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- DirectorLucio FulciStarsBrett HalseyCorinne CléryBlanca MarsillachA young woman abducts and subjects a doctor whom she holds responsible for the death of her boyfriend to acts of sexual torture.You know how you get jaded and say, "I've seen everything?" Well, I'm here to tell you that you haven't until you watch The Devil's Honey.
- DirectorLucio FulciStarsJack HedleyAlmanta SuskaHoward RossA burned-out New York police detective teams up with a college psychoanalyst to track down a vicious serial killer randomly stalking and killing various young women around the city.It's like Fulci watched William Lustig's Maniac and said, "This movie is for pussies."
- DirectorMichael AndersonStarsMichael YorkJenny AgutterRichard JordanA police officer in the future uncovers the deadly secret behind a society that worships youth.1970's science fiction -- pre-Star Wars is intellectual, overthought and sometimes, really slow. That's my best explanation of this film. If you're expecting an action-packed rollercoaster of a film, you're not going to get it. You will get Peter Ustinov and a lot of cats.
- DirectorScott DerricksonStarsEric BanaEdgar RamírezOlivia MunnNew York police officer Ralph Sarchie investigates a series of crimes. He joins forces with an unconventional priest, schooled in the rites of exorcism, to combat the possessions that are terrorizing their city.It's more stylish and somewhat better than you'd expect, which has led to frequent rewatching in the B and S About Movies household. That says volumes, as most modern horror is barely mentioned in this homestead!
- DirectorJoël SériaStarsJeanne GoupilCatherine WagenerBernard DhéranTwo bored Catholic schoolgirls spending summer in the countryside decide to become Satanists, and begin committing a series of morbid and increasingly dangerous crimes.There's a really off juxtaposition in the film where the girls use their sexuality to be adults and when men take it too far, they instantly appear to be what they are -- really young girls. It's disquieting and upsetting in a way that no movie I've ever seen has pictured -- before or since.
- DirectorGil BettmanStarsJohn StamosVanityGene SimmonsAfter a top-secret agent is murdered, his estranged son, a high-school gymnast, teams up with his dad's attractive female partner to stop the psychopathic hermaphroditic gang leader who killed him and now plans a major terrorist attack.Because this movie was made in the 1980's, Robert Englund contractually has to be in it.
- DirectorHal NeedhamStarsBarry BostwickMichael BeckPersis KhambattaStory about a rapid deployment defense unit that is called into action whenever freedom is threatened.I cannot stress how completely dumb this film is. No one is ever in danger. No one ever appears to be a real human being. Therefore, it is wonderful and I also recommend that you seek it out. Deeds not words!
- DirectorMichael AndersonStarsRon ElyPaul GleasonWilliam LuckingDoc and the Amazing Five battle Captain Seas and "the green death" for control of a fabulous resource.I have a spot in my heart for this film and dreamed of having a shirt like Doc's that would be all ripped and cling to me when I sprung to action. However, I was a chubby six year old and had no villains to battle outside of the bullies who routinely kicked my ass. That said, as I grew older, I gave them all acupuncture, forgiveness and education, just like Doc Savage taught me!
- DirectorBert I. GordonStarsOrson WellesPamela FranklinLee PurcellMr. Cato is the head of a witches' coven in the town of Lilith, where he needs the powers of Lori Brandon to raise his son from the dead.What is surprising is that for a movie promising rituals and raising the dead, Necromancy isn't all that exciting.
- DirectorJosé María ForquéStarsAnalía GadéJean SorelRosanna YanniRuth and Michel separate after Ruth finds another man, Paul. Ruth and Paul go to her sunny, idyllic beach side villa to spend summer. They are having a great time together, and then things start happening. The brakes of the car fail, and Ruth narrowly escapes death. The driving equipment goes faulty, and Ruth almost drowns. Michel turns up at their doorstep for an uninvited social call, and Paul asks him in. Ruth suspects Michel of being the person behind the mechanical faults of the car and the diving equipment, but Paul dismisses such a possibility - but he does suggest it to Michel. Then, the heat does go up...I've read that this film steals a lot from Umberto Lenzi's Orgasmo and A Quiet Place to Kill, which I need to find and watch. That said -- there are some moments of interest here and once you get past the slow opening, it all gets rather exciting.
- DirectorWilliam GirdlerStarsCarol SpeedWilliam MarshallTerry CarterA marriage counselor becomes possessed by a demon of sexuality when her father-in-law, an archaeologist and an exorcist, accidentally frees it while in Africa.Warner Brothers' lawyers must have had the best holiday season ever in 1974, thanks to all of the work they were getting shutting down ripoffs like this!
- DirectorOvidio G. AssonitisRoberto D'Ettorre PiazzoliStarsJuliet MillsRichard JohnsonGabriele LaviaJuliet Mills plays a young pregnant woman in San Francisco who is going to have the devil's baby during her strange possession. Richard Johnson shows up to help her... but what does he really want?Beyond the Door is a $40 million worldwide gross meant that this film would a film draw the ire and call of that most Satanic of all monsters, the suits and the lawyers.
- DirectorJuan López MoctezumaStarsClaudio BrookDavid SilvaTina RomeroAfter the death of her parents, a young girl arrives at a convent and brings a sinister presence with her. Is it her enigmatic imaginary friend, Alucarda, who is to blame? Or is there a satanic force at work?Alucarda is: A 1977 nunspolitation/vampire/Mexican horror/Exorcist inspired film about two girls who become possessed by Satan. The source of many My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult samples, specifically the song "And This Is What the Devil Does." A movie filled with so much screaming, it upset my dog. All of the above and so much more.
- DirectorRichard MarquandStarsKatharine RossSam ElliottJohn StandingAn American couple in England stumble upon a rambling mansion where a number of powerful individuals have been summoned by its patriarch regarding the home's legacy.The rich. The powerful. The satanic. And a white cat. Yes, The Legacy really has it all. As Bill Van Ryn of Groovy Doom says, "It's Suspiria and The Omen in a blender."
- DirectorEddy MatalonStarsAlan ScarfeBeverly MurrayRandi AllenA young girl is possessed by the spirit of her aunt, who died as a child in a car accident. Soon, people around her begin to mysteriously die off.The fact that a seven-year-old girl has glowing eyes and a filthy mouth and is out to kill people makes me filled with joy.
- DirectorRichard BlackburnStarsLesley TaplinCheryl SmithWilliam WhittonA young girl who returns to her hometown to see her dying father finds herself being drawn into a web of vampirism and witchcraft.I'd compare this film -- subtitled "A Child's Tale of the Supernatural" with Valerie and Her Week of Wonders. It's richly dark, both in lighting and subject matter. It feels more like a dream or a children's fable than a movie and is worth multiple viewings. It's such a shame that this movie has been lost and forgotten for so long!
- DirectorMario GariazzoStarsStella CarnacinaChris AvramLucretia LoveThe story in this horror movie revolves around a strange religious icon and the demonic sexual influence it exerts on a young art student. After a gory dream sequence in which the woman imagines herself being nailed to a cross herself, the statue eventually comes to life and begins to sexually torment her.This movie is literally the center of the Venn Diagram that would be made of the movies that I love the most. It's also "based on a true story."
- DirectorEric WestonStarsClint HowardR.G. ArmstrongJoe CorteseAn outcast military cadet taps into a way to summon demons and cast spells on his tormentors through his computer.Post-Carrie, we've seen so many films where people turn to the Devil to help them fit in or fight back against bullies. But let's face it -- when you dress up Carrie White or Sissy Spacek or Chloë Grace Moretz, they end up being attractive. But Clint Howard? There's really no dressing up Clint.
- DirectorLen AnthonyStarsAl LewisPaul BorgheseJennifer DeloraTwo stories about witches getting ready to meet with the Devil, and a schoolteacher who never ages.Fright House, I watched Spookies. I knew Spookies. I have a Spookies poster on my wall. Fright House, you're no Spookies.
- DirectorFrank AgramaStarsRobin AskwithRula LenskaValerie LeonA female film crew journeys to Africa where a giant ape, Queen Kong, falls in love with the crew's male star.I’ve been devoted to studying everything Kong related in celebration of the big gorilla’s return to the big screen. But 1976’s Queen Kong nearly broke me.
- DirectorFreddie FrancisStarsHarry NilssonRingo StarrFreddie JonesDue to be crowned King of the Netherworld by his mentor Merlin the Magician (Sir Ringo Starr) at a monster's convention, Count Downe (Harry Nilsson), the son of Count Dracula, falls in love with the beautiful, but human, Amber (Suzanna Leigh) and finds himself in conflict with Baron Frankenstein (Freddie Jones), who is vying for the same honorary title.There are lost movies because pieces of them have been lost, such as the original ending of Hammer’s Horror of Dracula, and lost movies because they should remain lost. Such is the case with Son of Dracula.
- DirectorPaul LederStarsRod ArrantsJoanna KernsAlex NicolA newly discovered 36-foot gorilla escapes from a freighter off the coast of Korea. At the same time an American actress is filming a movie in the country. Chaos ensues as the ape kidnaps her and rampages through Seoul.I’ve always seen the 1976 Dino De Laurentiis produced King Kong as a big budget rip-off of the original instead of a remake. Therefore, that makes South Korea’s The Great Counterattack of King Kong an inferior copy of a poor copy. Released in the United States as A*P*E*, Attack of the Giant Horny Gorilla and Hideous Mutant, this is one schlocky piece of business.
- DirectorIshirô HondaStarsRhodes ReasonMie HamaLinda MillerThe evil Dr. Who captures King Kong to dig for Element X when his robot duplicate, Mechani-Kong, is unable to do the job, but Kong soon escapes and battles his doppelganger.This is a pretty entertaining film. Don’t expect CGI quality. In fact, don’t expect any quality. Expect to be entertained and with a runtime of a little over 80 minutes, you honestly won’t waste much time.
- DirectorMichael SchultzStarsPeter FramptonBarry GibbRobin GibbA small-town band hits it big, but it must battle a nefarious plot in the music industry.In 1978, a movie version of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart Band — starring the Bee Gees and Peter Frampton — probably made all the sense in the world. But it isn't.
- DirectorAntonio MargheritiStarsReb BrownCorinne CléryJohn SteinerA warrior seeks his true origins in a seemingly prehistoric wasteland.The first time I saw the trailer for this movie, – at the long-lost to a tornado Spotlite 88 Drive-In in 1983 – I exclaimed to my father, “We have to see this movie. It has to be the best movie ever.”
He replied, “It looks like a piece of *beep*
34 years later, I am here to tell you that my father was completely correct. He also couldn’t be more wrong. - DirectorMichael WinnerStarsCristina RainesAva GardnerChris SarandonA young woman moves into an apartment in a building which houses a sinister evil.My teachers and guidance counselors in high school told me, explained to me, screamed at me: “You’ll never learn anything being obsessed with all of these horror movies!”
I would argue that I have learned plenty — and 1977’s The Sentinel would be my doctoral thesis in “I Live My Life by What I Learned from 1970s Satanic Horror Movies.” - DirectorPeter CarterStarsChad EverettJoseph BottomsJennifer WarrenDrillers on an oil rig near Antarctica discover that they have accidentally brought up several prehistoric eggs. One egg hatches and becomes an unstoppable creature. Chad Everett and Jennifer Warren risk their lives to stop it.The Intruder Within got to the party early, but it’s not the best of movies — filled with blocked off TV movie direction, too dark camerawork and a short running time. That said — it still has some charm and you can find worse ways to spend 100 minutes.
- DirectorHarry Bromley DavenportStarsPhilip SayerBernice StegersDanny BraininAn alien creature impregnates a woman who gives birth to a man who was abducted by aliens three years ago. The man reconnects with his wife and son for a sinister purpose.1982s Xtro, on the other hand, is truly a movie that has something for everyone: if everyone includes folks who want to see movie about a father reconnecting with his son, as well as a film where Maryam d’Abo is repeatedly naked, a kid discovers his psychic powers with a weird clown, an Alien-style birth scene of a fully-grown man being born out of a pregnant woman (“What is it with all the alien rape and birth scenes in these movies? What is wrong with people?” asked my wife), toys coming to life, a child hunting down people like The Omen…truly Xtro is about ten movies worth of ideas in one scuzzy, scummy exploitation fever dream.
- DirectorAllan HolzmanStarsDon OliveraJesse VintJune ChadwickIn the distant future, a federation marshal arrives at a research lab on a remote planet where a genetic experiment has gotten loose and begins feeding on the dwindling scientific group.Forbidden World is a fast, cheap and weird little picture. It’s 77-minute running time flies by, the effects are fun and the story is, well, there isn’t much of one. But there’s a lot of fun to be had and this is a film well worthy of discovery.
- DirectorAndrew FlemingStarsJennifer RubinBruce AbbottRichard LynchThe lone survivor of a suicide cult wakes from a thirteen-year coma in a psychiatric ward, where other patients suddenly start dying under mysterious and gruesome circumstances.My armchair psychoanalysis of this film? It’s OK to fall in love with a hot cult survivor, as long as you don’t drug her and make her see visions because, in the movie world, there is no law that protects the patient from amorous analysts. And you can just shove evil doctors to their doom and get away with it, as long as it seems like you have a good reason. Ah, movie world, where decisions are made so much simpler.
- DirectorJoel SchumacherStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerGeorge ClooneyChris O'DonnellBatman and Robin try to keep their relationship together even as they must stop Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy from freezing Gotham City.I wish that I could find some joy in this film beyond making fun of it. But the best allegory I can find for it is a very true story. It took forever to take off the complicated Batman suit, so George Clooney would just piss inside it — on more than one occasion. That says just about all you can say about Batman and Robin.
- DirectorRonald NeameStarsSean ConneryNatalie WoodKarl MaldenThe U.S. must join forces with the U.S.S.R. in order to destroy a gigantic asteroid heading straight for Earth.If it wasn’t for Meteor, we wouldn’t have Armageddon. At least we now know whom to blame.
- DirectorJohn FrankenheimerStarsTalia ShireRobert FoxworthArmand AssanteA government health inspector is dispatched to assess the damage a logging company is causing to a patch of forest claimed by Native Americans, and comes face to face with true terror wreaking havoc in the woods.If you’re looking for a message film — Native Americans good! Pollution bad! — you could do a lot worse than Prophecy. Through no fault of it own it remains a somewhat forgotten classic. The good news for you is that you can easily find it, making this one less film that needs a blu ray megabuck reissue that will further burden your wallet and/or credit card.
- DirectorRichard FriedmanStarsDerek RydallJonathan GoldsmithRob EstesA man loses his home and suffers life-threatening burns from a fire deliberately set by commercial real estate developers vying for his property. One year later, a shopping mall opens on the land, and a series of murders begins.Young folks — you are the reason why 25% of all the malls are closing in the US in the next five years and I’ll never be able to physically go into an FYI store again. It’s enough to make me want to emulate Eric, but I’d have nowhere to go. What could I do, send Snapchats of my burned up forehead and threaten you with cyber bullying?
- DirectorWilliam LustigStarsWilliam SmithDavid 'Shark' FralickChristopher OgdenDesert Storm vet who was killed in combat rises from the grave on July Fourth, to kill the unpatriotic citizens of his hometown, after some teens burn an American flag over his burial site.Let’s face facts. Uncle Sam isn’t very good. And unlike two of the examples I listed at the start, this film does nothing to set up why Sam has risen from the dead, what keeps him alive and what his motivations are. I’m not expecting to need to know everything, but this film just barrels along from set piece to set piece without ever giving us a real reason to care. It also feels like a movie from 1985, yet it was made over a decade later.
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsRoy ScheiderRobert ShawRichard DreyfussWhen a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community off Cape Cod, it's up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.Whether or not it destroyed the early 70s artistic Hollywood or invented the modern day blockbuster — this is a film to be celebrated.
- DirectorCarol FrankStarsAngela O'NeillWendy MartelPamela RossCollege student Beth and her sorority sisters are stalked by an escaped psychopathic killer who shares a strange telepathic link with her.The trailer for this film had appeared in a few compilations and every time Becca and I saw it, we thought, “That movie looks so much better than the title.” Well, we were sort of right.
- DirectorJuan Piquer SimónStarsChristopher GeorgeLynda Day GeorgeFrank BrañaThe co-eds of a Boston college campus are targeted by a mysterious killer who is creating a human jigsaw puzzle from their body parts.When the general public thinks of a slasher film with no redeeming value whatsoever, chances are they’re thinking about this movie. It is at the same time the best and worst film you’ve ever watched. But more importantly, it is never ever boring.
- DirectorMario BavaLamberto BavaStarsDaria NicolodiJohn SteinerDavid Colin Jr.A couple is terrorized in their new house haunted by the vengeful ghost of the woman's former husband, who possesses their young son.It seems kind of strange against Bava’s old school direction, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t love it. It’s a styish and scary film that’s way better than any Exorcist clone, despite it’s U.S title.
- DirectorMichele SoaviStarsDavid BrandonRichard BarkeleyBarbara CupistiA group of stage actors lock themselves in the theater for a rehearsal of their upcoming musical production, unaware that an escaped psychopath has sneaked into the theater with them.There was a moment two minutes into this movie, when a slasher like scene turned into a Cats-like play, that my mind was blown. And there was a moment halfway through where a body was torn in two that I jumped off my couch, screaming, “Soavi, I love you!”
- DirectorTetsuro TakeuchiStarsGuitar WolfDrum WolfBass WolfOnly legendary Japanese garage rock band Guitar Wolf can stand between a race of aliens from destroying earth with an army of zombies.Wild Zero is not a movie. It is an experience, an in your face, melt your brain piece of pure crazy. The kind that makes my wife say, “Do we really own this?”
- DirectorGary GraverStarsJacqueline GirouxPeter JasonChris GraverA baby sitter is stuck watching over a young brat on Halloween night who keeps playing vicious pranks on her. To add to her trouble the boy's deranged father has escaped from an asylum and is planning on making a visit.There is not a single likable person in this film. I wanted the kid to die literally from the minute he appeared on screen. The killer isn’t particularly fearsome. And the tagline “…when Halloween night stopped being fun!” doesn’t promise much.
- DirectorJean RollinStarsFranca MaïBrigitte LahaieJean-Marie LemaireA runaway criminal breaks into an eerie chateau, taking its two frightened chambermaids hostage. As night falls, a group of mysterious aristocratic women arrive and the criminal begins to realize the women are hiding a sinister secret.This is a film that’s literally brimming with dread, doom and otherworldliness. It starts slow, but by the end it really gets going. I hate to admit it, but this is my introduction to Rollin’s work and I plan on it being only the first.
- DirectorSilvio AmadioStarsFarley GrangerBarbara BouchetRosalba NeriThe secretary of a writer and his wife investigates the disappearance of her lover - their previous secretary - and finds herself the target of the couple's erotic desires and a murder plot.Director Silvio Amadio crafts a film that takes some time to get going and has flashes of mood, but may not rank amongst the best in giallo. That said, he has an attractive cast to work with, an interesting story and there’s a well shot sequence of a boatman taking a dead body down a river that aspires to art.
- DirectorFrank LaLoggiaStarsStefan ArngrimElizabeth HoffmanKathleen Rowe McAllenHigh school student turns out to be personification of Lucifer. Two arch angels in human form (as women) take him on.There really hasn’t even been a movie like Fear No Evil. Sure, a lot of it is taken from The Omen and Carrie, but those films never went off the deep end like this one does. It’s definitely worth tracking down and watching for yourself!
- DirectorDaniel AttiasStarsGary BuseyEverett McGillCorey HaimIn a small town, brutal killings start to plague the close knit community. Marty Coslaw, a paraplegic boy, is convinced the murders are the doings of a werewolf.Silver Bullet may be based on King’s Cycle of the Werewolf, but there are so many deviations and changes from the story, one could say that they’re both stories about a werewolf in a small town and get away with it. It’s probably best to experience both of them, as they cover some of the same story but differ in so many ways. Perhaps you can pretend that it’s the werewolf version of Rashomon.
- DirectorFraser C. HestonStarsMax von SydowEd HarrisBonnie BedeliaA mysterious new shop opens in a small town which always seems to stock the deepest desires of each shopper, with a price far heavier than expected.Leland Gaunt has come the whole way from Akron to Castle Rock to open an antique store called “Needful Things.” Everything he sells gives you exactly what you want, but you need to pay him back with a favor. If that’s not the most Stephen King sentence ever — minus 50’s slang like daddy-o or references to comics and rock and roll — then I’m not sure what is.
- DirectorMick GarrisStarsBrian KrauseMädchen AmickAlice KrigeA mother-and-son team of strange supernatural creatures move to a small town to seek out a young virgin to feed on.What’s a sleepwalker? How about shapeshifting energy vampires that survive off the energy of virgins, who can cast illusions, move things with their minds and transform into werecats? Oh yeah and their biggest weakness is cats, who can see them and kill them with their claws. And before we forget, the only way the males can feed their female mothers is by having sex with them. Got all that? Then if you can get your head around all of that, you’re ready for Sleepwalkers.
- DirectorStephen KingStarsEmilio EstevezPat HingleLaura HarringtonA group of people try to survive when machines start to come alive and become homicidal.Maybe it’s the law of diminishing returns, but I enjoyed Maximum Overdrive more than any new film I’ve seen this year. Watch it half awake, with someone you love, and yell at the screen. You’ll feel so much better.
- DirectorLewis TeagueStarsDrew BarrymoreJames WoodsAlan KingA stray cat is the linking element of three tales of suspense and horror.Cat's Eye takes three Stephen King stories, "Quitters, Inc.", "The Ledge" (both from Night Shift) and "General," an original story. The three tales are connected by a cat, who is involved in the first two stories but becomes the main character in the final part of the film.
- DirectorRichard StanleyStarsRichard StanleyScarlett AmarisHidden deep in the south of France, practically untouched by the modern age, is a place known by many as 'the Zone'. In this space, the supernatural is an everyday reality of life. Magic is everywhere. It is reason. It is currency. It is unquestionable fact. Prepare yourself for a journey into life on the other side of the mirror. Legendary filmmaker Richard Stanley (HARDWARE, DUST DEVIL, as well as a string of stunning documentaries) has never been under spoken about his studies in mysticism and the occult. A trained anthropologist whose brain glows with secret knowledge and forgotten histories, Stanley has spent decades exploring the literal fantastic.Often, I joke about who movies are truly made for, as so many of the films that we watch seem to have been created for an audience that was indifferent or may not have existed. I get the feeling that The Otherworld was made for Stanley himself, to explain (not exorcise) so many of the experiences that he has had. And it’s definitely for me, as it will be a film that I watch and meditate on more than several times. I can think of no higher praise than that.
- DirectorAntony BalchStarsRichard SchulmanJanet SpearmanDorothy GrumbarA brainy sex flick with a sense of humor, the film begins with a narrator/mummy who guides us through a number of vignettes promising to show what some of us go through in the pursuit of sexual pleasure. There's a fabulous ten minute opening, where the half naked go go dancers have vegetables thrown at them. One of the tales features a female photographer who tortures a male model. Another has a female burglar (Cathy Howard) caught by the house owner. The craziest involves a nerd hiring a blond call girl (Sue Bond) in pursuit of a menage-a-trois with his pet lizard; and there's a endearing misadventure with secret agent Lindy Leigh (Maria Frost) who does topless safecracking.What happens when you combine British portmanteau films, William S. Burroughs cut-up techniques, 1970’s philosophy, British men’s magazines like Mayfair and throw in a mummy? You get a sheer burst of pure insanity like Bizarre.
- DirectorMichele SoaviStarsRupert EverettFrançois Hadji-LazaroAnna FalchiA cemetery man must kill the dead a second time when they become zombies.Cemetery Man is everything I love about film — strangeness that is not easily accessible or categorized.
- DirectorDamiano DamianiStarsJames OlsonBurt YoungRutanya AldaA dysfunctional family moves into a new house, which proves to be satanic, resulting in the demonic possession of their teenage son.It doesn’t matter to me whether or not The Amityville Horror is truth or fiction. The truth is that the original film isn’t all that exciting. But the sequel? Holy *beep* — the sequel is pretty much everything you want in a movie — if you love movies filled with horrifyingly sick moments of glee.
- DirectorStuart GordonStarsIan Patrick WilliamsCarolyn Purdy-GordonCarrie LorraineA dysfunctional family of three stop by a mansion during a storm -- father, stepmother, and child. The child discovers that the elderly owners are magical toy makers and have a haunted collection of dolls.Dolls is a Stuart Gordon (Re-Animator, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Castle Freak) film and feels like a test run for the Demonic Toys movies. There are some moments of great invention, like the giant evil teddy bear and the eyeballs popping out of the punk girl. It was a theatrical release that actually didn’t do well, but found new life on video — where a young version of my wife found it and rented it just about every day.
- DirectorTobe HooperStarsNeville BrandMel FerrerCarolyn JonesA psychotic redneck, who owns a dilapidated hotel in rural East Texas, kills various people who upset him or his business, and he feeds their bodies to a large crocodile that he keeps as a pet in the swamp beside his hotel.True to his promise, Hooper delivers a film that feels like a nightmare throughout. Its dream logic makes for an occasionally funny, often grotesque movie that is never boring.
- DirectorTobe HooperStarsRobert EnglundTed LevineDaniel MatmorA laundry-folding machine has been possessed by a demon, causing it to develop homicidal tendencies.It’s painful to watch and while there’s some nice lighting and mood in a few scenes, there are other times that I fought to even keep the DVD in the player. Again — I don’t want to bury Hooper, but it’s a real shame that this came from his hand.
- DirectorTobe HooperStarsDennis HopperCaroline WilliamsJim SiedowA radio host is victimized by the cannibal family as a former Texas marshal hunts them.This is a film filled with excess that comments on excess. It’s filled with ridiculousness to combat the banal nature of 80’s ridiculousness. It’s also a popcorn film that could make most folks puke up said popcorn.
- DirectorTobe HooperStarsKaren BlackHunter CarsonTimothy BottomsA boy tries to stop aliens who have taken over his town and are attempting to brainwash its inhabitants.Instead of the adult oriented gore and sex that Lifeforce presented (which shows up here as a movie within a movie, main character David is watching the film and man, he’s super young for that movie), Invaders is a return to the themes of 1950’s science fiction. T
- DirectorTobe HooperStarsSteve RailsbackMathilda MayPeter FirthA race of space vampires arrives in London and infects the populace, beginning an apocalyptic descent into chaos.Plain and simple, Lifeforce is a mess. It seems inconceivable that this film and Chainsaw came from the same director. Which is, I guess, the point of so much of his Cannon films. They are all unique, all strange and all end up being completely different from the movie you expect them to be.
- DirectorSergio MartinoStarsGeorge HiltonAnita StrindbergAlberto de MendozaAn insurance investigator tries to determine any irregularities in the policy of a heiress' dead husband, but soon finds himself suspected of her murder.I’m rather glad this wasn’t the first of Martino’s giallo movies that I watched. It’s very by the numbers where his other fims seemed to try new stylistic touches. It’s not a waste of your time, but in a world where we get so little of it, you may be better off watching something else.
- DirectorSergio MartinoStarsSuzy KendallTina AumontLuc MerendaA string of appalling lust murders shocks the University of Perugia as a sadistic serial killer strangles to death beautiful college girls with a red and black scarf.Torso is decent, but pales in comparison to the rest of Martino’s giallo films. Suzy Kendall is great, but you can’t help but miss the rest of his established players.
- DirectorSergio MartinoStarsEdwige FenechAnita StrindbergLuigi PistilliA series of murders are committed near the estate of a degenerate author and his mistreated wife.Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key is superb. An intriguing story — only a few derailing giallo moments (like the killing of the girl in the room with the dolls and the B roll motocross scenes) — with great acting, intriguing camerawork and some genuine surprises, it’s well worth seeking out and savoring.
- DirectorSergio MartinoStarsGeorge HiltonEdwige FenechIvan RassimovA woman recovering from a car accident in which she lost her unborn child finds herself pursued by a coven of devil worshipers.This film is terrific, with Edwige Fenech turning in a strong performance. You really feel the isolation and madness that surround her and empathize with her. The visuals are strong and the break from the genre conventions of masked killers, gloved hands and inept police make watching this film a real joy. From beginning to end, it makes you question not only the reality that it presents but the objective trustworthiness of our heroine. And while it betrays an obvious inspiration to the aforementioned Rosemary’s Baby, it is not slavish in its devotion, making a spowerful statement on its own merit.
- DirectorGiuliano CarnimeoStarsEdwige FenechGeorge HiltonPaola QuattriniHaving recently escaped the clutches of a hippie sex cult, a beautiful model is pursued by a serial killer whose previous victims include former occupants of her new apartment.Whew. Your head is going to spin when you watch this one, trust me. That said — if you haven’t really gotten your brain trained toward giallo, you may want to skip this. I can never really figure out what other folks are going to like! But if you enjoy murder, models and murky plots, well, this one is for you.
- DirectorSergio MartinoStarsGeorge HiltonEdwige FenechConchita AiroldiAn ambassador's wife discovers that one of the men in her life - either her husband, an ex-lover or her current lover - may be a vicious serial killer.The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh was but the first of Martino’s giallo films, but it’s great. It kept me guessing until the end with none of the b roll travelogue footage and red herrings that plague so many other films in the genre. What a movie to spend the middle of the night into the morning with!
- DirectorGiulio ParadisiStarsMel FerrerGlenn FordLance HenriksenThe soul of a young girl with telekinetic powers and her mother become the prize in a battle between good ETs and evil ETs.I know I often write things like “I don’t have the words to describe this” when I do these reviews — especially after I write a few hundred words all about said subject. But this is one time that that statement is not pure hyperbole.
- DirectorPhillip MarshakTom McGowanGregg G. TallasStarsCameron MitchellMarc LawrenceFaith CliftMitchell, a police detective investigating the death of a victim of a German concentration camp, discovers a nightclubbing playboy who has strange powers over women and is seemingly ageless.Have you ever seen Night Train to Terror and wondered — what would one of that film’s portmanteau sequences be like if they were expanded to an entire movie? Good news! Well, maybe. Your wishes have come true.
- DirectorLucio FulciStarsChristopher ConnellyLaura LenziBrigitta BoccoliAn archaeologist opens an Egyptian tomb and accidentally releases an evil spirit. His young daughter becomes possessed by the freed entity and, upon arrival back in New York, the gory murders begin.Reviews call this film one of Fulci’s worst films, using phrases like “an impenetrable mess” and “uninspired.” Even the liner notes on the Anchor Bay release say that the film “doesn’t add up.” Woah boy — that would put off anyone else. But me? I’m excited to dig in. Get it? Dig in.
- DirectorDario ArgentoStarsJennifer ConnellyDonald PleasenceDaria NicolodiA young girl who has an amazing ability to communicate with insects is transferred to an exclusive Swiss boarding school, where her unusual capability might help solve a string of murders.I actually kind of love this movie. It makes little to no sense at numerous times, but you don’t walk into an Italian horror film expecting narrative structure. You hope to see some crazy gore, some interesting death scenes and maggots — all things that this film more than delivers.
- DirectorPatrick LussierStarsNicolas CageAmber HeardWilliam FichtnerA vengeful father escapes from hell and chases after the men who killed his daughter and kidnapped his granddaughter.Drive Angry isn’t a work of art. That said — it’s a hell of a lot of fun. There’s plenty of gore, lots of good gunplay and fun dialogue. Plus, plenty of Cage being Cage. You can’t ask for more than that.
- DirectorLucio FulciStarsFlorinda BolkanBarbara BouchetTomas MilianWhen a southern Italian town is rocked by a string of child murders, the police and two urban outcasts search for the culprit amid scapegoating within the superstitious community.I wouldn’t say it’s a fun film — no film stuffed with drowned and decimated children can be — but it’s well worth watching.
- DirectorEmilio MiragliaStarsBarbara BouchetUgo PagliaiMarina MalfattiTwo sisters inherit their family castle, which is said to be haunted by their ancestor, a dark-haired, red-robed woman who is said to take seven lives every hundred years.Emilio P. Miraglia followed up The Night Evelyn Came Out of Her Grave with this giallo freakout — starring the magnificent Barbara Bouchet (Don’t Torture a Duckling) — that combines gothic horror with the high fashion we’ve come to expect from early 70’s Italian horror.
- DirectorBo Arne VibeniusStarsChristina LindbergHeinz HopfDespina TomazaniA young woman, rendered mute after a childhood sexual assault, is trained to seek violent revenge on those who kidnapped and forced her into prostitution.The poster says it all: “The movie that has no limits of evil.” When people talk about grimy, evil pictures, this is the one they’re talking about.
- DirectorJesús FrancoStarsSoledad MirandaDennis PricePaul MullerAn erotic horror tale about a vixen vampiress seducing and killing women to appease her insatiable thirst for female blood.Sometimes, when you watch a horror film, you’re lied to by a title which promises you something that the film cannot or will not deliver. Not so with Jess Franco’s Vampyros Lesbos. Franco promises you lesbians and vampires and he delivers.
- DirectorLucio FulciStarsFlorinda BolkanStanley BakerJean SorelThe potentially unhinged daughter of a British politician is accused of killing her hedonistic neighbor after she witnesses the murder in a dream.If you were a well-to-do woman in Italy in the 1970s, chances are — based on the movies that I have seen — that you are about to killed, have killed someone, are having a lesbian affair, are on drugs or all of the above.
- DirectorJoe DanteStarsKirsten DunstGregory SmithDavid CrossWhen missile technology is used to enhance toy action figures, the toys soon begin to take their battle programming too seriously.Small Soldiers may have NASCAR, fast food and toy tie-ins, but it feels like a deeply personal film that savors biting the hand that fed the beast that financed it. It may be many things, all at once, but above all, it does not commit the most grievous of all movie sins. It is never, ever boring.
- DirectorLucio FulciStarsJorge RiveroAndrea OcchipintiConrado San MartínA young man, armed with a magical bow and arrows, embarks on a mystical journey through a mystical land to rid it of all evil and joins forces with an outlaw to take down an evil witch bent on claiming the magic bow for evil.I sat on my couch, jaw dropped, at the end of this film. There are parts where you’ll question how Fulci ever learned how to be a director. And moments where his brilliance smashes you in the brain as if a naked witch was about to get high off your frontal lobe.
- DirectorFred WaltonStarsDonald SutherlandCharles DurningBelinda BauerA priest is put in a dilemma when the serial killer who has been murdering priests and nuns confesses to him.Is this a giallo? A neo-noir? A detective story? Let’s not play with labels. Let’s just see it for what it is — a whodunit where priests and nuns are the victims of a serial killer who leaves a black rosary on their dead bodies.
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsLane CarrollWill MacMillanHarold Wayne JonesThe military attempts to contain a manmade combat virus that causes death and permanent insanity in those infected, as it overtakes a small Pennsylvania town.It’s a rough film — in a good way. Children scream as their parents are killed and burned in front of them. Polite society breaks down. And even science and the military can do nothing to stop the end.
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsJohn AmplasLincoln MaazelChristine ForrestA young man, who believes himself to be a vampire, goes to live with his elderly and hostile cousin in a Pennsylvania small town where he tries to redeem his blood-craving urges.Martin is not often said in the same breath as Romero’s zombie films and that’s a shame. It remains my favorite of his works, as there are so many ways to analyze the film. It’s not light watching or escapism, but the questions that it poses will stay with you long past the end of the film.
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsEd HarrisGary LahtiTom SaviniA medieval reenactment troupe struggles to maintain its family-like dynamic amid pressure from local authorities, interest from talent agents, and their "King's" delusions of grandeur.The auteur has arrived and this is his statement. However, it seemed audiences just may not have been ready for it.
- DirectorPeter ManoogianStarsAndrew PrineDenise CrosbyPatrick ReynoldsA former pilot rebels against his creator, teaming up with the scientist responsible for android technology, her pet robot Spot, a rough-and-tumble riverboat guide, and a martial arts warrior.When you’re 14 years old, you can’t yet comprehend that a movie can be a total piece of *beep* Seeing the Mandroid rolling around, knowing that a ninja was in this movie, I lost my mind and couldn’t wait to see it. But when you’re 14, you often are at the mercy of your family’s viewing choices (look, it was a different world in 1986. We only had one TV to watch movies on). I would have to wait 31 years to see this film and I can honestly tell you — it is a complete piece of *beep*
It’s an entertaining piece of *beep* though. - DirectorSteven KostanskiStarsMatthew KennedyAdam BrooksMeredith SweeneyA soldier, brought back to life as a cyborg, fights alongside a band of adventurers against demon hordes in a dystopian future.There’s some goofy humor and some slap happy action. That said — going back to my eleven-year-old self, then my answer would be, “Yes, this movie is awesome.” But if Becca came in the room and caught me watching this, I’d have a lot of explaining to do.
- DirectorJames GlickenhausStarsBob ByrdMonica TidwellMark BuntzmanA scientist who works for a secret government agency that studies zodiac signs finds himself against a dangerous Indian cult lead by a powerful enigmatic man.Whenever someone asks — and they often do — “What’s the craziest movie you’ve ever seen?” I usually respond with Suicide Cult. I’ve never had to pick my jaw off the floor more, as watching it felt like the little people I am certain live in my TV were putting on a magical play just for me, using the things I love best. The 1970s. Carnivals. Satanism. Biorhythms. Astrology. Government conspiracies. Religion . This is one film that honestly has it all — and then some.
- DirectorLucio FulciStarsJared MartinFred WilliamsonHoward RossIn 2072 Rome, Italy, the ruthless CEO of a TV network plots to stage a modern series of gladiator games for ratings while one 'contenstant' learns of a conspiracy behind the true nature of the results.If you ever watch a movie with me in person, you can tell exactly how I feel about it. If I love it, I will cajole you with bon mots and trivia and exclamations like, “Did you see that shot?” If I hate it, I’ll probably just fall asleep (even if I like a movie, there’s a chance I’ll still fall asleep). And if I really, really love it, I’ll literally run around the house screaming, “I *beep* LOVE THIS MOVIE!” and start looking up facts online and make myself a complete maniac, like some 1970s kid before they invented Ritalin.
- DirectorJoe DanteStarsDee WallacePatrick MacneeDennis DuganAfter a bizarre and near deadly encounter with a serial killer, a television newswoman is sent to a remote mountain resort whose residents may not be what they seem.The Howling is a movie in love with movies. Watching it, one comes away with the purest of joy, a celebration of past horror movies to come without ever talking down on the past, like worse movies such as Scream. In a year that also gave us the seminal An American Werewolf in London and the near forgotten Wolfen, it still stands out as something unique and different while whore heartedly embracing the past.
- DirectorJohn Llewellyn MoxeyStarsDarren McGavinCarol LynleySimon OaklandAn abrasive Las Vegas newspaper reporter investigates a series of murders committed by a vampire.This is 75 minutes of concentrated horror all with a main character that would directly connect to the fears and worries of the 70s.
- DirectorBuzz KulikStarsScott JacobyPippa ScottJohn LarchA perverted teenage boy who lives in the walls of a house finds the house sold to a family after his mother dies, then he falls for one of the new residents.For a blast of pure insanity — as long as you can get your brain to agree with the major reality bending events you’ll witness — you can’t go wrong with spending a little over an hour with Bad Ronald.
- DirectorDan CurtisStarsRobert BurtonJohn KarlenGeorge GaynesThree bizarre horror stories, all of which star Karen Black in four different roles playing four tormented women.Dan Curtis and Richard Matheson pretty much ruled 1970s made for TV horror. But when you throw in Karen Black and a memorable miniature villain, you’re left with pure nightmare fuel for 70s kids. Sure, we can endure all sorts of gore and doom now, but on March 4, 1974, the ABC Movie of the Week was about to give you all sorts of bad dreams.
- DirectorBill NortonStarsCornel WildeJennifer SaltGrayson HallAn anthropologist/paleontologist and his daughter, while travelling through the southwestern U.S., stumble upon a colony of living, breathing gargoyles.When I was a kid, I remember asking my dad what movies he thought were scary. He answered Night of the Living Dead and Gargoyles, so I was always nervous to watch this movie.
- DirectorDavid Lowell RichStarsPamela FranklinKate JacksonLloyd BochnerA young woman investigating her sister's suicide at a private girls' school finds herself battling a Satanic cult.Made for TV movies reflected the Satanic bent of the early 70s. This Aaron Spelling produced, David Lowell Rich (Eye of the Cat, Airport 79 – The Concorde) directed affair brings the devil to the boarding school, along with plenty of attractive girls ready to give their souls to the Son of the Morning Star.
- DirectorDavid F. SandbergStarsAnthony LaPagliaSamara LeeMiranda OttoTwelve years after the tragic death of their little girl, a doll-maker and his wife welcome a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home, where they become the target of the doll-maker's possessed creation, Annabelle.Modern horror ends up a homogenized pile of muck for the most part, but for my money, you can’t helped but be entertained by this film. Well done.
- DirectorMark HerrierAlan OrmsbyStarsJill SchoelenTom VillardDee WallaceA master of disguise deranged killer begins killing off the college students who are organizing a horror-movie marathon in an abandoned theater.Sometimes, you end up loving a movie for what it could be way more than for what it is. This would be one of those films.
- DirectorPaul Michael GlaserStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerMaria Conchita AlonsoYaphet KottoIn a dystopian America, a falsely convicted policeman gets his shot at freedom when he must forcibly participate in a TV game show where convicts, runners, must battle killers for their freedom.There are three things I want to immediately say that I’ve learned upon rewatching this film: Mick Fleetwood is playing himself, it’s aged worse than movies with a much smaller budget, and most importantly, so much of the dystopian future of this movie isn’t as bad as the world we live in right now.
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsJan WhiteRaymond LaineAnn MufflyA neglected, unhappy suburban housewife gets mixed up in witchcraft with unexpected consequences.As you may have gathered, the film is pretty much a mess. Supposedly half the shot footage ended up on the cutting room floor. And of all his films, it’s the one that Romero — on the 2002 commentary for The Crazies — said that he’d like to remake.
- DirectorGeorge A. RomeroStarsRaymond LaineJudith RidleyJohanna LawrenceA young man returns to his home city of Pittsburgh and moves in with an older woman whom he begins to rely on for emotional and financial support.Vanilla is about as night and day — sorry for the pun — from Night of the Living Dead as it gets. However, there were numerous times during it’s running time that I wished that a Venus probe would come back to earth and graves would cough up their dead.
- DirectorBeverly SebastianStarsTray LorenDonna ScogginsCana CockrellA crazed rock singer returns from the dead to murder members of his former band.I could have been the best, I could have had it made. Because of you and all the rest I wound up in a grave. In my dying day, revenge I swore I’d take. Now your time is running out! Let’s kill for killing’s sake!
- DirectorJohn FasanoStarsCindy CirileJesse D'AngeloChris FinkelAt a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, a hopeful hair-metal band seeking inspiration to record their upcoming new LP will soon find themselves in a furious confrontation against the Prince of Darkness himself.I’m 2:25 into this movie and I’m already screaming at the TV in glee. A farmhouse, somewhere that feels like Canada, with a mother — who has hair that feels like the 80s — is making eggs and calling everyone to eat. Then, a scream, to which her husband replies with all the intensity of someone answering a telemarketer. He opens the stove to a skull faced demon and screams as his son watches.
- DirectorTibor TakácsStarsStephen DorffChrista DentonLouis TrippKids left home alone accidentally unleash a horde of malevolent demons from a mysterious hole in their suburban backyard.Tibor Takács (director of I, Madman and yep, that’s on the list of movies to review) and a young Stephen Dorff take pre-teen trauma and metal love to the limit in this one.
Glen (Dorff, who smokes those blu cigs in commercials and makes Becca sigh and was also bad ass in Blade) has constant nightmares and a weird best friend named Terry (who is totally the most metal geek kid in cinema forever and ever). Together, they find a geode in the backyard and get blood on it. Because that’s what you do.