Martin is by filmmaker George A Romero and was his favourite film from his oeuvre. 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'). …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween- Day 13- Martin (1978)
Scientists on an island just off Ireland are close to finding a cure for cancer but accidentally produce 'silicates': tentacled creatures that suck the bone marrow from their victims. This is a British film directed by Terence Fisher who made a lot of films for Hammer. The version that I saw had been restored by Pinewood …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween- Day 12- Island of Terror (1966)
A double date decide to investigate a travelling carnival that has just come into town. After strolling around the different attractions they decide to hide overnight in the actual funhouse (like a ghost ride) which is on the grounds of the carnival. This film starts out so well with the carnival and the people who …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween- Day 11- The Funhouse (1981)
Sunday nights in the late 70's/early 80's here in the UK were great for TV. In my household we'd religiously watch That's Life, a weird hotchpotch of hard hitting investigations into very dark subject matters with lighter fare which was designed to make the audience titter and guffaw (they loved vegetables that just happened to …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween- Day 10- Tales of the Unexpected (TV series)
This has one of the most crazy plots of any Hammer film I've ever seen. I won't give away everything that happens though. A Cornish village is suffering from some sort of plague that is bumping people off at such a rate that the local doctor asks an expert friend to investigate what is happening. …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween- Day 9- Plague of the Zombies (1966)
I knew this would be a great film when I saw it was written by Brian Clemens who wrote, amongst other things, the amazing series called Thriller. I wasn't wrong. This is a cracking movie. Mia Farrow plays Sarah, a girl who is returning home after being in hospital after a fall from a horse …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween- Day 8- See No Evil (1971)
I actually saw this back in the 80's when it was called Piranha 2: Flying Killers. Theres really not much plot except that there is a shoal of piranhas who have wings terrorising a resort. Pulitzer Prize worthy stuff. The lead female character seems to have been based on Stevie Wayne from The Fog if …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween- Day 7- Piranha 2- The Spawning
A wife fakes her own death to escape from her rich abusive husband. She then flees to the mid-west to try to rebuild her life under a different name so that he can't trace her. Will she succeed? This is a Julia Roberts movie. If there isn't a big enough warning to stay away I …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween- Day 6- Sleeping With The Enemy (1991)
I remember so well the 1981 BBC1 adaptation of Day of the Triffids. It may now be dated but, by Christ, it gave me plenty of sleepless nights as a 6 year old boy. Years later I discovered the work of author John Wyndham who is now one of my favourite writers. Day of the …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween- Day 5- Day of the Triffids (1963)
A family rent a huge house for the summer from it's brother and sister owners who have one condition for the rental- that their elderly mother stays in the house and they provide her with meals. Things then start to go crazy for the new inhabitants and it's almost as if the house is alive …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween- Day 4- Burnt Offerings (1976)
Meathook Cinema 