Category: Movie Discussions
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Uncle Was a Vampire (1959)
It’s never impossible to be surprised. I was not expecting to enjoy Uncle Was a Vampire (1959) nearly as much as I did. It may seem that this fact contradicts my discomfort with horror-comedies; however, I don’t consider it horror at all. Unless I’m missing the carriage as it bursts out of an “abandoned” castle…
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Night of the Howling Beast (1975)
It’s appropriate that we conclude Naschy November with a Waldemar Daninsky werewolf film, considering we started it with one 30 days ago. If we hadn’t seen so many movies in between, we might have thought Paul Naschy didn’t make much creative progress between Frankenstein’s Bloody Terror in 1968 and this one, Night of the Howling…
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Flesh Feast (1970)
In her 1969 memoir, Veronica: The Autobiography of Veronica Lake, the actress writes: Some day soon, perhaps on your local television station during their daily horror film show, you’ll be able to see my two latest films. Fortunately, I did not have to return to Hollywood to make these films. They were produced in Canada…
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Bloody Pit of Horror (1965)
As “racy” as it is for 1965, I can’t help but think Bloody Pit of Horror would have been more effective had it been made a few years later. For example, when two scantily clad women are strapped to a “spinner rack of death,” the blades that the villain are pounding closer and closer to…
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Killer Party (1986)
When Killer Party (1986) was released in 1986, I pleaded with my future wife to go see it with me. As many movies out of her comfort zone she had seen with me, she chose this one to stand her ground. I threw a little hissy fit and gave her the silent treatment the rest…
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When a Stranger Calls (1979)
When I was probably six years old (we lived at 3205 W. Maine at the time and moved to 2001 Seneca in 1969), I overheard my babysitter telling my parents a story when she arrived. I don’t remember if I thought it had actually happened or if it was a book she read or a…
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Picture Mommy Dead (1966)
With Picture Mommy Dead, Mr. B.I.G. (Bert I. Gordon) takes on a different kind of giant: William Castle. In fact, were in not filmed in color, and were Castle not on the decline with I Saw What You Did (1965) and Let’s Kill Uncle (1996), you might think Picture Mommy Dead was a thriller made…
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Hillbillys in a Haunted House (1967)
I survived Hillbillys in a Haunted House and it wasn’t as difficult as I expected it to be. That’s not saying it’s good, but the few minutes of actual story floating among 1960s country music performances are no worse than any other B-movie of the era featuring a man in a gorilla costume. And edit…
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Mr. Sardonicus (1961)
Director William Castle emerges from the fog at the beginning of Mr. Sardonicus (1961) to warn us we’re about to see a story of “gallantry, graciousness, and ghouls.” He returns near the end of the film to ask us to vote whether the villain deserves “mercy or no mercy.” This Castle film is not a…
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Ghost Story (1981)
Unusual and old-fashioned at the dawn of a new age of horror, Ghost Story (1981) nevertheless has its chilling moments, and I’m not just talking about the fact that most of it takes place during a snowy New England winter. Documentary and TV director John Irvin delivers the jump scares but favors nudity over gore.…
Classic Horrors Club 