Horror Movie Reviews

This Gothic melodrama features Jodie Foster as a naive young bride, and John Lithgow as her mysterious, voyeuristic husband.Victoria, an orphan with neither home nor money, suddenly wins the attentions of Oliver Thompson, a prosperous, older businessman. He weds her, but they continue to live apart while she remains in school. When Victoria does finally move into his home, she finds her husband has some strange habits -- including the desire to spy on her undressing, while never consummating the marriage.Increasingly uneasy and unhappy in this situation, Victoria unsuccessfully tries to escape -- only to find Oliver ready and waiting to bring her back home again.Now the desperate woman believes she has just one option left: to murder her husband...

Although this isn't really billed as a Roger Corman collection he produced/directed 3 of the films and was executive producer on the fourth.

The 2 real gems are The Pit and the Pendulum and The Fall of the House of Usher both based on Edgar Allen Poe works and both starring Vincent Price in some of his best horror work. The other Corman Production is "X" The Man with the X-Ray Eyes starring Ray Milland. All three of these films have well done commentary by Corman.

The fourth film on which Corman was executive producer is The Dunwich Horror and stars Sandra Dee in something quite different from her Gidget and Tammy roles.

Other than the commentaries on the first three films the only other extras are theatrical trailers. All 4 films are in widescreen and all but The Pit and The Pendulum are enhanced for widescreen TVs. All 4 are made from very good quality masters.

I saw Night of the Living Dead and was terrified. I live down the road from a cemetary, so that didn't help. I'm usually not too big on horror films, but I thought that is movie if from 1968, "how scary can it be?" It doesn't have the big cinematic effects that movies have today, which I think made me uneasy. And it just got more terrifying from there.

Being the over-analytical person that I am, I wondered how were the zombies able to break the door. I mean, c'mon, its a solid wood door on an old farmhouse, but like I said, I'm over-analytical.

When everyone was turning on each other, it reminded me of the Twilight Zone episode "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street".

I definately didn't expect the ending.

Strong sexual content, seductive and irresistable. It's the final gate opening to the puberty.

1965: Nightmare Castle is a lesser known film starring the favorite horror film actress Barbara Steele. Barbara Steele is the spotlight and the heroine in this film, as she is always in every film she does, portraying the beautiful tragic wife of a scientist. Steven, the scientist, is unaware that his wife is having an adulterous affair with their gardner. After he discovers them in a coupling, he storms into a heated fury and extracts his revenge. Chaining the lovers to a wall in his dungeon, he beats them and tortures them with his electric machinery. They die. Years later, he remarries a look-alike of his dead wife. This is when things get scary and confusing. The ghost of the dead lovers seem to appear again and haunt the castle. The special effects may be crude in contrast to today's horror imagery, but nevertheless has a 60's and Gothic feel to it with the right punch. The music is very effective, romantic piano and light chamber orchestra, and appropriately darker in certain sections. This film is a classic and a great collection to your cult horror favorites.

THIS FILM IS EVERY BIT AS GOOD AS THE ORIGINALS!!

This is one of the best Brentwood 4 movie horror collections I've seen so far, but don't expect perfection for the low price.

My personal favourite is CATHY'S CURSE. A little girl is possessed by her aunt, Cathy, who died in a car crash with her father after they were abandoned by her brother and mother. Cathy now seeks revenge on all women (and some men). The first 20 minutes are boring, but once the girl gets possessed it becomes nonstop, fun-filled, unintentional comedy as she does such evil things as get an old man stinking drunk, plays with an evil doll and talks in weird voices. Meanwhile her mother gets hysterical (THE funniest bad acting I've seen in ages) while the clueless father just gets confused. Bad special effects also abound (just try to guess how the girl teleports around!). Unfortunately the print is not very good, but it is watchable and I don't know of anywhere else to find this wonderful gem, which deserves a cult following. This one alone is worth the price.

"GOD TOLD ME TO" are the last words spoken by a sniper who has just randomly killed a dozen people as he lies dying. Other seemingly normal citizens (including a cop played by Andy Kaufmann!) also begin committing murders, uttering the same words when asked why they did it. This film by Larry (It's Alive, Return to Salem's Lot) Cohen is uneven, but is spooky and will freak you out, especially the scenes where the investigating cop confronts "God". Great print, letterboxed. Also worth the price by itself.

THE GHOST is a gothic tale in the vein of Corman's Poe adaptations, but without Vincent Price or psychedelic dream sequences. A bit slow, but very atmospheric and ultimately worthwhile, and with a great performance by Barbara Steele. Picture quality isn't great, but has a nice midnight movie quality to it. The first short scene is slightly out of order (apparently to open the film with credits that should have begun a minute in), so you see the end of a seance before it begins.

GOOD VERSUS EVIL, the weakest entry, is a pilot for a series that never happened. Basically, Satanists raise a nice,normal girl without telling her she is expected to bear Satan's child (the same mistake as in End of Days: Why not just raise her to look forward to this role instead of keeping her in the dark?). Their plans are messed up when she and an author fall in love. The series was to be about him teaming up with an exorcist to rescue her and battle the Satanists. The villain seems promising, but all you get is a setup for the nonexistent series and a lame exorcism scene (a family friendly copy of scenes from "The Exorcist"). Good picture quality, but a completely unsatisfying film.

Fangoria Magazine's editor says that this director's "brutal action set-pieces put many bigger budgeted projects to shame!" and boy is he right! This movie is nice and bloody, like John Woo's Hong Kong action movies used to be (an obvious influence for the director, Ronnie Sortor). The story concerns a man searching for the serial killer who slaughtered his family and ending up in over his head in a violent underworld. He has to fight, shoot, burn, stab and maim his way to bloody vengeance and it's a rough ride! You just don't see gritty, gory films like this coming out of Hollywood. For those of you who want your movies to have real guts (i.e. You who thought RESERVOIR DOGS was for sissies!) check out RAVAGE. [Heck], the police-station shoot-out is worth the price of admission by itself!I've seen the VHS edition and this new DVD improves on it a lot. Yes, this is a low-budget effort and it shows, but it's the content that matters in a program like this, right? Some of the supplements are pretty dark and grainy but it's still a unique and insightful look into what goes on behind-the-scenes. The commentaries are fun and informative with no dead air. Highly recommended testosterone entertainment!

The Severed Head Network DVD is a collection of short movies from directors all over the U.S.
There is a ton of talented independent filmmakers out there needing an outlet for their work. This DVD provided that outlet for some of those filmmakers.
I was inspired and impressed from beginning to end. This is a must see for any aspiring filmmaker or anyone that wants to see the future of cinema.

PICK THIS UP!!!!!!!

I first saw this movie on Fox a few years ago.It was great!It is probably one of the most suspenceful movies you'll ever see.When a truck carrying a deadly snake crashes,the snake is set free on a small town.It begins to breed with the common rattle snakes in the area resulting in thousands of poisonous snakes!Can the local authorities and nature specialists stop the snakes before it's too late?I give it an A+!