The 1970's were well known for their TV movies.  Most of them weren't very good, but there were some decent low budget TV B-movies... The Rill Lodge is having its annual winter carnival, which is threatened to be cancelled due to an attack on a skier by an unknown beast.  It's up to Tony- the owner's grandson, his friend Gar, and the sheriff to track down and kill it... Joseph Stefano, who wrote the script for Alfred Hitchcock's movie, " Psycho " wrote the teleplay for this TV movie.  Supposedly, he based it loosely on Roger Patterson's book recording his own experience with Sasquatch in 1967. For a TV movie, " Snowbeast " really isn't that bad.  Its production values are actually higher than the standard fare most networks commissioned for airing.  The skiing scenes are remarkable, and quite well done- even if they didn't really add a lot to the story's pace.  There is also some decent camerawork in this film too.  Some o

Sometimes, I come across a movie that I'm not sure HOW I feel about it.  Part of me enjoys a film, while another part KNOWS that the film is just bad. Charlotte arrives at the Stephens Sanitarium shortly after Dr. Stephens suffers an accident at the hands of an axe wielding patient.  The assistant director of the facility briefs Charlotte on her duties, and the patients.  Soon, however, Charlotte realizes that her life is in danger... and not just from the patients... " Don't Look in the Basement " was originally a drive-in movie shown as part of a double bill with Wes Craven's " Last House on the Left "- sharing the tagline: " To avoid fainting, keep repeating to yourself: 'It's only a movie.. it's only a movie.. it's only a movie... " This movie is bad.  Really bad.  But fun at the same time... IF you're in the right frame of mind. The acting is pretty atrocious- but then again, I'd find it hard to make th

  Before movies like " Twilight " turned vampires into emo, teen angsty, sparkling pretty boys, the movies showed them as vicious, evil creatures that preyed upon humanity in the dark shadows of the night.  They were fearsome creatures deserving of fear. Unfortunately, " Twilight " can't be completely blamed for making vampires boring and dull. A group of unemployed people have been hired to work in a European household.  When their driver dies, they are forced to spend the night in a small town whose mysterious residents turn out to be more than they seem... The Spanish film, " The Vampire's Night Orgy " has some good qualities, but several flaws as well.  Since it's dubbed into English, the words, actions and pacing are skewed, causing a lack of real tension and suspense during the exposition scenes.  I'm sure that to a Spanish audience in the 1970's, the acting and dialogue would probably be considered good. The music is also a d

The time has come for another update for William Castle's 2011 " Scare It Forward! ".  This week, we have Chapters Eight and Nine for you to enjoy! The story so far: Summer- a time for sunshine, bathing suits, swimming in the river... and death.  Grant and four of his friends are enjoying the summer sun by spending the night along the banks of a river.  After Grant sees what he thinks is a dead body, evil begins to stalk the teens one by one...   Years ago, a simple Mexican peasant girl caught the eye of the Don's son.  He wanted her, and have he would.  But all was not what she expected.  Soon the rumors brought to her by the servants, and his growing attention towards their twin sons would pull the family apart... and her actions would haunt the landscape for years to come... And one of those years is now.  Aaron- one of the teens camping by the side of the river is found the next morning... barely concious, and terrified. 

In 1968, George A. Romero gave the world a whole new look at an old and underestimated fear:  zombies. After her brother and her are attacked in a cemetery by a strange man, Barbara flees to an isolated farmhouse.  There she is joined by six others as they try to survive a night long siege from crazed flesh eating people who turn out to be more than mere humans... they're zombies... George A. Romero was inspired by the novel, " I Am Legend " by Richard Matheson to write " Night of the Living Dead ."  He wanted to explore how such an apocolyptic "revolution" might start, and how humans might react in a situation where something that's supposed to be "forever" stopped being... well, permanent.  That "forever" was Death, and thus the Romero zombies were born.  Matheson, himself described Romero's interpretation as, "kinda of cornball".  Little did he know the sort of grip it would have on the world. The charact

  After all the black and white films I've watched over the past month or so as I worked my way through horror films from the 1920 to the present, I finally hit 1968- and a colour film.  It was a welcome change of pace- as was the story. Seperated from his regiment in 1806, Andre Duvalier stumbles across the castle of Baron von Leppe, and a mysterious woman whom the Baron claims has been dead for the past 20 years- because he killed her and her lover.  Determined to discover the truth behind the dark past of the castle, Duvalier soon finds himself confronting a deadly mix of guilt, revenge, and madness... " The Terror " was filmed on sets used in two other Roger Corman films- " The Raven ," and " The Haunted Palace ".  The tree in the final scene is from " The Haunted Palace " where it was the sight of Vincent Price being tied up and burnt.  In addition to re-using sets, this movie is notable for the number of directors it had: Roger Corma

Monday has rolled around again, which means it's time for another great update about William Castle's 2011 " Scare It Forward! "  Only one chapter was written this week, but what a chapter it is! The story so far:   Summer- a time for sunshine, bathing suits, swimming in the river... and death.  Grant and four of his friends are enjoying the summer sun by spending the night along the banks of a river.  After Grant sees what he thinks is a dead body, evil begins to stalk the teens one by one...   Years ago, a simple Mexican peasant girl caught the eye of the Don's son.  He wanted her, and have he would.  But all was not what she expected.  Soon the rumors brought to her by the servants, and his growing attention towards their twin sons would pull the family apart... and her actions would haunt the landscape for years to come... And one of those years is now.  Aaron- one of the teens camping by the side of the river is found the next mor

One sort of horror movie I really love are ghost stories.  Haunted houses, phantoms sliding around in the shadows, and lost souls looking for rest.  As much as I love monster films, and slasher movies, I really love a good ghost story- and " Carnival of Souls " is a decent one- even if there are some flaws to it. Mary is the soul survivor of an auto accident that claimed the live of her two best friends.  Wanting to escape the memory of it, Mary takes a job as a church organist in another city.  Soon she starts to see strange figures, and develops an unusual obsession with an abandoned fairground... that may hold a dark revelation for Mary ... Despite the fact that " Carnival of Souls " didn't garner much attention when first released, it has grown into what is considered to be a cult classic.  I can see why. For starters, the story is actually quite good, even if it wasn't fully developed to its potential.  When I first saw it, I was really intereste

There comes a point in every horror fan's life where they come face to face with a beast so bad... so horrific... so ill conceived that they wonder how it could've possibly been brought forth.  "T he Beast of Yucca Flats " is one of those points in my life. While fleeing Soviet agents, scientist Joseph Javorsky is caught in the explosion of an atomic bomb.  The blast transform him into a beast that rampages across the countryside... with the authorities on his trail... " The Beast of Yucca Flats " has been described by some critics as being far worse than Ed Wood's infamous " Plan 9 From Outer Space "- with good reason. Since the dialogue wasn't recorded at the same time as it was filmed, it was put into a rather bad position to begin with.  Every spoken word and sound effect was added in post production.  Rather than matching the dialogue with the mouths of the actors, the scenes are edited so that you can't see the speaker'

These days, you often have to leave the North American film industry in order to find interesting and entertaining horror fare.  While some of these imported films may be as cheesy as those offered by Hollywood, many of them are still interesting because of the different things they bring to the genre. After suffering a horrible auto accident, Jeanette is persauded by a mysterious woman to undergo experimental treatment in the hopes of regaining the beauty she once had.  Soon, however, she is part of a world where love, desire, and murder are all part of the recipe that is behind the special serum that keeps her beautiful. "Atom Age Vampire" is an Italian film originally titled, "Seddok," and was quite entertaining- its apparent cheesiness hiding some rather clever thinking, and an interesting mix of the vampire and Jekyll/Hyde tales. The main cheese factor was the dubbing the Italian over into English.  The dialogue sounded like it was being read- or even im

It's time for another update regarding William Castle's 2011 " Scare it Forward! " project.  Over the course of the past week, Chapters Five and Six were posted. The story so far:   Summer- a time for sunshine, bathing suits, swimming in the river... and death.  Grant and four of his friends are enjoying the summer sun by spending the night along the banks of a river.  After Grant sees what he thinks is a dead body, evil begins to stalk the teens one by one...   Years ago, a simple Mexican peasant girl caught the eye of the Don's son.  He wanted her, and have he would.  But all was not what she expected.  Soon the rumors brought to her by the servants, and his growing attention towards their twin sons would pull the family apart... and her actions would haunt the landscape for years to come... And one of those years is now.  Aaron- one of the teens camping by the side of the river is found the next morning... barely concious, and terrified.  Tor

Those of you that keep an eye on this blog will probably have figured out that I'm a fan of William Castle- having reviewed two of his movies (so far), spent a month paying tribute to his birthday, and even posting updates (and soon participating in) about his 2011 " Scare It Forward! " project. Well, here I am letting you know that William Castle is once again bringing horror to his fans with a new book that goes on sale July 18th, 2011. The book is- appropriately enough, titled, " From the Grave: The Prayer ".  From comments made by William Castle on his blog , it tells the story of how he died... and returned from the other side. I, for one, think this is fantastic- especially since the first hundred or so books are autographed by the spirit of William Castle.  Thinking about it makes my fingers tingle with the need to hold such a book, and turn each page as I'm gripped by the suspense and horror put forward only as the great Mr. Castle could do it

To date, I have reviewed a string of movies from the 1920, 1930's, and the 1940's.  With " The Killer Shrews, " I'll be closing out my set of five movies from the 1950's... and what a way to close it. While dropping off supplies to a small research team, Captain Thorne Sherman is stranded on the remote island due to a hurricane.  Soon, he discovers that the hurricane isn't the only danger he's facing- for him and the science team are now at the mercy of killer shrews. .. This is definately one of those movies that you show during a cult classic/b-movie night. Captain Sherman- played by James Best, is a bit of a jerk, but kinda likeable at the same time.  Ken Curtis's character, Jerry is great as the drunken arse of an assistant.Judge Henry Dupree, and Alfred DeSoto- being the minorities in the movie seem to be there simply to die before the white people... though I did like DeSoto's character, Mario.  I also liked Baruch Lumet as Dr. Mar

I have come to realize that the 1950's had quite a few B-movie.  Many of them were pretty cheesy, but fun to watch.  Some even showed a lot of potential and had some things that I really liked.  " The Screaming Skull " is one of those films. Jenni has just moved into her new husband's large mansion.  Soon, however, her and Eric's happiness is marred by strange sounds and the appearance of skulls around the house.  Is Eric trying to drive his wife insane?  Is Mickey, the gardener, trying to scare Jenni away?  Or is Eric's former wife coming back... from beyond the grave? " The Screaming Skull " is NOT a great movie- but it did have some promise and potential to it.  I had to smile at the William Castle-like opening, where a voice informs the audience that if they were to die of fright during the movie, the studio would pay for their funeral.  Cheesy, and unnecessary, but I still liked it. While most of the camera work was pretty basic, there we

This past week, Chapter Four of William Castle's 2011 " Scare It Forward! " project was posted for all to read and enjoy. The story so far: Summer- a time for sunshine, bathing suits, swimming in the river... and death.  Grant and four of his friends are enjoying the summer sun by spending the night along the banks of a river.  After Grant sees what he thinks is a dead body, evil begins to stalk the teens one by one... Years ago, a simple Mexican peasant girl caught the eye of the Don's son.  He wanted her, and have he would.  But all was not what she expected.  Soon the rumors brought to her by the servants, and his growing attention towards their twin sons would pull the family apart... and her actions would haunt the landscape for years to come... Chapter Four was written by Kathy Gori, who, along with the author of Chapter Three met with Castle just days before his death to discuss the screenplay for a movie called, " ANIMUS ".  They've now com

In the horror genre, there are some stellar movies... and plenty of not-so-stellar ones.  But sometimes, even the less than great horror movies have good things in them. Charles "The Butcher" Benton vows revenge on his lawyer, Paul Lowrie for sending him to his death in the gas chamber.  After his execution, Benton's body is used for a secret experiment that revives him.  Taking this opportunity, Benton cuts a swathe of death as he heads ever closer to Lowrie and his cronies.  The police are hot on his trail, but something about "The Butcher" is different... bullets just bounce off him.  What can stop the "Indestructible Man"? This movie stars Lon Chaney, Jr- whose father is famous for roles in " The Phantom of the Opera ", and " The Hunchback of Notre Dame ," and is a real B-movie.  So much so that it was actually featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000. I have to admit that this movie is far from being great.  In fact, it&