Category: Movie Discussions
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The Brainiac (1962)
In the wonderful and fact-filled book that comes with Indicator’s Mexico Macabre box set, Jose Luis Ortega Torres says about The Brainiac: …it is with this grotesque monster that Mexican cinema finds it greatest, one-hundred percent native horror icon, without any recognizable antecedent in any foreign myth or folklore. He is not a vampire or…
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The Black Pit of Dr. M (1959)
The Mexican horror films I’ve seen have enough thrills and chills that I felt comfortable investing in the Mexico Macabro box set from Indicator. The first one out of the box, Misterios de ultratumba or Black Pit of Dr. M (1959) did not disappoint. The crystal-clear black and white presentation and the creepy setting continue…
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Sleepaway Camp (1983)
There are so many questions I have about Sleepaway Camp (1983), primarily having to do with its origin. What was writer/director Robert Hiltzik’s intention when making it? Was it supposed to be a Friday the 13th rip-off or was it supposed to be a spoof? Was it meant to be a serious horror film or…
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The Intruder Within (1981)
The Intruder Within (1981) is Alien at sea with some terrific moments tossed as life preservers throughout a TV movie that’s otherwise drowning. At times, it has a cinematic feel, particularly when approaching and exploring Zortron Oil’s drilling rig in the ocean near Antarctica. At other times, it has a low-budget TV movie feel, particularly…
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Fear No Evil (1981)
In 1988, Frank LaLoggia wrote, produced, directed, and composed the music for his masterpiece, Lady in White. Seven years earlier, in 1981, he did all the same things for his… well, valiant effort, Fear No Evil. Not nearly as successful an achievement, Fear No Evil nevertheless shares some characteristics with Lady in White. First, he…
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This House Possessed (1981)
Of the two 1970s Hardy Boys, I always thought it was Shaun Cassidy who was the singer. In This House Possessed (1981), though, it’s Parker Stevenson who treats us to not one, not two, but three nearly complete tunes. When Lieutenant Fletcher (Barry Corbin) in his one scene asks him if he’s a rock musician,…
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Satan’s Children (1975)
We don’t know that Janis (Joyce Molloy) is Bobby Douglas’s (Stephen White) stepsister when she continually harasses him sexually. As if to somehow justify her actions, she states loudly and clearly that he’s not her brother. Nevertheless, it’s uncomfortable to watch and is, for better or worse, not the most uncomfortable thing we’ll see in…
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Lady Frankenstein (1971)
Does watching a bad transfer of a trashy Eurohorror film enhance the experience rather than detract from it? Does the darkness obscure effects that aren’t so special? Do the choppy edits cause us to blame the supplier of the print for its flaws rather than the creators of the movie? I’ve argued both ways in…
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Scream of the Demon Lover (1970)
Dr. Ivanna Rakowsky (Erna Schurer) is an assertive woman who, in Scream of the Demon Lover (1970), regularly exercises her agency. Unfortunately, it’s at the expense of her ability to make rational decisions. Not only does she completely misinterpret what’s happening around her and misdiagnose her employer, Baron Janos Dalmar (Carlos Quiney), but she also…
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The Seventh Grave (1965)
You must pay attention when you’re reading subtitles in a foreign film. When an inexplicably curious guest at Sir Reginald Thorne’s castle in The Seventh Grave (1965) stumbles upon a dead body, another guest asks, “Did you see something in his buttonhole,” I did a double take. I know, my mind is in the gutter,…
Classic Horrors Club 