I remember the Video Nasties furore like it was yesterday. With my father being an avid Daily Mail reader and staunch Thatcherite I felt like I had a front row seat with the then Tory government seeking to ban the very films I loved when they were released on video in the early 80's. I …
Continue reading Great Video Nasties Moral Panic Documentary
The project of Psycho 2 was a poison chalice. On one hand, it provided a director with the opportunity to prove themselves by making a sequel to a bona fide horror classic by a master auteur. It also made available the possibility of continuing a story of one of cinema's greatest and most complex characters, …
Healthy horny idiots go camping in the woods (I know, an alien scenario for a slasher film!) The woods they go to were the location of a bloodbath decades earlier as someone from a gypsy camp was falsely accused of rape by a female member of the townsfolk. The townsfolk burnt down the gypsy settlement …
Continue reading Day 29-31 Days of Halloween- The Prey (1983)
Arnold Masters is in prison for a crime he didn't commit. His mother who had a tumour was due to be operated on but wasn't. The doctor due to undertake the procedure was then found dead in his office by Arnold, who was then framed for his murder. He tells his backstory to a fellow …
Continue reading Day 24- 31 Days of Halloween- Psychic Killer (1974)
I love a sequel that not only ups the ante regarding the original film but decides to be as extreme as possible and really 'go for it'. In this film theres a new family who move into Amityville. You know that any family that includes Burt Young and Rutanya Alda as members is going to …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween- Day 29- The Amityville Horror Part 2- The Possession (1982)
A Hammer film that looks to Greek mythology for the basis of it's plot with the mythical creature known as The Gorgon (a woman with snakes for hair and the ability to turn anyone who looks her in the eye to stone) being adapted and shone through the Hammer Films' prism. This film features the …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween- Day 26- The Gorgon (1964)
An earthquake uproots cockroach-like bugs that can set fire to things and, more importantly for a horror film, also to animals and humans. But never fear, a biology professor played by Bradford Dillman is on the case. This great little 70's B movie is directed by Jeannot Szwarc (who would go on to make the …
William Lustig's depraved classic was massively controversial when first released. It garnered the ultimate accolades for an exploitation film- it was HATED by Siskel and Ebert (Gene Siskel said he made it to the shotgun murder then had to leave the preview screening as he couldn't stomach anymore!) and it was picketed by feminist groups. …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween- Day 24- Maniac (1980)
An eccentric millionaire invites five strangers to a haunted house with each receiving $10,000 if they last the night. This is a William Castle film so you know it's going to be genius. And it doesn't disappoint. I love the house with it's sliding doors, acid bath and shadow play. Vincent Price in the lead …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween- Day 23- The House on Haunted Hill (1959)
A group of teens find themselves the victims of urban legends that come true. These legends range from 'The Stranger in the Backseat' to 'Eating Pop Rocks and Drinking Soda' (never heard of this but I'm keen to try it). In the late 90's there were a slew of teen horror movies made in the …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween- Day 22- Urban Legend (1998)
Meathook Cinema 