4 1/2 Stars = Minor Masterpiece

What do you get when you mix "Night of the Living Dead" with "The Body Snatchers," with "The Thing," then add hilarious black comedy? You get "Slither," the surprise sci-fi/horror/comedy of 2006!

The makers of this film had an obvious love for 50's sci-fi & zombie movies. They rolled it all up into one highly entertaining film, with winks & nods all over the place to their beloved genres. The direction is top notch! It's hard to make a film like this successful, but there is nary a flaw in it. The casting is superb, especially Greg Henry ("Payback" & "Body Double") as the hilarious foul mouthed, hard drinking, deer hunting, mayor of a redneck town, filled with all assorted characters slithering around leaving their slimy imprints on your laughing belly muscles. The make up of the main alien/monster was fantastic, & very reminiscent of the main monster in "From Beyond" mixed with "The Thing." All other make up & CGI was done with great love & affection. Especially well done & funny as hell was the killer Deer in the police station, getting a little payback for all it's Bambi brothers that fell to the hunter's bullet.

You could do a lot worse than pick up this little gem!

Beware of dogs missing in town, empty meat cases at the grocery store, & disappearing cows!

"Slither" 2006

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-j-y6B7U ... rVeQWCgoo0

Personally, I am not a fan of this film, but a lot of people were/are. So in all fairness, I thought I'd put this up for the people who have not seen this film, & might like it.

"The Host" 2006

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIQTDuCSEp4

3 1/2 Stars = Very Good

Goofy semi spoof, semi serious offshoot of films like "28 Days Later," with plenty of " Re-animator" overtones.

A scientist invents a "Rage" virus that turn humans in to blood thirsty mutated Zombie like creatures. Not only does it work wonders of mass meaty mutilation from it's human infected, but infects giant vultures who (somewhat hilariously) swoop down from the sky & attack an RV filled with twenty something's. What ensues is a funny fearful fight for survival, as they become infected their self's, one by one.

For you blood thirsty gory gore hounds out there, this is your main course of red rare meat by the piled plateful, quivering, shivering, glossy globs of gluttony gore . For the rest of you, just sit back & be bemused, & amused by the whole bloody spectacle!

"Rage" 2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2UZ2hZbyFs

5 Stars = Masterpiece

This is, in my opinion, the greatest horror anthology ever stringed together, & most of you probably have seen it many times. For those that have not, do! Now!

George Romero directs. Not his most groundbreaking film (no pun intended), that would be "Night of the Living Dead." Not his best known sequel, that would be "Dawn of the Dead." This is not a sequel at all, but it's Romero's most entertaining film & my favorite of his!

Written by Stephen King. Make up effects from Tom Savani, are wonderfully gruesome!

My favorite episode, "The Crate!"

"Just tell it, to call you Billy." LOL!

Worth the Blu ray upgrade!

"Creepshow" 1982

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_6vtAmFnkA

4 1/2 Stars = Minor Masterpiece

Believe it or not, there have been many Werewolf films every decade since 1913. "The Werewolf" being the first. For myself, the earliest Werewolf film I recall seeing was, 1935's, "Werewolf of London," (Universal) & was first film to feature bipedal, anthropomorphic, werewolves, featuring Henry Hull as the beast. Then the Universal classic, 1941's, "The Wolf Man" & just as good, the next Universal film, 1943's, "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man."

For about 18 year afterwards, there really was no Werewolf film of consequence, then in 1961, Hammer Films who were re-envisioning or should I say reinventing the horror genre, gave us the first masterpiece werewolf film, "Curse of the Werewolf."

"Curse of the Werewolf" is the tragic tale of Leon (Oliver Reed in his first starring role!), who was born to a mute girl raped by a half human beggar imprisoned by the cruel Marques Siniestro, in a dungeon for years & forgotten. The mute girl is the jailers daughter, who grows up feeding the beggar through bars. She grows into a beautiful woman who spurns the Marquee's sexual advances & is locked up in the dungeon with the beggar, there the rape happens. She is impregnated & has baby Leon on Christmas day, a terrible omen for a unwanted child, but all seems well, that is until she's dies right after birth. So Leon's story begins.

"Curse of the Werewolf" is filled with eerie scenes, starting with Leon baptism scene, which has been copied much over the years. As young Leon grows older, he begins to have nightmares around age 10, but those nightmares are not just dreams, as he wakes up with a bullet in his leg & blood on his palms. Several more well done scenes follow as Leon adoptive father talks with a priest & is told Leon is a Werewolf, an evil spirit invading the human soul, that fights for domination, especially when evil is at it strongest during the full moon. Only love, fellowship, & understanding can cure or be a short term cure for his condition.

We jump now to a full grown Leon (Oliver Reed) leaving home to work at a winery, where he falls in love with the owners daughter. It is here that Leon is again attacked by his condition, & what follows is truly ground breaking for the genre, as was the first part of the film.

Hammer Studios was always noted for their beautiful sets, cinematography, fine scripts (at least early on), great direction & acting, & "Curse of the Werewolf" had all of these in spades! Terence Fisher, Hammer's ace director took the helm for this film. A beautifully tragic horror film, in the same vein as the "Wolf Man," were the Werewolf is really the victim, not the victims he kills, Fisher has created the first masterpiece of the sub-genre. Oliver Reed's make up was quite terrifying to this young boy who had watched the film in the 60's, even had a few nightmares when I was little with this Werewolf. Though not as animalistic as Lon Chaney's make up in, "The Wolf Man," Oliver Reeds make up was more feral, maybe because he still looked part human, & after all, don't many people find a monster with human physical traits all the more terrifying?

You'll find this movie in the "Hammer Horror Series," along with it's equal, "The Brides of Dracula," the best Vampire movie Hammer ever made. These two films are worth the price of admission alone, & are two of the more obscure Hammer horror films that are top tier. The transfer & sound is top notch for films this old, & you know what? This is the only package you'll find the DVD's in!

"Curse of the Werewolf" 1961

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1T5RDIdtpgo

5 Stars = Masterpiece

This one is for you Lynch fanatics out there! I always thought that Stanley Kubrick had a major influence on David Lynch, but after watching "Hour of the Wolf," from renowned director Ingmar Bergman, I feel that David Lynch had to watch this film in his formative years. This is David Lynch, before there was David Lynch! A masterpiece of surrealistic macabre! A truly groundbreaking film, filled with disturbing images, foreboding bleak atmosphere, & direction years a head of its time!

If I really dig into my grey memory matter, there is an earlier low budget American film that could've of been an influence on this film & others to come, 1962's, "Carnival of Souls." Another masterpiece of alternative surrealistic realities. "Carnival of Souls" & "Hour of the Wolf," are direct precedents to the films Lynch would make later, especially his eerie black & white opus, "Erasurehead."

If you can sit through the subtitles & the first half, slow but fascinating. The second half of "Hour of the Wolf," is a bad LSD trip on celluloid, confounding, compelling, brutally sadistic (the scene with the boy) & masochistic, this film will be your entrance in to alternative filmmaking of the most surrealistic kind! A film that expanded what could be done with movie making, by making a anti-movie in the conventional sense. For conventions is a thing Ingmar Bergman left light year realities behind him, when he made "Hour of the Wolf!"

"Hour of the Wolf" 1968

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6aNUjm7Y2I

3 1/2 Stars = Very Good

Ok, yes, "Silent Hill" the movie is nowhere as great as the video games, but you know what, they did a pretty damn good job of turning this supremely eeriest of video games, into a pretty good eerie film. No small part due to the fantastic CGI effects, atmospheric cinematography, & what may be the most unnerving soundtrack in horror movies, or I should say, video games, the original "Silent Hill" video game music.

But for all this going for the films benefit, the direction was surprisingly weak, especially considering director Christophe Gans amazing effort, "Brotherhood of the Wolf!" Even so, a mediocre effort by this superior director is many directors "A" game, & the film does have it's surrealistic creepy, "Hellraiser" like charms. Other problems include a uninspiring execution of the plot, some weak acting, & an overwrought climax, to much of a good thing makes a mockery of the whole point of the film. Yet, it does get under the skin, & that is not a easy thing to do. Compared to the "Resident Evil" films, I'll take "Silent Hill" as my nightmare any night or day!

For horror lovers of both cinematic & video game!

"Silent Hill" 2006

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5mT5LhbRJw

4 Stars = Classic

Pretty damn good, entertaining vampire film! "30 Days of Night" in a way is a vampire version of "The Thing," at least in it's setting, the isolated town of Barrow, Alaska, where many of the residents are packing up & leaving for the winter. A ship becomes ice locked in the Arctic Ocean & a colony of vampires converge on the towns remaining residents. What ensues is a game of cat & mouse, as the vampires feed off of one resident after another, until only a few remain.

The cold bleak isolated setting definitely puts a chill to this film, & you'd actually think it was filmed in Alaska, but was filmed in New Zeeland! No matter, the setting is perfect for blood thirsty vampires feasting through the long night, 30 days of it, until the sun rises, & then the nomadic vampires move on. The vampires their selves are well done, & their Slavic Eastern European accents along with their brutally almost pack like behavior, only serves to make them more menacing, but the remaining few of the towns residents are not going to give up without a fight, & fight they do!

To say much more would be giving to much of the story away, but if you like ample amounts of dread, suspense, & survival of the fittest, all set in one of the most dismal places you could hope to survive, then "30 Days of Nights" is your sleigh ride to cold blooded horror.

"30 Days of Night" 2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5Q3PdT6GFQ

What'd you dislike about it?

Don't have the time to go into detail today, but just about everything. Maybe it's a cultural thing??? Maybe it was just to highly touted & I was let down. Maybe...

4 Stars = Classic

Adrenalized charged follow up to "28 Days Later, "28 Weeks Later" may not have the formers stark eeriness of waking up to a empty London, or at least what is thought as a empty London, but it more than makes up for it in action. It more than makes up for it in terror. It may not have the character development of the former, but it's storyline of a family tore apart from the "Rage" virus is definitely heartening & angering at the same time. It's story of the bond of a brother & sister is very moving, well acted & executed.

Yes, the two movies are different, but in many ways equal. Danny Boyle is not at the directors helm for this one, but new director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo infuses the film with his own brand of maniacal mayhem. The editing is fasted paced, more so than the first. The storyline of the US Military overseeing the survivors of the virus is a interesting & logical one. The sense of fear & terror are well done, especially the subway scene.

All in all this film stands on it's own very well as a major contribution to it's genre. When all it's parts are summed up, it's a great sequel, though not quite as profound as "28 Days Later," nor anywhere as complex in charcter development, hence just a tad inferior, but in a oversaturated genre of Zombies & Zombie like humans, "28 Weeks Later" is a highly recommended terror fest!

"28 Weeks Later" 2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbpjH4XCG3c

No pressure, I'm just curious. I watched it with a decent sized group of people and everyone loved it. It was pretty hyped up by critics so I would get it if it was a case of your expectations being too high. I hate it when that happens :/

5 Stars = Masterpiece

Well known to hardcore horror fans, obscure to all the rest, here is Dario Argento's masterpiece. It's thick atmosphere of dread is only matched by it's beautiful cinematography. A true text book example of style over substance, yet enough substance to make this one of the best horror films ever made!

Terrifying!

"Suspiria" 1977

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8zbV_fFkYs

4 1/2 Stars = Minor Masterpiece

For demonic monster movies, it does not get much better, or more atmospheric than this story of revenge & regret.

Directed by special effects make up artist wizard, Stan Winston. The special effects are superior, & the monster terrific! Much more so than it's budget would suggest. It does not hurt that one of the most underrated actors of his generation, Lance Henriksen, stars in the role of the grieving father, wanting revenge for his son's death, & finds out the price is much higher than just his son's death, but his own soul.

"Pumpkinhead" 1988

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WNrVnxRMM8

I watched Mimic for the first time in many years. And while it's definitely not Guillermo del Toro's best work, I forgot how much fun that movie was. Nothing like a good cockroach monster man subway movie!

Yes, it's a good film, & you're right, not his best, but then again we're talking about a brilliant director.

5 Stars = Masterpiece

A better 50's horror movie does not exist! "Night of the Demon," British title. "Curse of the Demon," American title, is one of the greatest horror films ever put to celluloid. The story of an American psychiatrist, Dr. John Holden (Dana Andrews) who travels to England to debunk wizard, Dr. Julian Karswell (Niall MacGinnis) of his status as a true disciple of magic & Satan. The only problem is that Dr. Julian Karswell may very well be the real deal, & he resents any outside interference with him & the cult who surrounds him out of fear.

"Night of the Demon" has all the creeping goose fleshed atmosphere to spew at it's viewers in massive slices of dread! A better crafted film of the supernatural, nary exists. The duel of wills between Dr. John Holden & Dr. Julian Karswell make for a test of endurance, Dr. John Holden's endurance that is, as one unexplained event happens after another. The clever cinematography, special effects, musical score, & intelligent script make for a supreme game of eerie chess, that will have you enthralled, engulfed, & emerged in it's enticing grip. This is even helped further along by the magnificent acting done by Niall MacGinnis, as the seemingly benevolent, level headed country gentlemen who owns a very large parcel of land, ruling over it in a magnificent mansion. It is his great acting that really makes this film come to life, though Dana Andrews as Dr. John Holden, plays his role as a stubborn non-believer & debunker of the supernatural like a snapping turtle clamped on your finger that carelessly bumped it's mouth. The two are this film, as conflict builds into battle, as battle builds into war, a war of reason against the unreasonable. A war of reality verses the surreal, with a take no prisoners attitude.

Helming this marvelous masterpiece of malevolency, is a director who has been noted for his apt handling of horror films, Jaques Tourneur ("I Walked with a Zombie & "The Cat People), he steers this macabre opus right into your deepest fears, the fear of not knowing what is real & what is not. The fear of seeing something in the corner of your minds eye that could be the difference between sanity & insanity. Tourneur pulls all the right switches & strings to make "Night of the Demon" one of the pinnacles of it's Satanic sub-genre & the horror genre as a whole, influencing countless horror films & horror directors afterwards.

If there is a glitch to this film, people feel it is the presences of the "Demon" it's self. It was said that the movie studio insisted on a monster being in the film, while Tourneur insisted that the unseen is much more disturbing than a full fledged monster in your face. The studio won out. I myself feel the "Demon" is a asset to this movie, though the effects are dated, they were handled tremendously, the "Demon" looking frightfully great to me as a child in the 60's watching this film. Even today, I think it was the right choice. You only see it in two frightfully eerie scenes. The beginning of the movie & the end. It perfectly compliments what this film is trying to purvey, fear! If they had used it more, no doubt, it would have hampered the eerie effect of the film as a whole, but it's used so commandingly sparingly, like pushing a doomsday button, that's it's impact can't be understated!

As I said earlier, there is two versions of this film, the British, "Night of the Demon, & the American, "Curse of the Demon." The British is the superior film, & runs 13 minutes longer. This is the definitive version, trust me.

"Night of the Demon" is a great movie anytime of year, that is night time of year, with the lights off, & your imagination on!
"Night of the Demon" 1957

Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSTA97Msls8

Full movie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utaT0c55 ... re=related

Watched this for the first time almost exactly a year ago! Absolutely a visual masterpiece, just wonderful to look at.

Yes, one of the most beautifully filmed movies ever. To bad it is not in Blu-ray in North America, but when it is...

Good news! It's been out for a bit. http://www.amazon.com/NEW-Suspiria-blu-Ray-DVD/dp/B002ZDAD9I

Yes, I know this Blu ray is out, but the only problem is it's a region B2. It will not play on North American Blu rays.

4 1/2 Stars = Minor Masterpiece

John Landis's, Vampire companion piece to his masterful "An American Werewolf in London," is grossly underrated!

One of the more successful & original Vampire movies of all time! Featuring, beautiful Anne Parillaud as the Vampire, who has a taste for bad boys. Anthony LaPagila as an undercover cop, infiltrating the mob, & the undead. A hilarious black comedy performance by Robert Loggia as the mob boss turned Vampire, & how could anyone not like a movie with Don Rickles as the Mob lawyer?

My favorite line?

"He ate my Manny!"

"Innocent Blood" 1992

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWmXBknC3K8

4 Stars = Classic

Two legendary monsters meeting for the first time, in the main event of the 20th century, which may be a tad disappointing in decades of retrospect, but then again, I've thrilled time & time again to this battle!

What really saves this film is the great ensemble acting, a very good story line, sharp direction, & of course, Frankenstein's monster & the Wolfman! The showdown of two of the most legendary, iconic monsters of all time!

Worth the price of admission for this film alone!

"Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman" 1943

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1JBkJ9o78k

just watched THE FLY the other day ......the original