Le Spectre Rouge (1907) aka The Red Spectre

4.5 / 5  Jun '11
Tagline:  N/A
Directed by:  Segundo de Chomón, Ferdinand Zecca
Written by:  Segundo de Chomón
Actors include:  N/A
Genre:  Horror, Short, Fantasy
Length:  9 minutes
Banned:  Nope

Review:  
I can't say how impressed I am with this short French film, it's insanely pretty and engrossing.  The red tint to the film just emits such a fantastic atmosphere, and the amount of detail put into this is impressive.  The film is so well reserved, it's remarkable not to mention the fact that it's nearly nonstop filled with tricks (even if they are rather obvious remember this was 1907!) and flashes of fire.  The plot is about a coffin that sinks into the bowels of earth which contains a Demon Magician (that looks like a horned skeleton).  Out comes the Demon and we watch him perform a few tricks.  He then takes two girls, wrap them in tarps, causes them to levitate and lights them on fire!  Later a Good Spirit shows up to oppose this action and to try to stop the Demon.  It's only a little over nine minutes long and it's available here on youtube to watch.  I highly suggest you hit "play" on this one.

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

L'Ossessa (1974) aka The Eerie Midnight Horror Show aka The Sexorcist, Enter The Devil, Sexorkistis, The Devil Obsession, The Tormented

2  / 5 May '11
Tagline:  Ravished! Violated! Possessed by Satan!
Directed by:  Mario Gariazzo
Written by:  Mario Gariazzo, Ambrogio Molteni
Actors include:  Stella Carnacina, Chris Avram, Lucretia Love
Genre:  Horror
Length:  92 minutes
Banned:  Nope

Review:  
My print has the title "The Eerie Midnight Horror Show" which certainly conjures up some imagery...like oh say expecting some transvestitism, perhaps a few song and dance numbers with monsters?  Turns out the alternate title The Sexorcist is far more appropriate as it is a cheap Italian clone of what else?  This one involves a realistic carving of a human out of wood that comes to life and rapes a student.  After the rape she can't help but masturbate every where she goes and hit on people like her Father and Priest.  I don't even think I need to bother explaining more since I'm sure you've seen the movie it's aping.  At any rate it's very very dry and there are long stretches with chatting and other dullery.  It seriously lacks blood, scares and really it isn't nearly as sleazy as anticipated all around.  Now if you are looking for some good Italian clones of The Exorcist there are a few decent ones like:  Beyond The Door, La Endemoniada, and L'Antichristo but this one comes last.

Availability:  On DVD

Dream Demon (1988)

 3 / 5 May '11
Tagline: Two women trapped in a savage nightmare...
Directed by: Harley Cokeliss
Written by: Christopher Wicking, Harley Cokeliss
Actors include: Jemma Redgrave, Kathleen Wilhoite, Timothy Spall
Genre: Horror
Length: 86 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:

Overall this is a rather dry and lifeless reworking of A Nightmare on Elm Street however it does have a few surprises along the way. Diana is a rich and famous young British Lass who is hounded by the press about her upcoming marriage. She starts having horribly violent dreams, and until she meets an American girl called Jenny (the only charismatic character in the film played by Kathleen Wilhoite). Jenny believes her past is somehow tied into the house that Diana is staying in, and the two become fast friends. When they realize that the demons in Diana's dreams are causing real damage as she pulls people into dangerous situations if they are nearby. This doesn't sound familiar at all does it? Heck even down to the rescuing of a little girl from a fire that transforms when rescued it's so recycled. Still the thing that really will make this worth watching for genre fans is the surprising gore...heck the best scene is borrowed from 力王 [Riki Oh: The Story of Ricky]. It has potential, it's just a shame they couldn't have made it a bit more exciting and less cliche.

Availability:  Not currently on DVD

Love Hurts (2008)

2.5 / 5 Jan '11
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Shariff Nasr
Written by: Terence
Actors include: Medi Broekman, Nasrdin Dchar, Déna Massque
Genre: Horror
Length: 6 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
A rather unknown short horror film (that I found on the internet) that is insanely mediocre. A boyfriend and girlfriend get in a fight and break-up. The woman goes to the bathroom where she sees a pool of blood and hears things under the stall. She goes to check and some demon thing looking like Bif Naked with white contacts attacks her. It's pretty silly really and not very effective at all, however points for the fact that it looks rather professionally made.

Availability:  I don't think it's available but you can watch it online

Le Chaudron Infernal (1903) aka The Infernal Boiling Pot

4 / 5 Jan '11
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Georges Méliès
Written by: Georges Méliès
Actors include: Georges Méliès
Genre: Horror
Length: 2 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
I actually thought this was a pretty visually interesting little film with a few tricks up it's sleeve. This one features green demons (the film is hand painted) who are throwing helpless people into a flaming cauldron. Then they summons their spirits to come out and fly about. The effects are pretty cool honestly, and the film has held up very well as far as preservation goes. I like that it is rather evil in nature, and it's very to the point and easy to understand. Definitely a likeable early horror picture from the very creative director Georges Méliès.

Availability:  On DVD

Case 39 (2009)

1.5 / 5 Oct '10
Tagline: Some cases should never be opened.
Directed by: Christian Alvart
Written by: Ray Wright
Actors include: Renée Zellweger, Jodelle Ferland, Ian McShane
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Length: 109 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Yikes, well there aren't too many nice things to start out with here, I made it to the end of the movie and it had a budget. There, I'm done. The story revolves around child abuse case worker Emily Jenkins (Renée Zellweger looking rather shoddy) who is overworked, and then her boss dumps Case 39 on her. It involves a little girl who won't eat and looks gaunt and terribly abused. Emily is concerned enough that she gives the little girl her cell phone number, so when she receives a desperate call for help from the girl she rushes to her aid and saves her. Then the little girl convinces her that she should stay at Emily's until she has a new family found for her. While I won't tell you what the rest is about I will tell you that immediately it's obvious what is going on so if they are trying to play "mystery" it's a huge failure. It also fails entirely to scare in any possible way, it fails on a psychological level, heck it fails all around in big ways. At least it was laughably stupid so I got a slight bit of entertainment out of how cliche it was, but I can't find much of anything to recommend here.

Availability:  On Blu-Ray & DVD

Incubus (1966)

3.5 / 5 July '10
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Leslie Stevens
Written by: Leslie Stevens
Actors include: William Shatner, Allyson Ames, Eloise Hardt
Genre: Horror
Length: 78 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
This reads sort of like a student art film, there are a few technical mistakes sure but it's actually quite visually stunning. The tale is about Kia, a succubus which means she lures bad men out to the sea and steps on their heads and drowns them. She's tired of drowning bad men and collecting their souls, so she wants to collect an innocent man. This is where the kindly Marc (William Shatner) comes in. He goes to church, lives with his sister, and lives a good life. When he sees the gorgeous Kia he isn't tempted by her sexual promises but rather he wants to make a real relationship with her. Of course she resists, and things get a little sticky from there once she summons the Incubus! Actually there is a scene where the Incubus is coming out from the earth that is pretty impressive and even creepy. Since this didn't appear to have much of a budget the effects are simple and mainly done with lighting but it's still quite effective. This is quite an interesting film that could have been amazing if a few things were different but instead it's a visually appealing cautionary tale. Oh I should also mention that the dialog in this film is Esperanto (something I've never seen before) and since the original print was lost I believe the only available version is dubbed with big black bars in the middle of the screen unfortunately. Still worth a viewing though.

Availability:  Not On DVD

Dreamscape (1984)

3.5 / 5 Jun '10
Tagline: Alex Gardner has an extraordinary gift. To keep it may cost him his life...
Directed by: Joseph Ruben
Written by: David Loughery
Actors Include: Dennis Quaid, Max von Sydow, Christopher Plummer
Genre: Sci-Fi
Length: 99 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Well this is a rather strange one that channels The Dead Zone, Firestarter and A Nightmare on Elm Street yet the poster makes it look like a sequel to Indiana Jones. Dennis Quaid plays Alex Gardner, an intensely brilliant fellow with some psychic abilities and other properties, he's very valuable. The government needs him for an experiment they are working on involving having people go into other's dreams. It seems that many of the patients in the facility have horrible nightmares, so they test Alex to see if he can intercept the dreams. Of course he can and he ends up doing battle with a child's cobra head monster demon. Things get more complicated when we learn that the President is having horrible dreams too...involving the end of the world! Are we doomed or can Alex save the day? It's very creative, lots of interesting scenes and dream sequences and the like, rather unusual overall honestly. It's a bit cheap feeling and strange but I think that I did enjoy it.

Availability:  On DVD

Killer Party (1986) aka The April Fool

3.5 / 5 Apr '10
Tagline: DEADicated to the class of '86.
Directed by: William Fruet
Written by: Barney Cohen
Actors include: Martin Hewitt, Ralph Seymour, Elaine Wilkes
Genre: Comedy, Horror
Length: 91 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
I liked this a heck of a lot more than I was expecting to. I mean it's very very cheap, the first 3/4 of the film is basically a cheesy '80s comedy featuring several likeable girls trying to join a sorority with absolutely 0 horror in it. It's based around April Fool's Day and it even had the title to prove it at one time, but they were afraid of people confusing it with the 1986 film April Fool's Day so instead we have Killer Party. This was actually 90 percent filmed in 1978 but they ran out of money so it wasn't finished until 1984, but then it sat on the shelf for another two years before actually getting released. There are pranks, bad '80s tunes and some pretty silly jokes to be had along the way.The thing is, the girls they cast are quite interesting, their wacky outfits and hijinx makes it entertaining enough until it actually gets to the good stuff. The horror element in this case comes in the last 15 or so and it involves demonic possession and that part should please just about any horror fan. It's not the most original flick but I was really pleased with it and the effects for the demon part were quite enjoyable. Unfortunately this isn't available on DVD that I know of but it's actually rather charming considering most think of it as one of the worst films of all time.

Availability:  Not available on DVD that I know of
Killer Party [VHS]

The Shout (1978)

4 / 5 Jan '10
Tagline: A film of intense perversity - the madness of the mind.
Directed by: Jerzy Skolimowski
Written by: Robert Graves, Michael Austin
Actors include: Alan Bates, Susannah York, John Hurt
Genre: Thriller, Horror, Drama
Length: 86 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Imagine if Robert Altman directed What About Bob?, only instead of a pesty Bill Murray insert some sort of intense demon like fellow who practices Aborigine magic. Like an Altman film this has absolutely beautiful scenery amidst the unusual psychological sort of horror. The evil fellow shows up in the lives of married couple Anthony (William Hurt) and Rachel (Susannah York) Fielding. Anthony plays the organ for church services and is obsessed with recording sound effects. Rachel is the devoted wife who seems drawn to this evil guy (or rather possessed by). When this new evil pest offers to show him a sound effect he'll never forget things are never the same. It really kept me guessing and the whole mood of the film is very uneasy, which I did like and the style was quite something too. I guess I wish it had a touch more clarity as id did leave several questions in my head anyhow. Still one of the more creative and strange thrillers one is likely to come across, definitely interesting. Thanks to cosmicnoiree for recommending it to me!

Availability:  On DVD in PAL format only

Demons 2 (1986) aka Dèmoni 2

3.5 / 5
Tagline: The nightmare returns
Directed by: Lamberto Bava
Written by: Dario Argento, Lamberto Bava
Actors include: Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni, Nancy Brilli, David Edwin
Genre: Horror
Length: 91 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Well I'm not so sure this was a necessary sequel it still offered some good moments. Somehow one of the corpses of the demons from the first one is brought back to life and a young girl gets possessed watching a documentary on the matter. Then she goes o to terrorize the entire apartment building she lives in. It's an odd way to bring the film back really but at least it's nearly the same film as the last one be that good or not. The gore is here but not as impressive as before and it's not quite as amusing but I suppose if you are into this kind of thing you'll want to see this one too.

Availability:  On DVD