Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary (2002)

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
Directed by Guy Maddin
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Zeitgeist)

Maddin interprets the Dracula story through his usual silent movie visual style, but also incorporates a ballet performance. Unfortunately, the mixture doesn't really work. The ballet elements interfere in the telling of the story, which frequently gets bogged down in romantic melodramatics. Maddin's visual flare turns out to be more of a distraction, he too frequently uses bold, computer generated colors, as the story needs a more somber, toned-down approach. The dancers seemed to get lost in the midst of it all, not to mention Dracula himself. Made for Canadian TV. 

Scar (2005)

Spur of the Moment Pictures
Directed by Rahil Bhorania
My rating: BOMB
IMDb
(DVD, Silver Nitrate)

Two dumb teenagers hiking in the woods are lured to a cabin by a pretty girl. One of them is promptly axed and the other barely escapes. A year later, he decides to revisit the cabin with his dead friend's girlfriend to find out what happened. People get scars on their abdomen for no apparent reason. There are scenes in a video store with a weird video store clerk. Some really bad special effects reveal the girl and her mother to be ghosts, taking me right out of the movie. Maybe I wasn't really in it to start with.

House of the Damned (1963)

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

An architect is hired to survey an isolated old mansion for renovation. He takes along his pretty wife and they spend a few restless nights in the spooky place. A key disappears from their bedroom and they try to figure out what happened. A lawyer and his wife arrive and provide some distractions. We get glimpses in the shadows and behind door of strange, deformed humans. It all gets explained at the end, most unsatisfactorily. 

Blood Shack (1971)

Nevada International Pictures
Directed by Ray Dennis Steckler
My rating: 1.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Shriek Show)

A woman inherits a house in the sun-drenched Arizona desert. The "caretaker" warns her about "The Chooper", a native American spirit who lives in a shack and kills all who enters. The "spirit" is occasionally glimpsed and looks like a ninja wearing tennis shoes. Time is wasted by the woman, and viewer, at a nearby rodeo. Back at the shack, the Chooper awaits its next victim. If you know Ray Dennis Steckler, you know what to expect. 

Beware My Brethren (1972)

Miracle Pictures (UK)
Directed by Robert Hartford-Davis
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(Blu-ray, Vinegar Syndrome)

Patrick Magee is the head of a fanatical church operating in the home of an elderly widow and her son in London. The son takes the charismatic Magee's teachings to heart, murdering young women around the city he judges as sinful. His mother hires a nurse to take care of her diabetes. She clashes with Magee, who forbids drugs of any kind and also suspects her of a lesbian relationship! He orders her to fast as punishment, leading to her death... but the son has the final revenge. Botched opportunity for a biting critique of Christian hypocrisy, instead focusing on the more seedy aspects of the plot. Magee, though, is outstanding as usual. 

Hell High (1989)

JGM Enterprises
Directed by Douglas Grossman
My rating: 2 stars out of 4
IMDb Wikipedia
(DVD, Shriek Show)

High school misfit seeks revenge on his teacher for ridiculing him in front of class. She has her own issues, being traumatized by a childhood incident shown in the opening scenes. The misfit and his brood terrorize her at home one night, leading to the usual rape and violence that typifies 80s horror fare.