Raw – also titled Grave – is a 2016 French-Belgian horror film written and directed by Julia Ducournau. It stars Garance Marillier, Ella Rumpf and Rabah Nait Oufella.

Ducaurnau has said her approach to the film is heavily influenced by the Canadian auteur David Cronenberg (The Brood; Videodrome; Naked Lunch).

Raw is being released in France in March 2017, while Focus Features picked the film up for distribution in the US.

Plot:

Everyone in Justine’s family is a vet. And a vegetarian. At sixteen, she’s a brilliant and promising student. When she starts at veterinary school, she enters a decadent, merciless and dangerously seductive world.

During the first week of hazing rituals, desperate to fit in whatever the cost, she strays from her family principles when she eats raw meat for the first time. Justine will soon face the terrible and unexpected consequences of her actions when her true self begins to emerge…

Reviews:

Ducourneau, a first-time writer-director, shows surprisingly sharp command and, more importantly, restraint given the subject matter. Although the film is rooted in arthouse film territory, and is particularly inspired by the films of David Cronenberg and David Lynch, Raw turns out to be its own wild animal. It has rightly earned the buzz that has surrounded the picture, and Ducourneau’s uncompromising vision is one to watch.” Jordan Ruimy, The Playlist

Certainly, coming-of-age films that use genre semantics are not uncommon, but Raw takes this to another level, in fact questioning the use of the semantic while finding its central power and horror. As an allegory of the discovery of identity, shifting sexuality, the sexual power of women, and the first steps into adulthood, it’s a unique and rare film, that will hopefully (and deservedly) find an audience beyond genre film fans.” Shelagh Rowan-Legg, Screen Anarchy

“Ducournau’s control of her material is masterful … The script is at once fiercely original and replete with a rich awareness of the genre, smoothly referencing films from Carrie to Ginger Snaps and The Craft. Marillier is excellent, playing Justine with a subtlety and assurance that grounds the film, even at its most extreme.” Chloe Roddick, Sight & Sound

“Raw is a deliciously fevered stew of nightmare fuel that hangs together with a breezily confident sense of superior craft. Genre-led distribs will be slavering for a taste, while crossover to a slightly more mainstream crowd may be possible, provided they have strong stomachs.” Catherine Bray, Variety

“Everyone but vegetarians will feast their eyes on Raw (Grave), a cleverly written, impressive made and incredibly gory tale of one young woman’s awakening to the pleasures of the flesh — in all senses of the term. Marking the feature debut of French director Julia Ducournau, who leads a terrific young cast into a maelstrom of blood, guts and unfettered sexual awakening…” Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter

“Raw’s cannibal awakening is paired wittily with a very dark college self-discovery journey in which Justine, a teacher’s pet, experiments with drinking and sex as she navigates her sometimes supportive and sometimes competitive relationship with the aggressive Alexia … Raw is filled with surreally Cronenberg-esque peeks at vet training within the brutalist walls of the campus building, from dog dissections to a horse running on a treadmill.” Alison Willmore, BuzzFeed

Cast and characters:

• Garance Marillier as Justine
• Ella Rumpf as Alexia
• Rabah Naït Oufella as Adrien
• Laurent Lucas as Father
• Joana Preiss as Mother
• Bouli Lanners as the driver
• Marion Vernoux as a nurse
• Jean-Louis Sbille as the professor

Wikipedia | IMDb | Official site

Antibirth is a 2016 American-Canadian independent body horror film written and directed by Danny Perez (Oddsac).

The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2016. The film is scheduled to be released on September 2, 2016, by IFC Midnight.

Main cast:

Natasha Lyonne (Yoga Hosers; #Horror; All About Evil), Chloë Sevigny (American Horror Story; #Horror; American Psycho), Meg Tilly (One Dark Night; Psycho II; Body Snatchers) Mark Webber (Jessabelle), Maxwell McCabe-Lokos (Land of the Dead) and Emmanuel Kabongo.

Plot:

In a small Michigan town, hard-partying stoner Lou (Lyonne) awakens one morning and finds herself experiencing bizarre symptoms. Her friend, Sadie (Sevigny) believes she is pregnant and not telling her about it, despite Lou’s claims that she hasn’t had sex with anyone in nearly a year. A mysterious stranger, Lorna (Tilly), however, believes Lou.

As conspiracies and stories of bizarre kidnappings around town begin to spread, Lou’s visions and grip on reality become more distorted…

Reviews:

“Antibirth is a good old body horror movie. It’s got the suggestion of pregnancy, so you’re dealing with the undertones of a woman’s mixed feelings about her own capacity to give life, but if you don’t want to go there it’s really just gross as hell.” Fred Topel, Bloody Disgusting

“There are at least six different movies in Antibirth, and none of them work in tandem. Director, writer, and AnCo buddy Danny Perez tries too many things all at once without any of the finesse to make this either gel or implode in a brilliant mess. Instead, it’s just a mess, one that sputters in all sorts of oddball, incoherent directions that are mostly frustrating and dull.” Michael Roffman, Consequence of Sound

“Perez’ style is like a less-serious David Lynch, which is a nice comparison for a first-timer. Not all of his scenes nail that eerie surrealism, but he’s got a knack for a well-placed prop and the right timing for a dopey gag to come in and pop the balloon of suspense.” Jordan Hoffman, The Guardian

Cast and characters:

• Natasha Lyonne as Lou
• Chloë Sevigny as Sadie
• Meg Tilly as Lorna
• Mark Webber as Gabriel
• Maxwell McCabe-Lokos as Warren
• Emmanuel Kabongo as Luke
• Neville Edwards as Isaac
• Morgan Bedard as Jake
• Corey Pascall as Jackson
• Lili Francks as Anha
• Marie-Josee Dionne as Trish
• Jessica Greco as Donna

Wikipedia | IMDb

Spontaneous Combustion is a 1989 American science fiction horror film directed by Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre; Poltergeist; Lifeforce). It was written by Tobe Hooper and Howard Goldberg, based on a story by Hooper, and was produced by Jim Rogers. It was released in the US on February 23, 1990 by Taurus Entertainment.

The film’s notable score was by Graeme Revell: Dead Calm, Pitch Black, Bride of Chucky, Freddy vs. Jason and more.

Main cast:

Brad Dourif (Malignant; Trauma; Child’s Play), Cynthia Bain (Pumpkinhead), Jon Cypher (The Food of the Gods), William Prince (Monsters TV series), Melinda Dillon, Dey Young, Tegan West, Michael Keys Hall, Dale Dye, Dick Butkus. Director John Landis has a cameo role as a radio technician.

Plot:

Would-be actor Sam Kramer (Brad Dourif) finds out that his parents had been used in an atomic-weapons experiment shortly before he was born, and that the results have had some unexpected effects on him…

Reviews:

“Brad Dourif conveys an animal madness with maniacal glee as cursed protagonist Sam Kramer … Hooper’s film has an enigmatic nub and a great deal of vision but is woefully ham-fisted, barely coherent and utterly preposterous.” Dan Goodwin, Scream magazine

“Even though horror by nature doesn’t always have to make complete sense in order to be effective, it does need inspiration and the narrative center of Hooper’s film instead feels too dramatically deficient to be genuinely entertaining. If there is much to recommend here it is Dourif’s delightfully deranged performance and his more than ample capacity for the macabre.” A Nightmare on Samityville Street

“… a contemporary twist on ’50s sci-fi as filtered through Hooper’s often overlooked surrealist bent. Indeed, Sam’s mind-boggling synthesis with a nearby nuclear power plant, and subsequent dissolving into a swirling pool of glowing goo, Altered States-style, is as wildly imaginative, laconic and idiosyncratic as anything else in Hooper’s delectable oeuvre. And, simply, it demands to be seen.” Zombie Hamster

“no one makes bad movies as deliriously entertaining as Tobe Hooper, whose career continues its spectacular downward slide … Spontaneous Combustion is a lot of fun. It’s got far too many subplots, a nice sense of paranoia, effects that are both icky and ridiculous, and it moves too fast for logic. Beat that, Troma.” Ty Barr, Spin magazine

“All in all, it’s no classic by any means but the fun, scenery-chewing performances and often wild practical visual effects make it an enjoyable ride for ’90s horror fans.” Nathaniel Thomson, Mondo Digital

“Spontaneous Combustion commences on a high note of creativity and wit, but then promptly goes down in flames.” John Kenneth Muir, Horror Films of the 1980s

Cast and characters:

• Brad Dourif as Sam Kramer
• Cynthia Bain as Lisa Wilcox
• Jon Cypher as Dr. Marsh
• William Prince as Lew Orlander
• Melinda Dillon as Nina
• Dey Young as Rachel

Choice dialogue:

Dr. Cagney: “We should have flushed you when we had chance. You’re a freak!”

Wikipedia | IMDb | Image credits: Zombie Hamster

‘A new icon of terror for a new generation of fear, meet the Surgeon General’

Skinned Deep is a 2004 American horror film written, produced and directed by special effects and makeup artist Gabe [Gabriel] Bartalos. In some territories it was released as Berserker.

The film’s music score was composed by David Davidson (Blood Surf; SleepStalker) and, oddly, Captain Sensible of punk-goth-psychedelic band The Damned.

Main cast:

Les Pollack, Aaron Sims, Kurt Carley, Linda Weinrib, Forrest J Ackerman (Braindead; Scalps; Queen of Blood; editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland), Eric Bennett and Warwick Davis (Leprechaun series).

Plot:

While taking a family trip, the Rockwell family become lost on the highway. When their car gets a flat, father Phil (Eric Bennett) goes to a convenience store to find help and a strange old woman invites them to stay with her while one of her sons fixes their car.

The old woman introduces the family to her strange sons: Plates (Warwick Davis), Brain (Jason Dugre), and one whom the woman calls “Surgeon General” (Kurt Carley). When Mrs. Rockwell takes a picture of Surgeon General, he kills her. Plates starts throwing plates at Phil, who is then murdered by Surgeon General. The Rockwell children, Tina and Matthew, escape through a window and are pursued by Surgeon General and Plates…

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

“There’s simply no grey area with Skinned Deep — either you love it or you hate it. I, for one, adore the movie, and am quick to recommend it to those with like-minded sensibilities. Those of you who can overlook Bartalos’ shaky direction, the plethora of crumby performances, and outrageously stupid script will be presented with a strangely Lynchian gorefest that doesn’t going one toke over the line.” Todd, Killerflix

“There is nothing in the film remotely resembling a real situation or person, the action is edited together in an annoyingly disjointed manner and the director could hardly keep still, combining an array of awful shots in a haphazard way. It is horribly bad but never scares or thrills and the attempts at comedy are incredibly childish. The only decent actor in the film is Warwick Davis and they made him wear a backpack full of plates and gave him a monologue about his plate obsession” Eat Horror

“Bartalos is clearly more interested in disturbing the viewer through the sheer weirdness of the proceedings, and throws in scenes which are memorable rather than shocking. There is a fair amount of blood, and some good special effects, made all the more impressive by the obviously low budget, although most of the gore is either played for laughs or is simply too odd to cause offence.” James Mudge, Beyond Hollywood

“Now, Gabe Bartalos is a perfectly talented makeup artist. His artistic creations have often been the only good thing about some otherwise perfectly shitty movies, including some of the latter entries into the Leprechaun series. Sadly, at some point ol’ Gabe got in into his gin-soaked head that knowing how to make an oozing stomach wound out of latex made him a qualified writer and director. For the record, it did not.” Ben Platt, Something Awful

Cast and characters:

• Forrest J Ackerman as Forrey
• Eric Bennett as Phil Rockwell
• Jason Dugre as Brain
• Warwick Davis as Plates
• Karoline Brandt as Tina Rockwell
• Peter Iasillo, Jr. as Petey
• Kurt Carley as Surgeon General
• Bill Butts as Graine
• Neil Dooley as Pig Pen
• Joel Harlow as Octobaby

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘A cinematic masterpiece – if you’re high!’

Evil Bong High-5 – aka Evil Bong High-5! – is a 2016 American comedy horror fantasy film directed by Charles Band from a screenplay by Kent Roudebush, based on Band’s storyline.

The Full Moon Features production was partly financed by an online IndieGoGo campaign and released on April 20, 2016.

Main cast:

Sonny Carl Davis (Evil Bong 420; From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series; Butcher Boys), Robin Sydney (Killjoy’s Psycho Circus; Gingerdead Man Vs. Evil Bong; The Haunted Casino), Amy Paffrath (Hauntsville; The Purge: Anarchy; Zombies Vs. Strippers), John Patrick Jordan (Stan Against Evil; Evil Bong and sequels; The Wailer), Chance A. Rearden (Ooga Booga), Mindy Robinson, Rorie Moon,  Jacob Witkin, Jonathan Katz, David DeCoteau [as himself], David Del Valle [as himself].

Plot:

Learning from her previous mistakes, EeBee the Evil Bong is back and she’s stoner… er… stronger than ever. With Larnell, Sarah Leigh, Rabbit, Velicity and a lobotomized Gingerdead Man trapped in her dastardly web of weed, The Bong World, for good, she once more sets about her plan of world domination.

This time, one toke at a time. EeBee has outsmarted everybody who has outsmarted her. There’s no way out for our hesher heroes, so she teleports them to insane locations, where they enlist a bevy of baked soldiers (Ooga Booga, Killjoy and tons of surprises), to sell her magic ganja in a bid for guerilla weedfare. It’s up to our dopes to figure out Eebee’s new rules and stop her before humanity goes up in smoke…

Reviews:

“This time we actually get a story that follows the cast doing something more than smoking pot.  It was fun and broke up the monotony of the original films. Finally, the fifth installment is no different than the others and offer up no blood and gore. Just pot, pot, and more pot with a large amount of humor tossed in.  Overall, Evil Bong: High-5 is another great installment in a series meant for laughs.” Blacktooth, Horror Society

” … the tricking of stoners to smoke from the bong and then be transported away to another world and be killed was at least more along the lines of what Full Moon usually does with horror. This has just become a comedy now. It is more a less a teen stoner comedy without the teens. This has to have some audience out there or they’d not have made five of them and from the looks of the ending, six is coming as well. I just don’t know who the crowd is unless it is the stoner or teens demographic.” Chuck Conry, Zombies Don’t Run

“Sadly there is nothing redeeming about this film, its not a horror film its a sad attempt at appealing to the lowest common denominator, stoners. With terrible effects and writing from a company that used to pride itself on great effects, puppetry and using its low budget to do its best work … When you reach the point where even the worst stuff from Troma is good in comparison to your company’s best director’s recent works you have to stop.” Cody Rapp, IMDb

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‘Beyond the darkness terror lives forever’

Hellgate is a 1989 (released 1990) American-South African horror film directed by William A. Levey (Blackenstein) from a screenplay by Michael S. O’Rourke (MoonStalker; Deadly Love). It was produced by Anant Singh (The Mangler; City of Blood).

Main cast:

Ron Palillo (Trees 2: The Root of All Evil; Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI), Abigail Wolcott , Carel Trichardt, Evan J. Klisser, Joanne Warde, Frank Notaro, Lance Vaughan, Victor Melleney.

Plot:

In 1959, a motorcycle gang (who actually appear like they are from the Seventies) kidnap a young woman, Josie, from a diner and kill her in a nearby town, Hellgate.

Many years later, the girl’s rich father is given a magic crystal that can bring dead objects back to life.

He uses it to re-animate his daughter and lets her seduce any young man that comes to visit the small town. Meanwhile, two student couples spend some of their vacation near the town…

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

Reviews:

“Is it satire? Black comedy? An honest approach to horror? Because of this uncertain demeanor the movie has a certain trashy charm. The writer seems to be inspired by sitcoms or something as the screenplay has these “witty” lines that fail in invoking Seinfeld or Married with Children. During the most “suspenseful” of scenes the characters have no problem taking a break to make a joke.” Vince Fontaine, Slasher Studios

” … Hellgate is so batshit insane and its plot makes so little sense that even explaining the film’s plot becomes a messy string of confusing words and ideas.” That Was a Bit Mental

“While Hellgate has some cool moments towards the end it’s too little too late.  The pacing is absolutely atrocious and it takes way too long to get going.  I felt myself getting more and more bored with every bad joke they threw out.” Zak Greene, Wicked Horror

The uneven tone doesn’t help either. When you’re making a horror/comedy, the least you can do is succeed on one count, but Hellgate doesn’t even come close on either front. The only laughs I got were unintentional, stemming from the cheap-o effects (and the giant fish) and the movie is never the slightest bit scary or suspenseful… Brian W Collins, Horror Movie a Day

“Hellgate is a very strange film. Despite having a sense of anything goes, it also drags quite a bit and you may well find yourself straying to the fast forward button. The budget is obviously very low and probably the kindest thing I can say about it is it reminded me of Jess Franco trying to direct a version of Norman J. Warren’s Bloody New Year.” John Llewellyn Probert, House of Mortal Cinema

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“… the group encounter manifestations and monsters in an old Western ghost town and the film degenerates into a succession of (sometimes entertaining) tricks and jokes.” The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror

“In one brief and entirely gratuitous scene, all the town’s dead rise and stalk them en masse, but then quickly disappear again. Apparently even zombies find it boring.” Peter Dendle, The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Choice dialogue:

“You live here? Along with Herman Munster?”

[Firing shotgun] “Take this, you zombie bitch!”

Filming locations:

South Africa

Wikipedia | IMDb | Image credits: Cultforever | That Was a Bit Mental

Plot keywords:

students | bikers | diner | shotgun | kidnapping | ghost town | mine | bat | mansion | crystal | turtle | gore | death | nighttime | jeep | mist | cemetery | cabin | coffins | candles | rose | zombie

The Witching Hour was an American comic book horror anthology published by DC Comics from 1969 to 1978.

The series was published for eighty-five issues from February–March 1969 to October 1978. The comic’s initial tagline was “It’s 12 o’clock… The Witching Hour!” until it was changed to “It’s midnight…” from issue #14 onwards.

The series was originally edited by Dick Giordano, who was replaced by Murray Boltinoff with issue #14. Stories in the comic were “hosted” and introduced by three witches, based on Macbeth‘s Weird Sisters: Morded, Mildred, and Cynthia. The witches defined the archetypal Maiden/Mother/Crone—in reverse order—triumvirate of womanhood.

Writers who worked on the comic included Alex Toth, Dennis O’Neil, Gerry Conway, Steve Skeates, Marv Wolfman, George Kashdan and Carl Wessler. Nick Cardy was a key inker/penciller.

After The Witching Hour’s cancellation in 1978, the title was merged with The Unexpected, until issue #209.

Wikipedia | Image thanks: Comic Vine (visit to see the full selection of covers)

‘7,000 million people in the world… or only one?’

The Similars – aka Los Parecidos – is a 2015 Mexican science fiction horror film written and directed by Isaac Ezban (The Incident; shorts: Cosas feas; Subway to Hell).

The film is released on VOD in the US on November 15, 2016, by XLrator Media.

Main cast:

Luis Alberti, Carmen Beato, Fernando Becerril, Humberto Busto, Cassandra Ciangherotti, Alberto Estrella, Pablo Guisa Koestinger, María Elena Olivares, Catalina Salas, Gustavo Sánchez Parra, Santiago Torres.

Plot:

On the rainy night of October 2, 1968, eight characters waiting at a remote bus station for a bus heading to Mexico City start experiencing a strange phenomenon…

Reviews:

“With enough narrative complexity, homages to vintage science fiction and sheer entertainment to justify repeat viewings, The Similars is an absolute treat for genre fans and we highly recommend that you hunt it down as soon as possible.” Jonathan Hatfull, SciFiNow

“Funny, suspenseful, inventive and charming, this knows when to tone down the homage and become genuinely frightening – while working in the sort of social comment footnotes [Rod] Serling sprinkled throughout his show [The Twilight Zone].” Kim Newman, Screen Daily

” …a semi-camp yet canny homage to vintage suspense templates. The black-and-white visuals that gradually make room for color, d.p. Isi Sarfati’s elaborately choreographed tracking shots across an impressive depot-interior set, the very Bernard Herrmann-esque textures of Edy Lan’s score, and other clever packaging contributions add up to a kind of lavish Hitchcockian in-joke.” Dennis Harvey, Variety

“Ezban plays a series of wild cards, inspired equally by The Twilight Zone, Aphex Twin videos and EC-style comics (like the one that an impressionable young boy is reading in the film). The result is a surreal assimilation of reality to fantasy, wearing its generic influences (sci-fi, noir, horror, pulp) on its face, while also weaving them into the very fabric of it story.” Anton Bitel, Sight & Sound

Filming locations:

Jochitepec, Estado de México, Mexico
Estudios Churubusco Azteca, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico

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‘Read the fine print. You may have just mortgaged your life.’

The House by the Cemetery – original title: Quella villa accanto al cimitero – is a 1981 Italian supernatural horror film directed by Lucio Fulci (Manhattan Baby; The New York Ripper; Dracula in the Provinces; et al) from a screenplay co-written with Giorgio Mariuzzo and Dardano Sacchetti, based on a story by Sacchetti’s wife, Elisa Briganti (Manhattan Baby; A Blade in the Dark; Zombie Flesh Eaters). It was produced by Fabrizio De Angelis (Zombie Holocaust; Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals) for Fulvia Film. The notable score is by Walter Rizzati.

It is the third instalment of the unofficial ‘Gates of Hell’ film trilogy that also includes City of the Living Dead and The Beyond. The plot revolves around a series of murders taking place in a New England home–a home which happens to be hiding a particularly gruesome secret within its basement walls.

The film was belatedly released in the United States in 1984 by Almi Pictures.

In the UK, the Videomedia ‘Vampix’ VHS release was on the infamous 1980s ‘video nasty‘ list, despite the film having been shown in cinemas in a BBFC cut version. After many years of censorship issues, all previous cuts were finally waived for the 2009 Arrow DVD.

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

The film was released by Blue Underground on Blu-ray (as well as a new DVD edition) on 25 October 2011 with a new 2K transfer and the following special features:

• Meet the Boyles (1080p, 14:12): Interviews with Stars Catriona MacColl and Paolo Malco
• Children of the Night (1080p, 12:13): Interviews with Stars Giovanni Frezza and Silvia Collatina
• Tales of Laura Gittleson (1080p, 8:51): Interview with Star Dagmar Lassander
• My Time with Terror (1080p, 9:16): Interview with Star Carlo de Mejo
• A Haunted House Story (1080p, 14:02): Interviews with Co-Writers Dardano Sacchetti and Elisa Briganti
• To Build a Better Death Trap (1080p, 21:32): Interviews with Cinematographer Sergio Salvati, Special Make-up Effects Artist Maurizio Trani, Special Effects Artist Gino De Rossi, and Actor Diovanni De Nava
• Deleted Scene (480p, 1:01): Bat Attack Aftermath
• Trailers (1080p): International (3:24) and U.S. (1:48)
• TV Spot (480p, 0:32)
• Poster & Still Gallery (480p, 2:21)

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Main cast:

Catriona MacColl (Horsehead; Chimères, The Beyond), Paolo Malco (Midnight Killer; The New York Ripper; The Cat’s Victims), Ania Pieroni (Fracchia vs. Dracula; Tenebrae), Giovanni Frezza (Demons; Manhattan Baby; A Blade in the Dark), Silvia Collatina (Murder Rock; The Great Alligator) and Dagmar Lassander (Monster Shark; The Black Cat; Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion).

Plot:

In a seemingly abandoned old house, a young woman (Daniela Doria) is looking for her boyfriend Steve, after they have had sex. After she discovers his body stabbed with scissors, she is then stabbed in the head with a French knife, and her body is dragged through a cellar door.

In New York City, a boy named Bob (Giovanni Frezzi) and his parents, Norman and Lucy Boyle (Paolo Malco and Catriona MacColl), are moving into the same house. Norman’s ex-colleague, Dr. Peterson, who murdered his mistress before committing suicide, was the previous owner. The Boyles are to stay there, whilst Norman researches old houses. As his mother packs, Bob looks at a photograph of a house and notices a girl in it.

In New Whitby, Boston, Bob waits in his parents’ car while they collect the house keys. The girl from the photograph appears across the street. The girl, Mae (Silvia Collatina), whom only Bob can see, warns him to stay away. In the real estate office, Mrs. Gittelson (Dagmar Lassander) is annoyed when her colleague hands the couple “the Freudstein” keys. She insists it is called “Oak Mansion”. Gittelson promises to find the Boyles a babysitter.

Oak Mansion is in a poor state of repair. The cellar door is locked and nailed shut. A woman arrives and introduces herself as Ann, the babysitter (Ania Pieroni). That night, Norman hears noises and finds Ann unblocking the cellar door. The next day, Norman goes to the library to peruse Peterson’s materials. The chief librarian, Mr. Wheatley (Carlo De Mejo), appears to recognize him. but Norman claims he is mistaken. The assistant librarian, Daniel Douglas (Giampaolo Saccarola), then informs Norman that Peterson conducted private research at the house. He studied records of area disappearances and other demographic data.

Mae shows Bob a tombstone on the grounds marked “Mary Freudstein” and says she is not really buried there. Indoors, Lucy finds the tombstone of “Jacob Tess Freudstein” while sweeping the hallway. When Norman returns, he reassures her that some older houses have indoor tombs because of the hard wintry ground. Norman opens the cellar door and walks down the stairs, only be attacked by a bat, which won’t let go until he stabs it repeatedly.

Spooked, the family drives down to the real estate office and demands to be re-housed, but are told it will be few more days before they can move. While the Boyles are at hospital to treat Norman’s injuries from the bat, Gittelson arrives at the house to tell them of a new property. Letting herself in, she stands over the Freudstein tombstone, which cracks apart, pinning her ankle. A figure emerges, stabs her in the neck with a fireplace poker, and drags her into the cellar.

The next morning, Lucy finds Ann cleaning a bloodstain on the kitchen floor. Ann eludes Lucy’s questions about the stain.

Over coffee, Norman tells Lucy that he’s discovered that Freudstein was a Victorian surgeon who conducted illegal experiments. Norman must travel to New York to research Freudstein. On the way, Norman drops by the library and finds a cassette of Peterson’s, which explains Freudstein is his family.

Ann goes to the cellar looking for Bob, but Freudstein decapitates her after slashing her throat. Bob sees Ann’s head, and exits screaming. Lucy refuses to believe Bob’s tale about Ann.

That evening, Bob returns to the cellar looking for Ann but gets locked in. Lucy hears Bob’s cries and tries to open the cellar door. When she cannot open it, Norman returns and attacks it with an hatchet. The rotting hands of Freudstein (Giovanni De Nava) appear and restrain Bob. Norman cuts the monster’s hand off, and he staggers away, bleeding.

Norman and Lucy finally get into the cellar, which contains several mutilated bodies (including Ann, the realtor, and the couple from the beginning of the film), surgical equipment, and a slab. Freudstein is a living corpse with rotting flesh. Norman tells Lucy that the 150-year-old Freudstein lives by using his victims’ parts to regenerate blood cells.

He attacks Freudstein, but the ghoul twists the hatchet away. Freudstein picks up Norman and rips his throat out. Lucy and Bob climb a ladder leading to the cracked tombstone. Lucy strains to shift the stone, but Freudstein grabs her and drags her down the stairs. Freudstein kills Lucy by ramming her head into the concrete floor.

As Freudstein advances up the ladder, Bob strains to escape. As Freudstein grabs Bob’s leg, he is suddenly yanked upwards by Mae. With Mae is her mother, Mary Freudstein (Teresa Rossi Passante), who tells them it’s time to leave. Freudstein leads Mae and Bob down the wintry grove into a netherworld of ghosts and sadness.

Reviews:

” …with its array of zooms, point-of-view shots and extreme close-up’s, Fulci’s direction is focused and incredibly specific, allowing Walter Rizzati’s delectably colorful score to be in charge of the film’s tone. Considering the amount of concepts and oddities that Fulci tries to cover in his Lovecraft-inspired tale, the fact that Rizzati, Salvati and editor Vincenzo Tomassi even achieved a thematically cohesive film is a true achievement.” Ken W. Hanley, Fangoria

Buy: Amazon.co.uk

“Yet it’s not scary. The gore is too much of a spectacle to be truly frightening. And neither is the film structured or paced in a way to provoke tension or terror. Instead, the shots are held for too long, showcasing mangled limbs and decaying corpses, though few do this better than Fulci. And for all its theatrical acting, annoying children and gore! gore! gore! The House by the Cemetery hints at a theme buried deeper beneath the gravestones. As in Fulci’s Zombie Flesh Eaters, the film is more intelligent than it lets on.” Flickering Myth

“Although the distribution of menace and innocence have been reshuffled and displaced, the characters in Sacchetti’s script suggest a glancing degree of attention to James’ narrative design. Lest we get carried away praising the subtlety and restraint of House by the Cemetery, it must be stressed that the film’s physical violence, when it does occur, is top notch brutality in the Fulci/De Rossi tradition.” Stephen Thrower, Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci

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“Fulci also accomplishes the act of rendering things unfamiliar throughout his dreamlike film by disavowing the linear mechanics of narrative logic. Inattentive viewers have always complained that Fulci’s infernal trilogy are incoherent texts, filled with dangling plot threads and unexplained leaps of logical faith, which indeed they are. Putting that down to rank incompetence, though, would be to mistake technique as the lack thereof and consistently misconstrue the sense of the playful and surreal that runs through even Fulci’s most graphic and brutal films…” Budd Wilkins, Slant magazine

“Bits of Amityville and The Shining, plus every other imaginable mad-scientist, screaming-in-the-cellar, haunted-house horror cliché, cut and stuck together into (literally) a hack-work of almost awesome incoherence.” Sheila Johnston, Time Out

“Regardless of House by the Cemetery being discombobulated much of the time, it still retains some nice photographic touches, some modestly creepy imagery and a standout score from Walter Rizatti. The organ based main theme sets the mood nicely, even though the film refuses to make sense. The gore effects are arguably some of the finest work of Gianetto De Rossi’s (Zombie) and Maurizio Trani’s (Dawn of the Mummy) careers.” Cool Ass Cinema

“It does include some entertaining scenes, but for a Fulci film its pace is slow, its story is plot heavy (even though most of the plot points raised are never resolved), and it features only one real zombie.” Glenn Kay, Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca

“What pushes The House by the Cemetery beyond my tolerances is that Fulci and his co-writers have delivered a script in which they haven’t even attempted to fit the disparate parts together. Whereas most Fulci movies feel like he’s playing connect the dots with a disordered wish-list of story ideas, The House by the Cemetery plays like he just filmed the dots where they lay, without making even the most cursory effort to form them into a whole. Indeed, The House by the Cemetery hardly seems like a completed movie at all.” 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

“For pure cinematic assault, Fulci has given virtually every death an over-the-top sensationalism that can hardly be overstated in its visceral shock value. But for the person with a poetic soul looking for subtlety in cinema, the recommendation is to avoid this lacklustre hackfest.” Dr. Arnold T Blumberg, Andrew Hershberger, Zombiemania: 80s Movies To Die For

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“The story would hold up well even without the gore scenes … Just be ready for some poorly dubbed voices, including the psychic boy and girl ghost who obviously sound like adults pretending to be children. Be ready for some heavy-handed camera work. There is too much telegraphing, not enough subtlety.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers

“Unlike the sorta Lovecraftian pair of City of the Living Dead and The Beyond, both of which deal with forbidden tomes and doorways between this world and the world of the dead, The House By the Cemetery is a tighter, more contained narrative that focuses on one dead guy and one world. Even the film’s payoff, which can be read as a now dead Bob joining the afterlives of Mary (played by Teresa Rossi Passante) and Mae Freudstein (woops…surprise!), lacks the depressive nihilism of the two other “Gates of Hell” films.” Benjamin Welton, Ravenous Monster

“Typically for the best Italian horror films, the photography and lighting are excellent; the soundtrack is evocative and appropriate; and the gory special effects are nauseating (the way we like them). Equally typically, the script is full of clumsy dialog, badly dubbed; moments that leave the audience members scratching their heads in confusion; and plot threads that seem to be forgotten as soon as they are introduced. But unlike many other films of its time, House by the Cemetery holds up remarkably well to repeated viewing.” Braineater.com

Choice dialogue:

Norman Boyle: “This is New England, everybody has a tomb in their house”

Cast and characters:

• Catriona MacColl as Lucy Boyle (credited as Katherine MacColl)
• Paolo Malco as Dr. Norman Boyle
• Ania Pieroni as Ann (babysitter)
• Giovanni Frezza as Bob Boyle
• Silvia Collatina as Mae Freudstein
• Dagmar Lassander as Laura Gittleson
• Giovanni De Nava as Dr. Freudstein
• Daniela Doria as the first female victim
• Gianpaolo Saccarola as Daniel Douglas
• Carlo De Mejo as Mr. Wheatley
• Kenneth A. Olsen as Harold (credited as John Olson)
• Elmer Johnsson as the Cemetery Caretaker
• Ranieri Ferrara as a victim
• Teresa Rossi Passante as Mary Freudstein
• Lucio Fulci as Professor Mueller [uncredited]

Filming locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Concord, Massachusetts, USA (library and real estate office)
Ellis Estate House – 709 Country Way, Scituate, Massachusetts, USA (house exteriors)
New York City, New York, USA
Incir De Paolis Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Wikipedia | IMDb

Seizure is a 1974 released Canadian-American horror film directed by Oliver Stone (The Hand), who also co-wrote the screenplay with Edward Mann (The Mutations; Blind Man’s Bluff; Island of Terror). Shot in 1972, it was promoted as Seizure! and is also known as Queen of Evil.

The film had a very limited release theatrically in the United States by Cinerama Releasing Corporation, playing on New York’s 42nd Street in 1974.

In 1991 Stone commented: “You have to stretch to like it. It wasn’t great. I felt back then the same as I do now, that I always wanted to direct, and the horror genre was easier to break in with.”

Main cast:

Jonathan Frid (Dark Shadows), Martine Beswick (From a Whisper to a Scream; Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde; Prehistoric Women), Hervé Villechaize (Malatesta’s Carnival of Blood), Henry Judd Baker, Troy Donahue (Shock ‘Em Dead; The Chilling; Monster on the Campus), Mary Woronov (The House of the Devil; Night of the Comet; Eating Raoul).

Plot:

Over a weekend, horror writer Edmund Blackstone (Jonathan Frid) sees his recurring nightmare come to chilling life as one by one, his friends and family are killed by three villains, led by Martine Beswick as the Queen of Evil, Hervé Villechaize as Spider and Henry Judd Baker as Jackal…

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Reviews:

‘Seizure gives the impression, not unlike the scenario fictionalised in the film Loaded (1994), of a group of actors gathering at a big old house for a weekend, under the influence of some substances, having made up whatever came into their heads and filming whatever occurred.’ Moria

“Unfolding with its own form of nightmare logic, Seizure feels as though it’s been cast in a thick haze, leaving viewers with the impression of drowning in illogical rhythms and surreal imagery. Standing in stark contrast the sweltering fever dreams of its strictly American counterparts, Stone’s film is more of a cold sweat in the vein of many Eurohorror productions, particularly the films of Rollin and Bava.” Brett Gallman, Oh, the Horror!

“Part of Seizure problem is its opaque plot. I’m not entirely sure what the movie is really about … these monsters seem to have sprung from Blackstone’s imagination, but we’re not given any clues as to why until moments before the credits roll. Even then, the explanation is a cop-out. The movie is so intentionally cryptic that there might be a great many things buried in the script that could illuminate matters, if you were inclined to dig deeper.” Wallace McBride, The Collinsport Historical Society

“There’s much to appreciate in Seizure, including the surreal, avant garde feel of the piece as a whole. There are moments that are downright kinky, and there’s even an Alice in Wonderland quality to the brutality and humour of the picture. But it’s all kind of half- thought-out, and poorly executed.” John Kenneth Muir, Horror Films of the 1970s

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‘Seizure‘s main problem is that is flogs the “Is it real? Is it a dream?” ambiguity to death. What Stone obviously hadn’t realized at the time was that a horror film audience is willing to suspend their disbelief when it comes to watching crazed ventriloquist dwarves and disfigured executioners.’ Canuxploitation

“Inexpertly made on a low budget – you can see shadows of cameras in some scenes – the film has aged poorly, but like so many of Stone’s works, its excesses … are perversely enjoyable. The cast handles the bizarre material rather well, particularly Frid.” Mike Mayo, The Horror Show Guide

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“Female characters have never been Ollie’s strong suit, and those in Seizure are no exception. The Queen Of Evil is everything a man could want and dread at the same time, the majestic embodiment of all our desires and thoughts – the alluring eternal female of our soul, she is both mother and whore. Edmund’s own wife is a complete bitch (“You’re a worm, Edmund, a lump of mud! You want to live and you don’t know how!”), and genre darling Mary Woronov plays a houseguest who chooses to wear a bikini when wrestling Edmund to the death.” Nigel Honeybone, HorrorNews.net

The fact that Seizure is rated PG illustrates that, even for the time (when such films as the viscerally terrifying The Legend of Hell House received a PG rating), there would be somewhat minimal sexuality, gore and violence (as compared to, say, the previous year’s The Exorcist). However, much like Hell House, Seizure is disturbing on a deeper, more primal level. That said, the blood that does taint the screen is pretty damned disturbing.”

“It’s hard to tell what we’re supposed to take seriously. Unexplained ghosts come out of nowhere. The twist endings are no fun. But something about this combination of Hour of the Wolf and Last House on the Left keeps you watching.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers

Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com | Amazon.ca

” …an oddball and at times crude piece of filmmaking with far out editing techniques and a freeze frame method utilized in some of the violent scenes (which are actually tame with the film being given a PG rating) and some cheap-looking but surprisingly effective make-up. Produced independently and shot entirely on location in what must have been a very cold Ontario, Canada, Seizure’s casting is what makes it easily approachable and easy to watch, even when it comes off like an hallucinatory-induced episode of Night Gallery.” George R. Reis, DVD Drive-In

“The script appears to be straining to say something about the creative imagination, but exactly what never emerges from the indifferently muddle which is distinguished only by Frid’s performance.” The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror

“Flashy but disjointed and ultimately unsatisfying.” John Elliot, Elliot’s Guide to Films on Video

Cast and characters:

• Jonathan Frid as Edmund Blackstone
• Martine Beswick as Queen of Evil
• Joseph Sirola as Charlie
• Hervé Villechaize as Spider
• Christina Pickles as Nicole Blackstone
• Troy Donahue as Mark Frost
• Mary Woronov as Mikki Hughes
• Richard Cox as Gerald
• Henry Judd Baker as Jackal
• Alexis Kirk as Arris

Filming locations:

Quebec, Canada

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘Filled with sweet revenge’

Killer Piñata is a 2015 American comedy horror film about a possessed piñata. It was directed by Stephen Tramontana from a screenplay co-written with Megan MacManus.

The film will be released on Blu-ray, DVD, and VHS on January 18 via LC Films. Special features include:

• Audio commentary
• Deleted/extended scenes
• Bloopers

Meanwhile, the film is already available online via Amazon.com

Main cast:

Lindsay Ashcroft, Nate Bryan, Billy Chengary, Sheila Edmiston, Elvis Garcia, Daniel Hawkes, Eliza-Jane Morris, Davinia Palmer, Steven James Price, Joette Waters, Nick Weeks.

Plot:

A possessed piñata, seeking to avenge the savagery that humanity has inflicted on his kind, picks off a group of friends, one by one, in an unending night of terror…

Reviews:

“The laughs are few, the smiles are more frequent, the occasional wit is apparent, and the run-time is long enough to show the weaknesses of the filmmakers; it should have been cut down by an hour or so, removing the excesses and leaving a tighter, funnier, and more satisfying half-hour to forty-five minute short…” Ben Spurling, HorrorNews.net

” …the whole enterprise is so unassuming and good-humoured that it’s easy to forgive its many failings, even though it does commit a few of what I would consider cardinal sins of no-budget schlock horror: for one thing, it outstays its welcome just a little at a full 90 minutes in length…” Ben Bussey, Brutal As Hell

IMDb | Facebook | Official site

‘The rubber that rubs you out !!!’

Killer Condom – original title Kondom des Grauens (translation: “Condom of Horror” – is a 1996 German horror comedy based on the comic book of the same name by Dylan Kenyon.

The film was directed by Martin Walz and featured Kurt Scobbie as its special effects coordinator. Artist H.R. Giger (Species; Alien) was a creative consultant. It was distributed in the United States by Troma Entertainment.

Image courtesy: www.unzeit.de

Plot:

New York City: Gay detective Luigi Mackeroni (Udo Samel) has been hired to investigate a series of bizarre attacks at the Hotel Quickie in which male guests have all had their penises mysteriously bitten off.

Whilst at the crime scene, he enlists the services of a gigolo named Billy and invites him up to the crime room. Before the two men engage in sex, a carnivorous living condom interrupts them and bites off Mackeroni’s right testicle.

Now on a personal vendetta, Mackeroni begins his lone quest to not only bring a stop to the rash of condom attacks, but also face his true feelings toward Billy the gigolo…

Image courtesy of VHS Wasteland

Reviews:

‘One part crime drama, one part comedy, one part ultra-low budget horror movie (dig the cardboard cut out of a nurse float pass the door in the hospital) and one part gay movie. That’s right, this certainly isn’t a movie for everyone. If you have a problem with seeing naked guys together, you best leave right now and not look back.’ IGN

“The carnivorous contraceptive, which admittedly shares some similarities to Giger’s work on the sandworm from Dune, has teeth like a lamprey and makes cartoon sound effects as it squirms around … Killer Condom is not your average B-movie, but if you’re looking for something a bit different, it definitely is awfully good.” Jason Adams, JoBlo.com

” …we still have the danger of AIDS this is a film that is willing to show you the dangers of carnivorous condoms. On top that this film poke fun at the stereotypes of macho men and action hero’s. Also the film has a nice gritty sleaze feel to it being full of hookers, perverts and religious fanatics.” HorrorNews.net

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘The portal to Hell has been opened.’

Curtain – also known as The Gateway – is a 2015 American horror film directed by Jaron Henrie-McCrea from a screenplay co-written with Carys Edwards. The film stars Danni Smith and Tim Lueke as two activists that investigate a series of disappearing shower curtains in Smith’s apartment.

The Jash Pictures production had its world premiere in London on 31 August 2015 at the Film4 FrightFest.

Opening plot:

Danni has recently left her job as a hospice nurse in order to become an activist for Whale Savers, a conservation group. She also moves into a recently vacated apartment in order to get a new start on life.

However, soon after she gets settled she discovers that her shower curtains have been disappearing. Danni decides to try to record her bathroom overnight in order to discover what is going on, only to find that her shower curtains are disappearing into a strange portal in her shower wall.

She brings this up with one of her fellow activists, Tim, who eagerly suggests that she put her contact information on a curtain. This way, if someone finds the curtain the person can call Danni and they can discover the portal’s destination.

They are contacted by Willy, a drifter that tells them that her curtain appeared in a wooded creek near Poughkeepsie, New York. He volunteers to take them to the area he discovered the curtain, but shortly after arriving he begins huffing paint, bringing out a hostile alter ego named Frankie and attacking the two activists. They manage to escape the area, but as soon as they arrive back to Danni’s apartment they are confronted by the Pale Man…

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Reviews:

“Curtain really is a great little treat of a film. It’s an unforgettable rollercoaster journey that has its own unique identity, but also manages to pay homage to ‘80s schlock. Without being too silly, it grounds its story in reality and uses the bizarre world behind the curtain as a metaphor for much more real, social problems.” Jessy Williams, Scream magazine

” …endlessly inventive and ambitious, blending the lo-fi creature effects (and 80s sensibilities) of Basket Case with the high-concept oddity of Being John Malkovich. Charming and weird enough to get away with its rough edges, it can along the way seem a bit meandering, especially in its focus on Tim’s Save the Whales fixation, but in the end every (narrative) hook on this Curtain fits neatly into place.” Anton Bitel, Sight & Sound

“Curtain isn’t a bad film, despite its oddness. Danni and Tim are great protagonists, and the humour works to add levity to the strangeness … despite its best efforts, doesn’t have the same staying power as more traditional (and some non-traditional) horror films, demanding the viewer’s full attention in order to tell its story.” Pat Torfe, Bloody Disgusting

“We’re not in full-on comedy horror territory, but it certainly skews more in that direction than it does elsewhere (although its Hellraiser type cult is particularly creepy). Well, it is a film about disappearing shower curtains, after all. With a title and concept like that, Curtain was always going to be one of the year’s most original horror films. Thankfully, it also turns out to be one of the best.” Joel Harley, Starburst magazine

There are also lots of introductions for seemingly minor or useless details, which end up coming back into play. As with any film, that’s always a tough thing to pull off … Curtain is clever, well-performed and touts some very cool monster make-up.” Michael Klug, Horrorfreak News

“Some might describe Curtain as quirky or eccentric. You’ll be able to appreciate that this was in fact what they were going for. This certainly wasn’t a lazy attempt at film making by director Jaron Henrie-McCrea, but it was not a successful one. Either avoid entirely or commit to losing 74 minutes of your life just for the super-odd ending alone.” Sadé Green, Flickering Myth

Cast and characters:

• Danni Smith as Danni
• Tim Lueke as Tim
• Martin Monahan as The Pale Man
• Rick Zahn as Uncle Gus
• Chuck McMahon as Bert
• Preston Lawrence as Preston the Super
• Gregory Konow as Willy

Filming locations:

New York City, New York, USA
West Milford and Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, USA

Wikipedia | IMDb | Facebook | Twitter

“Movies are so rarely great art that if we cannot appreciate great trash we have very little reason to be interested in them.”

This quote is attributed to Pauline Kael, one of cinema’s best known professional critics. She also confessed to having a fondness for the biker movies that made such a mindless splash in the late 60s and early 70s.

“I’m a little unclear on this whole good/bad thing.” Dr. Peter Venkman, Ghostbusters (1984)

Inevitably, when someone tells me they love my 1986 movie The Abomination, it’s because they stumbled onto the film at a very formative age. As kids, we are sponges, soaking everything up and trying to make sense of the insanity that passes for reality on this planet. A completely inane film can leave a deep mark in our developing consciousness, because it is puzzling to us or so incredibly different from anything we could imagine adults creating.

I have a very vivid memory of the impact a cheesy film from the 50s, From Hell It Came, had on my five-year-old mind. I was at the babysitter’s house and had been told to take a nap. It was mid-afternoon and the sitter was watching the film on Dialing for Dollars, a local program that enticed people to watch B-movies by giving them the chance to win cash if their number was dialed on the air.

I stood behind the door and peered through the crack to watch this film about a murdered tribesman who comes back to life as a killer tree. It was about as hokey as a film can be; the “monster” a tree not much different than the one that threw its apples at Dorothy and the gang in The Wizard of Oz.

Still, the movie left a very creepy mark on my psyche. Partly, because I was raised in a strict Baptist environment in which the word “Hell” was simply not spoken. And I’m sure, the fact that I watched secretly through a narrow slit heightened the experience. For years, I would get an inexplicable chill down my spine when I watched that silly film.

I believe the question ultimately is not, “Why do people like bad movies?” The real question is, “Why do humans insist on labelling movies either good or bad?” I think the answer lies in the cognitive dissonance that inevitably arises in our minds when we attempt to reconcile the world as it is with the world authority figures have encouraged us to believe in.

Religions have always shaped the here-and-now by applying threats and promises of consequences in a hereafter. Taking a cue from the religions, governments have generated a secular world view that aims at having citizens police themselves. These influences in early life can only lead to the compulsive division of all we see or experience into good/bad, sheep/goats, dark/light, etc. Duality.

Humans are an odd species. They like bestowing awards on people and things. A warrior is given a medal by his king, leading him to be exalted as a hero. Meanwhile, on the foreign turf where he rode rough-shod over men, women and children, he’s viewed as a psychopath. The warrior is both a hero and a murderer, depending on your perspective. It’s no different with movies. We bestow awards on films because they are congruent with the current zeitgeist, or because they support the agenda of a particular organization.

WTF, man? I thought this was about bad horror movies! What’s all this high-falutin’ verbiage have to do with it?

Everything.

We humans want to believe things are separate. We like taking things and dissecting them into little bits. We pretend we’re learning from this process. In reality, I believe we’re just whistling in the dark. The answers to all our deepest questions are not answered. We escape the oppression and uncomfortable uncertainty by turning to entertainment.

Boys love dinosaurs. A lot of little girls do, too. This love of giant reptiles often expands into an appreciation of all sorts of “monsters.” Perhaps parents encourage you to watch something they think will capture your imagination.

So, you overcome your fear and start watching monsters, aliens and such. Still, you’re probably only watching the “good stuff;” the big budget movies your folks are familiar with. Often times, the young person’s appetite for weirdness outstrips the supply of A-list titles. This is where the schlockmeisters creep into the scenario, filling the demand for the outré.

Initially, the child is disappointed by these inferior films. Even so, he/she keeps watching every quirky title that gets a hook into the young imagination: Cat-Women of the Moon, The Killer Shrews, I Was a Teenage Frankenstein, The Brain That Wouldn’t Die, How to Make a Monster. These mad movies still demand a viewing simply for the enticing allure of their title alone.

As the child approaches puberty, a sort of jaded quality sets in and watching “bad” movies with friends seems fun. What better bonding experience than pointing out the many flaws of films such as Larry Buchanan’s The Eye Creatures or Zontar: Thing from Venus while ingesting sodas and popcorn with your mates?

Invariably, the young viewer crosses a line into dangerous territory… forbidden fruit… films that seem somehow threatening to the adults in the family. A defugalty arose when I was fifteen over an Andy Milligan poster I had hanging in my room. My Mom had previously ignored the thing, Bloodthirsty Butchers, whose infamous tag line was:

“Their prime cuts were curiously erotic… but thoroughly brutal!”

When my grandmother visited, she was scandalised. How could a fifteen-year-old boy be allowed to have such filth in his bedroom? It wasn’t healthy. My mother was swayed and she insisted I take it down. I retaliated by refusing to get a haircut.

Bad films are most certainly an acquired taste. Akin to masochism, I suspect.

As a purveyor of really cheap movies, I must admit that all my creations fall into the “bad” category. The uninitiated viewer is mistaken to think these things are accidentally bad. When they ask questions like, “How on Earth did this atrocity receive funding?” they completely miss the point.

Earth Girls Are Easy (1988)

Bad movies are dredged up from the same polluted well as rock ‘n’ roll (including punk, metal, rap and all popular music’s more violent permutations). Bad films arise from the same impulses that birthed surreal art and the non-art of people like Andy Warhol (whose name was used to promote Paul Morrissey’s Blood for Dracula and Flesh for Frankenstein). They surge toward receptive minds in response to the morbid curiosity that causes people to ogle car wrecks and freak shows.

As Pablo Picasso said: “Ah, good taste! What a dreadful thing! Taste is the enemy of creativeness.”

Bret McCormick, Horrorpedia © 2017

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Coming soon from Bret McCormick: Texas Schlock: B-Movie Sci-Fi and Horror from the Lone Star State

Related: 

B-Movie Baggage: Filmmaker versus Distributor in a Fight for Survival – article by Bret McCormick

Worst Horror Films of All-Time

‘It’s a headache from Hell!’

Brain Damage is a 1987 [released 1988] American comedy horror film written and directed by Frank Henenlotter (Bad Biology; Frankenhooker; Basket Case and sequels). It stars Rick Hearst (The Vampire Diaries; Warlock III), Gordon MacDonald and Jennifer Lowry. TV horror host John Zacherley provided the voice of creature “Elmer/Aylmer”.

Street Trash (1987) director Jim Muro handled the camera and the synth score was provided by Clutch Reiser and Gus Russo. Gabe Bartalos (Leprechaun; Skinned Deep; Spookies) provided the special makeup effects.

Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

On 8 May (UK) and 9 May (US) 2017, Arrow Video release the film on Blu-ray + DVD with the following features:

• Digital transfer from original film elements
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
• Original Mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray)
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Brand new audio commentary by writer-director Frank Henenlotter
• Brand new interviews with cast and crew
• Q&A with Henenlotter recorded at the 2016 Offscreen Film Festival
• Theatrical Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sara Deck
• Limited edition O-card with exclusive artwork
• Collector’s Booklet with new writing on the film
• Plus more to be announced!!!

Opening plot:

A young man, Brian, begins an unwilling symbiotic relationship with a malevolent leech-like brain-eating parasite named “Elmer/Aylmer” that secretes a highly addictive, hallucinogenic blue fluid into Brian’s brain.

In return for a steady supply of the fluid, Brian must seek out human victims for Elmer/Aylmer, so that he can devour their brains.

All the while, though, as Brian adopts a heavily secluded life in his indulgence of Elmer/Aylmer’s fluids, it begins to draw a rift in his relationship with his girlfriend Barbara and his brother…

Reviews:

” …Brain Damage is a disgusting, yet wonderfully deranged affair that will have you laughing and gagging at the same time. Blessed with a haunting synthesizer score by Clutch Reiser and Gus Russo, […] and fantastic special effects (I loved the throbbing meatballs that looked like brains), the film beautifully mixes moments of playful absurdity with ones of absolute revulsion.” House of Self Indulgence

“Now, don’t get the wrong idea – this isn’t some classy horror film. It’s still very much like his others: unknown actors, grimy New York locales, disgusting and phallic FX, kitchen-sink storytelling, etc. But it actually tells a real story (one that’s paced nicely to boot), instead of feeling like a loosely connected series of gags. Hell, there’s even a strong metaphorical slant to it…” Brian W. Collins, Horror Movie a Day

Buy: Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.ca

“…Brain Damage knowingly winks at other genre titles like Altered States and even includes a very funny in-joke for Basket Case fans (look closely on the subway). While the basic narrative thread of the film will be familiar for anyone well-versed in other “horror as drug parable” titles like The Hunger, the real joy lies in Henenlotter’s curious little detours along the way.” Nathaniel Thompson, Mondo Digital

“The parasite often looks and acts like a penis and even gets confusingly pulled into sexual activity. Brian appears to enjoy his drug like an orgasm, while his neck is being penetrated from behind (ahem). There’s more male nudity than female (usually Hennenlotter balances the two) and while there are no explicitly gay characters, there are several possibles, and even a fantasy threesome.” Black Hole

“Some of the set-pieces that Frank Henenlotter manages are sensational, none more so than the sequence (censored from US prints) where Vicki Darnell kneels down to perform fellatio on Rick Herbst in an alleyway, only to have Aylmer burst out of his fly and pierce her throat to devour her brains – and then disappearing back into Herbst’s fly leaving chunks of meat all over his zipper.” Richard Scheib, Moria

“The filmmakers juggle so many balls in the air that it’s a wonder any remain aloft. The story is about addiction, promiscuity, power and commerce. It’s a veritable crazy quilt of ideas that manages to engage our attention while our heads continue to dart away from the shocking images on screen.” Leonard Klady, Los Angeles Times, May 24, 1988

Buy: Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

“Like Basket Case (1981), to which there is a neat reference, this gives its monster a distinct personality but doesn’t come up with enough connective tissue to go around gory set pieces.” The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror

Interview:

Frank Henenlotter talks to Tris Thompson for Fangoria

Cast and characters:

• Rick Hearst as Brian
• John Zacherle as voice of Aylmer
• Jennifer Lowry as Barbara
• Theo Barnes as Morris
• Lucille Saint Peter as Martha

Filming locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Wikipedia | IMDb | Image credits: Black Hole | House of Self Indulgence

Related: Shivers aka They Came from Within

The Brainiac – original title: El barón del terror – is a 1961 (released 1962) Mexican horror film directed by Chano Urueta (The Witch; The Living Head; Blue Demon vs. the Satanic Power) from a screenplay by Federico Curiel, Adolfo López Portillo and Antonio Orellana.

The film stars producer Abel Salazar and Germán Robles as well as future directors René Cardona and Federico Curiel.

Plot:

1661, Mexico City: Baron Vitelius of Estara is condemned by the Inquisition and sentenced to be burned at the stake. As this sentence is carried out, the Baron promises that he will return with the next passage of a comet, and slay the descendants of his accusers.

In 1961, the promised comet does indeed return, carrying with it Baron Vitelius, who takes advantage of his considerable abilities as a sorcerer to carry out his threat: he is able to change at will into the hairy monster of the title in order to suck out the brains of his victims with a long forked tongue; furthermore, he has strong hypnotic capabilities and is able to render his enemies motionless or force them to act against their wills.

Reviews:

“With a profound title that’s not easily forgotten, soundstage-bound sets, awkwardly hilarious dubbing, and an outrageous monster (with a head that pulsates!) that’s just as memorable as anything Paul Blaisdell created for AIP in the 1950s, The Brainiac is one of the most popular of the Mexican monster romps (if not the most popular).” DVD Drive-In

“Alternately unnerving and hysterical, The Brainiac is a genuinely surreal experience, just as one might expect from director Chano Ureta (who also helmed the equally worthwhile The Witch’s Mirror). Nowhere even close to a “good” film, The Brainiac is an acquired taste but well worth the effort.” Nathaniel Thompson, Mondo Digital

“Words cannot describe, nor cause one to fully  appreciate the gleeful insanity on display here. It’s because of movies like this that the word ‘cult’ was coined. You’ll see the craziest cinematic monster ever created and some priceless performances amidst  scenes of brain slurping and cops with flame throwers.” Cool Ass Cinema

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“Chances are the monster suit will steal the show to such an extent that you won’t even notice all the other stuff that’s f*cked up about the film at first, and that’s entirely understandable. Not only is this a creature costume that no sane man would ever devise, the filmmakers have such tremendous misplaced pride in it that they brazenly defy the conventional wisdom about keeping it mostly offscreen until the last couple of reels.” Scott Ashlin, 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

“Without question, The Brainiac epitomises virtually everything that a bad-film connoisseur would want: ineffective special effects, glaring technical errors, histrionic acting, and obvious budget limitations, all of which are augmented (or compounded) by Murray’s brand of unnatural and often unintentionally-hilarious dubbed dialogue.” Doyle Green, Mexploitation Cinema

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“The perverse script is filmed rather primitively, but the mischievous enthusiasm with which the scenarist concocted the outrageous tale does communicate itself.” Phil Hardy (editor), The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror

“Like other classic Mexican sci-fi horror films (Ship of Monsters most notably) Brainiac is alternately confusing, disturbing, and hilarious. It’s certainly never boring. For me it was akin to Robot Monster in how it feels eerily serious even at its most ridiculous.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers

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Cast and characters:

• Abel Salazar as Baron Vitelious
• Ruben Rojo as Rolando Miranda/Marcos Miranda
• Ariadne Welter as Victoria Contreras
• Luis Aragon as Prof. Milan
• David Silva as The Detective-Inspector
• German Robles as Indelacio Pantoya/Sebastian de Pantoja
• Mauricio Garces
• Federico Curiel
• Victor Velazquez
• Rosa Maria Gallardo
• Ofelia Guilmain
• Susana Cora
• Roxana Bellini
• Magda Urviza

Release:

In 1963, the film was distributed in the United States by Clasa-Mohme Inc. in its original, Spanish-language-only form, for exhibition in Spanish-speaking American communities’ cinemas.

In 1964, Florida-based entrepreneur K. Gordon Murray acquired rights to dub the film into American English and distribute it in the United States via his Trans-International Films Inc. firm. This version played largely in smaller, Southern towns and at drive-ins, but got wider American exposure on television in the early 1980s, via the USA Cable Network to which Murray syndicated his library of dubbed Mexican horror, sci-fi and fantasy films as a package deal.

Artwork courtesy of Richard Sala. Visit his Tumblr blog

Wikipedia | IMDb | Amazon.com

‘They’ll love the very life out of your body!’

Invasion of the Bee Girls is a 1973 science fiction horror film. The first movie credit for writer Nicholas Meyer (later director of Star Trek II and VI; Time After Time), it was directed by Denis Sanders.

In the US, it was misleadingly re-released as Graveyard Tramps.

On April 4, 2017, Scream Factory is releasing the film on Blu-ray.

Buy: Amazon.com

Main cast:

William Smith (Grave of the Vampire, Moon in Scorpio), Victoria Vetri (Rosemary’s Baby, When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth), Anitra Ford (Messiah of Evil), Cliff Osmond, Wright King, Ben Hammer, Anna Aries (The Ωmega Man), Beverly Powers (The Comedy of Terrors, Brides of Blood, Jaws), Cliff Emmich (Halloween II). Rene Bond (Please Don’t Eat My Mother!; Necromania) plays one of the Bee Girls.

Veteran Gary Graver (Deep Space; et al) handled the cinematography and Charles Bernstein (Daddy’s Deadly Darling, The Entity, A Nightmare on Elm Street), provided the groovy 70s score, except for the ends credits which are accompanied by Johan Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra’ (famously used in 2001: A Space Odyssey).

Plot:

Dr. Susan Harris, a mad scientist (Anitra Ford), has created an army of female beauties who seduce men to death. One by one the male victims are killed before the local police catch on to the plans of the infested females.

Neil Agar (Smith), a security agent with the State Department, is dispatched to Peckham, California to investigate the death of John Grubowsky, a bacteriologist working at government-sponsored Brandt Research.

Swiftly making the acquaintance of the laboratory’s head librarian, Julie Zorn, he begins interviewing the firm’s leading scientists, many of whom have reputations as sexual players. His investigation is soon complicated by a growing number of deaths, all men who died of congestive heart failure caused by sexual exhaustion.

Faced with a rapidly escalating body count, the local sheriff, Captain Peters, holds a town meeting at which the laboratory’s leading sex researcher, Henry Murger, urges the town populace to practice sexual abstinence – an idea greeted with derision by the locals.

Neil and Julie arrange a meeting with Murger afterwards to discuss his theories as to the cause of his deaths, only to see him chased down and run over by a car with an unseen driver. Later, Neil discovers a secret room concealing sexual paraphernalia and Murger’s gay lover, Joe, who informs Neil that he saw Murger driving off with an unknown woman prior to his death.

Despite a curfew and the establishment of a military quarantine, the scientists continue playing their sex games. One of them, Herb Kline, is approached by Susan Harris, a beautiful entomologist working on bees. Though described by the men as an “iceberg,” she flirts with Kline and invites him over for dinner.

That night, as they get frisky, Kline suffers a fatal thrombosis and Harris reveals black compound eyes suggesting that she is more than she appears…

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Reviews:

“What salvages this somewhat unlikely plot is the movie’s sense of style. It looks good, it moves fairly well, the girls are pretty, Big Bill frowns impressively and there are a lot of near s-f gimmicks. My favorite was a sort of Redi-Whip cocoon that not only turns the girls into queen bees, but gives them a facial and a hairdo at the same time.” Roger Ebert.com

“The pretty simple concept of the film gives way for lots of tongue-in-cheek dialogue, plenty of sex and violence, and all the drive-in fun you could want. Anchoring the movie is a bizarre script, which wisely doesn’t take itself very seriously and instead plays up the exploitation angles for all it’s worth. You get cheesy lab sequences; transformation scenes with flashing lights and an army of girls rubbing white goop all over naked woman recruits…” Casey Scott, DVD Drive-In

“The film tempts and admonishes us at once. We get gratuitous boobs and butts, yet just when we think hot action is coming our way, it cus to a face of a corpse. It is also a stylish, cogently directed film with a lively script and a funky wa-wa-wa-wa la-la-la-la theme song which recalls Ennio Morricone’s score for Bird with the Crystal Plumage. B-movie giant William Smith […] is perfect as the square-jawed agent on the bee girls’ trail. Anitra Ford […] is ravishing and fearsome as the queen bee.” David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers

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” …I’m almost positive that this movie was meant to be taken in jest, and that its flagrant disregard for quality is at least to some extent deliberate. The cumulative effect of the daft setup, the lunatic dialogue, and the myriad minor bafflements on the one hand, and the heavy-handed psychosexual and sociopolitical symbolism on the other is just too much.” Scott Ashlin, 100 Misspent Hours and Counting

Choice dialogue:

“We balled. And we balled. And we balled. Till he dropped dead.”

Cast and characters:

• William Smith as Neil Agar
• Anitra Ford as Dr. Susan Harris
• Victoria Vetri as Julie Zorn
• Cliff Osmond as Captain Peters
• Wright King as Dr. Murger
• Ben Hammer as Herb Kline
• Anna Aries as Nora Kline
• Andre Philippe as Aldo Ferrara
• Sid Kaiser as Stan Williams
• Katie Saylor as Gretchen Grubowsky
• Beverly Powers as Harriet Williams
• Cliff Emmich as Coroner

Wikipedia | IMDb

Meet the Hollowheads – aka Life on the Edge – is a 1989 American science fiction black comedy directed by special-effects makeup artist Tom Burman (Cat People; Prophecy; The Manitou; et al) from a screenplay co-written with Lisa Morton.

The film stars John Glover (In the Mouth of Madness; Robocop 2; Gremlins 2), Juliette Lewis (Cape Fear; Natural Born Killers; From Dusk Till Dawn), Richard Portnow, and Joshua John Miller.

A satire of 1950s sitcoms set in a dystopian future, the film is populated by bizarre, tentacled creatures that function dually as household appliances and food.

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Reviews:

“A movie made by a make-up and set design artist and it shows […] The atmosphere and dialogue is silly, cheesy, 50s-sitcom, cheery simplicity but the entertainment is in watching all the inventive eye-candy and quirks. Cult material.” The Last Exit

“In its more successful moments, the film teeters on the cartoonishly surreal but mostly the only tone it achieves is low pantomime farce. At its best, the film makes one scratch their heads and wonder what is going on; at its worst, it is infuriating.” Richard Scheib, Moria

” …the script by Lisa Morton and Thomas Burman full of rich and clever dialogue, the film’s production design by Edward Eyth and the art direction by Michael Stuart was mind-blowing (the amount work that went into the design of the Hollowhead kitchen alone must have been exhaustive)…” House of Self Indulgence

“In terms of gorgeously offbeat production design, this comes off like Pee Wee Herman’s Blade Runner. Unfortunately, although it’s unquestionable outrageous, little of it is funny. A weird and wonderful cinematic misfire, alternately repulsive and ridiculous…” Steven Puchalski, Shock Cinema

Cast and characters:

• John Glover as Henry Hollowhead
• Nancy Mette as Miriam Hollowhead
• Richard Portnow as Mr. Crabneck
• Juliette Lewis as Cindy Hollowhead
• Matt Shakman as Billy Hollowhead
• Joshua John Miller as Joey
• Shnutz Burman as Spike
• Lightfield Lewis as Bud Hollowhead
• Lee Arenberg as Ream Instructor
• Barney Burman as Young Reamer
• Anne Ramsey as Babbleaxe
• Bobcat Goldthwait as Cop #1
• Donovan Scott as Cop #2

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘It just won’t lay down and stay dead’

The Head is a 1959 German science fiction horror thriller written and directed by Russian-born Victor Trivas and produced by Wolf C. Hartwig (Horrors of Spider Island, Dead Sexy, Bloody Moon). It stars Michel Simon, Horst Frank and Paul Dahlke. The original title, Die Nackte und der Satan, translates as “The Naked and the Devil”.

Trans-Lux released the film in the US in 1961. In the UK, it was cut by the BBFC for an ‘X’ certificate and released in 1964 by S F Films on a double-bill with Playgirls and the Vampire.

Plot:

Professor Abel (Michel Simon) has invented Serum Z, which he has used to keep a dog’s severed head alive. His mad assistant, Doctor Ood (Horst Frank) then uses the serum to keep Simon’s own head alive after a failed heart transplant.

Meanwhile, Ood also plans to transplant the head of a hunchbacked nurse onto the body of an alcoholic stripper…

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Reviews:

“The Head remains one of the better entries in the decapitated body genre […] The Germanic influence makes this film most entertaining and the image of Michel Simon’s disembodied head begging to be disconnected from its life-giving fluids is a guilty pleasure worth reliving from time to time.” Christopher Dietrich, DVD Drive-In

“Overall, The Head is rather forgettable. It probably would have left a stronger impression had Horst Franck taken a more over the top approach. Yes, the subdued approach he took was a solid choice, but there really wasn’t anything else to give the movie personality.” Christopher Beaumont, Critical Outcast

“The image of Michel Simon’s disembodied head combined with the landscape of expressionistic surroundings courtesy of Hermann Warm invest Trivas’s film with a genuinely bizarre encounter of the German era past and present Euro horror.” David Del Valle, kinoeye

“Although obviously not endowed with a large budget, and hardly the most original or well paced script, The Head remains enjoyable thanks to great looking sets and soundtrack, and a superb lead performance from Horst Frank.” Timothy Young, Mondo Esoterica

“Filmed in a landscape composed of dead trees, dark passageways, a scary cavernous house in the woods with a strange futuristic look, and a menacing looking operating room, the Euro horror film sets up a hellish Germanic expressionistic atmosphere. There’s trashy fun to be had…” Dennis Schwartz, Ozus’ World Movie Reviews

“Its dark cinematography mixes, Noir, Expressionism, and exploitation. Atonal music and weird sounds pervade the background. Very little gore is actually shown, but the IDEA of gore is omnipresent. You feel like you’ve stepped into an underworld. Its villain – a grim selfish scientist with a arched eyebrows who manipulates everyone around him – is loathsome.”David Elroy Goldweber, Claws & Saucers

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“A genuinely bizarre case of medical Science Fiction by Trivas … The scenes with Simon … reduced to his extra-ordinary head are collectors’ items.” Phil Hardy (editor), The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Science Fiction

Main cast:

Michel Simon, Horst Frank (The Dead Don’t Die; The Cat ‘O Nine Tails; So Sweet, So Perverse), Paul Dahlke, Karin Kernke, Helmut Schmid, Dieter Eppler (Castle of the Walking Dead; Slaughter of the Vampires; The Strangler of Blackmoor Castle), Kurt Müller-Graf, Christiane Maybach.

IMDb