Topic: Chilling Classics (50 Movie Pack) - films review

[Jimmy]

Not everything in this set can be included in my horror marathon and sometimes this is not really evident to know before watching. So I will review the 50 movies included in the set here.



Title : The Murder Mansion (1972)

Overview
A young couple joins a group of travelers stranted at a fog-bound mansion to wait out the bad weather. While everyone tries to deal with each other, they must also contend with the creepy surroundings of the ancient manor and its adjoining cemetary. When the guests are beset upon by unliving residents from the graveyard, they must try to band together in order to survive the nightmare

My Impression
This one is from Spain, but this is not a great exemple of an euro-horror movie. The movie is really slow and nothing really happen on screen and it's kind of sad since the setting is a good one for an horror movie. The movie can't decide if it is a vampire story or living dead story or a ghost story, but the dubbing is mostly responsible for this. The movie conclude with some kind of a Scooby Doo ending. The print quality is relatively good, too dark in the outdoor night scene and too blurry in the fog scene but no real scratches or defect on the print. It's really evident that this movie isn't in its correct ratio.

Rating :

[Jimmy]

Title : Death Rage (1976)

Overview
Peter Marciani (Yul Brynner) is a retired hitman who is forced to come out of retirement. His brother has been murdered and Marciani intends to track down the man responsible for his death. Once he begins to investigate his brother's death, he discovers that he's been set up by the mob.

My Impression
Nice italian crime thriller directed by Antonio Margheriti. Yul Brynner is well cast in it as a tough mob killer and Barbara Bouchet as the love interest is certainly a plus too. Pretty good story even if it's a little bit predictable if you've watch many film of this genre. The version in this set is not the complete one since 13 minutes are missing, but honestly I've no idea of what is missing since the nudity is not cut and the violence is present too. Maybe this is a case of speed accelaration between the PAL and NSTC format, but this seams a lot to me... The print quality isn't too bad, but the little details are too blurry and for an italian movie the details are important. Just hope that a real label will get the right of this movie, so we will get it in is original language and in is correct ratio.

Rating :

[Jimmy]

Title : Medusa (1973)

Overview
A pair of American siblings, living in Greece, becomes entangled with the local mob. While the sister is happy and engaged to be married, the brother is faced with repaying a debt to a mobster and fears that the latest revision of his father's will may cut him out of an inheritance. When people associated with the will begin to turn up dead, the authorities begin suspecting the American has connections to the deaths.

My Impression
Didn't like it, why? 2 words : Georges Hamilton. Who had decided that this guy is a good actor or a sex symbol? Probably himself since he is the producer of this movie... Watching him overacting for 1h39 isn't my idea of a great time at all. At least the music in the film was good (if you like traditional greek music) and Cameron Mitchell is good as usual. I have 47 others movie in this set to watch and I've probably just watched the worst one...

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[Najemikon]

I get the impression George Hamilton is one of those actors who is very good with a strong director. Otherwise he does his own thing, which ain't great. I thought he was excellent in The Godfather Part III, for instance.

[Jimmy]

For a cameo or a small role he is ok. But I just can't understand why anybody can see him in a leading role... The only moments in this film where he is tolerable are the scenes where he is with Cameron Mitchell, because he don't overact too much and Mitchell take the control of those scenes.

[Jimmy]

Title : I eat Your Skin (1964)

Overview
A writter, looking to research voodoo legends for an upcoming book, arrives on a remote tropical island to investigate reports of zombies roaming the land. He soon discovers a scientist and his beautiful daughter living on the island, where the father is experimenting with a serum that has transformed some of the natives into strange looking creatures. When the remaining natives decide to sacrifice the scientist's daughter to appease their voodoo gods, our writer must stop them and the scientist from causing any further harm.

My Impression
It's time for a zombie movie with a lot of gore, great special effect and social commentaries... Not really. This is the other genre of zombie movie, the ones made before NOTLD involving the voodoo practices. This one is not new for me, in fact I already own it on another triple features compilation. Nothing really great in this : the acting is poor and the zombies are laughable (they look like they had fallen on their breakfast plate). But I like the voodoo ceremony (not credible, but fun to watch), some of the joke not too politically correct now and the transformation effects are not too bad since they do it like those in the Wolf man movies.

Not something that I recommand to buy, but in a compilation this is a funny film to watch.

Rating :

[Jimmy]

Title : Scream Bloody Murder (1975)

Overview
A young man kills his own father and is subsequently set to a mental institution where he remains for many years. Upon his release, he returns home to discover his mother has remarried and, after growing to dislike his new step-father, murders the gentleman as well as his own mother. The crazed man then turns his attention to a young artist whom he has become obsessed with and continues his murderous ways in order to be with her.

My Impression
I love this one  Typical seventies independant low budget drive-in horror picture that are so much better than anything made now. Great performance by Fred Holbert as the insane killer, this is only movie and it's a little bit surprising. The story doesn't loose time to give a backstory to the character (we see him right at the beginning killing his father and right after that we see him returning with his mother many years later after his released from the asylum) and it's a good thing since I want to have fun when I watch a movie and not listen that a guy act this way because he was teasing when he was at school  . Nice effects, low budget but this is alright for me. No happy ending in this.

Very good discovery. While I was watching it my first reaction was that this movie need a special remastered edition with a lot of extra and good news the right of this belongs to Grindhouse Releasing. So we can hope for a nice special edition in the coming years, I will be first one to buy it.
 
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[Jimmy]

Title : Bell From Hell (1973)

Overview
A young man is released after many years from a mental institution after his aunt had him committed so she could take his inheritance. The man arrives back home into the care of the aunt and her three daughters. The aunt and cousins hope to drive him insane in order to permanently take away his money but the young man has plans of revenge for his greedy relatives.

My Impression
The synopsis for this one sounds interesting, but I was unable to continue to watch and I've stopped it after 20 minutes. The sound is hard to hear and for someone who speak english only as a second language this film is impossible to follow. Sorry I can't rate this one...
 
Rating : 

A question : Does anyone here own the dvd of this movie release by Pathfinder in 2005? If yes, how is the quality? and is it a film worth buying?

This is the dvd in question

[Jimmy]

Title : Metamorphosis (1990)

Overview
A university researcher is working to crack the human gene code in order to create a serum that would prevent aging. Pressured by the administration to publish his papers and produce some results or risk losing funding, the scientist decides to use himself as a guinea pig for the latest serum he's developed. Suffering no apparent side effects at first, the scientist eventually discovers that the serum has indeed altered him in a manner most unexpected.

My Impression
Not a movie that I can call original, since it really looks like The Fly but that doesn't means that this isn't a good movie. From the beginning you know that it will turn bad for the scientist and it will turn bad... The first effect is a loss of memory and a really agressive comportement (I've experiment the same thing when I was drinking too much, the memory blackout not the hyper agressivity ), after he will age really fast and at the end he will became the most stupid thing I've ever seen in a science going bad movie

(click to show/hide)

a fucking dinosaur (it seems that we have some lizard DNA in our genes).

This last metamorphosis is ridicule, but I have not laugh like that since a long time. The movie is an italian production, but it was not dubbed in english something very rare and appreciated.

Not a great movie, but a very entertaining one...

Rating :

[Jimmy]

Title : Naked Massacre (1976)

Overview
In Belfast, a group of eight nurses share a home while working at various hospitals and clinics throughout the city. Entering into their lives is a crazed Vietnam veteran with a hatred for women who decides to take out his hatred on them. Stalking them one by one, the killer terrorizes and tortures the women while the authorities attempt to track him down.

My Impression
I'm always happy to find a movie from the period where my country was a movie making tax shelter heaven. So many good movies were made here in those years, but the biggest downside of this is the fact that the majority of these movie had disapeared since the goal of the producers wasn't to turn a profit with them.

This one is a nice find and like all good exploitation movie this title is really a wrong promises, the real one is "Né pour l'enfer" or in english "Born for Hell" (this movie is mostly a French and French Canadian co-production). The basic source is the Richard Speck nurse murders that happen in 1964, this is not mention untill the end but this is not that hard to deduct that 2 and 2 make 4. Mathieu Carrière isn't necessary a good cast choice, not that he doesn't play the role well but I think that his physical presence isn't menacing enough. Even if she doesn't have an important role, I've appreciated Carole Laure in this. If you don't know her she was one of our best actress in the seventies before she decide to continue her career in France. By the way I really recommand to watch "La Mort d'un bûcheron" or "Maria Chapdelaine" if you want to watch her in two of her best role (I know they are hard to find like everything made here are). The only thing that I don't really like is the movie end that looks a little bit to fast.

Rating :

[Jimmy]

Title : Haunts (1977)

Overview
A small town is stalked by a deranged killer who uses scissors as his weapon and a very religious young woman begins to suspect that her uncle may be the killer. As more murders take place, the young woman fears that she too will become a victim of the killer. Shocking twists and turns bring you to a surprise ending as well as the identity of the killer.

My Impression
The synopsis (I don't write them) and the general marketing for this film is the biggest problem with it. This film is sold as a serial killer movie and this fact hurts the movie a lot. Knowing absolutly nothing about it I was waiting for something to happen, the film start with a murder and this the only one that happen (unless I've fallen asleep). The end explain a lot of thing and the title become clearer. So don't expect a SK movie and this movie will be a much pleasant experience. On the positive side Aldo Ray is too good to be in this genre of movie, if you don't know the end of his career was quite sad because of the Screen Actor Guild. His card was revoken because he had used his real name in a non-SAG production (Sweet Savage) and without a SAG card it's impossible to work in Hollywood. That's why he was only in C-movies untill his death in 1991. Cameron Mitchell give an honest performance, but he is really underuse.

I've not really like this film because I was hoping something else, but if you know that it's not a SK film I think that you could appreciate it.

Rating :

[Jimmy]

Title : Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory (1962)

Overview
At a school for wayward girls, a series of mysterious attacks have plagued the campus. The victims all appear to have been attacked by a vicious animal, wich leads some to believe that the school is being stalked by a werewolf. As the next full moon approaches, the campus becomes nervous in anticipation on what will happen next, as the authorities struggle to track down the monster.

My Impression
This one is surprisingly good, since I usually don't like the old werewolf movies. The story is interesting and the identity of the werewolf isn't obvious at all, in fact I've not found it at all before it was reveal. The dubing of this movie is well made in comparaison with some that I've heard. There are not a lot of blood, but it's normal since it was made in 1961. One thing that I found kind of disturbing is a subplot involving a professor who have intimate relations with some of the underage girls in the reform school (don't worry this is only mention not shown). Not that I find this idea that disturbing, but more the fact this is in a movie made in this year. The werewolf doesn't look like a canidae, but more like a simian creature.

Really nice find, the print had some defect in the beginning but nothing too bad. 

Rating :

[Jimmy]

Title : The Driller Killer (1979)

Overview
A struggling artist is trying to complete his latest painting when he finds himself distracted by a punk rock band that moves into the downstairs apartment and continuously plays its music. He finally finishes his marterpiece despite the noise and shows it to his art dealer but his devastated when the dealer laughs at his work. Driven over the edge by the dealer's criticisms and the band's loud music, the artist snaps and begins killing people using a large power drills as his weapon of choice.

My Impression
This is one movie that I own already as a stand alone dvd with a better print quality, in its correct format (the copy here is fullscreen) and uncut. The director of this is Abel Ferrara in case you don't know and this is his second movie after 9 Lives of a Wet Pussy (something that I will have to watch one day). This is not your ordinary horror movie, yes it have a lot of blood and killing but there is something more to it. I could call it an arthouse horror movie because of the way it was filmed, the psychological interpretation of the film (my interpretation of the film anyway) and the real mood of it. No one in this are professionals actor and most of them haven't done anything before or after this, but the acting is not bad in fact that sound more real to me. I really like the end of this movie and evidently the music score is great since Ferrara had used seventies New York punk music. Last thing, it's always interesting to see how NY was looking in the seventies.

Recommanded, but try to get the Cult Epic release for a much better version.

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