The Contraption (1977)

4 / 5  Jun '11
Tagline:  James Dearden
Written by:  James Dearden
Actors include:  Richard O'Brien, Charlotte Cornwell
Genre:  Horror, Short, Mystery
Length:  8 minutes
Banned:  Nope

Review:

Such strange little short film, I can honestly say I've seen nothing like it before and that's too bad really.  It's so simple yet so entertaining, it's definitely memorable as well.  It starts out like a Home Improvement show as watch a man maniacally build....yes a contraption.  We don't know what it is until of course it's used so hang in there (it's only 8 minutes c'mon here).  It's actually silent barring one line of dialogue at the end, but it doesn't need words.  Not much I can say without giving anything away so just watch it here and be amused: 

Availability:  I don't believe it's on DVD

Eraserhead (1977)

4 / 5 Mar '11
Tagline: Warning: the nightmare has not gone away
Directed by: David Lynch
Written by: David Lynch
Actors include: Jack Nance, Charlotte Stewart, Allan Joseph
Genre: Horror, Drama
Length: 85 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
It's definitely something different...I'll give it that, somehow I expected it to be greater than it was. It's very much a nightmarish surrealistic film that takes place in industrial imagination land (possibly the future). Eraserhead is a strange fella, he has an angry Girlfriend who he impregnated and was forced to marry. The baby is unfortunately some sort of hideous mutant thing that cries and drives him crazy. This film definitely gave me the idea that David Lynch doesn't subscribe to the idea of regular families and children and so forth. Eraserhead is entertained by a singing cabaret lady with "moon" cheeks in the radiator which is probably the "best" part. It's filmed in black and white with unusual angles and so forth, very unlike anything else I've seen. It is a must see in the sense that it's quite influential to many other things and well it's innovative. This won't be for everyone, in fact I generally prefer a more straightforward plot but I still liked this and could appreciate it.

Availability:  On DVD

Day Of The Animals (1977) aka Something Is Out There

3 / 5 Oct '10
Tagline: For centuries they were hunted for bounty, fun and food... now it's their turn
Directed by: William Girdler
Written by: William W. Norton
Actors include: Christopher George, Leslie Nielsen, Lynda Day George
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi
Length: 97 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
One of those nature gone bad films, this time because we have been depleting the ozone layer somehow nature knows and is seriously pissed off. A group of hikers featuring Leslie Nielsen as a racist hilarious jerk are out and about when they notice the animals are acting strange. From our perspective we see many animals looking angry, particularly birds but some bears, dogs and cougars but they seemed lazy even reusing some shots with this. At any rate, a girl is attacked by a wolf (which is awesome), so she and her friend leave the group to go get help for her wounds. Along the way nature goes even more berserk and starts to cause fatalities (the deaths are pretty wicked). The group starts to have a divide and they split into two with Nielsen leading one of the packs and the tour guide leading the other with hilarious result. If you want to watch Nielsen dance with a bear, rats that fly and various other things that shouldn't exist but they do then this is worth your time. I was at least amused, it's better than I thought it might have been.

Availability:  On DVD

The Uncanny (1977)

4 / 5 Mar '10
Tagline: Cats aren't always cute and cuddly!
Directed by: Denis Héroux
Written by: Michel Parry
Actors include: Peter Cushing, Ray Milland, Joan Greenwood
Genre: Horror
Length: 89 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
I'd actually heard this wasn't very good so I was rather surprised that I quite liked it. It's a trilogy of tales revolving around cats (why wouldn't I like it?)! Peter Cushing although he receives top billing is only the fellow tying our tales together as he is writing a tale on cats who kill...or something like it. The first story is about a rich Woman who decides to rewrite her will to leave everything to her cats instead of her Nephew. When her Nephew's girlfriend catches wind of this they devise a scheme to get rid of the will only the cats have another thing in store! Although this story starts off a little uninterestingly it picks up to a gruesome treat that I've always hoped to see. The next tale is about a young girl named Lucy who's parents have died in a plane crash. She is sent to live with this rich snooty family (her Aunts) with a bratty daughter who reminds me of Veruca Salt. The family doesn't want her to keep her beloved cat against medical advice and they take the cat off to be killed, well imagine their surprise when the cat returns! This is a very entertaining little story, sort of like a fairy tale gone wrong in the best way. Lastly we have a tale about a pendulum and swapping out a fake blade for a real one in order to create a part for an actress in a play. It's the least interesting of the three and the most star studded! Samantha Eggar has never been so gosh darned irritating before even though it's obviously being put on it's just too much. Overall though I think cat lovers and horror lovers need to see this, I am both and I thought this was quite a load of fun.

Availability:  Not on DVD that I know of except in PAL

Holocaust 2000 (1977) aka Rain Of Fire aka The Chosen aka The Hex Massacre

3.5 / 5 Feb '10
Tagline: The world will be destroyed in a rain of fire. It is written.
Directed by: Alberto De Martino
Written by: Sergio Donati, Alberto De Martino
Actors include: Kirk Douglas, Simon Ward, Agostina Belli
Genre: Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Length: 106 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Sure this isn't the movie for everyone, it's very cheesy implausible and over the top but I think that's why I liked it. At first I thought it was going to be a dull talky with Kirk Douglas in it...that is until they stabbed his wife in the groin violently! (p.s. I didn't know that could kill someone?) Turns out Mr. Douglas is in charge of building a Nuclear Power in the Middle East. Douglas' creepy ugly son Angel seems to have very definite plans of his own, and doesn't mind taking over either. When Douglas meets and impregnates a new girlfriend things get even worse...especially when he hears that "his seed is evil"! Let's just say he doesn't want her to have the baby because he thinks it will be evil, but what if it isn't? Really I guess you could say this is an Italian take on The Omen with touches of Rosemary's Baby only way more ridiculous and campy. This is a must for those who love bad film that is entertaining, but a pass for those who like films that make sense.

Availability:  On DVD

The Spell (1977)

4 / 5 Feb '10
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Lee Philips
Written by: Brian Taggert
Actors include: Lee Grant, Susan Myers, Helen Hunt
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Drama
Length: 86 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Imagine you are a 15 year old girl named Rita that is slightly overweight. Now imagine you have a perfect thin little sister aged 13 (in this case played by a young Helen Hunt) who can do no wrong in your Parent's eyes. Now imagine that you are teased constantly at school, then when you get home your Father seems to hate you as does your sister also because you are overweight. It's oddly very realistic seeming...this sort of thing does go on and it's very much the way it's portrayed here, the acting in this is quite impressive really. When things start to go wrong with those who make fun of the 15 year old people are getting scared...could Rita have anything to do with this? It definitely does echo Carrie in several ways but I wouldn't exactly say that this is a rip-off, it's quite different. This isn't filled with blood and torment (though the boiling from the inside scene is quite a treat), it's more of a drama with horrific elements but it's a good drama. It's a rather intense tale and for a made-for-tv movie it's quite good really and it's available to watch for free on the internet...who can argue with that?

Availability:  Not on DVD but available to watch for free online here:  http://www.hulu.com/watch/92741/the-spell

Capricorn One (1977)

4.5 / 5 Dec '09
Tagline: The mission was a sham. The murders were real.
Directed by: Peter Hyams
Written by: Peter Hyams
Actors include: Elliott Gould, James Brolin, Sam Waterston
Genre: Thriller, Sci-Fi
Length: 123 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
This was one exciting thrill ride that I didn't expect at all! See it starts out getting to know three Men (James Brolin, Sam Waterston, O.J. Simpson and who are to go to Mars with the NASA space program. When they are pulled from their spaceship at the last moment before take-off many questions are left unanswered. The public believes they are onboard as the shuttle launches and our astronauts are left with a very unappealing option. Elliott Gould plays a reporter trying to crack the case and find out what's really going on though it puts him in some major peril. Seriously when this started I figured I was in for an Apollo 13 style film, but this is so much more and it goes through so many different exciting action sequences. I hate that I can't say anymore because there are so many wickedly awesome things that happen within this tale but you really should just watch it and find out for yourself. No wonder there are so many conspiracy theory people, they likely saw this movie!

Availability:  On DVD

Lisa, Lisa (1977) aka Axe

4 / 5 Dec '09
Tagline: Total Terror - You'll Be Scared To Breathe...!
Directed by: Frederick R. Friedel
Written by: Frederick R. Friedel
Actors include: Leslie Lee, Jack Canon, Ray Green
Genre: Horror
Length: 68 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Now this one pleasantly surprised me though it's cheap and sleazy to the max...oh wait that's why I liked it! It's a video nasty so I figured I was in for some red stuff and yes indeedy it does satisfy. The story is about three criminals who happen to be going around and killing people before they meet young Lisa. Lisa looks after her paralyzed Grandpa in a big ole farm house all by herself. Lisa isn't quite the most normal person, she suffers hallucinations, stares into space and well she's just generally strange. When the criminals stumble into her place bad things start happening! It's definitely very The Last House on the Left only much cheaper and only a little more than an hour long. If you go into this expecting to be scared you are looking at it from the wrong angle, look at this as a ridiculously campy homage to revenge pictures with a wickedly vicious young Girl that you want to root on. This definitely won't appeal to everyone but those who like it will probably like it a lot.

Availability:  On DVD