October Fright Fest-Burnt Offerings

Around 1979 or 1980 my brother and I saw this film on TV on a dark and stormy night. It made an impression on me from the start. A family moves into a large, old house to watch it. They have to care of it and take care of the old woman upstairs. Things quickly go bad as family members run into odd occurances and the mothers begins acting strangely. The situation becomes worse and worse until the family decides to leave the house, but can they leave in time? I never saw the film again until like 15 years later. Not as great as I at first thought, but still enough scares and mystery to keep it going.

Favorite part-
Definitely the ending. Not going to spoil it for you and it may be predicatable, but the ending makes the movie.

Why you should see this film-You have to have some patience, but the acting and the ending make it worthwhile.

If you've seen it before then you should watch it again because-I only watch it every couple of years, but always enjoy it.

October Fright Fest-Phantom of the Paradise

Music writer Winslow Leach (William Finley) wants his music to be used and is hopeful that powerful producer Swan (Paul Williams)will use his music. Swan actually wants to steal and claim Leach's music as his own. In a battle Leach is disfigured, but he eventually returns as a phantom trying to deal with Swan and get Phoenix (Jessica Harper) to sing his material. Swan is pretty much evil and tries pulling all the strings to do his bidding. This is glam rock version of the Phantom of the opera, but it's a must see for fans of over the top cult films.

Favorite part-
Actually I'd Williams' music as he wrote all of the songs here. It varies from Elton John style pop songs to darker Alice Cooper style songs.

Why you should see this film-Not a perfect film, but it has a wild,exagerated view of the early 70's glam scene and they combine it with a dark horror story.

If you've seen it before then you should watch it again because-It's definitely a filmd that gets better each time you see it.

October Fright Fest-Targets

Some horror fans may say Target isn't really a horror film. Yes, there's no vampires, zombies or lumbering monsters stalking the village. Instead it's the tale of a seemingly normal guy who snaps and begins to use his skill with a gun to just take out a people. Around the where I live we saw several years ago about how scary the threat of a sniper can be. The films captures that mood too. While the sniper goes down his bloody path we get the side story of Boris Karloff basically playing himself. He's and aged horror star ready to call it quits after promoting his final film. Scenes of these two characters are shown during the day and as the day goes on we see the two will end up at the same drive-in that night. Karloff gives a tremendous performance particularly in the ending.

Favorite part-The scene where the sniper picks off an unsuspecting driver is just way too realistic but well done nonetheless.

Why you should see this film-It may be a topic that's a bit too real for some, but it's a very well done film.

If you've seen it before then you should watch it again because-The more you see the more can feel the emotions from the performances of the two leads. Great film.

October Fright Fest-Vampire Circus

In the early 1970's Hammer Films began to show nudity and more violence in their films. This film definitely falls into that category. Not a perfect film by any means. There are flaws in the plot and parts are rushed, but it's still an adventurous attempt with decent results. The film begins when a local woman has taken up with a vampire. So the good townspeople take it upon themselves to barge into the vampire's home and stake him. Flash forward a few years and hey, look the circus is coming to town. Everyone likes a circus right? Oh, but wait it's really a circus of vampires come disguised as circus performers. Their goal is to get revenge on the people that killed the vampire in the opening sequence. So they began to target and pick off those townspeople and their families.

Favorite part-
Probably the opening scene. It really sets the mood for this album.

Why you should see this film-It's a flawed film, but it's fairly dark, has enough action and twists to keep your interest.

If you've seen it before then you should watch it again because-The more I watched it the more I felt like they took some chances but most of them paid off.

October Fright Fest-Revenge of the creature

It's frequently a joke about how bad sequels are, but I don't think this idea came up until the 1980's when sequels were being churned out with more regularity and not always a great deal of care. However sequels both good and bad existed before that. There were some solid sequels in the past. The Creature from the black lagoon is in the minds of many (including me) the best monster film of the 1950's. So following up a film like that was a tall order. The Revenge of the creature isn't quite as good, but it's good and a worthy sequel. The gill man gets brought back to Florida and of course he escapes to terrorize the locals. Being it's the 50's the dialog is often, but great scenery and the creature make things go pretty well.


Favorite part-There is a part where the creature throws and unsuspecting victim into a tree. It looks to be done with a dummy and ropes on pulleys. Quaint by today's standards, but considering what was availible

Why you should see this film-If you liked the first film and almost any 1950's monster films you would probably like it. It's not as essential or as original as the first film, but it has a fair amount of action and looks good even today.


If you've seen it before then you should watch it again because-As I said above it still holds up pretty well.

October Fright Fest-Brides of Dracula

The title is misleading in this Hammer film. There are no brides although I guess they are perspective brides. Dracula is not in this film either. This was originally to be Hammer's second Dracula films and they were hoping Christopher Lee would return as Dracula. However they were unable to work out a deal so no Lee and no Dracula. Instead there is a vampire named Baron Meinster who is released by a woman who unfortunately felt sympathy for him. The Baron then begins biting necks and recruiting undead followers across the land. Wait, because Dr. Van Helsing (the magnificent Peter Cushing) is in the vicinity and he knows a thing or too about getting rid of vampires.

Favorite part-Almost any scene with Cushing, but I'll go with the fight scene between Val Helsing and Meinster that occurs a little bit before the finale.

Why you should see this film-It's one of Hammer's finest gothics. Despite the fact that there is no Dracula it's still a solid vampire movie.

If you've seen it before then you should watch it again because-It's a classic, if you like you you will continue to find more to like about it with each repeated viewing.

October Fright Fest-The innocents

Deborah Kerr stars as Miss Giddons a somewhat shy woman who accepts the position as governess for two orphaned children whose uncle is frequently away from the estate. Everything seems to go fine until Miss Giddons hears about what happend to thenow-deceased groundskeeper and the previous governess. The she begins to wonder is she seeing things or are their really ghosts around the house. Will Miss Giddons succomb to madness or will she find out what is going on?


Favorite part-This is a beautifully filmed movie. I won't spoil it for those have not seen it, but I'll just that the scenes that may or may not involve spirits are done exceptionally well both in photography and timing. Many horror films could and shpould have taken lessons from this movie.



Why you should see this film-This isn't a bloodfest and there are no vampires of flesh chewing zombies, but instead it' a subtle story that plays with your mind as to what's reallly going on.



If you've seen it before then you should watch it again because-Once you see it once you know what is happening, but once you see it again you can focus in the clues that will hint earlier on as to what is really happening.

October Fright Fest-Kingdom of the spiders

A Small Arizona town begins to see tarantulas showing up. A farmer (Woody Strode) loses some animals to spider bites. Veterinarian William Shatner tries to find a solution with the help of Tiffany Bolling. Eventually it turns out the tarantulas are not only great in number, but very aggressive as well. Instead of finding a solution the townspeople find themselves fighting for their lives.

Favorite part-Just the fact that they used so many real spiders in this move helped it to look good. The concept is kind of far fetched, but you place real spiders all over the place and it looks like a real threat. The ending is good too.


Why you should see this film-William Shatner, tarantulas, great scenery, William Shatner, fine supporting cast and did I mention that William Shatner was in it?


If you've seen it before then you should watch it again because-The 70's was full of nature gone wild films. A few before Jaws, but many more after it's release. Kingdom of the spiders is one of the better ones from that sub-genre. Plus it holds up well under repeated viewings.

October Fright Fest-Raw Meat (AKA: Deathline)

This British made film came out in the UK as Deathline, but over here in the states it goes by the far less subtle Raw Meat. This film and set in the early 70's. A politician gets attack down by the subway. A young couple find him and the man of the couple thinks he is drunk, but his girlfriend thinks he's hurt and convinces him to tell the police when they get up to the straight. However when the policeman comes down the man is no longer there. Soon we find out that there is cannibal living down in a back room in the subway. He watches as his pregnant and sick mate dies. The back story reveals that around the turn of the century workers were in a cave-in down in the subway. Some survived by lving off the flesh of the dead. Now we see their last descendent trying to survive, but he wants more than that. Now he wants a new mate. While all this is going on the police get involved because the politician that disappeared has some pull. We are treated to Donald Pleasance as the head investigator and this is definitely the best role I have ever seen Pleasance play. Yes, even better than in the Halloween movies. The police think the young couple may have been involved with the politician's disappearance. Eventually the woman of the couple gets targeted by the cannibal as his possible new mate.


Favorite part-When the cannibal man looks as his mate dies. This adds to the film that he's not just a monster. That's a large part of what makes this movie different from the typical creature feature.



Why you should see this film-A rather unique film due to the story and sympathy for the "killer". The pacing could have been tighter and the guy in the couple is just okay. However the other performances are strong and it's a great looking film as well.



If you've seen it before then you should watch it again because- Definitely a film where you understand and see more each time you see it.

October Fright Fest-Friday the 13th part VI: Jason lives

Now I will right away let it be known that I am much more of a fan of traditional monsters like vampires (not of the Twilight variety), mummies and werewolves than I am of the slasher type films. I definitely tend to like horror movies from the 30's through the early seventies more than films the last thirty to thirty-five years. Despite my preference I still have seen my share of films from more recent years.

Now I liked the first three Friday the 13th films well enough. Then the forth and fifth segments were where the series became totally predictable even dull. So in 1986 when the sixth film came out all fans should have been expecting more of the same. Part VI delivers many of the typical elements of the previous films, but there is enough here to make it the only standout of the later FT13th films. As you can expect from the title Jason rises from the dead and goes about killing of course. That's not all of it though. Most of the other films in the series are just pure slasher although there are some vague mystery elements in the first film. Part VI however reminds me some of Universal's Frankenstein films. I know some old time purists are gasping at me comparing a sequel slasher film to a classic monster movie. However Jason's resurrection early on had me thinking of Frankenstein as he slowly comes back to life and immediately begins terrifying the locals. So eventually he goes on a slashing spree, but this time around I found myself liking some of the characters/victims. There is some effort made to make you care about a few characters which rarely happens in any of these films.

Favorite part-I love the RV crash and the brief scene with Jason standing on top of it while flames are shooting up is quite impressive. The Alice Cooper songs help as well.

Why you should see this film-As far as 80's slasher films go it's quite decent.

If you've seen it before then you should watch it again because-One of the few films in it's series that really holds up well under repeated viewings.

October Fright Fest-Planet of the vampires

Made by legendary director Mario Bava, Planet of the vampires isn't as much a defining type of movie like "Black Sunday" nor is it the influential film that "Blood and black lace" was and and it's not as much as "Danger Diabolik". However it's a horror film set in space and it's a darn good one. Now the monsters here aren't real vampires because they are more like zombies, but not of the flesh eating variety. They still manage to be pretty spooky though. A spaceship goes to check on another ship that has landed on a remote planet believing the crew may be hurt or worse. When they land they find members of the first ship and think all is fine, but then odd things begin to happen as the realization that the crew of the first ship are not what they appear to be. Because it's a Bava film it looks great for the time with his trademark candy colored scenery. The plot isn't totally fleshed out, but it's interesting enough. Definitely worth checking out.

Favorite part-There are numerous eerie scenes this film when people are out on the planet, but I would have to go with the ending as my favorite part. Not going to spoil it for you, but I felt the ending worked very well.

Why you should see this film-It was an influence on Ridley Scott's Alien. Even thought the monster is of a different variety this film builds up the paranoia and being alone aspect of space. There is no doubt that this film has had some impact of other films over the years.

If you've seen it before then you should watch it again because-It's a great looking film and it manages to build up the suspense reasonably well.

October Fright Fest-Psychomania

Andy and I both like horror movies so in October we will be knocking out a few brief
reviews of some that we like. So I'll kick things off with one messed up movie.

Brief description-
A member of a local motorcycle gang makes a deal to be immortal provided he gets all the other members of the gang to kill themselves so they can all come back and be immortal too. Now you have to keep in mind that is a small budget British horror film. When the motorcycle gang "menaces" the locals it means they knock over bread carts and chase away women pushing their strollers. The occult part of this movie involves a frog cult of some sort.

Favorite part-This film is high in the cheese department. It's not that scary, the effects are limited and the acting is well what it is. Still it's pure 70's cheese that just plunges ahead with it's ludicrous concept and manages to keep my attention every time I watch it. Which to date has probably been at least 25 times. If I had to choose just one part I'd go with the grocery store rampage at the end. It just defines all that is silly and wonderful about this film.

Why you should see this film-
If the above isn't enough then I don't what else to say. Seriously it's a dark comedy of sorts and is very much a 70's film. Really it's just a lot of fun.

If you've seent it before then you should watch it again because-
To me it never gets old and never fails to make me smile every time I watch it.