‘An evil that won’t stay dead’

A Zombie Exorcism - original title: Opstandelsen [“Resurrection”] - is a 2010 Danish horror film written and directed by Casper Haugegaard. It stars Marie Frohmé Vanglund, Mads Althoff, Jonas Bjørn-Andersen.

US distributors Wild Eye Releasing are unleashing the film in Spring 2015.

Official plot teaser:

The house of God is Ground Zero for the end of the world when three siblings gather at a funeral and witness the awakening of an ancient evil that spawns an army of the dead. Quickly forced to hide in the labyrinth of deep catacombs under the church, the siblings must fight their way to safety while trying to send the dead back to their graves in this non-stop zombie action thriller…

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Kampung Zombie – “Zombie Village” – is a 2015 Indonesian horror movie directed by Billy Christian (Hi5teria; Tuyul: Part 1) for Movie 8 productions, a subsidiary of Maxima Pictures. The film stars Ahmad Dhani, El Jalaluddin Rumi, Kia Poetri, Ali Mensan, Axel Matthew Thomas and Luthya Sury.

Kampung Zombie is due to be released on 19 March 2015.

The living dead are brought back to life after a village is consumed by contaminated volcanic ash. Four young travellers unwittingly find themselves stranded in a forest of zombies and must fight for their lives…

Not yet on IMDb

Santo and Blue Demon vs. the Monsters – original title: Santo y Blue Demon contra los Monstruos – is a 1969 Mexican action horror movie directed by Gilberto Martínez Solares from a screenplay by Rafael García Travesi and Jesús Sotomayor Martínez for Sotomayor productions.

The film stars masked wrestlers Santo and Blue Demon, plus Jorge Rado, Carlos Ancira, Raúl Martínez Solares, Hedi Blue, Vicente Lara, Manuel Leal, Gerardo Zepeda, David Alvizu, Fernando Rosales.

Plot teaser:

To foil his plan for world domination, wrestling superheroes Santo and Blue Demon battle the mad Dr. Halder and his army of reanimated monsters: The Vampire, The Female Vampire, Franquestain, The Cyclops, The Wolfman, The Mummy and zombie thugs…

Reviews:

” …probably the grooviest of the bunch. A mad doctor revives a ton of horror movie monsters (wait, so they’re monsters AND undead?) and brainwashes them to do his bidding. There’s a spanking good sequence at the start of the flick that introduces each monster, one by one …

If you’re a fan of B-movie grandeur, do yourself a favor and check this bad boy out.” Analog Medium

“Despite the budget woes and quality issues, Santo and Blue Demon vs the Monsters still ends up being a fun flick, and is among the Santo films you should see first just to get your toes wet.

If you can handle Santo and Blue Demon punching their way through a castle filled with people in bad masks, you are ready to expand your journey.” TarsTarkas.net

“Still, despite all obstacles, Santo y Blue Demon contra los Monstruos staunchly resists the temptation to laugh at itself, and that is what really sells it. One wink, one moment of intentional camp, and it would have become unbearable, but, instead, every actor who looked upon those pitifully ridiculous monsters reacted to them as if they were the gravest threat ever faced by mankind. And bless them for it.” Teleport City

IMDb | Visit Teleport City for a detailed review and more images | Related: The Ship of Monsters

Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood is a 1988 slasher horror film directed by John Carl Buechler (Troll; Cellar Dweller; Ghoulies III) from a screenplay by Manuel Fidello and Daryl Haney.

It is the seventh instalment in the original Friday the 13th series and the start of the Kane Hodder era in which he repeated the role of Jason Vorhees three more times. The other leads are Lar Park Lincoln, Kevin Blair, Susan Blu, Terry Kiser (The Offspring).

Plot teaser:

Shortly after the events of the previous film, seven-year old Tina Sheppard witnesses her father abusing her mother, and runs out onto the lake in a boat. When her father tries to retrieve and apologise to her, Tina’s latent telekinetic powers awaken and she accidentally collapses the dock on him, causing him to drown.

Ten years later, Tina and her mother return to the lake at the request of her doctor Dr. Crews in order to face her fear and trauma over the death of her father. Crews tries to incite Tina to use her telekinetic powers through constant persuasion and manipulation, though under the guise of psychiatric care, he plans to exploit Tina’s gifts. After a particularly disturbing confrontation, Tina runs out to the docks and believes she senses her father’s presence in the lake. She uses her powers to resurrect him, but instead accidentally frees Jason Voorhees from his imprisonment…

Reviews:

‘The New Blood certainly moves briskly from one violent set piece to the next; as a result of Buechler’s emphasis on narrative momentum, however, the underlying themes, such as they are, never have an opportunity to breathe. With the victims made even more generic than usual this time around, the result is more or less the kind of slasher film the series’s many detractors accuse films in the genre of being as a whole: an empty-headed slaughterfest, with a bit of negligible human interest to offset the nihilism.’ Kenji Fujishima, Slant Magazine

‘Although the role of Jason isn’t exactly Shakespeare, Hodder turns in a great performance as the hulking, heavy breathing zombie killer.John Carl Buechler’s special effects are great, even though they were heavily edited by the MPAA. Hodder and the special effects are the main reasons to watch the film, since the rest of the cast sleepwalk through their parts and the dialogue is frighteningly dumb.’ Jim Harper, Legacy of Blood: A Comprehensive Guide to Slasher Movies

‘The makeup design this time around is absolutely stunning, and shows an attention to detail that has hitherto been completely absent from any aspect of the Friday the 13th series. Jason really does look like he’s spent a good ten years rotting at the bottom of a lake. His clothes are little more than soggy rags, his skin is greenish and slimed with putrescence, and his bones are visible wherever they lie close to the surface— his ribs, spine, kneecaps, and shoulder blades. It’s when his mask comes off during the final clash between him and Tina that the makeup team’s workmanship really comes to the fore, though.’ 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

Buy Friday the 13th: The Complete Collection on Blu-ray from Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.com

Censorship:

Several explicit scenes of gore were cut in order to avoid an X rating, including: Maddy’s death, who originally had a sickle jammed through her neck; Ben’s death, which showed Jason crushing his head into a bloody pulp; Kate’s death, which showed Jason ramming her in the eye with a party horn; the original VHS and DVD versions only show a full view of Jason as he aims towards her face, but quickly cuts to another scene before revealing the blood and gore gushing from her eye; we see Eddie’s head hit the floor; a shot of Russell’s face splitting open with a large blood spurt; Dan’s original death had Jason ripping out his guts; Amanda Shepard’s death originally showed Jason stabbing her from behind, with the resulting blade going through her chest and subsequent blood hitting Dr. Crews;

Dr. Crews’s death showed Jason’s tree-trimming saw violently cutting into his stomach, sending a fountain of blood and guts in the air; Melissa’s original death had Jason cleaving her head in half with an axe with a close-up of her eyes still wriggling in their sockets. The boxed set DVD release of all of the films and the single deluxe edition have all these scenes available as deleted scenes in rough work print footage, however the deluxe edition features more additional footage than the boxed set.

Buy Deluxe Edition DVD from Amazon.com

Ghanian hand drawn poster

Cast:

• Kane Hodder as Jason Voorhees
• Lar Park Lincoln as Tina Shepard
• Kevin Spirtas as Nick
• Susan Blu as Amanda Shepard
• Terry Kiser as Dr. Crews
• Susan Jennifer Sullivan as Melissa
• Elizabeth Kaitan as Robin
• William Butler as Michael
• Staci Greason as Jane
• Jon Renfield as David
• Jeff Bennett as Eddie
• Heidi Kozak as Sandra
• Diana Barrows as Maddy

Body Count:

Documentary:

Wikipedia | IMDb

The Walking Deceased is a 2015 American comedy horror spoof of zombie films directed by Scott Dow from a screenplay by Tim Ogletree. It stars Ogletree, Joey Oglesby, Dave Sheridan, Troy Ogletree, Sophie Taylor Ali, Danielle Garcia, Andrew Pozza, and Mason Dakota Galyon.

Plot teaser:

After waking from a coma, Sheriff Lincoln realizes that he is in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. He reunites with his son Chris and joins several other survivors, including four friends who use city names as aliases and a zombie named Romeo who is looking for love, to find the Safe Haven Ranch, where they expect to be safe from the zombies.

Reviews:

‘Dow and Ogletree simply recycle the same zombie shtick from one unfunny scene to another as if they were going down a zombie movie checklist.’ Kiko Martinez, San Antonio Current

‘ …lame satire of zombie movies, whose shelf life expired even before it was made.’ Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter

‘Believe it or not, this witless spoof has even less brainpower than the gray-matter-starved creatures it’s ridiculing.’ Ethan Alter, Film Journal International

‘There’s no more disposable type of comedy than the genre spoof, and no greater example of its general creative worthlessness than The Walking Deceased’ Nick Schager, The Village Voice

‘Less a send-up of The Walking Dead than a misfired potshot at various zombie productions from Dawn of the Dead to Warm Bodies, it’s a slop bucket of lazy writing and uninspired jokes.’ Cary Darling, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Cast:

• Dave Sheridan as Sheriff Lincoln, a parody of Rick Grimes
• Tim Ogletree as Green Bay, a reference to Zombieland
• Joey Oglesby as Chicago, another reference to Zombieland
• Sophie Taylor Ali as Brooklyn
• Danielle Garcia as Harlem
• Troy Ogletree as Romeo, a reference to Warm Bodies and George A. Romero
• Andrew Pozza as Darnell
• Mason Dakota Galyon as Chris

Wikipedia | IMDb

Supernatural Thrillers is a Marvel comics horror title launched in 1972 that ran for fifteen issues. The comic featured adaptations of stories that included famous monsters such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Headless Horseman and the Invisible Man by authors such as H.G. Wells and Robert Louis Stevenson.

Issue 5 marked the debut of The Living Mummy, a monster that then dominated Supernatural Thrillers for the rest of its run, before going on to appear in a vast number of comics since.

Writers who worked on Supernatural Thrillers included Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, Steve Gerber, and Gary Friedrich, whilst artists included Winslow Mortimer and the legendary Gil Kane.

We are indebted to Comic Vine for info and images.

WH

Daniel Thomas “Dan” O’Bannon (September 30, 1946 – December 17, 2009) was an American motion-picture screenwriter, director and occasional actor, usually in the science fiction and horror genres. Although his name is still unknown by many, his influence on genre films cannot be overestimated.

O’Bannon was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Bertha (née Lowenthal) and Thomas Sidney O’Bannon, a carpenter. He attended the art school of Washington University in St. Louis, where he performed stand-up comedy routines, did make-up for campus theatre productions and provided illustrations for Student Life, the student newspaper. While there he roomed with Michael Shamberg, later the producer of Django Unchained, Skeleton Key, Pulp Fiction and many other movies, and Donald Friedman, the author, most notably of The Writer’s Brush: Paintings, Drawings, and Sculpture by Writers. O’Bannon moved home briefly after his stint at Washington University and attended Florissant Valley Junior College where he wrote and directed a short science fiction satire titled The Attack of the 50-foot Chicken. He then attended the University of Southern California (USC) film school, where he met John Carpenter and collaborated with him on the 83-minute USC School of Cinema-Television short, Dark Star (1970).

Carpenter expanded the Dark Star short into a feature which was released in 1974 with a final budget of only $60,000. O’Bannon served in a number of capacities, including scripting, editing and acting in one of the leading roles (“Pinback”). In 1975, Dark Star won the Golden Scroll award (the Saturn Awards’ original name) for Best Special Effects, though today the film is still rather regarded as a footnote in his career and that of Carpenter, which does it a great disservice. The film is oddly meditative and uses a largely sparse electronic score to great effect. The small budget would have destroyed many a production but O’Bannon’s decision to have the main threat as a chicken-footed beach ball, enhanced with a very human personality, displays an early deftness of subtlety and humour balanced with zippy dialogue and well-structured set-pieces. O’Bannon, growing up a science-fiction and horror enthusiast, abandoned technical work (including a stint as a computer animator on George Lucas’ classic Star Wars – the TIE Fighter and X-Wing targeting screens are his) for screenwriting.

O’Bannon attended USC Film School and lived near the Los Angeles Campus in an old two-story house affectionately called the “Menlo Manor” which he shared with other USC students (Don Jakoby (writer of Arachnophobia and Vampires amongst others); and Jeffrey J. Lee, who became a well-known artist in Europe). He spent many late nights in old Hollywood editing his and other student films, though harboured thoughts of ultimately becoming a director.

He was attached to supervise special effects for a now almost mythical Alejandro Jodorowsky production of Frank Herbert’s Dune, but this fell apart in 1975 and the movie was never made as the major Hollywood studios were wary of financing the picture with Jodorowsky as director. O’Bannon’s role is prominently featured in the 2013 documentary Jodorowsky’s Dune. The collapse of Dune left O’Bannon broke, homeless, and dependent on friends for his survival. While living with his friend Ron Shusett (later to be a collaborator on Alien as well as writing the screenplays to the likes of Total Recall and King Kong Lives), they came up with the story for O’Bannon’s career-making film Alien (1979), for which he wrote the screenplay and supervised visuals.

Using elements from a well-regarded but un-optioned screenplay he’d written called Omnivore, the screenplay to Alien was written in conjunction with Shusett; the artist HR Giger, whom he had met in Paris whilst preparing for Dune employed to design the sets and creatures. The resultant script, originally called Star Beast, was a deliberate attempt to appeal to studios in terms of commerciality and found favour with Alan Ladd Jr, the same head of Fox who had given the go-ahead to Star Wars. Drawing on the B-movie conventions of a delayed reveal of the monster and age-old fears such as invasion and what lurks in the shadows, the film was a huge success but inevitably it was director Ridley Scott who received most of the acclaim. Contrary to many reports, the lead character of Ridley in the film was not originally intended for a male actor, indeed none of the characters had their gender mentioned. Even from the early script treatments, the ‘chest-burster’ scene was always considered the pivotal part of the film.

In 1981, O’Bannon wrote the screenplay to one of the most unheralded of the “video nasties”, Dead and Buried, an intelligent and unsettling film which even now fails to glean the plaudits it deserves. The same year he helped to create the animated feature Heavy Metal, writing two of its segments (“Soft Landing” and “B-17″). O’Bannon voiced his displeasure with his next big-budget outing, John Badham’s Blue Thunder (1983), an action yarn about a Los Angeles helicopter surveillance team. Originally written with Don Jakoby, Blue Thunder also underwent extensive rewriting, losing some of its political content.

He and Jakoby also scripted Lifeforce (1985), a film directed by Tobe Hooper that veers from alien visitation to even-more-than-usual sexually-infused vampirism and a London-based apocalyptic ending. Based on Colin Wilson’s novel “The Space Vampires”,It was not well received at the time, and was considered a box office flop, though has now developed a loyal following of fans; some might suggest an already faded Hooper and an overly enthusiastic budget did not help matters.

O’Bannon would again collaborate with Jakoby and Hooper for the 1986 remake Invaders from Mars. Purists considered it inferior to the 1950s original and it also performed poorly at the box office. O’Bannon also worked as a consultant for C.H.U.D., helping to create the design concept for the title creatures. In 1985, O’Bannon finally moved into the director’s chair with Return of the Living Dead. Sadly, O’Bannon’s track record of involving himself in as many aspects of the film-making process as possible, lead him to micro-managing almost every department, making him a somewhat unpopular character. Nevertheless, his bold decision to have the zombies as speedy mutants (an attempt to distance himself from Romero lore), an entirely sound reasoning for the outbreak occurring and deeper than credited innovations such as the onset of rigor mortis in the infected, as well as the cremation scene, elevate the film to a far greater spectacle than the ‘Linnea Quigley naked’ and soundbite fest it’s sometimes regarded as.

In 1990, O’Bannon and Shusett re-teamed to make Total Recall, an adaptation of the short story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” by Phillip K. Dick. This was a project the two had been working on since collaborating on Alien. The film earned well over $100 million. An earlier screenplay by the duo titled Hemoglobin was also produced as the low budget feature Bleeders (1997 – keeping the original title on release in the UK).

O’Bannon’s second directorial feature, Shatterbrain (aka The Resurrected, 1992), was a low-budget though ambitious horror effort released direct-to-video. Based on the H. P. Lovecraft story, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, it focused on a family’s ancient rituals that awaken the dead. In 1995, O’Bannon received a co-writing credit for the film Screamers, a science-fiction film about post-apocalyptic robots programmed to kill. Adapted from the Philip K. Dick story “Second Variety”, O’Bannon first worked on the screenplay in the early 1980s. Another old project sadly never came to fruition; a film titled, They Bite, which would have finally realised the original vision had for Alien, Omnivore.

O’Bannon died from complications from Crohn’s disease in Los Angeles on December 17, 2009; he credited his experiences with Crohn’s for inspiring the chest-bursting scene from Alien.

1974 Dark Star – writer, special effects, editor, production design, co-star (Sgt. Pinback)
1976 The Long Tomorrow – writer
1977 Star Wars – special computer effects
1979 Alien – writer
1981 Dead & Buried – writer
1981 Heavy Metal – writer of two segments, Soft Landing and B-17
1983 Blue Thunder – writer
1985 Lifeforce – writer
1985 The Return of the Living Dead – writer, director, voice
1986 Invaders from Mars – writer
1990 Total Recall – writer
1992 The Resurrected – director
1995 Screamers – writer
1997 Bleeders – writer
Daz Lawrence

‘Prey for Salvation’

Zombie Resurrection is a 2014 British horror film, made partly with the aid of online funding. Set in an unspecified part of the UK, eight survivors of an apocalyptic outbreak, which has seen the dead rise from their graves, attempt find sanctuary as the undead hordes thin out and make sense of the chaos that surrounds them. It is the debut feature of directors Andy Phelps and Jake Hawkins.

Fifteen months after zombies ravaged the country, eight survivors trudge through the British woodland attempting to find a place of refuge known as Imperium, the destination known only by one of their number, the upper class Major Gibson (Joe Rainbow, Stag Night of the Dead), who revels in the hold he has over the others. These include Mac (Jim Sweeney), a sweary Scottish tough guy; God-fearing Esther (Shamiso Mushambi); almost respectably middle-class Beaumont (Danny Brown), who carries a golf club just to make sure you’ve “got it”, and the shackled prisoner Dr. Sykes (Eric Colvin), plus three more utterly detestable individuals.

In a twist to the usual lore surrounding zombie outbreaks, we learn that time has taken its toll on the dead, who are now few in number and those who do survive are ineffective decaying lumps. Regardless, the disagreeable bunch of the living find getting on with one another impossible and tensions rise even further when Gibson steps in a mantrap and has his leg removed. Taking shelter in a school building (expanding the quite obviously tiny shooting area by up to twenty feet), we find that Sykes is held as a prisoner due to his role in the development of the ‘virus’ which started the apocalypse – actually an attempted cure for chemical warfare – and that he is due to be hanged. Events spiral out of their control when they realise the building actually houses some unexpectedly spritely zombies and, even more surprisingly, that one of them has a quasi-religious gift for resurrecting the more decayed of his number, threatening to send them back to the early days of the outbreak.

On the plus side, there are some interesting ideas here; the diminished threat of rotting corpses over time has been touched upon in film and fiction before but, in this case, it’s central to the plot; similarly, aside from voodoo, there hasn’t been a great deal of emphasis on religion’s part in such a scenario. Unfortunately, these really only become viable as part of a short story – at a push, a play, though presumably a rubbish one. Without zombies as an immediate threat, you have to rely on the living characters and their back-stories to provide the drama and tension, done skilfully in periods of Romero’s early zombie films and large tracts of The Walking Dead comic and television series. You’d be correct in assuming this film has none of that.

Firstly, there are far too many characters, none of whom are engaging or illicit any sympathy from the viewer. This is exacerbated by the fact that the acting is of a shockingly poor quality, veering from potty-mouthed shouting to something that resembles the farce of a drunken person assuring assembled onlookers that they’re completely sober, whilst stood in a duck-pond. This sits particularly badly when the closing quarter of Zombie Resurrection attempts to ponder the complexities of life, religion and all points between, with the film left hanging as neither fish nor fowl, though almost certainly, foul.

The gore effects and make-up are passable and indeed, if that sends your pulse racing, you may still find something of interest here. Despite this, at no point is anything in the least believable; how a compound came to be called Imperium in just over a year (surely rejected even by eager Apprentice candidates), why the filmmakers opted to omit someone in a wheelchair from their parade of abysmal stereotypes and why, four years after filming wrapped, has this been allowed to surface without anyone having the guts to recognise this simply didn’t work. It’s another nail in the coffin of a horror sub-genre that just won’t stay shut.

Daz Lawrence, Horrorpedia

Buy on Blu-ray | DVD from Amazon.co.uk

Anger of the Dead – aka Apocalisse Zero – is a 2015 Italian-Canadian post-apocalyptic horror movie produced by Uwe Boll (House of the Dead; Alone in the Dark; BloodRayne: The Third Reich) and Luca Boni, and written and directed by Francesco Picone (based on his 2013 short film of the same name).

The film stars Aaron Stielstra, Michael Segal, Marius Bizau, Désirée Giorgetti, Claudio Camilli, David White, Ally McClelland, Roberta Sparta.

Reviews:

“While there are more than a few slow spots in Picone’s first full-length presentation, his ability to convey a fairly decent story is what pulls this movie through and sets it apart from a typical Boll production. The dive into humanity is deep, and for the first time in ages, I actually gave a crap about a few of the characters … Overall, thumbs up to Picone for a nice job with taking a sub-genre that’s been butchered and valiantly reviving it for a short spell. This is definitely worth the view-time if you have the opportunity.” Matt Boiselle, Dread Central

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Fear the Walking Dead is a 2015 American television series created by Robert Kirkman and Dave Erickson scheduled to premiere on AMC and globally in August 2015. It is a companion series to the hugely successful horror drama TV series The Walking Dead, which is based on the comic book series of the same name by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard.

AMC approved the pilot to series on March 9, 2015, with a two-season commitment.

Plot teaser:

Set in Los Angeles, the series follows a male divorced teacher, a female guidance counsellor, and her two children – a son and a daughter – in the zombie apocalypse…

Cast:

• Kim Dickens as Madison, a high school guidance counsellor and fiancee to Travis. She is a single mother to Alicia and Nick.
• Cliff Curtis as Travis, Madison’s fiance and a divorced teacher who shares custody of his son Chris with ex-wife Liza.
• Frank Dillane as Nick, Madison’s college-flunk out son who is battling a drug problem.
• Alycia Debnam-Carey as Alicia, Madison’s high-achieving and ambitious daughter who is in a relationship with her jock boyfriend Matt. She is able to read situations well and often finds herself at odds with Nick due to his unmotivated nature.
• Elizabeth Rodriguez as Liza, Travis’s ex-wife and mother to their son Chris. A free-spirited bohemian type, she is attempting to rebound from her disastrous marriage.
• Mercedes Mason as Ofelia
• Rubén Blades as Daniel, Ofelia’s father

Wikipedia | IMDb | Official site

‘Something wicked this way comes…’

Teenage Exorcist is a 1991 American supernatural comedy horror film directed by Grant Austin Waldman (The Channeler; Victoria’s Shadow) from a screenplay by actress Brinke Stevens (Screaming in High Heels: The Rise and Fall of the Scream Queen), based on a story by co-producer Fred Olen Ray (Scalps; Evil Toons; Super Shark).

The film stars Stevens, Eddie Deezen and Robert Quarry (Count Yorga, Vampire; Dr. Phibes Rises Again; The Deathmaster).

Although it was shot in 1991, Teenage Exorcist did not receive a video release until 1994.

Buy via Amazon.com

Plot teaser:

Diane (Brinke Stevens), a prim and proper college grad student, rents a spooky old house from a creepy realtor (Michael Berryman). Unfortunately for Diane, an ancient demon (Oliver Darrow) resides in her basement and she’s quickly possessed by the spirits of the house, turning her into a leather-clad, chainsaw-wielding succubus.

When Diane’s sister Sally (Elena Sahagun), Sally’s brother-in-law Mike (Jay Richardson) and Diane’s boyfriend Jeff (Tom Shell) come to visit only to be attacked by her demonic incarnation, they summon a priest, Father McFerrin (Robert Quarry), to handle the situation. Zombies also arrive to make the situation worse.

Failing that, Father McFerrin attempts to call an exorcist, only to dial the wrong number and unwittingly place an order at the local pizza parlour. When the geeky superhero worshipping pizza delivery boy (Eddie Deezen) arrives at the house, it’s up to him and the rest of the gang to destroy the demon and stop his nefarious scheme…

Review:

Scripter and ‘Scream Queen’ Brinke Stevens doesn’t have enough screen presence, even in shiny black S&M gear, to hold this horror parody together. though the feeble groan-inducing genre jokes are reasonable enough to make the first half painless. Unfortunately, once Quarry and Deezen appear things go rapidly downhill, and Oliver Darrow as the demon is just annoying, so its easy to see why this uninspiring effort remained unreleased for three years.

Adrian J Smith, Horrorpedia

Cast:

• Brinke Stevens as Diane
• Eddie Deezen as Eddie
• Oliver Darrow as The Demon
• Jay Richardson as Mike
• Tom Shell as Jeff
• Elena Sahagun as Sally
• Robert Quarry as Father McFerrin
• Kathryn Kates as Maid
• Michael Berryman as Herman

Wikipedia | IMDb

Revenge of the Living Dead Girls aka The Living Dead is a 1986 French supernatural horror film directed by Pierre B. Reinhard from a screenplay by producer Jean-Claude Roy. Originally titled La revanche des mortes vivantes it was released in France on 16 September 1987.

Cast:

Véronique Catanzaro, Kathryn Charly, Sylvie Novak, Anthea Wyler, Laurence Mercier, Patrick Guillemin, Gabor Rassov, Christina Schmidt and Cornélia Wilms.

Plot teaser:

In France, the CEO of a chemical company looks to cheaply dispose of their plant’s chemical waste. He and his secretary come up with the idea to dump it illegally. When the secretary contaminates a milk tanker, it causes several deaths in the town.

The toxic waste, dumped in a nearby graveyard, then causes the recently dead townspeople to rise as ravenous zombies, who seek revenge on the unscrupulous company and its employees…

Reviews:

“In the end, the utter nonsense of the whole affair undermines Reinhard’s “Give a hoot, don’t pollute” message and the general sleaziness undermines the female empowerment angle of lady zombies (and Bridget) beating up the boys. What you have is some nakedness, some blood and some terrible dubbing.” Dave Bow, Portland Mercury

“What follows is a impossible-to-follow-even-if-we-cared plot involving chemical dumping, corporate blackmail, and enough fornication to make a soap opera roll its eyes; everyone seems to be involved with everyone else’s partners. As toxic chemicals seep into the graves of the dead girls, they rise and exact their revenge on those who are responsible – just as the title advertises! See zombie girls rise from the grave looking like cheap knockoffs from Thriller. Kill girls kill! Mix in some unsexy nudity. Rinse. Kill again.” Peter Schorn, IGN

” … for fans of bad trash cinema, this one is worth a look. Despite some slow spots it offers enough ineptitude, gore and completely unnecessary nudity to satisfy the wants of most exploitation fans and the unintentional hilarity scattered throughout give it a fair amount of entertainment value if you have a tolerance for bad movies.” Ian Jane, DVD Talk

“The best bit is probably when the three women zombies lamely sexual assault and play grab ass with a female victim, who sort of starts masturbating with a severed hand. She loses interest in the sex about the time a zombie chick sticks a sword into her vagina. No, I’m not kidding. Yes, on paper it sounds like it would be an awesome, brutal, gross scene. In execution, its kind of like bad softcore porn, but it is a scene worth watching, horror fans.” Robert Fure, Film School Rejects

” … numerous dull boardroom scenes and typically gratuitous nude scenes featuring the majority of the female cast. Almost everything about this production is inept, thanks to director Pierre B. Reinhard (who, unsurprisingly, also has several soft-core porno titles to his credit). Gives milk a bad name.” Glenn Kay, Zombie Movies: The Ultimate Guide

Trailer 1:

Trailer 2:

Wikipedia | IMDb

The Zombie King – aka King of the Dead – is a 2012 British horror comedy film directed by Aidan Belizaire from a screenplay by actor George McCluskey (Jacob’s Hammer; Knight of the Dead), based on a story by Jennifer Chippindale and Rebecca-Clare Evans.

The film stars Edward Furlong (Brainscan; Arachnoquake) and Corey Feldman (Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter; Bordello of Blood), George McCluskey, David McClelland, Michael Gamarano (Backslasher). The film’s initial title was apparently Ed Wallace and the Z Team.

Having received several international releases, the film is being released on DVD in the UK on October 26, 2015 by High Fliers Films.

Buy DVD from Amazon.co.uk

Plot teaser:

Samuel Peters (Edward Furlong), once an ordinary man, dabbles in the laws of voodoo to bring his wife back from the grave. He soon encounters the god of malevolence, Kalfu (Corey Feldman), and makes a pact with him to destroy the underworld and bring chaos to earth. In return, he will become the Zombie King and walk the earth for eternity with his late wife.

But as the growing horde of zombies begins to wipe out a countryside town, the government creates a perimeter around the town and employs a shoot-on-sight policy. Trapped within the town, the locals, an unlikely bunch of misfits, must fight for their lives and unite in order to survive…

Trailer:

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‘Believe the Unbelievable!’

In Search of Dracula – original title Vem Var Dracula? – is a 1971 Swedish documentary film produced and directed by Calvin Floyd (The Sleep of Death; Terror of Frankenstein) based on a script by Yvonne Floyd. The film predates a best-selling 1972 book of the same name by Raymond T. McNally and Radu Florescu. A longer 81 minute version was released to cinemas on 16 June 1975. 

The film is narrated by Tor Isedal and Christopher Lee who appears as himself, historical Wallachian ruler Vlad Tepes and Count Dracula.

In the US, the film was released in 1975 by Sam Sherman’s Independent-International company (Blood of Ghastly Horror; Horror of the Blood Monsters; Brain of Blood; Raiders of the Living Dead).

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Shorter TV version:

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Resureksyon (“Resurrection”) is a 2015 Filipino supernatural horror film about vampires directed by Alfonso Torre III (Kabisera).

Cast:

Isabelle Daza, Jasmine Curtis, Raikko Mateo and Paulo Avelino.

The film will be released in cinemas nationwide in the Philippines on September 23, 2015.

Trailer:

WH

‘Everything that makes life worth leaving!’

The Vault of Horror is a 1973 British anthology horror film made by Amicus Productions. Like the 1972 Amicus film Tales from the Crypt, it is based on stories from the American EC Comics series written by Al Feldstein. The film was directed by Roy Ward Baker (The Vampire Lovers; Scars of Dracula; Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde) from a screenplay by Milton Subotsky.

None of the stories are actually from Vault of Horror comics. All but one appeared in Tales from the Crypt, the exception being from Shock SuspenStories.

The film is also known as Vault of Horror, Further Tales from the Crypt and Tales from the Crypt II.

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Cast:

Terry-Thomas (The Abominable Dr. Phibes; Dr. Phibes Rises Again), Dawn Addams (The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll), Denholm Elliott (To the Devil a Daughter; Hammer House of Horror), Curd Jürgens (The Sleep of Death), Tom Baker (The Mutations; Doctor Who), Michael Craig (Inn of the Damned; Turkey Shoot), Daniel Massey (Shadows of Fear; The Cat and the Canary) and Anna Massey (Frenzy; Haunted).

Framing Story

Five strangers board a descending lift, one by one, in a modern office block in London. They reach the sub-basement, though none of them have pressed for that destination. There they find an elaborately furnished room which appears to be a gentlemen’s club. The lift door has closed and there are no buttons to bring it back, nor any other exit. Resigned to waiting for help, each tells of a recurring nightmare…

Midnight Mess (Tales from the Crypt #35)

Harold Rodgers (Daniel Massey) tracks his sister Donna (Anna Massey) to a strange village and kills her to claim her inheritance. After settling down for a post-murder meal at the local restaurant, he discovers the town is home to a nest of vampires…

The Neat Job (Shock SuspenStories #1)

Obsessively neat Arthur Critchit (Terry-Thomas) marries Eleanor (Glynis Johns), a young trophy wife who is not quite the domestic goddess he hoped for. His constant nagging about the mess she makes eventually drives her mad. Upon his shouting at her, “Can’t you do anything neatly?”, she kills him with a hammer and cuts up the corpse, putting all the different organs into neatly labelled jars.

This Trick’ll Kill You (Tales from the Crypt #33)

Sebastian (Curd Jürgens) is a magician on a working holiday in India, where he and his wife are searching for new tricks. Nothing impresses until he sees a girl (Jasmina Hilton) charming a rope out of a basket with a flute. Unable to work out how the trick is done, he persuades her to come to his hotel room, where he and his wife Inez (Dawn Addams) murder her and steal the enchanted rope. Sebastian plays the flute, and the rope rises; Inez climbs it, only to disappear with a scream…

Bargain in Death (Tales from the Crypt #28)

Maitland (Michael Craig) is buried alive as part of an insurance scam concocted with his friend Alex (Edward Judd). Alex double-crosses Maitland, leaving him to suffocate. Two trainee doctors Tom (Robin Nedwell) and Jerry (Geoffrey Davies) bribe a gravedigger (Arthur Mullard) to dig up a corpse to help with their studies. When Maitland’s coffin is opened, he jumps up gasping for air…

Drawn and Quartered (Tales from the Crypt #26)

Moore (Tom Baker) is an impoverished painter living on Haiti. When he learns that his work has been sold for high prices by dealers and critics who told him that it was worthless, he goes to a voodoo priest and his painting hand is given voodoo power; whatever he paints or draws can be harmed by damaging its image. Returning to London, Moore paints portraits of the three men who cheated him, and mutilates them to exact his revenge…

When the story of the final dream is told, the five ponder the meaning of their nightmares…

Reviews:

“All in all, The Vault of Horror contains enough to warrant repeat viewings. Whilst it is sometimes a product of its time and the film’s twist can be seen from space, it has that strangely comfortable feeling you only get from the output of companies like Amicus and Hammer Horror. It’s like settling down into a cracked leather chair next to a roaring fire with a glass of brandy. It just seems to work.” John Noonan, HorrorNews.net

“Vault of Horror is a great anthology – more camp than Asylum or Tales from the Crypt, but infinitely more enjoyable than the turgid Torture Garden. A surfeit of 70s locations, some great character actors, and a healthy dose of humour don’t hurt, either.” British Horror Films

“Whereas Francis often managed to inject some atmosphere into his Amicus omnibus movies, Baker’s flat direction can’t overcome the lengthy and plodding expository scene, making this the least interesting of the series in spite of the excellent photography and Tony Curtis’s pleasing sets.” Phil Hardy (editor), The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror

“Art direction, music and photography are all uniformly impressive, and Roy Ward Baker pulls the directional strings with consummate professionalism. Added to this is a smart line in grim humour (and an amusing in-joke that sees Michael Craig flicking through the paperback tie-in to Tales from the Crypt), which at times succeeds in achieving a little of the EC Comics style…” Allan Bryce, Amicus: The Studio That Dripped Blood

“The first story is the most memorable and Glynis Johns does a wonderful comic turn in the second. The rest of the film has little to offer in the way of thrills.” Gary A. Smith, Uneasy Dreams: The Golden Age of British Horror Films, 1956-1976

” … director Roy Ward Baker goes through the paces in a somewhat workmanlike manner, relying mostly on the writing, editing and performances to carry the stories, with minimal instances of clever staging or stylised atmosphere. This is all the more unfortunate when Baker actually does flex his directorial muscles, as these snippets of visual inspiration call deeper attention to how flat the rest of the film often is. Having said that, it’s still worlds more stylish than Freddie Francis’ uncharacteristically flat direction in most of Crypt.” Mitch Davis, Ten Years of Terror: British Horror Films of the 1970s

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Cast and Characters:

• Daniel Massey as Harold Rogers
• Terry-Thomas as Arthur Critchit
• Curd Jürgens as Sebastian
• Michael Craig as Maitland
• Tom Baker as Moore
• Anna Massey as Donna Rogers
• Glynis Johns as Eleanor Critchit
• Dawn Addams as Inez
• Edward Judd as Alex
• Denholm Elliott as Diltant
• Robin Nedwell as Tom
• Geoffrey Davies as Jerry
• Terence Alexander as Fenton Breedley
• John Witty as Arthur Gaskill
• Jasmina Hilton as Indian Girl
• Ishaq Bux as Fakir
• John Forbes-Robertson as Wilson
• Maurice Kaufmann as Bob Dickson
• Arthur Mullard as Gravedigger
• Mike Pratt as Clive
• Marianne Stone as Jane
• Erik Chitty as Old Waiter
• Tommy Godfrey as Landlord
• Jerold Wells as Waiter

Choice dialogue:

Maitland (Michael Craig): “There’s no money in horror.”

Filming locations:

Millbank Tower, London, England

Sheen Lane, Richmond-Upon-Thames, Surrey, England
(Where Tom Baker’s character, Moore, hails a taxi)

Twickenham Studios, London, England

Beyond the Vault of Horror:

There is a shot, apparently from the original closing sequence, in which the characters walk to the graveyard with dead, skeletal faces. It may be that this shot has been lost, or was deemed too crude, edited out and used for publicity purposes only. Does anyone know?

Trailer:

Wikipedia | IMDb

Embrace of the Vampire is a 2013 American supernatural horror film directed by Carl Bessai from a screenplay by Andrew C. Erin, Alan Mruvka and Sheldon Roper.

It is a remake of the 1995 film of the same name, although reviewers have also noted its similarity to Black Swan. It was released on October 15, 2013 direct to video in the United States by Anchor Bay Entertainment.

Main cast:

Sharon Hinnendael (Nightfall), Kaniehtiio Horn (The Theatre Bizarre), C.C. Sheffield (No Tell Motel), Chelsey Reist, Victor Webster (Wishmaster 4; Ragin’ Cajun Redneck Gators; Fun Size Horror: Volume One), Robert Moloney (Disturbing Behavior; The New Addams Family; Bates Motel), Ryan Kennedy (Blade: The Series; Ogre), Keegan Connor Tracy (Final Destination 2; Bates Motel; Dead Rising: Watchtower), Olivia Cheng, Claire Smithies, Sarah Grey.

Official synopsis:

Charlotte (Sharon Hinnendael) is a timid and sheltered teen who has just left an all-girls Catholic school for a new life at a co-ed university with a fencing scholarship. But an ancient evil has followed her here, tormenting her with disturbing nightmares and tempting her with forbidden desires. It is a hunger that can only be satiated by sensual pleasures of the flesh… and a thirst for blood. It’s a battle for her soul… and one she’s losing. But Charlotte is a fighter. The chaos and torment threatens to unleash her own inner beast, and anyone even close to her may find themselves embracing their own horrific fate…

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Reviews:

” … remake of Embrace of the Vampire may be best enjoyed with the old brain mechanism turned completely off. In spite of its setting in the academic world, this film is hardly an intellectual pursuit, not that very many people might make that mistake to begin with. Certainly Embrace of the Vampireisn’t nearly as bad as it could have been, but it’s hardly an evening at the ballet, either.” J.C. Macek III, Pop Matters

“The acting is fair enough – with Sharon Hinnendael convincingly repressed as Charlotte. It perhaps needed a little tightening in the script, there is nothing definitive but it all felt a little loose and takes a while to get where it is going. That said it hangs together much better than the original film … All in all not bad.” Taliesin Meets the Vampires

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“If you like b-grade vampire movies, this one’s pretty well done, and it’s definitely a better film than the original.  Of course it doesn’t have a naked Alyssa Milano, which was kind of the whole point of the original.  But it does have plenty of beautiful naked women who are not Alyssa Milano and quite a bit more horror, violence, and gore than the original, which may be the whole point of this remake.” Mat Brewster, Cinema Sentries

Cast and Characters:

Sharon Hinnendael as Charlotte Hawthorn
Kaniehtiio Horn [as Tiio Horn] as Nicole
C.C. Sheffield as Eliza
Chelsey Reist( [as Chelsey Marie Reist] as Sarah Campbell
Victor Webster as Professor Cole / Stefan
Robert Moloney as Dr. John Duncan
Ryan Kennedy as Chris
Keegan Connor Tracy as Daciana
Olivia Cheng as Kelly
Claire Smithies as Sorina
Sarah Grey as Young Charlotte

Trailer:

Wikipedia | IMDb

‘Nameless! Fleshless! Deathless!’

The Mummy’s Ghost is the 1943 American supernatural horror film directed by Reginald Le Borg (The Black Sleep; Voodoo Island; Diary of a Madman) from a screenplay by Griffin Jay and Henry Sucher.

Cast:

Lon Chaney, Jr., John Carradine, Robert Lowery, Ramsay Ames and Barton MacLane.

A sequel to The Mummy’s Tomb, the Universal Pictures production began filming in August 23 till September 1 1943 but the movie wasn’t released until July 7, 1944.

Acquanetta (Captive Wild Woman; Jungle Woman) was originally cast as Amina Mansori, but on the first day of shooting, while enacting a fainting scene, she fell on a rock. She was taken to hospital and treated for her concussion. But Universal, not wanting to hold up on production, replaced her with actress Ramsay Ames.

Plot:

Andoheb, the aging High Priest of Arkam (Karnak in the previous films), has summoned Yousef Bey to the Temple of Arkam to pass on the duties of High Priest. Beforehand, Andoheb explains the legend of Kharis to Bey.

Meanwhile in Mapleton, Massachusetts, Professor Matthew Norman, who had examined one of Kharis’ missing bandage pieces during the Mummy’s last spree through Mapleton, also explains the legends of the Priests of Arkam and Kharis to his History class who are less than believing. After the lecture ends, one of the students, Tom Hervey, meets up with his girlfriend Amina Mansori, a beautiful woman of Egyptian descent. However, a strange, clouded feeling in her mind occurs when ever the subject of Egypt is mentioned…

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Reviews:

“The Mummy’s Ghost isn’t up to the standard of its predecessor: there’s not enough mummy action, and a bit too much aimless running around; not good, in a film barely sixty minutes long. The screenplay is also guilty of constantly tweaking what the previous two films taught us were “the rules” of this franchise.” And You Call Yourself a Scientist

“The Mummy’s Ghost disarms any attempt at such an enterprise with a kind of confrontational candor. “Yeah, I’m stupid,” it says, “You got a problem with that?!” Its familiarity does breed just a wee bit of contempt, but it also has its moments of lowbrow fun. And hey, at 61 minutes, what do you really have to lose?” 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting

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The mummy has always been the least impressive of movie monsters and he is doing nothing to enhance his reputation in his latest incarnation in The Mummy’s Ghost. He is just repulsive without being picturesque or even particularly frightening.” The New York World-Telegram, 1944

“The Mummy’s Ghost is easily the director’s best horror film, possibly his best film, period. Le Borg took credit for the unusual downbeat finale, although he admitted without any prompting that he was inspired by the climax of Frank Capra’s 1937 romantic-fantasy classic Lost Horizon.” Universal Horrors: The Studio’s Classic Films, 1931-1946

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“This was one of the better entries in Universal’s so-so ‘Kharis’ series of the ’40s, although viewers who catch it without benefit of having seen it’s predecessors … would have to be forgiven for finding it nearly incomprehensible.” Tom Weaver, John Carradine: The Films

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Cast and Characters:

Lon Chaney, Jr. as Kharis, The Mummy
John Carradine as Yousef Bey
Robert Lowery as Tom Hervey
Ramsay Ames as Amina Mansori / Ananka
Barton MacLane as Inspector Walgreen
George Zucco as Andoheb, The High Priest
Frank Reicher as Professor Norman
Harry Shannon as Sheriff Elwood
Emmett Vogan as Coroner
Lester Sharp as Dr. Ayad
Claire Whitney as Mrs. Norman
Oscar O’Shea as Scripps Museum Guard

Trailer:

Wikipedia | IMDb | Related: The Shuffling Saga of the Mummy on Screen – article by Daz Lawrence

‘Get out undead or alive’

Freaks of Nature is a 2015 American sci-fi supernatural comedy horror film directed by Robbie Pickering, from a screenplay by Oren Uziel (Mortal Kombat: Rebirth; Men in Black 4), and produced by Matt Tolmach. The film was formerly titled Kitchen Sink and The Kitchen Sink.

Cast:

Vanessa Hudgens (Sucker Punch;Machete Kills), Ed Westwick, Denis Leary and Bob Odenkirk.

Originally slated to open on January 9, 2015, the Columbia Pictures production will now be released on October 30, 2015 by the company in conjunction with Sony Pictures Releasing.

Plot:

In the town of Dillford, it used to be that vampires, humans and zombies got along, but then something unexpected arrived and now it’s humans vs. vampires vs. zombies in all-out mortal combat. Three teenagers must try to get things back to “normal”…

Cast and characters:

• Nicholas Braun as Dag Parker
• Mackenzie Davis as Petra Lane
• Josh Fadem as Ned Mosely
• Joan Cusack
• Bob Odenkirk
• Keegan-Michael Key
• Ed Westwick as Milan
• Patton Oswalt
• Vanessa Hudgens as Lorelei
• Denis Leary as Rick Wilson
• Ian Roberts
• Utkarsh Ambudkar;
• Cerina Vincent as Daisy;
• Chris Zylka

Trailer:

Wikipedia | IMDb

Monster Old Maid is a 1964 card game created by the Milton Bradley company from Springfield, Massachusetts for children aged five to ten years-old. Based on the card game Old Maid, it comprises a set of nineteen cards featuring Universal monsters, plus an additional instruction card. The rear of the cards feature a spider web with the word ‘monster’ written across.

Characters in the set include Creature from the Black Lagoon, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Wolf Man, The Mummy, and The Phantom of the Opera. Dracula’s Daughter (image taken from Hammer’s The Brides of Dracula, which Universal distributed in the US) was the Old Maid card.

We are grateful to The Retroist for the information above and Lost & Found Vintage Toys for the directions image.