Category: Movie Discussions
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Hot Money Girl (1959)
You may have seen Hot Money Girl (1959) and not even have known it. It’s also called The Treasure of San Teresa and Long Distance. A late-50’s Euro-thriller by any other name… is still a late-50s Euro-thriller. Were it not for the fact that Christopher Lee appears in a small, but important role, you wouldn’t…
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The Curse of the Crying Woman (1961)
Released in 1963, two years after production was completed, The Curse of the Crying Woman, is the fourth Mexican horror film dealing with the subject of La Llorona, “the crying woman” or “the wailer.” However, it’s the furthest removed from the original legend of a vengeful ghost that roams near bodies of water mourning the…
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The Witch’s Mirror (1962)
In my review of Black Pit of Dr. M (1959), I wrote about a characteristic that seemed common among the Mexican horror films I’d seen so far. The Witch’s Mirror (1962) corroborates it. Three out of four movies from the Indicator Mexico Macabre box set, plus the handful I’ve seen at Monster Bash, all have…
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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…
Classic Horrors Club 