As soon as I saw that this 1965 Amicus film was directed by Freddie Francis I knew that the direction and photography would be beautiful. And I was right! I was also excited as I knew that this was a horror anthology film and starred two heavyweights of the genre, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee. …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween 2020- Day 28- Dr Terror’s House of Horrors (1965)
I remember when this was released on home video in 1988. I couldn't wait to watch it as the poster alone harked back to the original film, it's mythology and the very Panaglide soaked vision that helped make it such a masterpiece. I was hoping for the film to be just as impressive. If they …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween 2020- Day 23- Halloween 4- The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
A young man who can restore frescos (ancient works of art) arrives to restore one such artwork but finds events within the remote town to be far from normal. Indeed, they are downright bizarre. Does the fresco hold any clues? Does it depict what people have been led to believe it shows? Will the events …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween 2020- Day 21- The House With Laughing Windows (1976)
A remake of the much loved and revered masterpiece Dawn of the Dead was always going to be sneered at by fans and film scholars alike when the project was announced. I actually saw the film on it's release when I was visiting Glasgow and was expecting to roll my eyes constantly whilst saying 'Psst!' …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween 2020- Day 19- Dawn of the Dead (2004)
A sequel to Village of the Damned which is less a continuation of the plot and instead like a film containing characters who possess the same powers as the children in the original but under different circumstances. Whereas the original took part in a countryside idyll, the action within this film is based in London. …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween 2020- Day 18- Children of the Damned (1964)
***TRIGGER WARNING!!!*** This is a Pete Walker movie. In 1957 Dorothy Yates and her husband Edmund are convicted of murder and cannibalism (!) and sent to an asylum until the film's present day (1974). They are then released supposedly fully cured and living a quiet life. But are they? The answer, of course, is no! …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween 2020- Day 12- Frightmare (1974)
A movie that was on the other side of my DVD of the (much better) film, The Pit. This direct to video movie concerns a young woman who is snatched by a gang of bikers and brutally murdered. Her father then discovers a crystal that can bring the dead back to life and uses it …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween 2020- Day 8- Hellgate (1989)
I remember seeing this on video shortly after it was released way back when. The original Hills Have Eyes wasn't on video at that time and so seeing this was the next best thing especially in hindsight as there are LOADS of flashbacks to the first film. Yes, even a dog from the first movie …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween 2020- Day 6- The Hills Have Eyes Part 2 (1984)
A Blaxploitation Exorcist rip-off. A pastor goes to Nigeria and accidentally unleashes an ancient malevolent spirit. Oops. His daughter-in-law back in America then starts to change from being a God-fearing, wholesome wife to becoming a possessed randy harlot. This film is such good fun. The pastor is played by William Marshall who was already known …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween 2020- Day 4- Abby (1974)
Fat nurse Martha Beck is joined into a lonely hearts club by her best friend Bunny. Almost instantly she starts to correspond with a man called Raymond Fernandez. Their correspondence grows more intense with the bond between them being so strong that Martha invites him to her home in Mobile, Alabama. After a night of …
Continue reading 31 Days of Halloween 2020- Day 2- The Honeymoon Killers (1970) ****
Meathook Cinema 