Topic: Jimmy's - 2013 Ooctober Horror Marathon

[GSyren]

I had Demons on VHS a long time ago, but I didn't like it at all. Don't remember why. Maybe I should give it another chance now? Wasn't there a sequel as well, Demons 2? Or was that not related to this Demons?

[Jimmy]

Yes there is a sequel that I will probably watch later today. It's more the same film in a different location than a sequel but I find it as good.

Since it's italian there is also a Demon 3, 4, 5 and 6... but none of them are connected and aren't about demons at all

[Jimmy]

MOVIE / DVD INFO:

Title: Demons 2 (1986)

Genre: Horror
Director: Lamberto Bava
Rating: NR
Length: 1h31
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.66:1
Audio: English
Subtitles: None

Stars:
David Edwin Knight
Nancy Brilli
Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni   
Bobby Rhodes
Asia Argento   

Plot:
he story continues as a birthday party in a high-security apartment building (with bullet-proof windows) is interrupted when the birthday girl is transformed into a vicious demon by watching a horror movie on TV. The evil spirits quickly possess many of the building's tenants who begin to prey on their neighbors. The remaining residents have no way of escaping the hungry demons and are forced to battle them in order to survive.

My Thoughts:

This isn't really different than the first one, except that this time the action is located in a skyscraper and a TV screening of the first story is the starting point (it's a film about the events of Demons 1 not the film itself). Of course it's hard to not see some similitudes with David Cronenberg's Shivers (but I highly doubt that it is volontary, the story just use the same premisses of a contagious "infection" in an apartment building). The effects are as good as they were in the first film and the dubbing is less over the top (wich doesn't mean it isn't, but it's hard to top Demons in that aspect). They put new things in the film like animal becoming demons, demons kid and even a little baby demon (not a baby who became a demon but a demon born from another one... this is kind of complicated to explain). But this little demon is more silly than scary, think of a gremlins reject and you'll get a small idea of what that looks like

It isn't as good as the original, because a high tower is a too large area for the action and sometimes not much happen, but it worth a try if you've never watch it.

Rating :

[Jimmy]

MOVIE / DVD INFO:

Title: Society (1989)

Genre: Horror
Director: Brian Yuzna
Rating: NR
Length: 1h39
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Billy Warlock
Connie Danese
Ben Slack   
Evan Richards
Patrice Jennings   

Plot:
Even though he's from a wealthy family, teenager Bill Whitney (Billy Warlock of BAYWATCH and GENERAL HOSPITAL) just can't seem to fit in among the mysterious upper class of Beverly Hills. But when he learns that his parents and sister may be involved in secret sexual depravity, Bill begins to suspect that rich people are indeed very different from the rest of us. Can Bill escape his initiation into a nightmare world of privileged perversion or will he be forced to make the ultimate contribution to SOCIETY?

My Thoughts:

This one sure feel like watching like a George Romero's zombie movies films, not because it's a zombie movie but because it had a social message big as the arm... no subtility here. Not that I don't agree with this message, but I want to watch a horror movie not a Michael Moore "documentary".

Anyway this isn't really scary or interesting untill the end (even if we have a good idea of what will happen). That part had some pretty good effects but is, at least for me, ruined by the fact there is too much humour in what is a strange and scary situation. The acting isn't that good, but I thing it's mostly because of the way it was directed.

I've seen better I've seen worst, but as you know horror and humour doesn't mix well with me.

Rating :

[Jimmy]

MOVIE / DVD INFO:

Title: Night of the Seagulls (1976)

Genre: Horror
Director: Amando de Ossorio
Rating: NR
Length: 1h29
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English and Spanish
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Víctor Petit
María Kosty
Sandra Mozarowsky   
Jan Antonio Castro   
Julia Saly   

Plot:
The classic saga of The BLIND DEAD ends with this creepy tale of a remote coastal town where frightened villagers must sacrifice beautiful virgins to the blood cult of the Knights Templar. For seven nights every seven years, these eyeless zombies rise from the sea to feast on human flesh as the souls of the damned are trapped in the screams of gulls. In this final unforgettable shocker from writer/director Amando de Ossorio, the mood is darker, the fear is stronger and the hunger of the Templar more ferocious than ever before!

My Thoughts:

The Ghost Galleon the previous episode was a weak offering as I wrote in my review five years ago:

"This one didn't work at all as a knight templar movie. No horse, no sword and no hiding places. The Knights aren't scary on a boat, it took me 2 minutes to realize what it tooks the complete movie for the characters to realize : you are on a boat, the corpses are in boxes, the knights sleep in the day... Take the boxes and throw them in the water in the day "

So Amando de Ossorio did the logical thing and brought back the action on land wich made the knight templars frightening again. You get a got feeling of isolation with two strangers coming to a new place where almost everybody ignore them. Like I've said before the templars are nighmarish creature (they were in my nightmares more than once, so they are in my book) and are impossible to kill (considering they are dead since more than 600 years). The Templars are base on history so if you want to learn more about them follow the link.

As good as the first two episodes.

Rating :

[Jimmy]

MOVIE / DVD INFO:

Title: The House of Insane Woman (1971)

Genre: Horror
Director: Rafael Moreno Alba
Rating: R
Length: 1h35
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1
Audio: English
Subtitles: None

Stars:
Espartaco Santoni
María Asquerino
José Vivó   
Helga Liné   
Yelena Samarina   

Plot:
Tania (Analia Gade), an asylum patient, is under a doctor's care while suffering raging behavioral effects following the death of her exorcised mother. This international overseas horror mishmash has a nasty prison and some familiar faces Francisco Rabal (SORCERER), Helga Line (THE VAMPIRE’S NIGHT ORGY). Directed by Rafael Moreno Alba (BRIDE TO BE).

My Thoughts:

No idea why this is classified as an horror movie because this isn't. Unless the fact a small exorcism is shown justify it... who knows. This film is confusing to watch and of course dubbed. The asylum setting sure bring a mood of paranoïa and weirdness (no date is given, but the Church is the big shot and normal medical practice is called witchery so I guess it's somewhere in the 17th or 18th century...). The end is kind of a no end also.

Rating :

[Jimmy]

MOVIE / DVD INFO:

Title: The Night of 1000 Cats (1972)
Genre: Horror
Director: René Cardona Jr.
Rating: R
Length: 1h02
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English
Subtitles: None

Stars:
Anjanette Comer
Zulma Faiad
Hugo Stiglitz   
Christa Linder
Tere Velázquez   

Plot:
t's HUGO & DORGO'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURES! Hunkmaster Hugo (Hugo Stiglitz, TINTORERA) is a millionaire playboy who boogies down in Acapulco and picks up sexy young Euro babes in his private Air Chariot (helicopter). Hugo whisks them away to his secluded old castle, where he wines, dines and seduces them with his hot, bland look. With the aid of his little, bald mute helper Dorgo (professional wrestler Gerardo "El Romana" Zepeda, EL TOPO), he kills his dates, keeping their heads in a crystal cage and feeding their chopped up body parts to his 1,000-strong army of blood thirsty, flesh hungry cats. It's meowtime in Acapulco tonight! From Master of horror director Rene Cardona Jr.!

My Thoughts:

Thank God it's the US version... why? Because the original version runs from 30 minutes and all those minutes are helicopter flying... not that we don't do an helicopter overdose in the short US version since half of the movie is that

Maybe if you are a big helicopter fan this is the film for you

For the rest this is mostly boring non-sense where we have no clue of who are all those peoples and why anything happen...

At least there is a lot of cats so maybe if you are a cat maniac you'll root for them when they eat and kill people we don't care about because we don't know who they are

But maybe not... the cats are quite mistreated and they sure don't look happy (but of course a cat rarely looks happy. so what do I know maybe they had the time of their life...). Also at one point one cat is drowned at least it didn't look like a fake one to me.

Rating :

[Jimmy]

MOVIE / DVD INFO:

Title: I Drink Your Blood (1970)
Genre: Horror
Director: David Durston
Rating: NR
Length: 1h23
Video: Full Frame
Audio: English
Subtitles: None

Stars:
Bhaskar Roy Chowdhury
Jadine Wong
Rhonda Fultz   
George Patterson
Riley Mills   

Plot:
It's Night of the Living Dead meets Charlie Manson in this gore-drenched 1971 drive-in classic. After consuming rabies-infected meat pies, an LSD-addicted hippie cult goes on a vicious murdering rampage! Heavily censored since its original release, this infamous landmark of cinematic brutality is being presented for the very first time in America in all its blood-splattered glory.

My Thoughts:

First american to receive a X rating only because of its violence, evidently 43 years later this isn't that violent. But except for this trivia fact does it worth a watch? Of course it does. Not only because it is well writen, not only because David Durston is a good director, not only because it was made in a real deserted small town, not only because the acting isn't too bad, but also because it was the first film of Lynn Lowry.

Recommanded.

Rating :

[Jimmy]

MOVIE / DVD INFO:

Title: Snuff (1976)
Genre: Horror
Director: Michael Findlay / Simon Nuchtern
Rating: NR
Length: 1h20
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.66:1
Audio: English
Subtitles: English

Stars:
Mirtha Massa
Enrique Larratelli
Margarita Amuchástegui   
Clao Villanueva
Aldo Mayo   

Plot:
Deep in South America, a Manson-like cult leader named Satan cavorts with his bevy of beautiful biker-chick followers while compelling them to kill in his name. When sexy American actress Terry London arrives with producer Max Marsh to shoot a new movie there, the creepy cult targets her and her friends with plans of murder, mayhem and the grisly sacrifice of her unborn baby. Is the final bloody massacre only a movie? Or is it the shocking footage of an actual murder committed before the camera?

My Thoughts:

I've never considered that film as an horror film, but some do so I've decided to include it in my marathon run. In fact ii it wasn't for the added ending almost nobody would remind of this film, except the most devoted fans of Michael Findlay wich I am. The film itself isn't that original since it's about a Manson-like cult  but it was made way before Helter Skelter or The Manson Familly or Manson since it was made in 1971 (it was never released in its original version). Also the dubbing isn't very seriously done (usually the Findlay's are narrated wich is much better in my oppinion) and the carnaval stock footage got old fast.

This film is more important for its new ending and all the controversy it had created in those days. Hard to believe since it doesn't look real at all, but a lot of feminist group tought it was the real deal

Like I said an important film for what it had created, but not something that most people would enjoy and I don't talk about the fake snuff footage but the real film before. Personally I love the film (it's the third time I bought it: VHS, DVD and now blu-ray) and I hope to see the real original version someday... I want to know how it ends

Rating :