Category: Horror

“Night of Terror” (1933) starring Bela Lugosi / Z-View

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Night of Terror (1933)

Director:  Benjamin Stoloff

Screenplay: Willard Mack, Beatrice Van, Lester Neilson, William Jacobs

Stars: Bela Lugosi, Wallace Ford, Tully Marshall, George Meeker, Matt McHugh, Dave O’Brien and Oscar Smith.

Tagline: A mad murdering midnight menace!

The Plot…

A serial killer known as The Maniac is on the loose.  He was last seen near the estate where a rich man was murdered.  When the family comes together they learn they are heirs to the fortune left behind.  As family members turn up dead, survivors wonder if the killer is the Maniac or someone in the family attempting to get a bigger share.

How many will have to die before the truth is known?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Although Bela Lugosi gets top billing, he plays a supporting character.

The best part of the film is after the mystery is solved.  The killer is caught. The Maniac is lying dead on the floor.  The family exits and we’re expecting “THE END” to appear.  But instead the Maniac gets up, walks close to the camera and speaks directly to the audience.  He warns them that if any tell how the movie ends he will find and haunt them! (Oh, and the Maniac isn’t the killer!)

Night of Terror (1933) rates 2 of 5 stars.

“The Crooked Circle” (1932) starring Zasu Pitts & James Gleason / Z-View

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The Crooked Circle (1932)

Director:  H. Bruce Humberstone

Screenplay: Ralph Spence (original screenplay), Tim Whelan (additional dialogue)

Stars: Zasu Pitts, James Gleason, C. Henry Gordon, Raymond Hatton, Berton Churchill, Spencer Charters, Robert Frazer, Frank Reicher and Christian Rub.

Tagline: WHAT TIME IS IT WHEN THE CLOCK STRIKES 13? THRILLS will creep on you-LAUGHS will leap on you! IN ZASU PITTS FIRST FEATURE PICTURE

The Plot…

The Crooked Circle, a secret group of criminals, has vowed to kill Colonel Theodore Walters.  Walters is a member of the Sphinx Club, a group of amateur detectives.

When the Sphinx Club meets at a creepy, old mansion, the Crooked Circle plan to make good on their vow.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

The Crooked Circle is a variation on “The Old Dark House” movies that were popular in the era.  Hidden passageways, ghosts, bad guys and a touch of comedy are staples of this genre.

Zasu Pitts and James Gleason were the top billed stars, but their characters aren’t the main focus of the film.

Zasu is her real name.  Her mother made it up taking the last two letters of Eliza and the first two letters of Susan.  Her mother’s sisters were named Eliza and Susan.

Zasu Pitts was the inspiration for Popeye’s girlfriend, Olive Oyle!

The Crooked Circle (1932) rates 3 of 5 stars.

“Interview with the Vampire” The Season 2 Trailer is Here!

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Looking good!

ABOUT INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE A luxury apartment covering an entire single floor of a high rise. Where the Vampire has granted the interview with the man he once judged to be unworthy. And where the journalist Daniel Molloy has hustled, for a second shot at the interview that got away from him 40 years earlier…

Based on Anne Rice’s iconic novel, Interview with The Vampire follows Louis’ epic story of love, blood and the perils of immortality, as told to the journalist Daniel Molloy. Chafing at the limitations of life as a black man in 1900’s New Orleans, Louis finds it impossible to resist Lestat’s offer of the ultimate escape: joining him as his vampire companion.

But Louis’s intoxicating new powers come with a violent price, and the introduction of Lestat’s newest fledgling, the child vampire Claudia, soon sets them on a decades-long path of revenge and atonement. A sensuous, contemporary reinvention of Anne Rice’s revolutionary gothic novel. Interview with the Vampire Season 2 Official Trailer | Premieres May 12 | AMC+

“Alien” & “Aliens” Alt Posters by Aurelio Lorenzo!

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Aurelio Lorenzo is a huge fan of Alien and Aliens.  He created two posters that work together as one or can stand alone.  They work perfectly either way.  Click on the photo above to see a Nostromo-sized version. Here’s part of what Lorenzo had to say about their creation:

ALIEN and ALIENS are still unsurpassed, not only in the franchise, but in the genre. Very different movies between them, but they have one thing in common, they both are GREAT!

I aimed to create a two-poster set, each able to stand alone or as part of a diptych. The focus was on making the xenomorphs dominant, enveloping the layout with a sense of claustrophobia. I then incorporated key elements from the movies, trying to capture their essence in an attractive composition.

I say, “Mission accomplished!”  If you’d like to see more of Aurelio Lorenzo’s art, you can here.

“Valley of the Dead” (2020) / Z-View

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Valley of the Dead (2020)

Director:  Javier Ruiz Caldera, Alberto de Toro

Screenplay: Jaime Marques Olarreaga, Alberto Fernández Arregui, Cristian Conti

Stars: Miki Esparbé, Aura Garrido, Luis Callejo

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

During  the Spanish Civil War, rival soldiers must join forces when they encounter zombies created by Nazis.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

I’m a sucker for zombie movies.  Valley of the Dead isn’t terrible.  In fact it’s better than a lot zombie flicks these days.  If you’re looking for some mindless entertainment with a touch of humor, Valley of the Dead should fit the bill.

Valley of the Dead (2020) rates 2 of 5 stars.

“BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE” The Official Teaser Trailer is Here!

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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE | Official Teaser Trailer

The juice is loose! #Beetlejuice #Beetlejuice – Only in theaters September 6.

Beetlejuice is back! Oscar-nominated, singular creative visionary Tim Burton and Oscar nominee and star Michael Keaton reunite for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the long-awaited sequel to Burton’s award-winning Beetlejuice.

Keaton returns to his iconic role alongside Oscar nominee Winona Ryder (Stranger Things, Little Women) as Lydia Deetz and two-time Emmy winner Catherine O’Hara (Schitt$ Creek, The Nightmare Before Christmas) as Delia Deetz, with new cast members Justin Theroux (Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, The Leftovers), Monica Bellucci (Spectre, The Matrix films), Arthur Conti (House of the Dragon) in his feature film debut, with Emmy nominee Jenna Ortega (Wednesday, Scream VI) as Lydia’s daughter, Astrid, and Oscar nominee Willem Dafoe (Poor Things, At Eternity’s Gate).

Beetlejuice is back! After an unexpected family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Beetlejuice, Lydia’s life is turned upside down when her rebellious teenage daughter, Astrid, discovers the mysterious model of the town in the attic and the portal to the Afterlife is accidentally opened. With trouble brewing in both realms, it’s only a matter of time until someone says Beetlejuice’s name three times and the mischievous demon returns to unleash his very own brand of mayhem.

Burton, a genre unto himself, directs from a screenplay by Alfred Gough & Miles Millar (Wednesday), story by Gough & Millar and Seth Grahame-Smith (The LEGO® Batman Movie), based on characters created by Michael McDowell & Larry Wilson. The film’s producers are Marc Toberoff, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Tommy Harper and Burton, with Sara Desmond, Katterli Frauenfelder, Gough, Millar, Brad Pitt, Larry Wilson, Laurence Senelick, Pete Chiappetta, Andrew Lary, Anthony Tittanegro, Grahame-Smith and David Katzenberg executive producing.

Burton’s creatives behind the scenes includes director of photography Haris Zambarloukos (Meg 2: The Trench, Murder on the Orient Express); such previous and frequent collaborators as production designer Mark Scruton (Wednesday), editor Jay Prychidny (Wednesday), Oscar-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood (Alice in Wonderland, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Sleepy Hollow), Oscar-winning creature effects and special makeup FX creative supervisor Neal Scanlan (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and Oscar-nominated composer Danny Elfman (Big Fish, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman); and Oscar-winning hair and makeup designer Christine Blundell (Topsy-Turvy).

A Warner Bros. Pictures presentation, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will be released only in theaters and IMAX on September 6, 2024 nationwide, and internationally beginning 4 September 2024. It will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.

“Alien: Romulus” The Teaser Trailer & Poster are Here!

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Deal me in.

The sci-fi/horror-thriller takes the phenomenally successful “Alien” franchise back to its roots: While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.

The film stars Cailee Spaeny (“Priscilla”), David Jonsson (“Agatha Christie’s Murder is Easy”), Archie Renaux (“Shadow and Bone”), Isabela Merced (“The Last of Us”), Spike Fearn (“Aftersun”), Aileen Wu. Fede Alvarez (“Evil Dead,” “Don’t Breathe”) directs from a screenplay he wrote with frequent collaborator Rodo Sayagues (“Don’t Breathe 2”) based on characters created by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett.

“Alien: Romulus” is produced by Ridley Scott (“Napoleon”), who directed the original “Alien” and produced and directed the series’ entries “Prometheus” and “Alien: Covenant,” Michael Pruss (“Boston Strangler”), and Walter Hill (“Alien”), with Fede Alvarez, Elizabeth Cantillon (“Charlie’s Angels”), Brent O’Connor (“Bullet Train”), and Tom Moran (“Unstoppable”) serving as executive producers.

“Interview with the Vampire: Season 2” – An Extended Trailer is Here!

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Loved the first season. Here’s an an extended look at Interview with the Vampire: Season 2.

Picking up from the bloody events in New Orleans in 1940 when Louis and Claudia conspired to kill Lestat, Louis tells of his adventures in Europe, a quest to discover Old World Vampires, and the Theatre Des Vampires in Paris. It is in Paris that Louis first meets the Vampire Armand. Their courtship and love affair will prove to have devastating consequences both in the past and in the future, and Molloy will probe to get to the truths buried within the memories.

Season 2 of #InterviewWithTheVampire premieres May 12 on AMC and AMC+.

Stephen King’s “Rose Red” starring Nancy Travis / Z-View

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Rose Red (2002)

Director:  Craig R. Baxley

Screenplay: Stephen King

Stars: Nancy Travis, Matt Keeslar, Kimberly J. Brown, David Dukes, Judith Ivey, Matt Ross, Julian Sands, Kevin Tighe, Julia Campbell, Emily Deschanel and Stephen King.

Tagline: If Some Houses Are Born Bad, This One Was Created In Hell.

The Plot…

Dr. Joyce Reardon (Travis), a university psychology professor with an interest in the supernatural, has put together a diverse team of psychics that will stay in a famous mansion that legend says is haunted.  The mansion, named Rose Red, got it’s reputation because of 23 people who died or disappeared while there.  The team will discover the legend is true…

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

I’m not a huge fan of haunted house movies.  If you are, then I’m sure you’ll enjoy Rose Red more than I did.

Rose Red (2002) rates 2 of 5 stars.

“Project Legion” (2022) starring Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone / Z-View

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Project Legion (2022)

Director:  Lance Kawas

Screenplay:  Lance Kawas, John Sullivan story by Lance Kawas, Michael Pizzimenti, James Raptoplous

Stars: Donald Cerrone, Brande Roderick, Dino Dos Santos

Tagline: Locking your door won’t keep them out.

The Plot…

A former soldier (Cerrone) locks himself inside his apartment as the world we know appears to be under attack.  Strange creatures attempt to find access to the apartment.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

I tapped out at 24 minutes. Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone has had fights that lasted longer.

Project Legion (2022) rates 1 of 5 stars.