The Watcher in the Woods – Day 10 – 31 Days of Halloween

I remember watching this as a kid on VHS in the 80s and loving it. Now as a gay horror fan who's all grown up watching the film feels different. Firstly, it's because the great gay icon Bette Davis is in it. Safe in this knowledge I know that this isn't just any run-of-the-mill performance …

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Beyond The Door – Day 9 – 31 Days of Halloween

A mark that you've made a great movie is when your film spawns a number of imitators. One such movie is The Exorcist. One such imitator is Beyond The Door. But whilst some imitators are pale and shoddy rip offs, this film is amazing. Starring esteemed actress Juliet Mills this deals with her posession and …

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The Stepford Wives (1975) – Day 8 – 31 Days of Halloween

If you could replace your wife with a robot hausfrau who lives to cook, clean, be subserviant to her man and climax every time you had sex, would you?  Joanna Eberhart has just moved to Stepford and is suspicious of the sinister Men's Association. Joanna is a liberated woman, a free spirit. And in Stepford …

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A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) – Day 7- 31 Days of Halloween

This is the movie that made me into a major fan of horror and cult cinema in general. I saw this on its release onto video when I was 11 years old. Since then I watched it numerous times and know it off by heart. With a film so ingrained into my psyche it would …

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Wake in Fright- Day 6- 31 Days of Halloween

A young schoolteacher trues to escape small town Australia and reach Sydney...but gets waylayed in the darkest possible way. This is an amazing examination of small town madness, the unspoken madness of such a life and the brutality and destruction undertaken by men. Its also an amazing portrayal of cabin fever being caused by nothing …

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Hanging On The Telephone- How The Telephone Has Been Used To Terrify In Film

The telephone has always held sinister connotations for me. I grew up in a time before mobile phones when everyone had a landline and telephone systems were positively archaic. This primitive system meant that calls couldn't be traced easily. This was perfect for every nutjob, crank or serial killer to call you. And this happened …

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