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Darko's Recently Viewed Diary

[Deleted User]

Given that I spend a large portion of my life watching horror films I felt that perhaps I should contribute to this movement.

The Monster Squad
While some may quest in the inclusion of the Monster Squad in the horror genre it really doesn't belong anywhere else. featuring Dracula, the Mummy, Frankenstein's Monster and the Gill Man it's a delightfully fun kids film from a time in which death and scares weren't uncommon in films aimed at the under 12s. That it has such broad appeal, appealing as it does to both kids and adults alike is down to the truly superb screenplay by Fred Dekker and Shane Black.

It's pure unadulterated fun which is immensly rewatchble and features what is perhaps the definitive Dracula.

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The Bloodstained Shadow: A gorgeous looking Giallo with striking bold colours, an unnerving and disjointed soundtrack and featuring a great wouldn't happen today moment when a priest is sent to talk with a child molester. The Bloodstained Shadow is a curio, an interesting and somewhat off-kilter feel that makes for a rather unique experience. It's not a film for everyone but genre fans will lap it up.

The Belko Experiment:Battle Royals with **** FX work. The Belko Experiment thinks that its smart and biting but its all just rather dumb and boring with 2 dimensional characters, a plot that rips off a dozen better films and a made for TV feel. It's not an awful film just a bad one.

Warning Sign: The smartest zombie film ever made, this mid-80s slice of paranoia cinema is a wonderful little horror film that succeeds thanks to the sense of realism. It's got strong writing, a great cast, and some genuine chills. Essential viewing for horror fans.

Man Vs.: A fine one man on his own film let down by some truly awful CGI that would have been dated during the PS2 era of gaming. It's a shame that such corners were cut as Man Vs. is otherwise a fine piece of low-budget genre cinema. With a strong central performance, some gorgeous scenery and a real sense of suspense it's a film that really deserves to be seen.

Lifeforce: Boobs from space or Lifeforce as it is more commonly known is a sumptuous visual treat with some great FX work, a fun and completely over the top story, decent acting and more boobs than you can count. It's dumb fun and the kind of 90s madness that you wish there was more of.

Candyman: One of the best horror films ever made, a smart and adult tale with a gorgeous score and arresting visuals. It's one of a kind and stands up far better than many of its peers.

The Blob: Everything a remake should be, fantastic FX work, a fun script and the Blob is one of cinemas most enjoyable creatures. The scene where it talks is up there with cinemas best moments and worth rewinding for.

Dracula 1958: Dated but still the last word on gothic horror, Cushing and Lee are striking and bring a heart that other adaptations have lacked. It's aged and the cracks show but the final moments remain stunning.

The Curse of Frankenstein: Good old fashioned fun, with a sly black humour running throughout this is one of the best versions of the classic tale.

The Burning: Fisher Stevens getting his fingers mutilated is one of cinemas finest moments, the rest is generic but fun hack and slash nonsense the likes of which we no longer get thanks to the obsession with PG13 and CGI.

Burnt Offerings: Great lil haunted house film that manages to be chilling, atmospheric and creepy all on a PG rating. Dan Curtis was one of cinema and TVs most undervalued commodities and Burtn Offerings is proof that he was an exceptional talent.

I'm a Killer: Dreary based on fact serial killer thriller with strong performances, gorgeous muted visuals, and some striking imagery. It's not an easy watch and the festival audience ruined much of the experience given their tutting, shrieks and random people walking in late and then talking over the film as they found free seats in the shed on wheels in which the film was screened. Still even with all that and daylight streaming in from the holes in the ceiling, I'm a Killer was a winner.

Alien Covenant: Continuing his quest to rob one of cinemas most iconic series of every single bit of wonder, Ridley Scott once again takes an interesting set up and manages to nothing but bore the audience. Alien: Covenant is a film so in love with itself and its sense of grandiose that plot, characters, xenomophs, atmosphere, suspense and basic storytelling are largely ignored in favor of androids spouting poetry and talking about God.

It's all rather dull and plodding with the film lurching from one disappointing set piece to the next with no lasting impact.

Alien: Covenant is the cinematic equivalent of seeing Brian Wilson play Pet Sounds in 2017. You can see why it's so revered and there's a spark of the genius remaining but overall it feels a little cynical and succeeds in spite of the great mans bored expression throughout. and that's Alien: Covenant, a film that coasts by on Scott's legacy with nothing new to say.

Also CGI Xenomorphs look awful and cheapen the films only saving grace, those stunning CGI laden visuals.

Dracula 1974: The film which Coppola and writer James V. Hart lifted wholesale for their early 90s Dracula. Curtis bubs his seasoned and alongside Matheson find a fresh angle from which to tackle one of cinemas most recognisable tales. The changes here work and Palance makes for an interesting Dracula giving the film an off kilter feel. As a made for TV production there's many a corner cut but the film manages to be atmospheric and at tunes iconic. It's a testament to Curtis that the film works so well and still stands up as one of the best Dracula adaptations.

[Deleted User]

They're Watching - A great kind of found footage film in which the central idea of recording a complete and utter cluster**** of a situation actually makes narrative sense. Given that our leads are a shooting crew for a make over TV show the film never resorts to out of focus shaky cam in order to create tension and in a pleasant change of pace all the film looks great. They're Watching is a wonderfully demented and charming horror, one with likable leads, genuine laughs and that finale is up there with the most bat **** crazy around. Sure the film has its issues, some of the acting is a little amdram and the FX work isn't great but when a film is this fun who cares. They're Watching is a damn fine little genre film and destined for cultdom in the years to come.

The Veil - Thoms Jane is great as a charismatic cult leader, it's just a shame that so much of the film follows a rather bland film crew rather than focus on the cult. Then ending hints at great things and the film has enough good moments to deserve a sequel but between those good bits there's simply far too many scenes of Jessica Alba trying to act. The Veil is a good idea in an average film, it has some good ideas, a few nice twists and Jane is great but it never seems to know where to focus.

Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh - Far as horror sequels go, Farewell to the Flesh isn't half bad, it has a wonderful central villain, an interesting story and the New Orleans setting adds so much which coupled with the beautifully haunting score gives Farewell to the Flesh an certain off kilter feel. It plays out like a fever dream, full of stunning visuals and unique locations. It's one of those films that is hard to categorise, it's as much a period character piece as it is a slasher. It's a film that much like the original lingers in your memory.

Dolls - A kids film with added gore, Dolls is Stuart Gordon's mental homage to The Old Dark House and classic skid row 30s horror, only this time instead of a monster we have dozens of killer dolls. Dolls has a couple of issues, some of the acting is forced, it's rather cheap looking and the story could use a bit more meat but at only 75 minutes long the film never drags and once the carnage starts the film kicks it up a gear and delivers a truly demented and fun tale.

[Deleted User]

The Hound of the Baskervilles 1983 - A damn fine Holmes tale with great production values and a nice big budget feel. It's a tale adapted a dozen times but it never feels too familiar or generic thanks to good performances and strong writing. Not a classic but it's damn fine cinema

Death Trance - Cheap and cheerful fare that uses a single location to tell a rather straightforward and simple story. The FX work is good and the action well staged but all in all it's little more than a series of small set pieces strung together by the flimsiest of plots.

68 Kill - A blistering, balls to the wall feminist exploitation film with a good script, spirited performances and some of the best wtf moments in a long time. 68 Kill isan unexpected gem, the kind of no-nonsense female led cinema we need more of.

It Comes At Night - Not quite the sum of its parts, It Comes at Night is a dark and unsettling thriller that really needs another 30 minutes so as to breath. The cast are great and it looks fantastic but at times it's too understated to have any lasting impact.

Vampires - Very much a relic of the late 90s, Vampires is a brash and loud low budget horror film with a number of incidents of female characters being treated like **** in a way that you would never get away with now. Woods is great as the wisecracking leader of the group and while the action has a cheap feel the whole thing is a lot of fun with good gore, plenty of laughs and a real sense of abandon. It's cheap trash of the best kind.

Frankenhooker - A broad horror comedy that works thanks to it's total lack of realism, the over the top gore and cheap FX work are a treat, giving the film an off kilter feeling that makes it all rather charming. The performances are a little ropey at times but overall work. The films cheerful and sweet heart make it a rare treat, a gory horror film more concerned with a likable but demented lead than it is nudity and gore.

The House on Sorority Row - A fine lil slasher film with a game cast and some nice suspense. It's pretty familiar but stands up as an inventive and nasty slasher that puts some truly dislikeable female characters front and center. The gore is well done, the story is strong and it looks rather good. Not a classic along the lines of say Halloween but it's worth rediscovering.

The Slumber Party Massacre - Far better than it has any right to be, The Slumber Party Massacre is a gleefully over the top slasher with some rather startling gore, a rather interesting feminist slant, and some good humour. It plays around with genre expectation in quite an interesting manner, the killer's face is seen in one of the very first scenes and the phallic nature of the death weapon combined with its placement in a number of key shots makes for a rather diverting subtext and helps the film stand out from the crowd.

[Deleted User]

Alone in the Dark 1982 - A nihilistic early 80s slasher film with a great cast and a couple of nice kills. It's a little dated and some of the characters are a little stock but it's dark and grim and has a rather unnerving underlying sense of threat.

Last Rampage: The Escape of Gary Tison - The title may be a little Lifetime Movie of the week but Robert Patrick is electric in this rather great little genre film. Based on a grim true story it's a credit to the film that it never feels exploitive or over the top, the senseless violence is tastefully done and the charters are never celebrated or put on a pedestal. The low budget hurts a couple of scenes but overall Last Rampage is a damn fine film with a superb central performance.

[Deleted User]

Waxwork - A bright and breezy slice of 80s horror trash, like a series of short vignettes linked by a fun wraparound story, Waxwork is good goofy fun with a great score and some memorable moments.

Small Town Killers - Vulgar, over the top and broad but also quite sweet, Small Town Killers is very European. It's nuts, it's offensive and it's all bloody good fun. The ending may be a little sudden but the rest of the film makes up for it. Not a great black comedy but a damn good one that flirts with greatness

With it being October it's time once again for 31 Nights of Fright

The Blood on Satan's Claw - An unnerving slice of folk horror with a wonderfully demented sense of the twisted. The story is strong and the characters well defined resulting in some truly shocking moments, the midpoint rape scene is one of the most effective and unsettling ever put onscreen. Throw in a wonderfully evocative score and a demented depiction of Satan and you have a fine slice of genre cinema deserving to be counted amongst the greats.

Wer - Wer is an oddity on one hand it's a humdrum thriller with AJ Cook delivering an awful lead performance but then toward the later half it goes so over the top, so bat **** crazy that you have to tip your hat to one of the biggest what the **** did I just watch films in a long time. It's a found footage film where you fund yourself reportedly asking, "who recorded all this" before bring wowed by the sheer audacity of the ridiculousness of what is unfolding. It's not a great film but it is one half great spectacle

Black Christmas - A classic and one which helped create and define an entire genre of horror that many have attempted but few have bettered. Thanks to strong writing and believable well-rounded characters you end up genuinely rooting for the all involved. The fact that the killer has a little depth is an added bonus and the gore, while rather tame now still has an edge and the understated nature of the deaths mean that they have more impact than most modern slashers.

Gerald's Game - Perhaps the most faithful Stephen King yet given that for 90 minutes it is a tense and unnerving descent into madness only to be followed by 10 minutes so dumb and out of left field that they nearly derail the entire film. The performances from the two leads are great and the film slowly builds toward a truly shocking moment that is truly grotesque.

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Waxwork - A bright and breezy slice of 80s horror trash, like a series of short vignettes linked by a fun wraparound story, Waxwork is good goofy fun with a great score and some memorable moments.

Small Town Killers - Vulgar, over the top and broad but also quite sweet, Small Town Killers is very European. It's nuts, it's offensive and it's all bloody good fun. The ending may be a little sudden but the rest of the film makes up for it. Not a great black comedy but a damn good one that flirts with greatness

With it being October it's time once again for 31 Nights of Fright

The Blood on Satan's Claw - An unnerving slice of folk horror with a wonderfully demented sense of the twisted. The story is strong and the characters well defined resulting in some truly shocking moments, the midpoint rape scene is one of the most effective and unsettling ever put onscreen. Throw in a wonderfully evocative score and a demented depiction of Satan and you have a fine slice of genre cinema deserving to be counted amongst the greats.

Wer - Wer is an oddity on one hand it's a humdrum thriller with AJ Cook delivering an awful lead performance but then toward the later half it goes so over the top, so bat **** crazy that you have to tip your hat to one of the biggest what the **** did I just watch films in a long time. It's a found footage film where you fund yourself reportedly asking, "who recorded all this" before bring wowed by the sheer audacity of the ridiculousness of what is unfolding. It's not a great film but it is one half great spectacle

Black Christmas - A classic and one which helped create and define an entire genre of horror that many have attempted but few have bettered. Thanks to strong writing and believable well-rounded characters you end up genuinely rooting for the all involved. The fact that the killer has a little depth is an added bonus and the gore, while rather tame now still has an edge and the understated nature of the deaths mean that they have more impact than most modern slashers.

Gerald's Game - Perhaps the most faithful Stephen King yet given that for 90 minutes it is a tense and unnerving descent into madness only to be followed by 10 minutes so dumb and out of left field that they nearly derail the entire film. The performances from the two leads are great and the film slowly builds toward a truly shocking moment that is truly grotesque.

Did you see some of these on shudder.com?

[Deleted User]

jh79 wrote: »

Did you see some of these on shudder.com?

Mixture of Shudder, Blu-ray and Netflix

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Mixture of Shudder, Blu-ray and Netflix

I think shudder is great. Would like HD where possible but its not bad. Nice selection of the old and new.

I've stopped buying some of the lesser Arrow releases because of it. I still buy 88 films blurays as they don't have a deal with Shudder.

Wonder if streaming on shudder is good for Arrow in the long term?

[Deleted User]

jh79 wrote:

I think shudder is great. Would like HD where possible but its not bad. Nice selection of the old and new.

Most are in HD and it had been improving. I jump between the different countries and there are some great gems there

jh79 wrote:

I've stopped buying some of the lesser Arrow releases because of it. I still buy 88 films blurays as they don't have a deal with Shudder.

Still buy a lot. Good as Shudder is, it's still compressed to hell and Arrow special features are usually great.

jh79 wrote:

Wonder if streaming on shudder is good for Arrow in the long term?

Nope, the licensing cost paid to them would pale in comparison to what they get now. They are a boutique label and while they do well, much like 88 Films or Fabulous Films they have titles that lose money. Putting more stuff on streaming sites would result in less sales as people wouldn't take a chance on since oddity

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Most are in HD and it had been improving. I jump between the different countries and there are some great gems there

Still buy a lot. Good as Shudder is, it's still compressed to hell and Arrow special features are usually great.

Nope, the licensing cost paid to them would pale in comparison to what they get now. They are a boutique label and while they do well, much like 88 Films or Fabulous Films they have titles that lose money. Putting more stuff on streaming sites would result in less sales as people wouldn't take a chance on since oddity

What's the US site like? Would it have stuff from blue underground, Severin , Synapse ?

[Deleted User]

Maniac Cop - A prime slice of late 80s exploitation cinema that is rather quaint when viewed today. The while cop on a rampage is used sparingly with nor time spent on finding out who he is rather then watching him do his thing. The script from king of the B moves Cohen is strong with interesting characters and good suspense.

Some of the acting is a little broad, Campbell in particular is poor and his screeching partner grates but overall the cast are good.

Maniac Cop is good fun, it has suspense, great practical FX and Atkins is on top form.

Blood Glacier - It's The Thing by way of the SyFy channel and shockingly isn't half bad. It's a pretty generic set up and it takes some time to get going but it manages to build suspense in a nice way and it even takes a moment to create some genuine character development. When the creatures do show up they look great and are used sparingly, the evil ram in particular is a highlight. Blood Glacier is a familiar story well told, it's not going to be celebrated anytime soon but while it lasts it's never less than interesting

The Haunted Mansion -Exactly what you expect, a fun romp with decent writing, good performances and a couple of inspired moments. The most shocking aspect is how old school it is, this is a film which opens with a man committing suicide by hanging, giving it a real 80s feel.

We Are the Flesh - A dark and ****ed up journey into the abyss, visually stunning with some brave performances We Are the Flesh is a one of a kind film. It's a film about incest, featuring real unsimulated sex, graphic full frontal nudity and one of cinemas most what the **** moments. It's almost impossible to recommend We Are the Flesh for it's a marmite film that will split audiences right down the middle.

Waxwork II: Lost in Time - A little too light for its own good, Waxwork II is a gaudy and cheap horror sequel with a thrown together script, some good gore, spirited performances and an obvious love of cinema. It's just a shame that it hasn't the budget to match its aspirations. It thrives to be a blockbuster only made on the catering budget of the latest Marvel film.

Crimson Peak -Del Toro delivers another stunning gothic horror, rich in lush visuals and an oppressive atmosphere Crimson Peak is a stunning work of art. The story is a little old hat but there's not been a film so aesthetically beautiful in some time. Performances are good and the violence is well handled but honestly, Crimson Peak is a film for those who love old gothic horrors with sumptuous set design and films in which every moment could hang in a gallery.

[Deleted User]

Films 11 and 12 of 321 Nights of Fright:

The Limehouse Golem - Gorgeous to look at and with strong performances but a weak script hinder it. The writing is trite and formulaic and there's no real character development as our cast blunder from one set up to the next. The whole thing has a Sunday night BBC One drama feel to it and while that's not the worst thing in the world, the whole thing does leave you feeling a little cold. All the elements of a great film are here, just the script lets it all down.

Contamination - How this ever made the video nasties list is a head-scratchingly difficult? It's less a gore film than it is a light and fun trashy sci-fi film with some truly inspired Alien FX and plenty of exploding body parts. The score is the real highlight of what is a trashy piece of low budget cinema.

[Deleted User]

Tales of Halloween - Like all anthologies, this is something of a mixed bag ranging from the good to the great. The best segment belongs to Saturday the 14th, a truly inspired slice of 80s slasher cinema with a nice twist. All the segments are fun and the way they all play into each other is nice. All in all, it's good fun with a nice sense of humor and barely a bad egg in the bunch.

The Babysitter - McG delivers a slick and fun 80s style horror comedy with plenty of gore, some great deaths and best of all a little depth. The characters are interesting and our two leads have great chemistry and their relationship and how it develops is the films real star. The Babysitter is great old school fun, a slick and gory horror with laughs and a nice twisted streak.

Annabelle: Creation - Better than the original, this low key haunted house film has a wonderful moody setting, a better cast than it has any right to and a nice sense of unease. Sure it's a little too long and the scares are'nt up to much but while it lasts it's good fun and the manner in which is ties into the original is great. Quickly forgotten no doubt, but for what it is Annabelle: Creation is fine cinema.

The Cell - Visually gorgeous but a little dead, The Cell is a treat for the eyes and nothing else. The subpar Se7en style serial killer is a little trite and scenes intended to be shocking such as the sight of Vincent D'onofrio **** himself silly over a corpse are odder than anything else. The cast are good, the story is okay, but the visuals are the star. The Cell is a film that you can watch on mute, just sit back and enjoy the sights ignoring the hodgepodge of serial killer tropes and cliches.

The Visit - A great little horror with some interesting and unnerving moments, sure the teenage leads are obnoxious and it takes a little time to get going but once it does it's a masterclass in how to raise tension though subtlety. It's the small things which are most effective here and while the twist is obvious it's a lot of fun none the less.

Arachnophobia - The use of real spiders is a nice touch in this wonderful early 90s creature feature with a strong script, a great cast and plenty of cheeky humor. It's a great example of a light horror film done well and deserving to be celebrated far more than most modern attempts at killer spider films.

[Deleted User]

31 Nights of Fright Continues

The Beast Within - A real oddity, opening with an unsettling rape scene The Beast Within is a hard film to warm to given it's grim tone and sense of unease. It's a dark film, one that uses some shocking imagery to great effect and the transformation scene is one of cinemas best. It's a genuinely stunning moment and a real testament to the last impact of practical FX work. Some of the writing here is a little flat and some of the acting a little too broad but overall it's a fine little shocker with good performances and a genuine sense of the unhinged about it.

Witchfinder General - Part of a short wave of British folk horrors, Witchfinder General is a classic thanks to a low key script, a genuine sense of foreboding and some shocking imagery. It's a film best experienced cold, one in which the shocks work thanks to how mundane they are. And Price is great, delivering his best performance. It's a shame that Reeves dies so soon after as he had a great style of his own and Witchfinder General promises great things.

[Deleted User]

Number 21

A Nightmare on Elm Street (Original) - A good film whose reputation precedes it. There's a lot to like here, Freddy is supposed to be a vile child murderer but is an almost comical creation, his introduction with long swaying arms is more laugh-inducing than scary but the dreamlike nature of the images does create a nice sense of unease. Nancy as a last girl is rather bland, she hasn't the immediate impact of say Laurie and the performance is nowhere near the same league as Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween. The best thing about ANoES is the use of practical FX, the exploding blood bed is a work of art and Freddy looks great.

It's just a shame that the story and the manner in which it plays out is a little uninspiring. The end in particular in no way works and it's a shame as the film has so much promise.

[Deleted User]

31 Nights of Fright numbers 22-26:

The Hunted - A great idea is used well in this low key found footage film in which the gimmick actually makes sense. Performances are strong and the film builds tension is a subtle manner through the use of silence. Sure it's a little too long and at times the performance can let it down slightly but all things considered, The Hunted is a damn fine lil genre film and one of the few good found footage films. Stewart is also a name to watch, he's always been a good actor but based off this, he's on his way to being a great director.

Leatherface - Taken for what it is, Leatherface is a passable time killer with a couple of good performances though it's hard to believe that Jed evolves into Leatherface. The violence here is graphic in that way modern horror is, it's a little too clinical and while it tries to be realistic it never feels it. The biggest issue with the film is that it tries far too hard to be a spin on The Devil's Rejects, only it never establishes any sympathy or gives us a reason why we should want the characters to survive.

Better Watch Out - Taking inspiration from a dozen places, Better Watch Out is a modern homage to some of the classics that never feels like a rip off. The set up is simple and the way the film plays out defies expectation, sure there are a couple of issues along the way but overall it's a fine little film that is best experienced cold.

The Devil in a Convent - A delicious slice of horror from 1899 with an inventive and still impressive use of editing. Short as it is, it manages to tell a good story and the set design is sublime. A gorgeous piece of cinema that to this day impresses

Death Note - Much like with Ghost in the Shell, Death Note was a film destined to fail due to repeated attacks from people accusing it of whitewashing. And much like with Ghost in the Shell such claims are utter nonsense. It's getting to the point that simply talking about an American remake of a film from any other country is pointless given the anger of the internet.

Death Note is a damn fine little film, with some dark undertones, gorgeous visuals, an inspired soundtrack and strong performances. As a film it's biggest downfall is that it is not a miniseries given that it tries to cover a lot of ground in it's 100 minutes. inspired ideas such as Kira cults are glossed over. There's so much in play here that I would happily spend hour after hour exploring this world.

Wingard continues to show what a fine filmmaker he has, his subtle use of Ryuk creates a truly memorable villain and Dafoe was an inspired piece of casting bringing a truly unsettling tone to the film.

Death Note is a fine adaptation and a great film in its own right. Sure there are a couple of stumbling blocks but for my money it's an unfairly maligned piece of genre cinema that's vastly superior to trash such as that which Marvel releases every six months. It has a personality of its own and isn't afraid to **** around a little.

Ravenous - The best cannibal western ever made. Funny, smart and gorgeous to look at, Ravenous is one of the best films you have never seen and one deserving to celebrated as a true cult classic. A wonderful piece of cinema.

[Deleted User]

31 Nights of Fright numbers 27-28:

Jackals - A nice little off-kilter low key thriller that effectively builds tension. The set up is familiar and the masked killers are right out of You're Next but Jackals has an identity of its own and does a lot with very little. the violence is brief but effective and the heroes are shockingly prepared once the **** hits the fan, they waste no time in tieing knives to pickaxes as soon as the cult shows up.

Some will take issue with the ending butit works, it's expected but plays out a little different and the obviously hoped for the sequel would be welcomed. Jackals is a simple film, a single location, a small cast and villains right out of an 80s slasher film and while it falters along the way it succeeds in delivering an interesting take on a tired genre.

A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy’s Revenge - Part 2 of Freddy's adventures is a cheap cash in that manages to break almost every rule set up in the original, Freddy no longer contained in the victim's dreams parades around slicing and dicing teenagers in a number of rather mundane locations. The party massacre, in particular, is a low point, it's like something out of a parody and when you add in the gay subtext which is almost hammered it's hard to know just what they were trying to do with Freddy's Revenge. It feels like a script which was hastily reworked to add Freddy to the mix.

Doctor Nick

Deleted User wrote: »

A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy’s Revenge - Part 2 of Freddy's adventures is a cheap cash in that manages to break almost every rule set up in the original, Freddy no longer contained in the victim's dreams parades around slicing and dicing teenagers in a number of rather mundane locations. The party massacre, in particular, is a low point, it's like something out of a parody and when you add in the gay subtext which is almost hammered it's hard to know just what they were trying to do with Freddy's Revenge. It feels like a script which was hastily reworked to add Freddy to the mix.

I must be the only person on the planet who enjoyed this. I thought it was the last time Freddy was genuinely scary - no wisecracks in this one. I also love the party scene "You are all my children now".

[Deleted User]

Fright number 29

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors - A huge step up from part 2, Dream Warriors is a visual treat with a good cast and some nice gore. Freddy is an actual threat this time around and while he has some one-liners they're nowhere near as cheap as the what the later sequels delivered. Sure some of the acting is a little strained and the ending is disappointing but overall Dream Warriors is a better film than it has any right to be.

[Deleted User]

Frights number 30-34

Cat People - A steamy, sultry slice of early 80s horror with an emphasis on sexuality. As a film Cat People is best described as a fever dream, a film full of gorgeous imagery, maddening moments of the ridiculous all thrown together to create something akin to a hazily recalled nightmare. It's a unique and startling tale and one that is never boring.

The Addams Family - The kind of kids film that would never get made now, The Adams Family is a dark and adult tale with some great imagery and a wonderfully demented sense of the absurd. Its slapstick violence is well staged and the cast are fantastic, it's a throwback to that time when kids films weren't afraid to try to be anything other than generic and sage.

Hocus Pocus - Far better than it has any right to be, Hocus Pocus is a prime slice of 90s comedy horror aimed at kids but with a devilishly dark underbelly. Hocus Pocus has a great cast, some nice touches such as Sarah the witch who spends her time playing up in the background and an actual sense of threat. Yes Hocus Pocus isn't afraid of killing a child onscreen and as such it manages to build some nice suspense from that threat.

You're Next - Last year’s A Horrible Way to Die from writer Simon Barrett and Director Adam Wingard was an exceptional piece of work that stands as not just one of the best genre films of the past decade but, a damn fine film that put pretty much every big screen release to shame. Wingard and Barrett further collaborated on the wonderfully witty short Q is for Quack from last years ABC’s of Death, as well as entries from both V/H/S and its sequel. And now, their latest feature length horror opus, You’re Next, has received a wide mid-week release, something which is almost unheard of for anything other than a 200 million dollar CGI infused blockbuster and, as such, expectations are high with many claiming that You’re Next is a game changer, a film that was revolutionizing the horror genre as we know.

From the start it’s only fair to point out that You’re Next is not a game changer, nor is it a film which will drastically alter the horror landscape, and that is not a criticism of the film. Hyperbolic statements such as those do little more than create expectation in the viewer and it’s unfair to saddle any film with such expectation.

You’re Next tells the story of Paul Davison, his medicated wife Aubrey and their dysfunctional, grown up kids and significant others coming together to celebrate Paul and Aubrey’s 35th weeding anniversary. As one expects, things are far from cosy and it’s not long before old rivalries and childish squabbles are reignited. Things come to head during a particularly heated family dinner when just as things are about to explode the not so quiet tranquility of this family gathering is shattered by a crossbow bolt, followed swiftly by the introduction of a gang of murderous, animal mask wearing party crashers.

You could be forgiven for reading the above plot description and assuming that You’re Next is yet another in the seemingly never ending line of home invasion slashers and, while there’s nothing striking original in the set up, You’re Next manages to be one of the most satisfying entries in the genre to date.

Wingard and Barrett playfully toy with genre conventions and expectations in such a refreshing and impressive manner that nothing here feels stale. Even the pre-credits death, one of horrors most generic and tired conventions, is playfully mocked in a manner which defies expectations. There’s a visual punch and a symmetry between imagery and sound that creates some genuine tension in these opening moments. The closest comparison one could make is to the infamous opening death in Scream, only You’re Next manages to surpass it both stylistically and inventively.

The manner in which viewer expectations are toyed with in You’re Next is perhaps the films ace in the hole. The opening invites us to sit back and enjoy a familiar ride but, once the mayhem kicks in, You’re Next takes the path less traveled. Genre expectations and the rule book are thrown out the window and the mid film twist is a thing of beauty that few will see coming. Thanks to the smart script and assured direction the transition from slasher flick to revenge thriller never feels jarring. It feels like a natural progression for the genre and one that opens up a whole host of possibilities that the film gleefully embraces.

One of the film’s more striking aspects is the score, which is highly reminiscent of many 80s genre classics, most noticeably the work of John Carpenter. It’s deeply unsettling and adds a real sense of foreboding to the film. It works as both a homage to the films Wingard and Barrett so clearly love as well as a welcome change from the more heavy metal orientated scores of modern horror. The use of this old school synth score is perfectly offset by the repeated use of the wonderfully toe tipping and upbeat Looking for the Magic by Mind the Gap, a song that would feel more at home during the final moments of an episode of Gossip Girl than in a traditional horror film. The juxtaposition of such an infectiously happy, pop number against such unrelentingly grim violence is a stroke of genius on the filmmakers part and perfect highlight the streak of dark humour running throughout the film.

You’re Next is the perfect balance of horror and fun and manages to craft a truly unnerve sense of dread throughout. This is not some generic, sanitised teen friendly horror but rather a superbly acted, brutally violent and unrelenting ride with a number of truly inventive and memorable kills. It’s a messy, messy ride that once our villains appear rarely stops for breath and has so much fun subverting audience expectations that one can’t help but fall in love with they mayhem. Genre fans owe it to themselves to experience You’re Next and everyone would be a fool to miss what is by far, the cinematic highlight of the summer.

Chopping Mall - Evil robots in a mall going on a killing spree and it's all exactly what you expect. The FX work is good, the performances are decent and the gore isn't bad. At 75 minutes long it's over well before it outstays its welcome and while it amounts to nothing of note Chopping Mall is a decent time killer.

[Deleted User]

Frights number 35 and 36

The Wolf Man - A visual treat, The Wolf Man may be dated and a little too familiar but that's thanks to decades of imitation and like the other Universal monster films, The Wolf Man is a stunning piece of work. The story is understated, the acting a little wooden but the FX work is great and it has some nice ideas in play. It's also a stunning film to look at, from it's gorgeous fog coated sets to the makeup work, there is not a moment here that doesn't impress.

City of the Living Dead - Completely and utterly bonkers, City of the Living Dead is all style over substance and the better for it. Stuffed full of startling imagery and effective gore it's the cinematic equivalent of troubling memory recounted. The acting is grand for what it is and the story is fine but it's the unsettling sense of foreboding coupled with images such as a hanged priest which make the film work so well. City of the Living Dead is not for everyone, it's bat **** nuts at times and doesn't make a lick of sense.

[Deleted User]

Amsterdamned - Something of an oddity, less a slasher film than a detective thriller with some stabby moments. Amsterdam looks great, the opening is superb and the whole thing plays out nicely but the rushed ending kind of robs the film of its big reveal. There's fun to be had here for sure and while dated, Amsterdamned is never anything other than good fun.

Firestarter - Grand for what it is, a little dated at this stage but Scott is immense and there's some nice FX work. No one will mistake it for a great film but for middle of the road King adaptations it isn't bad at all.

Starry Eyes - Viewed now, Starry Eyes is an incredibly relevant and topical film exploring the seedier side of Hollywood. Its low budget means that many of it's big ideas are on the low key side but the strong cast, some nice twists and confident direction make for one hell of a ride.

The Initiation - Standard 80s slasher fare livened up by a good script which is never in a rush to get to the gore, instead taking the time to allow characters to be formed and some story work to be done. Once the action begins it's well staged with an emphasis on the quick and nasty, the kills are efficient and fun and thanks to the early work the deaths have impact. The Initiation is one of the better slashers out there and well worth checking out.

Captain Clegg - A fun adventure film with a great set up and the always wonderful Peter Cushing having the time of his life. The story is a little underdeveloped and the run time could have been extended but overall this is a Hammer oddity that works wonders.

Krampus - A great idea squandered on a bloodless and at time brain dead horror, there's no real sense of threat and the great looking monsters are sadly underused. It's an entertaining watch but could do with some balls.

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale - A damn fine Christmas film with a subversive streak. Dark and adult in a way we rarely see these days, it's a delight from start to finish and deserves to be celebrated as a Christmas classic.

Dead of Winter - A decent thriller with a great set up and some genuine suspense thanks to an interesting script that has a few surprises along the way.

Terror Train - A great set up and some fine acting from the likes of Ben Johnson elevate Terror Train a little bit, sure it's all very familiar and the twist is obvious but the kills are well handled and there's a couple of nice moments of suspense.

Death Ship -Death Ship the ship that deaths is a dull and listless 80s horror film that never really amounts to a whole lot. The budget is small, the kills boring, the kids annoying and George Hamilton takes it all way to seriously. Not a dreadful film by any means, just a rather middle of the road one that feels like it was made for TV. There is no reason for a film about a haunted Nazi boat to be so boring.

Dracula - Coppola's film is pretty to look at but not all that good and campy as hell. Worst of all, poor Keanu is clearly out of his depth and struggling but then again even Oldman struggles with some of the films campier dialogue.

[Deleted User]

Hatchet - Good gore but everything else here is bargain basement and of all the modern slashers it's strange that Hatchet should get three sequels when it really doesn't deserve it. The acting is second rate, it looks cheap as hell, there's no suspense, the humour is forced and flat. Take away the gore and you have a pretty awful film.

Severance - One of the few horror comedies that manages to straddle the line between both genres and make it work. From a strong script the underrated as hell Christopher Smith has crafted something of a modern genre classic. The cast are excellent, Dyer, in particular, is a standout, the gore and violence well staged and it has a wit and sense of fun that few have matched. The only real downside is the one-dimensional villains but honestly, it's a small complaint in a film that manages to subvert expectations and create something a little special.

The Doctor and the Devils - Burke and Hare with a twist, The Doctor and the Devils is a lavish period piece that mucks about in the gutter. Well acted, gorgeous to look at and with some strong writing it's vastly superior to the most recent take on the tale and Pryce is a joy to watch.

Victor Frankenstein - It's alive are words no one will associate with Victor Frankenstein given that it is the cinematic equivalent of a rotting corpse left to fester in a ditch for a number of weeks.

As a film its further proof that Max Landis is one of modern cinemas most baffling entities. His complete and utter lack of talent makes his continued employment something of an enigma. Victor Frankenstein is Landis' latest misfire, a woeful film with a truly dreadful script that lifts its few decent ideas from far better works. Poorly plotted with lazy caricatures in place of characters, zero suspense, weird tonal shifts and dialogue so wooden and banal the George Lucas would be embarrassed by it. That the films best moment, the draining of a pus filled hump was dreamt up by the director and the two two leads says all you really need to about the talents of Landis. It was a continued mystery to the world as to what John Landis' greatest sin was but Difficult People answered that for us all.

McAvoy tries his best here but even he can't breath life into this tired and boring waste of hard drive space. He has a manic intensity that has saved a number of awful films but this time even he can't muster enough enthusiasm to even appear interested for more than 30 seconds at a time. Radcliffe is woefully miscast and out of his depth, he looks like a lost child and spends most of the film with the expression of a man trying to remember the pin code for his alarm system. The rest of the cast fare about as well, Andrew Scott delivers another monotone performance where it's hard to tell if hes alive or dead. He'd make a great Bernie if they ever remake Weekend at Bernie's though that's a little unkind as at least the corpse in the original had some personality.

It takes real dedication and hard work go take something like Frankenstein and make it so uninspiring and boring but they succeed here. Like a lesser picture from The Asylum, Victor Frankenstein is the kind of film that even SyFy would be a little embarrassed about making

Prom Night - Not a bad entry in the never-ending abyss of slasher films, Prom Night has an interesting set up and the killer works far better than most given the simple but unsettling look and the fact that as far as movie slasher killers go, the killer here is largely ineffective.

There's a good script here and the kills are well staged if not exactly great to look at through the disco music and the dancing scene really drag the film down. Do we really need to see our lead disco dancing for what feels like an eternity?

Prom Night is acceptable slasher fare, a simple and unassuming film that doesn't out stay its welcome but how it got three sequels is beyond me as there is nothing here that screams out for a sequel.

[Deleted User]

Lurking Fear - A good cast, an atmospheric location and some good practical FX can't save this dull 76 minute film that feels like it's over 2 hours. Lurking Fear has all the ingredients of a good film, just not the budget to bring it's ideas to life. Constant corner cutting and writing designed to paint over the cracks formed by the lack of a budget result in Lurking Fear being little more than a slight distraction. Something to watch while you do better things.
The Serpent and the Rainbow- A missed opportunity, for most of its runtime the film manages to be a subtle exploration of another culture with a few exploitative touches to tell an interesting and fun story. Shame then that the finale is an FX-heavy mess of poor looking effects work and a baffling set piece. Had the film kept away from the horror elements then it could have been something truly special.

The Howling - One of the great werewolf films, smart and bold, its creature FX is extraordinary and it has a sly wry humour that marks it out as something a little different. Sure it has aged somewhat, but overall The Howling is a great horror film.

[Deleted User]

Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight - The most 90s of movies with a great soundtrack, a Billy Zane so off kilter and enjoying himself that it would be a crime to not enjoy it and let's not forget, a number of interesting visuals and boobs. Demon Knight is great fun, a funny and light horror with a great set up, strong performances and a ridiculous sense of fun. It's a down right genre masterpiece.

Kill Your Friends - British Psycho, this kitsch knock off of it's American cousin is a delightfully dark romp with a twisted sense of humour. There's little original here and at times it feels like the Asylum doing their knock off American Psycho but for the most part Kill Your Friends manages to carve its own identity.

Mom and Dad - Nic Cage on full-on gonzo mode is a treat, coupled with half of the filmmakers behind Crank and you have a bat****, balls to the walls mental descent into depravity. Tonally a treat, this is film making without taste, the kind of film in which a mother attempts to strangle her newborn baby and Nic Cage sings the hokey pokey while demolishing a snooker table with a sledgehammer. In a word, it's genre excellence, beautifully demented and depraved and the kind of madness we need more of.

Mayhem - Like The Belko Experiment but not ****. Mayhem is a bloody good time, a film that celebrates the absurdity of drone life through the reaffirming message that things can get better once you start killing your work colleagues.

Mayhem is a little rough around the edges given the low budget but it's a lot of fun and somewhat therapeutic. It's bloody, brutal fun with an emphasis on the fun. Perfect easy to watch fare.

Underworld: Blood Wars - Acceptable time killer, the violence is well staged, the FX work passable, the acting what one expects and the script keeps things ticking along nicely. It's not a great film but it's a diverting time killer.

Tragedy Girls - Kevin Durand is good, Timothy V. Murphy is great but alas the film as a whole is an insipid and irritating waste of hard drive space. The writing is weak, the two leads are dislikeable in the extreme thanks to poor characterisation and a general sense that they are one dimensional as hell.

Tragedy Girls is a film that thinks a lot of itself, it thinks it's witty, biting, intelligent and has something to say about youth cultures vapid lack of identity but it's really nothing more than a crappy slasher film desperate to be seen as the next Detention, only with none of the wit or charm.

[Deleted User]

To the Devil a Daughter - An effective if at times baffling adaptation of Wheatley's novel in which Richard Widmark takes on the forces of evil. With some striking iconography and a couple of still shocking moments To the Devil a Daughter is an interesting piece of cinema. Storywise it's a little humdrum and the abrupt ending as a result of the footage being destroyed doesn't quite work but overall this remains a fine horror.

The Haunting - Boring, bland, garbage. The kind of uninteresting and banal horror film that builds zero tension before rushing through a CGI heavy ending in hopes of making you forget how crap the last 90+ minutes were.

See No Evil 2 - Far as horror sequels go, SNE2 isn't half bad. The cast is made up of adults playing adults though not always acting like them. Cheap as chips, shot no doubt over a week or so and not exactly intended to set the world alight, SNE2 never the less manages to be quite effective. The deaths are ok, nothing too impressive, especially in comparison to the original and the script and acting, are passable but it's the atmosphere that's the winner here. The Soska sisters manage to give the film a off-kilter haunted nursery rhyme feel that conjures up a nice tone.

The Mad - The best film about mad cow zombies around, tonally this is less a horror than a zany comedy and when it works it makes for an entertaining good time. Zane is good fun and having a ball and the FX is surprisingly good considering the low budget. The Mad is easy to watch fun, the kind of competently made direct to DVD genre cinema that has all but disappeared of late.

[Deleted User]

I Drink Your Blood - Great lil low budget Manson inspired zombie horror. Sure some of the acting is broad and it takes a little while to get going but part of the charm of I Drink Your Blood is that it's in no hurry. It's a leisurely paced horror with some nice gore and plenty of gusto. It's one of those charming cheapos that's just nuts and all the better for it.

The Ritual - A modern take on folk horror, The Ritual is a measured and atmospheric horror more concerned with creating a sense of unease than it is jump scares or gore. The cast are good and Spall given a rare leading role impresses but The Ritual is a film which works thanks to some of the gorgeous character design in many a year, the creature here is a thing of beauty. It's a fully formed nightmare, one which looks unique from every angle, the kind of demented ill-formed oddity that feels almost real.

The Ritual is a simple film, one that goes out of its way to create suspense without relying on cheap scares and while it may go a little off the rails at times it remains a genuinely thrilling throwback.

The Toolbox Murders - Starting with what feels like a best of hits of murder, The Toolbox Murders goes all out as women are stabbed, bludgeoned, nailed and killed for their indiscretions. It's a bold opening and with such a high body count so early it's hard to know how the film is going to keep it up and in the long tradition of slasher cinema, it can't.

TTM is an odd film, for its time it was bold and shocking and watched now it still has an impact thanks to the gratuitous nudity and grotty, sleazy kills which are highly sexualised and unsettling. The nail gun scene, in particular, is an exercise in building tension that works too well given that nothing that comes after has anywhere close to the impact.

The middle half of TTM is overlong, poorly acted and not that interesting. It feels like something lifted from another film and while the ending is interesting, it also feels like a twist simply for the sake of it.

If sleaze cinema is something that interests you then TTM has a lot going for it as long as you can overlook the flaws.

[Deleted User]

The Prowler - A slasher with a mean streak, The Prowler is an incredibly effective low key slasher with some great deaths, an engaging story and good acting. Its effectively understated and atmospheric while at the same time being rather brutal and unrestrained, far as 80s slasher films go it's one of the best.

Veronica - Better than one expects, Veronica is a familiar film full of tropes and cliches we've seen a hundred times before but a wonderful cast of kids make it work. The ending is a little on the weak side and some of the cliches like the nun don't really work but overall it's well made and brilliantly acted creating likeable characters you care for.

The Body Snatcher - An atmospheric and effective 40s horror with some gorgeous set design and a striking feel. The acting is spot on and the use of shadows and night creates some gorgeous imagery and for it's time there's a number of startling moments. Genre filmmaking at its best, gothic and understated it's a rich and vibrant film about the horrors of man.

The Shape of Water - Visually breathtaking if indebted to a dozen others, The Shape of Water is Del Toro at his almost least interesting, the romance is underbaked, the stories need work and at times it feels like someone has taken a miniseries and edited it down to feature length. There's a lot to like here, the creature design is gorgeous and Doug Jones manages to convey so much through movement and Shannon is good, even if his character is a comical caricature. Sadly it never really amounts to a whole lot, while it's bold and striking in moments as a whole film it feels a little cold and is populated with characters who exist simply so that they can have a moment where they stand up for themselves in the face of bigotry or indifference.

The Night Watchemen - A horror comedy that's actually funny, the Night Watchmen is an at times juvenile comedy full of fart jokes and bloodshed and all the better for it. Sure it's cheap as hell and some of the characters are caricatures but that's the point, this is a film whose sole intent is to entertain and it does so in a fun and relaxed manner. The cast are good, the chemistry better and it feels fresh, even as it covers ground that a hundred other films have trod before.

Taryn Barker: Demon Hunter - 80 seconds in and it's obvious that Demon Hunter is less a film than it is a bad joke. A woefully inadequate and poorly made waste of hard drive space that fails in every conceivable manner.

From its atrocious score that's VERY LOUD AND INTRUSIVE, to the abysmal acting from a cast who appear to be robots attempting to display emotions they've never experienced, to the downright awful ADR which results in most dialogue being out of sync and sounding like something from an 80s Kung Fu film, a really really bad on,
to the sound design that appears to have been attempted by someone who has never heard sound of any kind before. Demon Hunter is an embarrassing excuse of a film.

Nothing works here, the script steals from a dozen better films, its like Blade without a budget, Underworld with a serious amount of pretentiousness. The writing is dreadful and makes the average Asylum production feel like a Marvel film. It's rare to find a film that does nothing at all right, but here it is, a film in which not one thing works, it's like someone took the cheapest and worst porn film ever made and then removed the nudity and sex, though most porn stars would be prouder to be in Big Black Cocks in Tight White Holes XV than in this garbage.

Look, I have the up most respect for anyone who makes a film and gets it out there but that doesn't mean that the world needs to see your passion project. Demon Hunter is an awful film, an awful, awful film. An action film in which the fight scenes are comical, a horror film in which the only horror is that felt by the viewer when they realise that this is an 85 minute film.

Half a star simply because it made me laugh more than many recent comedies.

Cherry Falls - Better than it has any right to be, Cherry Falls is the best Scream sequel ever made with an unusual twist on genre expectations. It's not quite the classic it could have been but the story is strong, the cast is good and there's some nice tension but the kills are a little on the tame side and the hinted at sexual undercurrents never really go anywhere. The much talked about uncut version has yet to see the light of day which is a shame as it promises a far more subversive film that what we got.

[Deleted User]

Wolfguy – Enraged Lycanthrope - The best film ever made in which a victim of gang rape uses a psychic tiger to take revenge, along the way falling in with the last werewolf and massacring a whole slew of people. Wolfguy is trash, but what entertaining trash it is. Totally and utterly bonkers, it's like a poorly remembered acid trip with more wtf? moments than you can keep track of. Fight scenes literally involve the cast using whatever is in their pocket to distract each other.

The Housemaid - Cribbing from a dozen others, The Housemaid is a rather decent low key horror that never quite comes together in a satisfying way. Still, it's gorgeous to look at and has some wonderful uses of space and colour, just a shame that it's not that scary and the hinted at supernatural element is played so matter of factly.

Little Evil - The Omen with jokes, just a shame that only a couple land. Little Evil is what happens when you take an idea that would fill 5 minutes and stretch it to feature length. Unfunny, unoriginal and only really alive when the goat puppet makes an appearance. Clancy Brown does what he can with his limited screen time and Adam Scott does that thing he does, shows up and looks put upon while crying about how the world isn't fair. Tucker and Dale was a genre masterpiece, Little Evil feels like a film from a completely different and not all that talented filmmaker.

The Believers - Yes it's overlong and the story needs a little work but The Believers is at times a great lil slice of genre cinema with the dependable Martin Sheen supported by a whos who of 80s character actors. Not nearly violent enough and lacking in frights, it's a pretty rote horror film the likes of which are ten a penny these days.

Bullet Head - Low budget genre filmmaking the right way, Bullet Head takes an intriguing idea and then builds on it in interesting ways. The cast are game for a little fun and there's a lot of mileage in watching a killer dog trying to kill John Malkovich. With a good script, fully formed and rounded characters, some nice tension and some fun directorial flourishes and you have a winner on your hands. Sure the ending does go a little over the top but all in, Bullet Head is everything you could want from a low key genre expedition.

Raw Force - Boobs, bush, blood, blades, bad acting, cannibal monkeys, zombie samurai, awesome overdubbing, Hitler's love child and Cameron Mitchell all come together to create one of the oddest, most ridiculous great bad films ever made. Raw Force is trash, it's badly acted, the story is nonsense, the sets cheap, the choreography wonky and really there's not a whole lot here that can be considered good but for sheer entertainment value it's a hoot from start to finish. The kind of good old-fashioned low budget trash that leaves you with a smile on your face, desperately hoping that the promised sequel will some day materialise.

Dog Soldiers - Dog Soldiers is everything that a low budget creature feature should be, inventive, fun, well made and one that recognises its limitations. The cast are on top form and the camaraderie feels real making for some nice moments once the carnage begins.

Hounds of Love - A wonderfully dark slice of Aussie neo noir which follows a couple who abduct teenage girls to rape and murder. Hardly a light-hearted fare, Hounds of Love is a dark and unrelentingly grim experience which focuses on our antagonists throughout. For a debut film it has a wonderfully assured style, the use of slow motion throughout is excellent and Young never tells when he can show. As a film it's less about misery and horror than it is the ties of motherhood, there's some genuine warmth to be found amongst the dregs and Young mines it for all it is worth.

Ice Cream Man - A horror comedy that tries to be all things to all people but never really amounts to a whole lot, too gory for kids and too kiddy for adults Ice Cream Man is a curio. Full of fun moments such as eyeball cones and Clint Howard's demented performance it is a film in desperate need of a consistent tone. Over acted, not all the funny or gory but it looks good and it has a great set up, it's the kind of film that a hard R remake could turn into something truly interesting.

Silent Hill - A visual treat that manages to retain some of the games sense of unease but all too often never really amounts to a whole lot more than a series of cut scenes spliced together. Silent Hill is certainly a good adaptation and has a wonderful look and feel but it could do with losing 20 minutes and a little less focus on the men outside.

Death Becomes Her - Remember when Bruce Willis gave a ****, well Death Becomes her is Willis at his most playful as he plays against type and has a ball doing so. It's actually kind of sad watching DBH in 2018 and then looking at the long list of films that Willis has taken a paycheck for in recent years.

DBH is the quintessential 90s film, trashy, funny, playful and with a great high concept it's ludicrous in the best way and takes a ridiculous idea and runs with it. Sure it's not as funny as it could be and the script could do with a little work but for a middle of the road comedy it's better than most. Best of all the FX work still stands up and is genuinely impressive even today thanks to it's reliance on practical FX.

Demonoid: Messenger of Death - The best film ever made about a killer hand terrorising a Mexican mine and then L.A. Demonoid is not a great film but it's a bloody good time with the always dependable Stuart Whitman managing to deliver a damn fine performance. Demonoid is trashy sleaze that never manages to be as sleazy or violent as it needs to be but entertains thanks to the sheer absurdity of it all.

The Oily Maniac - The Oily Maniac has long been spoken about as some sleaze classic and the gaudy posters sell a film full of sex and violence but in reality it's more of a charming man in a cheap looking costume monster film than anything else. Cheap and cheerful is the best way to describe this absurd venture. Sure there's a couple of rape scenes, some exposed breasts and a lil violence but beyond that there's little here to differentiate the film from any number of man in a rubber costume films aimed at kids.

Ghost Story - A great little genre picture, ably acted and genuinely unsettling at times. Ghost Story is what happens when you make a horror film and cast adults and it's a treat with the older cast having an absolute blast. Creepy, understated, unnerving and well made it's a gorgeous looking film with some truly startling imagery.

Alice Sweet Alice - A lost classic, Alice Sweet Alice is a slasher film made for adults by adults, from that brief time in the genre's history when people strived to create intelligent and layered genre pictures. Influence by Giallo cinema, ASA is a masterclass in suspense, using brief moments of violence to shock thanks to how mundane they are played. This is a film in which atmosphere is more important than gore and it works so well in creating a constant sense of unease.

Snake Plisken

Is Ghost Story the 1981movie based on the Peter Straub book and starring John Houseman Fred Astaire Douglas Fairbanks Jr and Alice Krige? I remember that fondly from the 80’s really good old fashioned horror, it’s one of those movies I discovered via the movie trailers they used to put on the old vhs movies you would rent and it caught my attention

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2UlwI-7etc