Mark of the Devil Movie Review

Trailer here.

Mark of the Devil is a 1970 horror movie directed by Michael Armstrong and starring Herbert Lom, Udo Kier and Olivera Katarina.

The film begins with a witch burning. A man called Albino(Reggie Nalder) is a witch hunter who has taken it upon himself to accuse innocent women of witchcraft. He is told that a resepected witch hunter called Lord Cumberland(Lom) is coming to his village. He has an apprentice called Count Christian(Kier) who is in the village. An executioner, Wilkins(Herbert Fux)will be arriving also. Albino likes a local woman called Vanessa(Katarina). He harasses her but she spits at him. He tries to attack her and she ends up injuring him. He announces that she is a witch. She tells him that he is the devil. Count Christian sees what he is doing and he demands proof of what Albino is saying. There isn't any. Christian and Vanessa talk. Soldiers arrive to help Lord Cumberland.

Albino is jeaous of Christian and Vanessa. He wants her declared as a witch. Christian and Vanessa become close and they kiss. Lord Cumberland arrives in the village. Albino catches Vanessa and he whips her. She is brought in as a witch. The Count states that she is innocent. Cumberland doesn't agree. There is a lot of torture occuring in the village. People are being targeted. A baron is brought in and he is promised freedom if he signs over his estate to the church. Albino is leading his men into people's houses and getting them to do his bidding with the locals. Christian is beginning to lose his faith in Cumberland as he sees all the pain and suffering that he is inflicting on people. He realises that it is corrupt.

Vanessa is in custody and Christian can't get her out. Albino gets into trouble for his deeds and he ends up dead when Cumberland strangles him. Christian witnesses it and this makes him doubt Cumberland. Christian confronts him about it and asks him to spare a family but he won't. This pushes Christian to free Vanessa. He does so and goes back to free more prisoners, but gets caught himself. Vanessa gathers the locals and she tells them that they should get the witch hunters. Lord Cumberland tells his soldiers to kill everyone. The locals come and storm the castle. They free the prisoners. Christian is freed. Cumberland tries to escape. He gets into his coach and he drives off. Christian isn't so lucky. The locals catch him and kill him. Vanessa tries to stop them but she can't. She holds his dead body as the locals go home.

This film is kind of like Witchfinder General but it has more torture scenes and blood in it. The cast are good. The story is interesting and the ending is brutal. You know what you are getting here, but there is actually a story so it isn't just torture scenes. I liked it and I am giving it a 5/10.

The House on Straw Hill Movie Review

Trailer here.

The House on Straw Hill is a 1976 thriller directed by James Kenelm and starring Udo Kier, Linda Hayden and Fiona Richmond.

A woman called Linda(Hayden) is employed as a secretary by an author, Paul Martin(Kier). He is staying in Straw Hill. He has gruesome hallucinations. He is obsessed with locking the windows and doors. His girlfriend is called Suzanne(Richmond) and she leaves him. Paul sees himself bleeding. Linda arrives and is met by Paul at the station. Two locals are after Linda. They harrass her and Paul. He beats them up. Paul tells Linda about his routine. She has a picture of Paul and another man in her suitcase so she isn't all she seems. Linda goes outside exploring and runs into the two locals who rape her. They have a gun. She gets it and shoots both of them dead. Paul hears the gunshot. One of the locals isn't dead yet. He disappears from the field where he was shot.

The housekeeper gets killed.  Paul comes onto Linda but she rejects him. He calls Suzanne and asks her to come back. She arrives and Linda tries to seduce her. Paul catches them.  He ends up crashing his car into the river. Suzanne finds the dead housekeeper. She tries to call the police but someone unplugs the phone. She ends up dying next. Paul returns to the house and Linda is there. She wants to kill Paul as he stole a book from her husband and pretendeed that he wrote it. Her husband killed himself when he realised what Paul did to him. Linda is going to shoot him when she is stabbed by the local guy who was lingering int he field, half dead. He and Linda both die as Paul is left by himself.

This wasn't a great film. There wasn't much in the way of scares or thrills. It was interesting in some parts, but there wasn't enough to keep you entertained. The acting wasn't bad but to be honest, nothing much happens. I will give it a 4/10.

The Flesh and the Fiends Movie Review

Trailer here.

The Flesh and the Fiends is a 1960 horror movie directed by John Gilling and starring Peter Cushing, Donald Pleasence and June Laverick.

The film takes place in 1928, in Edinburgh at a medical school. A woman called Martha(Laverick) comes to the school. Her uncle is Dr. Knox(Cushing). She meets Knox's assistant, Dr. Mitchell(Dermot Walsh). A body arrives for Dr. Knox. The body has been dug up. One of Dr. Knox's students, Jackson(John Cairney) knows about the bodies being delivered by unlawful means. Jackson meets a local prostitute called Mary(Billie Whitelaw) and he likes her. Two grave robbers called Burke(George Rose) and Hare(Pleasence) are responsible for getting the corpses for Dr. Knox. He doesn't care where they come from as long as they are delivered to the school.

Martha and Dr. Mitchell become romantically involved. Mary and Jackson meet them and Mary thinks that Jackson is ashamed of her because of her profession. Burke and Hare take an old drunk lady back to Burke's boarding house and they kill her. She is the next body to be delivered to Knox. Jackson asks Mary to marry him but she says no. An old man is looking for a room in the boarding house. Burke and Hare decide he will be the next corpse. Dr. Mitchell spots the two bringing in the body. He realises that the man did not die of natural causes. He was murdered. He questions them. Knox comes along and he gives them their money. Mitchell doesn't approve. He thinks that the man was murdered. Knox doesn't care.

Mary and Jackson fall out. She meets Burke and Hare and they kill her. Jackson sees her body at the school. He realises what happened to her. He goes out looking for Burke and Hare. Hare stabs him in the back. They get rid of his body. The police find him. There is a witness to the crime. Burke and Hare kill him. A friend of Mary's goes to the police and she tells them about Burke and Hare and Knox. The locals are not happy about what has been going on and they want to catch the two murderers. They are caught. Dr. Mitchell tells Knox that they have been caught. Burke is found guilty. Hare testified against him and he got off, but the locals catch him and punish him. Burke is hanged. Knox has to meet with his peers and they aren't happy about his behaviour. He feels remorse for his part in it. He knew that some of the people were murdered. Knox seems to redeem himself and he goes back to teaching. 

This is a good film. It is an interesting take on the Burke and Hare story. The cast is impressive. Cushing plays his part well. The character is not really that likeable but Cushing is great in the role. Donald Pleasence plays Hare and he is suitably evil. It is good to see these two horror legends in a film together and an early film for both. I like these old films and John Gilling directs this one. He did some fun films for Hammer. All in all, this is a good film and the cast are very watchable. I will give it a 5/10.

These are the Damned Movie Review

Trailer here.

These are the Damned is a 1962 Sci-Fi/horror film directed by Joseph Losey and starring Macdonald Carey, Shirley Anne Field, Oliver Reed and Alexander Knox.

A man called Simon Wells(Carey) meets a young girl called Joan(Field). She leads him to a motorcycle gang, led by her brother, King(Reed). They beat him up. He is brought to a restaurant to recover. A man called Bernard(Knox) is working on experiments in the area. He has a lover called Freya(Viveca Lindfors) who wants to know what is working on. He won't tell her anything. Joan visits Simon and she tells him that her brother beats up anyone who shows interest in her. She jumps onto his boat. The gang are watching. Bernard meets with scientists and army personnel. There are children being kept in a secret facility. Bernard speaks to them. They want to leave.

Simon takes Joan ashore and they end up at Bernard's house. There is nobody there. They kiss. Freya also shows up at the house. King follows. He destroys a sculpture she has made. She is upset. The gang find Simon and Joan and they are after them. They end up at the facility and end up meeting the children. They tell Simon about their teachers. These children are not normal. They are fascinated by the warmth of Simon and Joan. The two talk to the children.  King is there too. He is scared by the children. A man in a radioactive suit arrives to see the children. King isn't feeling well. Bernard knows that the children have three people with them. He tells them that they will get sick if they stay. They decide to leave.

King, Joan and Simon decide to help the children escape. Bernard sends men to get them.

King knocks one out and shoots one. Simon gets the other one. Simon realises that the children are radioactive. He is disgusted by the experiment. Bernard and a military man called Captain Gregory try to stop them from leaving. Freya sees something happening and so does a local man called Sid(Kenneth Cope). Some of the children get recaptured. One of them goes with King, while Joan and Simon are caught but allowed to leave. Bernard tells Freya about the kids. Their parents were exposed to radiation and that is why the children are affected. He thinks that they will be able to survive a nuclear disaster. Bernard thinks Simon and Joan will die before long. King is killed as he tries to escape with the kid. Joan and Simon try to escape on the boat but a helicopter follows them and waits for them to die. Bernard kills Freya after she refuses to be a part of his plan. The film ends with the children back in captivity, shouting for help as the people on the beach enjoy their holidays. 

This was a good film. I liked the cast and the story was interesting too. It kind of reminds me of Village of the Damned, but the kids aren't evil in his one. I liked Oliver Reed in this. He plays a good villain. This is actually a Hammer film and it does have a good cast. I definitely recommend it and I will give it a 6/10.

The Screaming Skull Movie Review

Trailer here.

The Screaming Skull is a 1958 horror movie directed by Alex Nicol and starring John Hudson and Peggy Webber.

Jenni(Webber) and Eric(Hudson) are newlyweds. They are moving into a new house which belongs to Eric. There is a gardener there called Mickey(Alex Nicol). Eric had a previous marriage. His wife died in an accident where she hit her head. Jenni and Eric meet Reverend Snow(Russ Conway) and his wife. Jenni talks to Mickey and discovers that he was close with the first wife. It is revealed that Jenni lost her parents in a drowning accident years ago. Jenni begins hearing noises in the house at night. Eric thinks that it was Mickey and he tells her that it's nothing. Jenni finds the gardener and she asks him to show her where the first wife is buried. He tells her that he heard the wife, Marion, crying in the night. Jenni begins to have bad dreams. She hears screams and goes to look. She finds a skull. She also hears knocking. 

Jenni was in an asylum after the death of her parents. She wonders if she is losing her mind and she asks Eric to call in the doctor. He tells her that it must be Mickey who is behind it. Reverend Snow comes to see her and she tells him that she was in a sanitarium and about her parents.She saw them die and it affected her. Snow tells Eric that he should take Jenni away to help her. Eric will not do it. He has an argument with Mickey and tells him to get out. Eric decides to burn a portrait of his first wife. He tells Jenni to set it alight. They hear screaming and a skull emerges from the ashes. Jenni faints. Eric puts the skull into the pond. Mickey sees him. Eric is going to take Jenni back to the sanitarium. Eric goes to the pond to get the skull out, but it isn't there. He chases after Mickey, thinking that he took it.

Eric hits Mickey and he threatens him. Mickey has the skull and he brings to Reverend Snow. He wonders what is going on. Jenni sees a figure in the garden and it follows her. She runs into the house screaming. Eric tries to kill her. Eric sees what he thinks is Marion's ghost ad he panics. The skull seems to be coming after him. He falls into the pond and drowns. Jenni wakes up and she finds the Snows have come. They help her. Reverend Snow finds Eric's body in the pond. It turns out that he was after her fortune and he wanted to kill her and make it look like suicide so he could inherit everything. The Snows take Jenni away as Mickey goes to the pond and talks to someone or something. It seems like there is a woman in there, suggesting that it is the ghost of Marion.

This is a fun film. It is pretty short and there isn't much in it that will shock or creep you out, but the story is good and the ending is decent. I liked it and I definitely recommend it for an old style horror treat. I will give it 5/10.

Blood Feast a.k.a. The Night of a Thousand Cats Movie Review

Trailer here.

Blood Feast is a 1972 horror movie directed by Rene Cordona Jr. and starring Hugo Stiglitz and Anjanette Comer.

The movie begins with a playboy called Hugo(Stiglitz) who flies into his castle with a woman. They are met by his servant, Dorgo. The place is strange and the woman starts to feel uncomfortable. There are loads of cats there. Hugo takes the woman on a tour of his weird castle. He has human heads in jars. He tells her that they are made of wax, but you just know that this woman is going to end up with her head in a jar! She wants to leave but Hugo murders her. He feeds bits of her to the cats. Dorgo shoves the rest of the body into an incinerator. He keeps her scarf as a memento. Hugo goes off looking for a new victim.

He has his eye on a woman called Cathy(Comer). He flies over her house in his helicopter,which isn't creepy at all! He keeps spying on her until he gets her to come with him and visit his cats. She has a husband, though so she can't stay. A doctor calls to the castle as his car has broken down. He ends up being fed to the horde of cats. Cathy's husband comes back from his trip. Hugo is outside staring. He gets himself a new lady. He doesnt want to kill her. He likes her but she ends up dead too. Hugo doesn't want to give up on Cathy. He flies over her house again. He kidnaps her daughter and he brings her to his castle of death. Cathy comes to the castle and he tries to feed her to this gang of kitties. She runs off and he pursues her. She makes a hole in the fence of the kitties pen and they break out. They run after Hugo and they kill him and eat him. How's that for karma? Cathy escapes and the kitties meow at their dead master.

This film isn't very good.The real horror here is the way the main actor handled those cats. I don't think that the poor cats were treated very well. It's a little dodgy and I felt a bit uncomfortable at the end of this. This isn't one that I would watch again. I'm giving it a 2/10.

47 Meters Down Movie Review

Trailer here.

47 Meters Down is a 2017 horror movie directed by Johannes Roberts and starring Claire Holt and Mandy Moore.

Lisa(Moore) and her sister, Kate(Holt) are on holiday in Mexico. They meet two guys, who suggest going cage diving in the ocean. Lisa isn't sure about it but Kate persuades her. They lie about being able to scuba dive. They are getting a boat out there and the captain is called Taylor(Matthew Modine) and he has a worker with him called Javier(Chris Johnson). The two guys go down into the water first. There are sharks in the water. Lisa and Kate go down into the ocean in the cage. They can keep in contact with Taylor through a microphone in the scuba mask. The cage sinks to the bottom of the ocean and Kate panics. She tries to get out but she can't. They tell Taylor what has happened and he tells her that Javier will come down to them with a spare cable to help them come back up.

Taylor tells them to stay in the cage. The shark comes over to them. The girls are running out of air when they see a light in the ocean. They think that it is Javier. They bang a rock on the cage so he will hear them. The light doesn't move. Lisa says that she will go and find Javier. The shark comes after her. She hides under a rock. She swims over to the light. It's just a flashlight. Javier isn't there. Javier appears, but he gets eaten by a great white. Lisa gets lost. She grabs the cable from Javier and she manages to find the cage. Lisa swims to the surface to tell Taylor they need help. He warns her to get back into the cage. She does so and he tries to winch them back up.

The cable breaks and the cage falls down again. Lisa is trapped under it. Taylor says that he will send down extra air for them. He tells them that he has notified the coast guard. They get the extra oxygen and some flares from Taylor. The shark is above them. Kate gets attacked. Kate and Lisa are out of the cage to get the supplies and they are separated. Lisa hears her sister. Lisa gets her leg out from under the cage and goes to find her sister. She finds her and they use a flare to ward off the shark. They communicate with Taylor and he tells them to try and come slowly up to the surface. They are surrounded by sharks. Their flares go out.

Lisa and Kate have to try and swim for it. They get to the surface. Taylor throws them a line. The shark nips Lisa. Lisa and Kate are pulled aboard the ship. We then realise that Lisa is hallucinating. She is still stuck under the cage. The coast guard comes to help her. She looks for Kate and then she realises that her sister has been killed by the shark. I liked this film. It  isn't very original really but I always enjoy these shark vs. man movies. It is what you would expect but there are some good moments and I found it entertaining. I recommend it if you enjoy shark films, as I do. I will give it 5/10.

Eye of the Devil Movie Review

Trailer here.

Eye of the Devil is a 1966 horror movie directed by J.Lee Thompson and starring David Niven, Deborah Kerr , Sharon Tate and Donald Pleasence.

The film begins with a man called Phillipe(Niven) who is the Marquis de Bellenac in Bordeaux. His wife is Catherine(Kerr) and he has two children, Jacques and Antoinette. He owns a vineyard in the countryside and he receives a visit from a strange priest when he is at his chateau. Pere Dominic(Pleasence) gives him an amulet. Catherine is in Paris with the children while this is happening. Jacques has a dream where his father needs his help, so Catherine and the children head to the chateau to see what is going on. A woman called Countess Estelle(Flora Robson) is there. She is Phillipe's aunt. She doesn't give them a warm welcome. Catherine meets Christian(David Hemmings) and Odile(Tate), his sister. They are hanging around.

Catherine sees hooded figures and weird stuff. A man warns her to take her children and leave the place. Catherine tells this to Phillipe but he dismisses it. He wants her to go home. The Countess talks to him and she tells him that he should leave also. The children meet Odile, who happens to be a witch. Catherine is uncomfortable around Christian and Odile. She tries to tell Phillipe, but he won't take her seriously. Odile takes the children up to the roof. Catherine is furious. Odile tries to cast a spell on her to make her walk off the roof. A friend. Jean Claude(Edward Mulhare) arrives and Catherine tells him everything. He discovers that Phillipe's ancestors were all killed. Catherine finds the tomb of one of them, Edouard de Montfaucon. She sees hooded figures. She runs away. They surround her. She wakes up at home. Phillipe is there. He gives her a sleeping tonic and he leaves. She has nightmares.  When she comes to, her door is locked and the phone is dead. She tries to get out. 

The Countess hears her and she lets her out. Catherine is in a bad way and the doctor is called. He tells her that she was given belladonna which causes hallucinations. There is a local festival happening called The Thirteen Days. Everyone is there. The weird priest, Pere Dominic is celebrating some sort of mass.  It is a black mass. The locals have to make a sacrifice every year. Phillipe is meant to be the sacrifice this year. Catherine doesn't want to let it happen. She tries to stop it. Doctors show up and say that she hit her head. Phillipe tells her that he has to do it.  She wants him to leave, but he won't. The priest tells Christian and Odile that it is time and they lock Catherine in. She escapes and runs after her husband.

She finds underground passages after speaking to Phillipe's father. He has been living in the chateau after he did not make the sacrifice he was meant to.

Alain, the father, tells her that the ritual is being performed by Pere Dominic, who is an evil man. Phillipe has to die to complete it. Christian takes Phillipe out to the forest with the others and he is killed. Catherine doesn't save him. She is too late. Catherine and her children leave. Jacques runs back to get his watch before they go and Pere Dominic gives him the amulet. Jacques will be the next one to be sacrificed.

This was a good film. I liked the cast. I mean, who wouldn't. David Niven, Deborah Kerr, Donald Pleasence, Sharon Tate, David Hemmings. A very impressive bunch. This was fun and entertaining. I can't say that it was scary or anything but it doesn't need to be. There is enough happening to keep it moving along. I liked it a lot and I give it a 6/10.

Venom Movie Review

Trailer here.

Venom is a 1981 thriller directed by Piers Haggard and starring Oliver Reed, Klaus Kinski, Nicol Williamson, Sarah Miles, Susan George and Sterling Hayden.

The film begins with a woman called Ruth and her son Philip. Ruth's father is Howard Anderson(Hayden) who is a very wealthy man. Working in the house is a maid called Louise(George) and a chauffeur, Dave(Reed). They are part of a scheme orchestrated by Jacques Muller(Kinski) to kidnap the kid and get money. Jacques calls Howard and tells him that he is filming a movie and he needs his expertise. Philip goes to a pet shop and he collects a pet snake which was supposed to be sent to the toxicology institute where Dr. Marion Stowe(Miles)is waiting. She has the pet snake instead. Philip has a black mamba.

Marion calls the police and she tells them what has happened. She tells them that the boy will die if he is bitten. Louise wants Philip to come with her and Jacques. The snake attacks her and bites her in the face. Howard returns home and Dave stops him calling the police. Jacques tells him that he is in charge. Dave locks Howard in the cellar. A policeman calls at the house and Dave shoots him. Jacques is angry with him. Louise is very ill. More police  and ambulances arrive at the house. Jacques talks to Commander Bulloch(Williamson). He tells him that he wants to leave. The snake emerges from its hiding place. It goes into the vent. Howard realises that it is a black mamba. He looks for it. The police cordon off the street. Marksmen arrive. Bulloch talks to Jacques. The criminal wants money and a car. Bulloch finds out about the killer snake. He wants to know who is in the house. Dr. Stowe shows up and she fills him in about black mambas.

Bulloch wants Marion to tell Jacques about the snake.She instructs him to call a man called David Ball(Michael Gough) who happens to be a snake expert. Jacques tells them that Louise will die if they don't send in a doctor with the antivenom. Marion takes it in and she is taken hostage. Bulloch finds an old entrance to the house. Marion tells them that snakes don't like the cold. She says that there should be no heating. The cops are working on getting the money. Ruth arrives home. Bulloch finds a way into the house and he takes Ball with him. Dave and Howard are in the cellar and Dave gets shot by Bulloch. The snake appears and it kills Dave.

Jacques is alone now as both his partners in crime have been killed by the snake. Bulloch and Ball are stuck as the snake is keeping them from entering the house. The snake catches up with Jacques and attacks him. Howard and Philip don't help him. There is a struggle and Jacques ends up on the balcony where he and the snake get shot. Howard and Philip are okay. Everything looks good until we see that the snake laid some babies and they are hatching.....

This was a good film. The cast is impressive. I will say that I felt that there isn't enough snake in it. I wanted more of it and some more killings. It was a good thriller though and it seems like it is more of a hostage drama than a thriller. It is worth seeing though and it has Oliver Reed in it, which is a bonus. I will give it a 5/10.

Savage Harvest Movie Review

Savage Harvest is a 1981 horror movie directed by Robert L.Collins and starring Tom Skerritt, Michelle Phillips and Arthur Malet.

The movie begins with a man being killed by an animal in a small village in Africa. A man called Derek (Derek Partridge) is driving along when he sees the local tribes leaving the area. He talks to the leader and he is told that it is too dangerous for them to stay. Something is going on. A family is living in the area, on a plantation. They are Maggie(Phillips), Wendy(Anne-Marie Martin),Kristie and Jon. Maggie is married to Derek. Her ex husband is Casey(Skerritt) and he is there too. A friend, MacGruder(Malet) arrives at the plantation. He thinks that there are large predators in the area. He tells the family that he found remains. He tells Maggie to be careful. He is looking for a radio. Casey finds out what is going on and he wants to go to the plantation as his daughter is there and Derek has gone away for the night.

Mac's van breaks down and he finds himself face to face with a panther. Casey finds an overturned vehicle and he sees drag marks. A man is dead. A lion kills one of the staff at the plantation. There are more than one of them. Casey arrives in time to save his daughter. He tries to shoot at the lion but it escapes. There is a group of them now and they want to get in as they are starving. A lion comes down the chimney and it eats one of the staff. He enters the living room and the family are terrified. They get it out and they have to barricade the place to stop them from coming down the chimney. They get some guns. The lions try to break down the door. Everyone tries to barricade the house.

Kristie makes the mistake of opening the door and gets dragged off by a lion. Casey saves her but it attacks him. Jon shoots it. Jon and Wendy get on the roof and they wave at a passing plane for help but it doesn't work. The lions are relentless. Casey decides that they should drive out of there. Derek is on his way home, unaware of what is happening. The lions greet him and he gets eaten. Maggie comes face to face with a hungry lion. She tries to scare it off. The lions storm the house. The group build a barriacde around them so they can get to the car. They manage to get there. The lions attack and they light a fire to keep the animals at bay.  They get into the car and drive away. 

I liked this film. It was a lot of fun. It does make people think that lions go around eating people but that isn't true. I think humans are more likely to kill lions than the other way around. It is an entertaining film, though. Some lovely animals in this, even if they are the villains(Yes, I do like lions!) and Michelle Phillips of the Mama's and Papa's makes an appearance. I recommend this and I will give it a 5/10.

Scream Movie Review

Trailer here.

Scream(not THAT Scream) is a 1981 slasher movie directed by Byron Quisenberry and starring Pepper Martin, Woody Strode and Ethan Wayne.

The film begins with a group of people who are going to visit an old ghost town. They decide to camp there. Soon, they realise that there is a killer there, who decides to kill some of them quickly. Three of them are dead and nine are left to try and figure out what is going on. They find that their rafts have been destroyed so they can't go back the way they came. Two men come on bikes and they take a man called Jerry with them so they can get help. One of the group, Lou wakes up from a nap and finds himself alone. He wanders off. The group are nervous as the bikers haven't come back. Little do they know that they have been killed, along with Jerry.

The rest of the group set up booby traps to catch the killer. They want to hear him when he comes. They hear a bell ringing and see a man on a horse who looks like a cowboy. He tells them that his name is Charlie Winters(Strode). Jerry is on the back of his horse, dead. The man tells them some story about a sea captain and then he rides off on his horse. The others hear a light and they go to investigate. They lock themselves into a room. Someone tries to break the door. One of the gang called Stan(Wayne) comes in and he is in a bad way. Another of the group called Andy gets attacked. Bob(Martin), who is the leader of the group, is next. Lou is attacked too.

Charlie arrives back with a car. The killer is invisible so it is a ghost. Charlie manages to shoot it and destroy it. Then he heads off. An old couple show up and that ends the film. I found this to be a boring film. I just didn't like it. It was bad and there were a lot of questions left unanswered. It isn't one of the better slasher films from this period.I wouldn't really bother watching this unless you are stuck for something to watch. I will give it a 3/10.

Village of the Damned Movie Review

Trailer here.

Village of the Damned is a 1960 horror/Sci-fi movie directed by Wolf Rilla and starring George Sanders, Barbara Shelley, Martin Stephens, Michael Gwynn and Laurence Naismith.

The film begins in a village called Midwich in England. Everybody in the village suddenly falls asleep. Everyone else cannot understand what is going on. Any person who enters the village suddenly falls asleep too. Major Alan Bernard(Gwynn) comes to Midwich to investigate what is going on. The military are there and they cordon off the village. They send in a plane and it crashes when the pilot falls alseep. All of a sudden, everything and everyone comes back to life. Alan walks into the village and everything is fine.  Professor Gordon Zellaby(Sanders) was speaking to Alan on the phone when he fell asleep with his wife Anthea(Shelley). Alan calls to see them and tells them what happened. The army enters the village and search for answers.

Anthea is pregnant. More women in the village are also pregnant. It dates from the day that the strange event happened. The babies are growing faster than normal. The babies are all born. They have strange eyes. Gordon notices that his son David(Stephens) seems unusual. The children are advanced. They are highly intelligent. Gordon tests all of the children. They are exactly the same. They can make people do things just by looking at them with their flashing eyes. The locals want to do something about these weird kids. The kids know that they are coming. They make one of the locals set fire to himself. Alan goes into their house and he speaks to David. David tells him that he will have to leave them alone. 

Doctor Willers(Naismith) is puzzled. David shows up. He wants to speak to Gordon. He tells him that they have to leave the village. They want to form new colonies on earth. David wants Gordon to help them. Anthea and Alan leave for London. Gordon is alone with the weird kids. He has a bomb. He brings it to the children and he tries to shut them out from his mind. They eventually realise what he is doing but it is too late. He blows them all up, along with himself. Anthea and Alan have returned from London and they see the explosion.

This is a very entertaining film. I really liked it. The cast were great and the story was good.  There have been different versions of the book, but I think that this one is the best. A really enjoyable tale. I will give this a 6/10.

Blue Monkey Movie Review

Trailer here.

Blue Monkey is a 1987 horror movie directed by William Fruet and starring Steve Railsback, Gwynyth Walsh,Susan Anspach, Don Lake and John Vernon.

An old lady called Marwella has an unusual plant in her greenhouse. It comes from an island somewhere. Her friend pricks himself on it. He feels weird afterwards and he collapses. His finger is infected. He is brought into hospital. The doctors look at it and they are baffled. The man spits out something odd. At the same time, Detective Jim Bishop(Railsback) arrives at he hospital with his partner, who has been shot. The insect pupa is put into a jar and taken to the lab so the doctors can look at it. They are going to call the institute for disease control for help. Dr. Judith Glass(Anspach) is interested in it and she cuts into the pupa. An insect emerges. Dr. Rachel Carson(Walsh) is looking at it also. She calls a friend of hers-Dr. Elliot Jacobs(Lake), to look at this new insect.

Everyone is in quarantine, including Jim, until they can discover what this insect is. The man who carried the insect suddenly gets worse and he dies. More of the patients are being infected. The sample taken from the hospital is analysed at the institute. They have never seen anything like it. They call the health department. Some kids who are wandering around the hospital go into the lab and they pour some sort of powder on the insect. The insect starts to grow and it kills some staff members. People are beginning to panic as the insect is on the prowl. It turns out that the powder the kids spilled on the insect was growth hormone. The police show up, along with the army. Roger Levering(Vernon) is the hospital director and he is not happy about this at all. 

The hospital is put under quarantine and nobody is leaving. The insect is killing people in the hospital. Dr. Jacobs, Jim and Rachel see the insect. It is gigantic. It looks as if the growth hormone has caused it to become a giant killer. It gives birth to another insect. Soon, it will be breeding all over the place and there will be giant insects roaming the corridors. Dr. Jacobs tells them that they need to kill the female to stop it breeding. They need to use fire.

They search for butane and they need to lure the male into another place and get at the female. They search for the female. The eggs are hatching already. They are chased by the male and the female is alone. Jim burns the female and the eggs. The male sees this and he is mad.

Jim is chased by it. Rachel wants to get into the laser lab and kill the thing. Jim shoots at it. He tries to lure it away from everyone else. He gets cornered. Rachel and Dr. Jacobs play a recording of the female's voice. They lure it into the laser lab and Rachel uses the laser on it. It doesn't work at first, but then they point it at the creature's eyes. It starts to die. Everyone survives, but of course, there are more eggs.

This was a fun creature feature. The idea of a huge insect running around a hospital killing people has to be fun! It's definitely entertaining and one to watch.I will give it a 5/10.

Day of the Reaper Movie Review

Trailer here.

Day of the Reaper is a 1984 horror movie directed by Tim Ritter and starring Cathy O' Hanlon, Todd Nolf and Patrick Foster.

This film begins with a man escaping from a mental institution. He wanders off into the woods. Jennifer(O' Hanlon) is talking about her friends being killed thirteen months ago. She says that the killer was caught but she is afraid he will come for her. She has nightmares about it. Some girls are on the beach. Their car breaks down and they go for a look around. Jennifer stops at a phone and she calls a detective. She tells him that she thinks the killer is after her. The detective Rosenberg, tells her that the killer is in prison. He is angry with her and he tells her that she is crazy and needs to see a shrink. He finds out that the killer has escaped. He is called the Reaper. 

Jennifer talks to Doctor Bloch(Foster) and he tells her that the killer is back.  The Reaper(Nolf) kills Rosenberg. The doctor wants to get rid of the Reaper and he wants to use Jennifer as bait. The doctor has trained someone to face the Reaper(what??). The person is dressed as the Reaper and they face off. He gets killed by the real Reaper. Dr. Bloch then kills the real Reaper and he cuts out his heart and eats it. This turns him into the new Reaper and he kills Jennifer.

Now, this is really low budget. This is not a decent movie at all. The whole thing is amateurish and the acting is dreadful. The story is bad etc. I understand that there isn't much money put into this and it is just a starting point for the director. So, just be aware of that if you decide to watch it. It wasn't for me, but I can cut it some slack because of the lack of money and experience. I am giving this 1/10.