Category: Horror

Horror Express (1972) / Z-View

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Horror Express (1972)

Director: Eugenio Martín (as Gene Martin)

Screenplay:  Arnaud d’Usseau and Julian Zimet 

Stars: Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Alberto de Mendoza and Telly Savalas.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s remake The Thing from Another World and set it on a train in 1906!”

Tagline: A nightmare of terror travelling aboard the Horror Express!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The year is 1906.  An English scientist [Lee] is transporting a frozen prehistoric monster to England by train across the Siberian wasteland.  What could possibly go wrong?

You guessed it.  The monster thaws and turns out to be an alien that can kill and assume the shape of whoever it murders.  Will Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Telly Savalas be able to destroy the creature before it reaches civilization?  Stick around for the eye-popping finale and you’ll know!

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Night of the Living Dead (1990) / Z-View

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Night of the Living Dead (1990)

Director: Tom Savini

Screenplay: George Romero based on The Night of the Living Dead original screenplay by John A. Russo and George Romero 

Stars: Tony Todd, Patricia Tallman, Tom Towles and Bill Cardille.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s update (and copyright) a remake of ‘Night of the Living Dead’!”

Tagline: There IS a fate worse than death.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Tom Savini takes the helm of an updated version of Night of the Living Dead.  All the key players and set pieces are in place but it’s like watching a historic event from a slightly different timeline.  There are little changes in character but none of them are for the better.

Barbara starts off the same — overcome with shock from the realization that the dead are rising to eat the living, but partway through the movie she is ready to pick up a gun and go Rambo on zombies or humans that tick her off.  Ben is now as much of a hot head as Harry Cooper.

And the zombies aren’t like the zombies we’ve grown used to.  They’re not as scary.  Of course part of THAT problem is that when the ONOTLD was made, the zombie genre was being invented.  We’re almost 50 years from that and zombie expectations are much different. (Only a true horror aficionado would understand that!)  Also being filmed in color doesn’t help either.

The movie was still fun and I think most fans would enjoy the ride.

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The Innocents (1961) / Z-View

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The Innocents (1961)

Director: Jack Clayton

Screenplay: Truman Capote and William Archibald based on the Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw

Stars: Deborah Kerr, Peter Wyngarde and Megs Jenkins.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s make a movie where two children in a remote mansion may be possessed by evil spirits!”

Tagline: A strange new experience in shock.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

In the late 1890’s a rich man hires a nanny, Miss Giddens [Kerr] to move to his remote, deserted mansion run by a few servants to oversee the raising of his nephew and niece.  Shortly after her arrival Miss Giddens begins to believe that the evil spirits of the former nanny and a man are trying to possess the children.

The Innocents is considered a classic by many and is an excellent film.  The black and white photography works wonderfully with the soundtrack to create a suspenseful movie full tension and a couple of legitimate scares.  They don’t make movies like this any more and it is a shame.

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Spook Chasers (1957) / Z-View

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Spook Chasers (1957)

Director: George Blair

Screenplay: Elwood Ullman

Stars: Huntz Hall, Stanley Clements and Darlene Fields.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s put the East Side Kids in a haunted house with some crooks!”

Tagline: IT’S A SCREAM!..as they g-g-go ghost-haunting…and they haven’t a g-g-ghost of a chance!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The Bowery Boys find themselves in another creepy, old house haunted house with a mad scientist crooks!  Wha- what?

When Mike buys a rural house sight-unseen, the boys go up with him to get it cleaned up.  In the process they discover hidden cash and learn it was a gang of crook’s hideout.  Instead of laying low, they go into town and pay off the mortgage.  Word gets out and that night things start getting spooky with ghosts, monsters, crooks and mobsters all running wild!

If you feel you’ve seen this one before, it’s the same basic plot with minor tweaks that made The Bowery Boys famous.

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11 Things You Didn’t Know About “The Walking Dead”

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Beirut Abu Hdaib and TGN Magazine present 11 Things You Didn’t Know About The Walking Dead.  Here are three of my favorites…

– The main logo keeps changing

The show’s credits have been changing over the years. But did you ever notice what was happening to the main logo? It has been getting darker, grimier and more worn out from one season to the next.

– Carol was supposed to die instead of T-Dog

Producers were growing tired of T-Dog showing up late to shooting and his negative attitude so they decided to axe him. Carol was supposed to be eaten alive by zombies and producers decided that T-Dog would sacrifice himself to save her.

– The show is shot on 16 mm film

The show is being shot using Kodak’s Super 16 mm rather than digitally. Why? Simply because film matches the tone of the show much more than digital does.

Zombie Diaries 2 (2011) / Z-View

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Zombie Diaries 2 (2011)

Director: Michael G. Bartlett, Kevin Gates

Screenplay: Kevin Gates

Stars: Philip Brodie, Alix Wilton Regan and Rob Oldfield

The Pitch: “Zombie movies are profitable and we’ve already made one…let’s do another!”

Tagline: Humanity’s Last Stand!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

A zombie outbreak is underway.  The movie is another in the “found film” genre.  A soldier documents the outbreak with a video camera.  People make stupid decisions and are killed.  Zombies are everywhere and you can follow along with the shaky camera, jump cuts and all.  Its like watching a bad home movie with zombies.  Not my cup of joe.

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The Zombie Diaries (2006) / Z-View

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The Zombie Diaries (2006) 

Director:  Michael G. Bartlett and Kevin Gates

Screenplay: Michael G. Bartlett and Kevin Gates

Stars:  Scott Ainslie, Toby Bowman and Victoria Summer.

The Pitch: “Zombie movies are cheap, let’s make one!”

Tagline: Brace yourself… This time it’s for real.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The Zombie Diaries is one of those “found movie” films.  The idea this time out is that we’re watching video that was recorded during the start of a zombie apocalypse.  It begins and ends with a documentary crew but there are three interconnected “stories” along the way.

I’m not a fan of “found films” because it usually means jumpy, headache inducing photography and poor editing (or no editing – just jump cuts from one “scene” to the next). The Zombie Diaries is no exception and in fact is an excellent example of why lost films don’t work (at least for me).

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The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters (1954) / Z-View

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The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters (1954)

Director: Edward Bernds

Screenplay: Elwood Ullman and Edward Bernds

Stars: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Ellen Corby and John Dehner.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s put the Bowery Boys in with a mad scientist and an ape and a monster!”

Tagline: SCARIEST, SCREWIEST LAUGH RIOT IN MONSTER HISTORY!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The Bowery Boys find themselves in another creepy, old house with a mad scientist looking to transplant human brains into a monster! Wha- what? Again?  You better believe it!

The boys end up in a creepy old house with, get this, a mad scientist, a gorilla, a robot, a vampiress, a monster and a flesh-eating plant.  The usual hi-jinks ensue but at a funnier level than to be expected.

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Spook Busters (1946) / Z-View

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Spook Busters (1946)

Director: William Beaudine

Screenplay: Edmond Seward and Tim Ryan

Stars: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Douglass Dumbrille and Bobby Jordan.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s put the East Side Kids in with a mad scientist and an ape!”

Tagline: The Fun’s Getting FEAROCIOUS! MAD DOCTORS! HAUNTED HOUSES! GORILLAS!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The Bowery Boys find themselves in another creepy, old house with a mad scientist who kidnaps Satch [Hall] to place his brain in a monster ape!  Wha- what?

The boys start a pest exterminating business and find themselves in a haunted house with a mad scientist looking to put Satch‘s brain in a gorilla.  Guess he wants to dumb-down the monkey.  The usual hi-jinks ensue when the Boys set out to rescue Satch.

It is almost as if the writers put the screenplays for Spooks Run Wild and Ghosts Run Wild in a blender.

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Master Minds (1949) / Z-View

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Master Minds (1949)

Director: Jean Yarbrough

Screenplay: Charles R. Marion and Bert Lawrence (additional dialogue)

Stars: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Garbriel Dell, Alan Napier and Glenn Strange.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s put the East Side Kids in with a mad scientist and a monster!”

Tagline: THE CHILLS WILL ELECTRIFY YOU When The Bowery Boys Meet The Monster.

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The Bowery Boys find themselves in another creepy, old house when a mad scientist kidnaps Satch [Hall] because of his extraordinary brain!  Wha- what?

When a bad tooth gives Satch the power to predict the future, Slip [Gorcey] puts him in a sideshow in order to make some fast cash.  Mad scientist, Dr. Druzik [Napier] sees first-hand Satch’s ability and decides that Satch’s brain would be perfect for a transplant into his monster [Strange].   The usual hi-jinks ensue when the Boys set out to rescue Satch.

Master Minds is a cut above the previously reviewed East End Kids/Bowery Boys movies!

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Ghosts on the Loose (1943) / Z-View

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Ghosts on the Loose (1943)

Director: William Beaudine

Screenplay:  Kenneth Higgins

Stars: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Bobby Jordan, Bela Lugosi and Ava Gardner.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s put the East Side Kids in a creepy deserted mansion with a killer ghosts on the loose.”

Tagline: You’ll yell with glee when these happy-go-lucky hooligans invade the shivery domain of the Man of a Thousand Horrors! It’s Chill-arious!

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The East Side Kids (who would later grow into The Bowery Boys) find themselves in another creepy, old house with strange things going on.  When the boys decide to surprise newlywed friends by fixing up their new house, they get confused on the address and end up in a haunted house.

If you’ve seen Spooks Run Wild you’re in for more of the same.  I expected more from a horror comedy with Bela Lugosi, a spooky old house, Ava Gardner and the East Side Kids.  Perhaps because I’ve seen the same gags done better with The Three Stooges and Abbott & Costello, my sights were set too high.

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Spooks Run Wild (1941) / Z-View

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Spooks Run Wild (1941)

Director: Phil Rosen

Screenplay: Carl Foreman & Charles R. Marion …  Jack Henley (additional dialogue)

Stars: Bela Lugosi, Leo Gorcey, Bobby Jordan, Huntz Hall and Angelo Rossitto.

The Pitch: “Hey, let’s put the East Side Kids in a creepy deserted mansion with a killer on the loose.”

No Tagline

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

The East Side Kids (who would later grow into The Bowery Boys) find themselves sent to a rural summer camp.  When the boys sneak out one night looking for some fun they find themselves in a creepy old house where the sinister looking Nardo (Lugosi) and his diminutive servant Luigi [Rossitto] live.  They will soon learn that a killer is on the loose and closer than they can imagine.

I expected more from a horror comedy with Bela Lugosi, a spooky old house and the East Side Kids.  Perhaps because I’ve seen the same gags done better with The Three Stooges and Abbott & Costello, my sights were set too high.

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George Romero, the NOTLD Restoration and His Thoughts on The Walking Dead, World War Z and More!

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Yesterday The Hollywood Reporter posted Aaron Couch’s interview with George Romero.  Here’s a taste then click over and read the whole thing…

  • Night of the Living Dead is getting a restoration by the Museum of Modern Art and Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation, which brings it back to pristine condition!
  • When asked about the future of his Living Dead franchise, Romero said: “I think really Brad Pitt killed it. The Walking Dead and Brad Pitt just sort of killed it all. The remake of Dawn of the Dead made money. I think pretty big money. Then Zombieland made money, and then all of a sudden, along comes Brad Pitt and he spends $400 million or whatever the hell to do World War Z.”
  • Romero:  “It’s not about the gore, it’s not about the horror element that are in them. It’s more about the message, for me. That’s what it is, and I’m using this platform to be able to show my feelings of what I think.”

 

I’m looking forward to seeing the restored Night of the Living Dead.  I hope that the restoration doesn’t take away from the film’s horror.  If it is too clean looking it may feel more like a movie.

While I can see where Romero is coming from, I don’t think that the bigger budget zombie movies are a bad thing… as long as they’re done well.  ; )

All of the Universal Classic Monsters Ranked!

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Spencer Perry and ComingSoon.net present All of the Universal Classic Monsters Ranked!

Some thoughts about Perry’s rankings…

  • I agree the Mummy movies are the weakest in the series.
  • While it’s hard to argue the greatness of Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein, I sometimes feel that The Creature from the Black Lagoon should be #1.
  • It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized how good The Invisible Man is.
  • While I love the idea of The Wolf Man, the movies always fell a bit short for me.
  • I’d rank Dracula closer to #1 on the list.
  • I love that Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein made the top 10.