Wishlist

3.5/5

This was better then I expected though the beginning part was way too slow. It gets good if you're willing to wait.

There are these two brothers Niles and Holland. They are very close and spend almost all of their time together. Niles is very sweet and kind but Holland is mean and selfish and has a bit of a temper. There's also this Russian woman who teaches Niles to "play the game" which means that he can literally see from another creature's perspective a bird as an example. Another one of those weird The Shining type special abilities that small children have. There's a pretty critical twist which has been done countless times after this especially in Asian horror movies but for some reason I didn't see it coming. Maybe I'm just stupid but I take that as a good sign when a movie surprises you like that.

4/5

A rich man hires a new governess for his kids so that he can continue partying around the world. A young girl and a young boy who live in a ridiculous huge mansion with servants. First it all seems very idyllic and lovely but we start to unravel a dark secret. The kids seemed so adorable at first but eventually we get a totally different perspective. It starts pretty slow but once it gets going its intense. The story is interesting and has some twists, characters are well developed and cinematography is really beautiful. Its a charming 1960 haunted house film. If you like The Haunting you'll like this too.

3.5/5

This living doll thing has been done many times and this really isn't that different but its still a pretty good and entertaining movie.

Corky is an unsuccessful magician who figures out a new gimmick, a ventriloquist dummy. His new show is a huge hit and a manager gets interested of him. Corky gets cold feet and goes to meet a girl he had a crush on as a teenager to the countryside to avoid attention. The doll is a real burden though, its constantly talking like it has a life of its own...

Anthony Hopkins does a decent job as Corky and the film is fairly interesting. It has its flaws like the slow start which I actually didn't mind and general lack of violence compared to the stuff that I usually watch but it makes up for it in other things and balances out.

4/5

The third and last film in the Gates of Hell trilogy. This is an interesting one. Not to say that Paura nella città dei morti viventi [City of the Living Dead] and E tu vivrai nel terrore - L'aldilà [The Beyond] aren't but this is different from those two.

There's a monster with maggots for blood a ghost and zombies. Its pretty neat. The gore is expectedly excellent and the score is also very nice. Check it out if you're into Fulci. Only problem is the dubbing which is pretty bad at times.

3/5

First scene of the movie: Random woman and man are making out in the graveyard. Suddenly we see a grave open and a grey skinned vampire comes out. The vampire then proceeds to kill the man and rape the woman. The woman as a good idiot Christian keeps the baby and it grows to be an adult half vampire. I was expecting that we'd see how the woman raises the child but no we skip straight to his adulthood. The rest of the film follows the half vampire dude try to find his father and kill him because he was an *beep* to his mom or something like that.

Its pretty dull and not that spectacularly made. Acting is flimsy and the cinematography is pretty bland. There was some atmospheric fog and some good shots of the graveyard and thats about it. The story isn't that great either. Not a terrible movie but not that good either.

4.5/5

Lucio Fulci's first movie in the "Gates of Hell" trilogy.

A priest commits suicide by hanging himself at night in the graveyard and thus opens a gate to hell similarly to the next film in the trilogy E tu vivrai nel terrore - L'aldilà [The Beyond]. The countryside town where this takes place is supposedly built on the site where Salem witch trials took place and that apparently has something to do with the ghosts and such. This is even more of a ghost film then the Beyond with only some occasional zombies thrown in. The zombies are basically just ghosts who walk like zombies and sometimes bite people or rip their brains out. This really should have been called "City of the Dead" like they mention in the movie instead of "City of the living Dead" since this really shouldn't be considered a zombie film.

The gore effects in this movie are excellent. There is a head drilling, multiple brain gouging scenes and a scene where a woman cries bloody tears and vomits her guts out. Nasty. Its also nicely shot and acted. Fulci at his best.

3.5/5

This is an interesting film. A young woman named Lisa is doing some sight seeing in Toledo and gets lost. She meets this creepy man who bears a resemblance to the devil that she saw depicted on an old fresco. Anyway she doesn't find her tourist group again so she takes refuge in a nearby villa and realizes that the creepy guy is actually the butler of the house. They let her stay for the night and pretty quickly some spooky stuff starts happening. People end up dying and there are some seemingly supernatural events connected to that.

Its a bit slow and confusing at first but it picks pace later on. Its beautifully shot and has a dreamlike feel to it which seemed to be the main focus of the film. There are a couple twists and some of them were actually surprising but mostly its pretty predictable.
When it comes to gore and violence its pretty tame but there is some bloodshed. Action and splatter really aren't the main focus of the film.

If you want to see some more Mario Bava cinematography or maybe just an Italian horror film then check this out. Its something different but nothing unheard of and its well made like a proper Mario Bava picture.

4.5/5

Really well made and unique film by Lucio Fulci. This is the second film in the unofficial "Gates of Hell trilogy" and a pseudo sequel to Paura nella città dei morti viventi [City of the Living Dead].

Some time in the 1920s a lynch mob kills a man named Schweick for being a warlock by crucifying him and burning him with quicklime. This takes place in a Hotel called "Seven doors" and causes one of the gates of hell to open. Apparently the gate was under the hotel and Schweick was guarding it. Decades later Liza Merril inherits the hotel and starts renovating it. Unfortunately she seems to act as some sort of a catalyst for the gate because now all hell literally breaks loose and we start seeing ghosts and zombies.

The film really isn't the most story driven one and its more of an atmospheric collection of images then a literal story. Its filled with symbolism and is very strange and confusing. Production-wise its very good, actors are good and the zombie effects are awesome but the best part is the cinematography which is just beautiful.

The film wasn't intended to be a zombie flick and you can kinda see that because its much more of a ghost story but since zombies were so popular in the 80s Fulci was told to throw some walking corpses in the film. Not a bad decision in my opinion. Awesome film and probably the best video nasty I've seen.

4/5

Donny is a guy who was deeply traumatized as a child because of the way his mother abused him. Her mother used to burn his hands if he didn't behave and some times without a reason. The plot is similar to Psycho. A strange and extremely shy but likable guy who is still living with his mom has a mental break down and goes on a rampage. In this case Donny's mom dies and he immediately starts to hear voices in his head urging him to kill random women. His method of killing is knocking them unconscious tying them up and burning them with a blowtorch. After killing them he puts the corpses somewhere in the house. Lying on a bed or sitting on a rocking chair for an example.

The film is very grim and sleazy. It shows a man who was abused as a kid going mad and killing innocents. Its all very sad. We feel sympathy for Donny but we also want him to get caught. The acting is not bad and camera work is nice. The gore effects and corpses also look convincing. The sound effects are creepy and create an unsettling atmosphere. The creepy house and soundtrack serve as a very good background for the events taking place.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one. Definitely one of the better video-nasties.

2/5

This was one weird movie. Its about a brother and sister in 10.000 bc who want eternal youth so they kill and eat children of their tribe. Their mother who is a witch doctor curses them to age 10 years for every year they live. She says that if they want the curse to end they'll have to sacrifice a sixteen-year-old virgin of their own tribe in exactly 12.000 years when the stars are in the correct position. We jump to 16 years ago when the brother gets married and gets his wife pregnant, then we jump to present day when the child is sixteen and the day of sacrifice draws near.

Its similar to Blood Feast and Mardi Gras Massacre because of the orange colored unrealistic gore effects and similar themes of sacrificing virgins and cannibalism. There's a lot of gut munching but the effects are laughable. The acting is also mostly very bad. The story sounds weird but if the movie was made well it might have been interesting.

The actual "plot" of the movie is retarded. Its BAAAAD! And the movie only gets worse towards the end. This is the kind of stuff that happens, the 16 year old girl uses a magic necklace to destroy a van by causing it to spiral of a bridge while she is INSIDE IT! Wtf? And when it hits the ground it of course explodes and the girl somehow teleports to safety. Its hilarious but not really funny enough to justify how bad and boring the rest of the film is. Oh yeah, its also a video-nasty...because its just so horrifying!

2/5

Two female US army officers are sent to infiltrate a nazi love camp to rescue a Jewish female scientist. Thats the story. Basically what you get is 15 minutes of plot in the beginning and 15 minutes at the end. The rest is nude women getting raped and tormented.

The film is boring and poorly made. Acting is shaky and camera work is bland. There's a lot of boobs and some blood but its gonna get boring very quickly.

3/5

Another video nasty. I was expecting a totally horrible film but actually it wasn't that bad. It wasn't that great either but it was tolerable. The murder scenes are very well made and creative and the gore is good. The music is also good and the film is quite well shot. The downside of the film is that the plot is ridiculous and confusing and that some actors are pretty bad.

Basically the story is this. Mikos is a man who has Michael Myers like strength and is almost immortal due to his amazing regeneration capability. However his physical condition also makes him very much insane. They say that he escaped from a research facility and thats the only explanation they give. Like a proper slasher villain Mikos goes around killing random strangers with various brutal methods and uses weapons like a bandsaw, a drill and a gas owen.
There's also a priest and some police men who are trying to catch him and the Bennett family who end up being Mikos' target. The priest of course says that Mikos' is possessed by the devil which might serve as an explanation but they don't explain that any further.

Thats the main problem of this film. Nothing makes sense. The film starts by Mikos running from the priest and wounding himself on the Bennett family's tall metal fence. This is when they take him to a hospital and realize how strong he is. Why was he running from the priest? Why does he return to the Bennett place? Why is he so strong? Why was it the same doctor who operated on the Bennett's daughter and Mikos? Nothing is explained and everything that seems to be a connection that might lead somewhere is just a coincidence.

The movie is also an obvious Halloween rip off. There's the priest who is similar to Loomis, invincible slasher villain Mikos similar to Myers, the Bennett kid is scared of the "boogeyman" etc.

The movie feels rushed and sloppy but it delivers the goods.

4/5

The name of the movie is quite confusing. According to what I've heard Dawn of the Dead was called Zombi in Italy and this is trying to capitalize on the Romero classic as an unofficial pseudo sequel.

Even though this is considered Lucio Fulci's rip off of Dawn but there are actually a lot of difference's. Sure its a zombie apocalypse movie but apart from that its not that similar. Instead of being in an urban environment and the zombies being explained with some kind of sci-fi virus or contamination the people are actually on a small tropical island fighting voodoo zombies. Its pretty cool that a more modern zombie flick went back to the voodoo thing. Its kind of a mix between the 30s and 40s voodoo zombie films and Romero's films.

The gore is excellent and there's a lot of it. The zombies are also very interesting looking and there are a lot interesting deaths like the shark thing for an example. There are also Spanish conquistador zombies which is awesome, reminds me of La noche del terror ciego [Tombs of the Blind Dead].

Its not as deep or political as Romero's films but its great fun. Its probably worth mentioning that this is a video-nasty so nasty completionists are gonna have to see this. Fortunately its one of the better nasties.

3.5/5

Jessica is a mentally unstable individual who suffers from intense paranoia and stress. After she is released from the mental asylum her husband and one of her friends decide to take her to the countryside to get some rest. When they arrive they find a young woman squatting in the house. They like her so they ask her to stay and she becomes their friend, yay! Very quickly Jessica starts hallucinating again and sees a female ghost in the lake. She also sees a mangled corpse of a man. The fact that the villagers are creepy inbred looking red necks doesn't help either and Jessica spirals into full blown hysteria. But is it all in her head?

Its similar to films like ...Et mourir de plaisir [Blood and Roses] and The Haunting. Its told from the female lead's perspective who is constantly hearing voices in her head just like in Blood and Roses and she questions her sanity like in the Haunting. It also reminds me of Carnival of Souls. I liked the film even though it started a bit slow. Its really moody and there's a good mystery going on. Its also very nicely shot.

3/5

Bela Lugosi portrays a mad scientist version of Murder Legandre from White Zombie who instead of having zombies work for him uses blind people. One of his victims is found from the river and the a couple of detectives are sent to investigate. Lugosi also has a Gorilla/Frankenstein's monster helper who is supposed to be really scary and he is obviously one of the main selling points. His face is in the art work and the film's name has "monster" in it but actually the "monster" only has a few brief appearances and is just an unimportant prop. Its tolerable, some laughs and some scares and obviously there's Lugosi as Dr. Orloff which makes it all worthwhile.

4/5

According to wikipedia this was supposed to be a Psycho rip-off with brutal killings and gothic atmosphere. Psycho rip-off probably means like a slasher film because this is actually not that similar in other respects. It does have a fake lead character though.

Louse and Richard Haloran are row boating when Richard gets a heart attack which would result in Louse not inheriting Richard's family's fortune. So she throws the body in the lake. Louse then goes to meet Richard's family in their family castle like she was supposed to. The family is all messed up because of the death of Richard's sister many years ago. Louse starts to plot to make Richard's mom go completely insane as she is already pretty unstable in order to hasten her death. Suddenly things change and Louse get's axe murdered. Its quite a mystery and very entertaining and you are really wondering who is the killer.

The film is very creepy and atmospheric even though it was thought to be a total gore fest when it was made. The soundtrack also really helps to enhance the mood. The kills are good and actually pretty gruesome but you don't really see any blood. Most of the film is actually the slow stalking and wandering in the dark woods moors or cellars but with the good balance of violence and plot it makes a really fast moving and entertaining yet atmospheric and creepy film.

4.5/5

Really slow and moody psychological horror film and. Mary ends up in a serious car accident and is totally traumatized by it. She's having a hard time coping with life and feels that some one is following her. She seems to be paranoid and hallucinate dead people where ever she looks. She moves to another city and becomes an organist at a church. She also meets a man but scares him away with her hysteria. She seems to be crazy but maybe someone is actually following her.

The I'm not gonna spoil the ending but I'll say that its good. The entirety of the film is told from Mary's perspective and monologue and its extremely slow. Still its rather entertaining and goes by quickly. Its really well made especially for a low budget and it actually managed to creep me out in some parts.

3/5

Not much of a horror film but more of a totally ridiculous comedy with some occasional scary moments thrown in.

A group of people are traveling on a the Western express. The train is late so they miss the next one and have to stay the night at the station. The station master urges them to leave because the station is haunted by the ghost train. Some The Old Dark House stuff happens and there's actually quite a twist at the end. It is genuinely funny so I enjoyed but its don't expect a serious horror film.

2/5

Well they sure butchered the original. The original The Haunting was really atmospheric and creepy and had a constant sense of mystery and dread. This is totally different, its not scary or subtle or mysterious.

A bunch of people volunteer to take part in a study about insomnia and they are sent to Hill house. A large mansion with a bad reputation which is supposedly haunted. We are told immediately that the study is actually about group fear and not insomnia which is obviously an insult to the viewer's intelligence. Thats what the film is like, everything is told very explicitly so that every inhabitant of led-island should understand it.

There's some "creepy" stuff and everyone gets paranoid, especially Eleanor who goes totally insane. Unlike the original film where it was just an elaborate chain of misunderstandings OR maybe a paranormal activity i.e we are not told explicitly and we can only speculate the screen is quickly filled with CGI ghouls. Get this, its not in Eleanor's head, its real. Thats *beep* they just butchered an awesome mystery and turned into a cheap haunted house film with CGI monsters. Lament,lament.

2/5

A rather dull old melodrama featuring Bela Lugosi. Its basically about two guys who want the same girl. It gets better towards the end but its generally very boring.

3/5

A bunch of anthropologists go to a jungle island to solve a mystery that has to do with strange incidents of cannibalism that have been occurring. What they find is a cannibal tribe, zombies and a mad scientist who is waking the dead by giving them new brains.

There's the cannibal stuff such as people being impaled on traps and guts being eaten and there's the zombie splatter and gore stuff blended together with Re-Animator science fiction. Its an odd one but I was entertained. There's no virus or a curse or anything like that so the number of the zombies is very small since they are all made by the doctor. Don't expect Dawn of the Dead, its more of a cannibal film that tries to capitalize on Zombi 2 [Zombie].