The Oblong Box (1969) aka Dance, Mephisto

2.5 / 5 Jun '11
Tagline: For the first time... the classic tale of the restless dead and their unspeakable hungers!
Directed by: Gordon Hessler
Written by: Lawrence Huntington, Christopher Wicking, Edgar Allan Poe
Actors include: Rupert Davies, Vincent Price, Christopher Lee
Genre: Horror
Length: 97 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Sigh, to think I'd been holding back on watching this one because I thought it would be decent. Instead it turns out that it's the weakest Vincent Price film I think I've seen yet. First of all it claims to be based around the Edgar Allan Poe story of the same name, but it seems to share more in common with The Body Snatcher. The story is about Brothers Sir Julian Markham (Price), and his deformed sibling Sir Edward. The two were off in Africa when the "accident" happened that left Sir Edward disfigured shaming the bloodline Julian kept him chained away. Anyhow some sort of escape plan hatches for Sir Edward with some help, and he's drugged in order to escape in his coffin only to be dug up later of course. Julian is content thinking his Brother is dead, but when a feller in a red mask starts bothering people (as I don't see how tapping them with red paint would do any more than bother a person) he begins to wonder. I think this story could have been made to be interesting with a fair bit of tweaking, and of course raising the level of horror. This wasn't satisfying at all, even the kills were even boring! Even at 97 minutes it overstays it's welcome by a fair margin, I just wanted everyone to shut up and die already (not a really good sign). It's just shocking that a venture with Price and even having Christopher Lee appear in the film that it couldn't be any better than this. Watch all the other AIP, and Price flicks first, save this disappointment for a rainy day.

Availability:  On DVD

Night Of The Eagle (1962) aka Burn, Witch, Burn!

3.5 / 5 Dec '10
Tagline: Witch or Woman, What Was It?
Directed by: Sidney Hayers
Written by: Fritz Leiber Jr., Charles Beaumont
Actors include: Janet Blair, Peter Wyngarde, Margaret Johnston
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Length: 85 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
This is actually a charming little film even though at times it's rather dry and talky and it's not exactly scary though I'm sure at the time the subject matter creeped a few out. Norman Taylor is a charming young teacher, his students adore him and he has everything life could offer, even an adoring wife (played by singer Janet Blair). When he discovers his Wife has been engaging in the practice of witchcraft (he doesn't believe in it) he burns all of her protection gear. Well let's just say burning voodoo style stuff isn't exactly the best plan as they are sort of doomed from that point on. This has some pretty neat scenes and the visuals are positively lovely, even though parts are less than interesting the bigger picture is engaging enough to keep following it. If you are looking for straight up horror you might be disappointed but if you are looking for a neat little story that has horror elements than this is more for you.

Availability:  On DVD

Curse Of The Doll People (1961) aka Muñecos Infernales aka Devil Doll Men

3.5 / 5 Oct '10
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Benito Alazraki
Written by: Alfredo Salazar
Actors include: Elvira Quintana, Ramón Gay, Roberto G. Rivera
Genre: Horror
Length: 81 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
This is a rather enjoyable case of making the most with very little. This Mexican horror film seems cheap but considering they did wonders with the effects and it oozes charm galore. It's very shadowy and atmospheric, and rather engaging. It does go into a ton of talking in places which gets a little tedious but when it pays off it is most definitely worth it. The plot revolves around four men who are cursed when they steal a sacred voodoo idol (bad move). Soon some murderous dolls who come to life (or rather midgets with spooky masks) are coming after the four Men plus everyone in their family! The stab with large sharp looking needles, and the attack many times making it very fun to watch. It's not the most original nor is it the best creepy doll film but it's one worth investigating for fans.

Availability:  On DVD

Mr. Vampire (1985) aka Geung si sin sang

4 / 5 Oct '10
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Ricky Lau
Written by: Ricky Lau, Cheuk-Hon Szeto
Actors include: Ching-Ying Lam, Ricky Lau, Siu-hou Chin
Genre: Action, Comedy, Horror
Length: 97 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Although I'm not sure this made a lick of sense were you to pull it apart it's not meant to be. It's purely entertaining absurd comedy with some kung fu action and a touch of horror thrown in. So I don't understand the why on most of this stuff but let's see if I can kind of give a plot synopsis. There is a Master, and two bumbling trainees, also an army of zombies who hop like bunnies (my favorite part) but are kept docile by putting spells on them. In fact spells (made from voodoo paper, and chicken's blood and sticky rice) seem to tame most things when they are in danger. There are also vampires, on of the assistants is bitten by a zombie and tries to stave off zombie effects by dancing around like a fool, and by filing his teeth and nails. The other assistant is possessed by some attractive ghost who throws her own head around. The lessons I learned from this film are that people in Hong Kong are very superstitious, you can't mix sticky rice with other rice, and that more zombies should bounce like bunnies, it's hilarious! It's well paced, action packed and full of laughs, definitely a winner for those of us looking for something rather strange but also very fun.  Also it's worth noting that there are several other entries into the Mr. Vampire series, but this is the first.

Availability:  On DVD

Cry Of The Banshee (1970)

3 / 5 Aug '10
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Gordon Hessler
Written by: Tim Kelly
Actors include: Vincent Price, Elisabeth Bergner, Essy Persson
Genre: Horror
Length: 91 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
I suppose this is very much in the style of the Hammer period pieces, only it seems to contain more nudity and be rather derivative of several better movies. It also doesn't have the personality or the ability to make entertaining dialogue unfortunately. Vincent Price plays Lord Whitman, a fellow who enjoys killing many witches, which ticks off the lead witch Oona. Oona decides to take matters into her own hands by summoning a banshee to get revenge on Lord Whitman. It's really a hodgepodge of witchcraft, masque of red death, voodoo and another surprise that I somehow didn't see coming. Still it really didn't offer anything that several similar movies had to offer and although it's reasonably easy to sit through it felt like it was missing something. You might want to watch this if you've seen all the other Hammer knock-offs first but I wouldn't say one should rush out and grab this.

Availability:  On DVD

Angel Heart (1987)

3 / 5 Jul '10
Tagline: It will scare you to your very soul.
Directed by: Alan Parker
Written by: William Hjortsberg, Alan Parker
Actors Include:  Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, Lisa Bonet
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Length: 113 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Well I kinda thought this would be a really good film, heck nearly everyone seems to think so. I'm in the minority here as I didn't really see anything refreshing, shocking, horrific or even scary. Just naked [Artist440936] if that be your pleasure. Well okay there is a plot, Private Dick Harry Angel ([Artist84952]) is called upon by Louis Cypher (how original...in fact that was a bit too much of a clue for me). Angel's mission is to find a fella called Johnny Favorite who definitely doesn't want to be found. When people start turning up dead and he starts witnessing some strange things, the story gets thicker. It's got a fair bit in common with [Film5479] (which came out the same year) only I kind of liked the other film a bit better although neither wowed me to be honest. I will give this credit for being nicely filmed and relatively well acted I suppose and it creates a decent atmosphere. I just thought it needed more meat, more excitement and a bit more of a surprise, especially considering the hype that follows it around.

Availability:  On DVD & Blu-Ray

The Believers (1987)

3.5 / 5 Nov '09
Tagline: Nothing Can Stop Them. No One Can Help You. They Know Who You Are.
Directed by: John Schlesinger
Written by: Mark Frost, Nicholas Conde

Actors include: Martin Sheen, Jimmy Smits, Helen Shaver

Genre: Horror
Length: 114 minutes

Banned: Nope

Review:

This is a rather epic tale (clocks in just under two hours) about voodoo! When Martin Sheen loses his Wife in a freak accident, he moves into a rental and meets his new love interest. Sheen is a Detective and as such he's called to a rather unusual situation, another Detective (Jimmy Smits) is found frantic at the sight of the slaughter of a 9 year old boy. Also the Detectives have found several slaughtered animals that look like they've been used in rituals. When Smits lets out that his badge is missing and that "they can do horrible things to him" of course we know what's up but Sheen refuses to admit. He even fires his maid who is trying to protect them with spells because he thinks it's nonsense. Of course as the film goes on and more crazy things happen he has to admit it, but will he have enough time to save himself and his new girlfriend and son? Although it is really long I thought it was quite interesting (a bit too much filler though). It had some surprises, it tried and it was pretty reasonable really (even if The Serpent and the Rainbow is a better bet for a voodoo picture).

Availability:  On DVD