Dr_Gor

Under discussion:

Last House on the Left  (1972)

The Town That Dreaded Sundown  (1976)

   I first saw this one in the theater in 1976 (surprise!) and I have seen it more than a couple times since.   Although considered a "B-movie" it is apparent that the producer and director spent quite a bit of money on this film in the form of some recognizable actors, vintage costumes and sets (including a very believable recreation of the streets and buildings of Texarkana, TX/AR in 1946) and a LOT of vintage cars from that era AND a few pretty good gore effects and stunts.   IMDb and other sources state that this movie is a "semi-documentary" about actual events that occurred in Texarkana in 1946.   Whether it is fact or fiction, it is a pretty disturbing and compelling movie.   Much like  Last House on the Left  ,   The Town That Dreaded Sundown   is a psycho-murder story with some fairly gruesome murders.   Also, much like  Last House ,  this movie featured some intentional humor thrown in, in between the more disturbing bits, to try to lighten the mood a bit.   Most of this humor is provided by the Director, Charles B. Pierce himself, playing an inept Police Officer called "Sparkplug" ...   On the serious side of this movie you have some good, solid acting on the part of the two main leads, Ben Johnson and Andrew Prine, and a STUNNING, if brief, performance by Dawn Wells (Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island) as a victim!   Oh yeah,  the stuntman who plays "The Phantom Killer"  does a respectable job as well.

   Actually, this movie is so great in so many ways it is hard for me to describe it.  Besides the rather excellent performances put in by the actors mentioned above, there were plenty of TERRIBLE performances by "unknown" actors who were woodenly reading their lines off of cue cards.   There were more than a couple pretty cool car-chases/car-stunts using some VERY cool vintage cars from that era.   Drama, Police Procedural, Crime Drama, Action/Adventure, Comedy...   But what makes this one stand out is the stunningly brutal murder scenes, of which there are a few, and the interesting ending...

   This was obviously one of the precursors to the "Slasher Films" of the 1980's.   In fact, when "Jason" made his first actual appearance in  Friday the 13th, Part II ,  he was dressed exactly like the killer from this movie!

   Bottom line...   The Town That Dreaded Sundown  is one of those movies that I don't mind watching over and over again.   And I find it entertaining every time...

                                                                                   < GOR >

Under discussion:

The Black Cat  (1934)

I must take a moment here to mention  The Black Cat  featuring Karloff vs. Lugosi.   This is one of the few films that these two horror icons made together because in real life they actually hated each other!   I think that their very real dislike of each other plays into their acting in this exceptional film.   Young American honeymooners Peter and Joan Allison meet up with Dr. Vitus Werdegast (Lugosi) on a train in Hungary.   Werdegast is returning to his home town after spending several years as a prisoner of war.   When their hotel-bound bus crashes on a mountain road during a storm and Joan is injured the trio, along with Werdegast's menacing servant, are forced to seek shelter in the isolated home of Werdegast's arch-nemesis Hjalmar Poelzig (Karloff).   Poelzig is a Satan worshiping preist who keeps the bodies of his past 'wives' preserved in glass 'coffins' in the basement of his futuristic art-deco house so he can admire their beauty.   It turns out that one of these women was Werdegast's wife and Poelzig's current 'wife' is Werdegasts daughter!   When Poelzig decides he would like to add the lovely Joan to his collection he agrees to play a game of chess against Werdegast to decide the young lady's fate.   Let the fun begin!   This is a great movie that was very risque for it's time and is deffinately worth watching.

                                                                             < GOR

Under discussion:

Fist of Fear, Touch of Death  (1977)

   Such notable martial arts names as Aaron Banks, Fred 'The Hammer' Williamson, Ron Van Clief and Ritchie Barathy appear in this entirely bogus 'documentary' about an entirely bogus martial arts 'tournament' to determine Bruce Lee's successor as the 'King of Kung Fu'.   This film is rather entertaining all the same.   Some rather exciting fight footage surround this silly effort at what is purported to be a serious documentary.   Of particular interest are Aaron Banks' and Ron Van Clief's assertion that Bruce Lee was murdered by someone using the 'vibrating palm' or 'death touch' technique...   what is known to most martial artists as 'dim mak', although that name is never used here.   This film really begins to lose credibility during a lengthy 'half-time show' that is supposed to be a mini biography of Bruce Lee's life.   They claim that the young Bruce Lee aspired to be just like his great-grandfather who was  "China's greatest Samurai Warrior" ...   Never mind that the Samurai were Japanese and not Chinese!   Also, they keep replacing the term 'Kung Fu' with 'Karate'!   Again, nevermind that karate is Japanese and not Chinese!   Still a lot of fun to watch...   if you are able to suspend your belief in reality for a little while...

                                                                < GOR >

Under discussion:

The Bad Seed  (1956)

The Exorcist  (1973)

The Child  (1976)

Night of the Living Dead  (1968)

Hell of the Living Dead  (1980)

As for  Hell Of The Living Dead  being the worst zombie movie ever made I was sure I could top that one...   The first one that leapt to mind was one I saw several years ago called  The Child ...   I found this one in my collection and rewatched it and I quickly realized one thing...   this is not a bad movie at all!   Working with a bare minimum budget and amateur actors working with terrible dialogue from amateur writers, these guys obviously spent all of their money on the few effective gore effects!   Still, the overall effect is a rather creepy and suspensful zombie movie that was obviously heavily inspired by  NOTLD  with a little bit of  The Exorcist  and  The Bad Seed  thrown in for good measure.   Rosalie Norton is a very pretty and innocent looking young pre-teen girl who lives with her father and older brother in an isolated farmhouse in the northwestern woods.   Their house is next door to an old cemetery where Rosalie likes to hang out at night with her 'friends'.   It would appear that Rosalie, who has some very "Carrie-like" telekenesis powers, has summoned a hoard of flesh hungry zombies from the nearby graveyard to do her bidding!   A few VERY good gore effects such as shots of people with their faces ripped off and a few zombies getting their skulls crushed in with an ax make this one worth watching!   While watching this I couldn't help but get the feeling that with a slightly bigger budget his could have been an A-list, top of the line horror film!   Even with what they had to work with, the filmakers managed to pull of some genuinely creepy imagery and a few good, genuine frights!   Not bad at all!   AND they did it all with a straight face!   No 'camp' here at all!   A pretty darn good movie and recomended by me....

Under discussion:

The Sentinel  (1976)

The next one I would like to talk about is  The Sentinel  ...   This is one of my all time favorite horror films and is one of the scariest and most disturbing I have ever seen.   Coming fresh on the heels of The Exorcist, The Omen and Rosemary's Baby, The Sentinal is a lost and forgotten classic of Satanic horror.   Based on the best selling novel by Jeffrey Konvitz, who also wrote the screenplay, it is the story of young New York fashion model Allison Parker (played by a scene-stealing Christina Raines), who breaks up with her fiance (Chris Sarandon of Fright Night and The Princess Bride fame) and moves into a beautiful and inexplicably affordable brownstone apartment.   The fun begins when she meets her rather eccentric new neighbors beginning with a nosey but likable Burgess Meredith who introduces her to other neighbors that range from mildly amusing to rather disturbing...   Oh, and there is a blind priest living upstairs who nobody talks to and who never leaves his apartment...   Suddenly, Allison's health begins to fail leading to regular fainting spells and much concern from her friends and estranged boyfriend.   When Allison asks her real estate agent (Ava Gardner) about all of her eccentric nieghbors she is in for a bit of a shock to learn that, aside from her and the blind priest upstairs, the building is quite deserted!   It turns out that the building is the gateway to Hell and the old blind priest (John Carradine) is the guardian who's job it is to keep the Legions Of Hell from invading the Earth!   And Allison, it turns out, has been chosen to be his replacement...   Some truely horrifying scenes, especially at the end, and just enough splattery gore to keep most gorehounds satisfied make this a standout picture that never quite got the attention it deserved.   Also look for Jeff Goldblum, Crisopher Walken, Beverly D'Angelo and others in "before they were stars" roles.   As with many of these old classics, I was a huge fan of the novel before the movie ever came out and I was not dissapointed in the movie in the least...   this is a truely terriffying experience that you won't soon forget.   It is also interesting to note that director Michael Winner visited hospitals and circus sideshows to hand pick the "freaks" and human "oddities" that were used in the movies finale...   when the legions of Hell begin to spill forth...

                                                                      < GOR >

Under discussion:

Invasion of the Saucer Men  (1957)

Nearly 40 years before "Mars Attacks" , the Earth was invaded by evil looking, bulbous headed, bug eyed 'little green men' in this campy classic from 1957. It is Saturday night in small town America and the local 'Lover's Point' is full of local 'kids' (actually 20-something's) who are there to make out and drink beer, when a typical flying saucer lands nearby. In a convenient twist, this 'Lover's Point' is now private property owned by a cranky, shotgun-toting farmer who uses it as grazing land for his cattle and prize bull, causing the 'kids' to drive the treacherous road past the farmer's house without headlights to try (unsuccesfully) to go undetected. Thus it is no surprise when a couple of the kids accidentally run over an alien, pinning it under their car and killing it. The dead alien's dismembered hand then sprouts long 'needles' fom it's fingertips and puctures the kids' tires - causing them to try to make it back on foot - before creating more havoc. In another interesting twist, instead of using 'ray-guns' or other sophistcated weaponry, these aliens' weapon of choice are these needles which extend from their fingertips which they use to inject pure alcohol into their victims - leading to many 'drunk' jokes and causing the local police to have a hard time believing all these reports of litte-green-men and flying saucers they have been getting... In one of the more entertaining scenes, the farmers bull, who has a habit of bumming beers from the kids and getting drunk, charges one of the aliens and scoops it up between his horns, even goring the creature in the eye, while getting stabbed repeatedly with it's alcohol injecting needles... when the farmer finds his prize bull he is alive but too drunk to stand up! Made on a shoestring budget (even for it's time) and obviously intended as nothing more than a campy comedy, this movie actually has some frightening moments and, in fact, it actually scared the crap out of me the first time I saw it on late night TV as a young kid in the early 60's...

< GOR >

Under discussion:

Dawn of the Dead  (1979)

The Exorcist  (1973)

City of the Living Dead  (1980)

Last House on the Left  (1972)

Night of the Living Dead  (1968)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre  (1974)

The Toolbox Murders  (1978)

Driller Killer  (1976)

Zombie  (1979)

   I was STUNNED!   This Movie Was PHENOMENAL!   Up to this point, the 'goriest' movies I had ever seen would be "Night Of The Living Dead" and "The Exorcist" ... (I had not yet seen "Dawn Of The Dead" which was released the year before...) ...   and some B-movie Drive-In fare like "Last House On The Left" and "The Toolbox Murders" and "Driller Killer" and "The Drive-In Massacre" and, of course, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" ...  

   This movie (for me, at the time) outdid them ALL!    From the FANTASTIC 'comic book' story line to the AMAZING, 'in your face'', "GORE FX"!   ( "excuse me, Miss... you have something in your EYE ...") ,   This movie was great in EVERY way!    At the time, I did not even know that this was an Italian Movie!   (I did not pay any attention to the credits)   ...    And then, about a year later, I saw another Horror Movie that just 'blew me away'...   "The Gates Of Hell".   I didn't have a clue at the time that both of these movies were directed by the same insane genius!

   It was a couple of years later when I began reading about Lucio Fulci in FANGORIA  and GOREZONE and then I started collecting his movies!    I have about 14 so far and they are ALL good!    It seems that Mr. Fulci liked to include at least one really messy 'gore-scene' in each and every movie!   (NOT that there is anything WRONG with that!) ...    It is also at this time that I learned of OTHER Italian Horror Movie Directors!    I will not go into all of them here because my dinner is ready!    But, here are some names to ponder...   D'Amato, Lenzi, Bava, Argento...

Under discussion:

Attack of the Giant Leeches  (1959)

   I recently rewatched this childhood favorite if mine and I think I like it even more now!   This is actually one of the BETTER of the B&W sci-fi/horror films of the late 50's- early 60's.   Produced by Roger Corman on what is obviously a 'shoestring' budget, this was one of the more effective of these types of films.   The acting was actually ABOVE the 'Junior-High-School-Play' level of most of these types of movies and the sets were quite convincing as well.   Having visited the Florida Everglades and neighboring swamps myself, I think the filmmakers did an excellent job of recreating these locations in a Hollywood studio.   The underwater scenes were quite convincing and rather well filmed although the 'giant leeches' themselves were obviously 'stunt-divers' in rather fake looking 'leech' costumes, I cannot not help but feel that these men were taking a great risk to thier own personal safety to film these scenes!  ( try to imagine swimming around underwater with SCUBA gear and wrapped inside a great big silly looking 'leech costume' that looks like it is made out of trash-bags with teeth and stuff glued to it!)...

   I found it quite amusing that the 'giant leeches' kept the hot looking chick ALIVE in thier underwater cave so that they could keep giving her 'hickeys'...

                                                                                 < GOR >

Under discussion:

The Exorcist  (1973)

   I first saw this film in the theater on the first weekend of it's initial release in 1973....   I was 13 years old....   What I remember of that experience is this;   The 'line' to get in stretched out of the theater and around the block,  I waited in line for over an hour to see this movie... (and I didn't mind!) ...   The 'pre-hype' surrounding this movie was incredible!   The novel was a HUGE hit before the movie came out... EVERYBODY had read "The Exorcist" (including me)  and was talking about it when, suddenly, it was anounced that a 'movie' was being made and everybody went nuts....    We were already scared before we even got into the theater!  

   The other thing I remember was this;   The first moment I laid eyes on Linda Blair it WAS  'Love At First Sight' !   (I was 13...) ...   And I could not believe the 'horrors' that poor girl was about to go through...   It was, quite litterally, 'gut-wrenching' for me...  I think I did not sleep at all that night, I was afraid my bed would start shaking...

  William Friedkin instantly won a spot at the top of my 'favorite directors' list for creating this masterpiece and ALL of the actors were extraordinary.  Although SOME of the 'special effects' were a bit 'cheesy' (the 'head spinning'), MOST of the FX were quite convincing!

   Bottom line is this;   "The Exorcist" is not only one of The Best Horror Movies ever made, it is one of The Best MOVIES ever made...   They don't make them like that anymore...

                                                                                                <   GOR   >