Category Archives: Reviews: Movies

Movie Review: Wake Wood

by in Reviews: Movies and tagged , , | Leave a comment

wakewoodbanner

Wake Wood (2011)
Directed by David Keating
Starring Aidan Gillen, Eva Birthistle, Timothy Spall, Ella Connolly, Ruth McCabe, Brian Gleeson, Amelia Crowley, Dan Gordon, Tommy McArdle

There had been so many times over the years that we’d heard that Hammer Films, the famous British studio, was rising from the grave, like so many of the creatures they put in their movies. So many times in fact, that most serious horror fans didn’t pay too much attention to the latest announcement. And even if the studio did resurrect itself, would it be able to really continue the incredible work that its forefather did before it? But then in 2007, it really did happen. Hammer Films was back. Granted, it really was in name only for the most part, since all of the original members of the studio are long since retired, passed away, or just forgotten. But the new CEO promised to not forget about its heritage and to continue the work they had started. We all know there would be no way to bring back the style and feel of those films from yesteryear. Or could there?

Continue reading →

Movie Review: Don’t Knock Twice

by in Reviews: Movies and tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

dont-knock-twice-poster

Don’t Knock Twice (2016)
Directed by Caradog W. James
Starring Katee Sackhoff, Lucy Boynton, Javier Botet, Nick Moran, Jordan Bolger, Pooneh Hajimohammadi

In this new film by Caradog James, we get a film that starts out in very familiar territory when it comes to story: a urban legend that consists of the person doing or saying something a number of times which in turn will call upon the monster of the movie to come get you. And it does. So once the film start, it didn’t take me long to think that we were going to retread a very old horror theme, going back to the Candyman films, and even before that. But I will say that even though that is the way the movie started, they did take the story down a slightly different path, which made a refreshing change.

Continue reading →

Movie Review: Vampyres (1974)

by in Reviews: Movies and tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

vampyres_1974_poster_03-1Vampyres (1974)
Directed by Jose Larraz
Starring Marianne Morris, Anulka Dziubinska, Murray Brown, Brian Deacon, Sally Faulkner, Michael Byrne, Karl Lanchbury

In our continuing journey to help dig up some lost or forgotten films to new viewers, we offer up this vampire morsel that is a little different your normal blood sucking fare. While it is probably not like many vampire films you’ve seen before, it will give you something that most fanged features don’t give you…something that will sink into your brain, as well as your neck.

Vampyres is a film that no heterosexual male could watch and not remembered; especially if they saw it at a young age, like I did. At face value, the film is filled with intense scenes of eroticism, coupled with brutal acts of violence and bloodshed. Did I mention there is a bit of nudity in the film as well? 

Continue reading →

Movie Review: Cold Prey

by in Reviews: Movies and tagged , | Leave a comment

coldpreybanner

Cold Prey aka Fritt vilt (2006)
Directed by Roar Uthaug
Starring Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Rolf Kristian Larsen, Tomas Alf Larsen, Endre Martin Midtstigen, Viktoria Winge, Geir Olav Brath

This film is a perfect example of where you can have a story that isn’t the most original in concept, but is filmed in a way that it’s still very entertaining. The film deals with a group of people head off to a mountain to do some snowboarding. After one of them breaks his leg, they make their way to an abandoned hotel for the night. But once they are there, they realize they are not alone. But by then, it may be too late. A simple story that in the wrong hands, would just be another dime a dozen slasher films. But not here and not with director Uthaug.

Continue reading →

Movie Review: Stake Land

by in Reviews: Movies and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

stakelandbanner

Stake Land (2010)
Directed by Jim Mickle
Starring Nick Damici, Connor Paolo, Kelly McGillis, Danielle Harris, Michael Cerveris

Several years ago, when we had the 8 Films to Die For mini-film fests, there were usually only a couple of films in the lot that really stood out to us.  In the 2007 series, there was one film that REALLY stood out. The film was Mulberry Street and it was directed by Jim Mickle, as well as co-written by him and Nick Damici (who also starred in the film). The movie is about a virus that turns the population of New York into some sort o mutant rat-people. As crazy as that sounds, it was incredibly well done. From that point on, I was paying attention to these two guys, since they seemed to not only know how to make a great film, but also to make it with very little money. Folks, this means they were smart filmmakers. Something Hollywood has forgotten years ago. Plus, they had their connections with Larry Fessenden, and we know that the people he is involved with are some very talented people.

Continue reading →

Movie Review: Hands of the Ripper

by in Reviews: Movies and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

handsripperbanner

Hands of the Ripper (1971)
Directed by Peter Sasdy
Starring Eric Porter, Angharad Rees, Jane Merrow, Keith Bell, Derek Godfrey, Dora Bryan, Marjorie Rhodes, Marjie Lawrence, Lynda Baron

A little girl named Anna, the young daughter of Jack the Ripper, witnesses her mother being murdered at the hands of her father, before he disappears into the night, forever gone and forever burning that memory into her psyche. Over a decade later, something triggers those memories in Anna and she becomes ‘possessed’ with some evil force and power, brutally killing the lady that had taken her in. When questioned by the police, she has no memory of it. Fascinated by her case, Doctor Pritchard decides to take her into his home and family to study her, trying to unlock the secrets in her brain, using the ‘newly’ discovered psychoanalysis techniques from a Dr. Freud. But before he can grasp what is going on inside this young woman’s mind, bodies start to pile up as something keeps triggering those memories and she becomes her father’s daughter again and again.

Continue reading →

Movie Review: Creepshow

by in Reviews: Movies and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

creepshowbanner.jpg

Creepshow (1982)
Directed by George Romero
Starring Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, Fritz Weaver, Leslie Nielsen, Carrie Nye, E.G. Marshall, Viveca Lindfors, Ed Harris, Ted Danson, Stephen King, Warner Shook, Robert Harper, Elizabeth Regan, Gaylen Ross, Tom Atkins

One question that horror fans get asked a lot is “what’s your favorite horror movie?” I know a lot of fans do have a particular one that is their favorite. For me though, it really would be impossible for me to narrow it down to even 20, let alone a single one. But I do know that if such a list was ever conceived in my brain, somewhere near the top would be George Romero’s Creepshow. In fact, it is my favorite of all of Romero’s work, even above Night of the Living Dead. Maybe it was because I saw this in the theater at the time my obsession with the horror genre really started to explode. Maybe it was the great mixture of horror and humor. Or the way it blended the world of horror comic books that I read as a child into the movie world in such a beautiful way. Whatever reason it might be, or all of them, I have loved this film since I first witnessed it in the theater back in 1982, and I still love it just as much today.

Continue reading →

Movie Review: Found

by in Reviews: Movies and tagged , | Leave a comment

foundbanner

Found (2012)
Directed by Scott Schrimer
Starring Gavin Brown, Ethan Philbeck, Phyllis Munro, Louie Lawless, Alex Kogin, Andy Alphonse, Adrian Cox-Thurmond

This movie recently won Best Feature Film in the Elivra’s Horror Hunt Film Festival 2012, sponsored by HorrorHound magazine. The director and some of the cast were at the recent HorrorHound Weekend and were right across the aisle from us where we were set up. So we got to watch the trailer throughout the whole weekend. It looked pretty interesting but had heard that it was pretty dark. Even though I am not the biggest fan of low budget filmmaking, after hearing so much praise for it, I figured I would give it a watch.

Continue reading →

Movie Review: The Pack

by in Reviews: Movies and tagged , , , | Leave a comment

packbanner

The Pack (1977)
Directed by Robert Clouse
Written by Clouse, based on the novel of the same name by David Fisher (1976)
Starring Joe Don Baker, Hope Alexander-Willis, Richard B. Shull, R.G. Armstrong, Ned Wertimer, Bibi Besch, Delos V. Smith Jr., Richard O’Brien, Sherry Miles, Paul Willson

Seal Island is just off the coast of Maine and seems to be a tiny place where some people vacation for the summer. It seems these vacationers have a tendency to bring dogs to the island only to leave them there. And because of this, we eventually have a pack of wild dogs that start to take over the island, threatening the few locals that live there all year round. Joe Don Baker stars as a marine biologist that works on the island and takes charge to try and get rid of this deadly threat.

Continue reading →