Horror

[9] Writer/director Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Annihilation) serves up this intimate horror/thriller about a woman (Oscar nominee Jessie Buckley) who escapes London for the English countryside after the death of her ex-husband. Once there, however, she encounters several strange men who make her increasingly uncomfortable. First there’s the cottage owner who seems disappointed she is unmarried. More alarming is the nude man who chases her …

[5] Bela Lugosi headlines this Universal horror flick as a carnival showman determined to successfully inject a human being with gorilla blood to prove that man descended from ape. But who in 1845 Paris would willingly subject themselves to such an experiment? Lugosi and his gorilla companion travel by carriage through the fog-filled streets looking for women to kidnap and inject. After many failed attempts …

[2] Herschell Gordon Lewis earned the title ‘godfather of gore’ because of this film, the first widely distributed movie to feature excessive blood and bodily mutilation. Its novelty with young drive-in audiences was so strong, that it allowed Lewis to write and direct dozens more of such movies for the next ten years. In this first bloodbath, Mal Arnold plays a peculiar grocery store owner …

[8] Five travelers end up stranded at our title location after a fierce night-time storm makes driving the English hillsides too dangerous. The family that lives there is less than hospitable, with secrets that make the evening increasingly frightening. The Old Dark House is one of the grandfathers of what is now a classic horror sub-genre. Director James Whale (Frankenstein, Waterloo Bridge) makes it a …

[5] Jason Voorhees is back, and this time he’s stabbing in three dimensions. For the third installment of the Friday the 13th franchise, Paramount Pictures added the gimmick of 3D to attract young horror fans. But even if you don’t watch it in 3D, all the pitchforks, arrows, yo-yos, and eyeballs that pop toward the camera lens still have their cheesy charm. The story’s not …

[2] First off, Demon Wind is not about farts. If it were, it would most assuredly be a more interesting movie. Instead, it’s about a young man (Eric Larson) who drags a bunch of his friends to the ruins of his grandparents’ house in the middle of nowhere. The old folks died under mysterious circumstances sixty years ago, and junior’s suddenly curious to find out …

[3] British archaeologists unearth a disgraced Egyptian prince (Boris Karloff) and accidentally bring him back to life. Ten years later, the mummy — looking conveniently human — schemes to reunite with his ancient lover, now reincarnated in the body of one of the archaeologist’s girlfriends (Zita Johann). In the pantheon of Universal’s classic monster movies, The Mummy is my least favorite by a large margin. …

[7] Just a few years before sound wiped out the silent cinema, Universal Pictures had one last major hit with The Phantom of the Opera. Based on Gaston Leroux’s novel, the film centers on a young opera starlet named Catherine (Mary Philbin) who makes a pact with a mysterious ‘ghost’ who haunts the Paris Opera House. He’ll make Paris audiences worship her if she’ll just …

[3] An abominable snowman terrorizes a Montana ski resort in this made-for-TV movie from the late ’70s. Since Snowbeast was made for a television audience, you get no gore and very little in terms of viscera or genuine scares. The monster’s presence is mostly achieved through the old ‘point of view’ shot, which quickly gets tedious. When we do see the monster, it’s usually just …

[6] I like all the Scream movies, and I’m happy to say that trend continues with this fifth entry in the franchise. Not that the fuel tank isn’t getting low. While the original movie marries an inspired script with tight direction and terrific casting, the sequels have largely skated by on the merits of charismatic stars Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, and David Arquette. They were …

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