Martin is a young man who we see travelling by train to Braddock in Pittsburgh to live with his elderly cousin, Tata Cuda who seems convinced that Martin is the latest in a long line of vampires (‘the family curse’). The film centres around whether Martin is actually a vampire or if he is just …
Continue reading George A Romero Reviewed- Day 6- Martin (1977)
An old man in a white suit decides to experience life to its fullest by visiting an amusement park. He soon wishes he hadn’t. My eyes nearly popped out of my skull when I saw this film in a Romero filmography I was perusing recently. A lost Romero film? I’m there! The Amusement Park has …
Continue reading George A Romero Reviewed- Day 5- The Amusement Park (1975)
A biological weapon starts to turn the inhabitants of Evan’s City, Pennsylvania into homicidal maniacs. But don’t worry, the military are on the case… As you may have guessed, this isn’t an early 70’s romcom but is instead another film in which Romero gives us a glimpse into what it would look like if the …
Continue reading George A Romero Reviewed- Day 4- The Crazies (1973)
Joan Mitchell is unsatisfied with her suburban, domestic Pittsburgh life with her hard working businessman husband and hippie daughter. Maybe witchcraft will revitalise her life. Whilst this sounds like a horror film because of its dalliances with the occult, it’s really a very interesting character study and feminist critique of the day. In fact, I …
Continue reading George A Romero Reviewed- Day 3- Season of the Witch (1972)
Aka ‘The George A Romero film that isn’t horror’, was purportedly lost for many decades, something the director was pleased about as he hated it. But, then it was rediscovered and released firstly by Something Weird Video and more recently on Blu Ray by Arrow Video. And the truth is, it isn’t as dreadful as …
Continue reading George A Romero Reviewed- Day 2- There’s Always Vanilla (1971)
A mysterious radiation thought to have been brought back to Earth after a space probe to Venus, is bringing the dead back to life to feast on the living. A young woman named Barbara is visiting her dead father’s grave with her brother Johnny when… This film has so much of a great reputation amongst …
Continue reading George A Romero Reviewed- Day 1- Night of the Living Dead (1968)
‘A young woman, admitted to a psychiatric hospital for burning down a farmhouse, is attacked by a mysterious entity. When other patients start to disappear, she believes that she is haunted by a ghost.’ Brilliantly directed, photographed and with framing that reminded me of Halloween. But, alas, this isn’t Halloween. Whilst The Ward looks and …
Continue reading John Carpenter Reviewed- Day 21- The Ward (2010)
‘Officer Melanie and Sergeant Jericho travel to a mining outpost to transport a prisoner. On arriving, they realise that demons of an ancient Martian civilisation have possessed the entire colony.’ I had heard so many dreadful things about this film- that the dialogue was terrible (it’s not too bad), that the special effects are awful …
Continue reading John Carpenter Reviewed- Day 20- Ghosts of Mars (2001)
I had heard such bad things about John Carpenter’s Vampires that I didn’t even see it when it was released theatrically in 1998. In fact, it was only yesterday that I saw it for the very first time. What’s 25 years to see a film though?! Is it a bad movie by Carpenter’s standards or, …
Continue reading John Carpenter Reviewed- Day 19- Vampires (1998)
John Carpenter's Escape From L.A. massively polarised both critics and fans alike when it was released in 1996. Any sequel to a much-loved cult classic such as Escape From New York will be anticipated with nervousness, as it had such a high bar to live up to. The film met with praise but also disdain …
Continue reading John Carpenter Reviewed- Day 18- Escape From L.A. (1996)
Meathook Cinema 