MudSkippers Scary Viewing Log

Supernatural (Season 1)
Recommended by Spooky and Niallon and I finally got round to watching the final two episodes of season 1 and thoroughly enjoyed it. Some of the earlier episodes are bit of mixed bag, but now that the underlying storyline is appearing it is far more engrossing.

Reminded me in parts of the X-files, but with spirits and demons instead of aliens and crooked governments and of course no Scully :sad:

Look forward to starting season 2 next week and can only see it getting better :-)
7.5/10

The Invisible Ray
The 3rd universal classic with Lugosi and Karloff. Two scientists and their entourage go on an expedition to africa to find the site of an ancient meteor impact. Once there the brilliant, but obsessed Karloff creates a powerfull ray that can destroy anything. One of the side-effects is that he himself becomes toxic and anyone he touches instantly dies...............
6/10

The next universal monster one Night Key is only called 'monster' as it stars Boris Karloff. It's a crime caper really and a very enjoyable one at that (7/10)

Tales from the Crypt (Season 3)
14 more ghoulish tales from the crypt keeper, and apart from two so-so episodes it is a great little collection with again plenty big names. The stand-outs for me were Carrion Death about an escaped convict (kyle mclachlan from twin peaks fame), who handcuffed to a dead state trooper tries to escape to mexico. And Dead Wait, directed by Tobe Hooper.
7/10

dellamorte delamore
aka cemetary man, picked this up from a recommendation of this forum, and must confess I loved it..... the cemetary's caretaker and his helper spend their nights taking 'care' of the living dead........... until he meets a beautiful widow. It's a return to the old classic italian horrors, a must see
7.5/10

Aftermath
released same year as dellamorte is this short and slightly disturbing spanish tale about a mortician having his way with his 'patients' after everyone else has gone home. Very much a 'marmite movie'* and wont be easy for everyone to stomach :eek:
8/10

* thanks to ned for coining that phrase

;)Son of Frankenstein
Frankensteins son and his wife and son, go to claim his inheritance but find a hostile local village and Ygor (Lugosi) who convinces Wolf to revive his fathers creation (Karlov) Excellent performances and oodles of atmosphere
7/10

Triangle
Very enjoyable little romp about a yachting trip gone wrong and a haunted cruise liner that saves them. Cant give away to much of the plot or this would be all spoiler tags. Although the plot twists and turns and tries to confuse the viewer.. the premise in the end is very simple :pac: Nice to see several nods to the shining :-)
7/10

Henry 2: Mask of Sanity
Now here's a sequal I was dreading as Michael Rooker as the original Henry (portrait of a serial killer) is impossible to follow This movie turned out better than I expected, although it does recycle a lot of the plot of the original. The performances are decent and some ok kills. Just watch it on its own and forget the connection to Henry.
6/10

City of the Living Dead
A blood and gore feast from the old italian master Lucio Fulci with some excellent kills A priest hangs himself in Dunwich and opens the gate to hell and brings the dead back from the grave... Not to be missed
7.5/10

Demoniacs
Four 'wreckers' cause a shipwreck, plunder the loot and rape the two surviving blonde girls.... the girls make a deal with he devil and come back to haunt the pirates. Stylishly shot, but not much gore and soso acting (other than the female pirate being lusciously naked) make this one of Jean Rollin's lesser movies. Definately wont be for everyone.
6/10

Tales from the Crypt (Season 4)
A very mixed bag this season 4 with mostly decent episodes but only a couple stand-out ones... 'what's cooking' about a dwindling restaurant that turns into a successful steak house, thanks to their 'secret' recipe. And werewolf concerto with a werewolf, a werewolf hunter and a vampire
6/10

Dread
Another Clive Barker book of blood tale gone to waste A student (with fears of his own) has an idea for his thesis to explore peoples fears, he gets help from a lady friend with body issues and a psychopathic drifter............ the only moment of dread was 5/10


Buried
A ballsy movie, set in a coffin only. American trucker gets kidnapped in Iraq and finds himself in a coffin with a flask, a lighter and a mobile phone... this is not McGuyver folks...:D Hats off to Ryan Reynolds for making this one work, the inital sense of panic, the realisation of abandonment..... he carries it all.. The action scene (inside the coffin) is a bonus:)
8/10

Dead Moon Rising
mysterious disease, zombie-esque carry on........... sounds good right? This one is just so cheaply made, it's a challenge to sit through to the end

*You've been warned!*

2.5/10

Men Behind the Sun
Camp 731 is a japanese prisoner camp where the prisoners are subjected to horrendous experiments by japanese scientists researching biological warfare... a live autopsy, frozen limbs until they break and a decompression chamber are just some of the cruel experiments carried out. Movie has a notorious reputation and rightly so, definately not for the faint of heart
7.5/10

The Grapes of Death
A young woman jumps of a train in the middle of french wine country after seeing her friend killed by an infected man. The killer and every other character she encounters after are infected by a pesticide used in one of the wineries. Lots of zombie-esque characters, great atmosphere and plenty of tension make this an excellent example of 70's french horror.
7/10

Tales from the crypt (season 5) (season 6)
Of similar standards to season 4, altough the crypt keeper sequences are at their best, the episodes are of varying standard. Lots of double crossers being doublecrossed, murderers getting their come-uppance, each episode is still a well wasted 25 minutes of entertainment.
6/10

The Crazies
One of romero's underrated horrors, the crazies tells the story about a manmade virus that causes insanity and death for anyone infected... it gets released in a small town and the army comes in to 'clean' up under martial law.
7/10

Survival of the dead
Latest instalment in Romero's 'dead' series..... the plot can be summed up as two Oirish families fueding on some remote island with lots of zombies and a few soldiers thrown in. Little tension or dread and obvious cgi make this a 'meh' movie for me.
4.5 / 10

Black Friday
Lugosi and Karloff are back in a tale about a surgeon who helps save his dying friends life by transplanting part of a gangsters brain into him. Unfortunately the gangsters brain sometimes takes over, resulting in a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde situation.
6/10

Haven't had much time to post lately, hope to to catch up on the movies I've watched over last month or two in the next couple of days, first up is a batch of universal studios monster movies.

Invisible Woman
The female version of the classic HG Wells story....... unfortunately more comedy than 'monster' movie. Entertaining, but the beginning of the end as its the start of the milking of franchises
4.5/10

Invisible Agent
Grandson of the original invisible man inherits the formula and after pearl harbour decides to use it to spy on the germans. Rated a bit higher than the invisble woman as the plot is a little bit more interesting
5/10

Ghost of Frankenstein
Lon Chaney takes over from Karloff as the monster in the 4th installment of the Frankenstein series. Although he's not as menacing it is still very enjoyable, just unfortunate that it does nothing new or add anything to the first 3 movies.
5.5/10


Mummys Tomb
Sequalitis seems to be setting in, although I have plenty of tiime for Lon Chaney the cheap re-use of footage from the earlier mummy's hand takes away from this effort
4.5/10


The Wolf Man
Speaking of Lon Chaney....... he is the original wolf man and this movie is rightly called a classic, not to be missed if you enjoy a good werewolf movie.
7.5/10

Dead and Buried
A small seaside town with a sinister secret... tourists get killed, a fairly hapless sherriff and an enterprising undertaker. Solid movie with plenty of atmosphere from the early 80s..
6.5/10

The Evil Dead
This one doesn't need any introduction or spoilers... the book of the dead, Bruce Campbell and zombies...... a classic and looks even better in HD
8.5/10

Hellraiser
This one doesn't need any introduction either... Clive Barker directs his own story 'the hellbound heart' and introduces Pinhead and the cenobites... another classic given the HD treatment with great effect
8.5/10

Martyrs
Not sure how to sum this one up without spoilers, so am borrowing imdb's description: A young woman's quest for revenge against the people who kidnapped and tormented her as a child leads her and a friend, who is also a victim of child abuse, on a terrifying journey into a living hell of depravity.
Although there's plenty of gore this movie works its disturbing best at the psychological level.
7.5/10

I Spit on Your Grave
A young female writer rents a riverside cabiin to work on her book and attracts the unwanted attention of some local rednecks, they catch her alone and she is gang raped several times. Once recovered the young writer sets out for revenge and kills her tormentors one by one. Other than being banned at its release, it is a relatively average revenge movie
6/10