Category: Movie Discussions
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The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959)
Warning! This review contains spoilers… There may be a fair number of voodoo and “zombie” films from the early days of genre cinema, but I can’t think of any that are as specific as The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959) in the way it treats shrunken heads. Not only do they provide some truly…
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Master of the World (1961)
They say that some actors are so good that even if their movies aren’t, their presence can elevate them and make them worth watching. Specifically, this has been said about Vincent Price. Normally, I’d wholeheartedly agree, but Master of the World (1961) puts considerable strain on the theory. It’s been the Middle Ages since I’ve…
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The House of Seven Gables (1940)
Not only was this a first-time watch for me, but I was also previously unfamiliar with the story of The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne. While the movie mentions curses, witchcraft, and hidden stairways, it plays more like a straight drama. Even the “thrills” of this thriller are tied more to family…
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The Invisible Ray (1936)
I’ve been stuck in the 70s for a while now, so It’s been a while since I’ve watched a classic from the golden age of horror. Therefore, it was a pleasure to watch The Invisible Ray (1936), for the first time, by the way. The problem is, except for the time it was released, its…
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The Devil & Daniel Webster (1941)
aka All That Money Can Buy The Devil & Daniel Webster (1941) evokes It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) for me. Both are about men who make unfortunate decisions but discover the error of their ways and are given an opportunity to return to their original lives. Also, both save the climactic resolutions for a few…
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The Woman in the Window (1944)
Midway through his directing career, Fritz Lang is still going strong with The Woman in the Window (1944,) a nearly two-hour noir that speeds along as if it’s half the length. Not a horror film in any sense of the word, it nevertheless generates suspense that’s palpable. With Lang directing and Joan Bennett (Dark Shadows)…
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The Chosen (1977) aka Holocaust 2000
For years, I’ve vividly remembered a movie in which a car was driving down a lonely highway and the giant electrical towers along the road changed back and forth to and from demons. Maybe there was lightning when the demons were revealed, or maybe there were just flashes of light as they appeared and then…
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Phantasm II (1988)
Warning! This review contains spoilers… When I think of big Hollywood studio sequels to innovative independent films, I think of Halloween II (1981.) Like it, Phantasm II (1988) delivers more of the same thing as its predecessor, just more polished and shinier. Both make valiant attempts to continue their stories, yet just miss on the…
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Antropophagus (1980)
In the lower right-hand quadrant of the cover of Famous Monsters of Filmland #180 (cover date January 1982) appeared a close-up picture of a zombie-like man with a moustache, blood coming out of his mouth, and a distant stare in his eyes. The caption read, “The Grim Reaper, You’re on His Menu!” It provided a…
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The Freakmaker (1974) aka The Mutations
Five minutes into The Freakmaker (1974), aka The Mutations, time lapse photography creates an illusion that flowers opening their petals is a burst of fireworks. The opening credits end and I was grateful that the entirety of what I’d seen thus far, nothing but time lapse photography of plants growing, was over. Nope; it’s another…
Classic Horrors Club 