October Horror Challenge 2012 - Day 5

Day 5 got underway before going to sleep after day 4 with a viewing of the new Blu-ray of HALLOWEEN 4. This has been a favorite of mine for many years and the new disc looks great. Michael Myers is arguably at his most violent and unforgiving in this one. A thick Halloween atmosphere really adds to the feel of the film. It's always a joy to visit this one and now that it's in high-def it'll be even nicer.

I was in the mood for a familiar zombie movie so DAWN OF THE DEAD was up next, also on Blu. What can I say that hasn't been said before? A classic film that is always a blast to watch.

I've had the DVD of DR. BLACK, MR HYDE sitting on my shelf for a couple of months and today was the day for it. If you can't figure it out by the title this is a blaxploitation take on Jekyll & Hyde. While this was an entertaining piece of 70s exploitation horror it was a bit lite on both the blaxploitation and the horror and what could have been a classic piece of trash ends up being an entertaining movie but a missed opportunity.

Maybe it's a sign that I'm getting old but there have already been a few movies during the first 5 days of this marathon that have high school or college kids playing a large part that just absolutely drove me nuts. ONE DARK NIGHT is the latest culprit, although my disdain for the movie could be unjustly blamed on the main characters of high school girls and be put squarely on the shoulders of the writing which is complete fluff until an hour in to the film. Everything important in this movie would make a nicely timed TV episode at around 45 minute. We have a group of girls initiating another into their club by making her stay overnight in a mausoleum. Little do they know that a recently buried man had telekinetic powers in his life and can still use them from beyond the grave. He creates chaos around the building unleashing corpses to attack the kids. There is actually some worthwhile material in here but it all goes to the special effects department creating some nasty looking rotten corpses of varying stages of decay. This was directed by Tom McLoughlin of Friday The 13th Part 6 fame (one of my favorite entries) and was his first feature film. Better pacing would have worked miracles for this film.

BLOOD SISTERS was next and it was the final movie in the triple feature set with One Dark Night and Girls Nite Out. It was garbage. Some girls spend a night in a haunted brothel to pledge for a sorority and there's a killer and ghosts and an obnoxious girl who reminded me of Thelma from Scooby-Doo without any of the charm. Yea, it was just pretty fucking terrible. 

I had to bring a little class in to the rotation after that so I busted out the Blu-ray of THE MAN WHO COULD CHEAT DEATH that has been sitting on my shelf for well over a year. I'd never seen this earlier Hammer film that has a great cast including Christopher Lee and Hazel Court and Anton Diffring. The story was solid but the movie played out a little too slowly and conventionally. The cast was great of course and it was a solid film. A worthy part of Hammer's catalog.

The day's viewing was wrapped up THE LAST SLUMBER PARTY. This late 80s slasher is one of the biggest pieces of shit I've ever seen. I wanted to give it credit about 20 minutes in just for being low budget and getting the movie made but after sitting through the rest of its 72 minute run time I wanted to stab my eyeballs out and feed them to a gutter cat. I don't know if I've seen a movie this short drag this much. Sure, stuff is happening, there are kills happening but none of it fucking matters. There is no emotion in anything going on. Not the acting, not the soundtrack, not in the writing. Nothing. Hell, the Goddamn movie is over at the 60 minute mark just to have 12 minutes at the end where it can say "fuck you!, we gotchya for 12 more minutes!" and it turns into a bullshit dream sequence. This is an infuriating piece of trash that I would wipe my ass with if I wasn't so sure that it would find a way to start playing the movie from within me and make me relive the nightmare all over again.

Today's Rundown
Halloween 4 - 8/10
Dawn Of The Dead - 9.5/10
Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde - 6/10
One Dark Night - 3/10
Blood Sisters - 2.5/10
The Man Who Could Cheat Death -  6.5/10
The Last Slumber Party - 0/10

October Horror Challenge 2012 - Day 4

Only a pair of movies in today. Hopefully that means the batteries will be charged for Friday.

First off was TUCKER AND DAVE VS EVIL. I'd been wanting to see this for a while and was pretty excited to finally dig into it since most of the reviews I'd read were positive. It was a bit different than I expected, I never read too much into the plot details so I was expecting some sort of monsters and not douchey college kids to be the antagonist. It worked out okay but I couldn't help but feel a bit cheated. The humor which is the basis of the entire film was very hit or miss with me and sometimes it just fell flat. The movie was largely entertaining however and there were plenty of laughs to be had and action was plentiful. Its heart was definitely in the right place.

And I squeezed in another slasher film before the day ran out, GIRLS NITE OUT from 1984. The story is nothing special, and actually plays out very similarly to Unhinged from earlier in the challenge. This one had potential to be a stand out slasher film, at least on a superficial level. The killer wears a silly bear costume through most of the film which stands out among other slasher icons and there is a big body count. Unfortunately much of the violence is off camera. It scores bonus points for having a Creature From The Black Lagoon and Werner Herzog's Nosferatu poster in the background of a scene.

Today's Rundown
Tucker And Dale vs Evil - 6.5/10
Girls Nite Out - 4.5/10

October Horror Challenge 2012 - Day 3

The original plan was to start day 3 was right around midnight after I finished the write-up for day 2 and pop in Nekromantik. Well after a few minutes in to that it was clear that my burned copy wasn't going to cooperate so I went to plan B, CRITTERS 3. Yes, a drastic change in mood and content but at that point I just wanted something to dig in to and get ready for some sleep. The second sequel of the series is right in line with the other films, it's corny, funny and just a little bit violent. Leonardo DiCaprio makes a very early appearance in his career as one of the main kids. Nothing extraordinary but it was a good fit to relax to.

 And then Critters 4 happened. I completely understand if you're not a fan of the series, they're nothing incredible but I found the first 3 to be cheesy fun. Critters 4 is a chore to sit through. Taking place on a spaceship it could have been a blast, cheesy sequels in space always have potential for hilarity to ensue. This was melodramatic space  bitching through the first hour of the film. The Critters hardly appear at all, and I'll take them raiding a kitchen in part 3 to having to hear the crew of this ship bitch at the malfunctioning control system. It figures they'd make the worst entry in the series the longest one too. This is on the same level as DeathBed.

After a double helping of furry cheese I wanted something more serious so a random grab in to the unwatched pile gave me UNHINGED. This is a straight to video slasher from 1982 and to put it bluntly it's underwhelming. The kills happen mostly in cut-away sequences and for a film such as this the kills are the bread and butter. The acting is rather wooden for the most part, however the old mother and her daughter are good in their roles, however the twist is something that just has little impact on the film and falls flat. This film was a on the Video Nasties list but there isn't anything particularly nasty about it. Some nudity and some blood splashing around from off screen violence is all there is, and it isn't much of either.

NIGHTMARES, hmm... I barely knew this film existed until it was mentioned in the Aussie exploitation documentary Not Quite Hollywood and when I saw the DVD for a low enough price I grabbed it for the challenge. This film really tries to break out of the slasher film shell but fails miserably. This is a slasher film through and through. One look at the POV shots during the murder sequences will tell you that. It wants to be a smart and psychological film but it's just a sloppy mess. Editing leaves a lot to be desired as there are moments where I had to question exactly what the hell was happening. The soundtrack is the high point of this movie.

Since its release I've been hearing mixed things about THE WARD. This film has divided its audience and lead to a lot of hate and basing of John Carpenter's latest effort. After finally seeing it I have to say that I can see why it has divided audiences. The film is flawed, from its incredible overuse of jump scares to the ending that has been used over and over. While there are sequences that work, and I appreciate the attempt at building paranoia among the girls it ultimately feels a bit deflated and comes off as more of a TV movie than something Carpenter would be behind. It's not a terrible film, it honestly isn't even really a bad film it's just far too bland and typical for its own good.

I decided to finally give the Blu-Ray from Shameless of FOUR FLIES OF GREY VELVET a spin. I've seen this giallo from Argento (the 3rd in his "animal trilogy") a number of times in varying degrees of print quality and this BD just blows them all away. It's beautiful. The movie is solid even if it has some ridiculous moments, they just seem to work with this one. The introduction of Godfrey into the film has one of the silliest soundtrack moments I can remember. It was a joy to revisit this and see it fully on Blu and not just scan over it as I had done.

And the day will wrap up with TALES OF TERROR, an anthology film from Roger Corman and features appearances by Vincent Price, Peter Lorre and Basil Rathbone. The film features 3 Poe adaptations, Morella, The Black Cat and The Facts In The Case Of M. Valdemar. Morella is short and rather quick moving building to its fiery finale. The Black Cat has a lot more humor from both Lorre and Price than I expected but they pull it off with grace. It is quite funny but if you know the story you know exactly how this will play out. Valdemar features Basil Rathbone as a villainous man controlling the dead body of Valdemar, played by Vincent Price. All around a solid picture.

Today's Rundown
Critters 3 - 6/10
Critters 4 - 2/10
Unhinged - 4/10
Nightmares - 4/10
The Ward - 4.5/10
Four Flies Of Grey Velvet - 7/10
Tales Of Terror - 6/10

October Horror Challenge 2012 - Day 2

After spending the entire morning and early afternoon battling traffic in the rain I came home and put on TOWER OF LONDON. It seems for every Roger Corman film starring Vincent Price I've seen there is another that I haven't, this being one of those that I hadn't seen. Price stars in this film based on the Shakespeare play "Richard III" and is the evil nobleman hellbent on gaining the crown of England even if it means killing his family, including his youthful nephews. What he doesn't expect is for his guilt and paranoia to manifest itself into the ghosts of his victims who drive him to his demise. It is no surprise that Price is great in his role and that the film is another winner from Corman.

 To follow that up I popped in the Full Moon movie DEATH BED which is presented by Stuart Gordon. Gordon's attachment to the film was really the only thing giving me any hope that it may be worth a damn and I should have know that his Executive Producer role would lend anything to the actual production of the film. The film is about a bed that a young couple discovers in the attic of their new converted warehouse apartment that was the scene of a murder involving a prostitute decades earlier. The bed now haunts the young woman who took it out of storage for her own use. The plot sounds stupid and it is. This movie is the definition of straight to DVD garbage in every single way.

There have been way too many shitty movies for just the first 2 days of the challenge. I mean, first there was The Drive-In Massacre and then Nightmares Come At Night which was no bad dream, but now Death Bed? Fuck. I hope the rest of the month isn't this rough.

Luckily we got back to the good stuff with 1988's THE BRAIN. I've known about this title for a while but never got around to seeing it as it has no disc release and I never stumbled over the VHS. This flick concerns a giant brain monster gaining power and controlling minds through the aid of it's main caretaker played by Re-Animator's David Gale (who is seemingly always a nasty doctor) and his TV show called "Independent Thinking". A local high school kid finds out about the plot to take over the minds of everybody with a television set and he is thrown head first into the adventure to stop it. This is full of 80s cheese and a great practical FX monster. I hope this thing gets a DVD or BD release soon.

The last film of day 2 is SLUGS. A film about mutant killer slugs can only be handled with such class by acclaimed director J.P. Simon. Okay, there is very little class to speak of and Simon is more infamous than acclaimed for his work on the classic splatterfest Pieces. SLUGS has ridiculous gore, a plot straight out of 50s sci-fi horror (mutant bugs from a damaged Ecosystem) and did I mention ridiculous gore? You cannot go in this movie with any intention of taking it seriously. Sit back, grab a beer and just enjoy. It's a fucking blast. 

Today's Rundown
Tower Of London - 7.5/10
Death Bed - 2/10
The Brain - 7/10
Slugs - 8/10

October Horror Challenge 2012 - Day 1

Ah, October, the best month of the year is here yet again and that means horror movies all month long. My fun started a couple of days early in getting to meet the beautiful Asia Argento at the Monster Mania Convention. The show got me really excited for some horror fun and meeting her was a dream come true.

The film to start of the challenge was KURONEKO. I'd been holding on to this disc for a few months after buying it during a Criterion sale. This is a beautifully directed and photographed tale of vengeance and love centered around Japanese folklore. The Criterion Blu-Ray looks pretty nice and the thick atmosphere surrounding the ghosts made it a perfect start to the month.

Next up was a pair of movies on another disc I'd been waiting to watch. First was THE DRIVE-IN MASSACRE, billed on the case as "the first splatter film". This slasher from 1977 is completely and utterly un-noteworthy and is a complete waste of time. The performances aren't bad as they should be for this low budget affair and there is one scene early in the movie that has a cool kill but other than that its a disaster. 74 minutes feel like 2 hours and much of the 3rd act has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the movie.

The 2nd feature on the disc was a movie I'd been wanting to see for a long time but never got to it- Abel Ferrara's THE DRILLER KILLER. This was a grimy piece of exploitation horror that I'd like to see a better looking copy of. This double feature DVD from Grind Global Media is total shit, on both features. Dark scenes are a mess and compression is among the heaviest I've seen. Colors are washed out beyond belief and the audio has to fight with hissing and cracking. Despite the shortcomings of this cheapo public domain disc this film was solid in it's delivery and execution. Abel Ferrara also stars in the film as a man being driven to the edge by his surroundings- roommates, neighbors, bill collectors, the city itself. There is also no shortage of gore here.

I got suckered into PAINTBALL by the title. I used to play the sport all of the time and still love it even though I haven't played in years. I figured a horror movie mixed with one of the games I love couldn't be all bad. Well there's about 6 seconds of paintball and the rest is a rather typical stalk and slash through the woods affair with a twist ending you can see coming a mile away. It's a harmless movie that was just unremarkable.

The 5th film of the day was one that a friend mentioned to me a few months back and made me want to see it, SATAN'S SLAVE. This is a British film starring Michael Gough and while being a bit slow is well acted by the entire cast and has a few moments that will stand out in your memory. A very good story of a girl who moves in to a distant uncle's home after her family perish in a car fire only to find out that her relatives are in a Satanic cult and have plans for her to be offered like Camilla. As I mentioned the cast and a few standout moments really carry this film but it is good on the whole and I will have to look into the special edition DVD.

My hard drive has been filling up with random movies that I haven't gotten around to watching so I decided to pick one and watch it. KILLDOZER was the selection, a made-for-TV movie from 1974. As you can probably decipher from the title, this is about a killer bulldozer. The machine came in contact with a meteorite and then gets a mind of its own and it likes to kill. Nothing great but I really do miss the days when made-for-TV movies had this much personality.

Ohhhh Jess Franco... sometimes you can make entertaining cheese and sleaze like Faceless and other times you make NIGHTMARES COME AT NIGHT. This film will drain you with its incessant nagging characters, stupid narration and go-nowhere pacing that consumes 95% of the film. Franco's trademark direction i.e. totally random panning and zoom-ins for no reason are on full display here. Luckily so is the film's only saving grace- the beautiful women who are naked more often than not. That isn't enough to keep this film from being a total piece of shit, nor is the ending that you can guess just from hearing a brief synopsis of the film. The points this film gets will be solely for the eye candy.

I needed a break after that one, and decided it was time for my first re-watch. I wanted something fun and familiar and THE GATE instantly caught my eye on the shelf. This flick has everything from demonologist metal bands to zombies and claymation demons trying to take over the world. If you've never seen this one and are looking for a fun horror movie I highly suggest it. This did the trick to get me back in the mood for tomorrow.

Today's Rundown
Kuroneko - 8.5/10
The Drive-In Massacre - 2.5/10
The Driller Killer - 7/10
Paintball - 4.5/10
Satan's Slave - 7.5/10
Killdozer - 5/10
Nightmares Come At Night - 2/10
The Gate - 8.5/10

October Horror Challenge - The Preview

October is right around the corner yet again and that means for the 4th consecutive year I will be participating in the October Horror Movie Challenge at DVDTalk. The challenge is in its 8th year and just gets bigger and better every year. The basic idea of the challenge is to watch as much horror as you can during the month and have fun talking about what you watch with the other participants. To participate all you have to do is be signed up at DVDTalk forums and create a list post in the appropriate thread. Every participant has a chance to win a prize from the great sponsors this year. Sponsors and prizes are at an all time high this year and yes, Celluloid Terror is donating some prizes for the challenge.

Just like last year my daily viewing will be recapped on this site with mini reviews and thoughts about each movie. Any other seasonal stuff that I end up doing such as pumpkin carving, haunted houses, and anything else that goes along with Halloween will also be covered. This is the most active month of the year for CT and always the most fun too.


The challenge officially starts September 30 at dusk and ends the morning of November 1st at dawn. Join the challenge, follow my month of turning my brain to Jell-O and have fun with me. See you in a few days with the first post!

The Complete HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR (DVD Review)

England/1980
Directed By: Various
Written By: Various
Starring: Various
Color/702 Minutes/Not Rated

The Film
By 1980 the famed horror studio Hammer had ceased theatrical productions and started an anthology TV series known as HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR. The series ran for 13 one hour episodes that were cut for airing in the US, with the final episode never even making it to American screens. 

"Witching Time" is the first episode of the series. Directed by Don Leaver and originally airing on September 13, 1980, this episode starts out with a sequence that could be taken from any slasher the decade would come to be known for however this is not how the episode would play out. Take a little bith of witchcraft and add in some time travel, nudity and possession and you have a worthy start to this series. Look for Italian genre film favorite Ian McCulloch  to guest star as the doctor. A week later came "The Thirteenth Reunion" helmed by long time Hammer collaborator Peter Sasdy. Look for a familiar British face in Warren Clarke who played one of Alex De Large's droogs in Kubricks A Clockwork Orange. The horrors that high society partake in and get away with are on full display here. Rounding out the first disc in the set is another episode from Peter Sasdy that stars Denholm Elliott, a face fans of Indiana Jones will undoubtedly recognize. In this episode Elliott plays a real estate agent who dreams of murder over and over (and over) until his mind begins to crack under the pressure and dreams become a reality.

 Disc 2 gets underway with "Growing Pains" which feels a lot like The Omen through much of the episode. The atmosphere is creepy surrounding the main character, a young boy who was recently adopted. The ending doesn't quite live up to the build. I still found it to be a worthy entry. Have you ever heard how a house can harbor negative emotions or that an inanimate object can be evil? That is the case in "The House That Bled To Death", which has some of my favorite visuals of the entire series and may be the most unforgiving in it's nature. Director Robert Young made his Hammer debut with the underrated Vampire Circus. Here he directs "Charlie Boy", the story of a man and his wife who have inherited the art collection from their dead uncle. Included in which is an African statue similar to a voodoo doll that begins to claim the lives of those surrounding it. This may be among the most brutal of all the episodes. "The Silent Scream" starts out disc number 3 and was directed by Alan Gibson the man responsible for Hammer titles such as Dracula A.D. 1972 (which I love) and The Satanic Rites Of Dracula. While he got to direct Christopher Lee in those two films he gets to direct the other top name for Hammer, Peter Cushing. This episode is very well made, has great performances and excellent tension. There is good reason that this is probably the most well liked episode of the series. The only film in the series to use a traditional horror monster is "Children Of The Full  Moon". This episode is pretty good with it's use of old Hungarian folk lore and a spooky countryside atmosphere. A little more action would have been nice though. Wrapping up the disc is "Carpathian Eagle" a play on the story of Jack The Ripper that has a few twists on and in the story. I found it to be a bit slow and not totally engaging but the payoff is worth it.

The final 4 episodes are split across discs 4 and 5 starting with episode number 10 of the series, "Guardian Of The Abyss". This episode features Satanic cults, black masses, creepy evil antiques... all things I'm a fan of. There is some cool imagery as well that adds even more flare from the devil. All in all an enjoyable episode."Visitor From The Grave" is a bit more psychologically driven and is a decent thriller. Featuring murder, setups, and bodies that won't stay buried this episode spends it's runtime watching the main character descend into madness (again).What starts as an innocent vacation turns into a surreal nightmare where everything that can go wrong, does in "The Two Faces Of Evil". This is an interesting episode from returning director Alan Gibson that twists and turns down a road to doppleganger hell.'The Mark Of Satan" is "the episode that went too far!". The 13th and final episode of the series was never aired for syndication in the US including cable and a run with Elvira home videos and only aired one time during the original run in it's native England. Numerology, Demonology, conspiracies, paranoia, cannibalism and self-mutilation are all on display here in various levels. Is it evil at play or a crazy man's psyche tearing him apart? That is the ultimate question.

The Video
Synapse Films brings us the complete series of HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR in a nice looking 1.33:1 full frame transfer preserving it's original aspect ratio from it's television broadcast. It isn't clear if any restoration work has been done to the film elements but they look well maintained and very clean. Colors and dark levels are strong and flesh tones look natural. There are only a couple of instances where the image gets soft and these instances only last for a few seconds each. Other than that there is nothing to complain about here.

 

The Audio
A 2.0 Mono track is the single audio option but it does the job just fine. The level mixing is done with skill as dialogue never has to compete with each episode's soundtrack. Levels are stable across all 5 discs and all in all the audio on this set is handled very well. 

The Extras
Episode Introductions With Film Historian Shane M. Dallman- Each episode receives an intro from Mr. Dallman that provides a brief insight into the making and history of that episode. Everything from key names in the cast to the censorship the episode received during original syndication is covered. These are optional for the episodes but are great to watch at least the first time you make your way through the set. 

Grave Recollections: A Visit With Kathryn Leigh Scott- This interview spends several minutes with the lead actress from the "Visitor From The Grave" episode as she fondly remembers her time spent with Hammer and in the horror genre. 

Hammer Housekeeping: A Visit With Mia Nadasi- Another interview with an actress from "Visitor From The Grave" who is also married to director Peter Sasdy. She discusses working with her husband and on the series. 

Animated Still Gallery
   

 The Bottom Line 
Synapse Films has put together an attractive 5 disc set in a standard width single Amaray case that presents HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR uncensored with all of the nudity and violence intact. Any fan of Hammer productions, horror anthology series or horror as a whole will enjoy this set. There is enough variation in each episode that there is something for everyone. The extra features are a nice addition even if they leave us wanting more in the way of supplemental material. I have no problem highly recommending this set to everyone.

HAMMER HOUSE OF HORROR is available HERE