The Amityville Horror (1979)

American International Pictures
Directed by Stuart Rosenberg
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, Fox/MGM)

Newlyweds James Brolin and Margot Kidder, with stepkids, move in to their new Long Island home, knowing that it was the scene of brutal murders a short time ago. "Houses don't have memories" he justifies, but this one does. Over the course of a few weeks Brolin is pushed to the brink of insanity by the house which torments him at every opportunity. Kidder tries to get the help of a priest, but the house keeps him away by various means, eventually turning him into a blind, helpless cripple. It masterfully builds tension by a series of increasingly horrific scenes, culminating in Brolin's basement fall into the well of blood as he goes back to rescue the family dog. Shot on location in New Jersey during the fall months, it's a Halloween-time favorite. Lalo Schifrin's Oscar-nominated score is an eerie classic, recalling a child's nursery rhyme.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)

Bryanston Distributing
Directed by Tobe Hooper
My rating: 4 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, Dark Sky Films)

Two young couples and their wheelchair-bound friend travel to a remote Texas town where someone is vandalizing the local cemetery. They unwisely pick up a hitchhiker who briefly taunts them with a knife. They ditch him just in time, but soon run out of gas. They decide to explore a nearby old house and stumble on the rest of the hitchhiker's family. They are mentally deranged ex-slaughterhouse workers who keep a house full of bones and body parts, albeit artfully arranged. "Leatherface" is the worst of the bunch who wears a mask of human skin while terrorizing the group with a chainsaw. The chase scene between him and the girl, which takes up a good part of the final act, is one of the best ever put on film. Moody electronic music by the director and Wayne Bell perfectly complements the setting.

Not of This Earth (1957)

Allied Artists
Directed by Roger Corman
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Shout Factory)

An alien who wears a suit and sunglasses needs transfusions of human blood to survive. The streets of Hollywood provide plenty of opportunities. He hypnotizes a local doctor into helping him find a cure for his blood disease, and in the process saves his planet. A pretty nurse also comes under his spell. In the end, he turns into a flying umbrella which lands on some poor guy's head and sucks his blood out. Corman must have saved a ton of money by having the aliens communicate telepathically: he has endless scenes of them walking around the streets with narration of their conversations.

Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957)

Allied Aritsts
Directed by Roger Corman
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Shout Factory)

A group of scientists is sent to a Pacific island to figure out why the last group of scientists sent there disappeared. Radiation tests have caused the crabs of the island to mutate and attack humans. It's surprisingly graphic for the time, with a preoccupation with severed limbs, due mainly to those very large crab claws. The Professor from Gilligan's Island is the hero non-scientist.

The Beast with a Million Eyes (1955)

American Releasing Corporation
Directed by David Kramarsky
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, MGM)

At a California ranch on the edge of a desert a housewife hears what she thinks is a low flying plane which destroys most of the glass in her house. It turns out to be an alien spacecraft which takes over the minds of the local animals: the family dog attacks her in the kitchen, blackbirds swarm and attack their pickup truck, the old milking cow runs amok. A mute farmhand is next on the list for alien takeover. They eventually figure out that "love" will defeat the alien, but it manages to transfer itself to a nearby rat where an eagle swoops down and takes it away. The "beast" is only briefly glimpsed, and it has only two eyes.

Jigoku (1960)

Shintoho
Directed by Nobuo Nakagawa
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Criterion Collection)

A college student in Tokyo is involved in a late night hit and run accident that leaves the victim dead. While in the countryside visiting his elderly and dying parents, the victim's girlfriend tries to kill him on a rope bridge over a gorge but instead falls to her own death. Eventually, the entire cast dies due to a series of murders, suicides, food poisoning and other ways, and find themselves in Hell where they are punished for their sins. It is certainly unusual, but it failed to make any emotional connection with me and tends towards the melodramatic.

Mark of the Devil (1970)

Hallmark Releasing
Directed by Michael Armstrong
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Blue Underground)

In medieval Europe, a witch finder uses his power to kidnap, rape, torture and kill girls he falsely accuses of witchcraft. His authority is threatened by the arrival of Herbert Lom, a witch finder with considerably more power, and his naive assistant Udo Kier, who believes they really are after witches. Udo falls in love with a local girl accused of witchcraft, setting up a showdown with his boss who wants her dead for calling him impotent, among other things. Kier, realizing the witch hunts are a lie, sets the accused free from their cells and starts a peasant rebellion. The power struggle among the male leads is believable but not fully developed, the film is far more interested in explicit scenes of torture, mostly towards female cast members. Authentic locations in old European streets and castles add to period flavor.

Zero in and Scream (1971)

Phoenix International Films
Directed by Lee Frost
My rating: BOMB
IMDb
(DVD, Something Weird Video)

A sniper in the Hollywood hills is killing random couples he finds having sex. He spends time at "The Classic Cat" where one of the dancers invites him to a party. While everyone else goes skinny dipping in the pool he sits around in his suit and tie. So, he gets his rifle, shoots one of the party goers from the hillside, then goes home and has explicit dreams. There is a nifty ending, but mostly this is just an excuse for lots of nudity and softcore sex.

The Wacky World of Doctor Morgus (1962)

Directed by Roul Haig
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Bell Productions)

Sid Noel is Dr. Morgus, a goofy scientist living in a French Quarter garret apartment in New Orleans with his silent sidekick Chopsley and hypnotized girlfriend Zelda. He invents an "instant people" machine that turns people into dirt and back again. A newspaper reporter tries to invent a story by submitting Morgus' invention to the United Nations, but a foreign spy steals the information. Morgus is invited to the country where he turns all of their spies into dirt in order to smuggle them into the country. It backfires back in New Orleans when the crate of dirt is used to make cement. Interesting today mainly for glimpses of early 60s New Orleans, including the famous burlesque performer Chris Owens on Bourbon Street. The DVD is anamorphic widescreen and a treat for Morgus fans everywhere.

The Sex Killer (1967)

Directed by Barry Mahon
My rating: BOMB
IMDb
(DVD, Something Weird Video)

Tony is an unpopular clerk in a NYC mannequin factory. The other guys constantly make jokes about his inability to get dates. One day Tony buys a pair of binoculars and spends his spare time spying on topless sunbathers. He follows one of them home, strangles and rapes her. He repeats this pattern over and over, all set to a loop of generic instrumental surf music. Finally, one of the girls runs away from him, finds a cop, who shoots him dead. Unfortunately, the music continues.

The Manitou (1978)

Avco Embassy Pictures
Directed by William Girdler
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Anchor Bay)

Susan Strasberg gives birth to an Indian midget via a tumor on her back. Her friend Tony Curtis tries to save her with the help of an Indian medicine man. The final battle takes place in outer space with a topless Strasberg shooting lasers out of her hands while the Devil hurls meteors at her. Incredibly awful, but occasionally entertaining, from the mind that brought us Abby, Grizzly and Day of the Animals.

The Zodiac Killer (1971)

Audubon Films
Directed by Tom Hanson
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Something Weird Video)

Mild-mannered mailman Hal Reed is actually San Francisco's famous Zodiac Killer. He spends his off time performing religious ceremonies in his basement, talking to his pet rabbits and killing lonely couples around SF. We get occasional running dialogue of his thoughts, mostly dire warnings to the viewer that he could be anyone, even the "quiet guy next door". It's one of the most misogynistic films you will ever see, women are portrayed as wanting nothing more than money and sex from their men.

Fiend Without a Face (1958)

MGM
Directed by Arthur Crabtree
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Criterion Collection)

An Air Force base in remote Canada starts experiencing strange deaths in which the bodies are missing their brains and spinal cords. The locals blame atomic radiation but the base commander suspects a doctor with a history of research in thought materialization. When more deaths occur, he confronts the doctor who confesses his experimentation has unleashed the invisible creatures. Invisible, that is, until a nuclear power generator goes out of control. The brains are then seen lounging in the trees and crawling on the ground, suddenly flying at the head and neck of its victims. They are easily killed, and make a gurgling sound while gushing blood, but have numbers on their side when they take over a house filled with Air Force brass and local notables. It's up to the base commander to save the day by destroying the power station. Stop motion animation of the brains by the team of Ruppel and Nordhoff is a highlight.

Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954)

Warner Bros.
Directed by Roy Del Ruth
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Turner Classic Movies)

Women are being murdered in the Rue Morgue of Paris. The police use circumstantial evidence to arrest a college professor, although he has a shaky alibi. The real murderer is using an ape that he controls with hypnotism. Whatever potential the film had is lost with that last sentence. Originally shown in 3D (I watched a 2D to 3D conversion), the circus and zoo setting allows for some gimmick shots on a trampoline, with trapeze artists and a knife thrower, interesting but hardly essential.

Unsatisfied Love (1968)

Abrams & Parisi
Directed by Glauco Del Mar
My rating: BOMB
IMDb
(DVD, Something Weird Video)

After a somewhat promising beginning in which a man with catalepsy is buried alive but claws his way out of the ground, it degenerates into a series of strip teases and softcore sex scenes. Also released with the title "Love After Death", I think "Unsatisfied Love" is more accurate, as other than those opening scenes there are no horror elements. It appears to be a Mexican production badly dubbed into English.

Devil (2010)

Universal Pictures
Directed by John Erick Dowdle
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, Universal)

Five people are stranded in an elevator in a downtown Philadelphia highrise. While inept security guards try to get them out, they start dying in grisly ways. A smart police detective gets involved and we get to know a little about the backgrounds of the stranded passengers. At first glance any of them seem capable of murder. However, one of the security guards, a religious Mexican, suggests it is the work of the devil, who is aboard the elevator as one of the passengers. At first the police detective shrugs it off, but as the deaths continue, and his own personal connection to one of them is revealed, he considers the possibility. It is a well-conceived screenplay that takes place mostly within the claustrophobic confines of the elevator. We are left to guess which one is "the devil": all I can say is don't rule out anyone and keep an eye on those dead bodies.

Carrie (1976)

United Artists
Directed by Brian De Palma
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, MGM/Fox)

Brian De Palma elevates high school melodrama to high art in this influential film. Sissy Spacek is perfectly cast as the shy outcast Carrie, who is tormented by her overbearing religious mother at home and classmates at school. A cruel joke in the shower leads to the detention of the other girls, one of whom plots her revenge at the upcoming prom. Carrie has the last word. All of the De Palma trademarks are on full display: the overuse of slow motion, the spinning camerawork, split screen... all shot through that 70s haze. I still prefer his followup, The Fury, as the best telekinesis movie ever made, but this is a lot of fun.

Monstrosity (1963)

Emerson Film Enterprises
Directed by Joe Mascelli
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Something Weird Video)

Dr. Frank is the mad scientist in the basement of an elderly woman's mansion. He needs fresh bodies to perform his brain transplantation experiments. Three young women arrive in response to an ad for domestic help. The old woman chooses one of them to be her new body and the others will be experiments. One gets a cat brain and spends her time hissing and eating a live mouse, the other loses an eye. The old woman eventually gets her new body, but the brain of the other girl gets put in the cat's body and has the last laugh.

Blood Bath (1966)

American International Pictures
Directed by Jack Hill and Stephanie Rothman
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, MGM Limited Edition Collection)

Stoned artists sit around and discuss their modern paintings. The commercially successful one paints a series of morbid nudes, but he is killing his models for real in the belief that he is the reincarnation of a family vampire. While it doesn't quite hit the mark of the similarly themed Bucket of Blood, it is nonetheless an enjoyable slice of classic AIP drive-in madness.

The Fifth Cord (1971)

Scotia American
Directed by Luigi Bazzoni
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Blue Underground)

Franco Nero is a newspaper reporter with murders happening all around him, but I don't think he ever wrote a story. He does however play detective, particularly since he is a suspect in all of them. He is not very good at that either, though slightly better than the police. The murders occur with alarming regularity, and are by far the most interesting part of the film, well, that and the occasionally nude Pamela Tiffin.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923)

Universal Pictures
Directed by Wallace Worsley
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Image Entertainment)

Gypsy girl Esmeralda is pursued by no less than four men throughout the movie. Her heart, but not her head, apparently belongs to dashing aristocrat Phoebus. However, her adopted father is also interested, and he's got the entire Paris population of the homeless and destitute on his side. Then there is Clopin, who stoops to faked kidnapping and attempted murder to make his case. Finally, there is Quasimodo, the hunchbacked monster to whom Esmeralda makes a friendly gesture and gains perhaps her most fervent admirer. Lon Chaney's performance as Quasimodo is of course legendary, but he tends to disappear for long stretches, replaced by boring romantic melodrama. The bravura finale in the highest reaches of the cathedral is well worth the wait, though.

The Asphyx (1973)

Paragon Films
Directed by Peter Newbrook
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, Redemption)

A couple of inept scientists in Victorian England discover "the asphyx", a creature that appears at the moment of death. They manage to trap the thing using a spotlight with "crystals", and since every person, and guinea pig, has a unique asphyx, once it is trapped they become immortal. Realizing this, they decide to immortalize themselves and one of their girlfriends. However, to summon the asphyx they must really come close to dying, which leads to a series of accidents, real deaths and suicides. A tacked on ending (and beginning) of a very old man holding a guinea pig doesn't add much to the story.

Ghosts on the Loose (1943)

Monogram Pictures
Directed by William Beaudine
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, VCI/Acme)

A wedding mix-up sends the East Side Kids to a suburban house where they find Nazis led by Bela Lugosi. There is one funny scene where Bela sneezes while spying on the kids from a picture frame. Otherwise, this is strictly routine, with Gorcey's intentional abuse of the English language tiring, and no ghosts.

Psycho III (1986)

Universal Pictures
Directed by Anthony Perkins
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal)

Norman falls in love with a suicidal nun who just committed murder, much to the chagrin of his new mother who sits and watches from the window. Mum drives him to kill unsuspecting guests in the cabins below, which poor Norman tries his best to hide. Meanwhile, a reporter uncovers more facts about Norman's past, clouding the issue of just who is Norman's mother anyway. Diana Scarwid as the nun is even more annoying than Meg Tilly from Psycho II. Perkins does manage a few scares and has a great, creepy smile.

Psycho II (1983)

Universal Pictures
Directed by Richard Franklin
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal)

Norman Bates is released from the mental hospital and returns to his old motel and next door mansion. He gets a menial job in a nearby diner and befriends the waitress. She moves in with him, but it turns out she is related to one of Norman's victims and, along with her mother, is trying to drive Norman insane and get him recommitted. There are so many "mothers" running around in wigs and long knives that it becomes almost comical: I counted at least four, if you include the one dug up in the grave. Perkins reprises his role but has a limited emotional range, looking like a deer in headlights most of the time. The ending is absurd, adding yet another mother to the count.

The Deadly Bees (1967)

Paramount Pictures
Directed by Freddie Francis
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Legend Films)

Pretty pop star Suzanna Leigh has a nervous breakdown so goes to the country to recuperate. Instead, she gets caught in the middle of a feud between rival beekeepers. The mystery is obvious and the special effects for the bee-killing scenes consist of nothing more than film of swarming bees superimposed over a barking dog. Robert Bloch must have watched Hitchcock's The Birds and thought he could recreate it with bees, but fails miserably. Speaking of The Birds, a rock group with the same name (not the more famous Byrds) sings a pretty good song towards the beginning. They released an EP and a bunch of singles in the 60s.

The Order (2003)

Twentieth Century Fox
Directed by Brian Helgeland
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Fox)

The leader of a Catholic order is killed in Rome by "the sin eater", a man who shows up at the moment of death to "eat" the sins of the dying person. Heath Ledger is selected to become the successor to the sin eater, but he doesn't want the job because he is more interested in having sex with his girlfriend. So the girlfriend is murdered and he becomes the sin eater anyway. His first job is to eat the sins of the next pope, who apparently has many. It's all accompanied by deep religious insight, loud sound effects and pointless CGI.

The Phantom of Hollywood (1974)

CBS Movie of the Week
Directed by Gene Levitt
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Archive Collection)

Jack Cassidy has two roles, both in heavy makeup: he is the caretaker of the still vault of a Hollywood movie studio; and he is also "the phantom" who roams the back lot in a cape and leather mask. When the owner of the studio decides to sell the back lot and tear it down, the phantom begins a murder spree to stop him. The primary interest today is a glimpse of the old MGM back lot before it really was torn down. Old movie scenes are spliced in towards the beginning showing the lot as it once looked. Populated with aging Hollywood stars such as Broderick Crawford, Jackie Coogan and John Ireland.

The Pack (1977)

Warner Bros.
Directed by Robert Clouse
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Archive Collection)

Another animals-run-amok movie from the 70s, although this one is better than most. A pack of wild dogs, former pets abandoned by tourists, terrorize residents of a remote island in the Pacific northwest. Joe Don Baker is the de facto leader of the people, his outdoor experience and calm, no-sense attitude taking over when others resort to panic. After the predictable bloody dog attacks, the survivors hole up in a house while the pack circles outside. I did not see any actual harm done to dogs, and there is a Humane Association approval in the credits, so it should be safe for animal lovers to watch, and in some sense gratifying to see the dogs get back at the cruel people who abandoned them. The Warner Archive release is a vast improvement over the old, dark, practically unwatchable VHS tape (the film was also released with the title "The Long Dark Night").

The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues (1955)

American Releasing Corporation
Directed by Dan Milner
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, MGM)

Man-in-a-rubber suit monster, with a lizard mask and cardboard tongue, terrorizes fishermen, divers and scientists on a California beach. The "serpent" is a mutant turtle who was exposed to a radioactive "light ray" shining up from the ocean floor. The scientist responsible for creating this death ray wants to use it for the good of mankind, but won't accept responsibility for the deaths it has caused until it is too late. His teenage assistant is a spy and there are G-men after the information as well. One of them is involved in a tepid romantic subplot with the scientist's daughter. In other words, perfect for a Saturday afternoon matinee at the movies!

Hysteria (1965)

MGM
Directed by Freddie Francis
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Archive Collection)

Robert Webber is a car accident victim with amnesia in London. His psychiatrist tries to help him regain his memory while a mysterious benefactor pays for his treatment and posh penthouse apartment. He starts hearing voices in the empty apartment next door and finds a body in his shower. A girl that is supposed to be dead shows up around town and eventually seduces him. Is he going crazy or are these things really happening? It's an overly familiar plot device from countless films, that is until the big plot twist towards the end which admittedly I did not see coming, a little too late to save the film as a whole.

Night School (1981)

Lorimar/Paramount Pictures
Directed by Ken Hughes
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Archive Collection)

College coeds at a girl's school in Boston are losing their heads over their anthropology professor. The killer wears a motorcycle helmet with a shaded face guard so we won't know the identity, but otherwise has no practical purpose except to make them stand out in a crowd, just what a killer does not want. As a mystery, the identity of the killer is too easy to guess, as a slasher, the decapitations are not shown; so we are left with a rather lame police investigation and a lot of heads popping up in unexpected places.

The Couch (1962)

Warner Bros.
Directed by Owen Crump
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Archive Collection)

Robert Bloch followed up his groundbreaking novel Psycho with another psychological story about a killer on the loose in LA. Grant Williams is the all-American teenager recently released from prison after a stint for manslaughter involving a car accident with his sister. He makes regular visits to his psychiatrist to deal with the emotional scars of that incident as well as his troubled childhood. He also impulsively stabs unsuspecting citizens on the street at precisely 7 o'clock each evening. He falls in love with the pretty receptionist at the doctor's office, who returns his affections unbeknownst to the psychiatrist who wants him committed. This all leads to another attempted murder in a crowded football stadium and a final showdown with the police in the hospital with the killer disguised as a doctor. Owen Crump is no Alfred Hitchcock, but it is entertaining nonetheless.

Retribution (1987)

Taurus Entertainment
Directed by Guy Magar
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Code Red)

A struggling artist in a run down LA hotel attempts suicide by jumping off the roof. He survives, but is plagued by nightmares that he is killing people in grisly ways. When it turns out the murders are real, he is hounded by the police while his friendly psychiatrist tries to help sort it all out. This is typical 80s horror, with a throbbing synthesizer soundtrack, over-the-top make up effects and bad punk fashion worn mostly by prostitutes. Somehow, it entertains in spite of itself, with a lovable loser antihero in Dennis Lipscomb and his spunky girlfriend Suzanne Snyder. There are breaks for a live reggae band, a meeting with Dr. Rasta and a stoned visit to a neon art gallery, where a giant head from Easter Island gushes blood.

Black Zoo (1963)

Allied Artists
Directed by Robert Gordon
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Archive Collection)

Michael Gough is the deranged owner of a private zoo. He plays the pipe organ in his living room while big cats lounge on the furniture. When a scummy businessman threatens to close him down, he kills him in his bachelor pad with one of his lions. Later, his alcoholic wife and her chimp act threaten to leave him for the circus, so he kills the friend who got her the job. A teenaged mute assistant turns out to be his son and turns on him in the end. Occasionally atmospheric but the melodramatic story and hammy Gough performance do it in.

Frankenstein: The True Story (1973)

Universal Pictures
Directed by Jack Smight
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal)

Slow moving but engrossing telling of the Frankenstein myth that purports to be faithful to the original Mary Shelley story. Victor Frankenstein is a young assistant to Doctor Clerval, who has discovered a way to reanimate the dead. In one creepy scene, they keep a human arm alive, which seems to have a mind of its own. An accident that leaves many people dead provide them with the raw material for a new human being: "the creature" who calls himself "beautiful" in the beginning but later "Legion", one of many Biblical references. Clerval dies so Frankenstein takes over the experiments, much to the dislike of his fiance. The process begins to reverse itself and the creature, who is initially young and handsome, decays into a monster. Rejected by people, he seeks solace with a blind man. He falls in love with her daughter, but when she is killed in a road accident Dr. Frankenstein brings her back to life by putting her head on another body. More tragedy follows, including a beheading at a society dance by the monster. Eventually they all flee England by boat but end up shipwrecked at the North Pole, where the apparently immortal creature will live forever. It bears strikingly little resemblance to the Frankenstein story as told by the more famous Hollywood movie.

Body Puzzle (1992)

Directed by Lamberto Bava
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Raro Video)

A serial killer in Italy takes body parts from his victims and leaves them around the house of pretty book editor Joanna Pacula. She finds an ear in the living room, a hand on the front door and a penis in an envelope pushed under the front door. Police detective Tomas Arana investigates her past and finds a husband who may or may not have been killed in a motorcycle accident. His organs were donated after the death and he wants them back. The final chase scene is entirely in fast motion which ruins it.

Prophecy (1979)

Paramount Pictures
Directed by John Frankenheimer
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Paramount)

Scientist and idealist Robert Foxworth is hired by the EPA to check up on a paper mill in Maine. He finds giant fish in the lakes and a mutant bear eating unsuspecting campers. Mercury from the mill is to blame and the lumber company tries to cover it up. Talia Shire is his wife, who also happens to be pregnant and is worried her baby might be a mutant too, since she ate some of the giant fish. They all get chased by the mutant bear to a lake where some die and some survive. The attack scenes are bloody, including a memorable scene with a sleeping bag, but it's hard to take a man in a bear suit as a serious threat.

The Sentinel (1977)

Universal Pictures
Directed by Michael Winner
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Universal)

Fashion model Cristina Raines rents an apartment in Brooklyn. Her neighbors include a pair of lesbians, one of whom masturbates in front of her at their first meeting. One night she sees her dead father wandering the house and cuts off his nose. The next day the house is empty and nobody believes she saw anyone at all. Her lawyer boyfriend investigates, but the police are investigating him for a shady past. Meanwhile, John Carradine is a blind priest who sits in an upstairs window guarding the entrance to hell. Cristina is to be his replacement, but first must get through the crowd of freak show rejects that block her way. It's just too silly to be scary, but can be fun in the right frame of mind.

The Doctor and the Devils (1985)

Twentieth Century-Fox Film
Directed by Freddie Francis
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Fox)

A London doctor needs fresh corpses for his Academy of Anatomy. A couple of alcoholic street bums are happy to supply him from an unlimited supply of prostitutes and the homeless. Freddie Francis tries to inject life into this overly familiar story based on the Burke and Hare murders. Jonathan Pryce is entertaining as the murderer Fallon, but Twiggy and Julian Sands are boring in their romantic subplot. The London slums are realistically portrayed in all of their disgusting filth.

Ghostkeeper (1982)

American Cinema Marketing
Directed by Jim Makichuk
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Code Red)

Three snowmobilers in the Canadian Rockies get stranded at a closed down lodge. They find an old lady, her strange son and a human monster in the basement. One of the girls quickly becomes dinner for the thing in the basement, the other two argue a lot until it becomes apparent they are next. It's slow moving, which can be a good thing, but in this case is unsatisfying. The explanation for the "family" in the lodge is not very convincing. It might be good for a snowy night or a double feature with The Shining, though it pales in comparison to that movie.

A Cottage on Dartmoor (1929)

Pro Patria (UK)
Directed by Anthony Asquith
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Kino)

An escaped convict goes to the remote home of the girl who spurned him. In a long flashback, we learn how the barber invited the manicurist to the talkies one night and fell in love, though she could not return it. Instead, she falls in love with one of his customers and gets engaged after one date. The critical scene happens when the customer sits in his barber chair for one close shave! Some interesting editing is on display, including the insert of a blood-red frame when the barber snaps. However, other scenes go on for too long, such as the one in the cinema, and the romantic melodrama is overemphasized.

Friday the 13th (1980)

Paramount Pictures
Directed by Sean S. Cunningham
My rating: 3 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, Paramount)

The first and best of the series takes elements of Hitchcock's Psycho and transplants them to a remote camp by a lake. The most obvious clue to Hitchcock is the soundtrack by Harry Manfredini, which is just a simple reworking of Bernard Herrmann, with some extra echo effects for atmosphere. Although it may be derivative it is very effective and essential to the success of the film. Counselors arrive at the camp in preparation for its reopening, well one of them never makes it, but end up victims of a never-seen killer. Director Cunningham uses a hand-held camera from the point of view of the killer, bringing us, the viewers, right into the thick of things. The carnage on display is brief but graphic. Tom Savini's make-up effects revolutionized horror, for better or worse. However, Cunningham is wise not to rely on the bloody effects for his scares: he uses the natural menace of the lake and woods, a thunderstorm at night, dark cabins made even darker when the power goes out, old tales in town of "blood camp", etc. It is these elements that make it an effective horror movie, not the gory killings. The ending borrows straight from Psycho, although with a gender reversal: I can just hear Anthony Perkins speaking the part of his mother. However, this film does have too many endings, with a particularly ludicrous one in the lake.

The People Who Own the Dark (1976)

Cinematic Releasing
Directed by Leon Klimovsky
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Code Red)

A group of wealthy men have their De Sadean drug and sex banquet interrupted by nuclear war. Luckily, the basement of their country villa provides protection from the blast. However, the local residents are not so fortunate and are blinded. Some of them go to town for supplies and are attacked by the roaming, mad blind people. The attacks continue back at the villa and the group begins to splinter. A downbeat ending features music by Beethoven and a mass grave that invokes memories of Nazi concentration camps.

The Sender (1982)

Paramount Pictures
Directed by Roger Christian
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Legend Films)

Kathryn Harrold is a psychiatrist at a state mental hospital who takes on the case of a suicidal teenager with amnesia. Before long she starts seeing roaches in the refrigerator and his dead mother in her office. He turns out to have uncontrolled telekinesis, which is accepted by the other doctors as a rational explanation. When they attempt to give him shock therapy everything turns slow motion and doctors float in the air. Not having learned their lesson, they later attempt brain surgery where more absurd dreamlike things happen. The film is basically a series of these set pieces. More character development and less rats would have been preferable.

The Silent Scream (1979)

American Cinema Releasing
Directed by Denny Harris
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Scorpion Releasing)

Rebecca Balding is a college transfer to a southern California college. She rents a room at a seaside mansion with other college students. The rich kid with a Porsche is the first to get murdered. The love scene between Rebecca and her roommate never made the connection between sex and violence more explicit. Scream queen Barbara Steele in one of her later roles has no speaking parts but gets to play a lobotomized, knife-wielding psychopath.

The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959)

Paramount Pictures
Directed by Terence Fisher
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Legend Films)

A British artist has discovered the secret of immortality. Together with his doctor, they transplant a new organ into him every 10 years, which prevents him from getting sick or aging. Without it, he reverts to his real age of 104. He can put off the transformation by drinking a "liquid", but which has the side effect of making him homicidal. It's essentially a variation of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, with some good make-up effects for his occasional reversion to the dark side. It's slow in that typical Hammer way but a step below other productions made around the same time. Christopher Lee is a prim and proper doctor who refuses to perform the necessary operation when the usual one is killed. Hazel Court is a model and romantic interest.

Invisible Ghost (1941)

Monogram Pictures
Directed by Joseph H. Lewis
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Roan Group)

Lugosi goes into a trance whenever he sees his supposedly dead wife and kills people unlucky enough to be in his house. He wakes up completely unaware of what he has done. The police investigate, arrest his daughter's fiance, convict and execute him. This wrongful execution is never mentioned by the police, even when Lugosi is uncovered as the real killer. The usual cheap Monogram production values never gives this one a chance, but watching Lugosi act with his hands and eyes is fascinating.

Midnight (1982)

Independent International
Directed by John Russo
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Lions Gate)

Low budget nastiness from John Russo, cowriter of the original Night of the Living Dead with George Romero. Like its predecessor, it's filmed in Pennsylvania with amateurs. A family of Satan-worshiping rednecks kidnaps teens and ritually murders them at their masses. Runaway Melanie Verlin hitchhikes her way to the small town where the murders are occurring, and finds herself locked up in a dog kennel. Her stepfather, who earlier in the film tried to rape her, comes to her rescue. There is some potential here, the redemption of the stepfather, the strong female character, the exposition of small town racism, but the amateur acting, instead of helping, sinks it.

In Search of Dracula (1975)

Independent International
Directed by Calvin Floyd
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Image Entertainment)

Christopher Lee narrates this semi-documentary on the history of Dracula. There is footage from Transylvania of native Romanians folk dancing over which Lee tells us about how their superstitions were combined with elements of the Greek Orthodox religion to result in the vampire legend. Back in England, Bram Stoker visits the British Museum and writes the definitive version of Count Dracula. There is a long diversion into the history of Vlad the Impaler and how he influenced Stoker's character. However, there are also long scenes from Christopher Lee's Hammer movies and at times this seems like nothing more than a cheap way to plug them.