ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES (1959) Poster Art and Lobby Cards

 

What I Watched in June 2025

28 YEARS LATER (2025) is one of the best films I've seen all year. In many ways it was an unexpected surprise. I did not expect this mostly forgotten series to suddenly spring back to life with possibly its best entry so far and I did not expect the story to be so emotional or touching. I did expect the violence and action which was very well handled in all cases. And I certainly did not expect that bizarre final scene setting up another film. But I'm onboard after this one! Bring it on. 

The List

BRING HER BACK (2025) – 8 

BARBARA (1970) – 5 (interesting if meandering coming-of-age, sex drama)

UNKNOWN WORLD (1951) – 5 (rewatch)

PREDATOR: KILLER OF KILLERS (2025) – 8 

THE PHOENCIAN SCHEME (2025) – 8 

MOUNTAINHEAD (2025) – 7 (dark comedy about tech billionaire scum) 

TERROR OF THE BLACK MASK (a.k.a. The Invincible Masked Rider) (1963) – 8 (rewatch)

BALLERINA (2025) – 7 

ROGUE ONE (2016) – 8 (rewatch after ANDOR)

THE NIGHT THE WORLD EXPLODED (1957) – 6 (small sci-fi disaster tale)

THE UNDERWATER CITY (1962) – 6 (interesting science fiction story)

THE VISITOR (1979) – 5 (rewatch) (so aggressively strange) 

THE UGLY STEPSISTER (2025) – 9 

NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST (1958) – 6 (rewatch on Blu) 

THE CURSE OF THE YELLOW SNAKE (1963) – 7 (excellent krimi)

FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES (2025) – 7 

28 YEARS LATER (2025) – 9 

TALK TO ME (2022) – 8 (rewatch)

A FAMILY AFFAIR (1937) – 7 (first Andy Hardy film)

STRAIGHT-JACKET (1964) – 7 (rewatch on Blu)

THE GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN (1942) Lobby Cards and Ad Art

 

The Bloody Pit #217 - THE VISITOR (1979)

In the Cult Italian Movie category THE VISITOR (1979) stands out for many reasons. It is made up of equal parts science fiction, thriller and religious high strangeness shot through with touches of CARRIE and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. For years it was considered one of the least comprehensible movies ever made but with the restoration of the full running time in 2010 it is now only mildly incomprehensible. Indeed, with enough squinting and reading between the lines it is almost possible to find a narrative thread that only occasionally feels absurd. Ridiculous to the point of silliness THE VISITOR defies rational concepts and logical progression of story. Let some other movie have police investigations that go somewhere or examples of simple cause and effect in human reactions to inexplicable events. This film scoffs at such needless exercises. And don’t get me started on the exploding basketball that everyone ignores!

 

Troy Guinn, Bob Sargent and I (Rod Barnett) are the three intrepid film nuts that stutter-step their way through this Euro-madness. We wrestle this monster to the ground, fight off seagull attacks, ponder the eternal battle between good and evil and marvel at the cast of Hollywood stars the producer conned into being in this thing. What other movie of this type can boast John Huston, Franco Nero (playing a blonde, blue-eyed Jesus), Glenn Ford, Mel Ferrer, Shelly Winters (playing Mary Poppins’ cousin Mary Slappington), Lance Henricksen and an out-of-his-depth Sam Peckinpah? Is this the most bizarre film ever shot in Atlanta? Was the city’s mayor bribed to indulge the film’s production? How many times will we reference A Flock of Seagulls? Is the amazing prop that Troy dubs ‘Switch-Beak’ silly or brilliant? I cannot promise answers but we will at least pose the questions. Lots and lots of questions.

 

If you have anything to say about THE VISITOR or any other film that we’ve covered thebloodypit@gmail.com is the place to send them. We thank you for listening and we’ll be back soon. 

Wild, Wild Podcast - ZORRO AND THE THREE MUSKETEERS (1963)

What is Zorro doing in Spain, thousands of miles away from home? Why are they called the Three Musketeers when there's actually four of them? Why does the King of Spain sound like he was voiced by Paul Frees? Why are the Musketeers always so damned happy? Some of these questions may or may not get answered in this thrilling installment of Wild, Wild Podcast!

You can get in touch with us (we love hearing from you!), follow us on social media, buy our merch, and all that stuff, through our LINKTREE. Enjoy!

Trailers From Hell - BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF (2002)

It might be time to watch this one again. 

THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS (1962) Poster Art and Lobby Cards

We really need a Blu-Ray of this classic.

 

ASH (2025)

The new science fiction/horror/monster film ASH (2025) is a piece of throwback cinema that I truly enjoyed. It made me think repeatedly of not just the films that it's obviously referencing, but the rip-off films produced by Roger Corman in the decade after the earlier films that it is copying. It helps that the films being re-worked are some of my favorites of all time, notably ALIEN (1979) and John Carpenter's THE THING (1982). As a matter of fact, there are shots within ASH that are clever recreations of specific shots from those two movies. But, as stated, it was not those films that I was constantly thinking of while watching this new one. I was primarily thinking of those Corman produced B-movie rip-offs. The low budget efforts that kept being churned out for a solid 15 years (or even longer) after the box office success of ALIEN were a staple of video shelves throughout my teenage years. It feels like the people behind this movie was right there beside me, hunting for the next gooey sci-fi monster epic. Indeed, ALIEN is such a touchstone film for ASH that it almost feels as if it could exist in a slightly different variation of the same future just perhaps further down the timeline, when things had deteriorated in a different, non-corporate way.  

Like the 1979 classic, our main character Riya is a strong female with the surprise here being that she doesn’t know her own identity when we're introduced to her. She has temporary amnesia brought on by an attack that has damaged her planetary station and killed her crewmates. As the film unfolds she discovers what has happened and I was relieved that the obvious, telegraphed revelation of her involvement was not held until the third act but folded into the narrative much sooner. What happened to the rest of her crew and exactly what she's going to have to do for her mission to succeed and simply survive is the tale we are being told.

Riya, played by Eiza Gonzalez and the surviving crewmen played by Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul try to piece together what happened and what they can do to complete their rather important mission of determining if this planet is a candidate for colonization. It seems that in this future Earth is desperate for new settlement planets because the ecological system of our home world has deteriorated to the point that if we don't get off world, the human race might not survive. This scenario sets up a very good motivation for the characters actions and it puts us on their side. But success is going to be difficult as the aforementioned monster alien things seem to have other ideas.

There are many things to praise about ASH. This film is beautifully, at times artfully shot with images bathed in reds and purples. There's a dynamic visual style that belies the probably very low budget. The movie always looks good and it chooses when to use practical effects and when to use CGI effectively. Luckily, the two main actors are very good together and they often carry this story forward as a team effort. The script is not much more impressive than my beloved Corman produced rip-offs from decades gone by, but the direction is solid. The cinematography is also very good and the believability and staging of the action sequences is on point as well. I guess part of that is that down to the actor doing the most martial arts activity was also the star of amazing Indonesian films THE RAID (2012) and its sequel.  

The movie also has a dose of cosmic horror introduced within the narrative that I appreciated. I'll not spoil anything, but I was impressed with the way in which the amnesia problems and the discoveries on this alien world dovetail together in a way to bring some good chills along with the wonder of the special effects on display. ASH isn't a great film, but it is a very good b-movie. And it's one that I'll probably return to in years to come for the same reason that I sometimes go back to some of those some of those Corman produced rip-offs like THE TERROR WITHIN (1989) or GALAXY OF TERROR (1981) - because they're fun! Those movies know what they're doing and there are no pretensions involved. The beauty of a film like this is that it's assuming its audience is aware of its references, and it's just wanting us to enjoy this variation on a much-treasured theme. 

 

Superman Movie Poster Art

 

Video - ZORRO AND THE THREE MUSKETEEERS (1963)

Here we have the next film Adrian and I will be talking about on Wild, Wild Podcast. This unlikely combination of heroes works far better than I would have ever thought possible and the movie is a lot of adventurous fun! The version being shown here is an assembly from multiple prints that seemingly presents the entire thing - maybe for the first time. The source material is variable in quality but even when the picture drops into black & white for a couple of scenes the story remains compelling. Enjoy!

KING KONG (1933) Poster Art