Alice in Wonderland (1966)

4 / 5 Jul '11
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Jonathan Miller
Written by: Lewis Carroll
Actors include: Anne-Marie Malik, Michael Redgrave, Peter Sellers
Genre: Fantasy, Horror
Length: 71 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
This is a pretty fascinatingly surreal and psychedelic version of the Alice in Wonderland story. It's shot in black and white in a gothic style, and the cinematography is quite lovely. It features music by Ravi Shankar and a fantastic cast, particularly Anne-Marie Malik in the role of Alice. It was filmed as a TV play of all things, and it's surprisingly well made. What I found so unusual was the character of Alice who yes is a rather inquisitive but here she is stern and extremely flip...moreso than in any other version I've seen. She seems downright pissed off at the wacky people in wonderland and irritated by everything around her. At the same time the contrast makes the story and characters seem even more absurd which is pretty cool. I'm not completely sure how this qualifies as a horror film, but perhaps some of the imagery is a bit grotesque and it is maybe a tad creepy. Just the same a very interesting version of the classic story that really should be seen by any fan of the story, or for those who like unusual '60s flicks.

Availability:  on DVD

Nosferatu (1979) aka Nosferatu The Vampyre aka Nosferatu: Phantom Der Nacht

 4.5 / 5 Jul '11
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Werner Herzog
Written by: Werner Herzog
Actors include: Klaus Kinski, Isabelle Adjani, Bruno Ganz
Genre: Horror, Fantasy
Length: 107 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:

Most certainly one of the best remakes I've ever encountered, every detail is meticulously attended to. This was actually my first Werner Herzog film (and definitely not my last) and what really struck me was that at any given moment I could hit "pause" and the screen would look like a painting. The mood created with the shadows and contrast is impressively eerie and the sets are brilliant. It even manages to create a wonderful tension and the feeling of doom haunts the film. Oddly two versions of this film were shot simultaniously, one in German and one in English and it's said that the two are a bit different. The version I saw was the English one, but I'm mighty curious what differences lie between the two. The acting is superb, particularly Klaus Kinski's fascinatingly creepy portrayal of Nosferatu. I was also amused at Roland Topor's take on the Renfield character, he sure played it like a gigglier Peter Lorre. The story is one you will definitely know, it's the story of Dracula and actually it's one of the most complete and well defined versions available. It is a bit slower in pacing but only so the viewer can take the time to ingest the beauty of the film or nature or what have you. It's all very lovingly intentional and I thought it added that extra depth to make this as brilliant as it was. All I can say is that this is a must see on many levels, and that Herzog is brilliant so yes absolutely recommended.

Availability:  On DVD

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

How Wings Are Attached To The Backs Of Angels (1997)

4 / 5 Apr '11
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Craig Welch
Written by: Craig Welch
Actors include: Louise Leroux
Genre: Horror, Animation, Fantasy
Length: 11 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Pretty neat little animated Canadian film that also utilizes photography and black and white imagery. The style somewhat reminded me of Monty Python...only far darker and gothic of course. The idea seems to be that this Man is obsessed with wings, and putting wings on creatures. He examines animals to try to learn about the wings and how they are made. He then meets a Woman and all he can think about seems to be attaching wings to her. It's pretty well done actually, and quite unique. It's a short film of course, so it'll only take up about 11 minutes of your time which will be well spent.

Availability:  N/A on DVD

Lady In White (1988) aka The Mystery Of The Lady In White

2.5 / 5 Oct '10
Tagline: The year is 1962. The place is Willowpoint Falls. Nobody talks about what happened in the school cloakroom 10 years ago. Now, in the dead of night, Frankie Scarlatti is going to find out why.
Directed by: Frank LaLoggia
Written by: Frank LaLoggia
Actors include: Lukas Haas, Katherine Helmond, Alex Rocco
Genre: Fantasy, Drama, Kids, Horror
Length: 119 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Yet another film that I thought I would really like but it ended up leaving me cold. See I think at first I thought...oh this is a kid's movie set in the '60s. It's rather cartoonish and fluffy at the start, we meet a little boy named Frankie who gets locked in a school closet. He then witnesses a girl be carried away by a man who we can't really identify. The little girl keeps haunting him telling him she wants to go home, so he starts an investigation (he's like 8 or something). We learn shortly after that a mass child killer likely is the responsible person for this, and as the story starts to develop Frankie learns it might be someone he knows! It's not chilling or frightening enough for the subject matter, yet the subject matter makes it so that children probably shouldn't be watching it. I'm still not really sure who this film was actually intended for. It's sort of like a Scooby Doo episode only with a child murderer. That being said, it's not violent or satisfying at all on a horror movie front, it's really a young person's fantasy film I guess with a ghost. It's far from the worst thing ever and Lukas Haas does a good job in the role of Frankie. Just the story could use some explanation like why did the killing happen? Still an ok Halloween themed film for just the right person, though most seem to like this so perhaps give it a shot anyhow.

Availability:  On DVD

The Company Of Wolves (1984)

4.5 / 5 Apr '10
Tagline: Where fairy stories meet horror stories
Directed by: Neil Jordan
Written by: Neil Jordan, Angela Carter
Actors include: Angela Lansbury, Sarah Patterson, David Warner
Genre: Horror, Fantasy
Length: 95 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
This was a very unusual werewolf film in many ways. The style in which this was filmed is astoundingly beautiful...very haunting looking sort of like something one might expect from Tim Burton. The way it was assembled makes it quite unique too, it's almost like an anthology as it has several tales within and a major tale similar to Little Red Riding Hood as the main attraction. A beautiful young girl who's sister was killed by wolves listens to tales from her Grandmother (Angela Lansbury) warning her of wolves. Of course on her way to visit her Grandma out in the woods she encounters a man who's eyebrows join in the middle (Granny warned this was the sign of the wolf) who offers to race her to the house. The entire thing has a nightmarish quality to it and the effects are surprisingly awesome, especially in the first tale Granny tells. It is very entertaining and has some undercurrents of the girl coming of age and the blood coming and therefore enticing the wolves etc but it's not really in your face about it. Very lovely and conceptually fascinating, it maybe isn't as gratifying as it could have been but I'd definitely recommend it.

Availability:  On DVD and Blu-Ray

Vampyr - Der Traum Des Allan Grey (1932) aka Vampyr aka Adventures of David Gray aka Castle Of Doom aka Not Against Flesh aka The Strange Adventure of David Gray aka The Vampire aka Adventures of David Gray aka Vampyr, ou L'etrange Aventure De David Gray

4 / 5 Jan '10
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Carl Theodor Dreyer
Written by: Sheridan Le Fanu, Christen Jul
Actors include: Julian West, Maurice Schutz, Rena Mandel
Genre: Horror, Fantasy
Length: 75 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
This is a rather slow and atmospheric film that has many creepy images. Such care seems to have been put into the shadows, scenery and overall detail of the film which I think is what makes it so special. The actual plot is a bit muddled (or I'm a bit stupid, take your pick), but always there is something to appreciate, somewhat surreal I guess. The story (I think) is about a young man who goes to a castle and starts seeing things...scary and strange things. He starts to believe that he's being called to rescue a girl, but whom and why and where? We are made aware that our lead character was often having delusions so it's hard (or at least I found it so) to judge reality from dream. It definitely has some shocking things in the film considering that it was released in 1932 which I applaud. It does also have a whole bunch of reading to do and if you know anything about the legend of Vampires most of it will be redundant (and why do they give you so much time with each page to read...I could have read each 10 times over). It does have a few odd twists on the tale that I'd not heard before which I found interesting. For the most part though I think those interested in art and the history of vampire lore may get more out of this than some, but maybe I'm wrong.

Availability:  On DVD

20 Million Miles To Earth (1957) aka The Beast From Space

3 / 5 Dec '09
Tagline: Monster from outerspace runs wild!
Directed by: Nathan Juran
Written by: Robert Creighton Williams, Christopher Knopf
Actors include: William Hopper, Joan Taylor, Frank Puglia
Genre: Sci-Fi, Horror, Fantasy
Length: 82 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
This was a disappointment, see I recently enjoyed The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms so why not try another Harryhausen flick? This one has quite an excellent reputation and after watching it I'm really puzzled as to why. It's about a Space ship that went to Venus that crash lands and it's cargo (an alien from Venus that is still an egg) is lost. A snot nosed little boy named Pepe who I seriously want to beat to a pulp finds it and sells it to a Scientist so he can have a cowboy hat (sigh). Of course it grows gigantic because it's not used to our atmosphere and it makes elephant noises and even fights an elephant for a long period of time. Sometimes the effects look good but overall I wasn't that impressed unfortunately. I actually think the characters are what made me so frustrated with it, that and poor pacing and plenty of dull drama too. It has it's moments but there just aren't enough to make this an exciting science fiction flick.

Availability:  On DVD & Blu-Ray

Gargoyles (1972)

3.5 / 5 Dec '09
Tagline: They're coming for you!
Directed by: Bill L. Norton
Written by: Elinor Karpf, Steven Karpf
Actors include: Cornel Wilde, Jennifer Salt, Grayson Hall
Genre: Horror, Fantasy
Length: 74 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
This was unique in many ways as well I can't think of another horror picture about gargoyles, particularly considering this was a made-for-tv movie. Stephen King named this as one of his favorites, which is actually somewhat surprising really. See it starts out amazingly...it's creepy, there is a skeleton from a gargoyle that looks rather real. The old Man who found it was telling his story to our main characters (a Man and his inappropriately dressed at all times daughter) when suddenly the roof of his shack crashes in and flapping noises are heard in the air. As the Man and his daughter try to escape a live gargoyle attacks their car (seriously exciting stuff) but then it gets beyond stupid. First of all I need to mention that the gargoyle effects are friggin' terrible...some of the worst I've seen. They resemble the Creature from the Black Lagoon only cheaper and more plastic looking. Oh and did I mention that they talk and read books...yes I mean the gargoyles. I really wish it had stayed with it's exciting first half into an exciting conclusion. Instead it was laughable, sad and even boring...I was seriously dying for the 74 minutes to be up! It's just too bad because it seems like so much more could have been done with this one, but as is still worth a gander.

Availability:  On DVD

Dellamorte Dellamore (1994) aka Cemetery Man aka Demons '95 aka Of Death And Love

4.5 / 5
Tagline: A cemetery man must kill the dead a second time when they become zombies
Directed by: Michele Soavi
Written by: Gianni Romoli, Tiziano Sclavi
Actors include: Rupert Everett, Francois Hadji-Lazaro, Anna Falchi
Genre: Horror, Comedy, Fantasy
Length: 105 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
I'm surprised this one hasn't been properly rereleased and discovered by the masses yet. It's another witty horror comedy sorta thing where Rupert Everett works as a cemetery man. The dead seem to rise seven days after they died the first time and it's his job to kill them a second time as they become zombies. There is plenty of amusing little mishaps and odd things going on which make this quite delightful. They also put a bit of what if and some deeper meaning into this if you look hard enough and even a bit of a love story involving a severed head. It's got a little something for everyone, and I'd highly recommend this to most. Fortunately it's finally available on DVD so you have no reason not to grab this, I can't think of anyone I've shown this imaginative movie to that has disliked it!

Availability:  On DVD