Amityville: Mt. Misery Road Movie Review

Trailer here.

Amityville: Mt. Misery Road is a 2018 horror film directed by Chuck Morrongiello and Karolina Morrongiello. It also stars the same two people.

Charlie(Chuck Morrongiello) and his girlfriend Buzi(Karolina Morrongiello) are ghost hunters.

They find out about a place called Mount Misery Road which is said to be haunted. They decide to go to the area to film it and maybe see something supernatural. They talk to some locals about it.  A man called Kurt tells them about Mount Misery Road. He says that the name came from the original settlers. He says that strange things have been seen. A creature with red eyes has been spotted. He tells them that in the 1840's, there was an asylum near there and a patient called Mary started a fire and killed everyone in the asylum. Ten years later, another asylum was built and that burned down too. There were bodies found there and a hellhound is said to roam the woods. Kurt has researched it. He warns them to stay away. He tells them that people have disappeared up there. It is cursed.

Charlie and Buzi are not deterred by the warning and they meet with a local historian called Mike. They fly to Long Island to meet him. He also warns them about the haunted road . He tells them that they shouldn't go up there. He doesn't want any more deaths. He tells them that it is too dangerous. Charlie wants to go anyway. Of course, they decide to go anyway. They look for the asylum spot. They find a black cross. They find foundations of some old building and they think that it is the asylum. Buzi gets spooked and she wants to leave, but Charlie won't.  They get lost and Charlie disappears. Buzi is hysterical.

It gets dark and she is alone in the middle of the haunted road. Something runs after her and her camera falls. A guy walking in the woods finds her camera. Just then, Buzi jumps out but she is possessed or something. What can I say about this film? It's pretty bad. It is really cheap and there are a handful of actors. It is found footage style and really, not much happens. The acting is awful. This has zero to do with Amityville. The characters are paper thin and there is nothing much to scare you. It could have been a lot better. A haunted road sounds interesting, but tacking the Amityville name on to it and trying to pass it off as one of those films is just ridiculous. It isn't an Amityville movie at all. I was deceived by a cool cover yet again! This is getting a 2/10. Avoid- unless you are like me and you have to watch every movie with Amityville in the title!

The Blood on Satan's Claw Movie Review

Trailer here.

The Blood on Satan's Claw is a 1971 horror movie directed by Piers Haggard and starring Patrick Wymark, Linda Hayden and Michele Dotrice.

The film opens with a dead body in a field. A local man called Ralph goes to see a man called The Judge(Wymark) and tells him about it. The Judge doesn't want to know. A man called Peter(Simon Williams) brings his fiancée Rosalind(Tamara Ustinov) to meet his aunt, Mistress Banham. Rosalind has to sleep in the attic. Peter hears her screaming during the night and when Mistress Banham comes to investigate, Rosalind injures her.  She falls ill. Rosalind is taken away. She has developed a claw instead of her hand.  Peter thinks that there is evil in the house. He goes into the attic and he sees something under the floor. It is a creature with a claw and it tries to grab him. Peter hacks at it and the judge arrives and sees that he has chopped off his own hand. The judge borrows a book on the occult.

He is going to London. The justice is in charge while he is gone. The Judge tells the justice, Squire Middleton(James Hayter) to keep an eye on things. A young child, Mark isn't feeling well. Two local girls ask him to come out. Reverend Fallowfield(Anthony Ainley) is worried because the children haven't been attending classes. Mark gets killed by the other youngsters. A girl called Angel(Hayden) tries to seduce the Reverend. She wants him to come with her. She tells him that they killed Mark. He is appalled and he rejects her. She tells her father that the Reverend asked her to take off her dress and touched her.

Two young boys take a girl called Cathy off. They start messing with her and suddenly all of the children appear. Angel is their leader. She puts a flower crown on Cathy's head . The Devil appears to them and Cathy is killed. The Reverend is taken away because of what Angel said. He is released when Cathy's body is found. Ralph knows that it was the children. Cathy was his girlfriend and he is distressed by her death.  The judge is called back and he wants to know what is going on.  The locals think that a young woman called  Margaret(Dotrice) is a witch and they are going to throw her into the river. Ralph sees them and he pulls her out. He brings her away and he sees a mark of the devil on her. The doctor will cut it off. She tells Ralph that Angel wants her. She runs off and goes looking for Angel. She gets caught in a trap, Angel leaves her to die as Margaret has lost her mark. She is caught by the locals. The Judge tells Ralph to tie her up and they ask questions, She tells them that tonight is important.  Ralph discovers that he has fur on him which is the mark of the Devil. The judge and the villagers go to stop Angel and her child followers. They find them, Ralph is there too. The judge and the others attack the Satanists. The Devil appears and the judge stabs him with a crucifix and burns him. Angel dies too. Ralph returns to normal.

This film is pretty good. It is interesting and there are some good scenes. It is folk horror and it does remind me of The Wicker Man in some ways. I kept expecting to see Christopher Lee or Peter Cushing in this! It does have a Hammer feel about it. If you enjoy Hammer films, then this will be right up your alley, as it is quite similar to one, I feel. Tigon did have some great films, though such as Witchfinder General and Curse of the Crimson Altar. I liked this and I enjoyed it so it gets a 6/10.

Someone's Watching Me! Movie Review

Trailer here.

Someone's Watching Me! is a 1978 TV movie directed by John Carpenter and starring Lauren Hutton, David Birney and Adrienne Barbeau.

The movie begins with a woman called Leigh(Hutton), who moves into a new apartment. She is working at a TV station. There is a man watching her in her apartment. He calls her at work. A man called Steve(Grainger Hines) asks her out but she isn't interested. Leigh arrives back at her apartment to find her door open. She goes to call the police and a man runs out. He has placed a bug in her apartment. She is at a bar when she meets a man called Paul(Birney). They have a conversation and they kiss. The watcher sees it. Leigh receives a telescope in the mail and a bikini. The watcher calls her . Paul thinks that she should call the police and make a complaint. The watcher is calling her all the time and following her. She eventually calls the cops, but their hands are tied as he hasn't done anything to her.

The watcher sends her a letter, pretending to be a travel company. The letter says that she has won a holiday. The person who sent it wants to meet her. He tells her that he will meet her in the car park. Leigh is suspicious and she brings a knife with her. She manages to drop it and she has to hide. The man appears but he doesn't find her. He sees her and Paul together . Paul decides that he will call the LAPD and talk to a police officer . The watcher calls her and she realises that he watching from the building across from her.  She talks to the police and tells them this. The police need evidence.  They go the apartment across from hers and arrest a man, but it isn't the watcher. Leigh thinks that the whole thing is over.

She receives another letter and she decides to take matters into her own hands. She and a friend of hers, Sophie(Barbeau) have walkie talkies.  Sophie watches from Leigh's apartment as Leigh goes across to the other building. She gets into the apartment across from hers and she finds his lair. There is a log of phone calls, a telescope. Sophie gets attacked.  Leigh comes back to her apartment and Sophie has disappeared. The police are starting to think that she is crazy. Leigh finds the bug in her apartment. Paul thinks that maybe it's a maintenance man. They settle on a building inspector called Herbert Stiles.  They find out that he could have messed with things in the building to frighten Leigh. Leigh goes to his house and she finds his equipment. Leigh calls Paul. Paul thinks that he is responsible for deaths of other women he watched. Leigh comes back to her apartment and she is attacked by Stiles. He tries to kill her and there is a fight. He ends up getting stabbed by Leigh and he takes a dive out of the window. He dies. Leigh's nightmare is over.

This was a very enjoyable TV movie. Of course, you know that it will be decent because of John Carpenter. I found it suspenseful and entertaining. The cast are good and I liked the story. Sometimes, these TV films can be more enjoyable that big budget ones. Carpenter did a good job here and it is amazing to think that this was just before Carpenter started filming Halloween. This isn't as good as that film. but it is worth a look if you like a decent thriller. I recommend it. I will give it a 6/10.