Edge of Sanity Movie Review

Trailer here.

Edge of Sanity is a 1989 horror movie directed by Gerard Kikoine and starring Anthony Perkins and Glynis Barber.

The film begins with a man called Henry Jekyll(Perkins), who is experimenting with a new drug. He feeds it to his monkey. Something begins to happen to it. Henry decides to take the drug himself and he begins to change. He becomes a different personality, Mr. Hyde. He heads off out on the town. He visits a brothel and meets a prostitute. He kills her. The next morning, he wakes up as Doctor Jekyll again. The murder is being investigated by the police. They wonder if the killer has a knowledge of anatomy. Jekyll transforms once  again and repeats his murderous actions. This time, someone has spotted him. Jekyll's wife, Elisabeth(Barber) notices that he is acting strangely and she asks him what is going on. He fobs her off.

Jekyll begins to transform on a regular basis and his crimes become more bizarre and horrible. His wife discovers that he has been lying to her about working at the hospital at night. Hyde meets a prostitute called Susannah and he likes her. She is happy to be part of his games and she convinces a man called Johnny to be a part of them too,  Elisabeth asks Jekyll what he is doing. He tells her that he has to look after Hyde. They have a chat and he promises to make things better between them. She believes him and they reconcile. He can't help himself, though and he returns to his killing. Jekyll leaves his money to Hyde in his will.

Elisabeth snoops some more and she catches Jekyll with Susannah and Johnny. Jekyll knows the game is up so he tries to get his lackeys to kill Elisabeth, but she is tough and she ends up killing them. She leaves and goes home.  Jekyll follows her and murders her so that she can't talk to the police. The police come to see him and they think that the murderer is Mr. Hyde who is nowhere to be found. Jekyll is able to continue on with his life.

This film is not bad, but it isn't great either. I am a big Perkins fan and I watched this with an open mind, I just didn't love it. Perkins does a good job in it as Jekyll and Hyde, but he couldn't make this film great. I was a bit disappointed with it, to be honest. That shouldn't put you off, though. It is worth a look, just to see Perkins' performance. I will give this a 5/10.

He Knows You're Alone Movie Review

Trailer here.

He Knows You're Alone is a 1980 horror movie directed by Armand Mastroianni and starring Caitlin O'Heaney, Elizabeth Kemp, Don Scardino and Dana Barron.

The film begins with a girl being murdered in a cinema by a killer called Ray. She was due to be married soon. Her killer escapes. He has already killed a girl on her wedding day. Cut to Amy(O'Heaney), who is also a bride to be. Her fiancée is going away on a bachelors weekend. Ray is following her and he sees her with her fiancée. Amy is a little nervous. She has a feeling that she is being watched. She bumps into a friend called Marvin(Scardino), who also happens to be her ex boyfriend. He doesn't think that she should marry her fiancée, Phil. Amy is in a dress shop trying on her dress when she thinks that someone is in there with her. It is Marvin. He wants to meet her. The killer stabs the shop owner later.  He follows Amy home where her friends have arranged a surprise party for her.

Detective Len Gamble(Lewis Arlt) is after Ray. His fiancée was the girl in the wedding dress that Ray killed. He wants Ray and he is obsessed with the case. The killer murders one of Amy's friends who was having an affair with a professor. He also kills the professor. Amy thinks that she sees someone outside. She tells Marvin, but there is nobody there. Len visits the bridal shop where the owner was killed. He finds Amy's name on her dress. Amy goes for a run alone. The killer is following her. Len thinks that Amy is going to be the next victim. Amy and her friends go to a fairground. Amy sees the killer following her. Phil calls Amy but she doesn't answer the phone. Amy tells her friend Nancy(Kemp) that she saw someone after her. Nancy is the killer's next victim.

Amy returns home and she finds Nancy's head in her fish tank. The killer shows himself and he chases her. She gets out and she runs to the morgue where Marvin works. She tells him what is happening.

 He goes to see if the killer is around. Len is at Amy's house and he calls the station. They tell him that Amy has called them and told them about the killer. He goes to the morgue and he finds the killer chasing Amy. He shoots him but he ends up getting stabbed. Ray comes for Amy. She manages to stab his arm and lock him in a closet . She and Marvin escape as the police come in. The movie ends with Amy on her wedding day. She is marrying Marvin, not Phil. Phil shows up and she screams, suggesting that history will repeat itself.

This was a good slasher film. I liked it a lot. It is not mentioned when people talk about eighties slashers but it is worth a watch for slasher fans. It also features Tom Hanks in a very minor part. This is his first movie role! So, this film is not the most original one out there, but it is better than a lot of slasher movies that I have seen from this year. I recommend it. I will give it a 6/10.

Giallo In Venice Movie Review

Giallo In Venice is a 1979 giallo movie directed by Mario Landi and starring Leonora Fani, Jeff Blynn and Gianni Dei.

The film begins with two dead bodies. Inspector De Paul(Blynn)  is on the case. His sidekick Maestrin is asking questions. The police think  that it could be drug related. De Paul pays a visit to a woman called Marzia. She tells him about the couple that were killed. She tells him that the husband Fabio has unusual sexual demands and his wife Flavia wasn't into it like he was. We get a picture of what their sex life was like. Marzia meets a man and she tells him about the police. His name is Marco. Maestrin is following her. Marco tells Marzia to get rid of photographs that she has. Another man is watching her too. Marco tells Marzia to leave Venice. Marco is a criminal. A prostitute is murdered by the same killer. De Paul brings in Marzia and Marco for questioning.

It turns out that the prostitute was at an orgy along with Flavia and Fabio.  He asks Marzia and Marco about it. There is some sort of connection. A woman goes to see De Paul and she tells him about a man named Bruno who knew Flavia. He is an artist and he used to date her. He is still in love with her. She trusted him as a friend. Bruno urged her to leave Fabio. He offered to kill Fabio so she could be free. Cut to Marco and Marzia who are having sex. They are being watched by the killer. He waits until Marco leaves and he kills him. He breaks into Marzia's next. He attacks her and he ties her to the kitchen table and in a graphic scene, he saws off her leg. Her housekeeper finds her in the fridge.

A man called Andrea is the owner of the gun that shot Marco. The cops pay him a visit and he admits to the killings of the prostitute, Marco and Marzia, but he denies killing Fabio and Flavia. The cops visit Bruno again. He tells them that Flavia went back to Fabio and that she was happy. De Paul isn't satisfied. We see that Flavia was upset by Fabio's sexual demands and that they fought about it. Fabio tells her that he will get some help. He tells her that she has to do something first. He sends her down to some sailors who rape her while he watches. It turns out that after this, Flavia snapped and she killed Fabio and then she jumped into the river. Bruno saw it and he tried to save her. He carried her out but it was too late. End of story.

This was an interesting film, but there were loads of flashbacks, which could be annoying. Some parts were better than others. The plot was a bit so so. The leg cutting scene was very graphic so it isn't for the faint hearted. Plus there were too many sex scenes in it for my liking. I'm not a prude, but I didn't want to see so much of it. Overall, this is an interesting watch and is one for fans of giallo movies only. I'm not sure if the casual horror viewer would enjoy this. I will give it a 5/10.

Willow Creek Movie Review

Trailer here.

Willow Creek is a 2013 horror movie directed by Bobcat Goldthwait and starring Alexie Gilmore and Bryce Johnson.

A couple Kelly(Gilmore) and Jim(Johnson) are a couple who are going to Willow Creek to search for Bigfoot. They want to go to the area of the famous Patterson-Gimlin film footage. Kelly doesn't believe in it at all. They arrive in Willow Creek. They interview a woman who works at the visitor centre. She doesn't believe in Bigfoot either. The couple visit a bookshop and they meet a man called Steve. They ask him how to get to the site. He warns them to look out for bears in the area. The locals tell their own stories about encounters with Bigfoot. They drive out to the woods and they meet a man who tells them to turn back. They ignore him and keep going anyway.

The couple leave their car and search for the site of the video. They set up camp. They hear noises in the night. There are various sounds and they hear a woman crying. They turn off the lights in their tent and they hear footsteps outside. The next morning, they discover hair outside their tent. They hear more noises. They end up lost in the forest. Why does this always happen??? They are basically screwed.

They run into a woman who is wandering in the woods. She is the last thing they see before they are attacked by something. We hear Jim being killed and the snarls of some creature. Kelly is screaming for help as she is taken. The film ends with the sounds of more than one creature making its call in the forest.

This film is directed by Bobcat Goldthwait, who you probably know as Zed from the Police Academy films. This owes an awful lot to The Blair Witch Project. It is very similar. I liked the premise and the film isn't too bad. There are some genuinely creepy moments in it and if you enjoy found footage films, then this will be right up your street. I did like it and I found it fun. I will give it a 5/10. 

Veronica Movie Review

Trailer here.

Veronica is a 2017 Spanish horror movie directed by Paco Plaza and starring Sandra Escacena.

The movie begins in 1991 in Madrid where the police receive a call from a girl. A detective arrives at the scene. It is supposedly based on a true story. Cut to three days earlier. A girl called Veronica(Escacena) is living with her mother and her twin sisters and brother. Veronica is responsible for them and she gets them ready for school. She is in school also, as she is only fifteen. Veronica and her friend, Rosa decide that they will use a Ouija board. Another friend, Diana, joins them. They try to make contact with the spirits. Some spirit comes through. The glass that they are using breaks and it cuts Veronica. She enters some kind of a trance. The board catches fire and it snaps in two. Veronica seems to be possessed. She wakes up in the school infirmary. There is a blind nun there called Sister Death who looks at Veronica.  This is all very ominous!

Strange things begin to happen to Veronica. She has nightmares too. She goes to the school basement where she and her pals had the Ouija board. Sister Death is there. Of course, she has a few warnings for Veronica. She knows what she did and she tells her that she isn't alone. Oh no, what could be happening? Veronica finds a symbol of protection and she wants it for her siblings. She hangs it in their room. She sees a figure and things get weird. Her symbol gets burned. Veronica is frightened and so are her sisters and brother. The mother  finds out about all of this and she is not happy when Veronica tells her what has been happening. The brother, Antonito tells her that he has seen their dad and that he is going to come and take him away. Veronica warns him not to listen to the dad.

Veronica goes to visit with the old spooky nun and she tells Veronica that she has opened a door and now, the door needs to be closed. Veronica buys another Ouija board. That is a really stupid move. Why would you buy another board after what happened???Just stay away... Veronica goes to her friend Rosa and tells her that they need to do the Ouija board again. Rosa refuses. She tells Veronica that she whispered something to her that day. She predicted her death. Veronica is hysterical and tries to get her mother to come home from work. Her mother won't do it. Antonito draws a symbol on the wall but it is a symbol which invites the evil spirits in, not banishes them.

Veronica pulls out the Ouija board and decides to throw caution to the wind and go for it. It all goes horribly wrong, of course. The demon is not going to leave. It tries to take her brother. She calls the police. Veronica tells the twins to run to the mother's workplace. The demon has Antonito but then she finds him in a closet. She realises that the demon is inside her and she has been the one doing the bad deeds. She is going to kill herself, but she is stopped by the demon. The police arrive and find her in a  bad way. Antonito is fine. The detective looks around the apartment and he sees a picture of Veronica which suddenly catches fire and burns. Veronica dies as the picture burns. The movie ends while telling us that this is a supposedly true story of a girl in Spain who messed around with a Ouija board and died. A police officer said that he has witnessed paranormal events etc. 

I had heard that this film was the scariest one ever. That isn't true. There are some creepy moments in it, but nothing that horrific. I am always sceptical of these films that say how scary they are. Usually, this is untrue. Witchboard(1986) is better. I do like that this is a European film and it is good to have more horror movies from around the world, but it isn't enough to make me say that it is great, when it isn't. I think that it is worth watching because it does have some horror moments in it, but it didn't have enough for me. I wouldn't want to see it again. I will give it a 4/10 because it wasn't as good as I had heard and it wasn't great, to be honest.

Legend of the Werewolf Movie Review

Trailer here.

Legend of the Werewolf is a 1975 horror movie directed by Freddie Francis and starring Peter Cushing, Ron Moody and Lynn Dalby.

The film begins with a woman who is giving birth. She dies soon after. The father is attacked and killed by wolves. They don't kill the child; they adopt it as one of their own. Cut to years later and the baby is now a young wild boy. He is picked up by a man called Tiny and he brought to his camp of circus folk. They use him in a sideshow. The boy is called Etoile(David Rintoul). He grows up into a normal boy. He is not normal, though. He turns into a werewolf one night and he kills Tiny. Tiny lives long enough to tell the others that Etoile is the one who killed him. Etoile heads off to Paris. He goes to a zoo and he sees wolves in there. He pets them. He sees the zookeeper(Ron Moody), who offers him room and board along with a job at the zoo.

One day, Three ladies come to visit the zoo, The zookeeper goes off and leaves Etoile on his own. The three ladies are prostitutes. Etoile likes one of them, Christine(Lynn Dalby). He doesn't realise that she is a prostitute. He goes to visit her and he finds out. He tries to kill the man that she is with. The madam of the brothel is unhappy as it is bad for business. Etoile asks Christine to marry him but she refuses. He is angry. He kills some of the customers from the brothel. Enter Professor Paul Cataflanque(Peter Cushing) who is a forensic pathologist. He has been called in by the police to see if he can give any insight on the killings. He looks at the bodies and he thinks that the men could have been killed by a animal- a wolf, maybe. More bodies arrive and the police go to the zoo to look around.

The next day, Professor Paul goes there too. The zookeeper talks to him about his wolves. He tells him that they are harmless. Etoile shows him that the wolves are placid. Paul discovers that the dead men were frequenting a local brothel and he calls in there and chats to the madam. He wants her to identify the men but she refuses.  He calls to the photographer and wants him to take pictures of the dead men. He brings back the pictures to Madame and she denies knowing them. He asks Christine and she tells him that she knew them and that they visited her on the night they died. He tells her about his wolf theory. The Inspector tells him that the case is closed and the Prefect of Police orders all of the wolves to be destroyed. Etoile has to carry it out and it upsets him greatly.

Christine shows up at the zoo. It is a full moon. Etoile begins to change into his werewolf self. Christine witnesses his transformation and she calls the zookeeper. Etoile heads off on a killing spree. Professor Paul doesn't know what is going on. He finds one of Etoile's victims who tells him that it wasn't a wolf and it wasn't a man. The Inspector and Professor Paul talk about the werewolf. They need to find him. The professor calls to the brothel and talks to Christine. They talk about Etoile. He wants her to go to the zoo and wait for him. He makes a silver bullet. They discover Etoile's tunnel and the professor goes into it. He finds Etoile and he tries to reason with him. Etoile seems to want help. The police turn up and try to kill him. He goes back to the zoo. Christine and Paul are there. The police shoot him with the silver bullet and he reverts back to Etoile. He dies.

This werewolf film wasn't the best that I have watched, but it was enjoyable. The cast were good and you know that Peter Cushing is always entertaining. It is directed by Freddie Francis who directed some great films such as The Evil of Frankenstein, Dr. Terror's House of Horrors, The Skull, Dracula Has Risen from the Grave. This is not a Hammer movie, but it certainly could be. It is a decent film and if you like werewolf films, this is worth a look. I will give it a 5/10.

Taste of Fear Movie Review

Trailer here.

Taste of Fear is a 1961 thriller directed by Seth Holt and starring Susan Strasberg, Ronald Lewis, Ann Todd and Christopher Lee.

The film begins with a girl called Penny Appleby(Strasberg). She is an heiress and she is confined to a wheelchair. She is going to the French Riviera to stay with her father. When she arrives, she meets her stepmother, Jane(Todd), who tells her that her father isn't there. He is away on business. There is a doctor called Gerrard(Lee), staying there also. Penny's mother drowned. Penny sees lights on in the guest house. She thinks that she sees her father but he is dead. She ends up falling into the swimming pool. She wakes up in the house. Jane and Gerrard are there. She tells them about seeing her father but they don't believe her. Gerrard gives her a sedative.

Penny starts to wonder when her dad is coming home. She talks to Robert(Lewis), the chauffeur. He tells her that her father left late at night and it was unusual. They go into the guest house and look around. Penny receives a call from her dad, which confuses her even more. She feels like something isn't right.  She hears music playing but there is nobody there. She also sees her father's car in the garage but when she confronts Jane about it, she denies it. Robert and Penny talk about her father's will. If she is dead or insane, Jane inherits the lot. Robert thinks that Jane and Gerrard are in it together. He and Penny decide to look for some evidence. Gerrard wants her to see a specialist about her legs. He thinks that she might be stopping herself from walking because of trauma.

Robert and Penny kiss. Jane sees them and she is not happy about it. They look for the dad's body in the house. They can't find it. Robert searches the pool for a body and he finds one. They decide to go to the police. Jane meets them as they are on the way, She has the dead father in the car. it's driven into the sea with Penny in it. Robert and Jane are in it together. Robert killed the father. Jane and Robert go to the police. They say that Penny drove her and the father into the sea. Gerrard is listening to all of this.. The police take Robert to the scene of the crash to identify the car while Jane goes to see a solicitor. It turns out that Penny killed herself three weeks ago. There is no sign of Penny in the car. Jane sees her outside.

The girl is actually Penney's friend, Maggie. She wrote to Penny's father and he was worried about Jane. He asked Penny to come home. She told him that Penny was dead. She knew that something strange was going on and contacted Gerrard. Robert returns and he sees Jane in the chair. He pushes her into the sea, thinking that it was Penny. The cops bring him in. Maggie and Gerrard look at Jane's body below.

This was an entertaining film. There were plenty of twists and turns and it was tense throughout. I enjoyed the performances of the cast and it was a decent story. Christopher Lee has a supporting role here, which makes the film even better. I do recommend this as it is a good thriller from the Hammer studios. I had a good time with it so I will give it a 7/10.

Clownhouse Movie Review

Trailer here.

Clownhouse is a 1989 horror movie directed by Victor Salva and starring Sam Rockwell, Nathan Forrest Winters and Brian McHugh.

Casey(Winters) is a young boy who has a fear of clowns since a visit to the circus, years before. He has two brothers called Randy(Rockwell) and Geoffrey(McHugh). Their parents go out and leave them alone for the night. They go to a local circus and they encounter a fortune teller who tells Casey that his lifeline has been severed on his hand. She warns him to beware. Casey happens to see some clowns. The clown is called Cheezo. He picks Casey out of the crowd and Casey runs off. Something is happening at the circus later. The three clowns are all murdered by three escapees from the local mental institution. What are the odds? Of course, you get an idea of what will happen next.  The three lunatics dress as the clowns. They show up at Casey's house. Such a coincidence that they target the house of the one boy in town who is scared of clowns....

Randy and Casey go to the local shop but they get separated. Casey meets one of the killer clowns, who chases him. He tells Randy, but Randy doesn't believe him. They arrive home and the power goes out. Oh no. The killer clowns are outside. The rest of the film is cat and mouse between the brothers and the three psychopathic clowns. The boys manage to kill all three clowns and they survive. This film was okay. I didn't love it. Clowns are always creepy so there were some moments in it to creep you out but nothing amazing. I know there was controversy over the director and all that, but I just want to include this as a creepy clown film. It is worth a look, but there is nothing that great about this one. It is worth a look to see a young Sam Rockwell, though. I will give it a 4/10.

Kingdom of the Spiders Movie Review

Trailer here.

Kingdom of the Spiders is a 1977 horror movie directed by John Cardos and starring William Shatner and Tiffany Bolling.

Something attacks a calf in Verde Valley, Arizona. The local vet, Rack Hansen(Shatner) is called by a farmer, Walter Colby(Woody Strode) to look at his calf who has taken ill suddenly. It is a mystery and Dr. Hansen sends a blood sample off to have it analysed. The calf dies. A woman called Diane Ashley(Bolling) arrives in town to talk to the locals about what has happened. She informs Rack that the calf died from a poisonous spider bite. This is most unusual and Rack doesn't think that it is possible. Diane studies spiders and is considered an expert. She wants to look at the calf's carcass and see what happened. Diane and Rack go to Walter's farm and discover that his dog is dead. Walter tells them that he has spotted a spider hill on his property. Diane thinks that maybe they are becoming aggressive because their food source has been eradicated by insecticides. The spiders are looking for a new source of food.

Diane and Rack decide to burn the spider hill. It is covered in tarantulas. They burn it, but some of the spiders escape. They are heading into town. Walter is driving in his truck when he gets attacked by the deadly eight-legged horrors. He crashes and dies. Rack and Diane happen to find him. The local Sheriff looks into it. Rack sees that Walter is wrapped in a spider cocoon. They visit the farm and discover lots more spider hills. At this point, I think I would just nuke the whole place. The mayor wants to spray the area with insecticide to kill them. A local man is going to spray the area in his plane. Unfortunately for him, he gets attacked by the spider posse. His plane crashes and burns. Walter's wife gets surrounded by the eight legged terrors and she perishes. Rack's sister in law gets attacked also. She dies. Rack and Diane rescue Linda, Rack's niece. They go to the Washburn Lodge and barricade themselves in. They are in contact with the Sheriff.  They try to seal up any holes to keep the spiders out.

The spiders launch an attack on the town. They start biting at will. There is total panic. Everything goes crazy. The spiders get to the Sheriff and he ends up dead. They head for the lodge next and they try and break in to get Rack and the others. They manage to turn off the power and the lodge is left in darkness. Rack goes to the basement to find the fuse box. It is surrounded by spiders. He manages to fix it, but gets covered in spiders. He is okay. The next morning, they all wake up and they take a look out of the window. They see that the whole area is covered in spider silk cocoons. The whole town is covered....

I liked this film. It was a lot of fun really. The cast were fine and the story was interesting, if not nightmarish! The idea of spiders taking over a town is horrible and this film would scare any arachnophobe. It scared the hell out of me because I can imagine nothing worse than loads of horrible spiders crawling around, killing people. Somehow, I like these spider movies though. They are always fun. I recommend this one. It is definitely worth a look, It has William Shatner and killer spiders!!! I will give this one a 5/10.

Eloise Movie Review

Trailer here.

Eloise is a 2016 horror/thriller movie directed by Robert Legato and starring Eliza Dushku, Robert Patrick, Chace Crawford and Brandon T. Jackson.

Eloise is an asylum in Michigan. It has been closed for years after a fire. It closed in 1982 and there was a doctor there called H.H. Greiss(Patrick). He was an evil man. A woman called Pia(Dushku) is in an institution. A detective calls to see her and he says that a body has been found. Her brother was also found dead. He asks her to explain what happened. The story unfolds. A man called Jacob(Crawford) has lost his father and he has to go home to Detroit for the funeral. He meets with a solicitor who tells him that there is money from his father providing that he can get proof of his aunt Genevieve's death. If he can't provide the proof, he won't inherit. She was in Eloise as a patient. Jacob tries to find evidence of her death but he can't get it. He looks through his dad's stuff. His friend Dell(Jackson) shows up at the house and they go to a bar together. Dell has money problems and Jacob tells him about the aunt and Eloise. Jacob meets a girl called Pia(Dushku) and tries to chat her up, to no avail.

Jacob goes to Eloise and asks for files on his aunt. He is told that he has to fill out a form and wait for a court order before he can get the files. Jacob and Dell talk about it. They decide they will have to break into Eloise to get the files. They find an expert on Eloise ,Scott(P.J. Carter) , and he tells them all about the place and Dr. Greiss. Jacob asks him if he will come with them to Eloise. He knows the place very well. He just happens to be Pia's brother. She isn't happy about him going to Eloise. She has to come along with her brother, to make sure he is safe. Her mother was a nurse in Eloise and she disappeared.

What are the odds... The three of them go to Eloise and they look around. It is dark and creepy. They find all sorts of weird stuff in there. Jacob locates the files on his aunt.

There are ghosts in there and Scott is taken away by two of them. Pia and Jacob search for him. Dell feels ill. He starts seeing things and becoming paranoid. Scott ends up meeting Dr. Greiss and he is going to be experimented on. Dell drowns when he falls over and gets pulled under the water by ghosts.

Pia and Jacob are pulled into the past  and they see Scott. They find his dead body. Jacob is attacked by an orderly. Pia runs away and she meets a cop. They get arrested. Cut to a different place in time and Dr. Greiss is experimenting on Pia and Jacob. Pia manages to escape and she saves Jacob. They try to get out of there. Jacob realises that his aunt Genevieve was pregnant and that she is his actual mother.

He was born in Eloise and handed over to Genevieve's brother who Jacob thought was his dad.

 The nurse turns out to be Pia's mother. She gives Pia the baby in a box and tells her to take it outside. Dr. Greiss is the father of the baby. He is looking for it. Jacob sets fire to the building. Pia gives the baby to Genevieve's brother. Jacob gets pulled back inside the place but Pia gets out. 

In present time, Pia is alive. The others are not. The movie ends with Jacob being stuck there along with Dr. Greiss. This film is not that good. There is nothing new in this. The cast are okay and there are some creepy moments, but you expect them in an old abandoned asylum. I just couldn't get into this much. It wasn't thrilling or that scary. The setting is the best thing about it really.  It isn't original or even fun. I wouldn't watch it again. I will give it a 4/10.

Black Water Movie Review

Trailer here.

Black Water is a 2007 Australian horror movie directed by David Nerlich and Andrew Traucki and starring Maeve Dermody, Diana Glenn and Andy Rodoreda.

Three people, Lee(Dermody), Grace(Glenn) and Adam(Rodoreda) go to a crocodile park in Northern Australia. They decide to go on an alternative tour. Grace is pregnant. They go on the tour with a man called Jim. They start fishing in the river when Adam catches something heavy on his line. Their boat capsizes and Lee and Adam have to climb up a tree. There is a crocodile in the river. It shakes the boat and Adam creates a diversion. They spot a rope dangling from the boat. Lee gets it and she throws it over to Adam. Adam and Grace try to pull the boat back into the right position but they can't. Lee tries to swim over to it but she hurts her ankle. They assume that Jim is dead. They wonder what to do next.

Adam tells them that they really need the boat to escape. There are ripples in the water...Who or what could it be?? Grace decides to see if they can get away by climbing from tree to tree. It isn't possible. They wait to be rescued, but there is nobody coming, Adam wants to try and swim over to the boat and turn it over so they can leave. He tries it but it is caught on a log. He goes underneath the boat and it does flip over but Adam meets the killer croc. It is a giant. It has Adam as a snack and the two girls are left alone. The girls try to get to the boat, but the killer croc is circling them. Grace gets bitten by it.

 They have to go back to the trees to safety. Lee bandages Grace's wound. She hears a boat coming and she screams for help, to no avail.

Lee has no choice but to get into the water and get to the boat. She manages to get into it and start it, but the killer croc follows her and attacks. She wakes up on land. Her fingers are broken and she has been bitten in the side. She finds the remains of Jim. She grabs his gun and she cleans the mud from it. She decides to lure ol' croc and shoot it in the head. It doesn't work. It isn't as dumb as it looks. It attacks her and she manages to get the gun into its mouth and pull the trigger. She blows its head off and she goes back to get Grace. Grace has died from her wound.  Lee drags her into the boat and she rows away.

There was some good croc action in this one. I always enjoy these kind of films because you know what you are going to get and crocodiles can be scary! Australia has so many predators- killer pigs, spiders, snakes, crocs etc etc. It does make for fun films though! The ending was a bit of a downer, but it doesn't ruin the film or anything. I am giving this a 6/10 because I did find this movie entertaining and I thought it was good fun.

The Hands of Orlac Movie Review

Trailer here.

The Hands of Orlac is a 1960 horror/thriller directed by Edmond T. Greville and starring Mel Ferrer and Christopher Lee.

Stephen Orlac(Ferrer) is a concert pianist. He is very famous and he has a great career. He is on a plane when it crashes and he is injured. His hands are in a bad way. In a strange coincidence, there is a strangler being executed that very night. Stephen is brought to the hospital and a man called Professor Volchett(Donald Wolfit) is brought in to operate on him and give him new hands which just happen to be the executed mans. When Stephen wakes up, he is naturally very upset to find out what has happened to his hands. Six months later and he is dismayed to find that he can't play the piano the same way. Stephen has an idea that the hands he has are not his. His girlfriend, Louise(Lucile Saint-Simon) wants to get married. Stephen is at a funfair and he tries out the strength machine. He finds that he has really strong hands. He knows that this isn't right.

Stephen calls Volchett but he isn't there. Louise and Stephen go to the French Riviera for a break. The cat won't go near him and shortly after, it is found dead.  He tells Louise that he is afraid of himself. He puts his hands around her neck. He thinks that he is losing it. Stephen goes off by himself to Marseille and he wanders into a hotel. A magician called Nero(Lee) is staying there. He has an assistant called Li-Lang(Dany Carrel). She is afraid of Nero. She meets Stephen and they talk about Nero. She tells Stephen that she is afraid of him and that he is a madman. She comes onto Stephen. Stephen goes to a club called The Blue Monkey where Li-Lang performs. He watches her and Nero watches him. He is setting something up. Louise arrives at the hotel and asks for Stephen. Nero tells her that he is there. Stephen meets Li-Lang and she tells him that she will meet him in her room. 

Louise meets him when he gets back from the club. Nero is eavesdropping on their conversation. Stephen tells Louise that his hands are the killers hands. Louise thinks that he is imagining it. He tells her to leave. Li-Lang shows up and Stephen tells her that he is leaving but Nero bursts in. He tells Stephen that he knows who Orlac is. He tells him that the killer was a friend of his and he makes fun of Stephen. Stephen returns to the villa. He tries to get back to normal. He starts playing the piano. He and Louise get married. They are happy together. Stephen decides that he is going to play in public again.

He receives a package and in it are gloves with the killers name on them. It causes him to lose his confidence. He cannot play. He throws the gloves into the river. Stephen gets a call looking for Louis Vasseur, the killer. Louise gets a visitor from a woman who is talking about her husband. She tells her that her husband died in bad circumstances and that he left a message for Stephen- it says not to trust what belongs to him. Louise goes to a clinic to get a break from it all.

Nero is behind the message for Stephen and the wife. Stephen tells Louise what has been happening. Nero wants money. Li-Lang doesn't want to help him, but he threatens her. Louise confronts Li-Lang and she asks her what's going on. Li-Lang confesses all. She makes a deal with Louise to go to the police. Nero overhears this. Nero calls Stephen and he says that he wants to talk. He tells Stephen that Louise is planning to put him into an asylum. Louise's godfather wants to know more about Vasseur and he gets Stephen's prints on a cigarette case and hands it to the police for investigate. Stephen thinks that Louise might be plotting against him. The police think that she is in danger. They arrive at the villa and meet Stephen. He hasn't killed Louise. He disappears. Nero murders Li-Lang. The police are after him but he runs off. Stephen finds him and confronts him. There is a fight but the police grab Nero. They tell Stephen that the fingerprints they found from the cigarette case are his own. The hands that he received belonged to an innocent man. It turns out that Vasseur was not guilty so the hands are not evil. The movie ends with Stephen playing the piano once again.

This is a good film. I like the cast and the story is interesting too. Christopher Lee plays a good villain in this film. It is interesting to see him in this early role. I would recommend this if you enjoy old horror movies. There isn't much in the way of scares, but it was made in 1960, so you can forgive that. There is enough in it to entertain. It is certainly worth your time. I will give it a 6/10.

The Gravedancers Movie Review

Trailer here.

The Gravedancers is a 2006 horror movie directed by Mike Mendez and starring Dominic Purcell and Clare Kramer.

The movie begins with a woman who is facing a supernatural force. She ends up getting hanged and she drops a black envelope. Cut to one year later, a man called Harris McKay(Purcell) returns home for a funeral of a friend. He meets his old friends, Sid(Marcus Thomas) and Kira(Josie Maran). They all go to the cemetery after funeral to say goodbye to their friend. There is a black envelope at the grave. Sid opens it and reads the words on it. They dance on the grave and get drunk. They think no more about it. Harris' wife, Allison(Kramer) gets a weird phone call. Two weeks later, she comes home and she hears weird noises from the bedroom. There is nobody there. She tells Harris about it.

Harris puts in an alarm in the house. He is woken up that night by a piano playing and cat crying. Allison sees a woman in the bedroom. The cops come as the alarm was tripped. Harris and Allison think that it might be Kira as she had stalked him before. They go to Kira's house. Her house is dirty and destroyed inside. There is writing on the wall. They see Kira and she is bitten and disheveled. They call the cops and she sees a doctor. He says that he thinks she was raped. Harris calls Sid who asks him to come over. He has two paranormal investigators, Vincent and Frances with him. Sid thinks that he is being haunted. Vincent hasn't seen anything yet. Allison thinks that she and Harris are being haunted also. She goes on camera talking about what is happening. There is a fire at his house as they talk about it.  It turns out that the words Sid read were a spell. The spell lasts for one month Vincent tells them that they will all die if they can't find out about the graves they danced on.

Kira hides under the bed at the hospital. She and a nurse get attacked.  The others meet up with her and they find out that the grave she danced on was a depraved judge. Sid's was an arsonist kid and Harris' was a killer piano teacher. Vincent has a solution. They need to rebury the bodies to break the spell. Harris is attacked by his ghost. Kira gets trapped in a coffin and Sid gets set alight. They are rescued by Vincent. They get the bones of the dead and they rebury them. They think that they are okay. That is not the case. The ghosts attack again. It turns out that Frances kept the skulls of the ghosts as evidence of what happened. Kira and Sid are killed by their ghosts. Harris is hunted by his. It kills Frances. Allison escapes. Harris has to face the ghost. He has her skull. Allison drives a jeep through the house and into the ghost. It chases them until Vincent manages to return to the skull to the corpse and break the spell. The ghost is vanquished. The movie ends with Harris and Allison in the cemetery after the funerals of Sid and Kira. They don't see a black envelope being placed on one of the graves....

This film is entertaining in parts and the ghost scenes are decent. The cast aren't bad either. The only person I really recognised was Purcell, who also starred in Prison Break. It's not the greatest film but it is worth a look. I will give it a 5/10.