Milfs vs. Zombies is a forthcoming American comedy horror gore film to be directed by Brad Twigg (Ghoulish Tales) from a screenplay by Daniel Schein for production company Fuzzy Monkey Films. It stars Brandy Peeples, Chris O’Brocki, Jeremy Ambler, Missy Dawn, Andrea_Marie, Juan Eloy Carrera, Patrick Opitz, Rosanna Nelson, Matthew L. Furman.
At the time of writing, the project is seeking funding via IndieGoGo
‘From Beauty to BEAST!’
She Demons is a 1958 American horror film directed and co-written by Richard E. Cunha (Missile to the Moon; Frankenstein’s Daughter). Made in a tongue-in-cheek style of Men’s adventure magazines, Nazisploitation and Island of Lost Souls, the film was distributed by Astor Pictures as a double feature with Cunha’s Giant from the Unknown. It stars Irish McCalla (Hands of a Stranger), Tod Griffin, Victor Sen Yung (TV’s Night Gallery), Rudolph Anders (The Snow Creature; Frankenstein 1970) and Gene Roth (Attack of the Giant Leeches).
Plot teaser:
During a tropical storm a pleasure boat is shipwrecked on an uncharted island and presumed sunk with all hands. The radio possessed by the four survivors can only receive but not transmit and they discover the island will soon be used by naval aircraft as a bombing target.
Finding strange human footprints and hearing the sound of drums, three of the party explore the island that they discover is populated by deformed humanoids who are the product of scientific experiments by a party of Nazis led by a mad scientist war criminal who rules the island…
Reviews:
“She Demons has become a full-blown cult classic. Richard Cunha has packed a lot of schlock into his 76 minutes of low-budget mayhem – laughable dialogue, Nazis who flog girls, a mad scientist called “The Butcher”, a hurricane, ugly female monsters wearing cheap rubber masks, island castaways, a volcanic eruption, a henchman named Igor (played by Gene Roth, one time Three Stooges villain), stock footage from One Million BC, bombs, female sex serum, stereotypical racist gags, campy dancing by cute native girls, a not-too-hunky hero who just happens to be a scientist, and Irish McCalla in a cocktail gown (some would say this is worth the price of admission alone) … It has a lot to recommend it.” Terrororstralis.com
Buy She Demons on DVD from Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com
Rent or buy She Demons from Amazon Instant video
“Besides the standing jungle set there are only a couple of mad lab interiors, including some concrete block stairs that look suspiciously similar to a setting in Frankenstein’s Daughter. Caves are provided by lots of stone walls made from crumpled paper, and a few angles once again in Bronson Caves. All are filmed flatly, using the fewest camera setups necessary to display the action. It’s all there: silly native dances that look like watered-down burlesque, the stunt double for Tod Griffin who has completely a mismatched build and hair, and stock Germans that prance around in shiny uniforms that should have worn out years before.” Glenn Erickson, DVD Talk
“Far better production values than the majority of drive-in jungle pictures, but with all the clichés thankfully intact; ominously distant drums, choreographed blue-eyed native dancing slave girls in skimpy outfits, the love-hate guy/girl thing, a mad German scientist, a rich-bitch blonde in tight-fitting clothes, zombies washing up on shore,Nazi’s … it’s hard to go wrong with uniformed Nazi’s. The acting isn’t even one-take quality, more like filmed rehearsals.” Willard’s Wormholes
Choice dialogue:
“These footprints go in a circle — maybe the natives down here are getting onto this rock ‘n’ roll kick!”
“That was your fatal mistake, American swine!”
“Who’d want a wife with our face?”
Buy She Demons and The Astounding She Monster soundtrack on CD from Amazon.com
Cast:
The Thai Ghost – original title: Mon Khun Ma Jak Long “It Came Out of the Coffin”) is a 1991 Thai horror film.
We have been unable to find any credits and the film is not on IMDb so all we can currently post is the artwork for the poster above, courtesy of Wrong Side of the Art!
Self Storage is a 2013 American dark comedy horror film written and directed by Tom DeNucci (Army of the Damned; Almost Mercy) who also appears as Jake. It also stars Eric Roberts, Jonathan Silverman, Michael Berryman, Vanessa Leigh, Nick Principe, David Gere, Tracey Sheldon. It was produced by Chad A. Verdi for The Woodhaven Production Company.
Plot teaser:
Jake (DeNucci) is the overnight security guard at a highly-secured Self Storage facility in rural Rhode Island. When his friend’s party plans fall through, he invites them to his job site to throw a fiesta of his own. There couldn’t be a better location: removed, no people, nothing but party… right? Innocent mischief turns a naughty night of fun into an evening of horror. We soon learn that some things were meant to stay under lock and key and certain places were supposed to be left undisturbed.
Reviews:
This is over indulgent on the partying scenes but the slick presentation, character actors (Roberts and Berryman are great fun), survival kills and cynical social satire more than compensate. Somewhat flawed by a strange balance but nevertheless a promising debut from DeNucci.
Adrian J Smith, Horrorpedia
” … an unforgivably disjointed jumble of horror and comedy that falls short of succeeding at either. However, it certainly isn’t due to a lack of effort on the part of writer/director Tom DeNucci, who pulls off the hat trick here by performing the lead role of Jake as well. Pity, because sharp, witty dialogue and an inspired plot are usually a recipe for indie success. Not so much the case with this mixed bag.” Rob Getz, HorrorNews.net
“Self Storage marks the directorial debut of filmmaker Tom DeNucci. Working from his own script, DeNucci manages to put together a film that is entertaining and effective. And although it is a bit rough around the edges in parts, Self Storage will certainly keep you intrigued throughout.” Scott Hallam, Dread Central
” … DeNucci is more concerned with focusing on the partygoers dancing, smoking pot, partying, drinking, and having sex. To make matters worse, the party shenanigans are so unbelievably boring and cliché that it will literally take all of your force of will to keep from forwarding through this one. The fact that not one, but two, extended sex scenes occur through the course of the story shows where the interests of this film lie. After an hour of lame partying to even lamer music, Roberts and Berryman strike in equally uninspired ways.” Ain’t It Cool News
Buy Self Storage on DVD from Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk
Army of the Damned is a 2013 American horror film written and directed by Tom DeNucci (Self Storage; Almost Mercy). It stars Sully Erna (from metal band Gobsmack), Tony Todd, Michael Berryman, former porn queen Jasmin St. Claire, David Chokachi, Joey Fatone, Jackie Moore, Madeline Merritt, Nick Principe, Maria Kanellis, David Gere, Julie Ann Dawson.
Plot teaser:
The filming of a hit reality TV show goes horribly wrong when a group of small town cops respond to a call that brings a whole new meaning to the phrase, domestic disturbance…
Reviews:
“Army of the Damned is a great sophomoric effort from director Tom DeNucci. The film starts off as an atmospheric suspense-filled horror film and transitions into an all out action film, complete with tons of bullets and a large death count. Army of the Damned is not without it flaws however, the use of the singular location for all the action scenes and the lackluster use of Tony Todd hurt the film, but that in no significant way ruined my enjoyment of this highly entertaining flick.” Morbidly Amusing
“Writer/director Tom DeNucci assuredly asserts himself as a horror fan through a nostalgic script full of cheeky references and the cameo casting of famous genre faces, but in doing so,Army Of The Damned becomes a low-budget, cliché ridden, copycat title deader than Fatone’s singing career. Shooting for B-Movie glory, DeNucci makes too many fatal mistakes that horror fans simply won’t stomach, relying on an overabundance of unfunny comedy and gratuitous gore – without establishing any resemblance of horror.” Matt Donato, We Got This Covered
“Another positive aspect of the film is the 80′s horror vibe given off throughout the film, which DeNucci captured very well. Given its solitary location, he also made good use of it without having that singular location feel to it. Another nod should go out to the director because of what he did with this cast of characters including professional wrestlers (Tommy Dreamer, Thea Trinidad, Maria Kanellis, et al), a rock star (Sully Erna), a former pop star (Joey Fatone) and an adult star.” Wicked Channel
Rent on Instant Video | Buy on DVD from Amazon.com
Buy Army of the Damned + Croczilla on DVD from Amazon.com
Devil Fetus (original title Mo Tai or 魔胎) is a 1983 Hong Kong film directed by Lau Hung Chuen (cinematographer on We’re Going to Eat You; ) from a screenplay by Wen-hua Cheng (Haunted Jail House; Exorcist Master) and Ging-Jiu Lo. It stars Eddie Chan, Yung-chang Chin, Pak-Kwong Ho, Dan Lau, Sai-gang Lau, San Leung, Pui-pui Liu, Hsiu-ling Lu, Sha-fei Ouyang.
The pirated soundtrack includes “La Petite Fille de la Mer” from the Vangelis album L’Apocalypse des animaux (1973) and samples from Ennio Morricone‘s soundtrack for the John Carpenter film The Thing.
Synopsis:
“When a nice young couple buy an antique vase during the Festival of the Hungry Ghosts, all sorts of bizarre and unnatural things start occurring. For one thing, a series of nasty, horrid monsters start having sex with the wife, Shu-ching, while she sleeps. When her husband tries to break up one of these nightmare trysts, he gets sprayed with a gas that melts his face.
Writhing in pain, he throws himself out the window. Later, the hapless Shu-ching gets attacked and killed by her pet cat. During the funeral, a hideous devil fetus bursts out of Shu-ching’s abdomen. The priest manages to seal the coffin shut and puts good luck charms throughout their old house. When new owners arrive, they inevitably disturb the talismans, resulting in worm-infested pastries and a rash of raping and killing.” Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
Reviews:
“A silly but amusing entry in the early ’80s gross-out cycle” of horror films … Some of the film’s more revolting moments have been truncated by HK censors, but if any of the characters behaved in a remotely logical fashion, the running time would be cut in half. Still, fans of Eastern horror will find much to their liking here. Many of the spfx are too ambitious for the budget but you have to admire the zeal with which they are staged.” John Charles, The Hong Kong Filmography 1977–1997
Buy The Hong Kong Filmography 1977 – 1997 from Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com
“Sequences involving the exorcist are the most substantial aspect of the movie, largely because the incantations and the use of amulets appear to have been well-researched and authentic. But the otehr elements of the story tend to veer between the usual conventions of melodrama and thrillers without any real commitment to explore or renovate either genre.” Phil Hardy (editor), The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror
“This film brilliantly takes the make-anything-a-weapon film technique of a low-budget kung fu movie, but adapts it for the horror movie genre, inventing its own make-anything-be-”haunted” technique. From the Gweilo’s perspective, this makes for enormous fun! You will spend most of the movie wondering Whatever will turn out to be “haunted” next? A haunted car? Check. A haunted dog? Check. A haunted fetus? Well, obviously! A haunted steam room with moving walls? OK, sure. A haunted bedroom set? Now that’s just silly! A haunted dog-entrail-eating cousin-raping teenage boy? Wait, WTF kind of movie am I watching?!” The Gweilo’s Guide to Hong Kong Chinese Movies
“For the remainder, I’ll just give the highlights. The demon is now inside Bobby, which eventually gets transferred to Kwo Wei, who immediately takes on the generic automaton gaze and deliberate walk. There’s dog attacks, there’s dog eating, there’s maid raping, there’s near drowning, there transsexual masturbation, there’s worm eating, there’s a dude being crushed by a room (yes, I mean exactly that) and yes, there’s more slimy demon-sex. A lot of this is done with the accompaniment of some wicked 1980s video game-esque sound effects that make you nostalgic for that Atari system. There are also a couple of signature Hong-Kong-ish battle scenes that don’t make any logical sense, but are really great to watch.” Zombie a Go-Go
Wikipedia | IMDb | Image credit: Todo el Terror del Mundo
Noble Johnson (April 18, 1881 – January 9, 1978) was an African-American actor and film producer. He was one of the first black actors in Hollywood to achieve any meaningful level of fame and successfully navigated the transition from silent movies to talkies.
Born in Marshall, Missouri 18th April 1881, Noble was a boyhood friend of Lon Chaney Sr and both became well-known for their ability to immerse themselves into roles, playing a wide variety of characters, often ‘bit-parts’ who still made a big impression. The Johnsons were a well-known black family in the city and their father was an expert horse-trainer. Johnson left school at 15 and travelled with his father riding horses until 1898 when he became a cowboy and had a succession of jobs in ranching, horse training, and later in mining in 1909, as well as finding time to be a boxer and an athlete.
Noble Johnson became the first major black actor, and though achieving fame, inevitably found himself often cruelly typecast. His imposing 6’2″ frame and comparatively light-coloured skin meant that he appeared as innumerable tribal characters, servants, Russians, Asians, Polynesians, monsters, Arab Princes, Native Americans and the Devil himself! This chameleon-like ability was aided by the quality of early film-stock and make-up.
Early successful silent appearances included the Rudolph Valentino break-out smash war epic, Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), as The Bronze Man in Cecil B. DeMille’s first Biblical colossus, The Ten Commandments (1923), The Indian Prince in Douglas Fairbanks’ swashbuckling, The Thief of Baghdad (1924) and Pre-Code sensation, Dante’s Inferno (also 1924), which featured completely nude actresses and scenes so dazzling they were reused in the 1935 remake, and nearly 60 years later in Ken Russell’s Altered States. A sign of the times is that although playing the somewhat critical part of The Devil, Johnson appeared uncredited. Johnson also appeared in a minor role alongside his friend, Chaney, in Tod Browning’s 1928 film, West of Zanzibar.
By the time he had made the leap to talkies, the roles, though perhaps more developed, still focussed more on Johnson’s appearance than his talent – interestingly, his appearance in The Mysterious Dr Fu Manchu (1929) was alongside another actor who struggled to escape typecasting, Warner Oland, best known as his many appearances as Charlie Chan and also the cause of everyone’s problems in 1935′s Werewolf of London. Further indignity followed when he starred as ‘Janos the Black One’ in the first film adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Murders in the Rue Morgue; like many Poe-based films, the plot skirts timidly around the source material,
Four films that followed helped elevate Johnson to more significant roles in the industry and to the attention of horror film lovers; The Most Dangerous Game (1932), The Mummy (1932), King Kong and Son of Kong (both 1933). As the sinister Cossack, Ivan, in the seminal The Most Dangerous Game, he was subject to something which may now seem extraordinary – he was ‘whited-up’ – naturally the opposite of being blacked-up. Appearing opposite Karloff in The Mummy he played the elegant Nubian, by turns, obedient and merciless. In both Kongs, Johnson appeared a the Tribal Leader of Skull Island – fun, iconic but let’s face it, hardly a progression morally or otherwise. He played The Zombie in the Bob Hope horror-comedy The Ghost Breakers in 1940.
Johnson essentially drew a veil over his career in 1950, shortly after appearing alongside John Wayne in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon as Chief Red Shirt, though he popped up in the 1966 TV movie, Lost Island of Kioga… as a hostile Indian. Truly, we had come no further. Johnson also helped to found the first Black-American film company, the Lincoln Motion Picture Company, in existence until 1921. He died at the grand old age of 96 in 1978.
Daz Lawrence, Horrorpedia
Blood Lake: Attack of the Killer Lampreys is a 2014 American made-for-TV horror film produced by The Asylum (Sharknado; Zombie Night) directed by James Cullen Bressack (Pernicious; Squeal: Blood Harvest) from a screenplay by Anna Rasmussen and Delondra Williams. It stars Shannen Doherty, Christopher Lloyd (Piranha 3D; Piranha 3DD; Dead Before Dawn 3D), Jason Brooks, Zack Ward, Ciara Hanna, Rachel True, Susie Abromeit, Jody Barton.
The film premiered in the US on the Animal Planet channel on May 25, 2014.
Plot teaser:
After chomping through the fish population, thousands of starved lampreys begin attacking the citizens of a sleepy lake town, and the community scrambles to stay alive…
Reviews:
“Since I do believe Blood Lake is the very first film ever made about killer lampreys there is a freshness to the carnage and a definite yucky vibe watching these slimy little suckers drip out of faucets, slither out of toilets, swarm the swimming pool, latch onto people like vampiric serpents. A fisherman unintentionally ripping out his own eyeball trying to pry off a biting lamprey and a scene of swimmers fleeing the bloody lake waters coated in the blood of hundreds of fish getting slaughtered in a lamprey feeding frenzy are delightfully gory, surprisingly so for an Animal Planet flick. The ick factor has the potential to get so high it’s a bit of a shame budgetary and made-for-TV restrictions forced more campy yuks than nasty yucks.” Dread Central
“The story for this one is nothing new. In fact, this story is the same as the 1978 film Piranha. Which is kinda funny since Christopher Lloyd had a role in this one along with the Piranha remake. Finally, the film does have a great deal of on screen kills but the visual effects and CGI are horrible. This is something I have come to expect from The Asylum. Even though I expect it, it still doesn’t help my movie viewing experience. Overall, Blood Lake is a fun ‘when animals attack’ flick that has the blood but skips on the special effects. Check it out, it deserves at least one watch!” Horror Society
Choice dialogue:
“Nice pet, Michael – it looks like an anus with teeth.”
House of Mystery is a 1961 British film, directed by Vernon Sewell. The film is a classic ‘quota quickie’ – a film made to fulfill the British film quota imposed on cinemas. This rule ensured that a number of ‘full supporting features’ were cranked out to play alongside more popular American films, and while this system eventually degenerated into tedious travelogues and plodding information films being released, for a while, it ensured that some interesting – and now, unfortunately, all too rarely seen – films were made.
House of Mystery is one such film. It opens with pair of newlyweds arriving at country cottage that is for sale, where they meet a mysterious woman whom they assume to be a housekeeper (even though the house clearly hasn’t been occupied or cleaned in many years). The woman shows them around and then mentions a ghost as one possible reason why the house is unsold despite being ridiculously cheap. She then tells stories about the former occupants, which are effectively a collection of tales interwoven into one. The previous owners (including Nanette Newman) start to experience supernatural events, and find that the ghostly figure haunting their home is a vengeful scientist, who was obsessed with electricity, and held his unfaithful wife and her lover hostage in an electrified room after they had tried to murder him – a moment of Saw-like ingenious sadism!
Running just 55 minutes, the film is clearly low budget stuff, but unusually entertaining with its oddly involved story that has flashbacks within flashbacks. Sewell directs with efficiency – there’s no room for anything fancy in a quickie production like this. Most of the action takes place in a single location with a minimal cast. Yet there’s a genuine eerie feeling within the story and the movie is a great deal better than you would expect, and mixes chills with pseudo-scientific gobbledegook from psychic investigator Colin Gordon. Things are helped by a suitably spooky score by Stanley Black.
The film is based on the play L’Angoisse by Celia de Vilyars and Pierre Mills, and it’s safe to say that Sewell was rather fond of the story – he’s already filmed it three times, as The Medium (1934), Latin Quarter (1945) and Ghost Ship (1952). In America, the film was shown on TV as part of the Kraft Mystery Theatre series, and it would subsequently be packaged as part of the Edgar Wallace series of films that Anglo-Amalgamated were producing at the same time (and which were also B-movies under an hour long). It’s now available on DVD in the UK as part of the Edgar Wallace Mysteries box set.
Sewell had a four decade career. His other films include supernatural comedy The Ghosts of Berkeley Square and a trio of horror films that came at the end of his career – The Blood Beast Terror, Curse of the Crimson Altar and Burke and Hare.
Buy House of Mystery as part of The Edgar Wallace Anthology on DVD from Amazon.co.uk
David Flint, Horrorpedia
House of Mystery (promoted as The House of Mystery) is a 1934 American murder thriller film directed by William Nigh from a screenplay by Albert DeMond, based on a play by Adam Shirk (The Ape).
Plot synopsis (spoilers):
“Somewhere in Asia [actually India], in 1913, drunk John Prendergast, a thieving American archaeologist, kills a monkey in a Hindu temple and then insults a priest, who places the “Curse of Kali” on him and seemingly brings a stuffed gorilla to life.
Prendergast disappears with Chanda, his native girl friend, and remains hidden until he is spotted in the United States twenty years later by Mrs. Potter, a no-nonsense woman whose absent-minded professor husband was one of Prendergast’s original sponsors. Mrs. Potter informs lawyer Jerome Ellis about her discovery and asks him to contact all of Prendergast’s underwriters and their heirs.
As instructed, Ellis brings together the remaining shareholders in the 1913 expedition — Jack Armstrong, a young insurance salesman; wealthy hypochondriac Geraldine Carfax; her clairvoyant companion Stella Walters; the Potters; and gambler David Fells — and extends them an invitation from Prendergast, who is now known as the philanthropic John Pren.
At his estate, the partially paralysed Prendergast, who employs Chanda as his housekeeper, explains to the group that, in spite of attempts on his part to appease the priest and the gorilla spirit Kali, his own health was ruined and two English shareholders were murdered when he attempted to pay them their ill-gotten earnings.
Although intimidated, the group chooses to remain in the house and claim their share of Prendergast’s two million dollar haul. After Jack becomes acquainted with Ella Browning, Prendergast’s pretty English nurse, Stella organizes a seance to contact the spirit of Kali. During the seance, the sound of beating drums is heard, incense burns, and the lights suddenly dim. A moment later, Mrs. Carfax is found strangled, and Inspector Ned Pickens arrives to investigate.
That night, the group hears the beating tom-tom again and discovers Fells, who was deeply in debt, dressed in an gorilla costume, dead. After fruitless questioning by Pickens, Jack is attacked by the real ape but escapes unharmed. Pickens accuses Jack of the murders and is about to arrest him when he finds Stella dead and Prendergast unconscious. Then a stymied Pickens receives a note from Scotland Yard ordering him to take the shareholders to Ellis’ office.
After a jealous Chanda overhears Prendergast propose to Ella, who has fallen in love with Jack, she releases the gorilla and commands it to kill her conniving, faithless lover. The group, meanwhile, learns from the Scotland Yard detective, who had been impersonating a mute plumber at Prendergast’s home, about Prendergast’s scheme to fake paralysis and use the curse of Kali to kill off all claimants to his fortune. Led by an anxious Jack, the police then rush to Prendergast’s and rescue Ella from the hands of the killer ape.” (Courtesy of AFI)
Review:
A typical 1930s guests-gathered-together-at-an-old-dark-house mystery thriller, many of which also featured apes as the source of terror. House of Mystery involves a supposed Indian Hindu curse which makes it slightly more interesting than the usual fright fare of this sort. The onscreen banter and cast are both lively enough, despite some mugging by Irving Bacon as the detective that proves to be irritating. Unlike some other movies of this ilk, this one doesn’t drag and is perfect for a late-night viewing.
Adrian J Smith , Horrorpedia
Cast:
Choice dialogue:
“Strange? Ha! She looks more like Ghandi’s ghost”
“We’ll all be killed one by one. Just like rats in a trap.”
Download from the Internet Archive
Sharkansas Women’s Prison Massacre is a 2014 American horror film directed by Jim Wynorski (Chopping Mall; Not of This Earth; Piranhaconda) from a screenplay by himself and William Dever (producer of Blood Moon; Camel Spiders; Gila!). It stars Dominique Swain (Fall Down Dead; Nazis at the Center of the Earth), Traci Lords (Shock ‘em Dead; Blade; Not of This Earth), Cindy Lucas, Christine Nguyen, John Callahan, John Archer Lundgren, Amy Rasimas Holt, Serafin Falcon.
Official synopsis:
Sharks on land! Hunting victims from just below the earth’s surface! Yes, you heard that right… prehistoric sharks are on the attack in Arkansas. And a shapely work gang from the women’s prison there suddenly find themselves at the center of the terrifying situation.
A local fracking crew has accidently cracked open a section of the earth’s mantle, allowing a swarm of prehistoric land sharks to head upwards from an underground ocean in search of new victims. So after a suspenseful escape, the five gorgeous prisoners find themselves not only on the run from the law… but a horde of blood thirsty hell bent creatures as well. Trapped in a remote fishing cabin hundreds of miles from civilisation, the curvy quintet must use both their wits and wiles to elude the jaws of death swimming just outside in the front yard.
You’ll meet Honey, a fiery spinner armed with a smokin’ pair of .38s. Standing close by is her lover Anita, at once both sexy and psychotic. Shannon is the sweet, girl-next-door type… that is if you happen to live next door to a mental institution. Michelle is the girl from the ghetto, street-wise and savvy beyond her years. And finally there’s Sarah, the demolition expert; she’ll blow your mind if you get too close! All five will have to bury their own petty hatred for each other in order to survive…
IMDb | Images courtesy of Jim Wynorski
Posted by WH
Dr. Heckyl & Mr. Hype is a 1980 American comedy horror film written (with “apologies to Robert Louis Stevenson”) and directed by Charles B. Griffith (Up from the Depths) for Cannon. It stars Oliver Reed (Paranoiac; The Damned; The Brood), Sunny Johnson, Mel Welles (director of Lady Frankenstein), Jackie Coogan (Mesa of Lost Women), Dick Miller, Lucretia Love. Griffith wrote a number of early scripts for Roger Corman such as Little Shop of Horrors and Creature from the Haunted Sea.
The film is a reversal of the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde story, about a malformed doctor who drinks a potion and becomes a handsome – and violent – ladies man. Steve Neill provided the monster makeup for Dr. Heckyl.
Griffith says he had only three weeks to write and prepare the film, four weeks to shoot and two weeks to edit. He was paid $25,000 to write and $25,000 to direct. Griffith originally wanted Dick Van Dyke to play the lead but he was touring in a play so Golan hired Oliver Reed. Griffith said, “I had to redo the entire picture in my head when he was cast, because it was a zany slapstick comedy and I got Oliver Reed – with that face and that voice! So I made it more lyrical.”
Sunny Johnson was cast the day before shooting started; she died a few years later of a brain haemorrhage. The script was 200 pages, and Griffith admits he never had time to cut it down properly. He also said he “fought with the producers over blood and gore versus comedy, and lost as usual.”
According to Griffith: “Heckyl and Hype could have been a very good picture. Dr. Heckyl is a monster podiatrist. He is very humble and meek and helpful and nice to everybody. His attitude is that good-looking guys can get away with murder. Oliver was great as Heckyl. Wonderful. He played the part with a kind of New York accent and everything, but when he was Hype, he didn’t know how to do it… Reed played Hype as Oliver Reed, slow and ponderous. He didn’t understand my interpretation, so the picture jars, and half the people get up and walk out.”
Reviews:
“This film is really sloppily made. There is next to no thought put into the framing of the shots and much of the film takes place at night, so we struggle to even see any of the action at all. The sound is also really poorly done, sounding similar to the effect you would get with the build-in mic on your Grandpa’s old home movie camera. Reed’s mumblings as Heckyl are almost inaudible at times. At least Dick Miller and Jackie Coogan make brief appearances, but that’s not enough to salvage things.” Forgotten Films
Blue Blood (also known as BlueBlood) is a 1973 British film directed by Andrew Sinclair. It stars Oliver Reed, Fiona Lewis (Dr. Phibes Rises Again; Bram Stoker’s Dracula; Strange Behavior), Derek Jacobi, Anna Gaël (Dracula and Son) and Meg Wynn Owen. It was based on the novel The Carry-Cot by Alexander Thynn and shot on location at Longleat House in Wiltshire.
Plot teaser:
A debauched young aristocrat (Jacobi) entrusts the running of his country house to Tom, the butler (Reed), on whom he depends absolutely. Before long the servant begins to dominate his master, to the alarm of the newly hired German nanny (Wynn Owen) who senses sinister, demonic intent in Tom’s control of the house…
Reviews:
“This film isn’t for everyone. It’s plays like an episode of masterpiece theater as hosted by the Devil. It really doesn’t contain enough sex, horror or weirdness to be entertaining for the most part but is made satisfying by Oliver Reed, who chews scenery and exudes power in every scene he is in. Fiona Lewis is at her icy best as the often absent lady of the estate who is indifferent towards her husband so long as the riches stay in her name. If you are an Oliver Reed fan it is worth seeing, otherwise, pair it with Black Candles for a Satanic double feature.” Sinful Celluloid
“Pointing back to The Servant and forward to The Grotesque, the film unclothes Fiona Lewis at regular intervals but has nothing to recommend it other than Harry Waxman’s luscious photography of its Longleat House location.” Jonathan Rigby, English Gothic: A Century of Horror Cinema
Goatwhore is an American blackened death metal band (although they prefer to define themselves as playing “just straight heavy metal”), formed in 1997 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Goatwhore was created in by singer/guitarist Sammy Duet following the breakup of his former band, Acid Bath. Soilent Green singer L. Ben Falgoust II, guitarist Ben Stout, bassist Patrick Bruders, and drummer Zak Nolan completed the lineup, which debuted with the demo Serenades to the Tides of Blood; Goatwhore’s proper debut LP, The Eclipse of Ages into Black, followed in early 2000. Funeral Dirge for the Rotting Sun appeared in 2003 before the band jumped to Metal Blade for the fall release of 2006′s A Haunting Curse. They performed at both Ozzfest 2008 and Ozzfest 2010.
In 2009, Goatwhore released their fourth album, entitled Carving out the Eyes of God, and toured with Obituary, among others. In January and February 2010, they embarked on the ‘Bound By The Road’ Tour with DevilDriver, Suffocation, and Thy Will Be Done.
In 2010, the band was confirmed as contributing to the soundtrack for Namco Bandai Games‘ 2010 remake of Splatterhouse.
In early 2012, the band released their fifth album, entitled Blood for the Master.
On March 10, 2014, the band completed recording their sixth album, Constricting Rage of the Merciless, which was released on July 8.
Buy on CD | Vinyl from Amazon.com
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Albums:
The Eclipse of Ages into Black (2000)
Funeral Dirge for the Rotting Sun (2003)
A Haunting Curse (2006)
Carving out the Eyes of God (2009)
Blood for the Master (2012)
Constricting Rage of the Merciless (2014)
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Grisly is a 2014 American sci-fi horror short film project directed by Graham Cribbin. It stars Jaimi Paige and Jeison Azali.
Grisly captures a portion of a much larger universe of supernatural characters that will be expanded on in the Grisly Tales web-series planned for release later this year. The production team have launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funding to finalise the short film.
Plot teaser:
Carolyn Bronnicke, is a young woman who has mysteriously transformed into a mutated Gill Girl and is captured by ACS/M-Division, a secret government black-ops facility led by Director Christopher Smalls.
Assigned to review her case is Agent Milo Finn of the CIA. As Agent Finn conducts his review of the case he discovers a secret shop of horrors at ACS where Director Smalls has approved the torture and of Carolyn/Gill Girl led by his henchmen Prof. Matthew Lamb and Sgt. Alex Stevens…
In architecture, a gargoyle is a carved or formed grotesque with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building, thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between. Architects often used multiple gargoyles on buildings to divide the flow of rainwater off the roof to minimise the potential damage from a rainstorm. A trough is cut in the back of the gargoyle and rainwater typically exits through the open mouth. Gargoyles are usually an elongated fantastic animal because the length of the gargoyle determines how far water is thrown from the wall.
The term gargoyle is most often applied to medieval work, but throughout all ages some means of water diversion, when not conveyed in gutters, was adopted.
The term originates from the French gargouille, which in English is likely to mean “throat” or is otherwise known as the “gullet”.
When not constructed as a waterspout and only serving an ornamental or artistic function, the correct term for such a sculpture is a chimera. Just as chimeras, gargoyles are said to frighten off and protect those that it guards, such as a church, from any evil or harmful spirits.
Legend of La Gargouille:
A French legend that sprang up around the name of St. Romanus (AD 631–641) who was made bishop of Rouen, relates how he delivered the country around Rouen from a monster called Gargouille or Goji. La Gargouille is said to have been the typical dragon with bat-like wings, a long neck, and the ability to breathe fire from its mouth. There are multiple versions of the story, either that St. Romanus subdued the creature with a crucifix, or he captured the creature with the help of the only volunteer, a condemned man. In each, the monster is led back to Rouen and burned, but its head and neck would not burn due to being tempered by its own fire breath. The head was then mounted on the walls of the newly built church to scare off evil spirits, and used for protection.
Gargoyles and the Catholic Church:
Gargoyles were viewed in two ways by the church throughout history. The primary use was to convey the concept of evil through the form of the gargoyle, which was especially useful in sending a stark message to the common people, most of whom were illiterate. Gargoyles also are said to scare evil spirits away from the church, this reassured congregants that evil was kept outside of the church’s walls. However, some medieval clergy viewed gargoyles as a form of idolatry.
Horrorpedia will be listing other uses of the term gargoyle, unrelated to architecture, in future posts.
Wikipedia | Related: Gargoyles (1972 film)
‘Evil has awakened’
The Mummy Resurrected is a 2014 American horror film directed by Patrick McManus from a screenplay by Joanne Spring. It stars Stuart Rigby, Lauren Bronleewe, Elizabeth Friedman, Bailey Gaddis, Iyad Hajjaj, Fouad Hajji, Mark Naji, Pablo Time Nuñez, Jessie Paddock, Alena Savostikova, Sarah Schreiber.
Plot teaser:
A group of archaeologists uncover a long lost pyramid in the middle of the Egyptian desert. Believing the pyramid to be full of ancient treasures, the group decides to explore. Little do they know that their actions are about to awaken an ancient evil….
Review:
If you can accept a lead – Brit Stuart Rigby – who appears to read his lines rather than act them, a gaggle of young female archaeologists (hey, they all happen to be attractive) who “like” talk and “like” behave in the dimmest ways possible, lacklustre special effects and no attention to detail (in the closing credits Libyan is incorrectly spelt… three times!), then you might tolerate this. A mercifully short running time and a better than expected mummy are the film’s two plus points.
Adrian J Smith, Horrorpedia
“Well, if you happen to be that type of indiscriminate viewer who overlooks a script only doing the bare minimum to constitute a plot, who forgives poorly conceived visual FX because the animators had limited resources, and who gives the director credit simply for producing a completed film, then maybe you will find The Mummy Resurrected to be tolerable. But if you demand at least some modicum of relative quality no matter the budget, scope, or production’s backstory, then you will have a hard time mustering any respect for a movie that refuses to respect you back.” Culture Crypt
“While this movie has an interesting back story and plot, it is lost mostly in shaky camera work and questionable acting at best. It is a real shame because the timing is right for the mummy story to return to the big screen, unfortunately just not with this movie. The cinematography by Emmett Callinan, who also took care of the Electrical Department [and co-produced - Ed.] is quite uneven and inconsistent and the musical score by a compilation of people does little to boost this movies flagging disregard for the viewers intelligence.” Cryptic Rock
‘Reality is not an option’
Dementamania is a 2013 British horror film directed by Kit Ryan (Botched) from a screenplay by Anis Shlewet. It stars Samuel Robertson, Vincent Regan, Kal Penn, Geoff Bell, John Thomson, Holly Weston, Anthony Cozens.
Official synopsis:
Frustrated with the social injustice he must face every day and the bureaucratic culture of the office he works in Edward Arkham is at boiling point.
Although successful in his job, working for a leading IT consultancy, years of routine have taken their toll, his work now seeming so unbearably monotonous, fuelling his frustration and bitterness.
When Edward is stung by a mysterious bug, it results in a painful and aggressive rash. It also unlocks the door to a secret world inside his head causing nightmarish fantasies to manifest themselves within vivid hallucinations. As the rash spreads and threatens to envelop his entire body, his visions become more real and reality begins to drift further and further away…
Reviews:
“Dementamania is a fun horror black comedy fusion that channels the frustrations of modern life that we can all sympathise with, into a twisted fantasy of violent desire and madness. Never afraid to walk the line between pure humour and pure horror, it is an ambitious little gem, full of creativity and a twisting plot that throws the audience into a delirious nightmare that buries right into the heart of everyday horror and angst.” Movie Ramblings
“Dementamania has a rich look and some impressive mind-warping horror effects but suffers from a hard-to-care-about protagonist and an overfamiliar descent-into-madness plot trajectory.” Kim Newman, Screen Daily
“One of the things that really stands out about Dementamania is the direction from Kit Ryan. There’s lots of innovative and refreshing camera techniques and cuts throughout which keeps the energy of the film at a high. Ryan also brings to life some of the film’s more bizarre moments with panache making a remarkably polished movie on a relatively small budget.” Entertainment Focus
“While I felt the ending becomes a bit too clichéd and almost trite, the trippy ride there through the wings of an angry hornet named Edward was worth the trip. Bloody, brutal, and sometimes even beautiful as Kit Ryan intersperses some fun techno songs with funky lighting to spice up some of the scenes, Dementamania may be a bit of a clichéd foray, but still a visually unique and downright brutal one worth taking.” Ain’t It Cool News
Wax is a 2014 Spanish horror film co-written and directed by Víctor Matellano. It stars Jack Taylor (Count Dracula; Female Vampire; Horror of the Zombies), Geraldine Chaplin, Jimmy Shaw, Lone Fleming (Tombs of the Blind Dead; A Candle for the Devil; The Possessed) and the voice of the late horror icon Paul Naschy (as an automaton).
Plot teaser:
A young journalist is employed to spend a night at Barcelona’s Wax Museum, where paranormal activities are supposed to be taking place. He must record everything happening there. In the museum there are different wax figures including one of Dr. Knox, a sadist cannibal surgeon who loves dressing up as Vincent Price in House of Wax. Soon, the journalist begins to feel he is not alone….
IMDb | Facebook | Twitter | Image source: Bloody Disgusting
Cassandra Peterson (born September 17, 1951) is an American actress best known for her portrayal of the horror hostess character Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. She gained fame on Los Angeles television station KHJ wearing a black, gothic, revealing, cleavage-enhancing gown as host of Movie Macabre, a weekly horror movie presentation.
Born in Kansas, Peterson grew up near Randolph, until her family then moved to Colorado. According to a 2011 interview, Peterson states that as a child, while other girls were occupied with Barbie dolls, she was more fascinated by horror-themed toys.
In the late spring of 1981, six years after the death of Larry Vincent, who starred as host Sinister Seymour of a local Los Angeles weekend horror show called Fright Night, show producers began to bring the show back. They asked 1950s horror hostess Maila Nurmi to revive The Vampira Show. Nurmi worked on the project for a short time, but eventually quit when the producers would not hire Lola Falana to play Vampira. The station sent out a casting call, and Peterson auditioned and won the role. She and her best friend, Robert Redding, came up with the sexy punk/vampire look after producers rejected her original idea to look like Sharon Tate in The Fearless Vampire Killers.
Peterson’s Elvira character rapidly gained notoriety with her tight-fitting, low-cut, cleavage-displaying black gown. Adopting the flippant tone of a California “Valley girl“, she brought a satirical, sarcastic edge to her commentary. She revelled in dropping risqué double entendres and making frequent jokes about her cleavage.
The Elvira character soon evolved from an obscure cult figure to a lucrative brand. She was associated with many products through the 1980s and 1990s including Halloween costumes, comic books, action figures, trading cards, pinball machines, Halloween decor, model kits, calendars, perfume and dolls. She has appeared on the cover of Femme Fatales magazine five times.
Her popularity reached its zenith with the release of the feature film Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, co-written by Peterson and released in 1988.
Buy Elvira, Mistress of the Dark on DVD from Amazon.co.uk
In 1985, Elvira began hosting a home video series called ThrillerVideo for U.S.A. Home Video and later International Video Entertainment (I.V.E.). Many of these films were hand-selected by Peterson. Choosing to stay away from the more explicit cannibal, slasher and zombie films of the time, these were generally tamer films such as The Monster Club and Dan Curtis television films, as well as many episodes of the Hammer House of Horror television series. She refused to host Make Them Die Slowly, Seven Doors of Death, and Buried Alive, so the videos were released on the LIVE Home Video label without Elvira’s appearance as hostess.
The success of the ThrillerVideo series led to a second video set, Elvira’s Midnight Madness through Rhino Home Video. In 2004 a DVD horror-film collection called Elvira’s Box of Horrors was released, marking Elvira’s return to horror-movie hosting after a ten-year absence. In September 2010, Elvira’s Movie Macabre returned to television syndication in the U.S., this time with public-domain films.
Elvira appeared in comic books from DC Comics, Eclipse Comics and Claypool Comics. DC published a short-lived series in the mid-80s titled Elvira’s House of Mystery.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a number of Elvira-themed computer games were produced: Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, Elvira 2: The Jaws of Cerberus and Elvira: The Arcade Game.
Two Elvira-themed pinball machines were produced by Bally/Midway: Elvira and the Party Monsters (1989) and Scared Stiff (1996).
In the early 1990s, Peterson began a series of successful Elvira calendars featuring characteristically provocative and campy poses in various macabre settings.
After several years of unsuccessful attempts to make a sequel to Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, Cassandra and her manager and then-husband Mark Pierson decided to take matters into their own hands and finance a second movie themselves. In November 2000, Cassandra wrote and co-produced Elvira’s Haunted Hills.
Buy Elvira’s Haunted Hills on DVD from Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk
The film was shot on location in Romania for just under one million dollars. With little budget left for promotion, Cassandra and Mark screened the film at AIDS charity fund raisers across America. For the many people in attendance, this was the first opportunity to see the woman behind the Elvira character.
In 2012 Peterson became an investor in Comikaze Entertainment Inc., which hosts Comikaze Expo, one of the largest pop culture conventions in the United States. She and fellow investor, Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee, were guests of honor at the inaugural Comikaze Expo in 2011. Comikaze CEO Regina Carpinelli refers to Peterson as the “Mistress of the Board”.
Buy Elvira’s Movie Macabre 12-film DVD set from Amazon.com
Buy Amok Time Elvira 7 inch action figure from Amazon.com
Buy Elvira’s Movie Macabre: Bloody Madness on DVD from Amazon.com
Buy Elvira’s Move Macabre: Giant Monsters on DVD from Amazon.com
Wikipedia | Elvira’s Movie Macabre episode guide
