Hell Night (The Movie) My Fifteenth Must See Pick of the Halloween Season

The video above is the whole movie of "Hell Night", and not the trailer


Aaahhh, now here is some college coed fodder… “Hell Night!”

Linda Blair tried to get away from the horror genre with awesome disco flicks like “Roller Boogie” but like Pacino as Michael Corleone, “They keep pulling me back in!”, so goes the “Exorcist” star, Linda Blair.

It’s Halloween Night and the campus is in full party mode, swinging and rockin’ as only college campuses can. But not only is it Halloween but it is also Hell Week for the poor fucktard pledges that for whatever the reason want to be part of the “Greek Life“. And for the pledges of Alpha Sigma Rho it is do or die time (little did they know how literal that term would be). Marti (Linda Blair), Jeff (Peter Barton), Seth (Vincent Van Patten), and Denise (Suki Goodwin) are told that they are suppose to spend the night in the old Garth Manor. Where of course twelve years prior was the scene for murder-most-foul. Turns out that old man Raymond Garth had enough of the family life so he set out and strangled his dear wife for besetting him with three mongoloid kiddies. After dispatching his wife-y Daddy Raymond went about killing the children as well. When he was done, Raymond set himself up a little noose and chair dove into oblivion. However, legend has it that one of the youngsters survived, witnessing the carnage reaped by dad and is still living somewhere upon the grounds.

Peter (Kevin Brophy), the Alpha male of Alpha Sigma Rho locks in his four pledges for the evening, but he is not about to tempt fate and has set up along with his two dimwitted assistants hidden scares and sound effect devices to make it hard on the new blood. Because lets face it, no one wants wimps on their team. So if all goes according to plan Peter has what he newbie’s or fodder for the fire. But we all know, when it comes to horror nothing ever goes according to plan. And when the bodies start piling up who knows who is going live through “Hell Night”.

I found “Hell Night” simplistic but well done, and I am surprised it didn’t spawn countless remakes since the 80s were great for really starting that trend in horror because they really left the door wide open for it. Thankfully “Hell Night” only turned out to be one shot and there seems to be “NO” remake on the horizon which is an added plus.

So sit back, roll a fatty (…lol), and much some popcorn with a couple of hotties.

Until next time…  

"Torso" (1973) My Fourteenth Must See Pick for the Halloween Season

Nothing says awesome like 70s Psycho-Sexual-Thillers and “Torso” is tops on that list.

Jane (Suzy Kendal) is an American exchange student studying in Perugia, Italy, although she is studying more than just class text books… leave it to the Italians to interject a ton of sex into their horror films -much to my appreciation. But as Jane discovers to carnal knowledge of Italy a pent-up Psycho Killer is on the loose. Strangling girls where ever he goes. The only clue he leaves behind is a red and black scarf.

As the killer stalks to campus Jane and her friends decide that it might be high time to get away head up to her friend, Danielle’s Uncle’s cabin (because we can’t have a horror movie without one… lol), but unfortunately for the group of horny coeds the Psycho-Sexual-Killer tags along for the ride and “women begin suffering in rapid attrition problem.”

If you like a ton sex to along with your gore then “Torso” is for you!

Until next time…

"The Entity" My Thirteenth Must See Pick for the Halloween Season

It seems like some of the best horror films are “based on a true story” as in the “Exorcist” or “The Amityville Horror” (just to name two), so goes my 13th overall pick for Halloween viewing fun: 1981’s “The Entity”

Although one can break up with a abusive boyfriend that fact does not always have the outcome one so desires -even when they are DEAD!, as poor Barbara Hershey finds out.

Hershey plays Carla Moran a single mother of three who works during the day and goes to school at night trying to make things better for her family.

Poor Carla awakens one night by strange noises and as she begins to investigate she is smacked and tossed onto the bed and raped. The act causes her to flee with her children afterwards to a friends house. When she explains to her friend that she had been raped she confesses that that she did not see anyone there. Unfortunately for Carla this is only the beginning of long ordeal that leaves her fighting alone until she decides to enlist help from the paranormal community to prove once and for all to everyone (and herself) that she is not bat shit crazy.

As the researchers investigate what is happening to Carla they discover that some sort of evil entity has attached it’s self to her. And as the attacks increase and become more violent the researchers have to figure how to stop it.

For an early 80s flick “The Entity” boasts some cool effects and Hershey does a great job pulling off being raped by an invisible being.

Look for the compressed, hand marked boobs being made by nothing.

Until next time…

"Salem's Lot" My Twelfth Pick for the Halloween Season

Vampires Stephen King style, in other words: “Salem’s Lot”. The made for television movie is my twelfth pick for Halloween, made during a time long before bad reality TV shows and -what we are starting to see more of- cutting edge shows of horror variety. Think “American Horror Story”, “Walking Dead”, or even that of “True Blood”.

“Salem’s Lot” sees king use his favorite type protagonist: writer (Ben Mears), as played by David Soul (Starsky & Hutch) as he returns back to his hometown of Salem’s Lot, Maine (another mainstay of the King universe) with the intention to write his newest novel about the ominous old house that sits and over looks the town. The house itself presents a traumatic past as it was home too Hubie Marsten, a bootlegger and suspected child murder. As a young boy, Ben went inside the old, deserted mansion on a dare from friends and the images that his mind had conjured (he believed that not only that he saw the corpse of Hubie Marsten, but good-old-Hubie opened his eyes and looked at him) have haunted him ever since.

So what better way to confront ones fears than trying to rent the house that scares the shit out of you. Unfortunately for Ben someone has beet him to the punch and the house is already rented to a man named Barlow, and who has moved in his man servant, Straker, to get the house ready for his arrival. This fact forces Ben to take up residence in the local boarding house.

Not long after the arrival of Straker, strange occurrences began to hold upon the town of Salem’s Lot. First the disappearance of Ralphie Glick one night as he and his brother Danny cut through the Marsten property. Then the body of another well known towns person is found behind the wheel of his car. After that things rapidly start to come apart in Salem’s Lot. Danny awakens the night of the search for his brother to find Ralphie outside his window. Problem with that is Danny’s room is on the second floor, So Danny being a dumb kid opens the window for his brother and gets a surprise from his younger brother that he was not expecting. Danny is found face first on the floor by his parents. At the hospital things do not bode well for poor Danny-boy as he receives another visit from his dear ol’ brother this time when is found in the morning Danny is dead. But this just the beginning of the bad things that are coming to Salem’s Lot. As more and more townsfolk either are taking “ill” or just disappearing altogether.

At thins point Ben Mears is starting to put the pieces together and begins to think that all of this has something to do with the impending arrival of the mysterious Barlow. But what Ben thinks is by far of the real evil that is taking place in “Salem’s Lot”.

FYI: The TNT remake of “Salem’s Lot” (2004) starring Rob Lowe is actually a very good as well. And stayed a little truer the actual King novel. So think if this post as a two for one deal…

Until next time…

"A Cat in the Brain" My Eleventh Must See Pick for the Halloween Season

What is a Halloween season without an appearance of controversial Italian Gore Director (and who is considered the “Godfather” of the genre) Lucio Fulci? A sucky one, that is what! And today’s installment of my must sees is one Fulci’s most original works and probably one of his most insane and regrettably one of his last: “Nightmare Concert” aka “A Cat in the Brain”.

“A Cat in the Brain” is a “Meta-Style-Film” where Fulci plays himself as the main character of Dr. Lucio Fulci, a horror/splatter film director, who is not only tortured but driven by his violent visions. Fulci, feeling ever more like he might be losing his grip on reality with ever-increasing fantasies of murder and mayhem decides that it might be high time to see a psychotherapist. But unfortunately for Fulci, his new psychotherapist, Professor Egon Swharz, has something more sinister than treating Fucli’s bloody visions. More of something along the lines of stalking the famed director and using Fulci’s gory nightmares-esque movie death scenes for his own personal use. And in the end to try to pin his own wheel-of-mayhem upon the famed director.

A truly insane nightmare of sadism, carnage, and brutal lust that only can be delivered by the Godfather of Splatter himself!

Until next time…

"Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park" My Tenth Must See Pick for the Halloween Season

Sandwiched between the pot smoking, acid dropping love in’s of the 1960’s and the cocaine fueled rage of the 1980’s, the 1970’s proved to be one fucked up decade. Hence today’s installment of Halloween madness, “Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park”.

Originally made for television, before anyone thought about something called Mtv, by NBC then later put in theatrical rotation outside the US where it finally got repackaged and put out on VHS;  Part “Scooby Mystery” part “Westworld” and all Rock Opera, “Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park” is a cult fav amongst Kiss fans.

The movie opens and we, the viewer, find Melissa (Deborah Ryan) and her boyfriend Sam (Terry Lester) enjoying a day at Magic Mountain Amusement Park. It is just your usual day of sunshine and lovebirds, that is until Sam gets the gumption to investigate the weird and strange acting park engineer, Abner Devereaux (Anthony Zerbe), who is creating a new attraction of cybernetic creatures for the park (think Frankenstein’s Monster and Dracula). Regrettably for Sam he is caught snooping in places he is not wanted and subsequently turned into a mindless cyborg himself.

Meanwhile, park owner Calvin Richards (Carmine Caridi), faced with a failing business plan and budget crunch diverts Devereaux’s much needed cash flow from the cyborg project and hires Kiss to perform at the park. Thinking that they will bring the kids and the cash. A non-too-happy Devereaux argues with Richards about the money to no avail. That is until a group teenage bikers sabotage one of the rides and nearly kills the riders. An outrage Richards blames Devereaux for the incident and fires the head engineer who then vows revenge upon Richards, the park, and Kiss who Devereaux blames most of all for his lost project funds.

The first step in Devereaux’s evil plot for revenge is to send a Kissbot in the form of Gene Simons to roam around the park destroying things. But when Kiss is questioned by authorities no action is taken against them and  the concert goes on as planned. Now an even more pissed off Devereaux sends his monstrous creations after the band and when Devereaux has Kiss locked up tight in his evil laboratory, Devereaux sends his Kissbots to the concert in place of the band in hopes if they start playing the wrong songs that it will entice the crowd to riot.

Oh know, what will Kiss ever do!

So grab a bottle of Jack and a bowl of acid and pull yourselves up to TV and immerse yourself into “Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park”. You won’t be disappointed. Well, that is, unless you are on the acid. If not then you’ll probably laugh your ass off.

Until next time…

The Silent Scream (1980) My Ninth Must See Pick for the Halloween Season

Word to the reader: The video above ^^^^^ is the actual movie and not a trailer. Below vvvv are my thoughts of the film…

You know nothing ever good can come about with screaming police sirens or when detectives enter the house find bodies, so goes the opening scenes of ‘Silent Scream”, an 80’s scare fest along the lines of “Psycho”.

College student, Scotty Parker (Rebecca Balding) finds that she waited so long to register for her college semester that there is not any dorm room or any campus housing and most of the off campus palces have been filled as well. But she lucks out and gets a list of places renting rooms but with the awesome administrative words of wisdom “They haven’t been check yet. So who knows what they look like…” Ah, nothing like sending your daughter to a quality school.

While house hunting Scotty comes across a creepy looking mansion (and this being a horror film you know what that means: creepy places like that hold dark secrets and it is no different with “Silent Scream”) renting rooms. But before she can seal the deal, rich kid, Peter Ransom (John Widelock) tries to steal the room from out from under Scotty. Although all is well because as it turns out creepy teenager, Mason (Brad Rearden) that not only lives there but is the landlord (in-between his viewing pleasures of war flicks and smack-them-around porn) in stead of his mother played by none other than “Lily Munster” herself, Yvonne De Carlo (because for some reason lives in a room in the attic), has two rooms for rent.

Good natured Peter offers to take all his new roommates (there are four including him) out for dinner to celebrate the last night of freedom before the start of school. Unfortunately, for Peter, he gets turned into a drunken pincushion on his way home from the restaurant -the rest of his roommates were kind enough to leave him passed out on the beach.

After the discovery of poor “Pincushion” Peter, things begin to settle down long enough for the other roommate, Jack (Steve Doubet), to score with Scotty. However, while Scotty is turned in a pincushion of the fleshy kind with Jack, things do not bode well for other roommate, Doris, because she gets to meet the other person they share -unbeknownst to them- the place with. And when you meet someone you do not know about in the basement of the creepy mansion you are living in you know nothing good can come about it.

From there it just gets crazier.

Look for “Dark Shadows” (TV series) alum, Barbara Steele.

Until next time…

Fade To Black (1980) My Eightieth Must See Pick for the Halloween Season

The late 70’s and early 80’s horror was on the cusp of something truly great and it is unfortunate that the decade got so bogged down with endless retreads of the same old characters and the same old stories that horror genre is still trying to pick up the pieces as Hollywood has now decided to remake all those money makers from the 80’s. So for today’s pick for my Must See Movies for the Halloween Season: “Fade to Black” is truly a lost classic.

Eric Binford (Dennis Christopher) is a shy, quiet person who is obsessed with movies to the point that he would rather spend his life sitting in a darken theater than deal with the real world. A fact that makes Eric look rather odd to most people, and with people like Eric they quickly become a target for people (bullies really, and one of which is a rather young, and rather normal looking Mickey Rourke) that do not understand him. And with any good obsession it turns into something more along the lines of psychosis after Eric crosses the path with a young blonde bombshell Marilyn O’Connor (Linda Kerridge) that reminds Eric of his favorite on screen legend, Marilyn Monroe.

The two hit it off after a chance meeting in a dinner, and set up to meet later that night. Unfortunately, Marilyn stands up (unintentionally) Eric who then feels that he has been duped once again by people that don’t understand him and want too. Sending Eric along a path homicidal rage and the need for revenge against all that have he believes done him wrong. But like any true cinematic nut job Eric wants to it in style and dresses up as some of his favorite characters from some of his favorite films.

Eric starts with his wheel-chair bound bitch of an aunt Stella, sending her rolling down a flight of stairs ala 1947’s “Kiss of Death” to a more glorious kill of a prostitute that once snubbed his advances (how fucking sad is that when a hooker makes fun of you?) dressed as Count Dracula. And the fun stuff is just beginning leading to an ultimate climax that is the stuff of Hollywood legend.

A real must see for Halloween.

Until next time…  

"My Bloody Valentine" 1981 My Seventh Pick for the Halloween Season

A friend of mine in the UK (that would be the country Britain for those who do not understand abbreviations… lol) was asking about old skool 80’s slasher films, so this is one is for you, Andrew Moody.

Now I usually hold this film off for another special holiday. That one being the awesome “Valentine’s Day”, and if you are into the old skool slasher films then “My Bloody Valentine” is right up your proverbial alley. Now I am not talking that shitty ass 2009 3D remake that was pure crap, but the original 1981 version. Hence the term “OLD SKOOL”.

The town of Valentine Bluffs (go figure), Nova Scotia has not celebrated the famed day for lovers and wannabe lovers since 1961 when, in response to a horrible mining accident claimed the lives of several miners a year earlier (1960) because people were to preoccupied of the local Valentine’s Day party plans, sole survivor, Harry Warden, took matters in his own hands the following year and nicely -or should I say non-to-nicely- removed the hearts of the mining authority that he deemed negligent for the accident with a stern warning not to celebrate the holiday ever again.

Flash forward 20 years and the local twenty-something’s decide that it was high time to bring back Valentine’s Day and have a party. At first the township is okay with  the idea -it had been twenty years and all and good-old-Harry was locked up tight as a drum in the local metal ward, or so they thought. But as the celebration nears the sheriff (Don Francks) receives a heart shaped candy box. Unfortunately for the sheriff the box actually contains a heart. From there things get worse as the sheriff soon discovers another heart in the box and that of the lonely Harriet who owns the local laundry mat who ends up as a fleshy drier sheet in one of her own driers.

The discovery of Harriet is enough for the sheriff and the mayor to cancel ones again the Valentine celebrations with their worst fear coming to fruition: that of the return of Harry Warden. But as the town’s twenty-something’s move the party to the coal mine facilities despite the sheriff’s warnings, the mayor and the sheriff learn that Harry Warden died in the metal hospital he was in. So whoever is doing he killing is not Harry but someone posing as Harry. And when a few party goers decide to head down the mine shafts they come across their worst nightmares.

While the original is not the greatest of slasher films (really just a retread of Michael Meyers), the film is a classic of the 80’s horror genre and by far better than the ’09 remake.

Until next time…  

"The Zero Boys" My Sixth Must See Pick for the Halloween Season

What do you get when you take “Wrong Turn” and add a bunch of wannabe survivalists/paint ball game players and make it in 1986?

You would get “The Zero Boys” that’s what.

By 1986 the horror market, especially horror set out in the backwoods (think the “Friday the 13th series) was rapidly growing stale and I found the “The Zero Boys” a nice, if not a cliché, departure from the big three (Jason, Michael, & Freddy) but still giving us all the basic needs when it comes to the genre: babes, babes for fodder, dudes for fodder, booze, sex, and we can not forget the main attraction: that being crazed hillbillies living in the backwoods doing dastardly things to un-expecting saps that happen to run across them.

The film opens up with a red hearing, the surrounding countryside appears to either be the intro of one of those 80’s apocalypse films that B-movie Hollywood loved to turn out at the time or this it could be a suburb of Tijuana. They both look pretty much the same. However, both choices are wrong and it turns out to just be a paintball survival game.

We follow our heroes to the path of victory as the main Zero Boy, Steve (Daniel Hirsh) puts a well place blob of paint goo into the forehead of a dude dressed as a Nazi SS officer, and in effect winning their little side bet. That of SS guy’s girlfriend, Jamie (80’s Scream Queen, Kelli Maroney).

After a little tension and an early version of a bad music montage where we see the rest of the team get together with their girlfriends and head out for a long weekend away from the city we finally get out to the woods and learn a little backs story on why the Zero Boys call themselves that. I won’t go into the full details other than they used to suck as a paintball team and they didn’t get awesome until they started training with REAL weapons. (Don’t all awesome paintball teams train that way?)

Of course while the group is out playing in the woods Jamie thinks that she sees someone running in the distance. Of course, at first, no one believes until they hear a woman scream from off in the said distance. Which then leads them the group to discover -and to forget about the scream- a house and barn off the well beaten path. At first the group thinks they have stumble upon some rich dudes haunting lodge and do what any normal person does when they find someone else’s house in the woods: make themselves right at home.

And this being horror all the fun comes to a crashing halt when Steve and another of his posse stumble across the fun and excitement that is the barn. Turns out the owners of the house have set up a sweet little snuff movie production pad out in the barn. And now it looks as if the Zero Boys are next of the play list.

So check it out. While not the best of production values it does hold up well with the other 80’s offerings of horror and in my opinion surpasses some of the mainstream sequel retreads early mentioned.

Until next time…

For Sale: One Haunted, Possessed House as Seen In "The Amityville Horror"

 The neighborhood and the house that is there are synonymous in not only the horror genre but that of the supernatural as well. And now you can own the house that was made famous by the Lutz family and their supposed 28 day ordeal that was brought to the big screen of the first time (and has since spawned 4 sequels and a re-make) for a cool $995,000 dollars. Down almost a half mil of it’s original asking price.

But if you are thinking that this is the place that all the action really took place then you are going to be greatly disappointed. Unfortunately, the “Amityville” house that is for sale id the one used in the original films and not the one that is suppose to be the gateway to hell. Well, that, and it is in the great state of New Jersey and not New York. Bummer I know.

However, while you do not get the actual presence of Satan or whatever “lives’ in the home in New York you do get all the cool perks of having a haunted house (This spacious 3,370 square foot, stately colonial home sits on waterfront property along the Toms River and comes complete with dock for your boat and a swimming pool) without the actual problems that sometimes goes along with them. Instead you will get the problems that come along with owning a movie presence: that of picture takers and horror seekers and the random fan that wants a looky-loo.

Far trade I am sure.

The House Then...


The House Now...


Until next time…

In Honor of his 60th Birthday: Dark Dreamers featuring Clive Barker

In honor of horror icon, Clive Barker’s 60th birthday. Here is an interview done by Stanley Wiater for the “Dark Dreamers”  Television series.

Prince of Darkness (1987): My Fifth Must See Pick for the Halloween Seasson

Decades before Rob Zombie started making horror films and using a small pool of recurring actors -one of which is his wife- John Carpenter was doing just that with his own small pool of actors -one of which was his wife at one time. So in honor of Donald Pleasence’s birthday (Oct. 5th) my fifth pick for Halloween must sees is John Carpenter’s “The Prince of Darkness.”

All is not well in the world as the a dying priest who has been keeping a sinister secret locked away in the basement of an unused church in one of the shitty parts of LA for a mysterious sect of the church only known as “The Brotherhood of Sleep”, who send another Priest (Donald Pleasence) of the sect the church and opens the basement and discovers a large vat of weird swirling green liquid. The Priest -who has no other name than that- contacts a group physic grads from a local college to help him investigate just what the hell it is that has been locked away.

It turns out that this weird green liquid may hold the essence of Satan himself and that the Priest (Pleasence) is just a pawn for “The Brotherhood of Sleep” that watches over the liquid. But little does the Priest know that a prophesy holds the upcoming apocalypse and the coming of darkness with the re-birth of Satan and now it is up to the Priest and his rag tag team of students to keep it from happening.

“Prince of Darkness” is one of Carpenter’s more psychotically disturbing films with it’s slow moving build up to impending doom along with a great Carpenter score to set the mood. And when things start to go bad they go really fucking bad. Students one by one start to be possessed and turned into fucked up zombie-like versions of themselves and let us not forget about the weird crowd of homeless freaks -one of which played by horror-rocker Alice Cooper- drawn to the scene by the siren song of the devil.

A definite must see for Carpenter fans and fans of the horror genre. Then again you probably already know this.

Until next time…

"The Dead" My Fourth Must See Pick for the Halloween Season

What would a Halloween season be with out a good Zombie flick? and “The Dead” is right up that alley when it comes to good Zombie flicks.

In  the vein of the “Walking Dead” , “The Dead” is more about the humans that are caught up in the crisis of the recently deceased returning to life and using the living like fat people use a smorgasbord at your local “Old Country Buffet”, then it is about the zombies per say as we find ourselves caught up with Flight Engineer, Brian Murphy (Rob Freeman) as he hops one of the last planes out of Africa where -it should come to no surprise since Africa seems the place to find end of the world diseases originating (Ebola anyone?)- a zombie virus is plaguing the continent. But, unfortunately, for Murphy, things do not quite go according to plan and the U.N. relief flight he is on crashes just off the coast. Murphy now finds himself the sole surviving member of the doomed flight and is now completely cut off and on his own.

As Murphy fights his way through the Dark Continent -his only saving grace are his wits and ingenuity that he has learned through years as a soldier, that lend any hope for him staying alive long enough so he can escape and make his way back to his family- Murphy crosses paths with Daniel Dembele (Prince David Osei), a Sergeant in the African Army, as he finds himself on his own pilgrimage of the damned across the inhospitable landscape of zombies and the insane, as he tries to find out where his son was taken when the army evacuated his decimated village.

The two desperate men decide to join forces in hopes of perhaps evening out the odds against what are no doubt insufferable odds and with no real hope of winning.

Shot on location in never-before-seen on film parts Africa (Burkina Faso, French-speaking West Africa, and Ghana, as well as the Sahara), “The Dead” announces the arrival of the Ford Brothers onto the horror scene with what is being touted as one of the most unique zombie films ever. And a definite must see of fans of the genre.

Enjoy.

Until Next time…

The Omen III:The Final Conflict(1981) My Third Must See Pick for the Halloween Season

While I don't really consider "Omen 3: The Final Conflict" an actual must see, the first two "Omens" are by far better movies, but this being 2012, and an election year and all, not to mention that tonight is also the Presidential debates, I thought that "Omen 3" would be a fun inclusion into the the must see picks for Halloween.

We find good old Damien Thorn (Sam Neil) all grown up in "Omen 3" and head of his late uncle's international conglomerate, and like his adoptive father in the first film Damien is appointed Ambassador to Great Britain. However, unlike the previous "Omen" films, the adult Damien is now entirely aware of his unholy lineage, and his destiny.

With the coming alignment of the stars in the Cassiopeia region causes the generation of a 'superstar', described in the film as a second Star of Bethlehem. Damien realizes that this is the sign of the Second Coming of Christ and he orders all boys in England born on the morning of March 24, 1982 (the morning when, in the story, the Cassiopeia alignment occurred) to be killed in order to prevent the Christ-child's return to power.

Meanwhile, Father DeCarlo (Rossano Brazzi) and six other priests armed with the seven daggers of Megiddo - ancient holy weapons which are the only Earthly weapons which can harm the Antichrist - hunt Damien in the hope of killing him before he can destroy the Christ-child. However, one by one, Damien kills off all the priests (some in horrific circumstances) until only DeCarlo survives.

Heavy with sub-plots (a poorly done romantic affair and Damien's ambitions of becoming President) "Omen 3" doesn't have the same feel as its two predecessors, however, "Omen 3" does tie things together and is a definitive ending to the "Omen" series even though Hollywood tried and failed to keep the series going with a horrible fourth installment and a remake.   

But then again what do you expect from Hollywood lately?

Until next time... 

Eaten Alive (1977), My Second Must See Pick for the Halloween Season

Tobe Hooper's follow up to his cult hit "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "Eaten Alive" sets the tone that will define Hooper's legacy as a horror director and is my second pick for the Halloween season.

Judd, a  psychotic redneck, runs the Starlight Hotel,a dilapidated hotel in rural East Texas out in some sort of swampy place and is unfortunately a few slices short of a loaf. Judd has a pet crocodile conveniently placed on the other side of the hotel's front porch railing that he happens to feed with various people who upset him or his business: A reformed hooker, an unlucky family, and the father and sister of the hooker all suffer various rates of attrition as Judd tries to implement damage control.

'Eaten Alive" is loosely based on the story of Joe Ball (also known as the Bluebeard from South Texas or the "Alligator Man") who lived in  Elmendorf, Texas sometime after Prohibition ended. Ball owned a bar with an alligator pit serving as an entertainment attraction. Several murders of women ensued, but it was never proven that the flesh found in the pit was human. However, Joe did commit suicide upon possibility of capture.

You might recognize a young Robert Englund who was a largely unknown actor at the time.

Until next time...

The Sentinel (1977) My First Must See for the Halloween Season

I fucked up and did not get a chance to post the first flick in my own 31 days of horror -it is Halloween time, and hey, everyone else is doing one so why not me?...lol

My first pick for October 1st is a crazy little fucked up movie. 1977's "The Sentinel" has that big budget feel one gets with a Polanski film, and like all of good old Roman's films "The Sentinel" moves a little slow as it sets up the the third act. But do yourself the favor and stay for the third act because it is something right of "Freaks" meets Clive Barker's "Nightbreed."

The movie follows fashion model, Alison Parker (Cristina Raines), as she moves into an apartment that happens to be inhabited (on the top floor) by a blind priest (John Carradine). Not long after moving in Alison begins having strange physical problems that causes her to have trouble sleeping at night. Also Alison is plagued by some nasty flashbacks of her attempted suicide that she attempted when she walked in on her father having sex with two other woman -neither being his wife. As time goes on living in the apartment Alison has strange interactions with neighbors and when she has finally has enough Alison complains to the real estate agent of the noise caused by her strange neighbors, but finds out that the house is only occupied by the priest and herself, and ultimately discovers that she has been put in the house for a reason.

So if you like 70's style Satan films then you should dig this one.

Until next time...