Horror Movie Reviews

This is one of those movies that gets under your skin and after its over makes you wonder why more movies like this havent been made. Without giving too much away, this chilling movie is about linda miller and her family being stalked by a killer. and after several of them are killed it just may well be one of their family being the killer!Linda miller, and paula sheppherd especially did a great job and that creepy music you cant get out of your head. i have watched this several times and like it better each time i watch it. each time you watch it you also notice several things you didnt notice before. and if you watch closely you can catch who the killer is. Recommended highly! i read somewhere that they are making Alice Sweet Alice 2. i hope its as good as this!

I first saw this when i was young and i have seen it several times since then and it still freaks me out! this is one of those films they need to make more of!
Its about a family living a nightmare when a person in a yellow raincoat and mask begins killing off parts of their family. all the evidence points to Alice(excellant played) but is it really her? the twists and turns keep coming and the end is a shocker. everyone in this film does an excellant job. excellant direction, acting, and that creepy music. like i said, they dont make movies like this anymore and they should! recommended highly

ALICE (played beautifully by Obscure Cult Film Actress Paula Shepard) is a really odd child, truly demented...BUT...is she actually capable of these gruesome murders?

KAREN (played by the ever lovely Brooke Shields) is the family Favorite...and greatly grieved after her grisly death.

WATCH THIS FAB FLICK WITH THE LIGHTS ON!

This classic Hammer horror, based on Bram Stoker's novel "Jewel Of Seven Stars" is perhaps most famous for the deaths of director Seth Holt and the wife of Peter Cushing, the movie's original lead- which inevitably led to reports of a curse on the production. Strangely this is R18 in NZ/Australia despite being PG in the US. BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY'S TOMB is pretty gory for its time, maybe Hammer studios felt Herschell Gordon Lewis had been stealing some of their thunder so they countered this with classier, big budget bloodletting.
The plot revolves around archeologist Dr. Fuchs (Andrew Keir) who steals a ring of the Seven Stars from an Egyptian tomb. The only problem is it belonged to a Queen, and whoever wears the ring can bring death upon unsuspecting persons by gorily slashing their throats. Fuchs gives the ring to his sexy daughter Margaret (Valerie Leon) as a gift. Unfortunately, the ring causes her to have nightmares; one of which features Queen Tera's severed hand being mauled by dogs; but still crawling along by itself with the precious ring still attached! Ironically, Margaret also has a scar encircling her wrist. Coincidence? Or could she be the reincarnation of Queen Tera?
BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY'S TOMB is one of the best and obviously most notorious of Hammer's horror pictures. There's some great camera work, especially in the classic scene where an old geezer in a mental hospital is menaced by demonic forces. Valerie Leon's voluptuous breasts give two mesmirising supporting performances. She just oozes sex appeal. Followed by a feeble remake in 1980, THE AWAKENING starring Charlton Heston and Stephanie Zimbalist from TV's REMINGTON STEELE. Watch this instead. You''ll find it much more rewarding.

Throughout the years Hammer Films meant quality horror pictures.

Spanning more than a decade these tiny jewels had true gothic flair.

Made on very tight budgets and at lighting speeds they swiftly outran equivalent products from Hollywood.

Who has forgotten Christopher Lee's Dracula or Peter Cushing's Baron Frankenstein?

The glory came to Hammer when in the late fifties they produced the remakes of "The Mummy", "Frankenstein" (as "Curse of Frankenstein") and "Dracula" (as "Horror of Dracula").

In the years that followed a number of sequels of these sequels followed, starting with the Frankenstein series and followed by the Dracula series. They all were more or less good or successful but gained a horde of loyal fans and this fact alone made the fortune of Hammer Films.

The Mummy instead, a bit like the title role, limped slowly behind. The first one was a lavish remake of Boris Karloff's version. The ones which followed were decaying with the mummy.

Starting with "Curse of the Mummy's Tomb" (1964) which was more a parody than anything else, through "The Mummy's Shroud" (1967) which was a poor attempt at combining the Fantasy genre (witches and curses in fairytales) to the Horror of the Mummy, to a last, and may I say, better attempt which is the one I am reviewing now: "Blood from the Mummy's Tomb" (1972).

Strangely enough, this one was released at a time when Hammer was already on the way to its decline (see the flops with "The Satanic Rites of Count Dracula" (1973) and "The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires" (1974)).

As many other reviewers stated, this one was very loosely adapted from a Bram Stoker's short Novel. It seems to have worked, also because the Mummy is for once a woman, not a man, but can be as deadly if not more lethal than a man.

The acting is always discreet and well balanced.

The strange thing with Hammer movies is that they always included the best the British stage world had to offer. Besides the names already mentioned, you had Geoffrey Keen, Ralph Bates, Andre Morell, Martine Beswick, Thorley Walters, Joan Fontaine, Kay Walsh, Alec McCowen among others.

They all made fantastic careers afterwards or revived their images courtesy of Hammer.

If you are a Hammer Horror fan this DVD is a must. If you're new to Hammer I suggest that you familiarize yourself with the very first ones and move on from there.

In any case it's always a pleasure to watch them. Their gothic flair, being gory to a point but always with taste and never hitting you with cheap thrills but rather building a momentum to the point you can't stand the tension anymore and then swiftly changing mood to alleviate your nerve tingling, are all points in favor of the Hammer Saga of Success.

I only hope we could get back to that freshness and yes, the naivete', that was the Hammer style.

A wonderful film, celebrating a little-known story by Bram Stoker, and putting the final lid on one of Hammer's most popular series.
From the story "Jewel of The Seven Stars", comes this picture which has in fact nothing at all to do with bandages, let alone zombies runnning around making strange noises!
This time, the daughter of a famous archeologist is given a special ring that once belonged to a notorious Egyptian Queen.
Naturally the ring has special powers which lead onto many plot twists and turns that would've done Lara Croft proud.
Making the film too was a story in itself. Directed by Seth Holt, who in fact died just before completion, only after one letdown after another, not least of which was Peter Cushing dropping out less than halfway through, having to be replaced by the equally great Andrew Keir as Professor Fuchs, the archeologist.
Special effects were at a minimum in the early 70s, but instead, the movie makes fine use of three key elements, long sweeping shots in slow motion, the much underrated Valerie Leon in the dual roles of Queen Tiera and Fuch's daughter, who becomes dominated by the power of the ring, and a fine background score from Tristan Cary, full of Egyptian mystery.
All in all, a nice unexpected gem from Hammer, with an equally nice open ending.

Based on a true story, Dennis Allan (Bill Pullman) is a scientist who visits Haiti because of a rumour of a drug which renders the recepient completely paralyzed but conscious. The drug's effects often fool doctors, who declare the victims dead. He believes this to be the origin of the zombie legend. Allan embarks on a surprising and often surreal investigation of the turbulent social chaos that is Haiti during the revolution which ousted hated dictator Papa Doc. Allan must decide what is science, what is superstition and what is the unknown in a anarchistic society where police corruption and witch-doctors are commonplace.

"The Serpent and the Rainbow" is one of the many horror titles that Universal has re-released on DVD recently. All of these films (Demon Knight, Prince of Darkness, etc.) have a large underground following, yet none were box office successes. This unfortunately means that there are no glorious extras on any of these DVDs. I guess we're just lucky to be able to buy them at all, after the DVDs have been out of print for quite a few years.

Briefly, the story is about an anthropologist, Dennis Alan, who is sent to Haiti by a pharmaceutical company to bring back a "Zombie drug" which may have applications in the medical field. In order to get the drug, Dr. Alan has to immerse himself in the political and cultural world of Haiti and voodoo. When I was younger, "Serpent" was one of the most frightening horror movies available. This was mostly due to the feeling of reality in the film; also, being set (and I believe filmed) in Haiti added to the feelings of unrest the viewer feels throughout. The protagonist approaches the events he experiences from a mind of science, so when unbelievable things happen to him, it all seems more real.

Watching the film now, about +15 years after it's release, it's not quite as good as I remember. The editing is terrible. Every scene feels like you walked in half way through a really interesting conversation. The viewer can easily understand what is going on, but the sometimes rapid scene and plot changes are a little unstable and feel a little disjointed. Still, once the film got going, into the meat, it was as good as I remembered. The "Chair", The "Snake Bride", "I want to hear you scream", etc. *shiver* All those scenes were still making me squirm and jump.

The Transfer: Audio: It's in "dolby stereo", so make sure NOT to watch it in 5.1, because you won't hear the dialogue if you do. I use my DVD player as a CD player, so I switched over to the "Stereo/CD" selection on my receiver and the movie sounded beautifully. It wasn't filmed in 5.1, so this didn't bother me. Video: The video transfer is terrible. I got used to it after about 5 minutes, but it basically looks slightly better than watching a video tape. Even though it's a little dating feeling, for the price, I feel it is still worth buying this movie if you loved it in the past; or at least worth renting it if you've never seen it.

Before venerable horror maven Wes Craven directed the highly acclaimed SCREAM trilogy, many serious and critical fans of horror cinema considered THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW to be his masterpiece. Not only is the direction tight and top-notch, but the acting is superb--Bill Pullman and Cathy Tyson are quite convincing as the endagered principals, with excellent character actors like Paul Winfield, Zakes Mokae, and Paul Guilfoyle fleshing out a wonderful supporting cast--and the story is sufficiently tense and creepy. It is one of the few horror films to deal with voodoo practices in a serious and non-condescending manner, often compared by film critics and historians to Jacques Tourneur's classic voodoo flick I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943).

Much ado has been made concerning the uneveness of this effort from Craven, particularly how the film supposedly jumps back and forth between horror and straight drama. However, these inaccurate interpretations likely stem from a misunderstanding of Craven's use of his source material, anthropologist E. wade Davis' non-fictional book THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW. It is true that Craven and his scriptwriters were INSPIRED by the book--which is a TRUE account of Davis' infiltration of Haiti's voodoo culture in search of a plant-based sedative reputedly used to create "zombies"--but the plot of the film is NOT, as many believe, a visual retelling of the book. This is clearly evidenced by the fact that the main character, ethnobotanist Dennis Alan (excellently played by Bill Pullman), is not named after the author of the aforementioned book. Add to this the film's numerous supernatural and magical plot elements and it should be easy to comprehend that this is indeed a FICTIONAL horror film.

That said, it could be cogently argued that with THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW, Craven was attempting to recreate the realistic and austere timbre of his earlier horror films like THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and THE HILLS HAVE EYES. As Craven himself has stated in many interviews, he and his crew did indeed face many real dangers when filming THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW in Haiti and the Dominican Republic--there was political unrest in Haiti at the time, and voodoo practioners were often vehemently private or secretive--and this risky on-location shooting most certainly helped to create an eerie atomosphere and added an amazing sense of reality and credibility to the film's preternatural voodoo sequences. Of course, such realism makes it easier for the viewer to suspend disbelief, and this, combined with the non-fictional "source" material, could explain why some viewers find it hard determine if the movie is a docu-drama or a horror flick. But for the true horror aficionado, and especially for long-time fans of Wes Craven, it is this gritty slice-of-life approach that has propelled the director to the top of the genre.

THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW is a great horror film, both believable and downright scary in its semi-authentic depiction of voodoo practices and rituals in the West Indies. Though it is often wrongly neglected or disparaged by casual audiences, a viewing will earn the film a revered spot in the collection of any serious fan of cinematic horror. And it's a must-own for Wes Craven fans.

Based on a true story, Dennis Allan (Bill Pullman) is a scientist who visits Haiti because of a rumour of a drug which renders the recepient completely paralyzed but conscious. The drug's effects often fool doctors, who declare the victims dead. He believes this to be the origin of the zombie legend. Allan embarks on a surprising and often surreal investigation of the turbulent social chaos that is Haiti during the revolution which ousted hated dictator Papa Doc. Allan must decide what is science, what is superstition and what is the unknown in a anarchistic society where police corruption and witch-doctors are commonplace.

"The Serpent and the Rainbow" is one of the many horror titles that Universal has re-released on DVD recently. All of these films (Demon Knight, Prince of Darkness, etc.) have a large underground following, yet none were box office successes. This unfortunately means that there are no glorious extras on any of these DVDs. I guess we're just lucky to be able to buy them at all, after the DVDs have been out of print for quite a few years.

Briefly, the story is about an anthropologist, Dennis Alan, who is sent to Haiti by a pharmaceutical company to bring back a "Zombie drug" which may have applications in the medical field. In order to get the drug, Dr. Alan has to immerse himself in the political and cultural world of Haiti and voodoo. When I was younger, "Serpent" was one of the most frightening horror movies available. This was mostly due to the feeling of reality in the film; also, being set (and I believe filmed) in Haiti added to the feelings of unrest the viewer feels throughout. The protagonist approaches the events he experiences from a mind of science, so when unbelievable things happen to him, it all seems more real.

Watching the film now, about +15 years after it's release, it's not quite as good as I remember. The editing is terrible. Every scene feels like you walked in half way through a really interesting conversation. The viewer can easily understand what is going on, but the sometimes rapid scene and plot changes are a little unstable and feel a little disjointed. Still, once the film got going, into the meat, it was as good as I remembered. The "Chair", The "Snake Bride", "I want to hear you scream", etc. *shiver* All those scenes were still making me squirm and jump.

The Transfer: Audio: It's in "dolby stereo", so make sure NOT to watch it in 5.1, because you won't hear the dialogue if you do. I use my DVD player as a CD player, so I switched over to the "Stereo/CD" selection on my receiver and the movie sounded beautifully. It wasn't filmed in 5.1, so this didn't bother me. Video: The video transfer is terrible. I got used to it after about 5 minutes, but it basically looks slightly better than watching a video tape. Even though it's a little dating feeling, for the price, I feel it is still worth buying this movie if you loved it in the past; or at least worth renting it if you've never seen it.

Before venerable horror maven Wes Craven directed the highly acclaimed SCREAM trilogy, many serious and critical fans of horror cinema considered THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW to be his masterpiece. Not only is the direction tight and top-notch, but the acting is superb--Bill Pullman and Cathy Tyson are quite convincing as the endagered principals, with excellent character actors like Paul Winfield, Zakes Mokae, and Paul Guilfoyle fleshing out a wonderful supporting cast--and the story is sufficiently tense and creepy. It is one of the few horror films to deal with voodoo practices in a serious and non-condescending manner, often compared by film critics and historians to Jacques Tourneur's classic voodoo flick I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE (1943).

Much ado has been made concerning the uneveness of this effort from Craven, particularly how the film supposedly jumps back and forth between horror and straight drama. However, these inaccurate interpretations likely stem from a misunderstanding of Craven's use of his source material, anthropologist E. wade Davis' non-fictional book THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW. It is true that Craven and his scriptwriters were INSPIRED by the book--which is a TRUE account of Davis' infiltration of Haiti's voodoo culture in search of a plant-based sedative reputedly used to create "zombies"--but the plot of the film is NOT, as many believe, a visual retelling of the book. This is clearly evidenced by the fact that the main character, ethnobotanist Dennis Alan (excellently played by Bill Pullman), is not named after the author of the aforementioned book. Add to this the film's numerous supernatural and magical plot elements and it should be easy to comprehend that this is indeed a FICTIONAL horror film.

That said, it could be cogently argued that with THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW, Craven was attempting to recreate the realistic and austere timbre of his earlier horror films like THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and THE HILLS HAVE EYES. As Craven himself has stated in many interviews, he and his crew did indeed face many real dangers when filming THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW in Haiti and the Dominican Republic--there was political unrest in Haiti at the time, and voodoo practioners were often vehemently private or secretive--and this risky on-location shooting most certainly helped to create an eerie atomosphere and added an amazing sense of reality and credibility to the film's preternatural voodoo sequences. Of course, such realism makes it easier for the viewer to suspend disbelief, and this, combined with the non-fictional "source" material, could explain why some viewers find it hard determine if the movie is a docu-drama or a horror flick. But for the true horror aficionado, and especially for long-time fans of Wes Craven, it is this gritty slice-of-life approach that has propelled the director to the top of the genre.

THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW is a great horror film, both believable and downright scary in its semi-authentic depiction of voodoo practices and rituals in the West Indies. Though it is often wrongly neglected or disparaged by casual audiences, a viewing will earn the film a revered spot in the collection of any serious fan of cinematic horror. And it's a must-own for Wes Craven fans.

Although the production values set the standards for things to come as did the acting and literate script, this is not the best Frankenstein film. The problem for me is the "monster" played empathetically by Christopher Lee. The make-up is cheesy. It looks like lumpy oatmeal. He's on screen enough and Lee does well in the role but he doesn't look like an assembled creation. It's not what the monster should look like. The Gothic atmosphere is excellent but the delectable Hazel Court as Elizabeth is underused---she does well in horror roles but you wouldn't know it here. Peter Cushing is fine as always as are the rest of the cast but this isn't my pick for a choice Hammer film. But true blue Hammer fans probably aren't disappointed. I just wish they had created a better, more imaginative creature.

I will watch any movie with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. It is even better when that movie happens to be a horror classic. The Curse of Frankenstein happens to fall into that category. This is the movie that launched Hammer films association with the classic Universal monsters. Though at this time, they were not allowed to copy the monster look from the Universal film. They re-scripted the Frankenstein story so that more closely resembles the Mary Shelley novel. Cushing plays Dr. Victor Frankenstein with Lee cast as the monster. The movie has the trademark Hammer gothic look and was directed by Terrence Fisher.

The picture quality of the DVD is superb. The picture is presented in widescreen format. The colors are bright with no signs of scratches or dirt as far as I could tell. You would never know this movie is over 45 years old. The sound is presented in its original mono track. Voices come through loud and clear. There are very few extras. There is a film trailer and a still gallery with film facts called "The Making of a Monster". It would be nice to have Lee record a commentary at some point. Hammer went on to produce 6 more Frankenstein films, with Peter Cushing in the title role of 5 of them. The Curse of Frankenstein should be the cornerstone of any good classic horror or Hammer DVD library.

This is the first and one of the best of the Hammer horror films.
Ive always liked the Hammer version better than the Universal movie and the reason is, Peter Cushing. No one will ever equal his portrayal of Dr. Frankenstein. Im sure everyone knows the story of the Frankenstein monster, so there is no need for details of the film, just let it be said that this, in my opinion, is the best version.

I loved this movie as a kid! Scared the be-jesus out of me! After his fiancee loses her head in an automobile accident, a mad scientist keeps it alive in a roasting pan, complete with succulent juices! In his search for the perfect body with which he hopes to re-attach the head, we are treated to a cat-fight by some pretty voluptuous strippers, and introduced to a "thing in a closet" that has a telepathic link with the head. Jan, as the head is known, conspires with the closet monster to exact revenge on hubby-to-be for keeping her alive as some sort of freak. ALL HELL breaks loose when the "thing" in the closet escapes, rips the arm off of the scientist's assistant, and bites a plug of flesh from the mad doctor! SYNAPSE has done a very good job in its presentation of this sci-fi "classic"! Buy today and enjoy!

Just what was the point of this bit of celluloid? Surely countless horny teenagers went to the drive-in to make out in the back seat while 'The Brain that wouldn't Die' was projected on the screen. Is this movie truly just another bad sci-fi movie that deserves to be lumped into the mountainous pile of 50's black and white garbage cinema? My friends, the answer is no.

This story is not about a brain, but rather a head. It wasn't just a head that wouldn't die; it was a head that was refused the privelidge of death. So where was the soul? Does it live in the heart, or is that merely a muscle that circulates blood? According to this movie, the body is useless and a head is what holds our being. Can telepathic powers be conjured up when the brain has no distractions from the body? Possibly. It is said the average human uses three percent of its brain. Imagine the power that could be unleashed if the mind has to take care of nothing but it's own being. The brain performs all involuntary actions such as heartbeat, pulse, and digestion. Imagine the relief a brain would feel if all those functions were no longer its responsibility! What untold and undiscovered secrets could a brain tell us if it was allowed to explore rather than care for a body?

And why was a woman's brain chosen for this movie? Could it be a salute to the brave and misunderstood Marie Antoinette, the last Queen of France? Surely when Marie Antoinette ascended the stairs to the guillotine, her thoughts were on the death that she so desired after the torment she had been through at the hands of the Revolutionaries. Her pain was indescribable indeed. Research tells us that the human brain can survive up to seven seconds if violently separated by the body. Marie Antoinette was very much aware of the cheering crowd as her head was held up by the hair and displayed to them.

So how does the brain in this movie survive for over an hour? The answer of course is the 'Life Serum' that pumps into an aluminum TV dinner tray that the doctor has provided. What exactly was this serum? Certainly people will laugh it off as bad 50's silliness, but consider this. Alchemists longed for this secret. Not only did alchemists try to turn rock, brass, and tin into gold, but they also sought out the mystery of eternal youth. Does the brain age like the body, or does the body merely grow old and die leaving a totally capable and sufficient brain to die with it? Could a brain of a hundred year old person be placed into the body of a teenager and continue living? Of course! If only technology could catch up with man's dream of eternal youth.

Ultimately this movie brings a serious message to the females. You're never good enough to satisfy your man. Let's face it, I mean look at yourself. You are no Marilyn Monroe and you never will be. Men want beautiful women, not you. You are not satisfied with your body either, no woman is. Oh what a better world we would have if women's brains could be placed in the body chosen with her man's specifications in mind. Maybe then we'd rather talk to you and spend time with you instead of watching ESPN.

And what of the monster thing in the closet? That should be obvious to even the average ignoramus, the creature represents God. Yes that's right. Man was not meant to know such things, and when we make even a small break through, God puts us right back in our place. The world needs flat-chested, overweight, and thunder-thighed women. Why? Beats me, but it is not for me to know or question. They must serve some purpose if they are here. It probably has something to do with the alcohol industry. I mean men wouldn't really drink gallons of beer if all women were beautiful right?

There are some movies that are gloriously bad and "The Brain That Wouldn't Die" (a.k.a. "The Head That Wouldn't Die", which is the better title because we are talking an entire head not just a brain) is one of the classics in that particular category. You can get a hold of this film hosted by Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, or skewered by the "Mystery Science Theater 3000" crew, but you will have no problem appreciating this example of bad science fiction cinema. This is a movie that should be on every fan's list of the 10 Worst Science Fiction Movies Ever Made.

Dr. Bill Cortner (Jason call me Herb Evers) is unhappy with the outdated surgery practice by his father, Dr. Cortner (Bruce Brighton), who warns him about higher laws and other nonsense. Bill has a fiancé, Jan Compton (Virginia Leith), who keeps talking about how she cannot wait for them to get married. So when they are in a car accident he rescues Jan's head and takes it back to his private laboratory. There his assistant, Kurt (Leslie Daniels), who has a transplanted arm that has not exactly taken from one of Bill's earlier experiments and who also rails against the doctor's plan to find his fiancé (now the infamous "Jan in a Pan") the perfect body. Bill only has 48-50 hours (you have to love the specificity) to come up with a new body and heads for the nearest strip club. When that does not pan out (hehehehe) he starts stalking women on the street and finds his way to a Beautiful Body contest. But Bill will accept nothing less than the best for Jan and that ends up being Playboy Playmate of the Month for June 1959, Marilyn Hanold.

Meanwhile, Jan would rather be dead than be a detached head; besides, she has some questions about the soundness of the whole procedure, which she discusses with Kurt. The rest of the time she carries on a one sided conversation with whatever is on the other side of the bolted door in the basement (Kurt will not let the cat out of the bag, but we know it is pretty bad and that it is another result of Bill's insane desire to play god). In the bloody climax of this film, the situation comes to a head...

Oh, you just cannot have too much fun at the expense of this film. Director Joseph Green and producer Rex Carlton came up with the story, and you have to admit that any movie that combines a talking disembodied head, a monster behind a locked door, and exotic dancers is a movie that is going to be made. Green even gets a bit creative with the camera in the car accident sequence. However, the dialogue and the strong sexual subtext are what really stand out for me in this film. It is amazing that the actors could say some of these lines with straight faces, but it is rather surprising that the sexuality of the film could be so overt. It is very easy to read this film being all about lust: Jan is ready to make Bill very happy and when he is left with just her head he insists on getting what is clearly an even better body so that they can consummate their destiny.

I will go out on a limb...and say that "The Head That Wouldn't Die" is one of the two worst Science Fiction movies that you have to see, along with "Plan 9 From Outer Space." Certainly they are the only 5 star ratings I have ever given to "bad" films.

THE TINGLER begins with an amusing intro by director William Castle with Castle imploring viewers to scream to control the Tingler. A brilliant concept and gimmick which suprisingly became a pretty good movie.
Price plays coroner William Chapin who discovers that fear causes a parasite to grow on people's spines, which he calls "The Tingler". The creature, which resembles a giant lobster, can only be destroyed by its host's screams, so Price decides a deaf-mute woman who works at his local movie theater is the ideal subject to use for his experiments.
This is the infamous movie in which some seats in theatres were rigged with joy buzzers (Percepto) to give viewers mild electric shocks when the "Tingler" was loose in the theater. One memorable sequence is partially in color. A must see for cult movie buffs and fans of Vincent Price who is his usual wonderful hammy self.

I admit it! I am a sucker for old Black and White horror films. They are quite tame by today's buckets of bloody special effect big budgets ones, but they hold a fun all their own. Especially when the ringmaster is the oh so talented Vincent Price. He was always the odd mix of silky mannered menace, with that sprinkle of humour that set him apart from so many actors. It was that devilish twinkle in his eye that always told you he enjoyed what he was doing.

The Tingler is another of the Castle low budget treats. Price plays a mild mannered doctor/research scientist married to a rich wife who is a floozy. She runs around on Price, cares little that he knows it, controls her younger sister's life, but Price is not a man you push too far. Obsessed with discovered the results fear has on the body, he finds out there is a critter that increases in our bodies when we are frightened, the more fear the bigger and stronger it grows and the only thing that can destroy it is screaming. Feed up with his wife's wicked ways, he convinces her he is going to kill her so he can X-ray her trying to prove the existence of the Tingler.

Price gets mixed up with Olly, a husband of a theatre owner who is a deaf-mute. She goes bonkers and passes out when she sees blood. Price wonders what would happen in her, if the Tingler is unleashed, but she cannot scream. Later, someone deliberately scares her to death, and Price operates and removed the Tingler. But then, wife tries to use the Tingler to strangle Price...all in good loving fun, mind you. The pesky beastie dashes off and heads to the theatre to menace everyone there.

One note, though the film was shot in Black and White, the sequence where Olly's wife is driven to death was shot in colour emphasize the red of the blood scaring her.

Great fun and it's a bit of a walk down memory lane! A must for any fan of Castle or Price.

Two horror masters are at work here. William Castle presenting one of his most outlandish and original films and Vincent Price at his least hammy best as a doctor who discovers "the fear factor". The "factor" being a slimy looking centipede-like creature that grows on peoples' spines when they become frightened. If the person doesn't scream (destroying the creature) they will die. The doctor even experiments with LSD in a bizarre sequence to induce fear in himself. The most memorable sequence is still the color one. In a subplot, a theater manager with a mute wife who suffers from OCD plans to kill her for her money by scaring her to death. The wife (a great Judith Evelyn) is alone in the apartment and is assaulted with ghoulish horrors like an axe being hurled at her, her death certificate on the bathroom medicine cabinet, the bathtub filled with blood with a bloody hand and arm reaching out of it for her, the taps running blood, etc. This is done in color for maximum effect and the poor wife dies from fright because she cannot scream---being mute. This is where Price discovers "the tingler". Impulsively, he does an illegal autopsy on the woman and finds the creature attached to her spine and removes it. It later escapes into the theater filled with people and Price gets on the horn and exhorts them to "Scream! Scream for your lives! The tingler is loose in this very theater!" Of course this is where Castles' gimmick of "Percepto" came in. The seats in theaters showing "The Tingler" were wired to produce mild shocks to patrons at key horror moments. How can you top that? "The Tingler" is great fun from start to finish. Pure entertainment and Castle at his morbidly lurid best.

This DVD presents the first two of the popular Spanish BLIND DEAD horror series, in which the zombified bodies of Knights Templars, blinded and executed in the Middle Ages, rise up and seek revenge. Both are presented in widescreen and appear to be the uncut versions, though the disc has no extras.

The first, TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD, is nicely atmospheric, and delivers the chills, with a little bit of gore, nudity, and lesbianism thrown in. The second, RETURN OF THE BLIND DEAD (titled RETURN OF THE EVIL DEAD in the actual credits) goes for the action, with a bigger cast and a bit more gore and sadism. Sure, they're a bit cheesy and slow at times, but you can have fun counting the movie cliches riddled throughout. Recommended for those who remember staying up till the wee hours of the morning to catch obscure horror flicks or who were lucky enough as youngsters to catch some gratuitous thrills at a local movie house before the ratings kicked in.

Anchor Bay released this now out of print "double-feature" DVD in 1998. While disappointingly extras-free, it is very much worth seeking out as the disc offers one of Europe's most infamous horror titles completely uncut.

TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD (1972): In 13th Century Portugal, the Templar Knights ceremoniously tortured village girls to death and drank their blood in the belief that the ritual would grant them immortality. After years of torment and fear, the villagers murderously rebelled against the Templars, killing all of the members of the oppressive, diabolical cult. The corpses of the knights were left hanging from trees where crows ate their eyes. In 1972, a young woman stumbles upon the Templars burial ground and the living dead knights claw out of their tombs to kill her. The woman's friends investigate her death and eventually find themselves the prey of the bloodlusting, blind Templars, who are able to pursue their victims by listening to their fear-swollen heartbeats.

With skillful, atmospheric direction by Amando de Ossorio, and featuring creepy titular monsters who have deservedly become icons of contemporary horror, TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD is a diverting and occasionally frightening zombie outing. Although hampered by a haphazardly constructed narrative, with a great deal of truly clumsy exposition, the film features more than enough potent shocks to compensate. Most of the various stalk and kill sequences are nightmarishly effective. The final twenty minutes, in particular, are relentlessly gruesome and bleak.

Presented in an uncensored form for the first time ever in the U.S., the Anchor Bay DVD features a nice and colorful, if unspectacular, widescreen transfer of this much sought after film. The Spanish language soundtrack is subtitled in English. No extras, not even a trailer, are provided.

RETURN OF THE BLIND DEAD (1973): A small town is having a fireworks-laden 500th Anniversary celebration of the destruction of the Templar Knights. Shortly after the evening festivities begin, the undead knights make a surprise appearance, seeking bloody revenge for their centuries-old defeat. After most of the villagers are slaughtered, a small group of survivors desperately try to use an abandoned church as a refuge from the living dead's onslaught.

The unexpected worldwide success of TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD convinced Amando de Ossorio to write and direct this quickly filmed sequel; two more would eventually follow. Completely eschewing the creepy atmospherics and suspenseful buildup of the original, RETURN seeks its thrills by simply offering up a comparatively huge body count. Once the "action" starts (after some of the dullest expository material ever filmed), victim after victim is chased and abruptly killed by the sword wielding monsters. The film is a surprisingly dreary, crudely shot mess, an unbearably boring exercise in unimaginative and soulless euro-horror.

It may be a worthless movie, but Anchor Bay has seen fit to give it a decent DVD presentation. Unfortunately taken from a censored print that is reportedly missing the film's more extreme moments of gore, the disc offers an otherwise adequate transfer of a lackluster title, presented in the movie's original theatrical release aspect ratio, poorly dubbed in English.

These films have a bad premise, but are great Spanish Horror films from the 70's. The premise; blind, dead, zombie Templars awake and attack anyone available. Classic in the slow moving aspect, the constructed Templars are in fact, blind, so that means they can't see you. They can hear, however, and if your prone to screaming, whining, breathing heavy or dropping things, they are a detriment to good health.
Templar bashing aside, the design of the zombies is very eerie, and they come off as approaching frightening the longer you watch. Even for there time, there are elements of horror and shock. Reminescent of italian directors Bava and Argento, these will delight fans of Euro-Horror. Essentially along the same lines as "Night of the Living Dead" but with frank supernatural qualities, there were four films made in this series, the other two unreleased on DVD; "Horror of the Zombies" and "Night of the Death Cult" (released under various names). Lots of unintentional camp, these films are classic in the zombie genre, and a must own for fans. You get two zombie films for the price of one (too bad they haven't released the other two in such a fashion)!

Life's unexpected detours postponed my viewing and review of the film "The Dentist". I just finished watching it...and many of you were eager for my take on this film before you rented/bought it. Are you ready?

If you like going to your dentist, this film will cure you of that.

If you don't like going to your dentist, this film will serve as the last nail in the coffin and you may never visit one again.

Let me quote some of the dialogue from this HORROR film.

"I am an instrument of perfection and hygiene. The enemy are decay and corruption. I am a dentist and I have a lot to do."

Corben Bernsen plays the role of Dr. Feinstone...and he is the master of this film that will serve as a shocking testimony of how we put trust and faith in those that "work" on our mouths.

I don't give away plots...but I need to make some statements that will lead you towards, or away, from this film.

Who is cleaning what?...teeth or swimming pools?

A positive dental experience is one that includes a dental chair with surround sound and environmental decoration.

No mercy!

"Pain is an abstract emotion."

And lastly...be sure to brush 3 times a day...without candy.

"The Dentist" is an intense, horrific, shocking...painful film (even though it is low budget).

Wanna twist, turn and squirm? Watch it!

On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest in the horror genre), "The Dentist" gets a 7.5...but Corben Bernsen in the lead role gets a solid 10.

I gotta go brush my teeth...BYE!!!

I first stumbled across this 1996 film on late night cable while on a debate trip and was able to get much mileage out of making the sound of a dentist's drill and making students cringe (always a worthy goal). Stephen King once made a sort of fundamental distinction between terror, horror and the gross out. "The Dentist" is a textbook example of the gross out that is so over the top that you just have to laugh (assuming you have not already ejected the tape). The story is about Dr. Allan Feinstone (Corbin Bersen) who has everything from the big house and the beautiful wife to a great job as the friendly upper class neighborhood dentist. But then he discovers his wife is having an affair with their pool boy and he goes right off the deep end. In some sort of perverse Pavlovian twist, after taking care of the offending couple every time he encounter any of the normal dental problems of his patients, such as tooth decay or plaque, he decides to teach them a final lesson on dental hygiene. Meanwhile, Dr. Feinstone is being stalked by an even greater evil: the I.R.S.

The idea that your dentist is fiend from hell is not exactly new. If you did not already know this from personal experience then you have such classical examples as "The Little Shop of Horrors" and the pilot for "Alias." Then there is "Marathon Man," where Laurence Olivier confirmed our worst fears: to wit, your dentist is a Nazi. However, "The Dentist" is in a class by itself as a tongue in cheek splatter flick. The people who put this movie together know that as soon as that dentist drill starts whizzing they have 99% of their audience cringing and they just pour it on. I think this film is clearly intended to be more camp than legitimate horror. This film won the Jury Grand Prize at the 1996 Sweden Fantastic Film Festival. Mull that one over for a while. This is not everybody's cup of tea and you cannot say now that you were not warned.

Well, if you are already scared to go to the denitst, you will probally never want to go again after seeing this movie. This movie is gory and makes me kind of sick to my stomach This may be partially because of the blood and/or the fact that it is really dissrespectful to the profession of dentistry. But I guess if you want to be grossed out, then you should see this. Make sure you have a strong stomach!

The stuff is poorly edited, but a great story. Horror, humor, and low production quality combine to make a great bad science fiction movie.

I consider Larry Cohen to be the king of the independent monster movie genre. Like George Romero [Dawn of the Dead (1978) his films are filled with as much over-the-top special FX [It's Alive (1974); Q: The Winged Serpent (1982)], as they are with attacks on the social consciousness of society. Michael Moriarty [Along Came A Spider (2001); Law & Order - TV series (1990)] plays David Rutherford an industrial spy sent out to discover why the most popular dessert food in America is selling so well. American materialism is satirized as Rutherford finds that the product is low in calories, delicious tasting, and habit forming, by why does it slither around at night in the fridge. It seems that the source for this food product is a gooey marshmallow looking living parasitical substance that bubbled up from the ground in Virginia. When digested in large amounts the tasty dish will rot a consumer from the inside out turning them into zombies. Michael Moriarty teems up with militant right-wing conservatives led by Col. Malcolm Grommett Spears [played by Paul Sorvino / Romeo + Juliet (1996); Goodfellas (1990)]. In a fluffy ending, together they must stop 'The Stuff' before it's too late. A cross between Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1958 / 1978) and The Blob (1958 / 1988) this entertaining movie is a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

When i was a little girl there was nothing I liked better than ice cream, now i'm a big girl and I've found someting I like even better, It's called the stuff, and believe me enough is never enough!