Wild, Wild Podcast - STAGE FRIGHT (1987)

In this final episode of our Women in Italian Cinema mini-season, we focus on the unsung hero of Filmirage, Donatella Donati. She worked for many years with Joe D'Amato as a producer, production manager, screenwriter, script girl, and even set design on occasion. The most high-profile film she produced was StageFright, which also served as Michele Soavi's directorial debut after he had worked for Filmirage for several years.

So join Adrian and I as we discuss vital issues like why doesn't Donati have her own Wikipedia page? Is that really George Eastman under the owl head? And why did Quest for the Mighty Sword (Joe D'Amato, 1990) almost kill Filmirage?

We would love to hear from you about your favorite Italian female filmmakers, or your favorite Filmirage films.

Check out all the show related info at our LINKTREE. 

Video - TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE (1972)

Here's Edgar Wright talking about one of his (and my) favorite Mario Bava films! He describes it as a kind of Tom & Jerry murder story and that is just about perfect. But I think I prefer the BAY OF BLOOD title. 

The Bloody Pit #207 - BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974)

December brings our annual Holiday Horror episode. This year we discuss the legendary Canadian film BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974) and we have much to say. Turns out this is our tenth year of this Holiday tradition which surprised and slightly freaked me out. But Troy Guinn and John Hudson are rightly proud of our decade long series and glad to finally talk about the one that might have started the whole sub-genre. Sadly, our ages are starting to show, starting with the fact that none of us can remember when we first saw this classic horror film. Very strange.

We dive right in and forego the usual plot synopsis in hopes that listeners will have seen the movie. We lament that we have never been able to read the 1976 novelization and note that a brand new one is coming out any day now. We talk about the actors quite a lot with Troy boldly stating that this is the best ensemble cast of any slasher film ever. Others may disagree. We take the time to point out that phone technology and the concept of an ‘obscene phone call’ seem to have gone the way of the 8-track tape. And we discuss the sure directorial hand of Bob Clark while lamenting his 1990’s career slide into profitable but inane children’s films. Also, we ask the serious question of whether John Saxon ever actually solved a crime onscreen. This will require research!

 

If you have thoughts on BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974) or any other Holiday Horror thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to send them. Thank you for listening and beware of attic monsters. 

Brief Thoughts - THANKSGIVING (2023)

I watched the trailer for this upcoming release again today and I find myself in an internal debate. I think I would like to see this film but I'm fighting with my own past experiences. THANKSGIVING (2023) was made by Eli Roth and that is usually enough information to tell me that I will be wasting my time and money. I have despised every film I have seen that he has directed. The last time I gave him the benefit of the doubt was with THE GREEN INFERNO (2013) and it was hot garbage. So, for the last decade I have stayed away from his work knowing that he is a filmmaker whose sensibilities are not in synch with mine and, frankly, his talents are subpar. The vibe I get from his movies is of a smarmy, self-satisfied frat-bro who has been told that his dumbest ideas are brilliant. Over the past few years I've noticed him trying to present himself as a knowledgeable fan by producing and hosting a documentary series that focuses on the history of the horror genre, but he isn't fooling me. I saw no creative growth across the four films I watched so I doubt his love of the genre will ever translate into a quality effort for the big screen. But the trailer he made for GRINDHOUSE (2007) that serves as the inspiration for this new film was the best thing I ever saw from him. At the time I assumed it was because it was only a few minutes long so his clumsy and idiotic scriptwriting didn't have time to become embarrassing. In a fake trailer you don't have to demonstrate an ability to plot, build characters or craft believable actions for those characters to take. So I suspect that a movie that runs an hour and forty-five minutes will bring Roth back to the usual sloppy writing that made his name famous before. I also fear that he will dive deeply into the more stupid end of his shallow idea pool thinking that these crappy elements can be presented as a knowing wink to horror fans. I can feel the dread rising as I type this.

But - I still kind of want to see the film. Damn! Was a decade without the pain of an Eli Roth film long enough to make me forget how bad his work is?

I have a problem.

 

FREDDY'S NIGHTMARES : A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Series

I’ve been given the opportunity to finally see some episodes of the late 80’s syndicated television offshoot Freddy’s Nightmares. I have heard for years about how bad it was with some dissenting opinions sometimes expressed in carefully couched terms. I can only imagine how it might have felt to catch this show on late cable channels and wonder what in the world was going on. It must have seemed incredibly transgressive at the time but time has certainly moved on. I’ve watched two episodes to get a taste and neither one was good at all. Even at roughly 45 minutes they both strained to fill time as if they might have been scripted for a shorter time slot.

 

The first was a restaging/retelling of the origin of Freddy Krueger, but showing us exactly how a child murderer was denied a conviction because of a paperwork mistake sounds more interesting than this show can manage. The biggest problem is the low budget the series seems to have had. Everything looks cheap. Everything! The sets, the lighting, the costumes, the effects and score all feel slapped together. I can only assume that there was less than a couple of days to get each episode shot as the only explanation for how uninteresting it is. The visual look is the same as a soap opera, all flat lighting, basic camera setups and sloppy editing. The visuals are so dull that it at times it feels like a parody or an SNL skit. I suspect that most of the meager money spent on this thing went to convince Robert Englund to reprise his signature role as Freddy. But I think they must have only had him for a few days at a time because there are a few scenes in the first episode where it is clear that the actor is not on set. One sequence has Freddy with his back to the camera while Englund seems to be performing his dialog in an ADR booth in another state or well after the fact. It is embarrassing! But the entire thing is embarrassing, truth be told. 

The second episode I watched was slightly better but still pretty dull. It’s a Halloween themed tale with Freddie as a boogeyman still lurking around trying to murder teenagers. It involves a scientist who can record dreams and an attempt to best ol’ Krueger but we know how that’s going to play out – dully! I might watch a few more of these to see if there are any gems among the dross but maybe not. I wonder if there are any fans out there who feel a sense of nostalgia for this show. Even the worst of the Elm Street sequel films is better than this, so far.

Naschycast #66 - SHADOWS OF BLOOD (1988)

Years ago I decided that, because I did not want to watch SHADOWS OF BLOOD (1988), we would not cover it on the Naschycast. I could simply see no upside to wallowing in what we knew was commonly considered the star’s worst film. I suspected that it would be a painful and depressing experience so I opted to avoid it and instead seek out less reviled fodder for the show. But then a friend pointed Troy and I toward a humorous Australian podcast called Finding Desperado. In that show the hosts conduct a hunt for a lost film that eventually finds them bemusedly watching SOB as part of their research. After listening to the eight hilarious episodes of this podcast I realized that these two funny men had pointed the way toward covering this movie – puzzled confusion. So, we decided to finally dive into what I’ll forever refer to as Naschy’s Nadir.

We dig into the genesis of this film starting with some details about the low point that Naschy’s career had reached by the mid-1980’s. It’s doubtful that he would have participated in this shot on video ‘production’ if he'd had anything better as an alternative but chance often leads the dance in movie making. We discuss Lord Sidney Ling who is the writer/director responsible for this film including his bizarre history as a fabulist of the highest order. Finding Desperado relates much more detail about this strange man and his self-aggrandizing nature but we concentrate on what might have influenced the poorly thought out ‘story’ he concocted for SHADOWS OF BLOOD. We trudge through the film trying to understand what might have been intended, occasionally getting lost in the dull sameness of the events onscreen. The sloppy narrative follows two escaped lunatics as they walk (and walk) around Amsterdam murdering random people in a competition to see who can kill the most victims. It is a mostly embarrassing exercise in senseless tedium that, even with its short running time, will test the most devoted Naschy fan. I’m just glad we finally have this one behind us!

 

We have a couple of emails at the end of the show including an amazing tale from listener Kurt that reads like a possible future noir film. His brief life story is well worth knowing. If you want to add your story to the podcast naschycast@gmail.com is the address where we can be reached. Let us know what’s on your mind! And thanks for listening to the show. 

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The Bloody Pit #120 - BETTER WATCH OUT (2016)

It's that time of year again. Time for our annual Holiday Horrors episode with Troy Guinn and John Hudson! We are a festive trio.

 

This year I got to choose the film and I went with a very recent movie about which I had heard good things. It turns out to have been a good choice but the first thing anyone listening to this episode needs to know is that we do spoil this one. A lot! And in this case that would be very detrimental to a first-time viewing. So, as we say in the episode, see this movie before you hear us talk about it. We discuss this it all the way through straight to the end credits and it would be much better for everyone to see this movie before knowing the various twists and turns that this clever script has in store for you. It is available to stream on several platforms with Amazon Prime being the most easily accessible. You have been warned!

BETTER WATCH OUT (2016) is an Australian made thriller that takes place in the merry month of December. This allows the filmmakers to drench the movie in colored lights, Christmas decorations and dark deeds! This does cause a short burst of the old ‘Is it a Christmas movie or is it a movie set at Christmas’ discussion but we move quickly past that to dig deeply into the joys of this twisted tale. The set-up is classic – a teenaged babysitter is in charge of a twelve-year-old as his parents attend a holiday party. The young boy’s lustful intentions toward are interrupted by a joking friend and then by a home invasion! Things get stranger as the evening wears on and the character’s fates become less predicable with each unexpected revelation. There really is no way to predict where this one ends up!

 

We hope you are having as happy a holiday season as possible in 2020. If you have any comments or question please write to the show at thebloodypit@gmail.com or drop us a line on the FaceBook page. Stay safe and healthy out there folks. Let’s all try to make it to 2021 intact. 

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TRICK (2019) - New Slasher!

Having now caught up with TRICK (2019) I am finding it difficult to understand why the film is not better known. It features a straightforward slasher film plot crossed with a police procedural structure to add more to the tale than just waiting for the next set of victims to present themselves. In fact, the ongoing police interest in the initial murder serves to build the mystery of the killer’s possible supernatural nature and deepens the story's darker details. The first multiple murder incident happens at a Halloween party in 2015 with the known killer escaping custody by diving into a freezing river. As the cops and the FBI investigate, they end up following subsequent October 31st attacks that seem to be the work of the same person taking place in places further down the river in which he supposedly died. The small-town atmosphere of the location and its people add a lot to the feeling of a community assaulted by shocking violence and gives the characters more appeal than the usual faceless drones. I would have even enjoyed some more time spent with a few of the students that survived the 2015 attack specifically. The appearance of Tom Adkins as a local restaurant owner and the man in charge of the annual Halloween festival shows how good the added details already are, so I guess I just want more.

 The story zigs and zags finding smart ways to pull new scares out of the genre tropes that horror fans know so well. Having the attacks center on Halloween makes for the perfect setting to both hide the killer in the open and make chasing him difficult. Situating an attack in a haunted maze that makes it easy to hide and even easier to disguise fresh costumed corpses is even smarter. The script is also clever enough to factor in a lie being told about the first attack that doesn’t pays off until the third act giving the attentive audience another reason to be curious about how things will play out. The movie has a good cast as well, meaning that the dialog is delivered with the right nuance to make things work when doubts start to surface and questions start being answered. I would suggest that new viewers not learn too much about the film so that the fun surprises can have maximum effect.

 

If more slasher efforts were this inventive and well made, I could see a resurgence of the genre. Now, I just hope the writer and director have an equally entertaining sequel up their sleeves. 

Brief Thoughts - MURDER ROCK (1984)

MURDER ROCK (1984) is a late period Lucio Fulci giallo with the amped up violence expected from that period of his career. Someone is killing off the best dancers in a class from which the top students will be offered prestigious jobs. A wily police detective suspects someone in the school but can’t pin the murders on anyone - not even the people with the most to gain.

This one has always had a bad reputation because of the terrible 80’s music that permeates the story. It’s true that the Flashdance style tunes are abysmal and unintentionally funny but they don’t make the film any less solid as a good thriller. The murders are fascinating and the amount of nudity on display is amazing for the times. The expert director handles the plot like a throwback to the 70’s heyday of the great Gialli bringing style and inventiveness to nearly every scene. Sure to please slasher fans, the killer is creative and very lucky with an identity always hovering just out of sight until the end. Well done if not brilliant and a welcome return to form for Fulci at a time he was being regularly attacked as past his sell-by date. The man could still really make exciting cinema.

The Bloody Pit #113 - PRIMAL RAGE (1988)

The late 1980’s were an odd time for Euro-trash exploitation filmmakers. The slasher genre was played out and no other type of horror film was considered a sure bet so, what to do? Why not find a way to somehow piece several sub-genres together to see if, combined, they will make a coherent film and rake in the profits! So they took a little from the animal attack sub-genre with a dash of mad scientist then added in some biting rage zombies and rape-happy frat scumbags to see what would happen. And then they sold it as if it were a slasher film! Madness, thy name is PRIMAL RAGE (1988).

Joining me to talk about this bizarre mixture is Bobby Hazzard who starts things off diving deep into the Claudio Simonetti produced collection of songs that pepper this film. This was released back when a major selling point for a movie was the multi-artist soundtrack album featuring hoped for hit tunes and at times film’s the dialog is often less noticeable than the music. We argue about which song is worse and I sprinkle samples from most of them into the show. You’re welcome/I apologize!

We discuss the film’s ‘rage virus’ and how it, at times, feels a little like a dry run for 28 DAYS LATER (2002). Bobby takes great pleasure in noting the motor vehicles that this film shares with that other Florida-shot Italian-made horror film NIGHTMARE BEACH (1989) made by the same team. We lament the lack of Umberto Lenzi’s directorial touch and wonder about the song this movie shares with a certain Dario Argento film. Of course, we comment on the clothing choices and the odd hairstyles because the 80’s were a dead space for taste and this film is a document of those sad times. My favorite moment in the show is when Bobby rattles off a detailed list of every mad costume he could spot in the chaotic Halloween Party climax. Luckily this entertainingly sleazy, bloody mess moves at a good pace, making talking about it fun.

Let us know what you think about this film or our overlong conversation about it at thebloodypit@gmail.com or over on the show’s FaceBook page. We’d love hear your opinion of this jumbled Italian horror mess.

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Video - Jason & Friends -The Saturday Morning Cartoon!

This was just too good NOT to share. What if the 'adventures' of Friday the 13th's Jason Voorhees were turned into a Saturday morning cartoon show in the 1980's in the same tone deaf way other R rated characters were? It might have looked a little something like this!

If we were lucky. 

Trailers From Hell - MY BLOODY VALENTINE (1981)

Figured that I'd beat others to this film before the 14th! David DeCoteau gives us a  good introduction to this well done Canadian slasher. 

The Bloody Pit #95 - TO ALL A GOODNIGHT (1980)

It’s time for our annual Holiday Horrors episode!

This year John Hudson chose our Killer Santa viewing experience, taking Troy and I back to 1980 for a little-seen slasher called TO ALL A GOODNIGHT. Long dismissed as nearly unwatchable on previous video editions the much-improved image of the Blu-Ray release resolves many unanswered questions. It is now possible to clearly see what people are doing and where they actually are when onscreen. But, is that a good or a bad thing for this Christmas holiday set stalk ‘n’ kill revenge tale? That is where this discussion begins and ends.

The trio of Holiday Hooligans dive quickly into the conversation about this one. In fact, we start talking about the film before we even properly let the audience know what we’re doing! Of course, this is the film that was directed by David Hess of LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1972) fame which leads to many references to that film and his nasty character Krug. We also talk a bit about his impressive music career and lament his passing. The screenwriter comes in for a lengthy discussion touching on his other films and a rather surprising role in a better-known horror effort. We talk about this film’s very familiar plot template with our surprise at how many times we’ve seen the same story over the years. We note the movie’s strange pacing, terrible editing and variable performances. We use this film’s murder set pieces to make light of the slasher genre’s often silly kill scenes even as we still get a kick out of them.

We hope you enjoy the Santa shenanigans and if you wish to comment the email address is thebloodypit@gmail.com or we can be reached on the podcast’s FaceBook page. Thanks for listening and have a happy holiday season!

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The Bloody Pit #93 - NIGHTMARE BEACH (1989)

This episode presents a first in that my co-host goes by a pseudonym! (Even Cort Psyops uses his real first name!) On podcasts he calls himself Bobby Hazzard which is quite different from his actual name. The fact that I managed to not call him by his real name for the entire show may be evidence of divine intervention! He is the host of several fun shows of his own including Spring Break Forever which might explain his fascination with the film we cover on this episode of The Bloody Pit. He and I cover a slasher film from the late 1980’s which is a bit of a surprise for me. I spent a good deal of my youth disliking the genre until I was finally exposed to enough good examples to develop a change in my sensibilities. There are good and bad films in every genre and the slasher is no different.

Also released as WELCOME TO SPRING BREAK this Italian production is now primarily known as NIGHTMARE BEACH (1989). Like a number of these genre films this was shot in the United States to take advantage of the financial deals being offered by certain cities at the time. This explains why the majority of the cast is American or Canadian making this look as much as possible like a movie made with Hollywood money. This was standard at the time to make sales of the film around the world more lucrative and, along with the use of pseudonyms in the credits, makes the product seem fully North American. But the oddity of retaining many elements of the giallo genre over the standards of the slasher makes this film feel very much a continuation of that very Italian genre. And, once the script throws in tropes from popular Spring Break comedies and enough distracting characters to keep your mind off the central mystery, this becomes a pretty entertaining ride.

Join us for a fun trip featuring sunny beaches, wet t-shirt contests, angry biker gangs and bizarre electrocutions on this episode. If you have any comments the email address is thebloodypit@gmail.com and the show’s FaceBook page is still active. Thank you for listening to the show!

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Brief Thoughts - DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE (1980)

DON’T ANSWER THE PHONE (1980)- A mad killer is stalking and strangling women in Los Angeles. Ho hum. Not a bad little film and it has some nice touches but on the whole it’s only OK. We follow both the killer and the cops as they attempt to catch him while his murder spree goes more out of control.  There are some good performances and the script is well laid out but there is also no real spark. A few important scenes are so flatly directed that they don't register at all and most of the humor falls completely flat. I can’t quite see what there is here that has garnered the film such a cult following. Nice disc release though.

Brief Thoughts - VISITING HOURS (1982)

VISITING HOURS (1982)- Lee Grant plays a television talk show host and commentator who stands up for people she thinks have been wronged. Her latest crusade focuses on a battered wife convicted of an attempted murder of her husband. This stance so angers the nearly silent character played by Michael Ironside that he breaks into her house, kills her housekeeper and tries very hard to filet Miss Grant. It seems he hates women because of his strict upraising but since he seems to hate black people, Mexican people and anyone who isn’t staring back at him from the mirror it’s hard to figure out his fixation on this poor lady. At least he’s an equal opportunity hater. Anyway, Grant spends the bulk of the movie in the hospital as Ironside continues to try to kill her.

I have to be honest and admit the reason I initially checked this out is because William Shatner plays Grant’s boss so I was hoping for a bit of Shatnerama. Didn’t get any of that- in fact the Shat Man is quite good throughout, but it was nice to see his toupee glisten in the stage lights. And in his longest scene with Lee he works a spoon and a plastic cup of pudding like it was Yorick's skull!

The film itself isn’t bad but it isn’t very good either. It’s a competently made, middle of the road film. Nothing special.

Friday the 13th Art!

It's only in the past fifteen years or so that I became a fan of this series. Now, I feel that they are a strange form of comfort viewing - 80's style. My appreciation for the slasher genre took time to grow and the maturity to realize that I was having a reaction to them that I disliked when I observed it in others. Like all other types of movies there are good and bad examples. 

Also, I have always harbored an irrational fear of the number 13! 

The Bloody Pit #77 - CHRISTMAS EVIL (1980)

For the fourth year in a row Troy Guinn, John Hudson and I dig into a festive themed film that fits the odd nature of this podcast. Holiday Horrors 2018 brings us to the often overlooked classic CHRISTMAS EVIL (1980). Written and directed by Lewis Jackson the film is available in a fine Blu-Ray release that shines a light on the a film that really should be better known. Kind of a cross between A Charlie Brown Christmas Special and Polanski's REPULSION it relates the sad tale of a man overly preoccupied with the holiday but seemingly unable reconcile himself to the realities of incorporating it into an adult life. Having spent years working for a toy manufacturing company he has wrapped himself in the warm message of December the 25th year round. But, this year, he begins to feel his sense of the season slipping away at the same time that his obsessive preoccupation with Christmas ramps up as the holiday approaches. The details of what might be real life and what could be fantasy become intertwined and often impossible to tease apart as our main character starts to act out his love of Christmas and his anger at the uncaring people that pervert it for selfish ends.

We discuss the film's production with a sleigh full of details straight from the Blu-Ray's three commentary tracks. The film's achievements and failings come under the microscope with each of us noting the moments that we love and the points we felt could have been better presented. We remark on the amazing cast of New York acting talent onscreen as well as a surprising connection to a certain New Jersey musical legend as well. The film's beautiful, glowing cinematography is discussed and the movie's fundamental similarity to another, much more famous New York set drama of the 1970's is noted. Anytime a way can be found to compare Travis Bickle to the Grinch you know you've hit on a supremely odd confluence of ideas!

So, join us for an accordion spiced Christmas episode with a few comedic surprises along the way. We rattle on a quite a while but we hope this year end show will put a smile on the faces of even the most curmudgeonly of the Christmas naysayers out there. The show can be reached at thebloodypit@gmail.com or over on Facebook where the Bloody Pit's page resides. Thanks for listening and have a Happy Holiday, whatever you might be celebrating. 

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Brief Thoughts - SUMMER OF '84 (2018)

I just finished watching this Canadian thriller and I have to say I was very impressed! I bought the Blu-Ray because the film was recommended by a fellow podcaster and I am glad I did. This is a smart, well written and clever variation on the old idea of a suburban kid suspecting a neighbor of dire crimes. The cast is great, the period detail nearly perfect and the script avoids the plot problems such tales often fall into. And what a chilling ending. Wow. I'll not spoil anything and simply encourage you to seek this one out. Great film! 

What I Watched In October

Sometimes what you need in October is a straightforward, simple slasher film. HELL FEST (2018)  fits that bill perfectly. It's not overly clever and it's not anything it doesn't need to be. It's just an uncomplicated thrill ride built on the bones established in the 80's for this type of story. The film starts by establishing it's slasher bona fides with a pre-credit stalk and kill scene that sets up the killer's modus operandi - killing random people he perceives as jerks on Halloween night - and then sets up more victims. This group of likable characters are introduced effectively and then we are off into the story. The basics of a slasher are tension followed by release and this film knows that very well. The story takes place over the course of one Halloween night as we follow these happy folks around a large, professionally run haunted amusement park. Needless to say, things don't end well for most of them. This isn't a great film but it is exactly what it claims to be and that is a good thing. 

At this point why would anyone care about the timeline of the HALLOWEEN films? Before going out to see the new one I took it upon myself to verbally describe the various sub-lines and divergent tracks that this sad series has stumbled down. Short version - there is a classic film, a pretty good sequel, an excellent non sequitur, a bunch of pointless sequels, a new sequel that ignored the pointless ones, a terrible remake and it's even more idiotic sequel. (Trust me - that is the short version.) So where does the 2018 HALLOWEEN film stand? At about the midpoint, I guess.

By ignoring the original sequel (not to mention 1998's pretty good H20) the creators have set themselves a nice table. In the center of this table they have placed the excellent Jamie Lee Curtis reprising her role for the fourth time. Here is the first problem. For this story to work her character has to be right about Michael Myers returning. But since this film posits that he has been locked up for the last forty years this is madness. She is basing her entire reason for living as she has on something that she has zero evidence for believing. In this timeline she has no history of Michael resurrecting himself multiple times or surviving being burned to death or whatever. She has held this insane belief for decades based on ...... nothing. In fact, without a specific spoiler I won't reveal she would have lived the rest of her life without ever seeing Myers again. In this film Laurie Strode is crazy. Not well prepared, not smart. She's off her rocker. Which is only a problem if you want to see a drama about an older woman's struggles with mental health and poorly handled grief. But we came here for a horror show, so...... how does it do?

It's not bad. There are some good ideas, some bad ones and a lot of style that effectively kept me entertained. The teenager characters are strong and their dialog is the best written of the series since the near perfect original. The interpersonal dynamics of the three generations of family are well done with some well crafted scenes for each actress. The script holds two nice surprises that are well thought out. I especially like that the first of these surprises solves one of the odder problems I had with the beginning of the film. I enjoyed this new film about as much as I did the last Jamie Lee Curtis return to the series H20. It's a shame they negate each other but what the hell. This is all just campfire tale telling stuff. Best to have fun seeing what new eyes can bring to this concept. It's miles better than the Zombie remake, that's for sure!

The List 

AND GOD SAID TO CAIN (1970) - 7 (rewatch)

HELL FEST (2018) - 6

WISHMASTER (1997) - 6 (better than I anticipated) 

THE CORPSE VANISHES (1942) - 4 (rewatch on Blu) 

ISLAND OF TERROR (1966) - 8 (rewatch on Blu) 

CAMPFIRE TALES (1991) - 3 (low budget anthology horror film) 

CATHY'S CURSE (1976) - 2 (low budget mess) 

ASYLUM (1972) - 8 (rewatch) 

HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1958) - 7 (rewatch) 

THE STEPFATHER (2009) - 6 (not bad remake) 

SWIMFAN (2002) - 6 (solid 'from-Hell' film) 

THE SOUND (2017) - 6 (interesting paranormal story that gets weak near the end) 

BRIDES OF DRACULA (1968) - 8 (rewatch) 

CALLING DR. DEATH (1943) - 5 (rewatch) 

BAD NIGHT AT THE EL ROYALE (2018) - 9 

THE DUNWICH HORROR (1970) - 7 (rewatch)

THE PREMATURE BURIAL (1962) - 8 (rewatch) 

THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN (1942) - 8 (rewatch) 

IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS (1994) - 9 (rewatch) 

DEVIL'S DUE (2014) - 4 (late period found footage horror) 

SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE III (1990) - 3 

FRANKENSTEIN - THE TRUE STORY (1973) - 9

GHOST STORIES (2018) - 9 

HALLOWEEN (2018) - 7 

AMITYVILLE: THE AWAKENING (2017) - 6 

JIGSAW (2017) - 5 (well made but as silly as the rest of the series) 

FINAL GIRL (2015) - 7 (interesting thriller) 

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VIII: JASON TAKES MANHATTAN (1989) - 3 (rewatch) 

BLACK NOON (1971) - 5 (horror western TV movie - a little too long) 

OFFERINGS (1989) - 3 (terrible Halloween copy) 

GHOULIES II (1988) - 5 

WISHMASTER 2: EVIL NEVER DIES (1999) - 5 

THE DEVIL'S CANDY (2015) - 6 

PET SEMETARY II (1992) - 3 

THE BABY'S ROOM (2006) - 7 (Spanish horror) 

HALLOWEEN II (1981) - 7 (rewatch) 

GRAVEYARD OF HORROR (1971) - 4 

TERRIFIER (2016) - 6 (OTT gory evil clown tale) 

THE MUMMY'S SHROUD (1967) - 7 (rewatch) 

THE CABIN IN THE WOODS (2012) - 9 (rewatch)

TALOS THE MUMMY (1998) - 7 (finally watched the full two hour version) 

THE CONJURING 2 (2016) - 7