his creation and then kills them off if he deems them unsatisfactory.

Pretty sluggish in places but the ending is worth sticking around for as the pace picks up and there is some escaped mutant action to be had too.

62/100

Black Mass (1928)

http://zardoz.a.ltrbxd.com/resized/f...g?k=3906dc5deb

Neophyte to black mass orgy participant in under 6 minutes.

Watch it here.