[4] American International Pictures uses Edgar Allan Poe’s story as a backdrop for what is really an original mystery story about actors in a turn-of-the-century Grand Guignol theater who are being murdered one by one. Jason Robards headlines as one of the troup, someone who may not be who he appears to be. Christine Kaufmann plays his wife and fellow thespian. She’s having dreams and premonitions …
[6] A witch casts a spell on a nasty lord’s family after he slaughters several members of her coven. Cry of the Banshee then becomes a “ten little indians” scenario as the witch’s otherworldly servant of evil dispatches of the lord and his family. Vincent Price headlines as the wicked patriarch and Elisabeth Bergner plays Oona the witch. No one really gets a chance to …
[5] A strict vegetarian (Garance Marillier) attends a veterinary school where bizarre student hazing creates a craving for hunger that can’t be satiated. Raw may sound like a gory horror film, but it really isn’t that sort of movie. It plays out more like a Twilight Zone episode, complete with a cute explanatory epilogue. It takes a long time for the main character to discover her cannibalistic desires. …
[5] Ridley Scott returns to the franchise he created with Alien: Covenant, which is equal parts Alien remake, Alien prequel, and Prometheus sequel. The plot is a retread of both the original 1979 film and the 2012 prequel: a group of space travelers respond to a signal on a strange planet, discover monsters, and get killed by monsters. Halfway through, we learn the planet is …
[7] Jordan Peele of Key and Peele comedy fame takes an auspicious stab at writing and directing a horror film with Get Out, the story of a young black man who starts to get the heebie jeebies after being introduced to his white girlfriends’ family. At first, it’s innocent enough — white people making statements about voting for Obama, loving Tiger Woods, and conceding to …
[4] Mary Lambert returns to direct the sloppy, uneven sequel about new characters who discover the burial ground with resurrection powers from the first film. She’s working with a solid cast that includes uber-baddie Clancy Brown (Highlander, Carnivale), Anthony Edwards, and T2 rising star Edward Furlong. There are a handful of inspired moments in the movie, including some beautiful outdoor cinematography from Oscar-winner Russell Carpenter, …
[7] Charles Laughton plays H.G. Wells’ mad scientist in the first film version of The Island of Dr Moreau. It’s a reasonably faithful adaptation until the halfway point, where it gets as loose as the Demi Moore version of The Scarlet Letter. Wells’ provocative suggestions about man’s animal nature remain largely submerged in the movie’s Saturday matinee atmosphere. Leading man Richard Arlen (so striking in …
[3] A doctor working on a cancer cure in the Caribbean discovers a snake venom that turns his patients into zombies. Beneath the Lewtonesque title is a gitchy rip-off of James Bond meets the Scooby Doo Mysteries. It’s not nearly as bad as it could have been. The script moves remarkably well on its fumes of inspiration, the soundtrack is groovy, and some of the …
[7] A frantic man (Ezra Godden) stumbles into a Spanish coastal village where the inhabitants are metamorphosing into sea creatures. As far as Lovecraft adaptations from Stuart Gordon (From Beyond, Re-Animator) go, I like this one best. The script is tight and Gordon demonstrates remarkable directing chops in sustaining tension and suspense for what is, for the most part, one big chase. Godden is engaging …
[3] A young housekeeper learns that her boss’s daughter is instructing zombies from a nearby graveyard to kill at her command. There are some neat moments and ideas in this mess of a movie, scenes where the housekeeper dreams she is dancing with a scarecrow, and the climactic zombie siege for example. But the film falls victim to a horde of B-movie ailments, including wooden …
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