‘The ‘walking dead’ are the most deadly!’

Black Magic 2 – original title: 勾魂降頭; Gou hun jiang tou – is a 1976 supernatural Hong Kong horror film directed by Ho Meng-Hua (Oily Maniac) and produced by the Shaw Brothers (Seeding a a Ghost; Inseminoid; Human Lanterns). It stars Ti Lung, Lo Lieh, Liu Hui-Ju, Lily Li and Lin Wei-Tu.

The film is a sequel to the previous year’s Black Magic, also directed by Ho Meng-Hua). It was released in the US in 1982 by World Northal as Revenge of the Zombies and proved to be a box office draw.

On 11 June 2018, Black Magic 2 is released on Blu-ray in the UK by 88 Films.

Buy Blu-ray: Amazon.co.uk

Mysterious zombies run amok while baffled doctors try to find out why. The zombies vomit, melt, spontaneously combust, explode and may be abducting the local lady folk.

While the doctors look for a natural explanation the real cause appears to be supernatural…

Reviews:

‘Delivering a steady stream of bizarre and gruesome sights (including bodies infested with live wriggling worms, cursed victims dissolving into putrescence in a matter of seconds, and undead sycophants controlled via spikes driven through their heads), this offers a great introduction to HK horror, while also eerie and outlandish enough to engage those familiar with this sub-genre…‘ By John Charles

‘It’s colorfully – sometimes very stylishly – photographed, fast-paced, tasteless and often highly imaginative… and there is a ton of gore.’ Justin McKinney, The Bloody Pit of Horror

‘Black Magic 2 has everything that was great about Black Magic, only more. This means more gratuitous nudity, more gore, and more out and out nuttiness. The only thing Black Magic 2 has less of is anything resembling a logical story or even a dash of common sense.’ Coffee, Coffee and More Coffee

“Things get a little bit sluggish around the halfway point when the evil sorcerer forces the hero scientists into a black magic-fueled love triangle. But stick with it because the last half hour or so is almost as nutty as the first […] Black Magic 2 made my jaw drop numerous times throughout it’s 90 minute running time; a hearty recommendation to be sure.” Mitch Lovell, The Video Vacuum

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Buy DVD Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

Release:

Released on 9 December 1976 in Hong Kong.

Wikipedia | IMDb

”Don’t look behind you…’

Warlock Moon – aka Bloody Spa – is a 1973 American horror film written [as John Sykes], produced and directed by William Herbert. The Sweet Blindness Enterprises production stars Laurie Walters, Joe Spano and Edna MacAfee.

A young college student believes she had seen ghosts when she first visited an abandoned spa with a new male friend who had accosted her and “accidentally” driven her there. However, he manages to persuade her to meet him there a second time…

Reviews [may contain spoilers] :

” …Warlock Moon serves up some weird atmosphere and decent shocks, though seasoned horror fans will probably see everything coming a few minutes before it arrives. The set is appropriately creepy, the two youthful leads are energetic, and the film relies more on suggestion than gore…” Fred Beldin, All Movie

“Complemented with beautifully composed shots and an on-the-fly aloofness, the massive atmosphere takes center stage […] On its own, the dilapidated spa would make any film. Luckily, the mood is embellished with backwards sound effects, abrupt scares, and a series of supernatural events that make little sense.” Joseph A. Ziemba, Bleeding Skull!

“In spite of the its San Andreas sized flaws, and substantial lack of sagacity, this is still a decent little diversion, a film flying by the seat of its setting and damn proud of it. Writer/director Herbert has to be given some credit for trying to squeeze all the atmosphere and dread he can out of that disheveled spa location.” Bill Gibron, DVD Talk

“Stretching about five minutes of story over nearly 90 minutes of screen time, the silly and tedious Warlock Moon includes several familiar clichés of the bad-horror genre—careless characters walking blithely into obviously dangerous places, comin’-at-ya shock scenes that end up being nothing more than nonsensical narrative misdirection, and so on.” Peter Hanson, Every 70s Movie

“It’s one of those cheap films with that special inventiveness the best low budget movies from the 70s possess, with a crew of interesting actors, a sinister premise, and the perfect filming location at a rundown abandoned resort.” Groovy Doom

“It’s slowly paced and riddled with plot holes, but it’s got a breezy charm that so many movies lack, and it more than makes up for its problems. You also can’t dismiss a movie that combines ghosts, witchcraft, and cannibalism, plus a random ax wielding mute (who looks like Rob Zombie!) for good measure.” Brian W. Collins, Horror Movie a Day

“This whole film feels like a weed-fueled fever dream and moves at a very odd pace, with sudden irrational jolts breaking up all the strange comedy and endless wandering around. That method really pays off in the crazed final twenty minutes, with a number of plot turns and a fateful stroke of midnight setting this one apart from the pack a bit.” Nathaniel Thompson, Mondo Digital

“This is the kind of movie that would never be made today. It is independent filmmaking at its finest. This is the sort of film in which the filmmakers and actors wear their hearts on their sleeves. It may be too ambitious but it has a sense of dread, atmosphere, and suspense that is sorely missing from horror today.” Kevin Sommerfield, Slasher Studios

“Much of this flick is extremely slow but the actions of the characters are so bizarre that it is somewhat compelling. You will find yourself questioning their motivations and lack of good judgement so often that this one may actually be kind of fun if watching with a like-minded film fan.” Josh Pasnak, The Video Graveyard

 Buy DVD with Joe Bob Briggs commentary: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Cast and characters:

• Laurie Walters … Jenny Macallister / Ghost Bride
• Joe Spano … John Devers
• Edna MacAfee … Agnes Abercrombi
• Harry Bauer … Hunter
• Charles Raino … Sheriff
• Ray K. Goman … Deputy Luther
• Steve Solinsky … Axman
• Richard Vielle … Axman
• Michael Herbert … Lecturer
• Joan Zerrien … First Girl

Release:

In the USA, Warlock Moon was released and distributed by Enchanted Filmarts on September 27, 1973.

Wikipedia | IMDb

Image credits: VideoCollector.co.uk

‘It’s nine times more suspenseful’

The Cat o’ Nine Tails – original title: Il gatto a nove code – is a 1971 Italian/French/German giallo thriller film written and directed by Dario Argento, adapted from a story by Dardano Sacchetti, Luigi Cozzi, and an uncredited Bryan Edgar Wallace. It stars Karl Malden, James Franciscus, and Catherine Spaak.

Although it is the middle entry in Argento’s so-called “Animal Trilogy” (along with The Bird with the Crystal Plumage and Four Flies on Grey Velvet), the titular “cat o’ nine tails” does not directly refer to a literal cat, nor to a literal multi-tailed whip; rather, it refers to the number of leads that the protagonists follow in the attempt to solve a murder.

Though successful in Europe, it was poorly received in the United States. Argento admitted in the book Broken Mirrors, Broken Minds: The Dark Dreams of Dario Argento that he was less than pleased with the film, and has repeatedly cited it as his least favourite of all of his films.

The Cat O’ Nine Tails is receiving a brand new 4K restoration and the Limited Edition treatment for release in January 2018.

• Brand new 4K restoration of the film from the original camera negative
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
• Original mono Italian and English soundtracks (lossless on the Blu-ray Disc)
• Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack
• New audio commentary by critics Alan Jones and Kim Newman
• New interviews with co-writer/director Dario Argento, co-writer Dardano Sacchetti, actress Cinzia De Carolis and production manager Angelo Iacono
• Script pages for the lost original ending, translated into English for the first time
• Original Italian and international theatrical trailers
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Candice Tripp
• Double-sided fold-out poster
• 4 lobby card reproductions
• Limited edition booklet illustrated by Matt Griffin, featuring an essay on the film by Dario Argento, and new writing by Barry Forshaw, Troy Howarth and Howard Hughes

Franco Arnò (Karl Malden), a middle-aged blind man, is out at night walking with his niece Lori (Cinzia De Carolis) when he overhears a man in a parked car mention blackmail. After Franco and Lori return home, the man in the car gets out and breaks into a large medical complex, the Terzi Institute. The following day, the police and reporter Carlo Giordani (James Franciscus) investigate the break-in, Carlo introducing himself to Franco during a run-in.

Meanwhile, Dr. Calabresi (Carlo Alighiero) looks at his files in his office and phones someone and agrees to meet with him. Calabresi tells his fiancee Bianca Merusi (Rada Rassimov) that he knows who broke into the institute and what was taken, but does not wish to tell anyone yet, saying it could mean a “big step forward”.

At a train station, while a group of reporters are waiting for a celebrity to arrive by train, the man approaches Calabresi and pushes him onto the tracks. Lori reads the newspaper for Franco about Calabresi’s “accidental death,” describing the picture and telling him that Giordani wrote the article.

The two of them go to see the reporter at his office and ask if the picture has been cropped. Carlo calls Righetto (Vittorio Congia), the paparazzi photographer who snapped the picture. Righetto goes back to the original and sees a moving hand-arm in the far left of the frame. As he prepares to print the photograph, he is strangled to death with a cord…

Reviews:

” …Argento’s sheer prowess as a filmmaker carries it past the doldrums of genre norm and transforms an otherwise routine story into something that’s at the very least watchable, and is at its very best captivating but not necessarily intense or even all that memorable.” Martin Liebman, Blu-ray.com

” …a well-meaning, entertaining giallo that’s not nearly as graphic or overblown as some of his later work. The script is neatly concocted, and the film has a more controlled, Hitchcock-style ambiance to it. Karl Malden and James Franciscus are extremely satisfactory in their roles.” George R. Reis, DVD Drive-In

” there are some marvellous moments of sheer Argento style: the early break-in to the institute, with its attention to minutiae such as locks being picked and shadows being chased along white walls; a show-stopping rail station murder which benefits from some sterling editing work; the excellent finale and its taut employment of atmospheric compositions.” Stuart Willis, Sex Gore Mutants

“Handsome film helped by a beautiful score from the amazing Ennio Morricone…a work as haunting as anything he did for the famous spaghetti westerns. Malden and Franciscus are both captivating performers, memorable ‘hands on’ climax.” The Terror Trap

Cast and characters:

• James Franciscus as Carlo Giordani
• Karl Malden as Franco Arnò
• Catherine Spaak as Anna Terzi
• Pier Paolo Capponi as Police Supt. Spimi
• Horst Frank as Dr. Braun
• Rada Rassimov as Bianca Merusi
• Tino Carraro as Professor Fulvio Terzi
• Cinzia De Carolis as Lori
• Aldo Regianni as Dr. Casoni
• Carlo Alighiero as Dr. Calabresi
• Vittorio Congia as Righetto
• Ugo Fangareggi as Gigi the Loser
• Tom Felleghy as Dr. Esson
• Emilio Marchisini as Dr. Mombelli
• Werner Pochath as Manuel
• Fulvio Mingozzi as Spimi’s man
• Corrado Olmi as Morsella
• Pino Patti as Barber

Filming locations:

Berlin, West Germany
Turin, and at Cinecitta Studios in Rome, Italy

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘There was no limit to the Horror… no end to the’

Night of the Lepus is a 1972 American horror feature film directed by William F. Claxton from a screenplay by Don Holliday and Gene R. Kearney, based on the 1964 science fiction novel The Year of the Angry Rabbit. Stuart Whitman, Janet Leigh and Rory Calhoun star.

Shot in Arizona, Night of the Lepus used domestic rabbits filmed against miniature models and actors dressed in rabbit costumes for the various attack scenes.

Rancher Cole Hillman (Rory Calhoun) seeks the help of college president Elgin Clark (DeForest Kelley) to combat thousands of rabbits that have invaded the area after their natural predators, coyotes, were killed off.

Elgin asks for the assistance of researchers Roy (Stuart Whitman) and Gerry Bennett (Janet Leigh) because they respect Cole’s wish to avoid using cyanide to poison the rabbits. Roy proposes using hormones to disrupt the rabbits’ breeding cycle and takes some rabbits for experimentation. One is injected with a new serum believed to cause birth defects.

While inspecting the rabbits’ old burrowing areas, Cole and the Bennets find a large, unusual animal track. Meanwhile, Cole’s son Jackie (Chris Morrell) and Amanda go to a gold mine to visit Jackie’s friend Billy but find him missing. Amanda goes into the mine and runs into an enormous rabbit with blood on its face. Screaming in terror, she runs from the mine…

Buy Blu-ray: Amazon.com

Reviews:

“The filmmaking is slick and surprisingly bloodthirsty, and for some unexplainable reason the actors don’t even seem too embarrassed to be associated with this nutty feature. DeForest Kelley comes off best of all, since he was simply glad to get a hiatus from Shatner and all the other Trek twits. Fast-paced and indescribably dumb — it’s perfect for an Easter Family Matinee, as well as a must-see for mutant monster aficionados.” Shock Cinema

” …plagued by some of the funniest dialogue you’ll ever hear in a horror film […] It’s all such a mismatch. The funny monsters and the lousy special effects play off the earnest actors to generate a really amusing picture.” John Kenneth Muir, Horror Films of the 1970s, McFarland, 2002

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca

“A misfire on virtually every level, Lepus goes limp almost immediately. A chore to get through, it warrants at least one viewing just so you can say you actually watched a movie about giant bunnies that eat people. If you can’t get enough of flesh-ripping rabbits, see Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) — it’s intentionally funny.” Cool Ass Cinema

“Night of the Lepus is played really straight, without a tongue-in-cheek line or a single pun. As a director, William Claxton keeps things moving but little else. Composer Jimmie Haskell provided the fairly ominous theme music. The well-done sound effects, however, build up more chills than any music. Despite its zany “monsters,” Night of the Lepus has its charms for the rabid monster fan.” William Schoell, Creature Features: Nature Turned Nasty in the Movies, McFarland, 2008

Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

“Unintentional humor seems to be its saving grace, but there’s a certain early 1970s allure that plays a role, too. It doesn’t have the charm of an Ed Wood, Jr. film, but something akin to it. It’s also amusing that the sheriff enlists the help of drive-in theater goers to wrangle the Herculean hares. I imagine a drive-in theater would have been the perfect venue for this flick.” Exclamation Mark

“It’s not as bad as similar giant-animals flicks from the 70s, e.g. The Food of the Gods or Empire of the Ants, but still pretty bad. Western-director William F. Claxton tried his best to scare American audiences with a bloodthirsty killer bunnies, but ultimately failed, mainly because bunnies aren’t scary AT ALL! It doesn’t help showing them jumping around miniature farms in slow-motion with their mouths ketchup-smeared.” Horror Movie Diary

” …you will giggle when you see these little critters hopping around HO-scale sets in slow motion to make them appear large and powerful. If the filmmakers had only embraced the humor of their subject and coaxed their cast into the same spirit, this might have been a cult classic. Instead they brought together a group of so-so character actors – and one genuine star, Janet Leigh – who turn in wooden performances that match the lame script.” Mike Mayo, The Horror Show Guide

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca

“Quite fun, although the enlarged rabbits, shown in slow motion with thundering hooves on the soundtrack, don’t really carry a genuinely monstrous charge.” Alan Frank, The Horror Film Handbook, Batsford, 1982

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‘It’s no PICNIC!’

Empire of the Ants is a 1977 science fiction horror feature film produced and directed by Bert I. Gordon (Secrets of a Psychopath; The Food of the Gods; The Amazing Colossal Man, Earth vs. the Spider; et al), from a screenplay by Jack Turley, based on a screen story by Gordon, very loosely on the short story by H.G. Wells.

The movie stars Joan Collins, Robert Lansing, John David Carson, Albert Salmi and Jaqueline Scott.

A heavenly paradise becomes a hellish nightmare when toxic dumping turns harmless ants into gigantic rampaging monster insects. Stumbling into their creepy lair, land developer Marilyn Fryser (Joan Collins) and her clients are horrified to realise the ants are devouring humans.

Fleeing for their lives, they discover the giant ants are determined to exterminate humankind and build an evil empire…

Reviews:

“Empire of the Ants is just a big-bug movie from the 50′s made with modern cinema equipment and actors. The thread-worn plot is the same as almost any other cheesy flick from that era and brings nothing new to the table except for the whole ‘pheromone’ weirdness in the sugar refinery which is over before it ever gets a chance to begin.” The Monster Shack

“It was as if Gordon had forgotten the rudimentary rules of low-budget film-making that should have been imprinted on his brain since the 1950s. His “classic” creature features are much better than the ones he did twenty years later […] Most of the actors give the movie more than it deserves.” William Schoell, Creature Features: Nature Turned Nasty in the Movies, McFarland, 2008

Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

“The pace is good, apart from just one slow section in the middle, and the story is enjoyable in a 1950s-b-movie way. The music bears an uncanny resemblance to the Jaws theme. The special effects are, well, priceless. And the continuity is bizarre (clothes being wet/dry, buttoned/unbuttoned, the location of the sugar refinery).” Bad Film Friday

Buy Blu-ray: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

“There are a few “so bad it’s good” moments, some of them involving half decent giant ant effects. But only a few. There is a single plot twist which the trailer gives away to anyone watching it before the film. A waste of time. For good giant ants, please watch Them! For good camp involving real ants, see Ants!” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers

Buy Claws & Saucers book: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

” …the human’s fright is seen as play acting, and the account of their progress over a gory trail is slow and repetitive. And, aside from some multifaceted ant’s-eye views of humans, the special effects are artificial and unexciting.” A.H. Weiler, The New York Times, June 30, 1977

Cast and characters:

• Joan Collins … Marilyn Fryser –Tales from the Crypt; Dark Places
• Robert Lansing … Dan Stokely – The Nest; 4D Man; Island Claws
• John David Carson … Joe Morrison
• Albert Salmi … Sheriff Art Kincade
• Jacqueline Scott … Margaret Ellis
• Pamela Shoop … Coreen Bradford
• Robert Pine … Larry Graham
• Edward Power …. Charlie Pearson
• Brooke Palance … Christine Graham
• Tom Fadden … Sam Russell
• Irene Tedrow … Velma Thompson

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Wikipedia | IMDb

New and future releases

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‘Witness its awakening’

The Evil is a 1977 [released 1978] American supernatural horror feature film directed by Gus Trikonis (The Darker Side of Terror) from a screenplay co-written with Donald G. Thompson [as Galen Thompson].

The Ed Carlin produced movie stars Richard Crenna, Joanna Pettet, Andrew Prine and features a bizarre cameo appearance by Victor Buono as the Devil; although his scenes were apparently re-edited for some releases.

The Evil will be released on Blu-ray by Scream Factory on September 18, 2018 in a new, high-definition transfer from apparently the only surviving archival print. Extras from the previous DVD release will be included.

Psychiatrist C.J. Arnold (Richard Crenna) purchases an abandoned mansion, which was built over hot sulphur pits, in order to set up a drug rehab facility. He recruits a group of volunteers to help clean-up and renovate the large house.

Almost immediately, C.J.’s wife, Dr. Caroline Arnold (Joanna Pettet) begins sensing a strange and usual presence that starts to manifest as a ghostly apparition. Soon thereafter, more strange and eerie things start to happen which start to agitate the volunteers, along with the resident dog.

Richard Crenna

Later on, C.J. discovers a trap door in the basement, which he opens up and unknowingly unleashes a menacing spirit. Suddenly, all of the doors and windows become locked, trapping everyone inside the creepy mansion.

The unwilling occupants soon discover that the trap door in the basement is actually a gateway into Hell itself. Slowly, the evil force within the house starts to kill off the trapped occupants one by one through a series of bizarre deaths…

Reviews:

“It’s light on the jump scares and gore, but it brings the creepy atmosphere big time. Of course, like most of the haunted house films it takes from, it also has an ending you wish wasn’t there.” Tony Ryan, CHUD.com

“The direction and the score are competent but much feels formulaic, even heavy-handed as loud music telegraphs the tension […] The very last minutes would better suit a TV special than a feature-length horror film but the appearance of Satan alone – always very rare – makes The Evil worth seeking out.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers, Lulu.com, 2012

Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com | Amazon.ca

“A rather traditional haunted house thriller with a slim plot line that milks the sub-genre for all its worth, The Evil is actually an entertaining, well-paced film, even if it’s not all that scary or logical for that matter. Shot almost entirely on location in a single mansion, the creaky secluded setting, along with tight direction and a fine cast make this one worthwhile…” George R. Reis, DVD Drive-In

“Despite its relative obscurity, The Evil is at least the equal of many of its peers, both in terms of structure and presentation. This isn’t some cheap knock-off, this is a genuine, 100%, good old fashioned horror movie; just like the one’s you’d stay up late to watch on TV as a kid.” Paul Pritchard, DVD Verdict

Andrew Prine

” …here character development only exists in little snippets that have so little bearing on the ultimate story that they feel like they’re there only to pad out the running time. And when the horrors start, they’re trotted out so mechanically that it almost becomes laughably predictable. As a result, the movie never really comes to life; it feels more like an exercise in formula…” Dave Sindelar, Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings

“It’s all pretty expertly done, and director Gus Trikonis knows how to make a haunted-house movie. Victor Buono is sublime as the Devil himself…” James J. Mulay (editor), The Horror Film, CineBooks, 1989

“Though it appears to be in the Exorcist–Omen school, this one is really more like The Shining […] With a solid cast of character actors, the result is better than you might expect and the film does have some moments that are frightening and surprising.” Mike Mayo, The Horror Show Guide, Visible Ink, 2013

Buy The Horror Show Guide: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca

“The Evil was filmed in a real castle in Montezuma, New Mexico and, per usual, the utilizing of an actual space with authentic history pays off. Frankly the location alone is more than enough to recommend this movie. The Evil  is more frivolous fun than under the skin unsettling, but it’s not completely brain dead either. Unlike many a haunted house flick it comes off as generally interested in the supernatural.” Kindertrauma

” …The Evil really belongs to corpulent character actor Victor Buono […] who turned his brief cameo as the Devil into the most amusing slice of monstrous villainy since Vic Diaz in Beast of the Yellow Night.” Christopher T Koetting, Mindwarp! The Fantastic True Story of Roger Corman’s New World Pictures, Hemlock Books, 2009

Buy Mindwarp! Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

“Richard Crenna is set up, just like the rationalist heroes of Curse of the Demon (1957) and Night of the Eagle (1961), as sceptics who throughout the course of the film have the arc where they are forced to face the actuality of matters supernatural – although this is far too crude a film to make anything interesting out of such.” Richard Scheib, Moria

“Trikonis’s direction is skillful enough, as he knows how to capture the ominous surroundings and chilling events through unsettling camera angles and by often bathing the film in dark shadows. If you’re going to have an effective haunted house movie, the house itself has to be adequately spooky, and this one is. Really, “adequate” is the best way to describe this one…” Brett Gallman, Oh, the Horror!

Joanna Pettet

“Taking a cue from The Exorcist into the bargain, this actually trapped its characters inside the house in question once the blundering C.J. managed to unleash the demons of Hell, or as much of that as the budget would allow, which evidently stretched to a wind machine judging by how many of the more intense sequences were shot in what appeared to be a Force 9 gale.” Graeme Clarke, The Spinning Image

“Though the direction and the cinematography were fairly solid, much of the acting left a little to be desired with Crenna and the female lead played by Joanna Pettet, and Crenna’s wife in the film, better than the rest. The movie produced more thrills than it did horror, as the pace during the latter two-thirds moved the film along quickly.” The Telltale Mind

Cassie Yates

“A strong opening and some atmospheric elements put this one on the right track […] Crenna tries, but can’t seem to overcome the inherent weaknesses of the script. Solid production values and a haphazard earnestness runs throughout, however, and make it generally a watchable one-time journey if nothing else.” The Terror Trap

” …despite working with a low budget, director Gus Trikonis manages to whip up a good number of chills. He is helped greatly by managing to shoot in an actual old and creepy-looking mansion, and its dilapidated exteriors and interiors add a great deal of atmosphere. Trikonis adds to the eerie feeling with skilful use of sound – a rainstorm, creepy music – while also knowing when to shut up and use a background of silence equally effectively.” The Unknown Movies

“While the set-up is nothing but standard and some of the mayhem gets a bit over-the-top at times this is a fairly entertaining time with some okay shocks (such as the one involving a dumbwaiter) and acceptable spookings despite a finale that’s too silly…” The Video Graveyard

Victor Buono as The Devil

“Surrealism doesn’t fuse well with exploitation and Victor Buono has a lame role as evil incarnate.” Los Angeles Times

“Crenna and Pettet confront the devil himself, played with sinister angelicism by Victor Buono. A silly idea? Maybe, but Trikonis and Buono make it click.” Variety, 1978

“An extremely fast-paced, tightly constructed film in the tradition of, but far superior to, The Legend of Hell House (1973), the film milks the haunted house sub-genre for all it’s worth.” Phil Hardy (editor), The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror

Buy DVD with Twice Dead: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

• Trailers for Kingdom of the Spiders, Death Race 2000, The Terror Within, and Not Of This Earth
• A commentary track for The Evil with the director, Gus Trikonis; the screenwriter Donald Thompson; and the director of photography, Mario Di Leo
• A commentary track for Twice Dead with co-writer and director Bert Dragin and lead actor Tom Bresnahan
• The Girl Next Door…with Jill Whitlow featurette

Choice dialogue:

The Devil: “You really are an endless source of amusement.”

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The Popobawa (or Popo Bawa) is a mythical cryptid originating in Eastern Africa, specifically in and around the Tanzanian area. Popobawa is an alleged evil shape-shifting being which is said by witnesses to take both human and bat-like form, causing instances of panic to spread among affected communities.

Popobawa is unusual in cryptid terms in being a relatively recent phenomenon, the first specific reference being from 1965 on the Tanzanian island of Pemba, perhaps pertinently just after the island’s political revolution. Named from the Swahili for Popo (“bat”) Bawa (“wing”) due to the shadow it casts when flying overhead, it is the most recent “shetani” , the collective of mostly malevolent mythical spirits originating in the Eastern Africa area.  As a shape-shifting creature, it takes the form of a human by day and as a hunched or dwarfen humanoid with a variety of characteristics at night – these can include:

• A hunched or dwarf-like human body
• Long, pointed ears
• A mouth crammed with fangs
• Grey skin
• A single eye in the centre of its forehead
• Huge, bat-like wings, folded when not in flight into a cape
• A large penis (up to six feet in length!)
• Emission of a sulphurous smell
• Appears in a puff of smoke
• Occasionally seen with a tail and a bird’s talons

Many of these elements seem interchangeable, with daytime sightings and metamorphosis into animals also reported. With no ascribed motive for the Popobawa’s attacks on men, women and children, it is notable and quite shocking that the majority of the creature’s attacks are not only violent but also see the sodomitic rape of the victim, lasting up to one hour. The victim, if left alive, is told by the spirit to tell others of what has happened, lest the beast to revisit them and re-enact the assault.

It would seem likely that a strong history of homophobia in the region has made a significant impression on this element of the story – others have suggested that the area’s history as colonial hotbeds of slavery is responsible to some extent. The night-time attacks have left communities (though most tellingly, usually the men) staying awake at night to guard against the Popobawa visiting their homes.

By the 1970’s, Popobawa was given something of a backstory, an angry sheikh having released a djinn (genie) to take vengeance on his enemies. However, he lost control of the creature and the djinn took its current form, demanding its victims believe in its existence. More sightings began to appear, particularly in Tanzania and Zanzibar, though it was 1995 when the first of two notably widespread panics were attributed to attacks.

Reports of the 1995 attacks were investigated by prominent American sceptic, Joe Nikell who reported that there was evidence that the likely cause was some kind of sleep paralysis, rather than an actual physical encounter. Accounts from people said to have been victims regularly tell of feeling they are being held down whilst being attacked, in common with many alien abduction stories and out of body experiences – this would certainly lend itself to Nikell’s theory.

Mjaka Hamad, a peasant farmer in his mid-fifties and an apparent victim of the Popobawa’s attacks in 1995, has related his ordeal to the media:

“I could feel it,” Hamad said, “…something pressing on me. I couldn’t imagine what sort of thing was happening to me. You feel as if you are screaming with no voice. It was just like a dream but then I was thinking it was this Popobawa and he had come to do something terrible to me, something sexual. It is worse than what he does to women.”

The most recent wave of widely-reported Popobawa sightings came in 2007 in Tanzania’s former capital, Dar es Salaam, significant enough that even BBC news covered it. Some locals anointed themselves with pig oil to protect themselves from the Popobawa, whilst steel and salt are also said to repel the creature.

TV Personality Benjamin Radford, who investigated the Popobawa in 2007, reported in Fortean Times that the legend has its roots in Islam, the dominant religion in the area. According to Radford, “holding or reciting the Koran is said to keep the Popobawa at bay, much as the Bible is said to dispel Christian demons.”

Daz Lawrence, HORRORPEDIA

Wikipedia

Image credits: Cryptid Wiki | Mythology.net

The following is a list of the best horror films currently available on Netflix USA and UK in June 2018.

The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)

In small-town Virginia, police are called to a gruesome crime scene where a family has been massacred in their own house. In the basement, an even more disturbing discovery is made: the partially buried corpse of a nude woman.

The cops take this unidentified victim to a small, family-run morgue, where they ask proprietor Tommy Tilden (Brian Cox) to perform an urgent forensic analysis in order to help determine what happened at the blood-stained house… [read more]

The Babadook (2014)

Six years after the death of her husband, Amelia struggles to discipline her “out-of-control” six-year-old Samuel – a son she finds difficult to love. Samuel’s dreams are plagued by a monster he believes is coming to kill them both.

When a disturbing storybook called “The Babadook” turns up at their house, Samuel is convinced that the Babadook is the creature he’s been dreaming about… [read more]

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

In 1897, newly-qualified solicitor Jonathan Harker takes the Transylvanian Count Dracula as a client from his colleague R.M. Renfield, who has gone insane.

Jonathan travels to Transylvania to arrange Dracula’s real estate acquisition in London, including Carfax Abbey. He meets Dracula, who discovers a picture of Harker’s fiancée, Mina, and believes that she is the reincarnation of his dead wife Elisabeta… [read more]

The Cabin in the Woods (2012)

Technicians Gary Sitterson and Steve Hadley prepare for an operation, one of several taking place around the world, while joking with fellow technician Wendy Lin.

College students Dana Polk, Jules Louden and her boyfriend Curt Vaughan, Holden McCrea, and Marty Mikalski go to a remote cabin in the woods for a vacation. While there, the technicians control the local environment and give them mood-altering drugs to manipulate the group into following a scenario. The drugs gradually reduce the group’s intelligence and awareness, and also increase their libido… [read more]

The Conjuring (2013)

When a rural family of seven begin to suspect that they are not alone on their Harrisville, RI farmstead, they hire world-renowned paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren to check out their secluded farmhouse.

The Warrens may be seasoned ghost hunters, but they soon realise that they are in over their heads. As supernatural activity around the home becomes increasingly violent and ominous, the couple must fight for their lives in order to destroy the most terrifying evil they have ever encountered… [read more]

Creep (2014)

Aaron (Patrick Brice) is an optimistic videographer that decides to work for Josef (Mark Duplass) after answering his ad on Craigslist. All Aaron has to do is record Josef throughout the day and remain discreet about the entire set-up. Josef tells Aaron that he’ll be recording a series of videos for his unborn son, as he’s suffering from a terminal illness and will never be able to see him grow up. While Josef seems strange, the money is too good for Aaron to pass up and he agrees to the task.

However, as the day progresses Josef becomes increasingly strange and Aaron finds it difficult to tell whether or not some of the things Josef is saying or doing are truly jokes or actually a sign of true danger and mental instability… [read more]

Cult of Chucky (2017)

Confined to an asylum for the criminally insane for the past four years, Nica Pierce (Fiona Dourif) is erroneously convinced that she, not Chucky, murdered her entire family.

However, when Nica’s psychiatrist introduces a new therapeutic “tool” to facilitate his patients’ group sessions — an all-too-familiar “Good Guy” doll with an innocently smiling face — a string of grisly deaths begins to plague the asylum, and Nica starts to wonder if maybe she isn’t crazy after all… [read more]

The Descent (2005)

Having entered an unmapped cave system, six young women become trapped and are hunted by bloodthirsty human hybrids lurking within… [read more]

From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

On the run from a bank robbery that left several police officers dead, Seth Gecko (George Clooney) and his paranoid, loose-cannon brother, Richard (Quentin Tarantino), hightail it to the Mexican border.

Kidnapping preacher Jacob Fuller (Harvey Keitel) and his kids, the criminals sneak across the border in the family’s RV and hole up in a topless bar. Unfortunately, the bar also happens to be home base for a gang of vampires, and the brothers and their hostages have to fight their way out… [read more]

Gerald’s Game (2017)

Once again, Jessie Burlingame (Carla Gugino) has been talked into submitting to her husband, Gerald’s, kinky sex games—something that she’s frankly had enough of, and they never held much charm for her to begin with. So much for a “romantic getaway” at their secluded summer home.

After Jessie is handcuffed to the bedposts—and Gerald (Bruce Greenwood) crosses a line with his wife—the day ends with deadly consequences. Now Jessie is utterly trapped in an isolated lakeside house that has become her prison—and comes face-to-face with her deepest, darkest fears and memories… [read more]

Hush (2016)

After an accident robbed her of her hearing as a teenager, author Maddie Young began to lead a life of seclusion. As an adult she spends her time in an isolated cabin out in the woods, but Maddie soon realises she is no longer alone and is now being hunted by a masked killer… [read more]

The Invitation (2015)

Will and Eden were once a loving couple. After a tragedy took their son, Eden disappeared. Two years later, out of the blue, she returns with a new husband… and as a different person, eerily changed and eager to reunite with her ex and those she left behind.

Over the course of a dinner party in the house that was once his, the haunted Will is gripped by mounting evidence that Eden and her new friends have a mysterious and terrifying agenda… [read more]

It Follows (2014)

For nineteen year-old Jay, fall should be about school, boys and weekends out at the lake. But after a seemingly innocent sexual encounter, she finds herself plagued by strange visions and the inescapable sense that someone, or something, is following her. Faced with this burden, Jay and her teenage friends must find a way to escape the horrors that seem to be only a few steps behind… [read more]

John Dies at the End (2012)

A new street drug that sends its users across time and dimensions has one drawback: some people return as no longer human. Can two college dropouts save humankind from this silent, otherworldly invasion? [read more]

Misery (1990)

Sick of his 19th Century romantic heroine, Misery Chastain, novelist Paul Sheldon (James Caan) kills her off and writes a more personal, modern novel.

When his car crashes in remote mountains Paul is saved by ‘number one fan’ Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates), who adores Misery and has even named her pig after her. As she nurses him back to health at her remote dwelling, he realises she is not just going to let him go… [read more]

Oculus (2013)

Ten years previously, tragedy struck the Russell family, leaving the lives of teenage siblings Tim and Kaylie forever changed when Tim was convicted of the brutal murder of their parents.

Now in his twenties, Tim is newly released from protective custody and only wants to move on with his life; but Kaylie, still haunted by that fateful night, is convinced her parents’ deaths were caused by something else altogether: a malevolent supernatural force­­ unleashed through the Lasser Glass, an antique mirror in their childhood home… [read more]

The Omen (1976)

American diplomat Robert (Gregory Peck) adopts Damien (Harvey Stephens) when his wife, Katherine (Lee Remick), delivers a stillborn child. After Damien’s first nanny hangs herself, Father Brennan (Patrick Troughton) warns Robert that Damien will kill Katherine’s unborn child.

Shortly thereafter, Brennan dies and Katherine miscarries when Damien pushes her off a balcony. As more people around Damien die, Robert investigates Damien’s background and realises his adopted son may be the Antichrist…

[read more]

The Ritual (2017)

After a tragic robbery and homicide incident, four British former university friends reunite for a hiking trip in Sweden. However, they encounter a menacing presence in the forest that seems to be stalking them… [read more]

Se7en (1995)

The newly transferred David Mills (Pitt) and the soon-to-retire William Somerset (Freeman) are homicide detectives who become deeply involved in the case of a sadistic serial killer whose meticulously planned murders correspond to the seven deadly sins: gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, pride, lust, and envy… [read more]

Teeth (2007)

Dawn (Jess Weixler) is an active member of her high-school chastity club but, when she meets Tobey (Hale Appleman), nature takes its course, and the pair answer the call. They suddenly learn she is a living example of the ‘vagina dentata’ myth, when the encounter takes a grisly turn… [read more]

10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)

Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) packs her things and leaves her apartment, angry over a dispute with her partner Ben (Bradley Cooper). While driving away she turns on the radio; it claims that there are numerous blackouts in major cities. Michelle becomes distracted after Ben calls her, and her car crashes and goes off the road from the distraction, flipping upside down.

When she awakens, she discovers she is chained to the wall in an unknown location. After reaching her phone only to receive no signal, a man named Howard (John Goodman) enters the room and tells her he saved her life and the world outside is now uninhabitable due to the nuclear or chemical fallout from “an attack.”… [read more]

30 Days of Night (2007)

In the far Northern Hemisphere, the small town of Barrow, Alaska, experiences a solid month of darkness every year. Though most of the residents head south for the winter, some townspeople remain behind. However, those that stay regret their decision when, one year, hungry vampires descend on Barrow to feed. Sheriff Eben (Josh Hartnett), his wife (Melissa George) and a dwindling band of survivors must try to last until dawn breaks over Barrow’s monthlong twilight… [read more]

Train to Busan (2016)

Seok-woo is a fund manager, workaholic, and divorced single father to his young daughter, Soo-an. For her birthday, she asks him to take her to Busan to see her mother.

As the train departs, a convulsing, ill young woman boards with a bite wound on her leg. She becomes a zombie and attacks a train attendant, quickly spreading infection in the train. Seok-woo receives a call from his co-worker warning him that “violent riots” have erupted in Korea… [read more]

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010)

A group of “college kids” are going camping in the Appalachian mountains. While at a gas station, they encounter Tucker and Dale, two well-meaning hillbillies who have just bought the vacation home of their dreams: a run-down lakeside cabin, deep in the woods. On Tucker’s advice, Dale tries to talk to Allison, but because of his inferiority complex and appearance, he only scares her and her friends… [read more]

Veronica (2017)

Madrid, 1991: During a total eclipse of the sun, Catholic schoolgirl Veronica and two friends decide to make a Ouija board to invoke her father’s spirit. After the glass shatters, Veronica enters a kind of trance and passes out, frightening her friends.

Having recovered, she starts to perceive strange things at home that make her think she’s brought her father back to the world of the living [read more]

The Wailing (2016)

A mysterious sickness is spreading among the people of the Goksung village, causing violent murderous outbreaks followed by stupor and eventually death.

Police and doctors first suspect the victims were poisoned by wild mushrooms. Officer Jong-goo, who is investigating the cases, meets a mysterious young woman called Moo-myeong (“no name” in Korean), who tells him about a Japanese stranger and his involvement with the deaths… [read more]

Zombieland (2009)

After a virus turns most people into zombies, the world’s surviving humans remain locked in an ongoing battle against the hungry undead. Four survivors — Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) and his cohorts Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), Wichita (Emma Stone) and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) — abide by a list of survival rules and zombie-killing strategies as they make their way toward a rumoured safe haven in Los Angeles… [read more]

Piranha is a 1978 American horror feature film about a swarm of killer piranhas. It was directed by Joe Dante (The Howling, Gremlins, Trapped Ashes; Burying the Ex) and stars Bradford Dillman (Bug), Heather Menzies, Kevin McCarthy (Invasion of the Body Snatchers), Keenan Wynn, Barbara Steele (Black Sunday; Shivers), Dick Miller and Belinda Balaski.

Produced by Roger Corman, Piranha is a low budget parody of the 1975 film Jaws, which had been a major success for Universal Studios and inspired a series of similarly themed killer critter movies such as Grizzly, Tintorera, Tentacles, and Orca. It was shot at Aquarena Springs in San Marcos, Texas. Screenwriter John Sayles (Alligator) used the proceeds to fund his own films and also wrote the tie-in novelization.

The film was followed by a sequel, Piranha II: The Spawning, in 1981, and two remakes, a cable TV remake in 1995, and a 3D remake in 2010, that spawned its own sequel in 2012.

Two teenagers exploring at night come upon an apparently abandoned military installation. They take advantage of what appears to be a swimming pool to skinny dip. The teenagers are attacked by an unseen force and disappear under the water. A light activates in the main building and a silhouetted figure investigates the screams but is too late to help.

A determined but somewhat absent-minded insurance investigator named Maggie McKeown (Heather Menzies) is dispatched to find the missing teenagers near Lost River Lake. She hires surly backwoods drunkard Paul Grogan (Bradford Dillman) to serve as her guide. They come upon the abandoned compound, which functioned as a fish hatchery prior to being militarized. They discover bizarre specimens in jars and indications of an occupant. Maggie locates the drainage switch for the outside pool and decides to empty it to search the bottom, but the moment she activates it a haggard and frantic man attacks her, attempting to stop the draining until he is subdued by Grogan.

The two find a skeleton in the filtration trap of the empty pool and learn it was filled with salt water. The man awakens and steals their jeep, but crashes it due to his disorientation, and is taken to Grogan’s home where they spend the night. They take Grogan’s homemade raft down the river, where the man wakes up and tells them that the pool in the facility was filled with a school of piranhas and that Maggie released them into the river…

Review:

A classic, lively, fun and old-fashioned monster movie, Piranha is a delight. And the new Blu-ray edition looks fabulous and is full of extras, including a lively commentary from Dante and producer Jon Davidson, some great 8mm behind the scenes footage (again with commentary), outtakes and a ‘making of’ that is pretty badly put together and pretty poor quality, but does feature a lot of the cast and crew discussing the movie. All in all, there’s a tempting selection of supplementary material for a film that would be an essential purchase anyway.

David Flint, HORRORPEDIA

Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

Other reviews:

‘Piranha rises above the pack because it goes about its task in an intelligent, lov­ingly crafted way. The basis of its savvy approach is a smart script by first-time screenwriter (and future indie-film icon) John Sayles that layers the storyline with quirky, well-drawn characters that charm the viewer into caring about them. Thus, when the monster-fish attacks kick in, it’s a pleasant surprise how dramatically involving it is because the audi ence is invested in these oddball heroes.’ Schlockmania

Buy DVD: Amazon.co.uk

“Dante’s cunning filmmaking, with plentiful gore yet judicious, mostly suggestive sense of the physical mayhem spread by the killer fish, which, apart from some unfortunate shots of them swimming in schools, are mostly glimpsed in quick flashes of wicked teeth and darting, nipping blurs, is shot and edited with the kind of zest that truly marks out talented filmmakers even in low-budget fare.” This Island Rod

“This one is cheap but funny […] The trailer doesn’t even try to pretend it’s not a rip-off, claiming “These are the man-eaters who go beyond the bite of all other jaws. Sharks kill alone, but piranha come in thousands.” This is the kind of drive-in film that simply has an x-factor and cleverness not present in most of its forgotten peers…” Jim Vorel, Paste magazine

Offline reading:

How I Made a Hundred Movies in Hollywood and Never Lost a Dime by Roger Corman with Jim Jerome, Da Capo Press

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Buy Horrors from the Deep: Amazon.co.uk

Wikipedia | IMDb

The post Piranha – USA, 1978 appeared first on HORRORPEDIA.

The Possessed is a 1977 American made-for-TV supernatural horror film directed by Jerry Thorpe from a screenplay by John Sacret Young, and starring James Farentino, Joan Hackett, Diana Scarwid, and Harrison Ford.

Kevin Leahy, an alcoholic Catholic priest who has strayed from his faith, crashes his car and is pronounced dead at the scene. As penance, he is sent back to Earth to fight evil as an exorcist and returns to life.

At the Helen Page School, a Catholic all-girls college in Salem, Oregon, graduation season is near. The school is about to go coed. Ellen Sumner (Claudette Nevins), is a teacher at the school, which her daughter, Weezie, attends. One evening, the paper in Ellen’s typewriter inexplicably bursts into flames…

Review:

A hesitant and vacillating priest played sensitively by James Farentino, comes back from the dead as an exorcist; he’s forced to redeem himself by opposing a demon whose ironic proclivity for causing death by fire at a girl’s school has become a bit too flagrant.

Though a possession story, the arson element dominates, causing the film to bear a more than passing resemblance to Stephen King’s Firestarter, though the movie predates King’s novel by three years. If it has to be considered, perhaps consider it an inspiration.

Leonard Rosenman’s score wonderfully reinforces a mounting unnerving tension, and John Sacret Young’s writing is strong, with some very clever dialogue; the acting by most is of high quality, but impeccably so by Harrison Ford; it makes one wish he were in more of the film, if not the entirety of it.

The Possessed is highly compelling up to the final encounter, but then becomes a watered-down and unconvincing riff on The Exorcist and unfortunately fizzles to some degree.

Ben Spurling, HORRORPEDIA

Buy DVD: Amazon.com

Other reviews:

“Short, sharp, creepy, it might still deliver some minor shocks. Not at all bad for TV. I remember catching it twice on TV, late 70s and again early 80s. Several scenes really stuck enough to make it a must-see when it rolled around again.” Mark Hodgson, Black Hole

” …almost no information is provided regarding the nature of the demon, and, the possession arguably arrives too late […] Nonetheless, it’s highly ambitious stuff for the small screen that offers up some risqué themes, a brilliantly game performance by Hackett and a couple of effective set-pieces along the way.” Kevin Hilton, Are You in the House Alone? A TV Movie Compendium 1964 – 1999, Headpress, 2016

Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com | Amazon.ca

” …an air of mold and perversion and frustrated ambitions that gives The Possessed an edge over other Exorcist knock-offs. Terrific cast, effective atmosphere, and a genuinely scary finale. The little-seen The Possessed comes highly, highly recommended.” Paul Mavis, DVD Talk

“Director Jerry Thorpe tries to coast on the hothouse atmosphere of the all-girls school and indeed manages to create a claustrophobic air, but the ultimate ratio between build-up and payoff comes as something of a disappointment. The movie’s climax is truncated and abrupt. This is indicative that the exorcism angle and the character of the priest are the least satisfying aspects of the film, which seems to want to tell a more nonspecific ghost story.” Jeremy Heilman, Movie Martyr

“It would be a lie to say it’s scary, but it’s engaging. You care about what’s happening on the screen, which I rarely do nowadays. And this more or less without any spectacular scenes. Well, it’s not totally without them – there’s some cool stuff involving fires and when we finally understand who’s behind it all, it’s completely cheese-less. Bravo!” Fred Anderson, Schmollywood Babylon

“A good cast, including P.J. Soles, Dinah Manoff, and Ann Dusenberry in minor roles, a terrific setting, and a brisk showdown/conclusion…make this one worth seeing.” The Terror Trap

Cast and characters:

• James Farentino as Kevin Leahy – Aaahh!!! Real Monsters TV series; The Cradle Will Fall; Dead & Buried; Night Gallery TV series
• Joan Hackett as Louise Gelson – Dead of Night; How Awful About Allan
• Harrison Ford as Paul Winjam
• Claudette Nevins as Ellen Sumner – The Mask
• P. J. Soles as Marty – Grindsploitation; The Butterfly Room; Beg; The Devil’s Rejects; Uncle Sam; Alienator; Innocent Prey; Halloween; Blood Bath; Carrie; et al
• Diana Scarwid as Lane – Psycho III
• Eugene Roche as Sergeant Taplinger
• Ann Dusenberry as Louise “Weezie” Summer – Jaws 2
• Dinah Manoff as Celia
• Carol Jones as Alex

Filming locations:

The film was shot on location at Reed College in Portland, Oregon in 1976.

Release:

Originally broadcast on NBC on May 1, 1977, the film aired just a few short weeks before Star Wars would make Harrison Ford a household name.

The Possessed was made available via a Warner Archive DVD-R on April 22, 2010.

Wikipedia | IMDb

The post The Possessed – USA, 1977 appeared first on HORRORPEDIA.

‘Come score with the cheerleaders’

Satan’s Cheerleaders is a 1977 comedy horror feature film starring John Ireland, Yvonne De Carlo, and John Carradine. It was directed by Greydon Clark (Dance Macabre; Without Warning, Uninvited) from a script co-written with producer Alvin L. Fast.

The cinematography was provided by Dean Cundey who would famously go on to work on Halloween a year later and a number of John Carpenter’s films.

Benedict High School’s cheerleaders aren’t shy and sweet. The football team knows them well – and Billy, the school’s disturbed janitor, would like to.

In the locker room, the girls shower and dress, unaware of the evil eyes which secretly watch them. They don’t know that a curse has been placed on their clothes. And they don’t know that their trip to the first big game of the season might sideline them for eternity.

Will the cheerleaders succumb to the dark ritual of sexual sacrifice and death that’s been plotted for them?

Buy Blu-ray + DVD combo: Amazon.com

Reviews:

“The film quickly documents the underlying rowdiness of both the cheerleaders and (of course) the football players, but the whole satanic element is such a gonzo addition to this basic plot formulation that the film struggles to weave things together into something amounting to an organic whole.” Jeffrey Kauffman, Blu-ray.com

“The cheese runs high in the opening minutes of the girls reciting inane dialogue and playing “chicken” on the beach, but once the Satanists are introduced, the audience is subjected to horrendous acting by both the embarrassed veterans and the newcomers (soon to be gone from the screens for good). None of the scares are effective and the intentional humor is strained and pathetic. Yuck!” Casey Scott, DVD Drive-In

“As a horror film, Satan’s Cheerleaders is either wilfully incompetent or simply incapable of understanding how to make a devil worshipping sect made up of middle-aged white trash threatening in the slightest. Once they escape from the house, Chris, Sharon and Debbie all manage to run into members of the cult – it’s like an entire town filled with variations on Texas Chain Saw‘s Cook…” The Pink Smoke

“A charming detour into the Theatre of the Absurd that’s sweetened by a deliciously subversive edge. Rah! Rah! Rah!” DVD Talk

“Satan’s Cheerleaders had potential to be devilishly fun, but its lackluster pacing sucks the wind right out of it. Director Greydon Clark doesn’t bring anything original or outrageous to the table. The film’s first third is devoted to cheerleader frolics that are dull despite all the leaping, bending and showering. Marquee value stars De Carlo and Ireland look embarrassed while John Carradine just looks at cue cards but still delivers the best performance.” Bill Burke, Horror News

“Satan’s Cheerleaders takes a little while to hit its stride but the last half of the film, if not good in the traditional sense, is at least entertaining and bizarre enough to hold our attention. The film also benefits from a genuinely strange cast.” Ian Jane, Rock! Shock! Pop!

Cast and characters:

• John Ireland as The Sheriff
• Yvonne De Carlo as Emmy / Sheriff’s Wife / High Priestess
• Jack Kruschen as Billy the Janitor
• John Carradine as The Bum
• Sydney Chaplin as Monk
• Jacqueline Cole [as Jacqulin Cole] as Ms. Johnson
• Kerry Sherman as Patti
• Hillary Horan as Chris
• Alisa Powell as Debbie
• Sherry Marks as Sharon
• Lane Caudell [as Lane Cordell] as Stevie
• Joseph Carlo as Coach
• Michael Donovan O’Donnell as Farmer
• Robin Greer as Baker Girl

Release:

Satan’s Cheerleaders was released theatrically in the United States by World Amusements in June 1977, on VHS in the 1980s by various companies including Interglobal Home Video, Liberty Home Video, and United Video and on DVD by VCI Entertainment in 2002. The DVD version is currently available on the VCI Home Video label from Music Video Distributors. A Blu-ray and DVD combo was released on November 7, 2017.

Wikipedia | IMDb | Satan’s Cheerleaders fan site | Amazon.com

Image credits: VHS Collector

The post Satan’s Cheerleaders – USA, 1977 appeared first on HORRORPEDIA.

‘There wasn’t enough space in toyland to escape the terror that rocked Baby’s cradle’

The Baby is a 1973 American horror thriller feature film directed by Ted Post (Nightkill; Beneath the Planet of the Apes; Magnum Force) from a screenplay by co-producer Abe Polsky. The Quintet Films production stars Anjanette Comer, Ruth Roman, Marianna Hill, Susanne Zenor, and David Mooney.

Incredibly considering its subject matter, The Baby was rated “PG” in the United States, yet over the years its reputation has grown as one of the most deranged films of its era.

Ann Gentry is a social worker, whose husband has been involved in a car crash in a car she was driving, and takes up the case of the twisted and mysterious Wadsworth family, and takes a special interest in a member only called “Baby”, a mentally impaired twenty-something who still acts and is treated like an infant by his mother and sisters.

Ann is interested in Baby and wants to see if she can teach him to behave appropriately for his age group. The Wadsworth clan has been neglectful and abusive to Baby, but Mrs. Wadsworth has been extremely overprotective of him ever since his father left shortly after his birth, and isn’t going to let another caregiver mess with her son.

Eventually, Ann and her mother-in-law take Baby, and his mother and sisters come after them, but Ann and her mother-in-law kill them. We soon find out why she is so interested in Baby: so he can be a playmate for her husband, who was left with the mental capacity of an infant after his accident…

Buy Blu-ray: Amazon.co.uk

The Baby is released on Blu-ray by Arrow Video on September 25, 2018. New cover art was designed by Twins of Evil (Scalpel; Blood Feast; Vamp). The release features movie in both 1.85:1 and 1.33:1 aspect ratios, accompanied by original uncompressed PCM mono audio and optional English subtitles.

• Audio commentary by Travis Crawford (new)
• Down Will Come Baby – Retrospective with film professor Rebekah McKendry (new)
• Tales from the Crib – Archival audio interview with director Ted Post
• Baby Talk – Archival audio interview with star David Mooney
• Theatrical trailer
• Collector’s booklet

Reviews [may contain spoilers]:

” …the viewer is suitably intrigued throughout, while Germaine and Alba use Baby to work out their respectively sexual and sadistic frustrations. Serious performances keep the film from edging over into camp despite a “birthday party of the damned” lit in gels like Visconti’s The Damned, but the film edges into slasher territory late in the film and then finishes off with a truly loopy ending.” Eric Cotenas, DVD Beaver

” …sick scenes have Baby being punished with a long shock stick, and Hill is seen disrobing and getting into Baby’s crib in the middle of the night. Some of the scenes with Baby resemble a tasteless Saturday Night Live skit (they unconvincingly dub in the cries of a real baby) and due to its limited budget, at times the film comes off like an ABC Movie of the Week. But it’s the tension between Comer’s character and the trio of crazy females that make The Baby interesting, as well as the unforgettable climax.” George R. Reis, DVD Drive-In

” …there’s murder, abuse, hippies, cattle prods, nursing, and, worst of all, an adult baby. Also, a twist ending! Neat! Still, I wouldn’t call The Baby a “bad” film exactly. If its ultimate goal was to make you feel as filthy as if you’d just waded through a mile of toxic scum in 1970s polyester pants, it is unequivocally successful.” John Gholson, Horror’s Not Dead

“ …this twisted little gem may have limited appeal but certainly delivers the goods for those in the right frame of mind. Despite the film’s obviously low budget (Baby’s crying is dubbed unconvincingly with the sound of a real infant) and frequent lapses in taste (Ann’s visit to a class for the mentally handicapped), The Baby remains compelling viewing and has aged quite well.” Nathaniel Thompson, Mondo Digital

“The acting is full of ludicrous histrionics and classic exchanges like “Maybe we should have let them take him.” “The circus?” The scenes with David Manzy as the titular baby wailing, crawling about, dressed in diapers and with Anjanette Comer at one point trying to get him to run after a ball like a dog are guaranteed to have one in hysterics. It is a major testament to their acting ability that the cast were able to keep their faces straight while having to perform such scenes.” Richard Scheib, Moria

” …it’s sort of juvenile in its wild provocation, mildly offensive, and a touch disturbing (particularly whenever Mooney is on screen and joined by the uncanny baby noises that were added in post to replace his own on-set cooing). Most telling, it’s the sort of film where you can actually debate what it’s most infamous scene should be—there are a few whoppers strewn throughout, but I’m very fond of that ridiculous ending.” Brett Gallman, Oh, the Horror!

“Full of performances that range from hammy to plain wooden, dialogue to match and a demented plot that is far from predictable right up to that ending – whether it’s a happy one or not is for the viewer to decide. Either way it will linger long in the memory proving that The Baby is a unique never forgotten cinematic experience truly deserving the status of cult classic.” Jason Cook, The Spinning Image

“Its oddity could have only come from the 70s; where else would you see a young babysitter breast-feeding an adult man? But The Baby manages to be more than just shock fodder. The scenes of Ann playing with Baby and looking through photos of her late husband are genuinely touching…” The Terror Trap

“Being a 70s movie, it all ends with a violent home invasion that’s followed by a surprise twist. The twist caught me totally off-guard and forced me to reconsider everything that I had previously seen. It was shocking, it was borderline offensive, it was just a little bit ludicrous, and it was rather brilliant in its odd way.” Lisa Marie Bowman, Through the Shattered Lens

” …despite its occasional lapses into genuine bad taste (exploiting the retarded) is fairly effective and contains a truly surprising twist ending.” TV Guide

“Despite The Baby‘s outlandish story, the filmmakers play it entirely straight, adding no superfluous humor whatsoever (the sight of a grown man in a diaper is unintentionally hilarious). But even if The Baby isn’t the funniest film you’ve ever seen, I’ll bet money it’ll be one of the strangest.” Dave Becker, 2,500 Movies Challenge

“Sold in the poster and trailer as a bizarre expose of the depths of human depravity, the actual film has more in common with the “social message” TV movies of the era than it does with other sleazy grindhouse depictions of torture and perversion. In fact the moments that do extend into the perverse stand out to such a degree that they feel like last-minute additions to the script thrown in to please concerned financiers.” Vanity Fear

“Post does a solid job at maintaining a creepy atmosphere. And there’s a feeling that just about any kind of random craziness can and will happen. It’s only in the film’s final reel where it stumbles and stumbles badly as the final “twist” ending doesn’t quite work. Ruth Roman is pretty good as the baby’s nutzo mother, but Marianne Hill and Suzanne Zenor are excellent as his wicked sisters.” Mitch Lovell, The Video Vacuum

“The acting is chillingly superb, the characters are never stupid, and the movie makes its case well, making for some disturbing, plausible horror, up until the surprising twisted consequence-free ending that disappointingly makes the movie lose its plausibility.” The Worldwide Movie Massacre

Cast and characters:

• Anjanette Comer as Ann Gentry – Dead of Night (1977); The Night of a Thousand Cats
• Ruth Roman as Mrs. Wadsworth – Knife for the Ladies; The Killing Kind
• Marianna Hill as Germaine Wadsworth – Schizoid; Blood Beach; Messiah of Evil; Black Zoo
• Suzanne Zenor as Alba Wadsworth
• Tod Andrews as Doctor
• Michael Pataki as Dennis – Dead & Buried; The Bat People; Grave of the Vampire; Dream No Evil; et al
• Beatrice Manley Blau as Judith
• Erin O’Reilly
• Don Mallon
• Joseph Bernard
• Virginia Vincent
• David Mooney [as David Manzy] as Baby

Release:

Scotia International released the film in the USA in March 1973.

Image Entertainment published the film in the year 2000 on DVD and VHS.

The Baby was released on Blu-ray and DVD with a new transfer from the original negative by Severin Films in 2011.

Wikipedia

Fabio Frizzi is an Italian musician and composer. Born in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Frizzi is best known for his film scores and was a frequent collaborator with horror director Lucio Fulci.

Daz: You didn’t go the traditional route to becoming a composer for film – so many other Italian composers go to a classical conservatory and then maybe move to jazz and finally film. Your family had the film connection straight away?

Fabio: My family wasn’t an easy connection with the cinema, because my father absolutely did not want me to be a musician, so I studied to be a lawyer. But inside me, the music fever grew steadily. My preparation has been, as you say, different from the traditional and I must admit that for a certain period of time I regretted it. Then, day after day, I realised that the bases acquired from studying for many years beside my maestro Vittorio Taborra, which happened in the past, giving me lessons at home, I had been given a very incisive preparation and my skills were always developed at the appropriate time. With him, I had started with the classical guitar, then I switched to composition studies very seriously until I got to the art of counterpoint.

By that time, I realised that a preparation from the conservatory can be very useful in certain conditions (in Italy there are high-level conservatories with prestigious teachers) and in some musical goals, e

.g. those tied to classical music. But in some cases it may not give the desired results. I think the musical skills reside in people a priori, and the art of composing is one of those things that grow and are perfected, especially with daily practice. Obviously I must say that, once I became author of scores, after the first experiences, my father was very happy and one of my biggest fans because he realised that this was the future I wanted for me.

Daz: Your first instrument was the guitar – again, unusual for a composer, usually it would be a piano or maybe the violin. Did this affect the way you composed?

Fabio: Yes, my first instrument was the guitar, and it’s still what I love more than all the others. I am an avid collector, I always like to play different instruments, because everyone is different, everyone gives different suggestions. Then, at some point in my career I asked myself the question, which I ask you today: a composer, conductor, should know perfectly an instrument other than guitar, such as the piano? Then, with time, I realised that there are many great composers and arrangers in the world that are just guitarists. The guitar is able to develop in those who study and play, a certain kind of creative sensitivity, because crossing harmonies coming from guitar positions are very interesting and they become part of the taste of the future composer. However, the guitar was for me only the first step. A few years after beginning studying music, my curiosity made me discover and study the piano (which I use very often to compose my themes and orchestrations), flute and all keyboards, which at that time were spreading exponentially, and many other instruments that over time I have come to know. Curiosity is the best gift for any human being.

Daz: Pop music seems to influence your work as much as, say, Bach – the harmonies you achieve with synthesisers and mellotrons?

Fabio: My growth, in music, my taste, have gone through pop and rock music that developed so interestingly in those years, and then surely through an initial classical education, that has left its mark. I’ve always listened to all the music possible, when I was a boy – no picket fences – eclecticism has always characterised myself. The strongest influences came from the composers and groups that I listened to during the years of my adolescence, but also the cultural elements that my collaborators, at all times, have brought with them when they collaborated on the recording of my scores, interpreting my themes. So, the elements of prog-rock that fascinated me in Genesis or King Crimson became present in my music through collaboration with musicians like Fabio Pignatelli or Maurizio Guarini [best known for their work with Goblin]. As well as these influences, classical-baroque is found in the use of the string orchestra, of certain brass instruments, but also of the mellotron and synth pads. My most coveted composer is Johann Sebastian Bach: in him there is something much more important and fascinating than the mere experience of his time. The burning of the composition and the harmonious in Bach is absolutely overwhelming to this day. His personality is unmistakable.

Daz: The traditional classical musicians and composers in Italy at the time – what was their opinion of film score composers? Was it a good career to aim for or was it frowned upon for not being ‘proper’ classical music?

Fabio: The last thirty years have been very clear about the definition of the different role, but equally central, of film music. Until some time ago, actually, the composer of film music was considered something less important, perhaps because because dominantly cultural classical music was considered the noblest. Recently, the lid was lifted on the boiling pot and we have realised that this argument does not hold true. Among other things, the very concept of classical music was modified enormously: the great classics remain untouchable, while the music of the 1900’s, especially some of its degeneration, there is no longer only one school of thought and valuations have become less complacent. Film music has had instead a season of growth and rising popularity and having this increased repertoire was welcomed increasingly in the great temples of traditional classical music.

Daz: How early did you start to use keyboards and synthesisers?

Fabio: Yes, the keyboards were the second family of instruments that I met. At home we had a piano, German and an excellent brand, which had been given to my brother for a notable birthday. I started playing that, immediately after the guitar, and studying composition using his keyboard. Then, when I was commissioned for my first works, I bought two instruments to help me in the inspiration: an Eminent 310, an organ with two keyboards, plus pedalboard, with a built in drum machine, and a Moog Synthesizer Satellite, a very basic keyboard – that was my first approach to the world of electronics. From there started the first ideas for the soundtracks: the first string session, fake but fascinating; the first rhythmic parts with a black flavour; the first “timid” harmonised brass. The soundtrack of Amore Libero – Free Love, was the real test session for these new devices. Then I had so many good pianists and keyboard players who have performed the music of my film scores, but the passion for those magical tools has never waned. Even now my studio is dominated by a wonderful Roland Jupiter 8 and the king of kings, the Mellotron.

Daz: When you formed Bixio-Frizzi-Tempera, what did you all bring individually to the band? Who was good at what?

Fabio: The trio Bixio-Frizzi-Tempera originated as a publisher’s choice: Carlo Bixio created a kind of firing squad that was to deal with the demands of music, of Italian cinema, which was very active at that time. Franco Bixio, younger brother of Carlo and son of the great Italian songwriter Cesare Andrea Bixio, was a guy with a lot of experience, who had already made soundtracks and was the constant reference point in the work of moviola, taking care of the duration of music, music editing and movie post-production.

[Vicenzo] Tempera brought to our trio a great professionalism as an arranger, he was one of the strongest at that time in Italy, with experience especially in the recording field. I was carrying the freshness of a young man absolutely determined to grow, good management experience of bands and music groups in general. And in the end, a lion hungry of a profession that I loved. All three had complementary roles in individual work. Tempera was the conductor and wrote some themes; I worked writing, I played a lot of guitars and other instruments in our recording sessions, Franco also wrote musical themes and co-ordinated the work. An extraordinarily formative experience for me. When we decided to separate I had grown a lot.

Daz: With regards to western The Four of the Apocalypse…, what were your first impressions of Lucio Fulci – and his of you? It’s a very violent film with very different characters – the score feels quite sad – how much of the film did you see before working on the score? Can you remember who played which instrument or any other details about the recording?

Fabio: Indeed The Four of the Apocalypse… was the film that marked our meeting with Lucio Fulci. He appeared to us immediately as an important person, determined, but the first approach was not easy. We were coming with the guarantee of one of the strongest Italian publishers, but certainly we had to pay the price of this first meeting. I was happy with the choices that Fulci allowed us: the West Coast music; groups like Crosby Stills & Nash, Simon and Garfunkel; The Eagles were very dear to me, so it was not so difficult to cope with the task.

The soundtrack has a dimension of intimacy – the main topic of the film is a journey, a kind of dramatic catharsis. The character of Chaco is told with a more acidic musical theme, but all other characters are punctuated by the individual songs. We saw the full movie before starting to write. At that time we did not work as it is today, the film was studied in Moviola and we were taking notes. Then each of us came back into his own studio to throw down the working hypotheses. The choice of the working group, we faced with our producer: a Neapolitan percussionist very popular at the time, Tony Esposito, performed the drums and percussion. A great guitarist from Milan, Massimo Luca, came alongside me in all parts of acoustic and electric guitar. And many other good musicians joined us in the project. As interpreters of the songs we challenged the two members of a Dutch band, but in the end only one of them managed to come to Rome. The musical product has met all, a huge production, a good soundtrack and record.

Daz: The follow-up film was very different – Il cav. Costante Nicosia demoniaco ovvero: Dracula in Brianza (aka Dracula in the Provinces). At this stage, did you feel like you were already developing a relationship with Lucio? At what stage does the composer become involved in a film?

Fabio: Dracula in Brianza is a completely different film, a sort of comedy with horror influences, used as an element of the story. A funny story, a refined and biting political satire. In fact it is the story of a businessman who turns into a vampire that sucks the blood of its employees. Being the second second film with Lucio, the relationship grew significantly, but we did not have the feeling that they have become milestones. The soundtrack was very different from typical comedy with a few moments of sounds from Transylvania. Very often we composers join the movie near the end, at the beginning of the post.

Daz: What can you tell me about Magnetic System? There are moments on the music to Godzilla that sound very similar to your later score to Zombi 2.

FF – Magnetic System was an idea of our record production, the desire to transform the composing group Bixio-Frizzi-Tempera into a band with a discographic lifetime. So we chose this name – the cover of the disc is taken from an assembled picture rather than an original. Unfortunately this Godzilla record remains the only experience of this kind, which would not have a follow-up. The reason why the theme of Godzilla seems a bit an archetypal theme of Zombi 2, probably lies in the fact that, after the split of our trio, each one of us returned to reclaim some ideas that there had been when we working together. That’s why, despite the thematic evolution, the Zombi 2 theme has a different texture and charm decidedly more appetising,  the echoes of that previous experience are perfectly perceived.

Daz: Sette note in nero (“Seven Notes in Black” aka The Psychic, 1977) What can you tell me about the writing and performing of the score? How do you think your music had changed by this stage?

FF – Sette notte in nero begins to bring us towards the darker soul, a more giallo-like side of Lucio Fulci. The writing of music passed through the creation of the seven notes jingle, which I personally wrote on the piano at home. Franco came to hear my idea and he was very enthusiastic, and from there went on to write the rest. It is rather a classic thriller, through the contribution of Tempera there is much of the perod atmosphere of Italian soundtracks of that time, a little dated and very fascinating.  Again we worked with the orchestra and measure ourselves with as much of the mystery and magic that Lucio begins to put in his films. The relationship with him grew and for me also in the relationship with myself.

Many years later, the main theme of this soundtrack would give us the satisfaction of important recognition, becoming the theme of an extraordinary scene in Kill Bill: Volume I by Quentin Tarantino.

Daz: Zombi 2 (aka Zombie Flesh Eaters). Your first ‘proper’ horror. What do you think are the elements that can make music frightening? How much of the film had you seen before writing the score?

Presumably you had heard Goblin’s score to Dawn of the Dead? How influential was this and other composers working on horror scores in Italy at the time?

Who else played on the score, which instruments were used?

Fabio: Zombi 2 is actually my first horror and is also a waypoint around which revolves my militancy in the staff of Lucio Fulci. The first film I did all by myself, although next to me there was a young apprentice, Georgio Cascio. I began now to understand that, in my opinion, the musical elements that have to express fear, not required to be fearful. Except of course in some boundary scenes. As usual I had seen the whole movie before writing, as usual it was not easy to remember each scene while writing, in the privacy of my office. But today, at times, I think that was a good thing. Remembered images and not seen with comfort before your eyes, they can evoke more in the spirit of the composer. I definitely had heard Goblin music, but my ideas and my influences were different. Probably I had some influences in common with them. I had learned to appreciate some groups of British progressive rock, many talented musicians that widened my musical horizon. Then, as usual, I could count on excellent performers. In this case the fundamental presence of Maurizio Guarini on keyboards, with the two Yamaha which at that time were the dominant instruments, CS 80 and CP 80 made the most of the electronic work. Then percussionist Adriano Giordanella, another constant collaborator, who accompanied me in many other works. The engineer that created the sounds which you all know is Gianni Fornari, engineer of the old guard but very open-minded towards the new. Then session musicians of various kinds, a string orchestra, flute, drums, and surely many other people that I can not remember in detail. In short, a long process of creating the recording.

Daz: By the late 1970’s, there were more composers for film in Italy than ever before it seemed, was it now more difficult to get work or easier because of this? What do you think set you apart and made you different for directors?

Fabio: True, in that time there were many composers, even some successful singers were writing music for film, in short it was a time when the music market was very swollen. I think this depends on the fact that there was a great deal of production activities, many films of medium / low level, so the need to have many soundtracks. It is difficult to know what the directors thought of me, I think they perceived a certain freshness, a great enthusiasm and probably a certain almost maniacal care in completing my score.

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The Gore Gore Girls – the 1972 comedy horror splatter movie produced and directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis – is unleashed on Blu-ray on August 13, 2018, by Arrow Video with extras, plus a bonus feature,This Stuff’ll Kill Ya! (1971).

“From its jittery opening jazz theme to its chaotic conclusion, The Gore Gore Girls is a blast: it has an amusing script, loveable lead actors, insanely catchy rock ‘n’ roll instrumentals, burlesque atmosphere, bizarre guest-spots (Henny Youngman??) and more sadism and mutilation than you can shake a severed leg at.” Stephen Thrower, Nightmare USA: The Untold Story of the Exploitation Independents

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Bonus Feature! This Stuff’ll Kill Ya!
• Introductions to the films by Herschell Gordon Lewis
• Audio commentary on The Gore Gore Girls with Herschell Gordon Lewis
• Audio commentary on This Stuff’ll Kill Ya! with camera operator and Lewis biographer Daniel Krogh
• Author and HORRORPEDIA contributor Stephen Thrower (Nightmare USA) on The Gore Gore Girls
• Regional Bloodshed – filmmakers Joe Swanberg and Spencer Parsons on Lewis’ legacy as a pioneer of regional indie filmmaking
• Herschell Spills His Guts – H.G. Lewis discusses his career post-The Gore Gore Girls and his further adventures in the world of marketing
• This Stuff’ll Kill Ya! Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly-commissioned artwork by The Twins of Evil

Curse of the Devil is a 1973 Spanish-Mexican supernatural horror film directed by Carlos Aured (The Mummy’s Revenge; The Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll; Horror Rises from the Tomb) from a screenplay by Jacinto Molina. The latter also stars using his stage name Paul Naschy. The film’s original release titles are El Retorno de Walpurgis (Spain) and La Noche del Asesino (Mexico).

By order of the great inquisitor Ireneus Daninsky, Countess Bathory is burned alive and her female followers hanged. Before perishing in the flames the countess puts a curse on Daninsky and his descendants.

Four centuries later, Waldemar Daninsky accidentally shoots a gypsy while hunting a wolf. The angry gypsies, who knew of the curse, summon up the Satan and the beautiful Ilona is chosen to seduce the young lord. During a night of love, Ilona bites Waldemar who turns into a werewolf killing his preys on full moon nights…

Reviews [may contain spoilers]:

“Why are we so far away from everyone throughout? Why do things that seem to be sex scenes start and then cut away? Why are most of the werewolf attacks put together in such a strange way? The film keeps taking us up to the edge of sex and violence and then, generally, it goes somewhere else, usually to shots of people walking around.” Dan Budnik, Bleeding Skull!

” …there’s a high body count, lots of werewolf action, some gore and some nudity […] Because of the period setting, art direction and costumes, and the lovely outdoor background scenery (bubbling brooks, waterfalls, moss-covered rocks, old stone bridges), the whole thing has this nice fairy tale feel to it.” Justin McKinney, The Bloody Pit of Horror

“Aured’s contribution to the werewolf saga is decidedly bloodier and sexier than usual, making it a preferable choice of Naschy fans. The atmosphere is lush and the production values look exceptional […] The quieter than usual werewolf has a darker appearance and sometimes looks like a cross between a wild bear and Barry Gibb of The Bee Gees, but aside from a few instances where Naschy’s pale neck is revealed, it’s still pretty effective.” George R. Reis, DVD Drive-In

” …Naschy seems to have been mainly concerned with crafting a romantic melodrama, and here and there – notably in a lushly scored waterfall interlude – he succeeds. But the film, exported as Curse of the Devil, is otherwise strangely inert.” Jonathan Rigby, Euro Gothic, Signum Books, 2016

“The ominous rural locations are a suitable boost to the hostile world, enveloping the characters in a mysterious bubble from which there’s no real escape […] Curse of the Devil is a surprisingly violent entry in the series considering when it was made, it features sizzling Euro women in various states of undress, Naschy’s doomed werewolf, an alien world, and a mob of angry villagers to boot…” The Grim Cellar

“It’s full of naked beauties and standard-issue 70’s bush, while old-school dissolves convey the various werewolf transformation scenes, including a moment in which Naschy turns into his Chaney Jr-inspired wolfman midway during a sex session with Olivares. It climaxes in a suitably lively, Universal-inspired fashion with a good old fashioned mob of angry villagers in pursuit of the monster.” Steven West, Horrorscreams Videovault

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“…some truly stunning mise en scenes, really wonderful shots, such as when the gypsies are leaving Waldy’s castle: a low-angle shot of them coming across the drawbridge with the majestic ruined castle lit very eerily in the background. Also some of the nature scenes on Waldemar’s property as he courts his love are just gorgeous stuff.” Mad Mad Mad Mad Movies

“Perhaps less entertaining than the previous films, Curse of the Devil is a much better horror film with a dark feel throughout and quite creepy in places, some might find it scary. Often resembling a later Hammer Horror film (in a good way) this is a recommended film, certainly to Paul Naschy fans, however werewolf fans might find the relative lack of lycan action to be disappointing.” Timothy Young, Mondo Esoterica

“Naschy took famous characters, or concept, and injected them with some sleaze, gore and blood – but still stayed surprisingly old-fashioned. When Hammer started to wind down and lose their audience, Naschy and his friends took over some of those that wanted more action and the modern violence and still old-school horrors. Curse of the Devil is an excellent example of really good Spanish horror.” Fred Anderson, Ninja Dixon

“Daninsky is essentially a benevolent man trapped in a cyclical tragedy, while Naschy’s screenplay avoids scream queen clichés making Inga a strong-willed, rational heroine who fights for her man. However, the free-spirited sexuality of Werewolf Shadow is replaced with sexual hypocrisy, regarding how Maria is treated.” Andrew Pragasm, The Spinning Image

“While it gives the werewolf legend a more Catholic inflection, the movie is also bloodier, sexier and more atmospheric than Molina’s previous lycanthropy films (La Marca del Hombre Lobo, 1967, for example),” Phil Hardy (editor), The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror

Main cast and characters:

• Paul Naschy … Waldemar Daninsky / Irineus Daninsky
• Fabiola Falcón … Kinga Wilowa
• Mariano Vidal Molina … Roulka
• Maritza Olivares … Maria Wilowa
• José Manuel Martín … Bela
• María Silva … Elizabeth Bathory
• Elsa Zabala … Gypsy Witch
• Eduardo Calvo … Laszlo Wilowa
• Ana Farra … Malitza
• Fernando Sánchez Polack … Maurice, Waldemar’s valet
• Inés Morales … Ilona

Filming locations:

Madrid and Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

Release:

The film was released in the United States in 1976 by Goldstone Film Enterprises. It was released on VHS as The Black Harvest of Countess Dracula and as Curse of the Devil.

The film was released on DVD in the USA by Anchor Bay Entertainment in 2002 as Curse of the Devil. It was re-released in a special edition in 2008 by Deimos Entertainment, a subdivision of BCI Eclipse, under the same title.

Image credits: Wrong Side of the Art!

The Unliving aka Tomb of the Werewolf – USA, 2004

Night of the Werewolf – Spain, 1981

The Werewolf and the Yeti – Spain, 1975

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Lady Frankenstein (Italy, 1971) is being released on Blu-ray in the UK by Nucleus Films on August 13, 2018, in a 2K remastered and restored version 99 minute ‘Director’s Cut’.

“It’s monster a-go-go up at the castle when Baron Frankenstein and his laboratory assistant, Dr. Charles Marshall, stitch together a creature using body parts supplied by shifty local grave robbers. When they rashly insert a killer’s damaged brain into the monstrosity’s skull and bring it to life, it crushes the Baron to death and goes on the rampage.

Tania, Frankenstein’s glamorous daughter, teams up with Charles to continue her father’s crackpot experiments. The two fall in love and transplant the ageing lab assistant’s cerebrum into the body of a hunky servant.

Meanwhile, the first monster stalks the countryside, seeking bloody revenge on the bodysnatchers who exhumed the raw materials for its mis-creation. It eventually goes after Charles and Tania, but will its brute strength triumph against the seductive wiles of lusty Lady Frankenstein?

Directed by Mel Welles, this twisted gothic tale stars Rosalba Neri (The Devil’s Wedding Night) as the surgeon whose strange desires could only be satisfied by the monster she made. The legendary Joseph Cotten (Baron Blood; The Abominable Dr. Phibes) carries on the curse of Frankenstein as the obsessed Baron, and the cast is fleshed out by Euro-cult regulars Paul Muller (Nightmare Castle) and Mickey Hargitay (Bloody Pit of Horror).

See Lady Frankenstein like never before, stunningly resurrected from the original negatives in a brand new 2K restoration. We are very proud to present the complete and restored director’s cut, plus the American theatrical versions packed with bonus special features!”

• Complete and Restored 99 minute Director’s Cut
• Complete and Restored 84 minute New World Pictures American Theatrical Cut
• Audio Commentary by film authors and critics Alan Jones and Kim Newman
• Italian and English Audio LPCM 24 Bit
• Optional English Subtitles
• The Truth About Lady Frankenstein (2007) – German TV Special (42 mins)
• New Featurette – Piecing Together Lady Frankenstein (35 mins)
• Featurette – The Lady and The Orgy (8 mins)
• Bigfilm Magazine (1971) – Italian Lady Frankenstein Photo Novel
• BBFC’s 1972 Theatrical Censor Notes
• English, Italian, German and three US Trailers
• US TV spots
• US Radio Spots
• Home Video Releases Gallery
• Extensive Image Gallery

It goes without saying that the 2K restoration will look a lot better than this old version:

Lady Frankenstein – Italy, 1971

To the Devil a Daughter – aka Die Braut des Satans – is a 1976 British-German supernatural horror film, directed by Peter Sykes (Venom; Demons of the Mind; The House in Nightmare Park) and produced by Hammer Film Productions and Terra-Filmkunst.

Based on the novel of the same name by Dennis Wheatley, it was promoted as To the Devil… a Daughter and released on VHS in the US with the alternate title Child of Satan. The film’s score was by American Paul Glass (Lady in a Cage; TV series Night Gallery).

The movie stars Richard Widmark, Christopher Lee, Honor Blackman (Fright; Tale of the Mummy), Nastassja Kinski (Cat People; Blind Terror (2001) and Denholm Elliott (The House That Dripped Blood; The Vault of Horror; Supernatural: ‘Lady Sybil).

Timid Henry Beddows (Elliott) approaches writer and expert on the occult John Verney (Widmark) to look after his daughter, Catherine (Kinski), who visits England once a year from her remote Bavarian convent.

It is Catherine’s 18th birthday, though she appears even more innocent than her young years suggest, holed away as she has been by the Order of the Children of the Lord and it soon appears than someone other than Beddows and Verney is keen to have her close to them.

Cue ex-communicated priest Father Michael Rayner (Lee), who it transpires is in charge of the weird cult and is actively seeking Catherine to become the avatar (incarnation) of one of the crowned princes of Hell, Astaroth. Battling against black magic, ancient rituals and a bunch of sombre Satanists, Verney battles to save the young girl from a diabolical fate…

Buy Blu-ray + DVD: Amazon.co.uk

Review:

To the Devil a Daughter was Hammer’s final foray into horror until the lengthy hiatus was broken in 2010. The film followed Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires and shows the production company fast running out of both ideas and budget. Rather more of the budget than anticipated was spent on securing American actor Richard Widmark for one of the lead roles (an obvious attempt to mimic Gregory Peck’s role in The Omen) – although he plays the part with a straight face and carefully delivered lines, it seems an unnecessary expense, as he was many years past his heyday.

Buy novel from Amazon.co.uk

Christopher Lee‘s connections to the film stretch back to an earlier forged friendship with the author Dennis Wheatley, who wrote many books on subjects involving the occult. Lee offered the option of 1953 novel To the Devil a Daughter to Hammer with Christopher Wicking (Scream and Scream Again; The Oblong Box; Demons of the Mind) and John Peacock tasked with bringing the page to the screen.

The previous attempt by Hammer to adapt Wheatley’s works, The Devil Rides Out (1968) was both successful and highly thought of. Wheatley went to great efforts to ensure the accuracies of his references to Satanism and black magic, even going as far as to meet with practitioners, so the film had a significant amount riding on it for various parties.

Alas, the film is something of a mess. Denholm Elliott acted much in the same manner as he did in Hammer House of Horror, with ham very firmly on the menu. It’s not that Elliott isn’t a capable actor, only that his performance is completely out of kilter with Lee’s. And Widmark’s.

Indeed, every cast member gives the impression that they are wandering into each other’s films with characters disappearing (what became of all the other Satanists at the convent is not considered), plot lines being ill-thought out and some crash-bang sequences sitting uncomfortably alongside what could politely be called structural padding.

The film dispenses with much of Wheatley’s novel in terms of plot, action and with some main characters all but being written out – the author was apparently incensed and insisted Hammer never touch his work again.

Lee is in imperious form, clearly relishing the source material (“It is not heresy, and I will not recant!”), if not the script he’d been given. This line was sampled by Rob Zombie’s metal band White Zombie for the song “Super-Charger Heaven“. The movie’s title was also referenced by White Zombie in the song “Black Sunshine” (“To the devil, a daughter comes…”).

Widmark adds stability but yawns his way through – he does get some of the best lines though: “98 percent of so-called Satanists are nothing but pathetic freaks who get their kicks out of dancing naked in freezing churchyards, and use the Devil as an excuse for getting some sex. But then there’s that other two percent. I’m not so sure about them.”

The ‘two percent’ line is delivered with great deliberation… though questions exactly how much of an expert in devil worship he is if he hasn’t considered this once or twice.

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And then there’s Nastassja Kinski. The daughter of acting genius/absolute mentalist Klaus (whom she was terrified of as a child and hated), she had had little on-screen experience, her only performance of note being in Wim Wender’s The Wrong Move. 

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Nastassja has lamented that during this period, she understandably felt exploited by the movie industry. In an interview with W magazine she said, “If I had had somebody to protect me or if I had felt more secure about myself, I would not have accepted certain things. Nudity things. And inside it was just tearing me apart.”

In the film, Nastassja wheels out the lines she’s given with about as much belief as the audience accepts, it set her off on a successful acting career and gave Hammer the only thing, apart from Lee, with which to dangle a carrot to cinema audiences. Still, the film remains completely unwieldy.

The ending is so abrupt you find yourself rewinding in case you missed something, the result of the lightning strike being just too similar to the finale to Scars of Dracula and a spent budget not allowing for anything more spectacular. It’s completely unsatisfactory but even divine intervention wouldn’t have saved the film from confusion and tedium.

Scenes of Satanic orgies, a wriggling newborn and Ms. Kinski do not, admittedly, sound like tamer Hammer fare but their ability to spin a yarn had deserted them. The rise of far more shocking, realistic fare in America, from The Last House on the Left to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre left Hammer floundering in an attempt to keep up. Time has not assisted and the film exists now as a memento of the time and as a testament to how good much of their other work was in comparison.

Daz Lawrence, HORRORPEDIA

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Kino Lorber Studio Classics is releasing Trilogy of Terror on Blu-ray via a 4K transfer on October 2, 2018.

The 1975 TV movie was directed by Dan Curtis (The Norliss Tapes; Dark Shadows) from a screenplay by Richard Matheson (I Am Legend) and William F. Nolan.

Karen Black stars in three different tales, supported by a cast that includes George Gaynes, John Karlen, and Gregory Harrison.

Special features:

• Audio commentary by film journalist Richard Harland Smith (new)
• Audio commentary with actress Karen Black and writer William F. Nolan
• Interview with composer Bob Cobert (new)
• Richard Matheson: Terror Scribe featurette
• Three Colors Black featurette

“Three tales of horrific suspense in this highly rated and critically acclaimed made-for-television anthology that also showcases the tremendous acting talent of Karen Black (Burnt Offerings), who plays four distinct roles:

In Julie, an aggressive college student seduces and ultimately blackmails his seemingly shy English professor; in Millicent and Therese, two polar-opposite sisters become increasingly hell-bent on the undoing of one another; and in Amelia, a woman falls prey to a murderous Zuni fetish doll.”

‘Mind the doors!!!’

Death Line is a 1972 British horror feature film directed by the American filmmaker Gary Sherman (Dead & Buried, Poltergeist III) from his own storyline. It was scripted by Ceri Jones and distributed as Raw Meat in the United States by American International Pictures (AIP).

The film stars Donald Pleasence (Halloween and sequels) as a cantankerous police inspector. Pleasence reportedly ad-libbed many of his lines.

The main cast is Norman Rossington (House of the Long Shadows), David Ladd, Sharon Gurney, Hugh Armstrong and James Cossins (Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb). Horror film icon Christopher Lee has a brief cameo role as a pompous member of MI5.

A family of cannibals descended from Victorian railway workers continue to dwell in the disused lines of the London Underground tube network. The last member of the family frequently visits the neighbouring Russell Square and Holborn stations to pick off passengers for food, then takes them back to the gruesome ‘pantry’ at an incomplete station.

When the cannibal kidnaps and kills an important politician, he is hunted by a detective as well as an American college student and his English girlfriend who were the last to see the victim in the tube station…

Reviews:

“It’s a nasty, brutish film with a thoroughly repellent villain who possesses a sad and tragic human streak, and has a great performance from one of the genre’s greats (I know I’ve said it before, but Pleasence really shines in this film). If you don’t dig Death Line, there is something wrong with you..” Digital Retribution

“The film isn’t quite as gory as you might expect, but it definitely wallows in the grotesque at times with plenty of half-eaten corpses and a little pre-Texas Chain Saw meathook hanging for good measure. Much of the film’s impact can be attributed to the powerful, very physical performance by Hugh Armstrong…” Nathaniel Thompson, Mondo Digital

” …it’s one of the few UK horrors of the period focusing squarely on the national heritage and identity, and its sophisticated, political themes – the (literal) collapse of Empire, class segregation and exploitation, and high-level corruption – were particularly relevant in the early 1970s, an era mired in financial and vice-based scandals.” Film4

“Death Line could be described as slight and underdeveloped, clocking in at a mere 84 minutes, but as an exercise in brutal and unusual horror it can’t easily be dismissed. An essential film for any horror fan looking for something extraordinary – and verging on arthouse – beyond the canonical classics.” Glyn Jones, Fantastic Voyages

“Sherman is more concerned with complicated camera moves and arty lighting than actually delivering scares. He squandered every opportunity for suspense and kept things so dark that you couldn’t tell what was going on half the time. It also didn’t help that this movie was paced like old people f*ck: slow and sloppy.” Mitch Lovell, The Video Vacuum

“One of the great British horror films, Death Line is a classic example of what Hellraiser director Clive Barker calls ’embracing the monstrous’ […] The film’s great achievement is in eliciting sympathy for a creature whose residual capacity for human feeling amidst such terrible degradation is ultimately more moving than horrifying.” Nigel Floyd, Time Out Film Guide

“It would not be inaccurate to describe Death Line as the British version of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. They both feature inbred cannibals cut off from human society who are oddly sympathetic, and both are fairly gory movies that modern audiences might find tame in the context of their splatter-promising titles.” John Shelton, Bloody Good Horror

“an unusually bleak and harrowing horror film…very little in the film offers the audience any relief from the plight of the Man…The violence would be intolerable if it were not for the tragic dimensions of the film, but Hugh Armstrong’s performance is one of the greatest and most moving in horror films.” Ramsay Campbell, The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural

” … we spend an inordinate time in the madman’s dark, dank and bloody lair – peering through the murk at the most revolting sights imaginable and wondering how such a sick and sick-making film ever came to be made.” The Daily Mail, 1972

Main cast and characters:

• Donald Pleasence … Inspector Calhoun
• Norman Rossington … Detective Sergeant Rogers
• David Ladd … Alex Campbell
• Sharon Gurney … Patricia Wilson
• Hugh Armstrong … The Man
• June Turner … The Woman
• Clive Swift … Inspector Richardson
• James Cossins … James Manfred, OBE
• Heather Stoney … W.P.C. Alice Marshall
• Hugh Dickson … Doctor Bacon
• Jack Woolgar … Platform Inspector
• Ron Pember … Lift Operator
• Colin McCormack … Police Constable
• James Culliford … Publican
• Christopher Lee … Stratton-Villiers, MI5

Release:

On August 27, 2018, Network release Death Line remastered on Blu-ray.

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On June 27, 2017, Blue Underground issued the film on Blu-ray freshly transferred and fully restored in 2K from the original uncensored camera negative.

• Audio Commentary with Co-Writer/Director Gary Sherman, Producer Paul Maslansky, and Assistant Director Lewis More O’Ferrall
• Tales From The Tube – Interview with Co-Writer/Director Gary Sherman and Executive Producers Jay Kanter & Alan Ladd Jr.
• From The Depths – Interview with Star David Ladd and Producer Paul Maslansky
• Mind The Doors – Interview with star Hugh Armstrong
• Death Line trailer
• Raw Meat trailer
• Raw Meat TV Spots
• Raw Meat Radio Spots
• Poster & Still Gallery
• Bonus Collectible Booklet featuring new writing by authors Michael Gingold and Christopher Gullo

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Offline reading:

‘A Descent into the Underworld: Death Line’ article by Marcelle Perks, British Horror Cinema (Routledge, 2002)

Trivia:

The disused British Museum tube station is mentioned in the film, but it is not the station portrayed as being the cannibal’s home. The station in question is named “Museum” and is stated as being between Holborn and British Museum in a conversation between Inspectors Calhoun and Richardson. Signs in the abandoned station also state “Museum” as the name. Location filming took place at both Holborn and the now disused Aldwych station.

‘Creeping!… Clawing!… Crushing!’

The Giant Spider Invasion is a 1975 American science fiction horror feature film directed by Bill Rebane (Blood Harvest; The Demons of Ludlow; The Capture of Bigfoot) from a screenplay by Robert Easton and Richard L. Huff.

The film is about giant spiders that terrorise the town of Merrill, Wisconsin and the surrounding area. The iconic theatrical poster art was a throwback to the giant monster movies of the 1950s. The $300,000 film received a considerable theatrical run via Group 1 and became one of the fifty top grossing films of that year.

Major roles were played by some actors who may have been considered “has-beens” at the time. The leads were Steve Brodie and Barbara Hale, with other roles going to Alan Hale, Jr. and Leslie Parrish (whose character unwittingly drinks a Bloody Mary cocktail containing a pulped arachnid!).

The film’s one “Giant Spider” was constructed by covering a Volkswagen automobile with artificial black fur, with the fake legs operated from the inside by seven members of the crew. The back of the car was the front of the monster, and its red tail lights served as the monster’s glowing eyes. In August 2013, it was reported that the rusting frame of the giant spider had been stolen and sold off for scrap.

A comic book was created to help promote the film and was reprinted for Retromedia’s DVD of the film.

Reviews:

“This movie also has some of the most wonderful fleeing-crowds footage since Reptilicus, and a few shots of the main monster eating people which are on nearly the same exalted plane of gross technical overreach as their counterparts from the latter film. For my money, the actor-eating spider is even funnier than the spidermobile that attacks the carnival, if for no other reason than that we get a much better look at it. The eight-legged pervert hiding in Ev’s underwear drawer is a hoot, too.” Scott Ashlin, 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

“Despite the jokey reference to Jaws (1975) this film is clearly a displaced item from the fifties cycle of radiation (and such like) mutation movies. It even comes complete with Brodie and Hale as the boy-meets-girl couple who save the day. But, whereas the fifties films were at least a direct reflection of their times, this ineptly mounted offering has no such backdrop.” The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Science Fiction

“Something of a hotch-potch as Rebane jumbles comic strip with genuinely unsettling horror. Real spiders are used to reasonably good effect, whereas the one giant specimen, despite a spirited first appearance, is patently mechanical and sadly undemonstrative.” Time Out

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“Lots of laughs … there hasn’t been a movie with special effects so bad since The Giant Claw!” Michael Weldon, The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film

” …stars the silliest “giant creature” ever created in movie history. It takes this film almost an hour for the “giant spider” to show up up, and when it does, it’s so blatantly a VW beetle with fake legs attached that you won’t believe your eyes.”John Wilson, The Official Razzie Movie Guide

“For my money, the actor-eating spider is even funnier than the spider mobile that attacks the carnival, if for no other reason than that we get a much better look at it. The eight-legged pervert hiding in Ev’s underwear drawer is a hoot, too. The most incredible thing of all, however, may be the simple fact that The Giant Spider Invasion was not by a long shot the worst movie Bill Rebane made.” 1000 Misspent Hours… and Counting

“In spite of the title, there is only one giant spider, but we don’t feel cheated because it’s a dilly. It is impossible to see such a budget conscious special effect without feeling a wave of admiration.” Stephen King, Danse Macabre

“Modest and unpretentious, The Giant Spider Invasion is really much better than its reputation […] But the famously bad spider puppets are the main draw […] Be sure to enjoy good-natured 70s sexism: a teenaged floozy appears virtually topless, and at one point the camera shamelessly zooms in on her cleavage.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers

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