Happy Halloween from Jigsaw's Lair!!!!!

So, it is Halloween again and it is time for some spooky and scary movies, some sweets and trick or treating.....

It is time for digging out your old Halloween movies such as John Carpenter's classic Halloween and the following sequels, but there are plenty of other horror movies which I like to watch too...I am thinking that I might watch The Fog, The Exorcist and maybe The Omen...Classic movies like these are always good and there is no better day to watch them.....It is a pity that most people seem to watch horror movies at Halloween and ignore them for the rest of the year...Those of us who love horror enjoy Halloween all year round!!!!!So, if you are going to have a horror marathon today, let me know what you have decided to watch...I would like to know that I am not the only one who is going to spend some time with Michael Myers tonight!!!Enjoy your Halloween!!!!

Hell's Kitchen, Season 8, Episode 6 Recap

 

This season seems to be flying along. Last week, Emily got her marching orders.. It is down to ten now....

Chef Ramsay calls all of the remaining chefs down to the kitchen and he makes Melissa think that she is going home,but he puts her in the mens team. Trev is taken from the blue team on to the ladies team. Neither team are happy with these decisions. Their challenge is to make an interesting salad and the best one will be in some magazine.The men win the challenge. They get to have lunch in Malibu. The girls have to clean the kitchens and prep both of them. Trev is beginning to get frustrated with super bitch Sabrina. She seems lost in the kitchen sometimes...

That night, the chefs have to  pull together and try and win. Trev is finding it hard to get along with the girls and Melissa is trying to work with the guys. Boris is not able to cook his shrimp and he gets shouted at. There are some celebs coming into Hell's Kitchen and the chefs are eager to please. Russell is beginning to bug Boris as he is following him around. Melissa is not able to cook a scallop and Rob gets screamed at and he is pissed at her.Nona's scallops are raw and she is under serious pressure. Melissa and Rob are having a hrad time working together and Melissa has used up all of the scallops . She has wasted them all. Chef Ramsay is horrified. Sabrina is being followed by Trev. He is on her back...

Boris is having a terrible time on his station. Sabrina is having the same problem. Trev is irritating her and she is being shown for the poor cook she really is..Boris is thrown out of the kitchen. Both teams have to choose one person to send home. Boris and Sabrina are chosen.. Chef Ramsay calls out Melissa and Nona and Melissa ends up being sent home(Watch Video!!!).

Saw 7 is almost here!!!!

So, this weekend, Saw 7 will be coming to cinemas near you and we here at Jigsaw's Lair are looking forward to it!!!! Have a look at the new Saw website and get yourself ready for the next chapter in this exciting and bloody horror movie series and what's more, it will be in 3D!!!!Here is the link for the website-http://www.saw3dmovie.com.

Hell's Kitchen Season 8, Episode 5 Recap

So, last week, Louis was sent on his way and we are now down to 11 chefs.

This week, the chefs are chatting with each other and Boris seems to be in the firing line.  He is being given another chance by his so called buddies. The women are arguing again and who is the cause? Yes, you guessed it, bitchy Sabrina! HOW is she still in it? She does not have what it takes to win. I can see that now and I think that she is just kept in it because she stirs everyone up. Anyway, Hell's Kitchen is hosting a high school prom. It just happens to be for Beverly Hills High School, so bring on the pretentious young people!!! There are three high school students in the prom committee and they are all very irritating to the chefs. The men and women have to make stuff for their menu and the kids get to taste it and decide what they like. The women win the challenge and they get a reward of going to an amusement park. The men have to make Hell's Kitchen into a suitable prom venue. They are not happy about it. Russell is getting very pissed.

That night, Sabrina is dragging her heels during prep. The others are wondering what she is still doing in the competition.Emily is making crab cakes and she can't get it right. Melissa has cooked loads of fillet beef that is not on order and she has messed up royally. Chef Ramsay is so pissed at her. She has wasted 23 pieces of beef which is really unforgivable. Boris is not up to scratch either and Chef Ramsay calls him up again. The women are doing well. Boris gets his times mixed up on his fish and the others are depending on him. He lets them down.Emily is sinking and she is just not cut out for the kitchen, I think. Russell is trying to take over the blue team and he shouts at everyone. Meanwhile, Melissa is not able to cook her steak properly. Nona interrupts Chef Ramsay and he is not impressed with her.

The women are the losing team and Sabrina gets to pick two people for elimination. The others are horrified. She puts up Melissa and Emily for obvious reasons. Emily gets kicked off this week(Watch Video Above)..

Burnt Offerings Movie Review 150

 Burnt Offerings is a horror movie from 1976 and it stars Oliver Reed and Karen Black. It also stars Burgess Meredith and Bette Davis. It is directed by Dan Curtis.

Ben Rolf(Reed) and his wife Marian(Black) and their son, David visit a house which they are thinking of renting for the summer. It is a huge house and Ben thinks that they will never be able to afford the rent for the whole summer. Marian falls in love with the place and when they meet the owners, Roz Allardyce(Eileen Heckart) and her brother, Arnold(Meredith), Marian is more convinced than ever that this house is for them. Ben is not so sure. He cannot believe it when Roz and Arnold tell him the rent and he wonders why it is so low. Roz tells them that her elderly mother lives in the house and all Marian will need to do is to feed her three times a day. The old woman never comes out of her room. They go away to think about it, but Marian convinces Ben to take it, so they do. When they arrive on moving day, the brother and sister have gone. They enter the house and they find that the fridge and pantry are fully stocked. They get everything ready.

Ben's aunt Elizabeth(Davis) is staying with them too. She is an energetic and witty old lady. Marian sets about getting the place into shape. She realises that the food she is bringing up to the old lady is not being eaten, so she tries to talk to her, but the door to her room remains locked. Ben and David clean the swimming pool and when they are messing around, Ben seems to change and he keeps dunking David under the water, almost injuring him. Later, he cannot explain what came over him. Marian reassures him that it is okay, but he feels guilty. Ben dreams of a his parents funeral and a sinister hearse driver. He makes it up with David but he notcies that Marian is changing a little. Elizabeth is also changing. She has lost all of her energy and she begins to get sick.Ben is haunted by his dreams. David is almost killed when a gas heater emits fumes in his room. Elizabeth tells Marian that she was in with David's room but she didn't touch the heater. Marion blames her for what happened. After that, Elizabeth becomes very ill and she dies.

Marian begins to change into a different person and Ben is worried about her. He wants to leave, but she won't hear of it. He grabs David and he tries to escape in the car, but they get blocked by a falling tree. He hits his head. Marian comes out and takes them back into the house. Ben has a breakdown and just doesn't seem to function. The doctor tells Marian that he should be in a hospital, but she wants to keep him in the house. He is sitting by the pool when David gets into trouble in the pool. Ben cannot help him. Marian jumps in and rescues him. After this, they decide to leave. Ben recovers. They are in the car when Marian decides to go back into the house and tell the old lady that they are leaving. Ben begs her not to as does David, but she goes. When she does not appear back, Ben looks for her and he finds what looks like an old lady up in the locked room. When he looks closes, the old lady is Marian........He is so frightened that he falls out of the window onto the car. David screams and runs out but the house is beginning to crumble and the last scene has David trying to shield himself from a huge stone coming towards him....

I really liked this movie. It was very entertaining and there were some scares too. It was very good and I am giving it an 8/10. I recommend this one...

Restraint Movie Review 149

This is an Australian thriller and it is directed by David Denneen and it stars some Australian actors who I was not familiar with.

The story begins with a couple called Ron(Travis Fimmel) and Dale(Teresa Palmer) who stop at a gas station to refuel, but when the attendant sees a dead body in their trunk, Ron kills him. They are on the run from the cops and they come upon an old house which they decide to hide in. There is man called Andrew(Stephen Moyer) living in the house. He seems like a quiet man who is a little odd. Ron hits him and ties him up. Ron wants to take Andrew outside, but Andrew is agoraphobic. The couple take him as a hostage. Ron sees his face on the TV and he goes nuts...

Ron argues with Dale and Andrew tries to call the police but is caught by Ron. Andrew tells Ron how he can get money to go away. He tells Ron that Dale will need to dress as his fiancee to go to the bank and withdraw the money. The police turn up at the house, but Andrew convinces them that everything is fine and they leave. Dale agrees to go to the bank. She gets some of the money and Andrew has to confirm that it is okay over the telephone. Ron takes a delight is making fun of Andrew and the way he is. Dale doesn't like it. She talks to Andrew and they have a chat about Ron. Ron asks Andrew why his fiancee walked out without all of her things which are still in the house. He tries to antagonise Andrew and then he wants to kill him,but Andrew talks him around before he does it.

Andrew manages to get away and he tries to injure Ron but to no avail. Ron captures him again. Meanwhile, Dale is at the bank getting more money and jewels etc. She comes back and finds Ron trying to kill Andy. She tries to shoot Ron, but the gun is empty. Ron sees red and tries to kill Dale but Andrew saves her and she eventually kills Ron. Dale thinks that she can just go and leave Andrew behind, but he tells her that she is going to have to stay with him and pretend to be his fiancee or he will spill the beans.....

This movie was interesting and well made. It had some good moments of tension and overall, it was enjoyable. I will give it a 6/10.

Hell's Kitchen Season 8, Episode 4 Recap

So last week, Raj was given the boot and rightly so.So, we are down to 12 chefs.

The guys are delighted this week because they are without Raj. I don't think that the rest of the guys are great either so we will see. Chef Ramsay asks the chefs not to smoke as it damages their pallet, but some of them are not very keen on quitting. They all have to make ravioli and as usual, it's the men vs. the women. Trev is pissed that the others never tasted his effort. The men win the challenge and they are all happy. Trev tells the chef that the others did not taste his dish and the others think that he is a kiss ass. The ladies have to make the pasta from scratch and the men go off to some nice resort. Trev lets the others know that he did not appreciate what they did to him earlier. The girls just bitch as usual with Sabrina lazing around(Watch video)...

That night in Hell's Kitchen, it is Italian Night and they have some celebrities in the house. The pressure is on and the men are determined to do well. In the red kitchen, Melissa is not keeping up. She is slow and her food is not cooked properly.The men are doing well until Louis hands up sub standard salmon. Melissa is having a meltdown and she is crumbling under the pressure. Sabrina isn't performing well either so there are no outstanding cooks in the kitchen. She can't cook her meat and she is relying on everyone else to help her.Rob is sent out of the kitchen to eat a terrible pizza which he handed to Chef Ramsay. Louis is messing up her meat and he is crashing and burning. Boris is kicked out of the kitchen. Louis gets kicked out too. Chef Ramsay finally throws them all out of the kitchen.

Chef Ramsay tells them to pick 2 from each teams to go home. So, the girls pick Melissa and Sabrina for obvious reasons. Louis and Boris are picked from the men's team. Louis ends up being sent home. He was able to talk himself up but he couldn't cook meat...

Hell's Kitchen Season 8, Episode 3 Recap

 Last week, Curtis was sent home after he failed to grasp making sushi....

This week, the men's team are demoralised and they wonder why Raj didn't get sent home. Vinnie tries to justify what he did. Raj is on his back and he is irritating everyone. Jillian and Sabrina are bitching about their team. The next morning, the teams are awoken from their sleep by paramedics. They find out that they have to make breakfast for them all. The women pull together and they are sending out their food quickly. The men are another issue. They are slow and their food is really suffering. Emily burns her bacon and looks stupid. The men's tables are wanting their food and the men are painfully slow.Raj messes up his eggs of all things and he answers Chef Ramsay back when he is shouting at him. Needless to say, the girls win the challenge. The men have to  polish glasses and clean the kitchens. They all moan about it.

The guys all turn on Raj again. They all tell him that he sucks. Then they start to argue. I have to say that they are picking on him even if he isn't very stable. None of the guys strike me as being that great at all. There doesn't seem to be any one person who is above the rest this time. Sabrina is such a lazy cow. She doesn't want to do the prep and she doesn't think that she should have to do it. The others are not impressed with her laziness. That night, Hell's Kitchen will be serving cocktails. Trev and Sabrina are chosen to make them. The others are in the kitchen. Raj and Vinnie have to work together and Raj is messing it up already. Jillian asks Emily to taste her dish and she tells her that it needs salt. Jillian adds salt and then the customer sends it back. Raj is in the doghouse again when he clashes with Chef Ramsay.

Melissa isn't cooking her fish well and she gets told off. Raj hands Chef Ramsay raw salmon. Emily is causing mayhem in the kitchen. Raj starts to eat the wasted food much to the disgust of his fellow cooks. Gail's food is on fire and she is day dreaming. Raj cooks too many fish and he uses them all up when Chef Ramsay needs them. Chef Ramsay makes Raj go out and tell the customers that he messed up and they can't have the fish. So, the men's team wins and the women have to choose two people to go home. Emily and Sabrina are up for elimination. In the end, Chef Ramsay sends Raj home  and the men's team are delighted and choosing their next victim....

Hell's Kitchen Season 8 Episode 2 Recap

So, last week, Lisa was given the boot and Hell's Kitchen was off to a flying start. Raj was not popular with the guys team. They want him to step up and get working. Sabrina is under fire with the girls team as she tried to screw Nona. She is a very unpleasant person and she doesn't deserve to be in Hell's Kitchen with her attitude. The teams are woken up loudly by Chef Scott and co. They are told to make sushi after bring shown by some master chef. They each have to make it themselves. The girls and guys are teamed up and each team is in with a chance to win some nice knives. The women lose and the men get to go and taste wine(not my idea of fun).

Service begins that evening. Raj is back with his slow, plodding ways and the others are not impressed with him. He seems to think that he will be fighting back, so we will see. Gillian and Vinnie are helping James with the job of maitre d. Vinnie is painfully slow at his orders and the blue team are behind.Raj annoys Chef Ramsay by just standing around. Curtis cannot get his head around the sushi and he is finding it too hard. Emily can't keep up on her meat section and she is holding up Nona. Vinnie makes a huge mistake by telling the customers that they shouldn't order side because it will take too long. Chef Ramsay is furious(Watch Video). He sees Raj making mistake after mistake. Vinnie gets his ass kicked out by Chef Ramsay and he gets time to think about what he did. Emily gets a telling off for sinking her team.

The men's team seems to be disintegrating and Chef Ramsay tries to get them back on track. Melissa makes something that isn't even on order. She is embarrassed. Chef Ramsay puts her out on the floor as maitre d instead of Gillian.Curtis is thrown out because of the sushi problem. Most of the blue team end up upstairs.

The men turn on Raj. They seem to hate him. I know that he is slow but they really hate him. The girls manage too finish dinner service. The men lose and they have to pick two people. They pick Raj and Boris, but Chef Ramsay chooses to send Curtis home.

Hell's Kitchen Season 8 Episode 1 Recap

 Can you believe that we are at the start of a new series of Hell's Kitchen once again? They are really churning them out this year but I'm not complaining! Last years winner was Holli.

This year, there are another batch of big-headed cooks who think that they know it all. They are ushered into Hell's Kitchen and they get to meet the man himself, Gordon Ramsay. There is one difference this time and that is Jean Phillipe has gone and been replaced by James, an equally over the top maitre d. So, they are blindfolded and taken somewhere by car.They meet Chef Ramsay in the LA Market where one of them is going to be head chef. So, the usual things happen and we get to meet the chefs. Their first challenge is to make their signature dish and there are some good, bad and terrible. So, in the first service, some strong personalities come to the fore. There is a very unpleasant girl called Sabrina who has the most annoying glasses I have ever seen. There is a large man who is older called Raj and he is a bit slow and puffy. The guys win the challenge and the girls have to clean the kitchen. They are working away when one of the women, Antonia has a problem with her head.She has passed out and the medics look at her and she needs to go to hospital. Service goes on without her and Raj is waiting on tables and is painfully slow.One of the men's team, Trev messes up a salad! Another chef, Boris make the mistake of making fun of Chef Ramsay. He gets yelled at!

Lisa seems totally inept and she is plodding along. The other girls are irritated with her.Trev messes up again.

Sabrina tries to show Chef Ramsay that she is a great cook but she comes off looking like a sneak as the other girls aren't ready yet. Raj is a bit of a fool and he is trying to help in the kitchen but he can't.Lisa is messing up yet again and she seems very weak. Chef Ramsay is not impressed with the teams and he calls them together and tells them that they are very bad and that people are leaving because of their mistakes and their slow work. He tells them to pick two people from each team to go home.The ladies choose Lisa and Sabrina. The men choose Raj and Trev. Lisa ends up getting kicked off(Watch Video). She wasn't up to the challenge. So, I will be back with another episode soon.

Amanda's Horror Years -1976

So, I am back with another selection of delights from a year in horror. This time it is 1976. I looked around to find all of the movies which I loved from this year and some which were not so great. There were some classics but overall, this was not the best year for horror....

I have to start with the most famous ones of course. Carrie was released in this year and this is a movie based on the novel by Stephen King and directed by Brian De Palma. Carrie is a lonely outcast at school but she has special powers that people have no idea about and when they try to hurt her, she strikes back! The Omen was also released in 1976 and this is a real classic which needs very little introduction. I love this movie and it has a place in the best horror movies of all time....Eraserhead was released this year too and it was a weird movie. I saw it and it was with me for a long time afterward. It might not be a traditional horror movie but it is creepy in its own way.

Some other movies which surfaced this year were Burnt Offerings about a haunted house, Jack the Ripper,Death Weekend,Snuff, To The Devil A Daughter, The Town that Dreaded Sundown. There were some other notable movies released such as The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane, Bloodsucking Freaks, Island of the Damned and Communion(This movie was later released as Alice Sweet Alice just to clear up any confusion.). In case that was not enough, the creature features were popular this year too with the release of Dogs, Grizzly, Creature from Black Lake and Squirm which kind of explains itself!!!

So, that is all I have come up with from 1976. Don't hesitate to let me know your favourites and if I have left any out!