A couple are going through a divorce in Berlin. But this isn't Kramer vs Kramer. I know this plot summary is basic, to say the least, but a) once you see the film, you'll know why this plot has been reduced to one line, and b) I don't want to ruin any surprises for you. …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween 2024- Day 21- Possession (1981)
Newsreader Karen White has been maintaining regular contact with serial killer Eddie Quist, aka Eddie The Mangler. He arranges to meet her, and she agrees, albeit whilst she is monitored by the police so that they can catch him. The experience traumatises her to such an extent that Dr George Waggoner suggests that she goes …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween 2024- Day 20- The Howling (1981)
I first heard about Phantasm 2 through my love of Fangoria and Gorezone magazines, which I devoured religiously in the 80's and 90's. The stills from the film were so otherworldly, gory and darkly innovative that I couldn't wait to see the movie. When it was finally released in the UK, the first film wasn't …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween 2024- Day 19- Phantasm 2 (1988)
Jack Hill's film concerns three inhabitants of a huge house who suffer from a condition which makes them regress into a childlike state. Their butler tries to hide them from the world as they also have murderous impulses (witnessed in the first scene involving the postman who ventures onto their property) and as a promise …
This Italian film was made before the trademark of the better-known Alien film was registered. After the success of Ridley Scott's movie, it was duly released as Alien 2. It may have been cheekily named as if it was a sequel to this film, but it wasn't. Cave explorers find more than they bargained for- …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween 2024- Day 17- Alien 2: On Earth (1980)
An American author wants to research Bali's black magic. She meets with a witch who promises to teach her. Mystics In Bali is, apparently, one of the influences of Wes Craven on his movie, A Nightmare on Elm Street. It's also batsh*t crazy! Wanna see a flying head with its spinal column still attached? Wanna …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween 2024- Day 16- Mystics in Bali (1981)
An ex-telephone worker with a serious chip on his shoulder is murdering people by playing deadly frequencies down the phone to anyone who answers. This results in them bleeding from their eyes, nose, mouth and ears and then being blasted backwards with such force that it kills them. But don't worry- Richard Chamberlain is on …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween 2024- Day 15- Bells (1981)
Simone is so obsessed with her favourite pop star (the mysteriously named 'R') that she can't eat or concentrate in school anymore. She waits for his reply to the letter she wrote, but nothing arrives. She goes to the TV studio where he is due to appear on a music programme, he sees her, likes …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween 2024- Day 14- Der Fan (1982)
Rituals is a Canadian horror film about five doctors who decide to go camping in the wilderness. What could possibly go wrong? The obvious reference point for this film is Deliverance. I think of Rituals as 'Sufferance' instead. A great cast (Hal Holbrook would go on to star in John Carpenter's masterpiece The Fog, Lawrence …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween 2024- Day 13- Rituals (1977)
This sequel to Demons was made mere months after the first film. The action is switched from the cinema of the original and takes place in a very modern and very secure (a bit too secure, as viewers will find out) apartment block. The demons are back and as messy, toothy and angry as ever. …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween 2024- Day 12- Demons 2 (1986)
Meathook Cinema 