‘Science runs amok to create a giant with two heads!’

The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant is a 1971 American science fiction/horror film directed by Anthony Lanza (Dangerous Love) from a screenplay by James Gordon White (The Thing with Two Heads) and John Lawrence.

Cast:

Bruce Dern (Swamp Devil; Twixt; Coffin Baby), Pat Priest (Marilyn in The Munsters; Bewitched), Casey Kasem (voice of Shaggy in Scooby-Doo), Albert Cole (The Astral Factor), John Bloom (Dracula vs. Frankenstein; Brain of Blood), Berry Kroeger ((Nightmare in Wax; The Mephisto Waltz; Demon Seed), Larry Vincent (The Witchmaker; Monster Rally; Doctor Death: Seeker of Souls), Jack Lester (Die Sister, Die!).

Plot:

Dr. Roger Girard (Bruce Dern) is a rich scientist experimenting with head transplantation. His caretaker has a son, Danny (John Bloom), who is an extremely strong full-grown man, but he has the mind of a child.

Meanwhile, Manuel Cass (Albert Cole), a maniacal killer, has murdered Dr. Girard’s caretaker and is badly injured himself. Dr. Girard decides to transplant the murderer’s head onto Danny’s body.

The new creature, with one head of a murderer and the other with the mental capacity of an eight-year old attached to an extremely powerful body, begins wreaking havoc…

Buy: Amazon.com

Reviews:

“If you insist on making it an either/or proposition, I’d still say stick with The Thing with Two Heads but I’d also say you’d be doing yourself a disservice by not making the time for both of AIP’s two-headed-guy disasterpieces. Besides, I’m pretty sure this is the only time you’ll ever get to see John Bloom acting in his real face.” 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

” … its monstrous combination of Al Cole’s gap-toothed grinning and devious natured lunatic fixated on the shoulder of and easily taking control over John’ Bloom’s crying, head-shaking idiot is simply unforgettable.” George R. Reis, DVD Drive-in

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Cast and Characters:

• Bruce Dern as Dr. Roger Girard
• Pat Priest as Linda Gerard
• Casey Kasem as Dr. Ken Anderson
• Albert Cole as Manuel Cass
• John Bloom as Danny Norton
• Berry Kroeger Dr. Max
• Larry Vincent as Andrew Norton
• Jack Lester as the Sheriff
• Jerry Patterson as the Deputy
• Darlene Duralia as Miss Pierce
• Raymond Thorne as Motorcyclist #1
• Gary Kent as Motorcyclist #2
• Mary Ellen Clawsen as Female Motorcyclist
• Janice P. Gelman as Teenage victim
• Mike Espe as Teenage victim

Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

Trailer:

Wikipedia | IMDb

She Killed in Ecstasy is a 1970 West German-Spanish erotic horror thriller film directed by Jesús Franco. The production staff included many cast members and nearly the same crew as his previous film Vampyros Lesbos. The German title is Sie tötete in Ekstase.

Cast:

Soledad Miranda, Fred Williams, Ewa Strömberg, Paul Muller, Howard Vernon, Horst Tappert, Jess Franco.

She Killed in Ecstasy is currently available as a definitive uncut Severin Films Blu-ray in the US and UK. Extras include interviews with Jess Franco, Soledad Miranda historian Amy Brown, Stephen Thrower (author of Murderous Passion: The Delirious Cinema of Jess Franco); actor Paul Muller and the German trailer.

Plot:

Dr. Johnson (Fred Williams) lives in bliss with his beautiful wife (Soledad Miranda) until his unorthodox experiments with human embryos causes a medical committee to reject his findings and orders him to discontinue his work. The unstable doctor slashes his wrists in the bathroom. Devastated, his wife vows to seduce and kill the woman and three men “responsible” for the suicide…

Reviews:

Jess Franco’s direction here focuses almost solely on the undoubted screen presence of Soledad Miranda is all the better for it. The revenge and necrophilia-themed lost soulmate storyline, which borrows elements from the director’s previous films The Diabolical Dr. Z  and Venus in Furs, was clearly cobbled together solely to use her obvious acting talents.

Yet, despite little dialogue, Miranda conveys vengeance and female fury with merely her eyes. Elsewhere, the director’s own masochistic demise, at the hands of his lead actress is, as Stephen Thrower suggests in an interview extra, perhaps the sole reason for the film’s existence!

Thankfully, its only right at the end of the slim Sadean plot that Franco overreaches himself with a montage of seemingly endless images of Miranda that slightly smacks of overkill.

Elsewhere, the lack of a dynamic narrative is compensated for by some delightfully kitsch architecture, interior decoration and fashions such as an ornate metal bra, and fetishistic imagery such as when Ewa Strömberg’s naked character is smothered to death with a plastic see-thru pillow after a lesbian romp with Miranda.

Hubler and Schwab’s upbeat sitar-tinged easy listening score is sometimes out of kilter with what’s happening on screen, e.g. Fred Williams character Dr. Johnson committing suicide, so was presumably used as it was available rather than being composed for this film and Vampyros Lesbos. But that’s a minor quibble as it’s excellent in itself and provides a memorable musical juxtaposition that fits the odd ambiance.

If you’re already a fan of Jess Franco’s delirious late 60s/early 70s oeuvre, the uncut and gorgeous looking Severin Blu-ray restoration is a must-have purchase.

Adrian J Smith, Horrorpedia

“Actress Soledad Miranda’s physical presence alone brings an atmosphere of mysterious eroticism and melancholy to the film that is seldom to be seen in Franco’s other work… a straight “star vehicle” built around Miranda.” Peter Blumenstock, Obsession: The Films of Jess Franco

“For a film filled with nudity, strange decor and kitschy muzak Sie tötete in Ekstase is a downbeat, depressing affair. Even the presence of the lovely Soledad Miranda fails to revive the tortured, repetitive plot. The film overflows with death and thwarted desire… Sie tötete in Ekstase is deadly serious. Too serious to be entertaining.” Pete Tombs, Cathal Tohill, Immoral Tales: European Sex & Horror Movies, 1956-1984

“Manuel Merino’s photography focuses solely and seductively upon Miranda, as she seduces the film’s characters. Franco’s compositions are a little too clean for my tastes and too formal, as if he doesn’t want to taint the beauty of Miranda. Numerous close-ups of her face and hypnotic eyes fill She Killed in Ecstasy, as Miranda is often able to portray her descent into madness and despair through only the windows into her soul.” Hans A., Quiet Cool

Cast and characters:

• Soledad Miranda as Mrs. Johnson
• Fred Williams as Dr. Johnson
• Ewa Strömberg as Dr. Crawford
• Paul Muller as Dr. Franklin Houston
• Howard Vernon as Prof. Jonathan Walker
• Horst Tappert as Polizeiinspektor
• Jesús Franco as Dr. Donen
• Rudolph Hertzog Jr. as Kongressteilnehmer
• Karl-Heinz Mannchen as Kongressteilnehmer

Trailer:

Wikipedia | IMDb

The Corpse aka The Velvet House is a 1969 British horror film directed by Viktors Ritelis from a screenplay by Olaf Pooley (The Godsend; Lifeforce) for London-Cannon Films. In the US, it was released in 1971 by May Films as Crucible of Horror. Not to be confused with Crucible of Terror (1971).

The Corpse was unreleased in the UK until 1972 as a support feature to US import Psycho Killer by Grand National Pictures.

The film was featured in Season 2 Episode 13 of the late night TV show Elvira’s Movie Macabre.

“For most of its running time, it’s a nice little gothic thriller that’s a bit slow in the uptake and prone to abandon plot threats almost as soon as they are introduced, but it’s a fairly solid film until the final 10-15 minutes. Then it all goes to crap.” Terror Titans

” … this slow-moving shocker boasts adequate performances and solid production values, as well as imaginative cinematography, but the piece is undercut by a muddled storyline.” Every ’70s Movie

” … nicely atmospheric in portraying the English suburbs and countryside, although for most of the film one gets the impression that one is watching a suspense thriller rather than a horror film. Gough provides the standout performance as the father. Especially chilling (and funny, in an extremely dark sense) is his serenity before and after his savage beatings.” Thomas M. Simpos, Communist Vampires

“While the script was nothing to write home about, the performances from Gough, Sharon Gurney, and Yvonne Mitchell are all strong, and the director shows some imagination in the handling of the subject, with good use of unusual angles.” Andy Boot, Fragments of Fear: An Illustrated History of British Horror Films

Cast and characters:

• Michael Gough as Walter Eastwood
• Yvonne Mitchell as Edith Eastwood
• Sharon Gurney as Jane Eastwood
• Simon Gough as Rupert Eastwood
• David Butler as Gregson
• Olaf Pooley as Reid
• Nicholas Jones as Benjy Smith
• Mary Hignett as Servant
• Howard Goorney as Petrol Pump Attendant

Choice dialogue:

Walter Eastwood [Michael Gough]: Who touched my guns?

Filming Locations:

Merton Park Studios, London

Wikipedia | IMDb

The Devil’s Possessed aka Devil’s Possessed – is a 1974 Spanish-Argentinian action adventure horror film directed by León Klimovsky from a screenplay by Jacinto Molina Alvarez [Paul Naschy]. The film is loosely based on the life of the infamous child serial killer Gilles de Rais (1404-1440).

The film’s Spanish title is El Mariscal del Infierno “The Marshall of Hell” whilst the Argentinian title is Los poseídos de Satán “Satan Possessed”.

The musical soundtrack seems to be a mix of library cues and electronic synth interludes by Carlos Viziello (Supernatural).

Plot:

Baron Gilles de Lancre (Naschy) is an evil ruler who uses alchemy, witchcraft and necromancy to keep his subjects in line, but his reign of terror eventually prompts the people to revolt…

Reviews:

“The emphasis on Naschy, not to mention on sacrifice and torture, marks El Mariscal as a horror film rather than a swashbuckler in the final analysis; it’s closest analogue might well be Rowland V. Lee’s Tower of London in its volatile genre mix. In any event, this film is admirable for its ambition, even if that ambition isn’t fully achieved.” Mondo 70: A Wild World of Cinema

” … probably the worst movie Paul Naschy and León Klimovsky created together. A horrendously slow medieval adventure-melodrama that looks like some 40s or 50s swashbuckler film and has nearly nothing to do with the horror genre.” Maynard’s Horror Movie Diary

“Naschy is wonderfully evil once he turns it loose and goes for broke with the Gilles character, and it’s fun to watch him in the aforementioned soliloquy and in his last stand at the climax. His right-hand man Sillé, played with Vincent Price/Basil Rathbone smarminess by Mariano Vidal Molina, is an effective performance…” Mad Mad Mad Mad Movies

Cast and characters:

Paul Naschy – Baron Gilles de Lancre
Standard Sebre – Georgelle
Guillermo Bredeston – Gaston de Malebranche
Mariano Vidal Molina – Sillé
Nilson Graciela Graciela
Eduardo Calvo – Simon Braqueville
Fernando Rubio – Estebano
Luis Induni – Paul
Jose Luis Chinchilla – Daniel
Francisco Nieto
Carmen Carro – Bastiana
Germán Kraus
Javier de Rivera
Cesar Barona
Toni Mosul
Emilio Mellado
Luis Gonzalez Paramo
Simon Arriaga
Sandra Mozarowsky – sacrificed girl
Juan Madrigal
Fernando Villena
Ana Farra
Adela Vazquez
Joaquín Solis
Antonio Orengo
Maria de los Angeles Muñoz
Jeannette Aristensen
Jaime Moreno
Maria Giani

Choice dialogue:

Baron Gilles de Lancre [Paul Naschy]: “We still do not have the philosopher stone!”

Trailer:

IMDb

‘Illustrated stories of female-filled fantasy’

Devilina is a 1975 American magazine published by Atlas/Seabord Publishing (The Grim Ghost; Movie Monsters; Weird Tales of the Macabre) that only lasted for two issues. Martin Goodman, the founder of Marvel Comics in 1939, created Atlas but the dark fantasy market was already swamped.

Plot:

The sister of Satan, Devilina is transported through time, along with her mother, from the Biblical “time of the casting out” to modern day New England. There, under the watchful eye of her mother, the infant Devilina grows to womanhood in a mansion guarding “the secret entrance to Hell.

Shortly after arriving at college, Devilina is contacted by Satan, who invites her to join him in ruling Hell. She refuses and is allowed to return home.

Years pass and Devilina pushes family concerns out of her mind as she pursues her studies. After her date to the graduation ball is killed in a fire triggered by Satan, she vows a war of vengeance on her brother…

Thanks: The Atlas Archives

Death Smiles at Murder – aka Death Smiles on a Murderer (Italian: La morte ha sorriso all’assassino) – is a 1973 Italian horror film photographed and directed by Aristide Massaccesi [Joe D’Amato] from a screenplay co-written with Claudio Bernabei and Romano Scandariato.

Main cast:

Ewa Aulin, Klaus Kinski (Nosferatu the Vampyre; Schizoid; Venom), Angela Bo, Sergio Doria, Luciano Rossi (City of the Living Dead), Attilio Dottesio, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart.

Plot:

1909: A rich couple take in a young girl who was in a horse carriage accident and has amnesia, and both have an affair with her. Meanwhile, Dr. Sturges (Klaus Kinski) uses an ancient Incan formula to raise the dead for his own series of revenge murders…

Languid, yet morbidly compelling, with a delirious amount of close-ups of the actors eyeballs, Massaccesi’s focus on eroticism and necrophilia predates his 1979 ‘nasty’ Beyond the Darkness yet is considerably more arty – which perhaps explains why it remained pretty obscure until the digital age? Despite a baffling plot, the gothic ambiance and stylistic presentation are engaging. Meanwhile, the cast seem to believe in the nightmare scenario, especially Klaus Kinski who is typically manic.

Adrian J Smith, Horrorpedia

“The plot cuts back and forth and twists and turns in upon itself as if to mimic the many bulging veins in Klaus Kinski’s forehead. Despite its nonsensical story, the film itself is surprisingly inviting. D’Amato pulls off a number of impressive scenes, in particular a montage of flirtation and fornication…” Jason McElreath, DVD Drive-In

” … benefits greatly from high quality cinematography (helmed by D’Amato), terrific locations, and a perfect soundtrack by the great and under-appreciated Berto Pisano (Burial Ground, Interrabang), all of which are integrated together to create one of the best looking and sounding gothic horror era pieces that’s the stuff of dreams and nightmares.” At the Mansion of Madness

“Just when you think you’re beginning to figure things out, random stuff happens that leaves you scratching your head, like the maid’s hallucinations, the unexplained revival of Eva in her tomb or the flowers that turn into a cat. Despite its drawbacks, though, it’s a highly entertaining, sumptuously made piece of trash cinema that holds up to repeated viewings.” Filmiarity

” … achieves a hallucinatory ambience reminiscent of Mario Bava or Antonio Margheriti. At its worst it is as crude and banal as could be expected from a film-maker who later went on to specialise in sex / horror hybrids and outright porn.” Giallo Fever

Cast and characters:

• Ewa Aulin – Greta von Holstein
• Klaus Kinski – Dr. Sturges
• Angela Bo – Eva von Ravensbrück
• Sergio Doria – Walter von Ravensbrück
• Attilio Dottesio – Inspector Dannick
• Marco Mariani – Simeon, the butler
• Luciano Rossi – Franz, Greta’s Brother
• Giacomo Rossi-Stuart – Dr. von Ravensbrück, Walter’s Father
• Fernando Cerulli – Professor Kempte (as Franco Cerulli)
• Carla Mancini
• Giorgio Dolfin – Maier – Ballet dancer
• Pietro Torrisi – Dr. Sturges’ Mute Assistant (uncredited)

‘ …Your nightmares are about to come true!!’

Drive In Massacre – aka Drive-In Massacre – is a 1976 American horror film produced, written and directed by porn specialist Stu Segall from a screenplay by John F. Goff (The Night Stalker; Deadly Intent) and actor George Buck Flower, based on Godfrey Daniel’s storyline.

On March 14, 2016, Drive In Massacre is released on Blu-ray in the UK by 88 Films with an interview with director Stu Segall.

Cast:

Jake Barnes, Adam Lawrence, Douglas Gudbye, Verkina Flowers (The Witch Who Came from the Sea; The Capture of Bigfoot; Beyond Evil), Newton Naushaus, Catherine Barkeley, Norman Sherlock, Frank Hollowell, Valdesta, Michael Alden, Marty Gatsby, John F. Gott (The Witch Who Came from the Sea; Nurse Sherri; Alligator), John Alderman (Hannah, Queen of the Vampires; New Year’s Evil; Superstition).

Plot:

A couple go to a drive-in cinema in a rural California town, and are butchered by an unseen assailant, who uses a sword to decapitate the man, and skewer the woman through the neck.

Investigating this dual homicide are police detectives Mike Leary and John Koch, who interview the drive-in’s boorish manager, Austin Johnson, and the odd custodian, Germy. Germy mentions that a peeping tom likes to cruise the area to watch couples and lone girls, and he is told to try and write down the voyeur’s license plate number the next time he sees him.

That night, the killer strikes again, impaling two lovers while they are making out in their vehicle…

Reviews:

Obviously inspired by Peter Bogdanovich’s masterful Targets (1968), Drive-In Massacre has none of its predecessor’s insight, intelligence, or craft. Instead, it’s an ultra cheap slice-and-dice effort that even boasts the tired “They’re coming to get you!” ending designed to make drive-in audiences uncomfortable.” TV Guide

“Aside from a great opening double death sequence, there really isn’t enough happening in the film to recommend it. It’s an oddity, but one not worth much more than a single curious glance. In the right mood and with the right group of friends, it might prove to be a bit of fun…” Wes R., Oh, the Horror!

“The only things that really make this flick (and how appropriate is it that its acronym would be DIM?) stand out are the cultural kitsch value of the drive-in setting and the hilariously cheesy gimmick ending.” Balladeer’s Blog

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

“There’s a background story about the land the drive-in is on having formerly been a carnival, and the current workers at the drive-in are ex-carnies. This almost gives a few of the interviewees enough to chew on to project interesting characters, but they go nowhere because there’s just nothing to be done with the combination bad writing and bad acting.” Weird Wild Realm

Cast and characters:

• John F. Goff as Police Detective Mike Leary
• Steve Vincent as Police Psychologist
• Douglas Gudbye as Charlie “Germy” Garmey
• Verkina Flower as Girl in Warehouse
• Robert E. Pearson as Austin Johnson
• Catherine Barkley as Kathy
• Norman Sheridan as Orville Ingleson
• John Alderman as Jim
• Jacqueline Giroux as Arlene
• Bruce Kimball as Police Detective John Koch
• Marty Gatsby as David
• Sandy Carey as Lori
• Tiffany Jones [Janus Blythe] as Alan’s Date
• Myron Griffith as Alan
• George Buck Flower as Guy with Machete

Choice dialogue:

“You really wanna talk to that piece if puke?”

Trailer (with Massacre as Masacre!):

Wikipedia | IMDb | Image thanks: Critical Condition

Angus Scrimm (born Lawrence Rory Guy; August 19, 1926 – January 9, 2016) was an American actor and author, best known for playing the Tall Man in the 1979 horror film Phantasm and its sequels.

Scrimm was born in Kansas City. He was originally a journalist and has written and edited for TV Guide, Cinema Magazine, the Los Angeles Herald Examiner and many other publications. He has also written liner notes for many LPs and CDs for artists ranging from Frank Sinatra to the Beatles.

Scrimm stood approximately 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m). To appear even taller when playing the Tall Man, he wore suits that were several sizes too small and platform shoes.

Although he had acted in a couple of horror thrillers previously, Sweet Kill (1971) and Scream Bloody Murder (1973), his well-received 1979 Phantasm role led led him to become a horror icon.

Selected filmography:

• Sweet Kill (1973) Henry
• Scream Bloody Murder (1973) Doctor Epstein
• Phantasm (1979) The Tall Man
• Witches’ Brew (1980) Carl Groton
• The Lost Empire (1983) Dr. Sin Do/Lee Chuck
• Phantasm II (1988) The Tall Man
• Transylvania Twist (1989) The Tall Man
• Subspecies (1990) King Vladislas
• Mindwarp (1992) The Seer
• Munchie Strikes Back (1994) Kronas
• Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (1994) The Tall Man
• Wishmaster (1997) Narrator
• Phantasm IV: Oblivion (1998) The Tall Man
• Masters of Horror: Incident On and Off a Mountain Road (2005) Buddy
• Automatons (2006) The Scientist
• Satanic (2006) Dr. Barbary
• I Sell The Dead (2008) Doctor Quint
• Hollywood Horror (2009)
• Satan Hates You (2009) Dr. Michael Gabriel
• John Dies at the End (2012) Father Shellnut
• Phantasm V: Ravager (2016) The Tall Man

Posted in tribute to the late Angus Scrimm who died on January 9, 2016, he died at the age of 89 in Los Angeles.

Wikipedia | IMDb

Code Red Blu-ray version

‘Sickening horror to haunt your nightmares!’

Blood is a 1974 American low-budget horror film written, photographed and directed by gutter auteur Andy Milligan (The Ghastly Ones; Guru the Mad Monk; The Body Beneath).

IFS video version

Cast:

Allan Berendt, Hope Stansbury, Patricia Gaul, Michael Fischetti, Pamela Adams, Eve Crosby, John Wallowitch, Martin Reymert, Pichulina Hempi, David Bevans, Joe Downing, Lawrence Seelars, Sophia Andoniadis.

Release:

In the US, the film was distributed in 1974 by the infamous Bryanston Pictures (Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein; The Texas Chain Saw Massacre).

In 1976, it was re-released by Damiano Film Productions with Legacy of Satan.

British VHS company Iver Film Services (IFS) issued the film on video three times in 1979/1980 and theirs was the only version in general circulation for many, many years.

A limited edition Code Red Blu-ray Disc of the Damiano Film double-bill – which includes nine minutes of dialogue scenes, albeit from a cropped print – was issued in America in 2015.

Plot:

Lawrence Orlofski (in reality, a werewolf named Lawrence Talbot) returns to America from Europe with his sick wife (actually a vampire). He rents a house for his spouse and their deformed servants and performs experiments with man-eating plants in the hope of finding a serum to cure their afflictions but their dark past begins to catch up…

Reviews:

“Blood is hardly what a rational person would call a “good” movie. Still, in a weirdly weird way, it’s pure fun. The premise alone, of a werewolf and a vampire trapped in a loveless arranged marriage, the former resorting to growing and harvesting rare, blood-drinking plants to keep the latter alive, is a riot.” Fringe Void

” … the VENOM of everyone in this movie for everyone else, the hatred that pervades every scene, in the end just serves to glue all the delirious anachronisms and movie monster mayhem together into one big hateful craft project from Hell.” Mad Mad Mad Mad Movies

” … infidelity, incestual infidelity, vampiric infidelity, lycanthropic infidelity, poor financial planning, murder and mutilation. There is never a dull moment, and at just under 60 minutes, the film squeezes in a ludicrous amount of nonsense.” Dominion of Scum

” … Blood packs in a lot of Milligan insanity: jealousy, greed, regret, infidelity, incest, murder, man-eating plants, vampires, werewolves, and more. It’s a wild, exhausting ride.” Daily Grindhouse

“The actors often reach a weird, melodramatic intensity, especially when their efforts combine with the claustrophobic framing of most scenes, the unnatural (in a nearly Lovecraftian sense) camera angles and the nearly perversely wrong lighting of many scenes. The whole affair feels as far removed from reality as possible, but it is as much removed from movie reality as we know it as well, somehow straining for a different kind of cinema…” The Horror!?

” … an absolutely hallucinatory shot of bargain basement Grand Guignol, made all the more irresistible by its dollops of soap.” Tim Lucas, Video Watchdog Blog

Filming locations:

North Staten Island, New York City (in and around Milligan’s own house)

Offline reading:

The Ghastly One: The Sex-Gore Netherworld of Andy Milligan – Buy from Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

Gutter Auteur: The Films of Andy Milligan – Buy from Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

Nightmare USA: The Untold Story of the Exploitation Independents by Stephen Thrower

Killer plant clip:

Film online:

IMDb | Image thanks: Iver Film Services (VHS horror hounds are advised to check out their site)

NB. Screen shots above are mainly taken from the IFS video version but slightly cropped at the bottom to avoid YouTube online info.

The Possession of Joel Delaney is a 1972 American supernatural horror film directed by Waris Hussein (The Henderson Monster) from a screenplay by Irene Kamp [as Grimes Grice] (The Beguiled) and Matt Robinson. The film is based on the 1970 novel of the same name by Ramona Stewart. It was partly financed by Lew Grade’s ITC Entertainment.

Main cast:

Shirley MacLaine, Perry King, Barbara Trentham, Earl Hyman, David Elliott, Michael Hordern.

Plot:

New York City: Norah Benson and her younger brother Joel Delaney attend a wealthy people’s party. It is subtly implied that theirs is not an ordinary siblings’ relationship.

Two days, Joel fails to attend a dinner at Norah’s house. When she calls him, all she hears is somebody making odd sounds into the phone. She heads over to her brother’s seedy Spanish Harlem apartment to investigate. Norah sees Joel dragged out, having tried to kill the building superintendent, before being taken to Bellevue Hospital.

At Joel’s apartment, she finds the whole place in disarray and an eerie sign painted in the wall of both the super’s and his brother’s flats. She also finds an unusually large switchblade knife…

Buy: Amazon.com

Reviews:

“Joel Delaney is a creepy story…and also a VERY claustrophobic movie. The grimy, confusing landscape of Manhattan provides the perfect, festering environment for the weirdo black magic that beats Shirley MacLaine’s character down…and out of the city to the disturbing and powerful climax.” Dan Hunter and Jason Knowles, The Terror Trap

” … what ultimately sets this film apart from the glut of demon/exorcism movies that possessed screens throughout the ’70s, is a feeling of authenticity, and the desire to strike a deeper, more resonant chord than the typical shlock of the day. There’s more to The Possession of Joel Delaney than just the possession of Joel Delaney.” John Dedeke, Shock Till You Drop

“The final twist, which I’ll refrain from giving away, is not the same as the final twist in the book. It’s a more disturbing wrap-up than the book’s more subtle, eerie ending. Once again, the film industry came in and took a perfectly creepy book and upped the sensationalism because nothing can ever be too shocking in Hollywood.” Jennifer Makowsky, Pop Matters

” … works for a number reasons, first and foremost that it assimilates the idea of demonic possession on a more plausible level, with events that take place hidden in the underbelly of Manhattan. A sequence depicting a ritualistic Santeria (a Cuban-originated voodoo-like religion) ceremony in a small apartment is almost documentary-like… George R. Reis, DVD Drive-In

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

Cast and characters:

• Shirley MacLaine as Norah Benson
• Perry King as Joel Delaney
• David Elliott as Peter Benson
• Lisa Kohane as Carrie Benson
• Michael Hordern as Justin
• Barbara Trentham as Sherry
• Earl Hyman as Charles
• Lovelady Powell as Erika
• Edmundo Rivera Álvarez as Don Pedro
• Teodorina Bello as Mrs. Pererz
• Robert Burr as Ted Benson
• Míriam Colón as Veronica
• Ernesto Gonzalez as Young Man at Seance
• Aukie Herger as Mr. Perez
• Marita Lindholm as Marta Benson

Choice dialogue:

Joel Delaney: “Rich people don’t beg.”

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘Demons long locked on the depths of the mind come out to destroy the weak and the believing!’

Point of Terror is a 1971 American psycho thriller directed by actor Alex Nicol (The Screaming Skull; The Night God Screamed; A*P*E) from a screenplay by Tony Crechales and Ernest A. Charles, based on a story by Chris Marconi and producer and star Peter Carpenter.

It was distributed in the US by exploitation specialists Crown International.

Main cast:

Peter Carpenter (Blood Mania), Dyanne Thorne (Blood Sabbath; Ilsa, She-Wolf of the SS; House of the Witchdoctor), Lory Hansen, Leslie Simms, Joel Marston, Paula Mitchell, Dana Diamond, Al Dunlap, Ernest A. Charles, Roberta Robson, Tony Kent.

Reviews:

“Rampant fashion violations, loud musical numbers, obscene checkered furniture, violent dream sequences, ratty wigs, equal opportunity nudity, saturated primary color lighting years before Suspiria, and reams of purple, sex-obsessed dialogue will keep even the most seasoned trash fanatic giddy with disbelief.” Mondo Digital

Some male nudity… for a change

“Playing a lounge singer at a seaside dump called the Lobster House, the often shirtless [Peter] Carpenter manages a decent approximation of Tom Jones’s sweaty charisma in this lurid neo-noir that rips off The Postman Always Rings Twice and half a dozen of its contemporaries.” Stephen Bowie, World Cinema Paradise

“It’s more or less a slice of melodramatic sleaze and at the same time very much a vanity piece for Carpenter, whose struggling recording artist/stud character beds three very beautiful women during the course of the film’s soap opera-inspired shenanigans. The players drink too much, commit adultery and deceitfully murder…” George R. Reis, DVD Drive-In

” … it’s a pretty dry melodrama whose various twists and turns aren’t very effective, especially the film’s final reveal, which is eye-rollingly bad and groan-inducing, to say the least. Director Nicol throws in some stylistic flourishes here and there in an attempt to make things look interesting, and he sometimes succeeds on that level.” Oh, the Horror!

Choice dialogue:

“Who’s your decorator, Bela Lugosi?”

“Martin, I have a headache THIS big, with your name on it!”

“I didn’t even know I drank until one night I came home sober.”

“If she has one more drink Tony, she’ll start stripping. I know she’s done it before.”

IMDb | Image thanks: Critical Condition

‘You’ll be seeing this nightmare every night for the rest of your life.’

Night Watch is a 1973 British suspense thriller film directed by Brian G. Hutton from a screenplay by Tony Williamson and Evan Jones.

The film reunited Elizabeth Taylor with co-star Laurence Harvey from their Butterfield 8 (1960). Some of the story elements were inspired by the play of the same name by Lucille Fletcher (Sorry, Wrong Number) and 1944 film Gas Light.

Main cast:

Elizabeth Taylor, Laurence Harvey (Welcome to Arrow Beach), Billie Whitelaw (Twisted Nerve; Frenzy; The Omen [1976]), Robert Lang, Tony Britton, Bill Dean (Beasts). Horror icon Linda Hayden has a brief role as a young woman killed in a car accident.

Plot:

London. One night, during a raging thunderstorm, Ellen Wheeler (Elizabeth Taylor), frantically tells her husband John (Laurence Harvey) that from the living room window she has seen a murder being committed in the old deserted house next door. John calls the police, but a search turns up nothing.

Ellen is revealed to be recovering from a mental breakdown that occurred after her unfaithful first husband, Carl, was killed a few years earlier in an auto accident with his young lover…

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

“Quite cleverly, though, by closely following the visual and aural conventions of the genre (the thunderclaps whenever someone says something significant; the lightning flashes that reveal hidden information, the discordant music/noise on the soundtrack anytime Ellen becomes confused and threatened), Hutton sets us up to pull the rug out from under our expectations.” Paul Mavis, DVD Talk

“It’s a tight, well-paced thriller that deftly builds its suspense by playing with the audience’s mind as cleverly as it plays with that of Taylor’s character.” Dreams Are What Le Cinema is For…

” … a superior domestic suspense film, better than I expected it to be, and warmly recommended to those looking for a good seventies scare.” The Passing Tramp: Wandering through the mystery genre

“On the surface, the plot of Night Watch appears to be similar to many “women-in-peril” thrillers, but just when you assume you know the direction the film is taking, Night Watch explodes in a bloody finale that’s sure to leave a few viewers shocked.” Kimberly Lindbergs, Cinebeats

“… has a gratuitously bloody climax and a kick-yourself ending, but its amoebic plot is stretched almost to snapping point over 98 minutes.” David McGillivray, Time Out 

“The direction at times has the appearance of a pastiche of the worst of Hammer’s Gothic productions.” Alexander Stuart, Films and Filming

“Predictable coil-spring shocker which goes curiously flat despite a star cast and lashings of blood. Perhaps we have all been here once to often.” Leslie Halliwell, Halliwell’s Film Guide

“… the ancient plot and Taylor’s side of ham ruin the best efforts of all concerned.” Andy Boot, Fragments of Fear

“A flat mystery thriller that fails to create any feeling of suspense.” John Elliot, Elliot’s Guide to Films on Video

Cast and characters:

• Elizabeth Taylor – Ellen Wheeler
• Laurence Harvey – John Wheeler
• Billie Whitelaw – Sarah Cooke
• Robert Lang – Mr. Appleby
• Tony Britton – Tony
• Bill Dean – Walker
• Michael Danvers-Walker – Sgt. Norris
• Rosario Serrano – Dolores
• Pauline Jameson – Secretary
• Linda Hayden – Girl in car
• Kevin Colson – Carl
• Laon Maybanke – Florist
• David Jackson – Wilson

Choice dialogue:

Billie Whitelaw: “What, ruin a good love affair by getting married? No thank you.”

Wikipedia | IMDb

El Espectro del Terror – translation: “The Spectre of Terror” – is a 1972 Spanish psycho thriller film written and directed by José María Elorrieta [as J.M. Ekorietta] (Feast of Satan; Diabolical Shudder; The Curse of the Vampire). It was released in Spain in June 1973.

Main cast:

Maria Perschy (The Ghost Galleon), Sancho Garcia, Aramis Ney, Betsabé Ruiz, Víctor Alcázar, María Dolores Tovar, Ernesto Vañes, Ramón Lillo, Titania Clement, Maritza Olivares [as May Oliver]. 

Plot:

Madrid: Charley Reed is an American Vietnam war veteran and befuddled serial killer who sloppily disposes of his victims in an acid bath.

Mainly preying on beautiful women, the psychopath also murders a drunken ex-buddy who publicly mocks him in a bar and a doctor who offers to help him.

Reed’s killing spree ends when he attacks Maria Preston, a feisty airline stewardess with a determination to live…

Review:

It is easy to understand why this pedestrian Spanish psycho thriller by José María Elorrieta has remained utterly obscure for so many years and why it didn’t receive an international release. The plot simply lurches from one incident to the next, whilst Sancho Garcia depicts the killer becoming more and more deranged.

There is no style in the presentation of the murderous yet seemingly mundane events that unfold and no reason for empathy with either the victims or the troubled maniac – clearly suffering from post-‘Nam traumatic stress disorder of a very intense nature. Aside from the sound of occasional intense war flashback gunfire on the soundtrack, Javier Elorietta’s discordant piano accompaniment, presumably intended to denote a descent into madness, merely grates on the nerves.

Beyond the apathetic delivery, the most unsettling thing about the film, for this reviewer at least, is the killer’s penchant for messily drinking milk straight from the bottle.

Adrian J Smith, Horrorpedia

Choice dialogue:

Charly: “Don’t make me kill you!”

Charly: “I am sick. I don’t want to hurt you.”

IMDb

Asesinos de Otros Mundos aka Santo Contra Los Asesinos de Otros Mundos is a 1971 Mexican action sci-fi horror film directed by Rubén Galindo (Santo vs. the She-Wolves). The title translates as “Killers from Other Worlds”.

Cast:

Santo, Juan Gallardo, Sasha Montenegro, Carlos Agosti, Marco Antonio Campos, Carlos Suarez.

Plot:

Four horrifying murders – in which the victims are smothered to death by a shape-shifting blob – compel the authorities to seek help from the only person capable of stopping the homicidal rampage: Santo!

The culprit is the evil Malkosh, an old enemy of justice, who demands an enormous ransom to end the bloodshed. His secret weapon is a hair-raising blob creature that is capable of swallowing a man whole. Dr. Bernstein is the only one able to defeat it, but he has been abducted, along with his daughter, by Boris Licur, an even more dastardly criminal.

 Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

“The Man with the Silver Mask” has little time to lose before he can prevent this madman from getting control of the monster—and the world!

Reviews:

“Think of The Creeping Terror. Now think of The Creeping Terror, but with a masked wrestler beating up bad guys added to it. See? It’s a clear case of the perfect made perfect-er.” Die, Danger, Die, Die, Kill!

“This entry in the long running Santo series is one of the cheapest looking of the lot. Working from the flimsiest of scripts, it makes absolutely no sense in its mixture of monsters and the Mob … Endearingly awful, the bargain bin blob beast save the day, usurping the star power of the Silver masked Saint.” Cool Ass Cinema

“This is not really a bad film, except for its notorious “monster,” which literally appears to be 3-4 guys underneath a greasy tarpaulin. Fans of Monty Python‘s Flying Circus might remember the “Giant Blancmange from Outer Space” episode and the film The Creeping Terror, but both of these have great monsters compared to Asesinos … The production values–aside from the blob–aren’t too bad, but everything is overshadowed by the goofy monster.” D. Walt, University of Maryland

IMDb

Related: Worst Horror Films of All-Time

Demons of the Mind is a 1972 British horror film, directed by Peter Sykes (Venom; The House in Nightmare Park; To the Devil a Daughter) from a screenplay by Christopher Wicking (Scream and Scream Again), based on a story by Frank Godwin. It was produced by Anglo-EMI, Frank Godwin Productions and Hammer Film Productions.

The film’s working title was Blood Will Have Blood. Gillian Hills played a role originally intended for Marianne Faithfull and Robert Hardy was a substitute for Eric Porter (Hands of the Ripper).

Main cast:

Gillian Hills (Blowup; A Clockwork Orange; The Killer Wore Gloves), Paul Jones (ex-Manfred Mann vocalist), Robert Hardy (Berserk!; Psychomania; Dark Places), Patrick Magee (Dementia 13; The Black Cat), Michael Hordern (Whistle and I’ll Come to You; Theatre of Blood; The Possession of Joel Delaney), Shane Briant (Straight on Till Morning) and Kenneth J. Warren.

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

Plot:

Count Zorn, a wealthy widower, locks up Emil and Elisabeth, his two young adult offspring, afraid that they will go mad, as did his wife. He then invites Falkenberg, a doctor of dubious reputation, to supervise the young people’s mental health. Meanwhile, in the vicinity of their mansion, grisly murders are happening…

Reviews:

“an exotic, Wildean horror story, visually as extravagant and tantalising as a decadent painting … badly let down, though, by some grotesque overacting.” Time Out

“Although it is made with style …the content is meagre … The film’s principal distinction is its violence, mostly gratuitous and, in the case of the final bloodbath, thoroughly unpleasant.” Monthly Film Bulletin

“oblique, ambitious and suffused with an air of primal dread, Demons of the Mind deserved better.” Marcus Hearn, The Hammer Story: The Authorised History of Hammer Films

” … a complex and unusual film which is sometimes confusing but always compelling.” Gary A. Smith, Uneasy Dreams

“flashes of great originality and panache …a lifeless performance from Robert Hardy. EMI hated the film.” David Pirie, A New Heritage of Horror: The English Gothic Cinema

“Breathless, with excellent exposition of early psychoanalytical techniques, this is one of the best horrors of the period because it manages to be both thrilling and thought provoking at the same time.” Andy Boot, Fragments of Fear: An Illustrated History of British Horror Films

“a strange, bleak tale of abnormal psychology in which Hammer’s characteristic period settings and horror-film clichés such as the raging mob are, for once, used with imagination.” The Curmudgeon

” … a right load of old cobblers, which mixes costume drama with cod psychology and ends with a particularly gruelling amount of hand loppings, shootings, stabbings, and burning-crucifix-impalings. What makes it worth seeking out are the performances – Hordern’s nutty priest is a sight to see, Hardy is his usual hammy self and Magee is… well, Magee.” British Horror Films

Artwork by Tom Chantrell

Buy: Amazon.com

Cast and characters:

• Robert Hardy as Zorn
• Shane Briant as Emil
• Gillian Hills as Elizabeth
• Yvonne Mitchell as Hilda
• Paul Jones as Carl Richter
• Patrick Magee as Falkenberg
• Kenneth J. Warren as Klaus
• Michael Hordern as Priest
• Robert Brown as Fischinger
• Virginia Wetherell as Inge
• Deirdre Costello as Magda
• Barry Stanton as Ernst
• Sidonie Bond as Zorn’s Wife
• Thomas Heathcote as Coachman
• Sheila Raynor as Old crone

Choice dialogue:

Falkenberg: “The world is chaos. We must try and find some order, in our small part of it.”

Zorn: “The world will be a better place without me! And it won’t even know you’ve died.”

Filming locations:

Wykehurst Park House, East Sussex (also the setting for The Legend of Hell House)

Trailer:

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘The horror of a twisted mind!’

Persecution is a 1973 (released 1974) British psychological horror film directed by Don Chaffey (One Million Years B.C.; Creatures the World Forgot) from a story and screenplay by actor Robert B. Hutton and Rosemary Wootten. It was produced by Kevin Francis for Tyburn Films (Legend of the Werewolf; The Ghoul).

The film was also released as Sheba and The Terror of Sheba and subsequently re-titled The Graveyard for VHS release in the 1980s.

Main cast:

Lana Turner – Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) | Witches’ Brew
Ralph Bates – Horror of Frankenstein | Lust for a Vampire
Olga Georges-Picot – The Man Who Haunted Himself
Suzan Farmer – Die! Monster, Die! | Dracula, Prince of Darkness
Patrick Allen – Night Creatures
Trevor Howard – The Night Visitor | Craze | The Unholy

Plot:

Carrie Masters (Lana Turner) is a crippled, wealthy, bitter woman who takes pleasure in tormenting her young son David (Mark Weavers). She blames him for her crippled leg and, in bizarre and horrifying ways, extracts her revenge by dominating him.

Years later, 24-year-old David (Ralph Bates) returns home with his wife Janie (Suzan Farmer) and their newborn child, but he is still subject to his mother’s evil influence.

When she is involved in two terrifying deaths, David’s mind snaps; although he is already mentally twisted by Carrie’s treatment, David becomes completely insane and swears vengeance on his mother for his years of hate and resentment…

Reviews:

“The old-fashioned meller is riddled with ho-hum and sometimes laughably trite scripting. Also, very tame in the shock horror department. Under the circumstances, Turner’s performance has reasonable poise. There isn’t much animation to Ralph Bates as the grown-up edition of the tormented son”. Variety

” … a tawdry and tedious psycho-drama, and as repulsive as most movies exploiting Hollywood’s fading ladies … Ken Talbot’s photography is commendably glowing, but Ralph Bates is glum and Don Chaffey’s direction uninspired.” Geoff Brown, BFI Monthly Film Bulletin

“Although Turner’s presence lifts the film and Talbot’s cinematography is excellent, the script is so contrived that Chaffey appears to have given up any hope of breathing life into the silly psychodrama.” The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror

“Turner hams it up and she and Ralph Bates have fun playing games with one another. Don Chaffey’s pace is slow moving, despite occasionally inventive photography and some offbeat editing. The story is confusing … The catty premise is not terribly interesting and the script trades in some unconvincingly histrionic psychology.”Richard Schleib, Moria

“In many ways disturbing and repulsive, mostly in undertone, the films is let down by Don Chaffey’s stately direction, which allows things to unwind at a leisurely pace and does not really exploit the shocks and nastiness lurking in the script …Still for all that, a fascinating movie.”Andy Boot, Fragments of Fear

“Director Don Chaffey tries hard to make the action sinister and succeeds in promoting a few chills. Adding to the entertainment value is an experienced support cast that includes British stalwart Trevor Howard.” Tom Hutchinson, Radio Times

“Turner gives a good performance, far better than the film merits. Her star presence is the sole reason for watching and seems to have been the major motivation for making the film in the first place.” Gary A. Smith, Uneasy Dreams

“Routine attempt at a psychological thriller, given more weight than it deserves by good performance from Ralph Bates as the pawn in his pathologically domineering mother’s game.” Verina Glaessner, Time Out

“Rich but not engrossing nonsense, somewhat a la Baby Jane, with hazy script and stolid production.” Leslie Halliwell, Halliwell’s Film Guide

“A stilted and overblown melodrama that’s all atmosphere and no direction.” John Elliot, Elliot’s Guide to Films on Video

Cast and characters:

• Lana Turner as Carrie Masters
• Ralph Bates as David Masters
• Trevor Howard as Paul Bellamy
• Olga Georges-Picot as Monique Kalfon
• Suzan Farmer as Janie Masters
• Mark Weavers as Young David
• Patrick Allen as Robert Masters
• Jennifer Guy as Waitress
• Shelagh Fraser as Mrs. Banks
• Ronald Howard as Dr. Ross
• John Ryan as Gardener
• Catherine Brandon as Mrs. Deacon

Filming locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire
Denham Place, Denham Village in Buckinghamshire

Wikipedia
IMDb

Related: Fear of Felines! Cats in Horror Films – article by David Flint

‘A tasty horror film!’

The Meateater – aka Blood Theatre – is a 1979 American horror film written and directed by David Burton Morris [as Derek Savage] (Tales from the Crypt TV series: ‘Three’s a Crowd’) from a story co-written with George Caldwell and Damon Fuller.

Main cast:

Arch Joboulian, Dianne Davis, Peter Spitzer, Emily Spindler, Gary Dean, Joe Marmo, Tony Anthony (Ghostbusters), Frank Montiforte, Richard Nathan.

Plot:

Mitford Webster suffers an unfulfilling life as a traveling shoe salesman, when he receives news that he has successfully purchased a run down movie theater named The Crest. Ecstatic about his new purchase, Mitford uproots his family so that he can re-open the cinema. However, his dream is quickly shattered when panic sets in because a psychopathic man is discovered to be living inside the movie house…

Reviews:

“I do think there’s supposed to be some sort of commentary here about people who blame violence on violent movies. That’s the joke of a guy obsessed with old movies committing murders during a G-rated wildlife documentary. The irony is lost on Lieutenant Wombat, who can’t tell the difference between Gerard Damiano and Mike Nichols. You get it, man? The makers of The Meateater have unmasked the hypocrisy. But the long tangents of pointless dialogue and oddly deadpan delivery of everything makes it hard to spot.” Vern’s Reviews

“Technically, The Meateater is an ideal shambles. Odd eye and mouth close-ups rub elbows with hilariously awful compositions, achieving an inadvertent, sloppy artsiness that fits the tone of the film perfectly. Deadpan non-actors hang on for dear life. The unglued score from Arlon Ober (Legacy of Satan! Nightbeast!) steps right in line. All of that, combined with a legit sense of the sinister (and a few chuckles), lands The Meateater into primo trash territory.” Bleeding Skull!

“I did like that they were showing nature documentaries and they juxtaposed shots of animals eating with people gorging themselves in the theater. In the end, this is just a weird little flick with a couple of nice effects, no nudity and some of the worst acting you will ever witness. Another win!” Divine Exploitation

Trailer:

IMDb

Suckula is a 1973 American adult comedy horror film directed by Anthony Spinelli [as Jack Armstrong].

Cast:

Pat Arno, Ann Finn, Art Gill, George ‘Buck’ Flower (Criminally Insane; The Fog; Pumpkinhead), Brigitte Maier, Antoinette Maynard, Paul Scharf, Keith Erickson, Jim Sims.

Plot: 

George Smutnam (George ‘Buck’ Flower), a New York news reporter, covers Dracula’s rampage in Hollywood.

Review:

“The movie is like a poverty row version of The Groove Tube or Kentucky Fried Movie. There are goofy commercials interspersed throughout them tracking down Dracula. I did think it odd that the Dracula scenes were done with silent film title cards. Made it a little surreal.” Divine Exploitation

Choice dialogue:

George Smutnam: “Now stay tuned for the late movie, The Mad Motorcycle Monster Who Ate Naked Hippies.”

IMDb

‘ You’ll eat your heart out!’

The Lorely’s Grasp is a 1974 Spanish horror film written and directed by Amando de Ossorio (Tombs of the Blind Dead; Demon Witch Child; The Ghost Galleon). The film’s original title is Las Garras de Lorelei and it was released in the US as When the Screaming Stops.

Main cast:

Tony Kendall (Return of the Blind Dead)
Helga Liné (The Dracula Saga, Horror Rises from the Tomb, The Vampire’s Night Orgy)
Silvia Tortosa (Horror Express)
Josefina Jartin
Loreta Tovar (Curse of the Vampire),
José Thelman (Tombs of the Blind Dead)
Luis Induni (The Horrible Sexy Vampire; Dr. Jekyll vs. the Werewolf; The Werewolf and the Yeti)
Javier de Rivera (The Awful Dr. Orloff; Night of the Seagulls, A Dragonfly for Each Corpse)
Antonio Orengo (Frankenstein’s Bloody Terror, Tombs of the Blind Dead)
Betsabe Ruiz (Werewolf Shadow, Horror Rises from the Tomb, Autopsy).

Plot:

The legendary shape-shifting Loreley has been living for centuries in a grotto beneath the river Rhein in Germany. Every night when the moon is full, she turns into a reptile-like creature that rips the hearts from its victims. After young women from a local boarding school are sacrificed, and then a blind violinist, a hunter named Sirgurd (Tony Kendall) is engaged to kill the beast…

Release:

As was the practice, certain scenes were filmed a clothed and unclothed for different export markets.

In the US, the film was initially released in 1976 as When the Screaming Stops, with the addition of red warning flashes preceding each gory murder.

This US-edit was subsequently released to movie theaters in the early 1980s with artwork that implied it was a slasher film, rather than a monster movie, and then on VHS by Lightning Video. Patrons were issued with vomit bags.

In November 2007, BCI released a remastered, uncut, 1.85:1 aspect ratio version on DVD in the USA.

Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

The film is available uncut, with a 16:9 – 1.77:1 aspect ratio, on a Unbekannt Blu-ray with English, German, and Spanish audio options, an image gallery and trailers.

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

“Shot primarily in shaky POV, the Loreley’s killings are erratic and unexpected, as if to mimic the attack of a wild animal. Initially only the creatures encroaching hand is shown, but as more of the legend of Loreley is revealed, so is her lunar form, that of a green scaled reptilian, shrouded in a black cape.” Jason McElreath, DVD Drive-In

“There are some really nice de Ossorio touches in the film – particularly, a scientist who is testing a moonlight machine and a radioactive knife to use against Lorelei (and the subsequent trashing of his his laboratory is awesome, too), and Lorelei’s underwater castle, complete with skull-adorned bikini servants.” The Brooklyn Cult of Mystic Horrors

“What an extraordinary film. It’s not bad actually if you like 1970s Euro-horror: the acting’s passable (though the dubbing is risible) and the direction … is competent. The storyline is enjoyably daft and at least it’s original, rather than being yet another damn vampire / werewolf / mummy / horde of zombies. The monster is monstrous, the deaths are violent and bloody, and the pseudo-scientific explanation is complete hogwash of the highest order. Top stuff.” MJ Simpson

” … this is a lost fucking classic that is severely underrated and I think any horror fan worth his (or her) salt will find it an enjoyable ride. It’s fun, it’s bloody, it’s ridiculously easy on the eyes.” Jocelyn, The Church of Splatter-Day Saints

“As with the Blind Dead films, Loreley offers a series of moody interludes between the gore scenes and exposition scenes. We see the seductive redhead  striding across marshlands on cloudy afternoons, siren song playing softy in the background. These scenes – heightened by earnest acting, creative direction, and tight editing – help make the picture very good for its kind.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers

“The amphibious green slime monster with big teeth is more comical than frightening, and an eye-filling parade of curvaceous cuties in bikinis and other skimpy costumes will please males. But these facts don’t necessarily make a good movie…” John Stanley, Creature Features

Trailer:

IMDb

The Keeper is a 1975 Canadian mystery-horror film written and directed by T.Y. Drake (scriptwriter of Terror Train) and starring Christopher Lee. The film’s hypnosis sequences were created by avant-garde experimental filmmaker Al Razutis.

The film was filmed on 16mm on a budget of $135,000 in Vancouver, British Columbia from October 1 to 24, 1975. It never received theatrical distribution in Canada or the United States and went straight to television, making its network premiere as part of The CBS Late Movie on December 19, 1985.

Plot:

The Keeper (Christopher Lee) is the sinister and crippled administrator of the secluded and exclusive Underwood Asylum in 1947 British Columbia where the community’s wealthiest families have entrusted their mentally-disturbed relatives to his unique care. However, these families soon begin to die under grisly and unusual circumstances, leaving large inheritances to The Keeper’s deranged patients.

Richard “Dick” Driver (Tell Schreiber), a private investigator, is hired by a mysterious client to investigate Underwood Asylum and he soon discovers the connection between The Keeper’s therapy and the millionaires’ deaths…

Reviews:

“The Keeper is certainly better written than directed, which is not surprising, since screenwriter Tom Drake (Terror Train) was forced to take over when the original director left the production. Despite this setback, what emerged was Vancouver’s b-movie calling card to the rest of Canada. And while the film can be uneven, Drake managed to offer up a unique retro-camp take on the oft-seen Canadian brainwashing horror film.” Canuxploitation!

“Not a good movie. Kind of dorky in an entertaining way, but not a well made nor re-watchable film by a long shot. It’s a lot like Ken Russell’s Altered States in the aspects of effects and concept, but not nearly as redeeming. It’s basically just a B-movie disguised as a crime thriller. Worth seeing at least part of for Lee’s performance. Nothing more.” The Spork Guy, Letterboxd.com

“There are strange twists and turns, plus a police chief who falls under Lee’s spell and acts as if he’s in a comedy and not a horror film.” John Stanley, Creature Features

“The film has Canuck-O-Vision Down in spades: the milky brume over the picture, the hissy sound, the cheap sets.” Caelum Vatnsdal, They Came from Within

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Buy VHS: Amazon.com

Cast and characters:

• Christopher Lee as The Keeper
• Tell Schreiber as Dick Driver
• Sally Gray as Mae B. Jones
• Ross Vezarian as Inspector Clarke
• Ian Tracey as The Kid
• Bing Jensen as Danny
• Jack and Leo Leavy as The Biggs Twins

Other releases:

France – as Folie controlée

Italy – as The keeper: il custode

Clip:

Wikipedia | IMDb | Canadian Feature Film Database | Interview with Christopher Lee

Image thanks: Pre-cert-co.uk | Smorgasblog