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Spoiler Alert! It’s going to take a while to fully understand how I feel about Possession… (1981) and I may never understand the movie itself. On the surface, a woman leaves her husband, harboring a tentacled creature in her new apartment that forces her to murder anyone who comes to visit. Meanwhile, her husband has…
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The first thing I noticed when watching Dracula & Son (1976) was how gorgeous it looks. Next, I noticed the lush score. Like the rest of the film, though, there were diminishing returns. By the time it ended, I could barely remember its most positive elements. It’s not that it’s bad; it’s just so… I…
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The Initiation of Sarah (1978) is such a blatant rip-off of Carrie (1976) that the few original ideas it threatens to offer are forgotten or overshadowed by familiar characters and plot points. Even if you haven’t seen Brian DePalma’s masterpiece from two years earlier, or read Stephen King’s novel, chances are you know the beats…
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Dark Places (1974) feels right at home with an Amicus Production, which it is not. It was the only film produced by a man named James Hannah Jr. from Chicago. Supposedly the cast didn’t know why he was making it, although they speculated that it was probably a tax write-off. With director Don Sharp (The…
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If nothing else, The Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism (1967) is beautiful to watch. It’s the only color, full-length feature film included in Severin’s fantastic box set, The Eurocrypt of Christopher Lee. The colors are crisp, sometimes bright, and the sets are wonderfully detailed. Luckily for us, these elements are not the only good things…
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Backed by a relentless soundtrack that ensures you know how to react while simultaneously beating you into submission, Cruise into Terror (1978) is a wacky mishmash of subject matter and genre tropes. You’ve got to applaud the effort, but also laugh at (with?) the result. It’s part disaster film, part horror movie… a little bit…
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When I first watched Crypt of the Vampire (1964), it was to include it in an article about film adaptations of Sheridan Le Fanu’s novel, Carmilla. That was (gulp) nine years ago. Returning to it now, it’s like I watched a different movie! It’s a perfect example of the difference the quality of transfer makes……
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As 1970s TV movies evolved and started mirroring their theatrical counterparts, they got further and further from what was so unique about them. It sounds silly to say, but a TV movie made in 1978, Night Cries, is a refreshing throwback to earlier films like When Michael Calls and The Eyes of Charles Sand. Following…
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There are a number of very interesting things about The Castle of the Living Dead (1964), but they don’t add up to a pleasurable experience for me. I sat watching, occasionally smiling or checking IMDb because of something familiar, but I was otherwise uninterested and, quite frankly, a little bored with the overall film. Compared…
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Secret of the Red Orchid (1962) is one of the least twisted adaptations of an Edgar Wallace novel that I’ve seen. It’s a straight-forward gangster drama with a light, often humorous, touch. It’s nice to see Christopher Lee smile for once. He plays FBI agent Captain Allerman, who opens the film by apprehending mob boss…
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Classic Horrors Club 