I first saw this when I lived in Sydney, Australia. There was a great video store there called Dr What. Instead of replacing old titles with newer movies they just add to their collection. This is more like a movie archive than a video shop. And so I saw this entertaining, offbeat and lurid horror …
Continue reading The Forest (1982) – Day 21 – 31 Days of Halloween
This movie is just as infamous for the furore surrounding the film as it is for the actual content. I grew up in the midst of the Videos Nasties storm in a teacup in which the Tory government led by Herr Thatcher thought that the commoners who watched certain horror movies would grab a chainsaw …
Continue reading The Evil Dead (1981) – Day 16 – 31 Days of Halloween
It takes a great big set of balls to make a sequel to a film that is recognised as a classic. One such film is Halloween. Is the sequel any good? Well, yes it is actually. There are many things to love. One such thing is that the film carries on straight after the events …
Continue reading Halloween 2 (1981) – Day 15- 31 Days of Halloween
An intelligent, original horror film is as rare as hen's teeth nowadays. Hollywood seems content on remaking, rehashing and plundering the past glories of the genre with predictably mediocre and overexplained results. Let The Right One In is one of those rare gems however. Set in snow laden 80s Sweden this is the story of …
Continue reading Let The Right One In – Day 14 – 31 Days of Halloween
Zombies, gore and guts. Oh and spaghetti. Whats noticable about this film is the incest subplot involving the effeminate manchild character called Michael played by Peter Bark. I didn't know about this when I first watched the film. Its now seered into my mind for better or worse. This film is for titmunchers of all …
Continue reading Burial Ground – Day 12 – 31 Days of Halloween
Corman romp about security robots in a shopping mall that malfunction and take it out on a group of teens who are there after closing time. With this being Corman there are some great cameos from stable regulars like Mary Waronov, Paul Bartel and Dick Miller. A great sense of humour and some gory moments. …
Continue reading Chopping Mall – Day 11 – 31 Days of Halloween
This film should be filed under 'Uncategorisable Gem'. Lead character is twelve year Jamie. Hes obsessed with sex, his only friend is an evil teddy bear and he knows if a pit inhabited by a pack of mutant trolls called trolologs. Just your average movie plot. This movie is so brilliantly written complete with quirky …
Continue reading The Pit (1981)- Day 5- 31 Days of Halloween
Being the first of the popular horror franchise the successful formula hadn't been established yet. Hence this film contains certain elements that we don't find in the other films. We have quirky characters at a diner, the funny sheriff and likeable teens whose characters are fully fleshed out. We don't wish for them to be …
Continue reading Friday the 13th (1980)- Day 3- 30 Days of Halloween
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 …
Continue reading Hanging On The Telephone- How The Telephone Has Been Used To Terrify In Film
I first saw Leigh Bowery in the late 80s. I was at the cinema when a commercial for Pepe Jeans was played featuring Leigh. This advert which only lasted about 2 minutes left such an indelible impression. I first saw the documentary The Legend of Leigh Bowery about five years ago and again was gobsmacked. …
Meathook Cinema 