Video Nasty - Dead And Buried

Dead And Buried

1981

Barclays Mercantile Industrial Finance

Embassy Pictures / Vestron Video / Blue Underground

7.5 / 10

Oh my God, this was so nearly a perfect horror film...  So what went wrong?

This starts off brilliantly with the titles which give the audience the feel of a classy and elegant movie.  This is a bold move for a horror but the director, Gary Sherman knew exactly what he was doing.  Sherman continues this ambiance into the opening scene of a photographer snapping piccies of driftwood and fishing tackle.  He is joined on the beach by the beautiful Lisa (played by Lisa Blount) and after a few flirtations she removes her blouse and asks if she could be a model.  As the photographer closes in for a romantic clinch...

This is when all hell breaks loose...  I cannot say anything else otherwise "Spoilers" - and we don't like them do we.

The opening sequence does a fantastic job of drawing in the viewer in and making them wonder just what the hell is going on in the little seaside village of Potter's Bluff.  It's up to Sheriff Dan Gillis (strongly portrayed by James Farentino) to solve the murders and the mysteries behind them.  Coroner William G Dobbs (splendidly played by Jack Albertson) is helping him with his investigations.  These are the main two characters in the movie and are well crafted with their own personal attributes and qualities making them likable and relatable.

The writers, Jeff Millar, Alex Stern, who wrote the story based on a Chelsea Quinn Yarbro novel, and screenwriters Ronald Shusett and the skillful Dan O'Bannon, give the Zombie mythos a new spin.  Along with special effects wizard Stan Winston they all create a tangible tension and eeriness that adds to the power and atmosphere of the movie.

Then the reveal comes... 

...and everything falls apart.

Suddenly the strong personality of Sheriff Gillis becomes that of a screaming and wailing weak-willed person; the off-beat Dodds becomes comically insane; Gillis' wife Janet (played by Melody Anderson) falls apart mentally; and the story ends with a whimper rather than a scream.  This ending makes a brilliant movie a mess and a shambles.

However, it's still worth watching for the earlier part of the film and not the last ten minutes.  I now want to find a copy of the novel to read to see if this ending is also the book's finale... it may work better in words and in imagination than it does on film.

Video Nasty - Zombie Creeping Flesh

Zombie Creeping Flesh

(1980)

AKA - Virus

AKA - Hell Of The Living Dead

Beatrice Film / Films Dara : Merlin Video / Vestron Video / Creature Features Video / Video Instant Picture Company.

4 / 5

This is a terrible film that had the opportunity to have been considerably better.  It has an admirable start with Goblin's electronic music mixed in with story narrative, this gives it a modern feel.  As the movie begins we are at a chemical plant that is not as secure as they thought.  A rat is found in one of the rooms, though it's not dead as the workmen first think. It attacks one of the workmen killing him, unfortunately, he doesn't stay dead.  As the trouble progresses the noxious gas starts to leak out of the facility and infects the air... bringing on an extinction event.

From here on it should have been an awesome film but the Directors, Bruno Mattei (who used the name Vincent Dawn) - this action speaks volumes - and Claudio Fragasso (who also co-wrote the story with Jose Maria Cunilles) decided to go an entirely different route than you would ever imagine.

The viewer is then subjected to some really bad over-the-top acting (more than usual for an Italian horror) as we are introduced to a crack army assault team who stop a siege at an embassy.  This ten minutes is a waste of time as it's really bad and is only there to let the audience know their next mission is in New Guinea.

It appears the location was only introduced into the story so the director could hop onto the tribe and animal cruelty bandwagon, as they weave stock film of death rituals into the movie. Once again, these are not actually required and are not relevant to the film.  However, it does mean the lead lady can get her boobs out and they are nice boobs.

Another handicap is the speed of the Zombies, these are your old-time shambling dead. Even Richard Briars on a Zimmer-frame could out run these stiffs (Cockney's V's Zombies).  It's even played up in the film.  Even the zombie make-up is poor most are just covered in light blue powder and any other embellishments are large, bulky, and unrealistic.

The twist at the end is a nice one and again if they hadn't gone the wrong direction with the story then, it could have been an outstanding Zombie movie.

I wouldn't recommend this one to anybody as there are much better Zombie flicks about, my favourite being Return Of The Living Dead... "Brains... We Need More BRAINS!!!"

Movie Review - From A House On Willow Street

From A House On Willow Street

(2016)

The Darkside / Fat Cigar Productions : IFC Midnight

7 / 10

This is the kind of kick-in-the-pants the horror genre needed.

In a much-abused genre, it's difficult to add anything new so what writer and director Alastair Orr and co-writers Catherine Blackman and Jonathan Jordaan did was to change the situation and in doing so added a breath of fresh air to the genre.

Hazel, Ade, Mark, and James are habitual criminals in search of the elusive "Big Score".  It's Hazel who has the idea to kidnap the daughter of her father's former partner.  It was he who was responsible for her father losing his business while he gained all the power in the jewellery business.

Knowing there's a lot to be made the gang kidnap Katherine and take her to a warehouse to await her father paying the ransom.  However, there's something wrong...  Katherine's parents don't answer their phone or their cells...   It's only when Ade and James return to the house that the mystery starts to reveal itself.

All the actors were respectable in their roles, though Carlyn Burchell as Katherine, Steven Jon Ward as Ade, and Zino Ventura as Mark were stronger in their portrayals.  It was the story and the acting which made the movie for me as the direction was pretty average and didn't really add anything.

In fact, there was one scene that very nearly spoilt the entire movie for me and that was when the director decided to go slow motion to say look at my special effects aren't they nice(?)  Who the hell uses slo-mo anymore(?)  Then there was the decision to change a character's personality for the last segment of the film.  Hazel, played strongly by Sharni Vinson suddenly becomes weak and continually scared.  This makes her more like a stereotypical horror "Scream Queen".  This happens so suddenly that I just stopped and wondered "What the Hell!?"  There was no need for it and it weakened the story, character, and film.  Bad Move.

There are also a few other minor inconsistencies that you may notice, though they don't hurt the film as much as the couple mentioned above.

Well worth a watch, even if it is only once.  I may even watch this one again if it makes it onto any of the telly channels.

If you want to keep all the surprises for when you watch the Movie

Do NOT Watch The Trailer

Video Nasty - Anthropophagous

Anthropophagous

(1980)

AKA The Beast

AKA The Savage Island

AKA Antropophagus

Filmirage / Produzioni Cinematografiche Massaccesi (PCM) International : Film Ventures International / 88 Films / Cinefear

7 / 10

I originally watched this on SKY a few years back and I enjoyed it then as I did this time around.

That's right I said I enjoyed it and judging by low scores on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, I think I'm in the minority.

The worst thing about this film is the soundtrack.  To say it's dreadful would be doing an injustice to the term understatement.  There are a couple of scenes where the music sets the mood perfectly... but it is only a couple.  The rest of the time the audience is assailed with a manic Wurlitzer pianist - I actually had a vision of an old time theatre (back in the silent movie days) and a man, half-crossed between The Phantom Of The Opera and The Joker, going insane of the ebony and ivories... all it lacked was a maniacal laugh.

Apart from that what the writers Joe D'Amato (Director) and George Eastman (Actor) give the audience is a new take on both the Cannibal and Zombie legends, by giving you Nikos Karamanlis, a man turned beast who is something other than alive and with a penchant for human flesh.  He acquired this evil and unnatural taste after he and his family were shipwrecked... when you're miles from anywhere and starving you have to eat.

This is so much better than his follow on movie Absurd, which also fell foul of the dreaded Video Nasty title and banning.

The acting is above average.  Tisa Farrow (Mia Farrow's sister) who gave a well-disposed portrayal of Julie, a student on her way to a Greek island and summer job.  Along with Saverio Vallone who gives an affable portrayal of Andy, the unheralded leader of the group, these two hold the film together.  Even the mostly silent Eastman as The Beast does a decent job of being menacing and actually uses his size and facial features to add power and unease (wish he'd done the same in Absurd)

For the time the effects are more than passable, the only let down is Eastman's "Beast" face as it looks like somebody has spilt cold porridge over him.  Most of the dead look nasty enough, with decaying skin and maggots writhing in eye sockets.  The scene with the rats would have looked more realistic had they not covered a skeleton in spam... they could have added more blood to disguise the fact - go Herschell-Lewis on them.

One thing that did impress me is most of the scenes are shot in daylight and D'Amato still builds a sense of tension and unease.  The scene where Arnold is looking for his pregnant wife Maggie and stumbles into a clearing by a ruinated abbey sent a shiver down my spine.  You can actually feel something watching him.

There is more to this film than I originally thought and I would recommend it to all horror fans who haven't seen it yet.  And I will be watching this again in the future.

Nergling - The Video Nasties Scare - Anthropophagous

Movie Review - Don't Knock Twice

Don't Knock Twice

(2016)

Red & Black Films / Seymour Films / FFilms Cymru Wales : IFC Midnight / Signature Entertainment

8.25 / 10

I was happily surprised by this film.  When I watched the trailer and saw that Katee Sackhoff was starring I knew I had to see the full movie.  I've been a fan of Sackhoff's for a while now, I particularly liked her portrayal of a deputy in the wonderful "Longmire".  However, in this film her character isn't as strong, she's flawed and broken.

Sackhoff plays Jess, a sculptress who has come back to England to put on a show and to get to know her daughter who she previously gave up to social services as she was a drug addict.  Her daughter, Chloe played believingly by Lucy Boynton, is cautious and bluntly refuses to see her mother.  She rethinks her actions when her best friend Danny, Jordan Bolger, disappears after they knock on the door of a haunted house.

What makes this better than the average ghost story is the interwoven mystery of the ghost woman and a group of missing children.  The twists and turns that the writers Mark Huckerby and Nick Ostler give the audience are well constructed to keep them guessing the outcome.

The only thing I could have wished for were a few more scenes with mother and daughter, Jess and Chloe, getting to know each other.  The ones in the movie feel a little too rushed to meet the runtime.  This would have added greatly to the characters and the film.

There was one irksome element in the film... the "Two Knocks".  I know this is the hinge on which the story and its fear and tension balance, but really, who only knocks twice?  I personally prefer "Shave and a haircut, two bits" rhythm knock.  But without this component, the "who's at the door" tension would be feasible.

in the first half, Caradog W James creates an eerie atmosphere and tension with some really nice camera shots and artistic segues between scenes.  This, however, disappears for a more standard film work in the second half.  

If you like ghost stories and mysteries with plenty of twists in the plot I would recommend this film for your viewing pleasure.  I don't think you'll be upset.

Movie Review - Baskin

Baskin

(2015)

Film Colony / Mo Film / XYZ Films : IFC Midnight / Vertigo Films / Scream Factory

3.75 / 10

This is yet another of those films where the premise is solid, though, in reality, the movie turns out to be a letdown.  A group of policemen are called out to help with a unit at an old abandoned building.  Once they get there, they find the two policemen dead.  As they search through the hallways and floor of the building they come across a staircase that leads downwards.  It goes a lot further than just to a basement... it leads into the bowels of the earth.  Here they find a group of Satanists performing a Black Mass.

This could have been a great film... should have been...  The Director and one of the writers, Can Evrenol gives the audience some beautiful camera shots and builds an eerie atmosphere which is almost palpable.  He also gives them some really nasty and disturbing imagery, which should stay with them for quite some time.

Though this isn't enough to keep the film strong... and neither is the exemplary acting.

The fault with the film is the characters and the story.  The main characters are bullish and unlikable.  They take pleasure in torturing and degrading the people around them.  They think of themselves as great and untouchable.  Because I couldn't relate to any of the characters it made the film slow and boring.

There is a pomposity to the story which grated on my nerves.  When it got towards the climax and the philosophical issues started to come through they felt forced, half-formed and unconvincing.  These should have been woven throughout the story.  They may even have made me care about the characters and what happens to them.

However, when the film ended I was left cold, bored and wondering what the point of the film actually was.

Not a film I would recommend to anyone.

Video Nasty - Blood Feast

Blood Feast

(1963)

Friedman-Lewis Productions : Box Office Spectaculars / Cult Video / Astra Video

7.75 / 10

Director Herschell Gordon Lewis is definitely the wizard of gore as this film attests.  Though this film was shot in 1963 and the special effects were just starting to bloom, Lewis knew he could get away without showing too much by coating everything in gallons of fake blood.

It's this overabundance of the sticky red stuff that placed Lewis into the hearts of all the horror lovers out there - myself included,

Here you have an Egyptian Caterer, who is really a follower of an Egyptian Goddess he is trying to bring back to life by carrying out an Egyptian "Blood" Feast.  This consists of taking body parts from numerous beautiful women... a heart here, a brain there.  These are to be devoured at the feast and when a willing sacrifice is given to the Goddess she will arise once more...

Lewis does a pretty decent job of keeping the pace of the story flowing throughout the film, keeping the audience interested.  The acting is standard and the only two outstanding characters are Mal Arnold who overacts the hell out of the killer Fuad Ramses and helps make the film more distinctive, and lovable in a B-Movie kind of way.  Though, Gene Courtier as Tony the boy on the beach is really annoying and detracts from the film.

If you want a romp through a slayerfest then you will like this tongue-in-cheek horror film.

Nergling - Video Nasties Scare - Blood Feast