Viking Dead

When the winter months descend on me I tend to want to find ways to hibernate or at least stay close to comfortable, warm surroundings. My usual outgoing nature becomes less so and I turn more than normal to older entertainments or at least ones that key some relationship to the joys of my youth. A part of this manifests itself in what I am inclined to read in the colder seasons and, since it also touches on one of my favorite films since childhood, I like to read tales of Vikings. I've been fascinated with the dreaded Northern raiders because of several forgotten tales in kids books, THOR comics from Marvel and the incredibly fun Kirk Douglas film THE VIKINGS (1958). I love this movie and rarely go a year without watching at least part of it just to enjoy the amazing pulpy energy of it. If you've never seen the film I highly recommend you do. If you like adventure tales involving swords, villains and lusty men battling over women I suspect you'll get a thrill or ten.

So, to supplement my desire for Viking tales I am always on the lookout for new or previously unknown examples of this admittedly small genre of fiction. I've been told by several friends that I need to read the classic novel 'The Long Ships' but I have as yet to find a copy. I'll get to it one day but it hasn't happened yet. But earlier his year I learned of a book that made my eyes widen in shock. The title is 'Viking Dead' and I was told that it was a novel length tale pitting Viking raiders against zombies! Holy Crap! Its like author Toby Venables looked inside my head and wrote the story I had been begging to read for years. There was no way I wasn't going to get my hands on this and read it as soon as possible. Actually, it took months but I finally did find a used copy and have now read it in a blaze of horror geeky speed.


I am glad to report that the book is very good. As a matter of fact it is much better than I expected in that I expected it to be a fairly silly romp, poorly written and badly researched that sloppily threw together these two iconic character types in a jumbled tale to make a quick buck. Imagine my surprise to find with in the first few pages a competently told story that spent plenty of time establishing strong characters and relationships before the living dead problem enters the picture. This is the author's first novel and his background as a Cambridge lecturer shows in the attention to detail and careful, evocative descriptions. As much as I love the zombie element of the book I have to admit that even if it were left out of the story it would still be a damned entertaining novel. It would have a very different ending (hoo, boy- would it) but it would still be a great read.

I won't give anything away so that potential readers can come to it fresh but just let me say that I rate this very highly and consider it a great piece of modern pulp adventure fiction. Check it out!

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD radio show

I'm not sure where this compelling audio version of the great 1968 zombie classic originated, but if you are a fan it is well worth checking out. It's well narrated and follows the screenplay very closely while still shrinking the tale down to about an hour. It has been posted in two parts and you can listen in below.

JUJIN YUKI OTOKO (1955)

I've been busy over the last few days doing the standard Christmas things but my return to the house the other night was when I finally finished watching Ishiro Honda's follow up film to GOJIRA. I have been slow to catch up with the great monster filmmaker's lesser known projects and this film falls into that category for odd reasons. According to Wikipedia Japan, the movie was removed from general circulation due to the original screenplay describing the inhabitants of the remote village similar to the Ainu people as being deformed from generations of inbreeding. Knowing this going in I was on the lookout for a nasty attitude in the dialog or even in the way characters act when dealing with the natives but I found no such thing. The version I watched is a poor copy of the full length Japanese film as far as I know and the fan-made subtitles were clear and typo free but perhaps the unknown translator smoothed over the racially charged moments in the story. There were certainly no such references made in the film's dialogue as I saw it, but I would be happy to learn if the translation I have is not quite accurate.

Soon I'll have to watch the American version of the film HALF HUMAN to see what was left after the US scissors went to work. If this Wikipedia entry is true there is probably not much similarity between the two movies--

" The 1958 nationwide U.S. release of this film took sequences of Jujin Yuki Otoko and added extensive new scenes starring John Carradine and featuring Morris Ankrum and two lesser-known American actors, and the entire soundtrack was replaced with American stock music cues, sound-effects, and voice-over narration by Carradine replacing all dialogue in the Japanese scenes.
Toho's costume for the snowman's son was even imported by the new film's makers and used in a scene where the creature has supposedly just been autopsied by Ankrum and is seen lying on an operating table. Including the extensive American footage, this version runs only 63 minutes in total. "

That means that there is a 33 minute run time difference between the two movies and the American version has scenes shot just for the English language film. Holy crap! This should be interesting, especially as I think the Japanese version was a little too long.

Twas the Night Before Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!

NaschyCast #23.5 - The Return of Tim Lucas!

Once again we have the pleasure of bringing you a conversation with Tim Lucas. This time both Troy and I are able to sit down and delve deeply into three specific Paul Naschy movies. Tim is always gracious with his time, energy and thoughts often seeing elements your humble podcasters miss or simply barrel past. Of course, good critical insight is what you might anticipate when you realize that he has been writing about film and the horror genre for nearly four decades. While we aimed to stay focused on certain films, as you might expect, the talk turned to various subjects and none of us are above the occasional salacious joke or silly statement. Luckily Tim doesn’t mind when we Tennessee fellows go off on bizarre tangents or disagree with his assessment. We’ll have to name Mr. Lucas a sadly displaced Southern Gentleman as well as a fine Naschy scholar.

We hope you enjoy this romp through the Naschy-verse with Tim. Besides the three films under direct discussion the inevitable talk about Jess Franco is present as well as THE LEGEND OF BLOOD CASTLE; QUATERMASS AND THE PIT; the directorial style of David Cronenberg and its relation to Naschy; the talent of various Spanish actresses; as well as cannibal films and animal cruelty in art. Its always fun to talk with Tim about anything but these periodic Naschy dialogs are a great way to shake up the way we see these films and offer a fantastic challenge to our preconceived notions. I have to say that he's got me thinking hard about my impressions of BEAST AND THE MAGIC SWORD.

Remember you can drop us a message at naschycast@gmail.com or join us over on the Facebook page to put in your two cents worth. We're thrilled by the great feedback from listeners and it makes for a much more lively show. Let us know what your favorite Naschy film is and give us suggestions on other Spanish Horror films you'd like us to cover. Have a great Holiday week and we'll see you again in 2012!

NaschyCast #23 LINK

Santa image drop!

Is there nothing that jolly old elf won't get up to doing?

A Christmas Card from Terry Gilliam

A Calvin & Hobbes Christmas Tableau

I have hundreds of wonderful memories of the great Bill Watterson's classic comic strip and this brilliant animation gives us a new view of one of them. This is sure to put a smile on the face of even a Scrooge.

Christmas comic books of my youth

I can't remember how I got my hands on these over-sized comic treasuries when I was a lad but I do remember reading them until they came apart. They were so much a part of those Christmas seasons I still get a warm rush of joy thinking about how exciting it was to curl up in bed and anticipate the 25th. Those were such simple, fun times.

A Krampus Carol!

According to glorious legend, the demonic Krampus accompanies Santa Claus during his Christmas night rounds, warning and punishing bad children and, in contrast to kindly Santa, doesn't give gifts to them. No, no! When the Krampus finds a naughty kid, he stuffs the child in its sack and carries the stupid runt away to its lair, presumably to be devoured for its Christmas dinner. Talk about 100 proof nightmare fuel! Be good or the Brainiac looking monster will eat you! The teaching of this darker side of the Christmas tale might have steered some kids onto the straight and narrow if I'm any judge of childish thinking. And I've had a lot of practice lately.

NaschyCast #23 - THE MARSHALL OF HELL (1974)

Not even computer melt downs, cold weather or the time pressures of the holiday season can keep your Naschy podcasters from their appointed rounds!

This month we bring you bright shiny joy in the form of a swashbuckling tale bent about the legend of the infamous Gille de Rais. Full of derring-do, evil machinations, swordplay, romance and cruel torture MARSHALL OF HELL is a bit of a surprise for both of us. It turns out to be a reworking of the classic Errol Flynn film THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD with Naschy taking the villain role. By combining aspects of the King John and Sheriff of Nottingham characters he creates in his ersatz Gille a sneering bad guy but still endows him with a guilt complex big enough to overwhelm the biggest ego. Naschy also throws in a hunt for the Philosopher's Stone and enough Satanic worship to justify the alternate title of DEVIL'S POSSESSED. Back in the director's chair is Leon Klimovsky who's films have received almost as much coverage in our show as Paul himself. We make note of the standard Klimovsky touches and are impressed that this time out he somehow got a score that is far above average.

So join us as we dissect this very entertaining film with our usual digressions and asides. Where else are you going to hear two detail oriented movie fans talk about THE HOUSE BY THE EDGE OF THE LAKE; point out the Lady MacBeth character in a Robin Hood rip-off; debate the tinting problems in shooting day -for-night; discuss the politics of the torture dungeon and the complex connections between power and corruption. Well- we also lament that the film has no nudity so don't think that we get too intellectual!

For those that want to skip the serious spoilers, we dive into the mailbag at about the 2:33 mark for some back & forth about snarkiness in the podcasting world and the merits of making fun of movies we love. Please drop us a line at naschycast@gmail.com or join us on the NaschyCast Facebook page. We love hearing from our fellow fans and getting ideas for future episodes. As always the show is available on iTunes or at the Link below. Thanks!

NaschyCast #23 LINK

Monster Freeze'ems

20% real fruit juice? That's all I needed to know!

What I Watched In November

I only got out to the theater twice in November but each tip was rewarding. APOLLO 18 turned out to be much better than the derisive bitching I had read online lead me to believe it would be. The reaction of the angry petulant fanboy seems the only critical response I’ve been able to find with the words ‘boring’ and ‘stupid’ being the main descriptors tossed around. I found the film to be neither of these things and indeed, to be tense, fascinating and creepy. I can understand disliking the ‘found footage’ types of movies that is coming back into vogue with the success of the PARANORMAL ACTIVITY franchise’s huge box office take but the form has never bothered me and this film really worked for me.

The second trip out was for Soderbergh’s intriguing CONTAGION. This is a film that will not play well for a casual film fan as it tells its story in an almost documentary style giving you information in a mostly detached way that requires the viewer to kind of lean into the tale being told. Character traits are communicated subtly, plot points are given without dramatic underlining and the horror of the situation grows slowly until the size of the danger seems overwhelming. This is a well acted, well scripted and deliberately paced adult story about a worldwide pandemic. Its straightforward way of relating its story is one of its most effective elements. This is the way it would probably happen and that is one of the scariest things about it.

Now that I’ve caught up with BREAKING POINT (1976) on DVD I’ve seen all of director Bob Clark’s work from his period for greatness. Say what you wish about the movies he produced from the 90s until his unfortunate death in 2007 but from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s Clark made some of the best entertainments available in multiplexes. That he worked in multiple genres during this fertile period and still maintained a high level of quality shows how good a filmmaker he was regardless of what you might think of individual movies. Anyone who can make DEATH DREAM, BLACK CHRISTMAS, MURDER BY DECREE, PORKY’S and A CHRISTMAS STORY clearly knows how to craft a screen story for the intended effect. BREAKING POINT demonstrated that Clark also could make an action/revenge film in the mold of DEATH WISH without succumbing to either outright copying or cloying simplification to more easily manipulate the audience. The hard choices are laid out as very difficult and even after the cathartic violence that climaxes the film there is still the lingering doubt that this action will end the threat that hangs over the main character’s family. Although the movie boasts a strong cast I was disappointed that Robert Culp’s cop character didn’t have more to do but that is my only real complaint.

APOLLO 18 (2011)- 7 (pretty clever ‘found footage film)
THE FRENCHMAN’S GARDEN (1978)- 8 (rewatch)
THE GAMMA PEOPLE (1956)- 6 (fun Cold War/mad scientist tale from John Gilling)
THE DEADLY INTRUDER (1985)- 2 (miserable, boring slasher)
HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH (1982)- 8 (rewatch)
THE HELLFIRE CLUB (1961)- 8 (excellent swashbuckler)
THE DRAGON MURDER CASE (1934)- 6 (fun Philo Vance mystery)
VACATION OF TERROR (1989)- 4 (low budget Mexican POLTERGIEST rip-off)
SUCK (2009)- 7 (fun musical, vampire comedy)
THE NEST (1988)- 6 (rewatch)
PONTYPOOL (2008) - 9 (rewatch)
ISLAND OF LOST SOULS (1933)- 9 (rewatch on Blu-Ray)
MINOTAUR (2005)- 4 (retelling of the legend falls flat)
THE HORDE (2009)- 7 (French zombie/crime film)
YOR, THE HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE (1983)- 7 (rewatch)
CONTAGION (2011)- 7 (well done, documentary style drama)
GIALLO IN VENICE (1979)- 5 (incredibly sleazy but dumb mystery)
MYSTERY HOUSE (1938)- 6 (fun, short, locked room mystery)
DEVIL (2010)- 6 (pretty good mystery/horror tale)
TROLLHUNTER (2010)- 8 (a blast!)
TEENAGE MONSTER (1958)- 4 (not good but what other juvenile delinquent, horror western is better?) (rewatch)
SLEEPWALKERS (1992)- 2 (rewatch) (so bad its almost MST3K good)
BREAKING POINT (1976)- 7 (Bob Clark makes a man against the mob film)
CHARLIE CHAN ON BROADWAY (1937)- 6

Christmas Art - Pulp Magazine style!

For many the painted images that the Christmas season brings to mind are the classic Norman Rockwell covers for the Saturday Evening Post. For me it is the equally gorgeous covers of science fiction, detective, western and horror pulp magazines that I only discovered in my twenties. I wish there was a coffee table book collecting such images together for convenient gift giving. I know more than a few people that would love to have such a tome.

Lon Chaney Jr. -Monster's Holiday!

Sorry I've been AWOL for the past few days but a computer meltdown has curtailed my time online. I planned to do a lot more Creepmas style posting but better late than never. Here is one of my favorite Holiday songs and a fitting scary introduction to the season.

Still no CALTIKI DVD?

I was looking around for Christmas gifts this weekend and realized that CALTIKI THE IMMORTAL MONSTER (1959) is still not available on domestic DVD. WTF? Co-directed by Riccardo Freda and Mario Bava this one should have already been snatched up by some fine DVD company for Region 1 and given a bells & whistles release. There are bootlegs out there sourced from a fine Italian disc but come on- this is long overdue. Is there some question of rights?


Well, until it finally hits these shores legally I feel no shame or guilt in pointing you toward the YouTube upload of the entire English version in 10 minutes segments. Enjoy!

Christmas movie poster art

Thanksgiving has come and gone and my thoughts turn to Christmas and the joys this time of year brings. I love spending time with family and friends and I love watching holiday themed movies with them. Here is the poster art for several of my favorite films to watch during the season of giving.

THANKSGIVING - the trailer

This is literally the only thing Eli Roth has ever directed that I have enjoyed- and I've seen all of his work. I guess if he keeps his films to less than five minutes he isn't too bad. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

YOR, THE HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE (1983)

I recently reviewed the mighty YOR over at Eccentric Cinema and this new viewing of it has made me thrilled to be able to praise it publicly. If you never seen this great, crazed movie you need to correct this oversight. You'll be glad you did. After all, Yor is the man!

In case you were wondering....

Damned Cthulu.

Reviews of MINOTAUR (2005) & THE HORDE (2009)

MINOTAUR (2005) is a good try at a modern retelling of the Greek myth of the powerful beast in the heart of the labyrinth. It has many things that point to the possibility of it being good including a strong cast of veteran actors and talented newcomers, nice location shooting and pretty interior sets but it doesn’t quite succeed. Once the action moves to the lair of the beast the characters trapped there trying to survive are poorly defined and interchangeable. There is some very good physical acting by Tom Hardy and other members of the cast as they struggle to kill the Minotaur but too often the film looks and feels thinner than it should. This shows in some shaky cave walls, a few bad CGI monster effects and in the already mentioned lightweight characters. Still, no movie that gives Tony Todd the central villain role and more than 10 lines of dialog can be a total loss and seeing Rutger Hauer as Hardy’s protective father in the opening scenes was good as well. In the end it’s just not a very good film and I can understand its lack of cult movie buzz.


On the other hand, the French film THE HORDE (2009) I heard about solely because of its cult movie buzz. That I watched these two back to back is interesting as it points out what type of film I enjoy more at this point in my life. Although I still really like the peplum genre (mostly the examples from the 1960s) I more often lean toward hard bitten crime stories especially if they are mixed with odd elements. This film is one of the few movies best described as RESERVOIR DOGS crossed with horror that could actually hold a candle to the incredibly fun FROM DUSK TO DAWN. Not that THE HORDE is perfect. Like MINOTAUR this movie could be accused of having stereotypical or thinly written characters but somehow in this taut, fast paced tale it works. Part of what may cause it to appeal to me might be that having the dialog filtered through subtitles makes me engage in a deeper way automatically. Or it might be that in this story the characters mostly become defined by their actions and in MINOTAUR they are all bland with little to differentiate them. Another thing that makes this one much more of my kind of entertainment is that it does deftly handle slamming two different genres together. If I haven’t already mentioned it, THE HORDE is a zombie film and a pretty effective one at that. The film opens with a police raid on a high rise building to take down some Nigerian criminals when the zombie apocalypse interrupts the bad situation in progress. That’s when things get interesting! This a tight 90 minutes of badass zombie action with very little that I found distracting or dumb and these days that is about the best critique of a zombie film I can give. More like this and less like …… the vast majority of zombie films out there.

Batgirl!

How long has it been since we've had a sexy, live-action Batgirl? Has it really been since the 1960s BATMAN TV show? I know they tried in that fourth lame-ass Batman film to foist off Alicia Silverstone as a modern crime fighting partner for the Caped Crusader but that entire movie was a disaster and Miss Silverstone was about as sexy as wet rag.

Monster Constellation Chart

If you have ever wondered about the connections between the various monsters in various the universes (universi?) from across the speculative fiction catalog this image might help. I am impressed wit the work but have already spotted some gaps. Where is the Skunkacabra, for one thing! And where is the Love for Lovecraft? Click to enlarge!

DANGER 5 - coming soon!

I have no idea if this direct to YouTube film project will be as fun as the trailer promises it will be but I have my fingers crossed. The first episode premieres on November 21st so tune and let's get our Euro-Spy groove on!



DANGER 5 website

Creepmas- the new December Holiday!

Now here's an idea I can really get behind! CREEPMAS!

"CREEPMAS is for those Halloween lovers and Monster Kids who want to say "enough is enough" - if they're going to put their Christmas into our Halloween, then let's put our Halloween into their Christmas! The 13 Days of Creepmas is an online Celebration of Spookiness from December 1 - 13. The idea is to bring a macabre twist to Christmas and the holidays. Get creative and post it on your blog - share your twisted yule visions with the world!"

I think I'll try to participate in this new Yule celebration by posting Holiday themed horror things the first two weeks of December. Should be fun!

NaschyCast #22 - THE FRENCHMAN'S GARDEN (1978)

The Naschy Musk is strong in this one! THE FRENCHMAN’S GARDEN is a very rare film with no English language dub and almost no release outside of Spain making it very hard to obtain. Luckily for us it turns out to be one the best we have yet encountered from Naschy’s list of credits. Much like EL CAMINANTE this film is a different kind of tale than we’ve come to expect from the great Spanish horror filmmaker. Best described as a drama or crime film it relates the true story of Juan Andres Aldije (nicknamed The Frenchman) who ran an Inn that doubled as a gambling den and tripled as a whorehouse! Don’t ever say the man was a less than ambitious businessman. All of those things might have been no big deal even in rural Spain but his side business of murdering rich travelers caused him some serious trouble eventually.

This is an excellent movie that, while far from being a horror film, has enough horror elements to make it clear what drew Naschy to the material. He said in an interview “I’ve watched it a number of times, and with what I now know about filmmaking, I’ve come to the conclusion that there is little more I could have done. Nothing is perfect, but this film, for me, is almost perfect. If not my best film, it is among the top two or three.” Neither of us can disagree with that assessment and we can only encourage others to seek out this hidden gem.

Our discussion ranges all over the place, as usual, with talk of Stephen Fry, THE WILD BUNCH, horror movie hosts of Nashville and Chattanooga, the allure of the charming bad guy and the plot elements that might have made this story a natural for Paul Naschy, scriptwriter. Remember that we spoil the film in detail so if you want to have a blind viewing of it but want to hear us answer emails you can skip to about the 2 hour mark. Yes- that means there is about 40 minutes of us going through the mailbag and talking about whatever you people asked about. If you’d like to get in on this segment please write us at naschycast@gmail.com and we’ll dig into your questions next time. And if you subscribe to the show through iTunes please consider leaving us a review or drop us a comment on the Naschycast Facebook page. Thanks to everyone for the love and encouragement. And once again we have to thank our amazing artist director Jeff Nelson. His stunning image above gives an idea of the sinister goings on and the dangers of a well tended but hidden garden. Maybe one day we'll let him see the films before he crafts us an image to represent it! Jeeze! Thanks!

NaschyCast #22 LINK

Planet of the Apes artwork

I can't resist posting another image from artist Jason Edmiston - I think the reason is apparent. POTA!

What I Watched In October

I watched 37 movies in October. Wow. I knew I was racking them up but I wasn’t counting as I barreled through the month. I guess it shows what you can do if you’re a lazy, movie-loving freak with the desire to see some horror movies before Halloween night. And by ‘some’ I mean as many as possible.

Among the rewatches were some favorites of my youth and a few mid-level titles I’ve grown to cherish over the years. I showed my girlfriend the second Kolchak TV movie THE NIGHT STRANGLER and really enjoyed her reaction to it. She liked the original NIGHT STALKER better but she loved the character and when she saw my favorite episode of the follow up series ‘The Ripper’ she was hooked. I’ll have to show her more of the series in the future.

Seeing the original FRIDAY THE 13TH on Blu-Ray was a revelation. I’ve liked the movie for years without thinking of it as much more than a cheap cash-in but the sharpness of the new disc made me appreciate the real beauty of the film. The movie looks fantastic and the enhanced clarity actually made me think better of the entire affair. Later in the month I rewatched PART 6 of the series with a buddy and for the first time realized that it and JASON X are the most fun of the sequels. They have a similar playful tone making light of the mad ideas that are being used to advance the crazy story of this immortal killing machine. I’ve often heard hardcore fans claiming that JASON X is a terrible film because of the humorous tack it takes but 6 uses the exact same tone of winking at the hopefully knowing audience right from the beginning. How else do you rationalize the amusing James Bond parody in the opening credit sequence? Both movies are a lot of fun and while delievering on the scares and thrills also manage to poke fun at the silliness of the concept.

Via NetFlix streaming I watched a few films including the newly released to Blu THE NESTING (1980). This is an interesting movie but sadly it isn’t particularly good. The story about a supposedly haunted house is nothing special but the setting makes it a curiosity for anyone fascinated by old country homes with unique architecture. While the actors are certainly trying their best they are mostly an over-eager group of under-talented people that might have needed a few more takes or a better sense of how ‘big’ their performances were playing onscreen. It’s not a bad film but it hasn’t got enough for me to recommend it either.

DARK TOWER (1987) is a film that was started by director Ken Wiederhorn but finished by legendary cinematographer/director Freddie Francis. Francis directed the movie as a favor to one of the movie’s producers but took his name off the released cut because they removed all the things that made him willing to participate at all. This meddling is evident throughout the movie as story elements are dropped randomly and new characters are introduced with little reason. The removal of a key final scene makes Michael Moriarity’s performance ridiculous as the reason for his odd reactions to the strange ghostly goings on have been chopped away. It’s a mess and not even my desire to stare at Jenny Agutter could make me enjoy the ride.

MY DEAR KILLER turned out to be a good giallo that I’m sure I’ll rewatch in the future. I finally caught up with SEVERANCE and really enjoyed it even if there is one scene that should have been left out of the movie. The director’s follow up movie TRIANGLE is a better film and the one I would recommend seeing first. Having now seen 1986’s NEON MANIACS I can state that my avoiding of it for decades was a sign of correctly judging a film by its poster art. It was easily the worst film I saw the entire month and that is truly impressive when you realize that I also finally saw the incredibly bad SLEEPWALKERS in October as well. Those two would make a ‘worst double feature’ list for nearly anyone.


STAKE LAND (2010)- 7 (solid post-apocalyptic vampire tale)
THE NIGHT STRANGLER (1973)- 7 (rewatch)
CORRUPTION (1968)- 6 (interesting if not great)
FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980)- 6 (rewatch)
FINAL DESTINATION 5 (2011)- 5 (about the fifth best of the series)
I SAW THE DEVIL (2010)- 8 (vicious Korean revenge film)
MIMIC (1997)- 8 (director’s cut improves a good film) (sort of a rewatch)
THE ROAD (2009)- 7 (well done, downbeat post-apocalyptic tale)
I MARRIED A WITCH (1942)- 7 (fun supernatural romantic comedy)
EDGE OF THE AXE (1988)- 6 (Spanish made slasher)
THE NESTING (1980)- 5 (tries hard but just can’t manage to be what it wants to be)
DARK TOWER (1987)- 4 (not vey good American made film set in Spain- great cast)
THE RESIDENT (2011)- 6 (pretty good thriller with a strong cast)
FACE OF MARBLE (1946)- 5 (fun, nonsensical Poverty Row combo of mad science & voodoo)
THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. RX (1942)- 6 (rewatch)
DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE (1968)- 7 (rewatch)
ROGUE (2007)- 8 (rewatch)
THE MAD GHOUL (1943)- 6 (rewatch)
BERZERK! (1967)- 5 (the ending makes no sense but OK until then)
THE FLY (1986)- 9 (rewatch)
THE FLY II (1989) – 6 (rewatch)
THE THING (2011)- 5 (prequel works for a while but then fails when they board the alien craft)
MY DEAR KILLER (1971) – 7 (solid, satisfying giallo)
SEVERANCE (2008)- 7 (good stalker film with a touch of humor)
HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP (1980) – 7 (rewatch)
FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 6: JASON LIVES (1986)- 6 (rewatch) (silly, knowing slasher fun)
SLEEPWALKERS (1992)- 2 (mind-bendingly bad – the combo of King & Garris remains one of the worst possible)
THE FRENCHMAN’S GARDEN (1978)- 8
THE MUMMY’S HAND (1940)- 7 (rewatch)
NEON MANIACS (1986)- 1 (stupid, incompetent and dull)
TRICK ‘R TREAT (2009)- 9 (rewatch)
FRIGHT NIGHT (2011)- 7 (remake actually works really well – the R rating helps too)
THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTIEN (1942)- 6 (rewatch)
ZOMBIE (1979)- 8 (rewatch on the big screen!)
SQUIRM (1976)- 6 (rewatch on the big screen)
HUSK (2010)- 6 (killer scarecrow tale)
BROTHERHOOD OF BLOOD (2007)- 2 (lame low budget vampire tale)

Halloween hangover

I think I'm suffering from a bit of Halloween Hangover. I feel the urge to continue watching horror films but lament the October month is now gone. All I can think of are the movies I had hoped to watch and didn't get to see this year. Since I can hardly believe I didn't catch at least one of the first three HALLOWEEN films I'll fill that gap here by posting these behind the scenes images from the production of the first one.